public Object extractHardRef(Object o){
  WeakReference w=(WeakReference)o;
  if (w != null) {
    return w.get();
  }
  return null;
}

public Object extractHardRef ( Object o ) { WeakReference w = ( WeakReference ) o ; if ( w != null ) { return w . get ( ) ; } return null ; }
extracts the hard reference from the soft / weak reference given
