2023-12-10 20:37:03 -08:00
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2023-06-18 16:47:51 -07:00
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2023-12-10 20:37:03 -08:00
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<title>2006 and later Catz and Dogz</title>
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</head>
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<div class="center green">
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<p>.</p>
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<p>
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<span class="big"
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><b>2006 and later Catz, Dogz and Horsez games</b><br />
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br />
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As of late 2006 and beyond... Just a note to anyone who potters along
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to Petz.com or Babyz.net and sees the new games that were released
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recently.<br
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/></span>
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Most of you already knew that a bunch of virtual life games have been
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released by UbiSoft since 2006, for various consoles and for the PC.
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Hamsterz Life, Hamsterz 2 and Bunnyz are apparently only for the
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Nintendo DS, Horsez and Horsez 2 are released for NDS and PS2 as well as
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for PC, and there are some wildlife "petz" games also for the NDS
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centered around Tigerz and Dolphinz. various Catz and Dogz games have
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been released for mobile phone, Gameboy Advance, NDS, PS2, Wii and PC.
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Although most of these would be playable and, presumably, moddable on
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the PC using emulators, it's the native PC versions that I'm talking
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about here. If anyone wants to mod, or hex, the NDS or mobile phone
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versions of the games you'll find very active modding communities
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amongst the emulator scene. There is also a PS2 emulator for anyone who
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wants to try that, and there may well be a modding community for PS2
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games, but I don't believe that there is any way as yet to play a Wii
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game on an emulator.
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</p>
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<p>
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<span class="big"
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>Although they are named Catz and Dogz or Catz 2 and Dogz 2, the
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latest "Petz" games for Windows are not really part of the Petz series
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we know and love.</span
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><br />
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They are not really a "Petz 6" although for convenience people have
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referred to them that way; the first two were also known as Catz 2006
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and Dogz 2006 for a while. There are many differences between these
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latest games and the ones that we have so far enjoyed, the most obvious
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being that the catz and dogz are 3D and that you have to earn points, or
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coins, to get even the basics that your pet will need. I'm sure a lot of
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people will enjoy the games, but they are not a part of the original
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series and you will not be able to import your petz from Petz 5 or
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earlier. If you enjoy these games, you might like to check out
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<a
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href="https://web.archive.org/web/20100223210547/http://www.lostsockgames.com/games.html"
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>Lost Sock Games </a
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>titles -- Puppy Luv, Kitty Luv, Pony Luv and Hollywood Pets are very
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similar in many ways.
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</p>
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<p class="big">
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As regards modifying the games, however, things have been made easy
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enough for us "hexers" apart from the 3D models. The files used by the
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game are:
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</p>
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<p>
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<b>LUA, INI,</b> and <b>TXT</b> files all of which are text files which
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can be edited in Notepad.<br />
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You'd have to get used to what all the various column headers and key
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words mean, but there's no harm in experimenting -- so long as you keep
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backups of everything of course. The saved-game files, which is where
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your pets are stored, are .sav files, also just text files, which can be
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edited. They are stored in your<br />
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C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Ubisoft\Catz (or
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Catz2)<br />
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folder or<br />
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C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Ubisoft\Dogz (or
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Dogz2).
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</p>
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<p>
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<b>TGA</b> files which are a recognisable format for most paint
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programs.
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</p>
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<p><b>WAV</b> and <b>MP3</b> files which are editable sounds.</p>
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<p>
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<b>DDS</b> files, which are actually editable with the correct tools.
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They can easily be edited using a plug-in which works with either Paint
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Shop Pro or Photoshop, available for free from
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<a href="https://developer.nvidia.com/">Nvidia's</a> site -- the is
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dds.8bi<br />
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http://developer.nvidia.com/docs/IO/1176/ATT/dds.8bi
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</p>
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<p>
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GR2 files, which are "Granny 3D" files. These are not so easy to edit
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and are, in a way, the 3D "bones" of the game. Of course anyone who has
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the Granny 3D SDK would be able to edit them, but that's beyond the
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pocket of most of us I'd have thought! I have heard rumours that there
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is a Milkshape plug-in that allows these to be edited, but if not there
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is at least a tool that allows them to be viewed, obtainable for free
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from
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<a href="http://www.radgametools.com/gramain.htm">the Granny 3D site</a
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><br />
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<b
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>Update as of mid-2008 -- there is now a free way to extract the GR2
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files so that they can be edited in a 3D modelling program. A close
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friend of mine called Topper Carson has the games and he found that
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there are some amazing people who have been picking away at the Gr2
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files which so many games use these days. For useful tools and info
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pop along to the
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<a
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href="https://web.archive.org/web/20111230075015/http://gr2decode.altervista.org/index.html"
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>"Decode Gr2"</a
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>
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site. So theoretically you should be able to modify anything that you
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wish in these games.</b
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>
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</p>
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<p>
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<b
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>The Horsez game, as with Catz 2006 and Dogz 2006 and beyond, is not a
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real part of the Petz series. You're supposed to care for your chosen
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horse as well as enter it for shows and have some adventures with it,
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and the environment is a 3D one. For anyone who has the game and wants
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to edit it, the graphics are in the form of editable .tga files which
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you should be able to edit in a reasonable paint package, and the
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"bones" of it are in the form of .nmo files which will have been
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created via Virtools. If you have
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<a
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href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090115210846/http://www.virtools.com/"
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>Virtools </a
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>of course you'll be able to edit them. I don't know if there is a
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cheaper utility for editing such things, but if you're keen you could
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have a look around Google. The saved-game files are in a directory off
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the Horsez one, called Save, and the files in there are .txt files and
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therefore should be easy to edit. You'd have to get used to what all
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the various column headers and key words mean, but there's no harm in
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experimenting -- so long as you keep backups of everything of
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course.</b
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>
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</p>
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<p>
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<b
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>Babyz players, the only new games available for you from Ubisoft now
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seem to be only for the NDS. So far there is "Imagine Babies" (also
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called "Imagine Babyz" in the US) and possibly due for release in
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September 2008, "Imagine Baby Club". The first one is probably closer
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to the original Babyz experience, but in my opinion neither seems like
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a good replacement. They are part of the extremely girly Imagine
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series for NDS<br />
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A footnote for Babyz players -- there is a new game out called "Bratz
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Babyz", which starts up with a "Babyz.exe", which you might stumble
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across when looking for updates etc. As far as I know, it is not a
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UbiSoft game and it is certainly not in any way a new kind of Babyz
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game, plus the Babyz.exe will not work with your old favourite babyz
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game.</b
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>
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</p>
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<p>
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<b
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>I doubt that I'll be editing any of these newer PC games. Even apart
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from the fact that they aren't likely to work under my beloved Win 95,
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I don't really have the time even to play these days, and as for my
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skill in editing graphics, well... let's just say I'm "graphically
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challenged", LOL. Of course I'd have no trouble cheating in the catz
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and dogz games, as the saved-game (i.e. pet) files are just LUA files
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-- in other words, they are editable in Notepad.</b
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>
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</p>
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<p><b>Enjoy</b></p>
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<p><b>Carolyn</b></p>
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<p>
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<b
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>For people who are interested in such things, since 2006 the rather
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complex ownership of the games is as follows. The Petz titles are now
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trademarks owned by "Ubisoft Entertainment". The mobile phone versions
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of Petz, Catz and Dogz have been released by Gameloft. The DS Catz
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games were developed by Powerhead Games while the DS and GBA Dogz
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games and the Catz GBA game are copyright to MTO Inc. For the Wii and
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PS2 the Dogz and Catz games are copyright to YUKE’S Co. as well as
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Ubisoft. For the PC, the Dogz and catz games were developed by
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ImaginEngine which is a division of Foundation 9 Entertainment.<br />
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It's all a long way from the day in 1995 when P.F. Magic created and
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put up for download their own unique and exciting game "Dogz". You
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could download it and try it, and if you liked it you could buy a key
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online -- which also was a new concept back then. It was so popular
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that it was also then released for the Apple Mac in 1996.</b
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>
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</p>
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<p>.</p>
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</div>
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</body>
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2023-06-18 16:47:51 -07:00
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</html>
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