Here is a list of the most frequently-asked questions I receive from community members. Most are stream-related, which others are questions I am asked during a livestream or otherwise.
| What kind of community are you?
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| We are a gaming community with deep roots in the 8- and 16-bit era that places strong emphasis on social interaction with its members through direct communication as well as many online multiplayer games. We are very casual and are primarily centered around Nintendo-related games, but certainly not exclusive.
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| How long have you been a streamer?
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| We started streaming on July 1st, 2008 way before it was cool or even a concept most people thought of or even truly understood. We have transitioned many times from various streaming and chat services as they closed down or transfered.
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| What streaming services have you used?
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| We originally started on Ustream, which has recently transitioned to IBM Cloud. From there, we moved to JustinTV, which eventually became Twitch. When Twitch had a brief downfall, many users transitioned to Hitbox which later became Smashcast. We tried Periscope, which lasted for a small amount of time. YouTube Gaming was later introduced and livestreams were now possible on my two YouTube channels. We later joined Beam.pro, which introduced low-latency viewing. That eventually became Mixer which also shut down. From there, we transitioned to Facebook Gaming. We were also recommended to start using DLive.
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| Why do you have two YouTube channels?
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| My 'main channel' (TomBobBlender) is mostly known for my Mario Paint videos. While it has a much higher following of the two, I continue to stream from there for anyone interested in watching. The recordings, however, are never saved to this channel. My second channel, "The TomBobBlender Show", was created as a place to store all stream-related content, originally as a dumping ground for all of my Ustream highlights. It records and archives all streams in full.
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| How are you able to stream to so many different platforms at once?
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| We use a service called Restream which allows one upload to be branched out to many services at once.
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| Do you have a Discord server?
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| Yes! We also utilize one of our rooms as the livestream channel as it was originally known from Ustream and Rizon as #tombobblender. Our server is also designed with gamers in mind, providing many categories and rooms to benefit your entertainment, including all of our stream chat games and the ability to co-host.
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| What is a co-host?
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| A co-host is an opportunity for you, the viewer, to join me on-air as a second voice to the livestream. We have transitioned many services which originated on Skype, then Mumble, and currently on Discord. We always welcome co-hosts.
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| Am I allowed to co-host?
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| Sure! Even new member are welcome! Make sure you thoroughly read our rules page on our Discord server regarding the voice rules, and be sure to "the thing" to gain access to the co-host role.
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| I got the co-host role, but what do I do next?
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| Obtaining your co-host role is a one-time thing. After that, all you need to do is move to the #tombobblender room on Discord and type "can I cohost?". You should hear a Paula "Pray" sound effect from EarthBound. If your request is granted, you will be asked to move yourself to our On-Air Room. Make sure your mic is in good working order and that you are wearing headphones. Keep your background noise as quiet as possible. All cohosts are required to use Push-to-Talk. If you prefer Voice Activity and your environment merits this decision, we can offer that to you.
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| How do I get DP?
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| DP, which stands for Dragon Points, is awarded primarily through chat games and quicknicks, but can also be earned through donations from other users, receiving honorable stream status (Noob of the Day, etc.) or awarded from me personally for doing something amazing.
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| What's a QuickNick?
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| A QuickNick is a stream challenge that can be played on our Discord server. You play by listening for certain sound cues that play on the stream and responding to them with various phrases. A complete list of all Quicknicks can be found here.
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| How do I play the chat games?
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| We have lots of text-based chat games located on our Discord server. They were grandfathered in from our IRC channels and can be found in our Discord channel #chat_games. A complete list of all of our chat games can be found here.
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| How do I use my DP?
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| Your Dragon Points can be used as a donatable gift to another Discord user, or used to purchase stream-exclusive perks through our Ban-N-Shop.
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| Who is Banondorf?
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| Banondorf is our home-grown stream bot. He is (allegedly) the short-tempered brother of Ganondorf. He controls the chat topic, bans, chat games, stream challenges, events and the stream music and sounds. Be warned, he isn't afraid of using his ban hammer and will strike if you are asking for it... and I mean that both literally and figuratively. See a list of commands here.
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| Why was I banned?
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| Read the rules and try to find any rules you may have broken. If your search is in vain, ask a stream moderator. If they don't know, speak directly to me.
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| I have a problem with a moderator!
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| Talk to me privately about it. If a stream moderator isn't doing their job properly, please let me know.
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| I'm having a problem with another user!
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| If it's something they are doing or saying, ask them politely to stop. If they persist afterward, talk to a moderator. They'll be happy to take care of the situation. Just remember that anything in private conversation is out of our control. If someone is harassing you in a private message, we encourage you to block them.
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| Where are you from?
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| I grew up in New York State, United States. I moved to the Bay Area of California in 2011 after finishing graduate school where I currently reside.
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| What time zone are you in?
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| I am in the Pacific Time zone.
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| How can I be alerted when you go live?
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| We have many options available to you for prompt notifications. You can follow me on Twitter where I post each livestream and game changes from within a livestream. There are also two announcements from within our Discord server; a link to the YouTube stream is posted in #tombobblender and a post is also made in #livestreams which ping users who have requested the @Viewers role. You can also follow my Twitch and YouTube Gaming channels and become subscribers to my YouTube channels.
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| Who is Buddii?
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| Buddii was my pet ferret that I got in 2007. and is the stream's mascot. He's been around since before the stream started and without him, the stream probably wouldn't exist, if not ever, like it does today.
Buddii has since left us due to natural causes. If you would like to support the effort to bring ferrets to California, please visit here.
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| Why is your name TomBobBlender?
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| It was a combination of three different things; Thomas is my first name (which I don't particularly like to be called), though many of my friends call me Tom, while a select few call me Tommy or TomTom. The Bob part comes from my last name, which is Roberts, which was often mistaken to be my first name while in college (Thomas Robert, Robert Thomas?), and Blender was borrowed from the co-ed a cappella group I was involved with called the "Premium Blend". When I created my YouTube channel on March 24th 2006, I insisted on not using any numbers and decided to combine all three names together, and the rest is history.
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| What kind of hardware do you use for streaming?
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| I stream and game from one PC that I have built myself. To find out more about my current build, you can visit Stream Setup.
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| What kind of software do you use for streaming?
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| Back in 2008, I streamed directly to Ustream using their web-based broadcaster. 240p was the maximum resolution. I then used WebCamMax to allow special stream overlays, transitions, videos and slideshows. From there, when we transitioned to widescreen, I discovered XSplit and continue to use it today.
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| How often do you stream?
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| I try to stream three-to-four times a week and usually at night around 9 PM PT until about 2 AM PT. Once in a while I will do some early-afternoon shows. It all depends on my availability and my work schedule.
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| Why do you stream?
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| I stream mostly for the community, spending time with my friends and making new ones along the way! Prior to the show, I skipped out on playing video games for four whole years so I could focus on high school. As a result, I missed out on a lot of good games ranging from consoles like the Nintendo 64 to the Nintendo Gamecube. In August of 2007, I picked up a Nintendo Wii and began playing Super Mario Galaxy and a few virtual console games, but it wasn't until Super Smash Bros. Brawl that I "began to take video games seriously again". Since the stream began, my favorite aspect of it has always been interacting with the community.
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| How can I learn more about your show?
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| Our show has had a long history, spanning over a decade. We have utilized many different services to track and preserve historical documents. Tske a look through our forum and our wikipages for such information. At this time, our Discord server has become our go-to solution for the most up-to-date information.
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| Can I reach you while the stream is off?
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| Sure! You will likely find me on our Discord server, especially in the #tombobblender room. You can always DM me through Discord and I'll try to get back to you in a timely manner. I also frequent the TomBobLobby, an open-access voice channel on Discord where anyone can join at anytime. I also run a separate Zoom conference call both on- and off-air that you may wish to join.
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| Can you add me on Switch?
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| I am a bit resistant to add new people to my consoles, mostly due to the systems' friend limits. If you have established yourself in our community and show promise of sticking around, I will likely add you back.
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| Do you have Steam?
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| I do! Click [ttps://steamcommunity.com/id/tombobblender here] to learn more about my steam account.
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| Do you have a Steam community page?
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| For sure I do! click here to join us.
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| What is your favorite video game?
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| I have always loved Kid Icarus. It is probably my most favorite video game of all time. Other games include Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario Bros. 2, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Mario Paint, Super Metroid and Super Mario Galaxy.
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| Why do you ignore me in your chat?
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| I see every message that comes through my chat. Everything. I am likely to not respond to you if I feel the response is inappropriate or not in context of what is going on. A lot of the messages I see typically don't require a response. Remember, just because I did not respond to it does not necessarily mean I'm ignoring you.
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| How are you so patient with everybody?
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| I get asked this question a lot. In my professional life, I work with a lot of children who have a variety of learning difficulties and behavioral problems. My training over the years has directly influenced my strategies with dealing with people online which, in my opinion, is way harder to do. It also helps that I am people-person and that I enjoy talking with all of you.
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| Am I too young for your stream?
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| I try my best to accommodate the interests of everyone collectively. I generally treat everyone as if they were adults, and is a common expectation I have in return. Whether or not your participation in our community is appropriate is the responsibility of your parents and not our own.
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| You sound the exact same every time. Is anything you say pre-recorded?
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| I find this pretty funny. There are times when I say things that sound exactly the same as previous times (Animal Crossing greetings, Camera Guy from EarthBound, etc.) but I assure you that it is all done on the spot completely live.
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| Can I become a mod?
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| If you are serious about becoming a moderator, please contact me directly and privately. I do not discuss anything related to these questions on a livestream.
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| Do you prefer Apple or Android?
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| Most of my devices are Android-based. I own a Macbook Pro for most of my work-related tasks.
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| Can you join my Discord server?
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| I typically do not join other Discord servers. I barely have enough time keeping my own under control.
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| Do you play Fortnite?
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| Sorry, I do not.
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| Do you play Roblox?
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| Sorry, I do not.
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| Do you have a TikTok?
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| I sure do! You can find it here. Most of my content on there are my Birthday Videos from 2006, a few reaction videos and a decent selection of my Mario Paint arrangements.
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| Why don't you ever tell us to comment, rate, susbcribe, follow or ring the bell?
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| It's not my style to ask you to decide to follow me. Rather, the way I see it, if you enjoy the content that I produce and look forward to seeing more of it, you will do what is necessary to keep yourself updated.
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| Do you have Snapchat?
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| I love snapchat and share a lot of my daily tasks on there. I also enjoy keeping streaks with community members. It actually might be the best way to reach me. My username is TomBobBlender.
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| Do you go to conventions?
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I typically go to anime or gaming conventions based on the westcoast of The United States of America. I also find this to be a great opportunity to meet fans from the internet.
| Do you cosplay?
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| I have cosplayed many characters over the years, and all of them have been projects that I have built myself. These characters include Pit, Flying Man, Flint, Papyrus, The Squeekz and Pennywisethe Dancing Clown.
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| Do you have Instagram?
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| Yes, I do. I mostly use it for my cosplay pictures, but you can find it by clicking here.
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| Why don't you talk when you livestream?
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| I am not the type of person who talks just for the purpose of talking. It's one of the many reasons why I do not enjoy let's play videos. In most situations, during livestreaming or otherwise not, I'm very quiet, but pay fervent attention to what is going on. I speak if I'm reacting to what's happening or in response to somebody in the chat. I also love the quiet.
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| Why don't you use a facecam?
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| I don't really see the appeal in doing that. It's a lot of work to set up and I mostly game at night when it is already pretty dark. I enjoy low-lighting which isn't always the best setting for cameras anyway. Recently, however, I have been doing facecams in my Zoom while the livestream is going on if we were interested in doing that.
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| Do you have Zoom?
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| Yep, we sure do. I mostly use it during a livestream for anyone who wants to video share with one another, speak to each other freely and see me on facecam or view the stream with less latency. Zoom is not affiliated with the stream community or its rules, but I still own and run it. We also use it during off-hours, sometimes to watch anime or movies together. Click here to join in.
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| What current-gen systems do you own?
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| The Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3.
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| What do you like to do besides streaming?
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| I enjoy teaching, practicing the piano, writing music, listening to music, bikeriding, dancing, singing, cleaning, organizing, coding and talking with friends.
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| Can we be friends?
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| Of course! I have had online friendships that have lasted well beyond a decade which continue to thrive. I also enjoy reconnecting with friends whom I have lost touch over the years.
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| What is the best way to reach you?
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| Message me on Discord.
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| When is your birthday?
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| I was born in March 14, 1982 and am a member of the Pisces sign.
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| What do you identify as?
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| I identify as a gay cisgender male. My pronouns are he, him and his.
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| Can I send you funny YouTube videos or TikToks?
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| Yes, please do. My sense of humor is all over the place.
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| Do you watch anime?
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| Not consistently. I have seen Princess Mononoke, Her Lie in April, JoJo's Bizarre Adventures, Chi's Sweet Home, Princess Tutu and two episodes of Attack on Titan.
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| How tall are you?
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| I'm 6 foot 2 inches.
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| What is your favorite video game system?
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| The Nintendo Entertainment System, otherwise known as the NES (pronounced 'Any Yes') or as we all sinply called it growing up, the "Nintendo".
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| What kind of movies do you like to watch?
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| I enjoy horror movies the most. I also enjoy comedies, actions and drama films. Documentaries have also been within my scope of interests.
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| Do you have a favorite TV show?
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| Forensic Files!
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