Mailman 3 December 2009 - Python-announce-list

Python-URL! - weekly Python news and links (Dec 31)
by Gabriel Genellina 31 Dec '09

31 Dec '09

QOTW: "With Lisp or Forth, a master programmer has unlimited power and expressiveness. With Python, even a regular guy can reach for the stars." - Raymond Hettinger web2py vs. Django comparison: http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python/t/b014b89ede34dc27/ The risks of indiscriminately catching all exceptions with a bare except clause: http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python/t/8d7e542eb3b14682/ How to detect if Python is running in interactive mode: http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python/t/93ca6e78bbc7840e/ Subtracting two datetime objects yields a timedelta - but its meaning isn't obvious for everyone: http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python/t/f2bdf717828c27e4/ Splitting an iterable into fixed-length pieces: http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python/t/acbf0bad283fa289/ How to redistribute the runtime libraries required to run Python on Windows: http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python/t/54e419bf4cf17375/ Some tips on getting help from inside IDLE http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python/t/3bc8625b4ffe641/ How to get at a class globals: http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python/t/9ad6b6a8fbb57bcc/ The oldest thread still alive -- started almost three months ago. Now discussing whether good programmers may survive bad languages, or good languages encourage good programming, or viceversa, or the other way out, or ...: http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python/t/d22fd69527205232/ This group is (like) a teddy bear! http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python/t/bab283b640452c19/ ======================================================================== Everything Python-related you want is probably one or two clicks away in these pages: Python.org's Python Language Website is the traditional center of Pythonia http://www.python.org Notice especially the master FAQ http://www.python.org/doc/FAQ.html PythonWare complements the digest you're reading with the marvelous daily python url http://www.pythonware.com/daily Just beginning with Python? This page is a great place to start: http://wiki.python.org/moin/BeginnersGuide/Programmers The Python Papers aims to publish "the efforts of Python enthusiasts": http://pythonpapers.org/ The Python Magazine is a technical monthly devoted to Python: http://pythonmagazine.com Readers have recommended the "Planet" site: http://planet.python.org comp.lang.python.announce announces new Python software. Be sure to scan this newsgroup weekly. http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python.announce/topics Python411 indexes "podcasts ... to help people learn Python ..." Updates appear more-than-weekly: http://www.awaretek.com/python/index.html The Python Package Index catalogues packages. http://www.python.org/pypi/ Much of Python's real work takes place on Special-Interest Group mailing lists http://www.python.org/sigs/ Python Success Stories--from air-traffic control to on-line match-making--can inspire you or decision-makers to whom you're subject with a vision of what the language makes practical. http://www.pythonology.com/success The Python Software Foundation (PSF) has replaced the Python Consortium as an independent nexus of activity. It has official responsibility for Python's development and maintenance. http://www.python.org/psf/ Among the ways you can support PSF is with a donation. http://www.python.org/psf/donations/ The Summary of Python Tracker Issues is an automatically generated report summarizing new bugs, closed ones, and patch submissions. http://search.gmane.org/?author=status%40bugs.python.org&group=gmane.comp.p… Although unmaintained since 2002, the Cetus collection of Python hyperlinks retains a few gems. http://www.cetus-links.org/oo_python.html Python FAQTS http://python.faqts.com/ The Cookbook is a collaborative effort to capture useful and interesting recipes. http://code.activestate.com/recipes/langs/python/ Many Python conferences around the world are in preparation. Watch this space for links to them. Among several Python-oriented RSS/RDF feeds available, see: http://www.python.org/channews.rdf For more, see: http://www.syndic8.com/feedlist.php?ShowMatch=python&ShowStatus=all The old Python "To-Do List" now lives principally in a SourceForge reincarnation. http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?atid=355470&group_id=5470&func=browse http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0042/ del.icio.us presents an intriguing approach to reference commentary. It already aggregates quite a bit of Python intelligence. http://del.icio.us/tag/python Enjoy the *Python Magazine*. http://pymag.phparch.com/ *Py: the Journal of the Python Language* http://www.pyzine.com Dr.Dobb's Portal is another source of Python news and articles: http://www.ddj.com/TechSearch/searchResults.jhtml?queryText=python and Python articles regularly appear at IBM DeveloperWorks: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/search/searchResults.jsp?searchSite=dW&se… Previous - (U)se the (R)esource, (L)uke! - messages are listed here: http://search.gmane.org/?query=python+URL+weekly+news+links&group=gmane.com… http://groups.google.com/groups/search?q=Python-URL!+group%3Acomp.lang.pyth… http://lwn.net/Search/DoSearch?words=python-url&ctype3=yes&cat_25=yes There is *not* an RSS for "Python-URL!"--at least not yet. Arguments for and against are occasionally entertained. Suggestions/corrections for next week's posting are always welcome. E-mail to <Python-URL(a)phaseit.net> should get through. To receive a new issue of this posting in e-mail each Monday morning (approximately), ask <claird(a)phaseit.net> to subscribe. Mention "Python-URL!". Write to the same address to unsubscribe. -- The Python-URL! Team-- Phaseit, Inc. (http://phaseit.net) is pleased to participate in and sponsor the "Python-URL!" project. Watch this space for upcoming news about posting archives.

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PyCon early-bird registration ends JANUARY 6 (Wednesday)
by Catherine Devlin 31 Dec '09

31 Dec '09

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[ANN] stdeb 0.5.0 released, now includes pypi-install script
by Andrew Straw 31 Dec '09

31 Dec '09

stdeb produces Debian source packages from Python packages via a new distutils command, sdist_dsc. Automatic defaults are provided for the Debian package, but many aspects of the resulting package can be customized. An additional command, bdist_deb, creates a Debian binary package, a .deb file. Two convenience utilities are also provided. pypi-install will query the Python Package Index (PyPI) for a package, download it, create a .deb from it, and then install the .deb. py2dsc will convert a distutils-built source tarball into a Debian source package. stdeb: http://github.com/astraw/stdeb This email announces release 0.5.0. download: http://pypi.python.org/pypi/stdeb/0.5.0 Highlights for this release (you may also wish to consult the full changelog): * A new pypi-install script will automatically download, make a .deb, and install packages from the Python Package Index (PyPI). * Removal of the setuptools dependency. * New option (--guess-conflicts-provides-replaces) to query original Debian packages for Conflicts/Provides/Replaces information. * As a result of these changes and to fix a couple bugs/warts, some minor backwards incompatible changes and deprecations were made. Please check the release notes: http://github.com/astraw/stdeb/blob/release-0.5.0/RELEASE_NOTES.txt The full changelog is here: http://github.com/astraw/stdeb/blob/release-0.5.0/CHANGELOG.txt

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ANN: cssutils 0.9.7a2
by Christof 30 Dec '09

30 Dec '09

what is it ---------- A Python package to parse and build CSS Cascading Style Sheets. (Not a renderer though!) about this release ------------------ 0.9.7a2 is an alpha release. main changes ------------ 0.9.7 is quite a bit faster than 0.9.6. 0.9.7a2 091230 - **API CHANGE**: Setting a style declarations' property to ``None`` or the empty string effectively removes this property from the declaration. See also Issue #32. + **BUGFIX/FEATURE**: Fixed Issue 33: URL references (like ``url()`` values) in combined sheets are now adjusted even if sheets are not in the same folder. Only relative paths are adjusted. - **BUGFIX**: Fixed parsing of FUNCTIONS in CSSUnknownRule like ``@bottom { counter(page) }`` which raised a false error of a mismatch of parenthesis license ------- cssutils is published under the LGPL version 3 or later, see http://cthedot.de/cssutils/ If you have other licensing needs please let me know. download -------- For download options see http://cthedot.de/cssutils/ cssutils needs Python 2.4 or higher or Jython 2.5 and higher (tested with Python 2.6.4(64), 2.5.4(64), 2.4.4 and Jython 2.5.1 on Win 7 64bit only) Bug reports (via Google code), comments, etc are very much appreciated! Thanks. Christof

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OSCON 2010: Call for Proposals
by Aahz 29 Dec '09

29 Dec '09

Deadline: Feb 1, 2010 OSCON, the O'Reilly Open Source Convention July 19 - 23, 2010 Oregon Convention Center Portland, OR http://post.oreilly.com/rd/9z1zg6ii2gsi1l6cshb1806k2apmotnacpkrk77ttgg Faster, Freer, Smarter: Whatever your Goal, Make It Happen with Open Source More than 2,500 experts, developers, sys admins, and hackers will meet up at OSCON 2010 to explore the tools, services, and platforms that make up the vibrant open source ecosystem. Join us! The OSCON Call for Participation is now open. If you have winning techniques, favorite lifesavers, war stories, productivity tips, or other ideas to share, we want to hear from you. We're especially on the look-out for ways to do more with less, design and usability best practices, mobile device innovations, cloud computing, parallelization, open standards and data, open source in government, business models, and beyond. Speak up about the freedom--and opportunity--of open source at OSCON 2010. Submit your proposal by February 1, 2010 at: http://post.oreilly.com/rd/9z1zr5embktof4hi37tr30hm2qshjaug3mfrdjltsmg -- Aahz (aahz(a)pythoncraft.com) <*> http://www.pythoncraft.com/ Weinberg's Second Law: If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization.

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[ANN] PyDSTool 0.88 -- dynamical systems modeling tools
by Rob Clewley 28 Dec '09

28 Dec '09

A new release of the dynamical systems modeling toolbox PyDSTool is available from Sourceforge: http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/pydstool/ Highlights from the release notes: * Cleanup of global imports, especially: entire numpy.random and linalg namespaces no longer imported by default * Added support for 'min' and 'max' keywords in functional specifications (for ODE right-hand sides, for instance) * Optimization tools from third-party genericOpt (included with permission) and improved parameter estimation examples making use of this code * Numerical phase-response calculations now possible in PRC toolbox * Fully-fledged DSSRT toolbox for neural modeling (see wiki page) * New tests/demonstrations in PyDSTool/tests * Major improvements to intelligent expr2func (symbolic -> python function conversion) * Improved compatibility with cross-platform use and with recent python versions and associated libraries * Added many minor features (see timeline on Trac http://jay.cam.cornell.edu/pydstool/timeline) * Fixed many bugs and quirks (see timeline on Trac http://jay.cam.cornell.edu/pydstool/timeline) This is mainly a bugfix release in preparation for a substantial upgrade at version 0.90, which will have a proper installer, unit testing, symbolic expression support via SymPy, and greatly improved interfacing to legacy ODE integrators. These features are being actively developed in 2009/2010. For installation and setting up, please carefully read the GettingStarted page at our wiki for platform-specific details: http://pydstool.sourceforge.net Please use the bug tracker and user discussion list at Sourceforge to report bugs or provide feedback. Code and documentation contributions are always welcome. Regards, Rob Clewley

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TurboGears (un)Tutorial in Texas, January 30
by Jason Galyon 28 Dec '09

28 Dec '09

FREE TurboGears (un)tutorial, 30 January 2010 in Richardson, TX (DFW) taught by Chris Perkins. This will be a 'build as we go' tutorial where you are highly encouraged to bring a real database that we will map against and write an app for. Consider this both a tutorial and sprint. Seats are limited to 15 (unless I get overwhelmed then I will change venues) so please register at http://dfwtgtutorial.eventbrite.com/. For detailed information on the event including what to bring and how to prepare, please see http://percious.com/blog/archives/152. Here you can also see a tentative schedule for other locations. Special thanks goes to Chris for volunteering his time and Company Dallas (http://www.companydallas.com/) for providing the free space and resources for this. Hope to see you there, Jason Galyon

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[ANN] Numpy 1.4.0 release
by David Cournapeau 28 Dec '09

28 Dec '09

Hi, I am pleased to announce the release of numpy 1.4.0. The highlights of this release are: - Faster import time - Extended array wrapping mechanism for ufuncs - New Neighborhood iterator (C-level only) - C99-like complex functions in npymath, and a lot of portability fixes for basic floating point math functions The full release notes are at the end of the email. The sources are uploaded on Pypi, and the binary installers will soon come on the sourceforge page: https://sourceforge.net/projects/numpy/ Thank you to everyone involved in this release, developers, users who reported bugs, fix documentation, etc... enjoy, the numpy developers. ========================= NumPy 1.4.0 Release Notes ========================= This minor includes numerous bug fixes, as well as a few new features. It is backward compatible with 1.3.0 release. Highlights ========== * Faster import time * Extended array wrapping mechanism for ufuncs * New Neighborhood iterator (C-level only) * C99-like complex functions in npymath New features ============ Extended array wrapping mechanism for ufuncs ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An __array_prepare__ method has been added to ndarray to provide subclasses greater flexibility to interact with ufuncs and ufunc-like functions. ndarray already provided __array_wrap__, which allowed subclasses to set the array type for the result and populate metadata on the way out of the ufunc (as seen in the implementation of MaskedArray). For some applications it is necessary to provide checks and populate metadata *on the way in*. __array_prepare__ is therefore called just after the ufunc has initialized the output array but before computing the results and populating it. This way, checks can be made and errors raised before operations which may modify data in place. Automatic detection of forward incompatibilities ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Previously, if an extension was built against a version N of NumPy, and used on a system with NumPy M < N, the import_array was successfull, which could cause crashes because the version M does not have a function in N. Starting from NumPy 1.4.0, this will cause a failure in import_array, so the error will be catched early on. New iterators ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A new neighborhood iterator has been added to the C API. It can be used to iterate over the items in a neighborhood of an array, and can handle boundaries conditions automatically. Zero and one padding are available, as well as arbitrary constant value, mirror and circular padding. New polynomial support ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ New modules chebyshev and polynomial have been added. The new polynomial module is not compatible with the current polynomial support in numpy, but is much like the new chebyshev module. The most noticeable difference to most will be that coefficients are specified from low to high power, that the low level functions do *not* work with the Chebyshev and Polynomial classes as arguements, and that the Chebyshev and Polynomial classes include a domain. Mapping between domains is a linear substitution and the two classes can be converted one to the other, allowing, for instance, a Chebyshev series in one domain to be expanded as a polynomial in another domain. The new classes should generally be used instead of the low level functions, the latter are provided for those who wish to build their own classes. The new modules are not automatically imported into the numpy namespace, they must be explicitly brought in with an "import numpy.polynomial" statement. New C API ~~~~~~~~~ The following C functions have been added to the C API: #. PyArray_GetNDArrayCFeatureVersion: return the *API* version of the loaded numpy. #. PyArray_Correlate2 - like PyArray_Correlate, but implements the usual definition of correlation. Inputs are not swapped, and conjugate is taken for complex arrays. #. PyArray_NeighborhoodIterNew - a new iterator to iterate over a neighborhood of a point, with automatic boundaries handling. It is documented in the iterators section of the C-API reference, and you can find some examples in the multiarray_test.c.src file in numpy.core. New ufuncs ~~~~~~~~~~ The following ufuncs have been added to the C API: #. copysign - return the value of the first argument with the sign copied from the second argument. #. nextafter - return the next representable floating point value of the first argument toward the second argument. New defines ~~~~~~~~~~~ The alpha processor is now defined and available in numpy/npy_cpu.h. The failed detection of the PARISC processor has been fixed. The defines are: #. NPY_CPU_HPPA: PARISC #. NPY_CPU_ALPHA: Alpha Testing ~~~~~~~ #. deprecated decorator: this decorator may be used to avoid cluttering testing output while testing DeprecationWarning is effectively raised by the decorated test. #. assert_array_almost_equal_nulps: new method to compare two arrays of floating point values. With this function, two values are considered close if there are not many representable floating point values in between, thus being more robust than assert_array_almost_equal when the values fluctuate a lot. #. assert_array_max_ulp: raise an assertion if there are more than N representable numbers between two floating point values. #. assert_warns: raise an AssertionError if a callable does not generate a warning of the appropriate class, without altering the warning state. Reusing npymath ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In 1.3.0, we started putting portable C math routines in npymath library, so that people can use those to write portable extensions. Unfortunately, it was not possible to easily link against this library: in 1.4.0, support has been added to numpy.distutils so that 3rd party can reuse this library. See coremath documentation for more information. Improved set operations ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In previous versions of NumPy some set functions (intersect1d, setxor1d, setdiff1d and setmember1d) could return incorrect results if the input arrays contained duplicate items. These now work correctly for input arrays with duplicates. setmember1d has been renamed to in1d, as with the change to accept arrays with duplicates it is no longer a set operation, and is conceptually similar to an elementwise version of the Python operator 'in'. All of these functions now accept the boolean keyword assume_unique. This is False by default, but can be set True if the input arrays are known not to contain duplicates, which can increase the functions' execution speed. Improvements ============ #. numpy import is noticeably faster (from 20 to 30 % depending on the platform and computer) #. The sort functions now sort nans to the end. * Real sort order is [R, nan] * Complex sort order is [R + Rj, R + nanj, nan + Rj, nan + nanj] Complex numbers with the same nan placements are sorted according to the non-nan part if it exists. #. The type comparison functions have been made consistent with the new sort order of nans. Searchsorted now works with sorted arrays containing nan values. #. Complex division has been made more resistent to overflow. #. Complex floor division has been made more resistent to overflow. Deprecations ============ The following functions are deprecated: #. correlate: it takes a new keyword argument old_behavior. When True (the default), it returns the same result as before. When False, compute the conventional correlation, and take the conjugate for complex arrays. The old behavior will be removed in NumPy 1.5, and raises a DeprecationWarning in 1.4. #. unique1d: use unique instead. unique1d raises a deprecation warning in 1.4, and will be removed in 1.5. #. intersect1d_nu: use intersect1d instead. intersect1d_nu raises a deprecation warning in 1.4, and will be removed in 1.5. #. setmember1d: use in1d instead. setmember1d raises a deprecation warning in 1.4, and will be removed in 1.5. The following raise errors: #. When operating on 0-d arrays, ``numpy.max`` and other functions accept only ``axis=0``, ``axis=-1`` and ``axis=None``. Using an out-of-bounds axes is an indication of a bug, so Numpy raises an error for these cases now. #. Specifying ``axis > MAX_DIMS`` is no longer allowed; Numpy raises now an error instead of behaving similarly as for ``axis=None``. Internal changes ================ Use C99 complex functions when available ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The numpy complex types are now guaranteed to be ABI compatible with C99 complex type, if availble on the platform. Moreoever, the complex ufunc now use the platform C99 functions intead of our own. split multiarray and umath source code ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The source code of multiarray and umath has been split into separate logic compilation units. This should make the source code more amenable for newcomers. Separate compilation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ By default, every file of multiarray (and umath) is merged into one for compilation as was the case before, but if NPY_SEPARATE_COMPILATION env variable is set to a non-negative value, experimental individual compilation of each file is enabled. This makes the compile/debug cycle much faster when working on core numpy. Separate core math library ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ New functions which have been added: * npy_copysign * npy_nextafter * npy_cpack * npy_creal * npy_cimag * npy_cabs * npy_cexp * npy_clog * npy_cpow * npy_csqr * npy_ccos * npy_csin

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[ANN] Pyspread 0.0.13 released
by Martin Manns 27 Dec '09

27 Dec '09

Pyspread 0.0.13 released ======================== I am pleased to announce the new release 0.0.13 of pyspread. About: ------ Pyspread is a cross-platform Python spreadsheet application. It is based on and written in the programming language Python. Instead of spreadsheet formulas, Python expressions are entered into the spreadsheet cells. Each expression returns a Python object that can be accessed from other cells. These objects can represent anything including lists or matrices. Pyspread runs on Linux and *nix platforms with GTK support as well as on Windows (XP and Vista tested). On Mac OS X, some icons are too small but the application basically works. Homepage -------- http://pyspread.sourceforge.net New features in 0.0.13 ---------------------- * Print framework now supports colors and drawn elements * Splash screen removed * Some drawing speed improvements Bug fixes --------- + Small white rectangle in upper left corner removed (BUG 2918360) + setup.py does not copy directories fixed (BUG 2913911) + Folder renaming to fix installation errors (BUG 2909017) Enjoy Martin

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[ANN] pyxser-1.4r --- Python Object to XML serializer
by Daniel Molina Wegener 27 Dec '09

27 Dec '09

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA512 Hello Python Community. I'm pleased to announce pyxser-1.4, a python extension which contains functions to serialize and deserialize Python Objects into XML. It is a model based serializer. Here is the ChangeLog entry for this release: - ---8<--- 1.4r (2009.12.26): Daniel Molina Wegener <dmw(a)coder.cl> * pyxser_typem.c: Added type map serialization and deserialization routines and arguments. Now pyxser is able to serialize and deserialize objects using custom serialization functions, but preserving the pyxser XML schema and the serialization model. - ---8<--- The project is hosted at: http://sourceforge.net/projects/pyxser/ The web page for the project is located at: http://coder.cl/products/pyxser/ PyPi entry is: http://pypi.python.org/pypi?name=pyxser&version=1.4r&:action=display For a sample article on how to integrate pyxser with ZSI WebServices: http://coder.cl/2009/10/18/pyxser-and-zsi-webservices/ Thanks and best regards, - -- | Daniel Molina <dmw [at] coder [dot] cl> | | IT Consulting & Software Development | | http://coder.cl/ | -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (GNU/Linux) iQIcBAEBCgAGBQJLNrcxAAoJEHxqfq6Y4O5N0o8QALSZ9Q4aLGn6SA2YekYhayWt CYaqRDI693RpJ0HJZUoxPaYvsw9BEs7RsnDVt+p2n2Y51SoWXOHTchXYg/if/Zrr hXsfw6nLyP2sNt3n0rxqx9OHW4IWkKzAKWRgz7xOLLgJoJID4DxNyX1m2xw2BBYe Rwv1b289+aaJhDh799oMtStKMAsXSf3fYVQS1WJC8HviULuWyjHQXp2guUfEKcNK WCDb1o339GUkMSn1ab6SKcEClnxe4hXeoquxP9kcC3UUuC4xGVZ44G6ufookGSJg f7Dv1BELo/FDp5Scw0K5F1leeIvwBpV+BTFqE9jGnUFGj7JX88prYen8fsc+UNj0 wIiy9M1VUgOMCkXsuEfOnXJiH4YugTwZjLDoQP334i0LXZEVIIE6HKB+v5Pr7nP7 ui8QbiZrN3tQ7KoV4Aq4y6/xbu8wGttrzzQ3BDkElc095nwuNqIq13gMMzahypql etDs8bWfzGgSW4mA15s4GQ6twD1mVp+TJ9ggGqP+OvKeeUhhn4S6uFXFoW8n3+l+ SbnPOzqIj5worxHmomb+P/EhIOYlQZ63cVyZPWlhTOhA7c0zMYsYlHBrgwHq3NEW FYpDNS6h+6yz0dMgLj7FyWxvZvpeGLvO362CDJZ66fFR/2hi/0DvlJ35orNuu75D ezt4OHsG0KeOottKD/sg =tT+b -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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