Why Google Acquiring Groupon Is NOT The Way To Go [TNW Social Media]

Who knows if the rumors about Google lining up to buy Groupon are true or not but there is usually no smoke without fire in these cases. The rumored figure for ?the fastest growing business ever? is around the $3 billion mark but I?m not sure this is the perfect fit and I can see problems for both sides if this deal was to go through.

Google?s Integration Would Be Too Slow

When it comes to acquiring start ups Google have not always been the best at getting them integrated with their own services or backing them to the full. Just look at how long it took to get grand central turned in to Google Voice or ask the Foursquare guys what Google did to their first hot start up Dodgeball. The key to the ongoing success for Groupon is speed and how quick they can roll the service in to other cities and countries. Competitors are springing up all over the place and Groupon need to keep growing as fast as possible and having the distraction of a complicated deal might not be the best thing in terms of their growth.

Margins Will Get Squeezed

The problem for this sector is that margins will get squeezed due to the fact that the business model could not be easier to copy. Competitors are already popping up all over the place with a mixture of carbon copies and more niche plays popping up in every country in the world. The margins have been great at the start but margins will get squeezed more and more as the competition tries to undercut each other. This is very much about a race to the bottom. I believe Google could be buying the company at the highest possible valuation.

Fitting In With Google?s New Social Strategy

Google are about to launch their new social strategy including Google me and a social gaming platform and probably think Groupon would be the perfect compliment to these other social tools. Although Groupon involves lots of people and social elements though it really relies on email as the primary point of contact with their customer. Who knows what the new social efforts from Google will look like but I?d be far more excited about the self serve deals platform that Facebook unveiled a couple of weeks ago. Google does like making money though and they could just be buying this as a standalone money making machine that has nothing to do with their other social efforts.

Google?s Analytical Nature

Google is great at numbers and technical problems but Groupon is not something that you can easily automate. It takes huge amount of sales staff to get the deals in place and it?s not an automated process like most of Google?s other products. There have been some noises about introducing self service platforms around Groupon which would make a lot of sense and allow the business revenues to scale at an even bigger pace but we know that Google?s strength is numbers and data and not people businesses.

Why Sell Fasted Growing Business Ever?

The big question that people have to ask is why would you sell the fastest growing business? To start a bidding war? Because you knew it didn?t have the legs long term? I know people enter business for different reasons but If I owned the fastest growing business ever that had the sort of revenue and traction that Groupon has I wouldn?t want to sell it to anybody. Having said all of that $3 billion is not a small amount of cash and is more than enough for the Groupon team to enjoy the rest if their lives with.

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Source: http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2010/11/20/why-google-acquiring-groupon-is-a-bad-move-for-all-parties/

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Dish streams TV to Android, iOS, BlackBerry, PC, Mac

Dish Network has begun offering its subscribers the ability to watch all of their live and recorded television programs on several devices: smartphones, tablets, desktops, and laptops. To do so, subscribers must download the Dish Remote Access application and use it in conjunction with their broadband-connected Sling-enabled receiver.

Dish has released a new Sling Adapter, a small device that pairs with Dish's ViP 722 or 722k HD DVRs. The Sling Adapter, which is powered and operated through a standard USB connected to the DVR, costs $99 for new and current Dish customers. With it, customers can send their HD or SD live and recorded programming to various devices.

On the receiving end, subscribers will need the free Dish Remote Access app, which lets you access subscribed channels, view all DVR recordings, manage recordings and delete shows, and use a mobile device as a remote control. The following 3G and/or WiFi-enabled platforms are supported: Android devices, iPhone, iPod touch, iPad (TV viewing coming soon on iOS 4.2), BlackBerry (beta app available for Bold 9700, Bold 9000, Curve 8520, and Curve 8900), as well as Windows PCs and Macs.

"DISH Network is proud to be the first pay-TV provider to bring our customers the ability to enjoy their TV anywhere, anytime on a variety of popular devices," Ira Bahr, DISH Network Chief Marketing Officer, said in a statement. "Unlike mobile viewing from cable and telcos that limit access to select programs, our TV Everywhere services give consumers 24x7 access to all of the live and recorded content included with their DISH Network programming subscription."

Earlier this month, Dish attacked Hulu, saying that the service was destroying the TV industry. If that's so, will Dish be the one to save it?

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Source: http://www.techspot.com/news/41216-dish-streams-tv-to-android-ios-blackberry-pc-mac.html

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Nokia built a multi-touch ice-wall, just don?t use your tongue [TNW Europe]

Leave it to the Finns. Just when you thought there wasn?t anything else you could do with ice, here comes a use right out of Harry Potter: a multi-touch ice screen.

Mobile giant Nokia decided that ? since Finland has a tradition of ice sculpuring anyway ? why not make an interactive touch ice wall. Really, why not?

Built out of a slab of 25cm ice weighing a ton, and then cut into 50cm to build the 2 meter by 1.5 meter wall. Nokia then polished the surface with a heat gun to give it a smooth surface. The wall uses rear-diffused illumination (the same tech used by the Microsoft Surface) which is basically a smart projection, instead of embedding sensors. According to New Scientist which first reported the ice wall:

A near-infrared light source mounted behind the ?screen? bathes it in invisible light, and an array of near-infrared cameras, also behind the wall, are focused on the front surface. A hand placed on the ice reflects the light towards the camera array and the signal each camera receives helps a nearby PC establish the hand?s position, size and motion. The PC is also connected to a projector, which uses the data to project imagery ? such as flames ? beneath the user?s hand.

Of course, one of Nokia?s first suggestions for using this new tech is for the famous Ice Hotel in Sweden ? now that would be something.

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Source: http://thenextweb.com/eu/2010/11/20/nokia-built-a-multi-touch-ice-wall-just-dont-use-your-tongue/

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Fractured Democrats Keep Pelosi as Leader

Ms. Pelosi, who will hand over the speaker?s gavel at the beginning of the new Congress in January when Republicans assume control, defeated Representative Heath Shuler, a conservative from North Carolina, by a vote of 150 to 43. On an earlier vote that some Democrats framed as a proxy on Ms. Pelosi, her supporters beat back an effort to delay the leadership showdown to allow more review of the election by 129 to 68.

Her ability to prevail after a severe midterm drubbing showed deep loyalty among elements of her caucus for the work Ms. Pelosi did to first win and then hold the majority for four years. But the votes for Mr. Shuler and, more tellingly, the substantial support for delaying the election were evidence that Ms. Pelosi is now the leader of a fractured caucus and could have difficulty retaining the tight control she has had on House Democrats in recent years.

After the vote, Ms. Pelosi spelled out why she thought her colleagues were willing to keep her at the top even after Republicans won at least 61 Democratic seats on Nov. 2

?Because I?m an effective leader, because we got the job done on health care and Wall Street reform and consumer protection ? the list goes on,? she said. ?Because they know that I?m the person that can attract the resources, both intellectual and otherwise, to take us to victory because I have done it before.?

On the Republican side, Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio was, as expected, picked as the new majority?s candidate for speaker, virtually assuring him of the highest office in the House when the 112th Congress convenes on Jan. 5. He won the right to be the nation?s 61st speaker on his 61st birthday and, adding to the numerological coincidence, the day House Republicans picked up their 61st seat in the election. Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia will serve as majority leader for the Republican Party.

But the chief focus was on the elections in the Democratic ranks, given the steep losses that occurred on Ms. Pelosi?s watch and the public sentiment expressed by more than two dozen Democrats that she should step aside.

Ms. Pelosi, 70, a San Francisco liberal who was first elected minority leader in 2002, became a favorite foil in Republican advertising as the party sought to tie Democratic candidates to her ideology. Moderate lawmakers joined others in the caucus in arguing that Democrats need a new leader if they are to win back the majority in 2012, pointing particularly to difficulties they could have in recruiting candidates in the more conservative districts they will need to take back.

?It?s time for new leadership after the worst electoral defeat since 1948,? said Representative Jim Cooper, Democrat of Tennessee.

Some of the Democrats defeated this month counseled strongly against keeping Ms. Pelosi, and one did not mince words. ?Have they lost their minds?? asked Representative Allen Boyd, a defeated Democrat, as he passed by the Cannon Caucus Room, where the election was occurring.

But her allies said Ms. Pelosi was the party?s best fund-raiser, had been unfairly maligned by Republicans who saw her as too effective and merited the loyalty of House Democrats whom she had led to the promised land of the majority in 2006 after 14 years out of power .

?How can we fold on this woman when she is not folding on us?? Representative Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania asked his colleagues in the closed-door meeting, according to officials present.

Representative Xavier Becerra, a Pelosi ally from California, said, ?She has led us, and she has led us to historic heights.?

Mr. Shuler said that he never expected to win but that he wanted to give his colleagues an opportunity to express their opposition. He said his support exceeded his expectations.

?There was a lot of unrest in the room,? said Mr. Shuler, who said he did not intend to vote for Ms. Pelosi as speaker during a formal roll-call vote at the start of the new Congress. Other conservative Democrats said they would vote for Mr. Shuler instead of Ms. Pelosi even though members of the minority party traditionally vote for their leader in what is a formality.

Supporters of Ms. Pelosi acknowledged the division among House Democrats but said she had the strong backing of most of them. They predicted the issue would fade in the coming weeks.

?When you lose like that, there is no clear answer,? Representative Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts, said of the midterms. ?But I don?t think this will be on anyone?s radar screen very long.?

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Source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=d12208ded30d7a68b7efdbfdbce7a8fd

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Dish streams TV to Android, iOS, BlackBerry, PC, Mac

Dish Network has begun offering its subscribers the ability to watch all of their live and recorded television programs on several devices: smartphones, tablets, desktops, and laptops. To do so, subscribers must download the Dish Remote Access application and use it in conjunction with their broadband-connected Sling-enabled receiver.

Dish has released a new Sling Adapter, a small device that pairs with Dish's ViP 722 or 722k HD DVRs. The Sling Adapter, which is powered and operated through a standard USB connected to the DVR, costs $99 for new and current Dish customers. With it, customers can send their HD or SD live and recorded programming to various devices.

On the receiving end, subscribers will need the free Dish Remote Access app, which lets you access subscribed channels, view all DVR recordings, manage recordings and delete shows, and use a mobile device as a remote control. The following 3G and/or WiFi-enabled platforms are supported: Android devices, iPhone, iPod touch, iPad (TV viewing coming soon on iOS 4.2), BlackBerry (beta app available for Bold 9700, Bold 9000, Curve 8520, and Curve 8900), as well as Windows PCs and Macs.

"DISH Network is proud to be the first pay-TV provider to bring our customers the ability to enjoy their TV anywhere, anytime on a variety of popular devices," Ira Bahr, DISH Network Chief Marketing Officer, said in a statement. "Unlike mobile viewing from cable and telcos that limit access to select programs, our TV Everywhere services give consumers 24x7 access to all of the live and recorded content included with their DISH Network programming subscription."

Earlier this month, Dish attacked Hulu, saying that the service was destroying the TV industry. If that's so, will Dish be the one to save it?

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Source: http://www.techspot.com/news/41216-dish-streams-tv-to-android-ios-blackberry-pc-mac.html

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Murkowski Wins Alaska Senate Race

By Wednesday afternoon, 15 days after the midterm elections, it was clear from a count of write-in ballots in Juneau, the state capital, that Ms. Murkowski had enough of a lead over her opponent, Joe Miller, that Mr. Miller would not be able to catch up. The Democrat, Scott T. McAdams, trailed far behind.

Ms. Murkowski flew to Alaska from Washington to declare victory, taking the stage at a union hall here to chants of ?We made history! We made history!?

?We did,? she said. ?We made history. And doesn?t it just feel, wow, still a little bit mind-boggling??

Mr. Miller, a Tea Party favorite, was backed by former Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, and, after Mr. Miller upset Ms. Murkowski in the Republican primary, the national Republican establishment. His support for states? rights and tax and spending cuts resonated in this conservative state, but he committed a series of mistakes during the general election campaign.

At the same time, Ms. Murkowski showed new vigor after she announced her return to the race as a write-in on Sept. 17. She also showed a sharp sense of the state?s distinct relationship with the federal government. About a third of the Alaska economy depends on federal spending.

?Alaskans have chosen the path of unity, the deliberative path, the common-sense path,? Ms. Murkowski told her supporters on Wednesday.

She invited Lily Stevens, daughter of her mentor, the late Senator Ted Stevens, to come onto the stage. ?His motto was: ?To hell with politics. Let?s just do what?s right for Alaska,? ? Ms. Murkowski said. ?And that?s what we did.?

Mr. Miller did not immediately concede. In an interview with Fox News, he said he was feeling less optimistic than he had been, but also declared, ?It?s never over until the count is done.?

His campaign suggested this week it would pursue a recount of all the ballots cast.

But on Wednesday, Randy Ruedrich, the chairman of the Alaska Republican Party, which had been supporting Mr. Miller, called on him to concede. ?This was a free and fair election,? Mr. Ruedrich said in a statement. ?It is now time to look forward.?

Ms. Murkowski is the first write-in candidate elected to the Senate since Strom Thurmond of South Carolina in 1954.

Election workers counted more than 100,000 write-in votes in Juneau over the last week, and it became clear early that Ms. Murkowski was likely to win. More than 97 percent of the votes were for her, officials said. On Wednesday, she led Mr. Miller by more than 10,000 votes with less than a thousand ballots left to count.

Throughout the write-in count, the Miller campaign aggressively challenged ballots, questioning any that seemed to have a misspelling, a smudge or extra words written on them. The campaign filed a federal lawsuit arguing that write-in votes that are not spelled correctly should be excluded; that case is pending.

So far, only 8,153 ballots have been challenged, meaning Ms. Murkowski would still lead by more than 2,000 votes even in the unlikely event that all the challenged ballots were set aside by the courts.

The Miller campaign had said it would not contest the results if there were not enough challenged ballots to change the outcome, but it has continued to raise money for a legal fund. Ms. Palin, a longtime rival of Ms. Murkowski, contributed to the fund through her political action committee; so has Senator Jim DeMint, Republican of South Carolina.

A memento of Ms. Murkowski?s bid for re-election ? which depended on her ability to cultivate support among groups that included labor unions and libertarians, and on a novel voter education campaign about how to fill in a write-in ballot and how to spell her name ? remains in the freshly repaired sidewalks outside her town house in Washington. Before the concrete set, someone etched into it her write-in campaign slogan: ?Fill it in. Write it in. Lisa Murkowski.?

Juliet Macur contributed reporting from Washington.

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Source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=aa906366412a35bbe6f86c2dd7085ae3

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LG Vortex ? TNW First Look [TNW Mobile]

When you?re talking about Android phones, it?s usually a story of keyboards and massive screens. LG is taking a different approach toward Android by offering the Vortex. LG?s Vortex is a small, Android-based device running 2.2 on a 600 mhz processor. Featuring a 3.2 megapixel camera and a 320×480 capacitive touchscreen, it?s not the highest-end Android device you?ve ever seen, but it?s not meant to be.

Pictures on the Vortex come out acceptable, if not great. Low-light pictures, however, are nearly impossible. The touchscreen is a bit frustrating, as it feels like a harder push is required for it to respond than what we?ve seen. However, it?s bright, crisp and very readable.

Our initial feeling is that the Vortex is a great phone, given its $80 price point. The sole complaint that we have is that it?s been de-Googled because of the Verizon/Bing agreement. That means you?ll be using Bing as the default search for both typing and voice.

We?ll dig in and see what we think after a few days with the Vortex, but from what we can see so far, it?s probably a great choice for someone on your list who want a solid smartphone and isn?t an Android aficionado.

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Source: http://thenextweb.com/mobile/2010/11/20/lg-vortex-tnw-first-look/

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Try This: Sucuri. Virus, Malware and DNS protection for your website [TNW Apps]

Here?s your little-known fact of the Saturday: your website is not safe. OK, so maybe it?s not little known but I?d venture to say that many people never think about the need to protect their website from attacks other than the occasional DDoS. Sucuri is a web-based application that hopes to be a one-stop solution for DNS, Whois, SSL and other malware attacks.

The idea is that Sucuri is somewhat like a malware scanner for your website. However, it also provides real-time monitoring of changes to your DNS, Whois and SSL settings. Considering the number of sites that we see which get DNS hijacked or otherwise taken over, this is becoming an important tool to have in your arsenal.

What happens when Sucuri finds a problem? First off, you?ll be alerted via email and Twitter. Then, the Sucuri software will go to work to fix the problem, no matter what it is. Sucuri offers scheduled checks, site monitoring and even a free (although limited) scanner.

Want the full deal? For $90 per year, Sucuri will monitor your single domain every 6 hours. You can get unlimited scanning and 3 complete fixes. Own more domains? Sucuri has plans that cover anywhere from 10 to 50. Oh, and if you?re not in the mood to do a subscription, Sucuri can do a one-shot scane and clean for $70. While the pricing might seem a touch high if you?ve never had a problem, you?ll quickly see the value the first time you?re attacked.

To us, Sucuri seems less like a malware scanner and more along the lines of Soluto for your website. Finding and fixing the little things that can cause big problems puts Sucuri as a service into a class of its own.

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Source: http://thenextweb.com/apps/2010/11/20/try-this-sucuri-virus-malware-and-dns-protection-for-your-website/

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Weekend game deals: Pre-Black Friday sales unleashed

We're just a week away from Black Friday and things are finally starting to heat up. Impulse has cut prices on well over a dozen titles including C&C 4, The Settlers 7, both S.T.A.L.K.E.R games, Dark Void, and Star Trek Online, while EA has reduced Crysis, Mercenaries 2, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Medal of Honor, and the Saboteur. Direct2Drive offers GTA IV: Complete Edition for $9.95, Microsoft has slashed 50% and 80% off Bioshock 2 and Saints Row 2, and GOG's entire catalog of Ubisoft titles is 30% to 50% off.

Steam
Sniper: Ghost Warrior $14.99 (50% off)
Sniper: Ghost Warrior Map Pack $2.49 (50% off)
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings preorder $44.99 (10% off)

Impulse
Command and Conquer 4 $9.98
Command and Conquer Red Alert 3 $9.99
Command and Conquer Red Alert 3 Uprising $9.99
Company of Heroes Gold $14.99
The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom $24.99
Star Trek Online $9.99
Tropico 3 $7.49
Dark Void $9.99
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Bundle Pack $9.99
Total Annihilation $4.99
MinerWars 2081 Pre-Alpha $13.95
Sword of the Stars Complete Collection $14.99
Space Rangers 2 $9.99
Master of Orion II $4.99
More...

EAStore
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames $7.46
Crysis $18.71
Crysis Warhead $11.21
The Saboteur $11.21
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 $14.96
Battlefield 2: Complete Collection $14.96
Battlefield 2142 Deluxe $11.21
Medal of Honor $44.96
Medal of Honor Airborne $7.46

Direct2Drive
Grand Theft Auto IV: Complete Edition $9.95
TRON: Evolution $34.95

Games for Windows
Bioshock 2 $9.99
Saints Row 2 $5.99

Good Old Games
30% to 50% off all Ubisoft games

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Source: http://www.techspot.com/news/41214-weekend-game-deals-preblack-friday-sales-unleashed.html

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The mind-boggling world of IPv6, and why it matters to the future of the Internet [TNW UK]

This month has seen the launch of a new industry group, 6UK which has been set-up to promote the use of the new Internet Protocol (IP) version 6 in the UK.

What?s that? Although it?s all a bit geeky, moving to IPv6 is a problem that will soon enough affect everyone as the remaining Internet addresses are running out.

How IP works, and why it matters

The Internet does try to make life easy as people only have to remember names like www.google.com, but that?s because there?s a system known as DNS which translates the names to IP address. So, www.google.com is really 173.194.37.104  and the underlying things that make the Internet work all work on the numeric form and use IP addresses, that also means everything connected to the Internet needs an IP address.

IPv4, the current protocol making the Internet work which has been in use since the 1970s, uses 32 bits. This means that there are a total of around 4.3 billion IPv4 addresses. That doesn?t even cover the number of people on the Earth (about 6.8 billion) or the number of mobile phones (around 5 billion). It?s estimated that there are around 184.5m IPv4 addresses left. That might seem like a lot, but remember that everything that connects to the Internet (including your PC, your set-top-box, media streamer, iPad etc) needs an IP address.

Admittedly, not everyone on the planet is connected to the Internet, nor is every phone Internet enabled, but more and more ?devices are and the number of addresses left is rapidly running out. Estimates are that the central body for allocating addresses (IANA) is expected to run out of allocation blocks somewhere between around March 2011 and then the local registries such as RIPE/APNIC/etc later in the year or early 2012.

IPv6 is the future

The newly launched 6UK is trying to help companies to see the benefit of migrating to IPv6 and therefore promote interest which may spur ISPs and network operators to act and implement IPv6 in their networks and offer IPv6 to their customers. At the event they had a slew of Internet celebrities, including Vint Cerf who now works for Google but was one of the architects of the current Internet.

IPv5 never materialised, but IPv6 has been around for at least 10 years and rather than a 32 bit address it uses 128 bits which gives about 340 trillion trillion trillion addresses - that?s a BIG number (or as they?d say in the Hitch Hiker?s Guide to the Galaxy, ?That?s really mind bogglingly BIG?). With IPv6, there are enough addresses for people, stars, planets and more.

The good thing is that most modern operating systems and most of the equipment that powers the Internet all support IPv6, but it?s a heck of an effort to move everything across and keep everything running.

Japan managed it a while back, but elsewhere IPv6 migration has mostly been treated as an academic exercise and not been widely deployed. The UK isn?t leading the pack in adopting IPv6 either and is way down the list of countries that have some sort v6 infrastructure.

What happens if we don?t switch over?

It?s not all doom and gloom, even if IPv4 does run out of new addresses the Internet wont stop working. It just means ISPs will have to be very judicious when allocation addresses and it?s likely people will start charging for them, slowing the growth of the Internet.

What can be done now is ISPs and Internet backbone providers can move their core networks to IPv6 and then use clever translation techniques between IPv6 in the core and IPv4 to their customers ? hopefully bigger companies, universities etc will directly implement IPv6 and they can give back their IPv4 address. As the core moves across then more and more equipment vendors will also support v6 and so consumer routers and devices will also get support and then everyone can really move across.

The good news is, you don?t need to do anything. The switch will be made at ISP level and above, but if it doesn?t happen, the future growth of the Internet could be severely stunted.

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Source: http://thenextweb.com/uk/2010/11/20/the-mind-boggling-world-of-ipv6-and-why-it-matters-to-the-future-of-the-internet/

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