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The
Lowdown
Sept. 2022 Archive
Welcome to
the
Lowdown from
DN Journal - your source
for notable news and information from all
corners
of the global
domain name industry!
The Lowdown is
compiled by DN
Journal
Editor & Publisher
Ron Jackson. |
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After
Selling $519 Million Worth of Domains in a 1-Year
Span Escrow.com Sees Them as the REAL Land of the
Metaverse
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Figures
from Escrow.com's
newly released Q2-2022
Domain Investment Index revealed
the company rang up $256 million in domain
name sales volume in the first half of 2022 and a
total of $519 million over the 12-month
period ending June 30. The latter figure
represents an 85% surge in sales volume
over the past two years. |
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Escrow.com
Domain Name
Sales (USD), trailing twelve
months
Having
handled transactions for premium domain names Meta.com,
Uber.com, Instagram.com,
Twitter.com, Crypto.com
and many others, Escrow.com staked a claim to be
"the the place where the land of the
metaverse is bought and sold" in a detailed
press
release issued today. Escrow.com
CEO Matt Barrie noted, "Virtual real
estate isn't a plot of land in the metaverse next to
Snoop Dogg or an NFT on the
blockchain, it's domain names. When Facebook
rebranded to Meta, it didn’t buy virtual
land in a game. Facebook bought the best possible
address in the best street on the internet: meta.com."
The
Escrow.com release highlighted the diverging
fortunes of the domain name aftermarket vs. NFTs
with a link to an article at CoinTelegraph.com
titled Metaverse housing bubble bursting?
Virtual land prices crash 85% amid waning interest.
Escrow.com added supporting evidence for the domain
name case with these points:
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Over the last two years, the average price of
premium domain names has boomed. The average
sale price in 2Q22 was US$49,910.65, up 28% from
US$38,939.57 in 2Q21, and up a whopping 199%
from US$16,694.49 in 2Q20.
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The gains have not all been at the high end, with the
median sale price for domain names up 23% to $5,000 from
$4,064 in 2Q21, and doubling in 2Q22 from
$2,500 in 2Q20.
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Some niche segments outperformed: four-letter domains (LLLL.com) appreciated to a median of
$10,000, up 59% from $6,300 in 2Q21 and
$3,500 (up 186%) in 2Q20.
Andrew
Rosener, CEO of MediaOptions.com,
added “Domain names are the bedrock foundation on which the
entire internet is built upon, including Web3 and
NFTs. Value accrues from the top down. So as more adoption occurs and more technologies and utility is created on top of the internet and its digital pipe lines, the more value accrues to
the land beneath; namely domain names.”
Rosener,
who has won Escrow.com's Master of Domains
Award for the last three years in a row
(presented to the world's highest sales volume broker
on the Escrow.com platform), can also back
up his view with a long record of
blockbuster sales, including NFT.com
at $2.1 million and Zoom.com
at $2 million. |
Andrew
Rosener |
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(Posted
September 27, 2022) To refer
others to the post above
only (and not the full
Lowdown column) you can use this
URL:
https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2022/dailyposts/20220927.htm
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Verisign
Reports Worldwide Domain Registrations Reached
351.5 Million at the End of 2Q-2022
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Verisign
(the administrator of the .com and .net
TLDs) has released their latest quarterly Domain
Name Industry Brief (DNIB) covering
the second quarter of 2022. The quarter
ended with 351.5 million domain name
registrations across all top-level domains
(TLDs) worldwide, a gain of 10.4 million
domains from the same point a year ago,
representing a 3% increase year over year.
Total registrations were up by one million
from the end 1Q-2022 (a 0.3% rise that
represents a considerably slower rate of
growth than we saw for the past year as a whole). At
the end of 2Q-2022, .com registrations
reached 161.1 million, 3.1 million
higher than at the same point a year ago,
representing |
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a
2.6% jump YOY. .Net did not fare as well,
losing 400,000 domains over the past year to
finish 2Q-2022 with 13.2 million
registrations.
Total
country-code TLD domain name registrations came
in at 134.1 million at the end of the
2Q-2022, a gain of 2.6 million domains (2%)
year over year. The top 10 ccTLDs, as of June 30,
2022, were .cn, .de, .uk, .nl, .ru, .br, .fr, .eu,
.au and .it.
Total new
gTLD domain name registrations stood at 27.0 million at the end of the
2Q-2022 after enjoying a healthy 18.1% jump year
over year with the addition of 4.1 million registrations.
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(Posted
September 20, 2022) To refer
others to the post above
only (and not the full
Lowdown column) you can use this
URL:
https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2022/dailyposts/20220920.htm
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GoDaddy
Beefs Up Newly Acquired Dan.com With Addition of
Domain Brokerage Services
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After
acquiring
innovative domain sales platform Dan.com
in June GoDaddy is moving quickly, in
tandem with the existing Dan team, to make the
already popular aftermarket option even more
appealing. An email sent to Dan customers today
broke the latest news, stating "We’re
excited to share progress on this combined effort
with the launch of Dan Brokerage, in
partnership with the world’s leading domain
broker, GoDaddy." The
message, above a "Dan Brokerage Team"
signature, promised the new service will give Dan
customers access to more than 100 experienced
brokers stationed around the world with close
to 24/7 coverage that will provide faster
response time to both sellers and their
prospective buyers.
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The
message, sent from [email protected],
concluded "At
Dan, we’re driven by the idea of putting customers
first. We’re confident this new brokerage
capability where you can relay any negotiation
with a value of at least $1,000 to our
brokerage team, will benefit our sellers.
To discover what this team can do for your
portfolio, simply respond to this email."
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(Posted
September 19, 2022) To refer
others to the post above
only (and not the full
Lowdown column) you can use this
URL:
https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2022/dailyposts/20220919.htm
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Radix
is Celebrating Their 10th Anniversary With
"We Are X" Campaign Launched at NamesCon
Global
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Just
about everywhere
you turned at the 2022 NamesCon
Global conference that ended September
3rd in Austin, Texas you saw a sign
emblazoned "We Are X"! It
was all part of a new 10th Anniversary
celebration for Radix
who has established themselves as one of the
world's most successful and innovative new gTLD
registry operators. Radix now has over 5.5
million domains under management across their 10
TLDs - .Online,
.Store, .Tech, .Website, .Space, .Press, .Site,
.Host, .Fun and .Uno. In 2019, Radix
became the first portfolio Registry to have more
than one TLD with over 1 million domains
under management - .Online and .Site.
Of
course, registration numbers tell only part of the
story. The figure that really makes the Radix story
jump off the page is the phenomenal 216% growth
in revenue they have experienced over the past
five years. The company credits their success to a
focus on reinventing the marketing of
domains by treating each Radix TLD as an
individual brand. That required coming up with
new ideas
that addressed actual |
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customer
pain points, resulting in campaigns like Ideato.store
and Startin.tech,
which connected deeply with their audience. Their
platform, Namify.tech,
also opens opportunities for Radix to bridge the
gaps in the customer journey from ideation to
execution. Radix has confirmed other projects in the
pipeline that they
are confident will keep the company's blazing growth
going over the next decade and beyond.
After
working so hard to achieve their vision over the
past 10 years, Radix certainly earned their right to
celebrate and they did it in style during
NamesCon Global with a big anniversary party at the
popular Roosevelt Room in Austin on
the opening night of the conference on August 31.
Above:
Radix leaders ready to welcome guests to the
Roosevelt Room. Left to right are Karn Jajoo (Director,
Premium Names), CEO Sandeep Ramchandani,
Neha Naik (VP, Channel Partnerships), Joel
Rasquinha (Associate Director, Strategic
Partnerships) and Mark Ghoriafi
(Senior Manager, Strategic Partnerships). All photos
are courtesy of Radix.
Heading
into the evening Sandeep noted, “Even
when we started as a team of 10 with a big vision,
success to us had always been about creating more
value for our customers and partners than we ask of
them. As we look forward to the next decade, we
hope to continue contributing towards helping our
customers succeed while they work towards realizing
their dreams.”
Below:
In selecting the Roosevelt Room for their
celebration, Radix booked an Austin institution that
features what may well be the most well stocked bar
in Texas's capital city!
Above:
It seemed like everyone in Austin for NamesCon
Global was overjoyed to be able to see each
other in person again (after a two-and-a-half year
wait caused by the global Covid pandemic). That was
certainly the case at the Radix 10th Anniversary
Party. In the center of this photo you see Sandeep
greeting NamesCon Co-Founder Richard Lau with
a big hug.
Below:
In this shot, Neha is happy to have a chance
to catch up again with Richard's fellow NamesCon
Co-Founder, Jothan Frakes.
Above:
Leaders from many of the industry's other well-known
firms were on hand to celebrate with Radix. Encirca
President Thomas Barrett (at right) was among
those congratulating Sandeep and his team.
Below:
Radix also had a camera crew on hand, led by Mark
Ghoriafi, so they could document the big event
for posterity. Here Mark is interviewing WordPress
Senior Manager Jason Nickerson.
Above:
Dynadot Founder Todd Han (left) was there too
and having a great time catching up with Kellie
Peterson. Todd knows full well what it takes to
stay on top for the long run as
Dynadot is celebrating their 20th anniversary this
year.
Below:
More familiar faces in the crowd, (left to right) Prakhar
Bindal (NameKart.com), Mark Ghoriafi,
Aishwin Vikhona (Gloabl Websoft), Candice
Castro (Dynadot) and Shaun Wilkinson
(Bodis) turned out to toast Radix.
Radix
was founded by domain industry giant and serial
entrepreneur Bhavin
Turakhia. His previous ventures in the
domain industry include ResellerClub and
BigRock, both ICANN accredited registrars, and LogicBoxes,
a web products and consulting company. These
companies were acquired by Endurance International
Group, now Newfold Digital, in 2013. Bhavin
went on to launch Titan, Flock, and Zeta,
all of which he continues to run successfully as
CEO.
With this history of an unwavering commitment
to excellence, it is not surprising that Radix
had upheld the "family tradition"
so well. We wish many more decades of success in the
years ahead!
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(Posted
September 13, 2022) To refer
others to the post above
only (and not the full
Lowdown column) you can use this
URL:
https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2022/dailyposts/20220913.htm
*****
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Some
Photos and Thoughts From NamesCon Global's
Show Closing Fun Day Saturday in Austin
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The
NamesCon
Global 2022 conference
completed it's four-day run Saturday (Sept.
3) with a big Fun Day at Banger's
Sausage House and Beer Garden in Austin,
Texas (you will find find some initial photos
and highlights from the three business days (Wednesday
through Friday) here. We
are back home in Florida now
and while most Americans are celebrating the Labor
Day holiday today I am starting work on a new
Cover Story that will be a start to finish wrap up
of an unforgettable week in Austin (update:
that story
is up now). After getting
to see each other face to face
for the |
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first time is over
two-and-a-half-years (due to the Covid pandemic),
the joyous mood at this year's show made it
feel like we have finally gotten an irreplaceable
part of our lives back.
Above:
The Fun Day was a great way to wrap up the
week. No business - just hanging out, having a good
time with old friends and making new ones. The
latter is an easy thing to do in this business
because everyone is welcome and we all feel a
special kinship with those who share our love
for domains (and understand how difficult it can
be to explain that passion to people who are not in
this business).
Above
and Below: Banger's, an Austin institution,
was the perfect place to celebrate domain world
camaraderie with their tasty homemade sausages
and vast array of craft beers.
Above:
One of the most popular gathering spots at Banger's
was in front of the rows of taps that deliver 132
different varieties of beer, hard cider and
other specialty beverages!
Below:
No matter what time of day you dropped by (Fun Day
ran from 10am to 5pm Saturday) you were sure to see
both new faces and familiar ones in the
crowd. We were happy to meet April Hawthorne
(at left) for the first time and grateful for a
chance to see Maxam and Abigail Magnata
(center and right) again for the first time in
years. The thing about long time friends in
our field is that, no matter how much time has past,
you can just pick right back up where you left
off as if no time had passed at all.
Above:
In this group you see a guy who stands out in any
crowd, Braden Pollock (at center in the NamesCon
shirt). The personable and witty Californian (I had
to admonish him for being funnier than me) is one of
the industry's most familiar faces after years of
success as a domain investor and countless
appearances on conference stages as a popular
speaker and skilled moderator. In the latter role
there was never a dull moment in Braden's
sessions at NamesCon Global 2022 - and I can say
they same thing for every conversation I've had with
him over the years.
Below:
Speaking of successful investors and fun people to
see, it was good to connect again with Texas's own Francine
Callahan (left), top notch broker Jeff
Garbutt from PrimeLoyalty.com
(center) and, of course, spend another day with my
wife, Diana Jackson (right - well, she is always
right, so what did you expect!), who has spent the
past 20 years enjoying the journey with fellow domain
travelers every bit as much as I have.
Above:
(L to R) Aishwin Vikhona, Monte Cahn (RightOfTheDot.com),
Ron Jackson (DNJournal.com) and NamesCon
CEO Christian Jaeger. I continue to be amazed
how our business - one that spans the entire
globe and sits at the very center of the
Internet infrastructure that allows anyone to
instantly communicate with others worldwide -
has managed to retain the feeling of a small family
business. People come to NamesCom from all over
the planet and quickly become personal
friends, regardless of what culture or unique
background they come from. Aishwin is an industry
veteran from India, Monte (who has been in
the business since the late 1990s) and I are Americans
(both based in Florida) and Christian, who
became NamesCon's CEO last year, is from Germany.
NamesCon attendees also included people from Canada,
Australia, multiple countries in Europe,
South America, the Far East and more.
It's a diverse crowd, some cosmopolitan, some
country, but all intellectually curious about
the world we live in, creative and just a
joy to be around. Thanks
to Christian, Soeren von Varchmin, Helga
Neumer and the entire NamesCon team for a
great week and a triumphant return to
in-person conferencing! Can't wait to see you
again when NamesCon returns to Austin in 2023
(dates to be announced)!
|
(Posted
September 5, 2022) To refer
others to the post above
only (and not the full
Lowdown column) you can use this
URL:
https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2022/dailyposts/20220905.htm
*****
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Some
Highlights From NamesCon Global 2022 As We Head
Into the Home Stretch
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Before
I even left for NamesCon Global 2022
in Austin my plan (as I wrote in my last
Lowdown post) was
to change the way I normally cover the conference.
After a two and half year dearth of domain conferences
due to the Covid pandemic, my top priority was to
spend as much time as possible on the show floor
re-connecting with friends and colleagues. In the
past I would spend 4 or 5 hours of each 24 hour
cycle in my room editing photos and writing a long
daily recap as the show went along. This time I
spent those hours catching up with as many people
as I possibly could. |
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It was
the right decision. The pandemic delivered an
important life lesson - never take the time
you have with people you care about lightly. The opportunity
could disappear forever overnight. Being able
to see everyone in person again has already made
this the most appreciated conference I've
ever attended. The first three days have been a pure
delight on every level and we still have one more to
go today - a Fun Day that will close the
show.
On
this beautiful Saturday morning in Austin I
finally had enough time to sift through the hundreds
of photos I've taken and pull out a few
highlights to share with you. Once we get home the
real work will begin on a new Cover Story that will
cover the complete conference from start to
finish (expect to see that by Tuesday evening,
Sept. 6).
Above:
There was a full house when the 2022
NamesCon Global conference opened Wednesday
morning (August 31) at the Omni Hotel in
downtown Austin, Texas.
Below:
When Soeren von Varchmin, the Chairman of the
NamesCon Advisory Board, hit the stage at 10am to
open the show, the level of excitement (clearly
reflected in Soeren's face) was off the chart.
A wait over more than two and a half years to see
each other face to face was finally over!
Above:
After Soeren had called me (at left) onstage to talk
about what has been happening in the domain world
since we last met, I was surprised to see
NamesCon CEO Christian Jaeger walk in with a
birthday cake. I had spent my birthday Tuesday
flying to Austin, seeing other early arrivers in the
hotel lobby and attending Sedo's pre-show
party (there could not have been a better way to
spend a birthday)! This thoughtful gesture from
Christian, Soeren and Helga Neumer (Head of
NamesCon Operations) is something I will always
treasure. We also celebrated landmark dates for two
of the industry's leading companies - NamesCon
coincided with the 25th Anniversary of Trellian
(whose Above.com
unit was NamesCon's title sponsor) as well as the
the 10th Anniversary of Radix.
Below:
Now it was time to get down to business! Paul
Nicks, the President of GoDaddy's Domain
Registrars and Investors division, delivered the
first keynote - titled Igniting Investor
Success. Paul has always been an advocate
for domain investors as he has risen through the
ranks at GoDaddy. We would not be getting the
attention and continually expanding
investor-oriented services from GoDaddy we have seen
in recent years were it not for Paul.
Above:
I was back on stage for two other sessions in the Bodis
Keynote Hall on opening day Wednesday. The first
was a morning Fireside Chat with Artist
Christian Calvin (that we will dig into in
the upcoming Cover Story on NamesCon Global 2022)
and the second in the afternoon (seen here), Insights
Into the Domain Industry's Evolution, with Trellian
President and Co-Founder David Warmuz
(right). As I mentioned above, Trellian is
celebrating this 25th Anniversary and David has been
there to see and help build this industry from its
beginning. He had some great stories to share,
including a fascinating account of his 22-year-long
efforts to acquire the domain Trillion.com. The
original plan was to use Trillion as the company
name. David did finally get it but by that point
Trellian was the established brand. Still, check out
Trillion.com
to see how many well-known brands the company owns
and operates now. I think you will be surprised!
Below:
In another highly anticipated session that drew a
wall to wall crowd, two of the best negotiators in
the business, Kate Buckley (Buckley Media)
and the Domain King himself, Rick Schwartz,
shared their views on the The Art of
Negotiating. Kate and Rick have very
different negotiating styles, yet they both
consistently ring up huge sales. Insight into the
way they go about it made this session alone worth
the cost to attend NamesCon.
Above:
Throughout the opening days of the conference, the Exhibit
Hall area was a bee hive of activity. It was
conveniently located on level 1 of the Omni's
beautiful atrium. There was a steady flow of
attendees up and down the staircase at right that
leads to the Bodis Keynote Hall, the TITAN
Breakout Stage and other meeting rooms.
Below:
Of course, one thing attendees especially love about
the Exhibition Hall is the chance to pick up some cool
swag! Here a visitor checks out the .HipHop
booth where a huge pile of T-Shirts was steadily
whittled down as the show progressed (as a former
radio DJ and owner of several record stores in a
previous business life, I had to pick up one of
those myself)!
Above:
At the end of the first business day it was time for
the Above.com Opening Night Reception at the
Omni. NamesCon Global attendees came from all
over the world. Those as the Above party included
industry veteran (L to R) Aishwin Vikhona and
Prakhar Bindal (both from India) and Truc
Tran (from Norway).
Below:
Unfortunately, there was one tragic event at the
Above.com party - the premature death of an 18-year-old
bottle of Macallan Scotch! This particular
star-crossed bottle was won by Marc Mojica from
Sniamod LLC (at left below with Above.com
Executive Vice President Nancy Bianchi) as
part of a day-long Above.com Scavenger Hunt
contest. Right after Marc won the bottle, another
attendee picked it up and accidentally dropped the
bottle, shattering it and sending the sweet smell of
Scotch through the room - at least one attendee even
dipped a napkin into the pool of liquid to sniff it!
Macallan 18 typically retails for $400-$500 but to
show how guests at NamesCon this year would not let anything
dampen their spirits, Marc was still smiling
when he told us about the mishap. As he noted, he
now has a great story to tell even if it leaves a
big hole in his liquor cabinet! (One way or another,
odds are that problem will be fixed too).
Above:
Evening social events are always a big part of the
NamesCon experience, typically with multiple events,
private and public, every evening. We were honored
to join some longtime friends of industry legend
Frank Schilling (at left above with dinner host Dr.
Gregg McNair (center) and Frank's closest
friend, Vern Jurovich) at Eberly in Austin
Wednesday night to celebrate Frank's success and
thank him for the inspiration and encouragement he
has provided so many of us along the way. After the
private dinner, a party open to all NamesCon
attendees got underway at Eberly and ran well
into the night.
Below:
The second day of business Thursday, September 1,
got off to s great start with iconic broker Andrew
Miller (Managing Director at Hilco
Digital Assets) sharing The Secret to
Premium Domain Deals. Andrew has been in the
middle of many of the biggest domain sales of all
time. You don't hear the specifics about most of the
them because sales at this level almost always come
with non-disclosure agreements, but industry
veterans are well aware of what Andrew has accomplished
over the past two decades. In this session he shared
how sales at this level get done and this was
another one of those sessions where you needed to
get there early or you weren't going to find an open
seat!
Above:
Another day two highlight Thursday was the RightOfTheDot
NamesCon Global Live Domain and Digital Assets
auction. As always, the sale was orchestrated b
World Champion Auctioneer Wayne Wheat (left
on stage) and ROTD President Monte Cahn. At
this writing we don't have all of the auction
results in (and the offline auction is still going
on) but we should have more on that in our upcoming
Cover Story).
Below:
After another full day of business, another round of
social events followed Thursday, including the
annual Internet
Commerce Association Dinner, held at Parkside,
just a couple of blocks from the Omni. A highlight
of the dinner is always the presentation of the
annual Lonnie Borck Memorial Award and that
was again the case this year. The award, recognizing
a person who has done outstanding work in
helping foster
a sense of community within the domain name
industry went to Andrew Allemann of Domain
Name Wire. ICA Executive Director Kamila
Sekiewicz presented Andrew with the
well-deserved award.
There
was another full round of business sessions Friday,
including some big news from Soeren von Varchmin
in his daily kickoff session. He confirmed that NamesCon
Global will return to Austin in 2023. The
dates are still to be determined but Soeren said
they would fall in either the spring or fall
seasons.
Now,
it is time for me to run again - it's off to Banger's
Sausage House and Beer Garden for the closing Fun
Day at NamesCon Global 2022. I'll likely
have some photos from that for you by Sunday night -
and again - today's column was just a sampling to
give you some of the flavor of the show - the big
wrap is still to come early next week!
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(Posted
September 3, 2022) To refer
others to the post above
only (and not the full
Lowdown column) you can use this
URL:
https://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2022/dailyposts/20220903.htm
*****
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