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If you are not the type of person that wants to spend their time managing an elaborate fruit or vegetable garden, you might consider planting and maintaining an herb garden. While the product might not seem as significant, you will still enjoy the constant availability of fresh, delicious herbs to flavor your meals with.

First you will want to choose the herbs that you will plant. You might have a hard time doing this because of the huge scope of herbs available. But the best way to choose is to do what I did; just look at what you have in your kitchen. By planting your own collection of these herbs, you can save money on buying them from the grocery store while having the added benefit of freshness. Some of the herbs you might start with include rosemary, sage, basil, dill, mint, chives, and parsley among others.

When choosing an area to put your herb garden, you should remember that the soil should have extremely good drainage. If the dirt gets watered and stays completely saturated, you have no chance of ever growing a healthy plant. One of the best ways to fix the drainage problem is to dig a foot deep in the soil, and put a layer of crushed rocks down before replacing all the soil. This will allow all that water to escape, thus saving your plants.

When you are ready to begin planting herbs, you might be tempted to buy the more expensive plants from the store. However, with herbs it is much easier to grow them from seed than it is with other plants. Therefore you can save a bundle of money by sticking with seed packets. Some herbs grow at a dangerously fast rate. For example, if you plant a mint plant in an open space then it will take over your entire garden in a matter of days. The best way to prevent this problem is to plant the more aggressive plants in pots (with holes in the bottom to allow drainage, of course).

When it comes time to harvest the herbs you have labored so hard over, it can be fatal to your plant to take off too much. If your plant is not well established, it is not healthy to take any leaves at all, even if it looks like its not using them. You should wait until your plant has been well established for at least several months before taking off any leaves. This wait will definitely be worth it, because by growing unabated your plant will produce healthily for years to come.

Once you have harvested your delicious home grown herbs, you will want to use them in cooking. Why else would you have grown them? Well first the process begins with drying them out. This is easily achieved by placing them on a cookie sheet and baking them 170 degrees Fahrenheit for 2 to 4 hours. After they are sufficiently dried to be used in cooking, you can consult the nearest cookbook for instructions on using them to effectively flavor a dish.

If you want to store your herbs for later usage, you should keep them in a plastic or glass container. Paper or cardboard will not work, because it will absorb the taste of the herbs. During the first few days of storage, you should regularly check the container and see if any moisture has accumulated. If it has, you must remove all the herbs and re-dry them. If moisture is left from the first drying process, it will encourage mildew while you store your herbs. Nobody likes mildew.

So if you enjoy herbs or gardening, or both, then you should probably consider setting up an herb garden. It might require a little bit of work at first to set it up for optimal drainage, and pick what herbs you want to grow. But after the initial hassle, it is just a matter of harvesting and drying all your favorite herbs.

It happened on a warm spring evening, they were dancing, eating and sounds of fun filled the air. As he rested his head on the pillow thoughts of fear, anxiety and the unknown were all on the back of his mind. Soon after he fell fast asleep the predator had begun to wreak havoc on this poor mans identity. Online job databases are not the only places that identity thieves that people try to stop with prevent identity theft cruise for personal information. The credit was immediately shut down, and the criminal; was eventually tracked down.

There can be no better occasion than Mother’s Day to tell your mom what a special place she holds in your life and in your heart. There was a time when natural pearls were the only ones that one could find but now with modern culturing techniques of producing cheap fashion jewelry pearls there has been abundance of these natural gems available all over resulting in lowest prices than ever before. Nothing fits the bill better than a piece of jewelry, but here we are not talking about just any piece of jewelry. A lot of jewelry these days come with an innate message and this is what will make a perfect jewelry gift for your mom on Mother’s Day this year. You can choose one in your mom’s birthstone or in her favorite color.

Keeping patios and decks, and all of their assorted decorations, clean can be a challenge. Have you ever tried to clean a glass tabletop? You wipe it again, it dries and the dirty streaks multiply. Turn them often for even wear and sun exposure.

From the smallest patio to the most sprawling yard, patio furniture instantly transforms it to usable living space. These are specifically designed for each piece of outdoor patio furniture. Examples of these materials are plastic resins, cast-aluminum, and various woods. Cast-aluminum is another option which has seemingly limitless options. To create the many color and surface options, cast-aluminum patio furniture is powder-coated.

Are you interested in finding a professional .PDF to Word converter that you can use for free? Do you need to convert .PDF to Word document without the quality of the document being affected? If your answer to one of the above questions is yes, then you must definitely keep on reading. Discover more about professional online converters and discover the benefits of selecting a software that is available for free, as opposed to expensive editors. This article is intended at providing useful information for the smart computer and Internet user, allowing him or her to make an informed decision when it comes to using a .PDF to Word document converter.

There are several things you want to look for in a free PDF to MS Word converter, starting with the fact that the quality of the documents should not be compromised upon conversion. Online, you have the opportunity to analyze several .PDF to Word document converters, weighing the pros and cons for each software in particular. If some of these converters allow for both text and images to be extracted from the recently converted file, there are programs out there that will merge the images to the background. This way, it is practically impossible to edit them separately from the document and here come the importance of selecting the right online conversion service.

You’ve probably understood by now that each application has something different to offer. For example, you can find a professional .PDF to Word document converter that allows for several files to be converted at a time, guaranteeing successful conversion regardless of the PDF documents. This utility will require your email address to be entered in order to transmit you the link to the file. Other softwares do not require the use of email and they allow the Web user to download the document immediately after it was converted. There are also converters that permit for PDF documents that are protected by password to be transformed into .DOC documents. The disadvantage comes from the 30 minute interval that exists between every submission.

There is always the possibility of downloading the program in your computer, converting .PDF to Word without using the Internet. By installing a PDF to Word converter on your desktop, you have the opportunity to change any confidential documents, without being worried about issues like Web security. Plus, these programs work wonderfully with large documents, so you won’t have to be anxious about the file being too large for conversion. There are numerous applications out there that function as desktop converters, each having both advantages and disadvantages. You will have to decide which is the best for your needs.

In the end, let’s summarize a few of the benefits that the PDF to Word document converter should bring into the picture. If you go with a reliable tool, then you can expect for the converter to support an impressive number of fonts. More importantly, you want the utility to respect the quality of the PDF document and convert it into doc maintaining the same quality. That means that the layout should be the same, the text and any images would be like they were in the original PDF document. The only thing that will be changed is the actual extension of the document.

Introduction

A vast number of people work in offices of one kind or another. They may be offices in buildings purpose built or attached to a factory or in business premises. For many self employed business people the office is a room in their home converted for that purpose. Solicitors, doctors, estate agents and insurance agents, in fact any business that you can think of, works from some kind of office or another. You might even say 80% of the adult population work in an office. But I wonder how many of those people have any say in what kind of office they have and whether or not it suits their requirements. Mostly when someone new joins a company or firm, they are given a space for their office usually left by the previous incumbent. I suspect that if you asked occupants how they would like their office to be they would find it difficult to tell you.

When you think of the number of hours we spend in an office, at least eight hours per day and sometimes up to sixteen hours if it’s a busy period. Yes people are allowed out for breaks and rest times, but it is an awful lot of your life cooped up in small space. If at least a third of one’s working life is to be spent in an office, then it makes sound sense to ensure the environment is as comfortable, pleasant and as healthy as possible.

So how much thought goes into the planning of workspaces?

Where a building is purpose built such as an office, then the architects I am sure will have created good designs to suit the purpose. However, it has been known for new buildings to be problematic for the people working it them. For instance, synthetic materials used for carpeting can sometimes give off toxic fumes which cause allergies or illness of the staff. Air conditioning that relies on recycled air has the potential to carry bugs that can lay the whole office off at the same time. So there are many factors to consider in creating an office environment to ensure the staff are productive, creative, energised and remain healthy.

Old buildings, originally built for other uses, when converted to office space will have different issues to resolve. Often old buildings have very high ceilings where the heat rises up so that the inhabitants below are cold yet the heating bills are going through the roof, literally!! How to maximise the space available to provide a comfortable working environment will be a real challenge and this is where often the use of a mezzanine floor and suspended ceilings are valuable.

It is a well known fact for any organisation that happy workers give better performance and generate more revenue than unhappy workers. The workforce are more motivated, creative, helpful and have less time off work for illness if they are happy in their jobs. I am sure there are statistics available for these details, they’re not really needed though, it’s basic common sense that tells us happy and comfortable employees are more productive employees, so invest in your people and their environment by engaging professional interior fit out specialists and they will serve the company for many years to come.

Ergonomics

Ergonomics is the study of workplaces and the equipment used, to achieve the best design for comfort, safety, efficiency, and productivity. Research has been carried out over the last few years at Nottingham University on office space allocation problems.

Workspace planning is fast becoming a specialist industry because of all of the current regulations and legislation. Formerly known, in the UK as the Factories Act and now known as the Health and Safety Executive regulations are in place to ensure that employees have sufficient working space in which to perform their work. This can be a potential minefield including such things as physical space, usable space, corridor spaces, and minimum light and ventilation regulations. If you are about to commence on an office refurbishment project ensure that your interior fit out specialists of conversant with all of these regulations before you engage them to perform your work.

What are the Criteria for a good office environment? We are sentient beings, which mean we respond with feeling and perception as well as intellectually to our surrounding.

Seeing

The first thing to consider when commencing an office refurbishment project is how does it look? The initial impact on us comes from what we see. The decor and arrangement of furniture, the window aspect and lighting are important in our perception of whether or not it is pleasing to the eye. Does the office have all the necessary equipment, computer, phone and sufficient storage for files and books etc? Plants create a sense of balance in the space as long as they are discreetly positioned and don’t make it look cluttered. Plants are oxygen generators and help to refresh the air.

Smell

On entering a new place the first thing we take in is the smell whether we pay attention to it or not. We notice immediately if the air is stuffy or if there is an unpleasant smell such as sweaty bodies. However a pleasant fragrance or no smell at all will be inviting. Baker shops nearly always pump out the fresh smell of baked bread into the street to entice people in to buy the goods. So although we may not be aware that smell plays an important part in our responses, we are still animals and we do use our olfactory senses a great deal more that we realise.

Feel touch

How does the furniture feel? Plastic seats can be very uncomfortable to sit on for a long time. Plastic does not breathe, it draws moisture from the skin so that when you stand up your posterior will be damp and uncomfortable. Padded fabric is warmer than leather for comfort and not as expensive. The desk chair needs to be the correct height for desk and give suitable support, a computer needs to be set correctly to avoid neck and wrist strain of the operator.

The temperature in the environment is best if it’s not too warm and not too cold. So when planning your office refurbishment project bear in mind that people work best at a temperature of around 20 degrees centigrade.

Too warm and we become sluggish and sleepy, too cold and we become distracted and use up valuable energy keeping warm. Fresh air is also beneficial to stimulate the brain cells.

Sound Hear

What can we hear? Is it noisy or quiet? When I was first starting out in business, I went to visit a local manufacturing company to learn about the way they managed their business. At lunch time I was taken into the executive dining area where there was a waitress service and we had a very civilised lunch. Later I was taken to the works canteen. When we walked in I was hit with a blast of noise such as I had never experienced before. The hall was large with a very high ceiling and nothing to damp down the echo. The result was that everyone ended up shouting to be heard and there was loud music playing as well. I was shocked, not just at the noise level but by the contrast between the executive dining room and the workers canteen. I had come from an business which treated all members of the company the same so there were no executive areas and everyone, high and low mingled together for meals and break times. Guess which company had the better worker relationships and higher output?

Where a company utilises an open plan office then noise levels can be very distracting and one solution is to incorporate ‘White Noise’ which is a low level background noise to interfere with the general office talk going on over the phone or mini meetings. Sometimes quiet relaxing music is introduced as background noise but this is not common in a business place.

Taste

Well we are not going to go around licking the furniture, but another important consideration is to ensure that a there is an area to enjoy a nice coffee or tea away from the desk throughout the day. So is there a pleasant area for making drinks and preparing snacks, or even lunch facilities alongside the office. I once worked in an office where they had a small kitchen area off the main office for making drinks and snacks and there was always a bowl of fresh fruit for staff, as the company recognising the refreshing effects of fresh fruit.

Workspace planning

So as you can see there are many things that can make the work environment a agreeable place to be. However getting the original layout and size of spaces for the employees is a complex process.

How much space does each individual need to work in? According to the Officewise publication from the Health and Safety Executive in the UK employers must provide a minimum of 11 cubic metres for each person permanently occupying a workplace. However there are all sorts of exceptions and caveats to this rule, such as making sure the space is usable space, and clearly if that space were under the stairs with no windows, or ventilation then it would not be suitable. So it is very important to ensure that your new office fit out adheres to all of the current legislation with regards to workspace laws.

An experienced industrial fit out specialist will usually install a suspended ceiling which makes the installation of services easier and more cheaper. Electrical supply, air conditioning units, water pipes and telephone cables can all run behind the suspended ceiling making access easy if anything goes wrong and repairs need to be implemented.

Positioning of the electrical and telephone outlet is also crucial. The computers used in offices today all require their own electrical supply even if they are networked with the system.

External light from windows is a requirement for offices. The days of the cupboard office cubbyhole are gone. Light airy spaces make people feel good and doses of sunshine each day lift our spirits. However too much sunshine will overheat an office so the use of vertical blinds is recommended to deflect the rays of the sun without reducing too much the level of illumination.

Costs

To save on office space costs some industrial fit our specialists have come up with the idea that instead of having a board rooms for meetings they have their meeting standing up around a special tall coffee table. This reduces the amount of time spent in meetings and the space is reusable for the lunches. Other schemes encourage employees to work from home for part of a week and utilise a system of desk sharing or moveable desks.

Reconfigurable spaces

Another way of economising on the cost of office space is by careful rearrangement of the existing floor area. There may be dead areas which could be released and turned into useable space. The installation of new interior partition walls can rearrange the existing space to create a friendlier working environment. Sometimes working in an open plan office is beneficial for communication between staff, other times it is a distraction and prevents efficiency. So having the option of both open space and separate offices provides the full range of options which can be easily introduced with new partition walls.

For example one of my clients, took over a set of offices and had various walls moved, so instead of it having two small offices, one without a window, they created one large office for the MD and a really good sized store room which they needed for long term storage of customer files. They then took out another wall and made a good size open plan office space and rearranged another wall to create a board come conference room. Also access to the little kitchen was changed to be more convenient. The choice of subtle colours on the walls and new vertical blinds caused the whole suite of rooms to be transformed into a pleasant and airy working area. Where there is plenty of ceiling height the introduction of a Mezzanine floor generates valuable areas perhaps for storage, private meeting rooms or extra offices.

Other concerns in workspace planning, is the situation of facilities such as kitchen, toilets, relaxation areas and outside space if available. Sometimes the introduction of a simple partition can create a relaxation/dining area without losing too much of the work area.

All Health and Safety regulations are paramount they have to be adhered to in the workplace and must be incorporated into any plan along with full fire regulations.

Conclusion

Many companies may feel that upgrading the facilities is a ‘nice to have’ idea and the reality is that it usually comes at the bottom of the list on money allocation. However this is erroneous thinking; office refurbishment is never a waste of time or money. Creating a pleasant office environment by upgrading worn out or old fashioned surroundings and furnishings will make a big difference to the working life of the employees. Improved working conditions may be only part of the picture in achieving real job satisfaction, but it is a good start in the right direction. It also says a lot about what the senior people in the organisation think about their employees. If they ensure that their staff are given the necessary equipment and facilities to do their job effectively then the employees will give better service and can be more efficient and there will be a better working environment all around.

There is a specifically good supplier of compatible toner cartridges. In my office I have been using for seveal years the ink cartridges and printer accessories of Druckerzubehoer and I am very excited about this great provider. For everybody who wants to buy intermateable ink cartridges and printer items, Druckerzubehoer is a very good address. This printer supplies shop has several million shoppers in Germany and offers in my opinion a brilliant cost/performance ratio. Honestly, I can hardly understand how a supplier of tonercartridges is able to sell their goods as cheaply as they do. I have a Canon Pixma ink printer and save about 90% of the ink costs, because I can buy those printer accessories and interoperable printer cartridges. You can find a review about this German dispatcher of compatible printer cartridges here: Guenstige Farbpatronen Epson

I am very happy with the quality of the products. My printer has been working well for years with those cartridges. Moreover, you do not get dirty fingers when trying to refill cartridges by yourself. Buying your interoperable ink cartridges from this provider provides you some nice benefits:

Druckerzubehoer upon request informs the customer regularly via e-mail about low offers and discounts for printer ink. Often I am amazed that the already very convenient prices temporarily are reduced once more. Additionally, I can order cleaning cartridges for the various chambers of my printer from this great dispatcher. In addition to ink cartridges for the printer you can also find very favorable articles such as photo paper. I can even order small amounts of ink cartridges and get them quickly and at a convenient rate. At these convenient prices there is no need to order many items at once. You better place orders just in time when you are in need of spare ink having in mind that the ink carries an expiration date.

The online shop is very convenient. You can easily register as a purchaser and place your printer cartridge orders. My experiences with Druckerzubehoer are very positive and I will continue being delivered with my printer cartridges from them. The price-performance ratio of Druckerzubehoer is unbeatable in my eyes. For many years I have been ordering the ink cartridges for my office supplies there and during this period have been saving a lot of money for expensive original cartridges. In addition to ink cartridges for all popular inkjet printers there can be found very cheap toner cartridges for laser printers too at this excellent vendors online shop. Another recommendation of affordable intermateable toner cartridges can be found here: kompatible Farbpatronen bestellen Epson. Druckerzuboer has gained many test victories for their interoperable ink cartridges. The company is for instance 10 times winner in the German computer magazine “computerbild” 11/07. There is a huge range of ink cartridges for all popular printer brands - such as Epson, Canon, Brother, HP, Lexmark and many others. So everybody finds the right ink for their special printer model.

If you’d like to take some gentle exercise that can strengthen your wrist and forearm, there are various ways of doing it, which we’ll come to later. And a strong wrist and forearm are very important if you’re into racquet sports, such as tennis, or sports like golf.

You can use a tennis ball and squeeze it - that’s an old standby. But there’s a more modern way too. Using something called the Powerball 250 you can use the power of the gyroscope to create a smooth and effective way to exercise.

Just by starting up a Powerball in your hand and rotating your wrist you exericse the wrist and muscles in your forearm. As well as being effective it’s quite fun, too.

The amount of ‘force’ you experience is a function of the torque produced by the Powerball 250 hz. You can influence the torque by moving your wrist faster or slower and controlling how far you move your wrist - smaller circles producing faster spin.

Powerball 250 hz pro weighs just a little more than a tennis ball, but it’s much more versatile because it produces a non-impact force which can be used for rehabilitation as well as strength improvements.

If you take the rotation up to 15,000 rpm you’ll experience nearly 40 pounds of pressure - imagine being able to put a 40 pound weight in your pocket! With something as small and portable as the Powerball you can truly take your exercise regime with you almost anywhere.

The powerball is not recommended for children under 14 and as with all types of fitness regimes you should seek the advice of your doctor before embarking on such a regime.

One of the most popular sports is airsoft for children and adults of all ages and genders. Airsoft guns are an excellent tool for learnng gun safety, playing games with friends and airsoft enthusiast clubs, but also great for gun collectors since airsoft guns look so much like real guns. Airsoft guns are toy guns that are modeled to look like real guns, many are even full metal and weigh the same as real guns. But looking for airsoft guns to purchase can be difficult if you don’t know what you are looking for. There are many different varieties of airsoft guns, and each one is different. Here are some of the different types of airsoft guns.

Spring Airsoft Guns - A Great Place to Start

For the most part, spring air pistols are typically the best kind of airsoft guns for children and beginners. They are also usually the cheapest kinds of airsoft guns that you can buy. In order to shoot this gun, the user must cock the gun by pulling back the slide or bolt which then compresses the spring and makes the gun ready to fire. Spring airsoft guns are incapable of automatic or semi automatic fire since they must be manually cocked between each shot. Spring airsoft guns shoot at a lower velocity than other types of guns as well.

A Step Up - Electric Airsoft Guns

The next step in airsoft are electric airsoft guns which are slightly more expensive than spring pistols, and are powered by batteries. Electric airsoft pistols are more powerful than spring pistols, and are great guns for older children and adults. Rechargeable batteries help to make these airsoft guns more affordable. The only potential downside is that you need to haveextra batteries on hand and if you use the gun in wet weather it could cause the gun to misfire. Electric airsoft guns are one of the most popular kinds of guns in the market today.

The Most Powerful - Gas Airsoft Guns

The last kind of airsoft gun is the gas powered airsoft gun. Gas powered airsoft guns use either CO2 or Green Gas to power the airsoft gun. Gas powered airsoft guns are the most expensive kind of airsoft gun available, but also the most powerful kind of airsoft gun available. Airsoft gas can be expensive, for the real airsoft gun enthusiast, it’s the best way to go.

Knowing the different kinds of airsoft guns will help you know which kind of gun is right for you and your next airsoft purchase.

Whenever people think about Aruba, then a stunning island that seems to be something out of a movie is meant. The resorts are superb and the beaches are grandiose. An Aruba Island vacation could be a fantastic time to have a rest on a tropical and exotic island while removing the stress of a hectic working life. Many affordable vacation packages and deals can be got if you go about finding them correctly.

Many people like to use travel agencies. However, in the past years I have found that it is just as productive to go with vacation packages offered online that travel agents aren’t able to offer. Recognized, travel agencies can use his or her own feedbacks and experiences to recommend destinations that may make your getaway to stunning summer vacation spots much more pleasant, but that would be your call. It is also good to have someone to vent to if your vacation doesn’t come out to be enjoyable. If you make your reservation online, you are solely responsible for any faults or misunderstandings that may lead to a less pleasant Aruba vacation. The choice is yours on who you want to blame should things go wrong.

Any good travel agency can put together a getaway to vacation destinations in the Caribbean for you. They have the ability to put together everything from your departure flights to your activities while on the island. Make sure if you consider that making an online reservation for your Aruba holiday is the way to go, you do a proper research. Don’t accept a hotel just as a travel site says it is great. Try to check several reviews on that hotel, or try to get vivid photographs and details. Always keep in mind, however, that pics can be very deluding. Believe me on that statement. You may also find that if you are flexible with your travel plan or want to go with a last minute vacation, you may get many more bargains. Often, to be flexible will save you some extra money, as will last minute vacation. If you are comfortable to consider to plan last minute vacations to Aruba and you are able to get out within a few weeks, you will find out that the rates of vacation packages out there for last minute purchase are normally unbeatable.

With some careful preparation, detailed searching, and some daydreaming - there are chances your perfect Aruba vacation is only a few steps away from going true. Apropos, remember you’ll need the sun blocker!

All across the United Kingdom there are many different companies that offer UK breakdown cover. Sometime it can be quite a task trying to choose between all the different companies and their policies. The only thing, indeed the best thing, that you can do is to compare the different companies.

By comparing the companies and their policies you will be able to discover quite a bit of useful information. Besides finding out about different prices you will also be able to find out info about the policies and the companies themselves.

Spending time making these comparisons is a wise move that will help you to find the one most suited to your needs. You will discover the following when you do your UK breakdown cover comparisons:

Comparing to find the best available cover for you

The main undeniable reason for comparing the different policies is so that you will be able to find the best one for your specific needs. You will discover that there are many different policies out there and you will have to compare them to find the best one. You might find that different companies will offer policies with the same name but they are not the same policy.

You will need to take the time to look at these to determine which one suits you best. This is why it is essential that you invest the time to investigate the companies and the policies that they offer. When you take the time to make your comparisons you will be able to find the most appropriate UK breakdown cover online.

An alternative to the games for kids on the Internet is a new and exciting pastime, the trading card game. Children have the opportunity to pit their skills against others in real life, and interact in ways that aren’t available in the online world.

One major attraction to the fun provided by a collectible card game is the artwork that’s available on these cards. Artists from all over the world contribute to the design and sometimes to the very concept of the character. The collectible card game fad is also popular due to the value of the trading cards, and the trading potential. If you keep the cards in good shape, their value can increase over the years. So besides a large number of hours of fun, you have an asset that can connect you with other collectors over time.

Strategic gameplay with games for kids is also good for the imagination and strengthening creative skills. Kids have to use intellect and wit to beat out their opponents. A plus is that a card game takes no batteries, no computer, no special appliances. Just people! And the cards of course.

The stories behind the games also make for great entertainment. Perhaps the player will be protecting an entire world from destruction. Maybe they will be able to act out a hero role in the activity. From fantasy to the now popular sci-fi themes, you can find anything you like in the way of concepts for games. Most trading card games are also family-friendly. This means the entire family can get together for some quality time and share in the enjoyment. With some games providing positive messages, such as saving the environment, there’s a lot to be gained for everyone.

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