Add a contributor text view for name credits

These past few months I've been doing a lot of updates to Jimmy Carr's "humongous" body of work and found it really useful to scan the text view - which the link below brought up. It's now changed to something that, for someone trying to look for things that are missing, is really unhelpful.

The new view is REALLY hard to use, as a Contributor. I don't want to see images etc. I just want to see if something is missing from the list - and this is awful to page through, when there is a lot of content.

Can the text style view be made available to contributors??? Pretty please?

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0139743/fullcredits?ref_=nm_flmg_sort_text_view

Note: This comment was created from a merged conversation originally titled Text version changed

This post was created from this comment on different post

Responses

Official Response

Col_Needham

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4 months ago

@ChiefTuftyClubMember Thanks for the feedback and your articulation of the use case here. We have split this from the announcement thread regarding the full credits view being folded into the main /name/ pages and turned this into an Idea thread such that other customers can vote for it and comment upon it.

We are interested in collecting feedback for this use case and we may move some of the other posts on the announcement thread here shortly.

Please vote if you support this idea and we welcome as many details as people are willing to provide over their needs for this view. How were you using it in the past and how might a future version be improved?

Col_Needham

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@ChiefTuftyClubMember We are also interested in more details of how you previously imported the data into a spreadsheet and how this was used? Would an "export to CSV" option be a suitable replacement on a /name/ page?

4 months ago

ChiefTuftyClubMember

32 Messages

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506 Points

With the old text list I was able to just highlight the text, copy/paste it into a spreadsheet, do some "text to columns" tweaking - and then compare it against my own spreadsheet information. Some of it came out a bit wonky - but it was better than nothing.

I wasn't interested in deep data of the shows (although it would be helpful if that were available) below is an example of how it came out.

4 months ago

ChiefTuftyClubMember

32 Messages

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506 Points

@Col_Needham Morning. Thanks for this - but not clear where the "ideas thread" is? has it been created yet? I received a lot of notifications overnight so am just about to wade through.

If we use Jimmy Carr as an example - he has appeared in / hosted / presented over 1200 TV show episodes, to date. Plus films, clips shows, pilots, adverts - and writing credits (from the early days) for other comedy series.

And, as IMDB details some Radio / Podcast shows, there are also well over 200 of those that I know of. Someone has input his Little Tiny Quiz of Lockdown - but there are lots of errors in that listing - similar to a clean up I've just performed on Your Face or Mine. I need an easier way to overview the data.

Over the years I have gathered a lot of information and have been updating IMDB as I thought it the most comprehensive of the available TV listing sites.

But not being able to access the text view makes it nigh on impossible to manage this little lot. Especially as, this past week, my Adguard seems to be failing on your site. Do you know how annoying it is to be clicking through screens with huge adverts bouncing out at every click?

And moving page sections are a migraine trigger for me, so I really can't cope with looking at the new view, to try and find discrepancies, with all this screen motion.

My vote would be:

1 - restore a text view - even if only for contributors

2 - give contributors a download option

3 - this is a wish list item - give contributor accounts an ad free access. they are seriously annoying and get in the way

Thanks for asking though. Nice to know you are listening.

4 months ago

Col_Needham

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@ChiefTuftyClubMember This is the separate Idea thread :-)

Thanks for describing your use case. Have you looked at the view of name credits provided in edit mode? To access this, visit any IMDb name page and click the “Edit page” button at the bottom of the page. You will see a set of options to edit the various different data types, including for cast members, a section headed “Filmography (acting)” which will either contain a menu for “Actress credits” or “Actor credits” where you should select “Correct / Delete” then press the “Continue” button at the bottom of the page. The resulting page will include all of their acting credits in a tabular view, and of course, it does work for all other filmography sections too.

Here’s a screen-grab of the top of this view for Jimmy Carr:

Does this already cover your vote #1 above and eliminate the requirement for #2 or is there something missing?

As to #3, the ads are what pay for IMDb and your access. We have a lower ad load than most sites and there are no pop-ups / pop-up videos. IMDbPro is ad free for paying subscribers; alternatively the Top 300 contributors each year receive free access to the subscription version of IMDbPro. If you find the the ads are not relevant, check your setting via the “Your Ads Privacy Choices” link in the very bottom right of every IMDb page — for the most personalised ads, ensure you accept cookies and select “On” for the three options in the “Advertising cookies” section if you are comfortable with the explanations of how everything works.

4 months ago

ChiefTuftyClubMember

32 Messages

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506 Points

Thanks – have looked now. That’s really not suitable for copy /paste though. It comes out as just a single column and the KEEP buttons create a horrendous load on the file. JC’s record pastes out as 8500 rows.

The rows are also not grouped like they were in the text view. If there was a full-on text version that could be pasted out then I could do the grouping manually. But, for example, with 8 Out of 10 Cats Down Countdown Jimmy Carr has two roles – Host and Programme Associate. 165 shows have been filmed, to date, (IMDB only has 160 – I need to locate the missing ones) and some have a role missing or there will be some blips where someone has used Presenter. That sort of thing can only be tidied up if a text list can be generated. I don’t want to have to page through 165 episodes…

The best way to look for errors, omissions and anomalies is to have a text version that can be compared to my own spreadsheets.

I understand re ads but people who are contributing are giving you their time – unpaid. I think the least you could do is give an ad-free edit mode? This is may sound rude but can I suggest you sit and simulate editing dozens of entries and see how many times you have to see the same ads, over and over and over again. I wasn’t intending to buy the thing the first time – by the 20th I’m ready to start a campaign to shut down the company (that was a joke – just in case!).

I’m afraid I’ve seen something equivalent to pop ups. My Adguard is functioning again but, yesterday, there was an ad towards the top that when I started to scroll down it moved with me for a short time and then vanished. As mentioned before – this is not helpful when you have migraine issues. Ditto ads that are like mini movie clips. I have the same issue with Amazon home page (movie banner) and have to have my menu link set at my account level.

Thank you for the “your ads privacy choices” info. As someone who has been involved in website design – this is not a great location. I’d look for this under my account settings – why is it not in settings?

One more item for the wish list – you have a Watch List for shows. Could there be an option to be notified when a person’s information is being edited?

If you are on Wikipedia (or similar) and you edit a person (or page) you can opt to be told every time someone then makes subsequent changes.

Thank you for gathering this info - hopefully we can get something useful back.

4 months ago

ChiefTuftyClubMember

32 Messages

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506 Points

@Col_Needham Hi - any progress on restoring the data list view, please? Thanks

3 months ago

bounce_out

12 Messages

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190 Points

4 months ago

Why in tarnation was All Credits (Text Only) disabled???? For printing credits, it was great, there's no dealing with images and the credits appear on printed pages just fine. Now, credits are being cut off on page breaks, probably to make room to show film images and user rating. All that's needed with Text Only is title, year, character...it wasn't broke and didn't need fixing.

Note: This comment was created from a merged conversation originally titled All Credits (Text Only)

Note: This comment was created from a merged conversation originally titled Add a contributor text view for name credits

Col_Needham

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@bounce_out Thanks for the description of the use case. Which data would you like to see in a printable version and which not?

4 months ago

bounce_out

12 Messages

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190 Points

I like seeing in a printable version how it's been under Credits (text only):

Credits

Up to 5 lists on the right hand side

It appears like this currently, there were a few days where Credits (text only) wasn't accessible under All topics, which prompted the thread.

4 months ago

DGraf

12 Messages

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170 Points

4 months ago

Seeing pictures and not the Full text page for credits is not anyone's idea of a DATEBASE. This is now useless to find and search, copy and paste, . BRING BACK THE FULL TEXT PAGE for all CREDITS.

Note: This comment was created from a merged conversation originally titled Add a contributor text view for name credits

martin_695862

617 Messages

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13.8K Points

4 months ago

@Col_Needham "the view has been moved to a more visible spot on the main name page in response to customer feedback"

No it hasn't. You are missing the point of what people are saying in this thread.

Fine: the "all credits" option un-sets the default of separating the listing into page-sized chunks with a "more" option to continue going back in time for another chunk. That's great. But that is no substitute. The list is still hierarchical: for a given TV series title, all you see is "41 episodes" and you then have to click on that link to display the actor's credits for one season at a time.

What we want is a full, expanded view which shows everything without having to go through season by season to see all the actor's credits for that TV series. As it used to be in the "text mode" listing.

About the only way now that I can see an actor's full set of credits is to pretend to edit their filmography - that at least shows everything.

Why does IMDB have a death wish to make what was easy and simple, into a convoluted task with far more button-clicking? By all means introduce these new views and layout, but for heaven's sake don't even think about removing anything which has been there all along.

Note: This comment was created from a merged conversation originally titled Add a contributor text view for name credits

Robb356

9 Messages

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180 Points

4 months ago

So the text only view is being kept right? That's the only view I use because as has been stated above by another user (not sure why we are "customers"???) The text only view is the easiest and most concise view to see a performer's (and any other person working in the industry) credits. The title, the year and the episodes, all easily clickable.

Note: This comment was created from a merged conversation originally titled Add a contributor text view for name credits

Col_Needham

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@Robb356 Please can you describe your use case in a little more detail?

4 months ago

Robb356

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180 Points

@Col_Needham An example would be that using text view, one can see the full list of episode credits on a television series. Particularly useful when trying to ascertain which episodes are missing for uncredited background performers especially if they appear in many episodes of a long running show. Take the background performers on a show like Star Trek: The Next Generation, a show with over 170 episodes over seven seasons. Having information like that in one simple easy to view list is very helpful and more constructive as a pure database. Less clicks is always more helpful as is an uncluttered page.

4 months ago

Col_Needham

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@Robb356 Thanks, so as mentioned elsewhere on the thread, how does the edit view work in this context? https://community-imdb.sprinklr.com/conversations/imdbcom/add-a-contributor-text-view-for-name-credits/66a02b1e79828c791e7a0f6e?commentId=66a02cd39ab2194ecb03b89c&replyId=66a0e5284a39ff190e7116fd

4 months ago

Robb356

9 Messages

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180 Points

The fact you can't change from alphabetical and separate acting and self etc is an issue. How the eye processes the visuals should be considered also. How the text only list is a lot easier to focus on and read than the editing table, especially when that table repeats a lot of the same information so in the example picture you show the eye and brain has to work around a lot of text which isn't there in the simple text list. Granted the text list will show multiple lines of the name of an actor's character, but that is but one line essentially and not multiple cases of multiplication.

4 months ago

ddb_mnr

9 Messages

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160 Points

4 months ago

Here is some of my situation related to imdb:

I'm not a contributor (having only DVDs, etc., to gain non-imdb info about titles) but have occasionally tried to help correct obvious mistakes I've found with imdb pages through the years. It would probably surprise most people how mistakes stand out when comparing imdb data a few months apart.

I use imdb to help maintain my personal database (MariaDB / HeidiSQL) of content I own or content I potentially would like to add to my collection.

This DB currently controls about 10K movie, 50K TV episode and 250K potentials relating to my collection.

Years ago I used the "imdb alternate interface FTP site" to download the Actor/Actress files, ran them through a couple reformat programs, did some manual updates with compare software and loaded my database tables. This took a couple days once a year or so to accomplish in my spare time. Additionally, if I added a name to my potentials list, the needed data was already mostly in proper format to load to my database.

When the FTP site was replaced with the current alternative interface files [by the way: Thank you imdb for what is there], the ability to tie titles to names went away (the "known for" type inclusions are useless for my purposes). At that point I began using a browser's developer mode to manually flat file out the roughly 2.5K Name pages in my potentials list. Then processed these saved html sources (after a sometimes nasty manual update to fill in the "cross site scripting" and other gotchas imdb web developers block my approach with} programmatically. This takes 2-3 months to accomplish. When the "new format" Name pages were introduced, I originally thought it best to give up on imdb all together, but then I found the link to the "fullcredits/text" pages which continued to work for me. Unfortunately, the html page sources on the new page design (especially the breakup of TV episodes on popups that can't even be selected/copied in Windows browsers) seem to make my usage case no longer reasonable to pursue.

If I had a say, I would simplify and strip down the "fullcredits" pages by getting rid of the extraneous links (user lists and other fluff already contained on the main pages), internal page html scripting, etc., and leave a link someplace on the new Name page to get to the text page.

In my case, even better would be: including in the alternative interface files some form of name/title xref. Would need: nconst, tconst (TV parentTconst can be retrieved from the "title.episode.tsv" files) and primaryProfession (to classify the row as being in the actor/self/archive_footage/etc., grouping). PrimaryProfession (my case needs only actor/self/archive_footage) could even be the filename instead of a column to reduce individual file sizes.

Col_Needham

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@ddb_mnr Thank you — this is very useful; so it sounds like what you are really seeking is an “export to CSV” option as already provided for IMDb ratings and lists, except for /name/ credits instead?

In the meantime, have you looked at the view of name credits provided in edit mode? To access this, visit any IMDb name page and click the “Edit page” button at the bottom of the page. You will see a set of options to edit the various different data types, including for cast members, a section headed “Filmography (acting)” which will either contain a menu for “Actress credits” or “Actor credits” where you should select “Correct / Delete” then press the “Continue” button at the bottom of the page. The resulting page will include all of their acting credits in a tabular view, and of course, it does work for all other filmography sections too.

Here’s a screen-grab of the top of this view for Felicity Jones:

We would be interested in your thoughts and its suitability.

4 months ago

ddb_mnr

9 Messages

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160 Points

@Col_Needham

I ran a test of the "Lists" export (might be nice to be able to delete one right away instead of waiting 4 weeks for it to auto go away) and something like that would be great to have for "/name/credits" (that way no multi-million row files like it would be in the tsv alternate download files). Actually that might effectively recreate the old fullcredits pages for many of us that dislike the new "social media" type page formatting, if set up nicely.

"Edit page" mode does give better access than the new format pages to the data I retrieve (browser developer mode html access is clunky but doable), so can be used as a work around. What is missing there is available in the tsv alternative download files (parentTconst for TV, etc.). The one glitch for me might be dealing with the alphabetic sort order of the page. The "character grouping" may also explain why I often think the contributors put so many entries in the wrong group: Actress, Self, etc. Also, for the rare times I want "Producer" or other classification those are also available by themselves.

Here is a small sample (3 rows) of what my "potentials" table (the one I've been building from the imdb Name/fullcredis pages) looks like (stripped down so you are only seeing the imdb relevant fields (";" field separator, "\N" denotes null data field):

sequence;nconst;name;type;year(s);tconst(or TVparenttconst);tconst;description

1;nm0004695;Alba, Jessica;Actress;2021;tt15209992;\N;Dubai Presents: A Five-Star Mission (Short) The Wife

2;nm0004695;Alba, Jessica;Actress;2019-2020;tt7555294;\N;L.A.'s Finest (TV Series) Nancy McKenna

3;nm0004695;Alba, Jessica;Actress;2019-2020;tt7555294;tt11754932;For Life (2020) ... Nancy McKenna

Thanks for the reply and suggestion for another way to access name/title info.

4 months ago

Col_Needham

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@ddb_mnr Thanks; good to know on the above.

4 months ago

martin_695862

617 Messages

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13.8K Points

@Col_Needham Ah, so you realise that the Edit View is currently the only means left of seeing an actor's entire filmography.

I would favour two alternative "submitter's mode" displays of credits:

1. A list in a similar format to the way that the text-mode list used to be until a month or so ago, for general display.

2. A means of downloading that data as CSV or TSV text file for people to do whatever post-processing that want.

For (1), it is important that every episode of a TV series has: episode number and title (linking to the title page for that episode) and character name. I know that in many cases the character name will be the same for every episode (unless characters change surname on marriage or change police or services rank), but it is important to be able to see at a glance episodes where a character name is different from normal, so they can be checked to see whether they are a difference in on-screen credits (in which case they should be left alone) or whether they are a transcription error (in which case they should be corrected).

(edited)

4 months ago

christoffer_slotte

13 Messages

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282 Points

4 months ago

Is there no light version of IMDB? if I copy a filmography to a word file to check it, this is what I get:

Bruce Willis, Dominic Purcell, and Nomzamo Mbatha in Assassin (2023)

Assassin

3.2

Valmora

2023

Bruce Willis, Willow Shields, Edward Drake, and Jack Kilmer in Detective Knight: Independence (2023)

Detective Knight: Independence

3.4

James Knight

2023

Bruce Willis and Paul Johansson in Detective Knight: Redemption (2022)

Detective Knight: Redemption

4.0

James Knight

2022

What I WANT to get is: only year, movie, role and possibly indication of TV or movie. There was a time when i could get this info with the help of this symbol:

As of now, i get lots of unnecessary info. And if I want to copy a cast list I get every name twice (name + photo) unless I copy and paste from print preview which is slightl better

Note: This comment was created from a merged conversation originally titled light version of imdb?

Col_Needham

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@christoffer_slotte Does the edit view meet your needs? Please see above at https://community-imdb.sprinklr.com/conversations/imdbcom/add-a-contributor-text-view-for-name-credits/66a02b1e79828c791e7a0f6e?commentId=66a02cd39ab2194ecb03b89c&replyId=66a0e5284a39ff190e7116fd

4 months ago

christoffer_slotte

13 Messages

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282 Points

must check and see. The problem is of course the KEEP/CHANGE column at left, which will be on every row. In excel it might work but in word not as well

4 months ago

ChiefTuftyClubMember

32 Messages

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506 Points

@christoffer_slotte I tried it in Excel - not good. Just gives you a single column.

4 months ago

christoffer_slotte

13 Messages

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282 Points

In my opinion we need a text only version! In Jan this year it still worked for filmographies, but today no longer

4 months ago

christoffer_slotte

13 Messages

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282 Points

@ChiefTuftyClubMember exactly. just one column. impossible to get a clear list

4 months ago

patrick_gordon_brown

20 Messages

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656 Points

My use for filmographies has also been exporting to MS Word and just wanting title, year, role and film or TV. Was very quick and simple before from the old view. Now you're exporting a load of things that you don't want so what might have been 10 or 20 lines in word is now pages. You can still edit but it takes several times as long. The suggested edit view is not a lot better as it still has extraneous data.

4 months ago

jeorj_euler

10.7K Messages

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225.4K Points

4 months ago

It used to be called "name reference view".

Col_Needham

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@jeorj_euler It was? We do not recall this and here’s an idea thread from you in 2017 suggesting we create something with that name. Any objections if we merge that thread into this one?

4 months ago

jeorj_euler

10.7K Messages

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225.4K Points

I appreciate the quick reply from you, Col.. Thank you. I've been a little overwhelmed as of late, and I don't know, but I suppose that I don't really have any objection to the prospective merging of threads. It would be really nice for each name page to have a version of itself that is a comprehensive-by-default view of credits, with maybe a thumbnail sample or two of the video and photo galleries, a sample of the mini bio, a sample trivia item and a sample of other works; minimal (or motionless) ads. It doesn't have to be text-only, but that's fine for now, as that is the main idea.

— Jeorj Euler, an IMDb regular registrant

4 months ago

martin_695862

617 Messages

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13.8K Points

4 months ago

@Col_Needham Col, we should not NEED to give specific use cases. The "flat" (as opposed to hierarchical) page used to exist. You have removed it. You should replace it. We should not have to justify and beg and plead to keep something that used to be there. Please, Col and other IMDB staff, stop destroying IMDB little by little.

Remember that IMDB lives or dies by the quality of its information. If submitters find it more difficult to research and to make sure that they have selected the correct John Smith (by looking at other titles for each possible match), they will accept the path of least resistance and will create a brand new name instead of choosing the correct pre-existing one, thus fragmenting a person's filmography.

You have lots of different types of users with differing requirements. Make sure you have *different* page layouts and formats that cater for those different requirements, rather that trying to make one title page and one name page layout suffice for everyone.

I almost wonder whether there need to be two different IMDB sites, accessing a common database: one with fancy images, icons, "you might also be interested in" links and images; and one with pages which display the information that the submitters need, in a flat structure (no hierarchy of TV series -> season -> episode -> cast links).

The thing that still frustrates the HELL out me with the name page layout is the "Related News", "More to explore", User lists", "Users Polls", "add a demo reel", "how much have you seen" sections which are placed incorrectly, so the "Edit page" button is buried somewhere in the middle of them.

If the page is opened full-screen (eg 1920x1080) all this irrelevant info is in a sidebar. But if I narrow the browser window so I can display IMDB and a video player (eg VLC) side by side when transcribing from video to IMDB, the irrelevant info (though I call it something a lot more scatalogical!) moves below, "burying" the "Edit page" button in some random place so I have to scroll up and down to locate it. That is bad page design. It has not been vetted by real users - particularly real submitters.

If you really *must* display the irrelevant info, at least make sure is it kept out of the way of the important stuff like the person's filmography and the all-important button to change/add to that filmography.

I feel VERY STRONGLY that IMDB is being changed so the needs of the casual user are now the most important thing, and the different needs of the submitters are no longer important. Are we *really* a nuisance to you? Do you want us to continue submitting or should we pack up and go home?

Col, as I have said many times before, THE BALL IS IN YOUR COURT. Please don't alienate your submitters. Because that is what it feels like.

Note: This comment was created from a merged conversation originally titled Add a contributor text view for name credits

(edited)

ChiefTuftyClubMember

Add a contributor text view for name credits

Col_Needham

Col_Needham

ChiefTuftyClubMember

ChiefTuftyClubMember

Col_Needham

ChiefTuftyClubMember

ChiefTuftyClubMember

bounce_out

Col_Needham

bounce_out

DGraf

martin_695862

Robb356

Col_Needham

Robb356

Col_Needham

Robb356

ddb_mnr

Col_Needham

ddb_mnr

Col_Needham

martin_695862

christoffer_slotte

Col_Needham

christoffer_slotte

ChiefTuftyClubMember

christoffer_slotte

christoffer_slotte

patrick_gordon_brown

jeorj_euler

Col_Needham

jeorj_euler

martin_695862

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