WEBVTT - Forward Momentum: Welcome to Fw:Thinking

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<v Speaker 1>Brought to you by Toyota. Let's go places. Welcome to

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<v Speaker 1>forward Thinking Grievings. Everyone, Welcome to the very first episode

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<v Speaker 1>of Forward Thinking. I am your host, Jonathan Strickland, and

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<v Speaker 1>I am joined by two phenomenal people, two of my

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<v Speaker 1>favorite people the whole wide world. And I'm going to

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<v Speaker 1>have the first one introduce herself to you right now. Hey,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Lauren Vokebon. I am the co host of another

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<v Speaker 1>technology podcast called tech Stuff. I am Joe McCormick, and

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<v Speaker 1>I'm a writer for the Forward Thinking video series Excellent

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<v Speaker 1>and so this audio podcast is a companion piece to

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<v Speaker 1>that video series that Joe was talking about. And in

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<v Speaker 1>case you haven't had a chance to check it out,

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<v Speaker 1>what Forward Thinking is. It's a video series that takes

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<v Speaker 1>concepts that are going to become really important to us

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<v Speaker 1>in the future. They may be important to us right now,

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<v Speaker 1>but we're trying to kind of project our minds out

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<v Speaker 1>to the future and think, how are these things going

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<v Speaker 1>to all over time and what does it mean as

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<v Speaker 1>far as our daily experience goes? So, uh kind of

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<v Speaker 1>thinking about, well, well, what what's the bright shining promise

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<v Speaker 1>of the future? Right right? Sort of? I mean the

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<v Speaker 1>concept is that we are currently living in the incredible

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<v Speaker 1>future right now, So what does the actual future hold? Yeah, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's it's kind of one of those fun brain

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<v Speaker 1>teasers that you put yourself through because no one really

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<v Speaker 1>has the answer to this. I mean, these are things

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<v Speaker 1>that are possibilities that could become a reality down the road,

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<v Speaker 1>but right now, of course, we can't definitively say what

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<v Speaker 1>the future is going to be like. So we get

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<v Speaker 1>to kind of play prognosticator, which is turns out to

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<v Speaker 1>be a lot of fun, it could be a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of work. To Joe, you've written some of these episodes already,

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<v Speaker 1>so you've kind of had this experience of all right,

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<v Speaker 1>here's the information I have about this topic, how could

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<v Speaker 1>this develop in the future. What's your experience like so

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<v Speaker 1>far doing that kind of thing. Well. With each episode

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<v Speaker 1>so far, we've tried to break it down and talk

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<v Speaker 1>about a few things. First of all, um with each

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<v Speaker 1>concept or technology to discuss sort of where we've come

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<v Speaker 1>from the history leading up to this point, in the

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<v Speaker 1>state of technology today, or of how humanity deals with

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<v Speaker 1>this particular difficult concept or whatever it is. And then

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<v Speaker 1>we tried to extend into the future a little bit

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<v Speaker 1>and say, how's this going to work in theory when

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<v Speaker 1>we have, you know, greater capabilities than we do today.

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<v Speaker 1>And that part can be a lot of fun because

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<v Speaker 1>I can't remember who it is now. It was it

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<v Speaker 1>Arthur C. Clark who said, any you know, sufficiently advanced

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<v Speaker 1>technology is indistinguishable from magic um and and that's what

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<v Speaker 1>makes it kind of magical to think about how far

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<v Speaker 1>we can go and how far we've already come. Sure,

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<v Speaker 1>And then of course in each episode we also want

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<v Speaker 1>to imagine, well, if if these crazy unthinkable advances really

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<v Speaker 1>do manifest in in the way we live, what's it

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<v Speaker 1>going to mean for us? And how is it going

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<v Speaker 1>to change what it means to be human? What This

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<v Speaker 1>is one of my favorite sort of topics and of

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<v Speaker 1>all topics that I've covered in various podcasts and articles,

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<v Speaker 1>this idea of the human experience and what it means

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<v Speaker 1>to be human in this changing world, this era of

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<v Speaker 1>technology we live in that is changing so rapidly it

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<v Speaker 1>becomes a challenge to even describe it. Uh kind of

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<v Speaker 1>ties into that concept of the singularity where it's literally

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<v Speaker 1>impossible to describe the situation because it changes constantly. To

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<v Speaker 1>the point where one moment is different from the next.

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<v Speaker 1>We're not there yet, clearly. But one of the wonderful

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<v Speaker 1>things and sometimes challenging things about writing about technology, or

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<v Speaker 1>podcasting about technology or doing a video series is that

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<v Speaker 1>by the time you're finished, it's already changed a little bit.

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<v Speaker 1>So that's one of the things. Yeah, right, it's like

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<v Speaker 1>buying a computer and taking it home and it's obsoletely

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<v Speaker 1>before you can get it out of the box. But

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<v Speaker 1>that's one of the things that's exciting about tech. It's

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<v Speaker 1>not something that we shy away from. It's something we

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<v Speaker 1>embrace because this means that our future is going to

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<v Speaker 1>be phenomenal, and we're trying to project our minds and

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<v Speaker 1>to get a grasp on what that might be. Knowing

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<v Speaker 1>as we start out that our vision of what is

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<v Speaker 1>going to come and what actually will happen may not

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<v Speaker 1>measure up in a one to one ratio, but but

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<v Speaker 1>you know, it's still an interesting experiment. No, you're right,

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<v Speaker 1>there are going to be things that we cannot even

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<v Speaker 1>take into account right now that are going to play

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<v Speaker 1>into our future. But that's what's so awesome about this.

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<v Speaker 1>So I'm really genuinely excited about working on this project

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<v Speaker 1>with you guys. Yeah, absolutely, So I thought it might

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<v Speaker 1>be fun to talk about a couple of the topics

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<v Speaker 1>that we're already looking at in these early episodes of

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<v Speaker 1>forward thinking on the video series. So one of those

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<v Speaker 1>topics that that we we tackled was this idea of

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<v Speaker 1>the Internet of things. And Joe, do you want to

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<v Speaker 1>give kind of a kind of a top level look

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<v Speaker 1>what the Internet of things is? Sure? Well, uh, the

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<v Speaker 1>Internet of things is in a way, we're already there. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>it's a way of looking at what the Internet is

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<v Speaker 1>now and what it's going to become. Um. Basically, when

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<v Speaker 1>we think about the Internet, we usually think about it

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<v Speaker 1>as something that interfaces with a human At some point.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, you are using your laptop, or you are

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<v Speaker 1>using your tablet, or you are using your smartphone. In

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<v Speaker 1>any case, you're you're connecting to the Internet to get

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<v Speaker 1>information or to upload information, and at some point it's

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<v Speaker 1>routing through you. The Internet of Things is a world

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<v Speaker 1>in which, um, so many objects around us become connected

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<v Speaker 1>to the Internet and they both upload and download information independently.

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<v Speaker 1>That our entire environment is sort of it's transformed, um, right,

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<v Speaker 1>that we have there's this sort of ecosystem of technology

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<v Speaker 1>that's in a lot of cases doing stuff without any

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<v Speaker 1>input from us at all. Sure. Yeah, So this idea

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<v Speaker 1>of inswers and some form of actuator, whether it's a

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<v Speaker 1>physical actuator or a digital format of an actuator, are

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<v Speaker 1>are taking measurements about the environment, about us and how

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<v Speaker 1>we interact with the environment and making changes dynamically on

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<v Speaker 1>the fly. It's a really exciting concept and we're going

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<v Speaker 1>to really dive into that in a future episode. But

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<v Speaker 1>other episodes will involve things like three D printing, which

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<v Speaker 1>involves using a printer to create actual three dimensional objects.

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<v Speaker 1>That's manufacturing. Yeah, and we've got one of those here

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<v Speaker 1>at our office, so we've been able to play with them.

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<v Speaker 1>We've been making toys because you know, we're all kids

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<v Speaker 1>at heart. So while we probably could be making prototypes

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<v Speaker 1>of the next future technologies, most of us are thinking,

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<v Speaker 1>I want an action figure of myself. But that's totally

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<v Speaker 1>valid and as far as I'm concerned, yes, yes, because

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<v Speaker 1>I like to have my action figure stand in for

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<v Speaker 1>me for meetings. Uh, most people haven't picked up on it,

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<v Speaker 1>which I don't know if that's a compliment or an insult.

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<v Speaker 1>But then we also have things like autonomous cars. We're

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<v Speaker 1>talking about the future of space travel. And what's really

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<v Speaker 1>exciting to me is that what we hope to do

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<v Speaker 1>down the road is involve you, the audience, in helping

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<v Speaker 1>us decide which topics we should talk about in this series.

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<v Speaker 1>We want to really understand what people are really excited about.

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<v Speaker 1>What what is it that they dream about for the future.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, besides jet packs and food and pill form

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<v Speaker 1>and you can include those two, we'll talk about that

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<v Speaker 1>as well. But we want to have all those topics

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<v Speaker 1>come in from the audience so that we can respond

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<v Speaker 1>to them and make this not just a presentation but

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<v Speaker 1>a conversation, because I think it's just as important that

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<v Speaker 1>we hear their input and and really make this a

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<v Speaker 1>full dialogue. Uh. And that way we all start to

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<v Speaker 1>shape the future together, and that to me is truly exciting.

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<v Speaker 1>So guys, if you are interested in this show, well

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<v Speaker 1>here's what you need to do. On March one, we

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<v Speaker 1>are launching the website Forward thinking dot com. Now that's

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<v Speaker 1>f W Thinking dot com and that's where you're going

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<v Speaker 1>to be able to find our videos are podcasts. You're

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<v Speaker 1>going to find blog posts. Who knows what other stuff

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<v Speaker 1>is going to pop up there over in the future.

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<v Speaker 1>And really, we're going to tackle the future in a

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<v Speaker 1>way that has never been done before, and we need

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<v Speaker 1>your help to do it. So join us on this adventure.

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<v Speaker 1>We're looking forward to it. And well, I think that

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<v Speaker 1>wraps up our introduction. Guys, we are really looking forward

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<v Speaker 1>to this. Join us on our journey, and we will

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<v Speaker 1>see you soon. For more on this topic in the

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<v Speaker 1>future of technology, visit forward thinking dot Com, brought to

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<v Speaker 1>you by Toyota. Let's Go Places