text:
When testing any of the below remember that Office may require basic user interaction to either "Enable Editing" for documents from the internet or "Enable Content" for active content.
Macros are probably the most well-known method for abusing Office documents. Essentially Office allows users to include VBScript to add dynamic functionality however there are no restrictions on this functionality. Simple payloads will execute a single process e.g. powershell, more advanced payloads will load WinAPI functions to inject code into memory without ever launching additional processes.
So how do you get your VBScript to load? Well Word provides two useful functions AutoOpen() and Document_Open() that can be used to automatically launch a payload when a document is opened. These functions will work in .doc .docm and dotm, but not docx.
In Excel you can use Workbook_Open() but as with Word you'll need to use an xlsm file. An example payload is shown below:
Private Sub Workbook_Open() Msgbox "test macro" CreateObject("Wscript.Shell").Run "calc" End Sub
A nice real-world macro and OLE example using Empire is linked below:
Instead of embedding the payload directly in the current document you can also use templates/addins. So although the current document may not contain anything malicious if the template/addin does then it will still execute.
ActiveX Components
Aside from the standard macro launching functions (AutoOpen etc.), Word/Excel/Powerpoint also support ActiveX "Controls" and "Fields" which can be used to either automatically launch macros or trick users into executing macros. Basic options include buttons and images, more exotic options include frames and the built-in Microsoft browser.
The "Fields" function in Word (Insert -> QuickParts -> Field) is another interesting vector, in particular the Link and MacroButton functions offer ways to embed/activate content.
OLE Embedding
After Macros the next most interesting Office feature is probably OLE embedding. By default Office allows users to embed external content in documents. This can be used to insert pictures, videos or other documents within the current document. What's awesome is that you can also just insert a binary or a malicious script. This works across Word, Excel and Powerpoint.
To insert an object select "Insert" -> "Object":
All the user has to do is double click the embedded content and you get a shell.
Powerpoint Actions
Powerpoint is obviously designed for presentations and most people are familiar with transitions, (making memes fly in and out). But what you may not know is that Powerpoint supports OnClick and OnMouseOver "Actions". What are actions? Well anything you like, they basically allow you to execute a process of your choosing including arguments. The one limitation with this vector is that the user needs to view the slides in presentation mode, so you'll need to add some text telling the user to press F5.
An in-the-wild example that used an action to load an embedded payload is linked below:
Dynamic Data Exchange
DDE (dynamic data exchange) is a semi-legacy Windows feature used for displaying data from external data sources in your current document. Sounds reasonable enough right? Well the issue with this functionality is that it allows you to not just call external documents but also processes and you can supply command line arguments too. So another very hackable feature.
The formula below can be used to test in Excel, this works in both xls and xlsx:
=cmd|'/c calc'!A0
Remember that as well as =, Excel also supports the use of + - @ characters at the start of a formula.
You can also view/edit the DDE XML directly by opening your document with 7zip:
<ddeLink xmlns:r="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships" ddeService="cmd" ddeTopic="/c calc"> <ddeItems> <ddeItem name="A0" advise="1"/> <ddeItem name="StdDocumentName" ole="1" advise="1"/> </ddeItems></ddeLink>
A real-world example exploiting this issue can be found below:
It's worth mentioning that I couldn't find a way to execute DDE in Word or Powerpoint. I'd be interested to know if this is possible or not.
Filter Bypasses
Many companies/products will filter content based on either the extension or content-type of a file. Lucky for us Office has many different formats that will modify the appearance of our payload but not the action of the payload.
To experiment with such bypasses take a look at the "Save As" supported formats. In Word/Excel/Powerpoint you'll see there are many different output formats.
You can use the different formats on their own or try renaming the extension back to doc/ppt/xls. In most instances the payload will still execute despite having the content modified.
Two common bypasses include:
- Word doc saved as XML then renamed to doc
- Word doc saved as MHTML then renamed to doc
Further Research
- The "Fields" as well as the "Data Source/DB" feature in Word have multiple potentially interesting functions. I couldn't find a way to exploit them, maybe you can?
- In Office hyperlinks are quite interesting as they let you link to local files however you can't supply arguments. It would be interesting to see if args could be supplied somehow or links abused in another way.
Final Thoughts
Microsoft Office provides multiple different ways to execute code. There are still quite a few features that I feel could be exploited with more research and given how commonly used Office documents are for payload delivery I can imagine we'll see more vectors in the future.
I didn't mention prevention/detection above but from a defensive point ideally you want to block any email attachments containing a Macro or OLE. For detection it's relatively easy to spot suspicious child processes (cmd/powershell/wscript etc.) coming from Office, direct to WinAPI stuff is more complex to detect but not impossible with the right tools.
Hope you guys have found this useful, if I missed anything obvious out let me know in the comments below.
Pwndizzle out.


text:
Opening Times | Patient Access | Contact Us
CQC Rating Good
Patient Access Security
We're serious about security
Your security is very important to us. We take a number of measures to help safeguard you while you are using Patient Access Services. This page explains how to find out whether you're connected to Patient Access securely. You can then have confidence that you are using the real & legal site and all your communication with it is safe from others.
This site uses a security certificate issued by a trusted authority. This is a way to prove the site is genuine and to tell your browser to use strong encryption for every page you view. You will see the same technology used by online banks and shops.
Please check the certificate and familiarise yourself with how it looks in your browser. Whenever you use the site, check to make sure the certificate is still there. If it isn't, don't use the site and report the problem to your practice, who will bring it to our attention.
We have provided external links below to instructions for all the major browsers on how to view the security certificate. Click the link to open the instructions in a new window.
We use cookies to help provide you with the best possible online experience.
By using this site, you agree that we may store and access cookies on your device. Cookie policy.
Cookie settings.
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Functional Cookies are enabled by default at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings and ensure site works and delivers best experience.
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This website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site, and the most popular pages.
Keeping this cookie enabled helps us to improve our website.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Men are shallow assholes and routinely judge women based entirely on their external appearance. We use a 10-point scale to rank our perception of a woman's looks, and on occasion will use it to judge her personality as well. Rarely, the two will be combined on the same 10-point scale (see below).
The lower end of the scale is a 1, and represents the ugliest girl a man has ever seen. Usually this is a woman with a combination of physical deformity and obscene obesity, but it does vary slightly depending on a man's taste. In some instances, 0 actually represents the bottom of the scale. However, but because most men actually feel some slight compunction about ranking girls this ugly, the lower end of the scale is not used very frequently and is therefore less prone to scrutiny.
A five usually represents an average girl, which is as a girl that you would be on the fence about sleeping with if you were sober, ignored your ego and any other external factors like pregnancy or STDs.
The upper end of the scale is a 10, and represents the most beautiful woman a man has ever seen. This is usually some combination of supreme physical fitness, perfect facial structure, expensive lingerie or nakedness, professional lighting and air brushing. It has been suggested that 10s do not exist in nature, though this is debated. There is also a high degree of disagreement when it comes to ranking girls at the upper end of the scale; but because the scale is mostly used to rank personal opinion this controversy is widely tolerated.
The rankings between 0, 5 and 10 are interpolated based on the benchmarks described above.
The ranking system assumes that female attractiveness follows a Normal or Gaussian Distribution. Few have tried to dispute this, since to assume otherwise would dramatically complicate the scale, and it seems to be accurate enough for its typical applications.
Normally, the minimum precision used is a half-point (0.5), since the scale is largely used for initial impressions only and these often change anyway based on proximity, make-up, clothing, lighting, inebriation, and a variety of other factors. Though there is no explicit rule against using higher precision, men who attempt (for example) to rank a girl an 8.4 instead of rounding up to 8.5 are normally laughed at or told to shut the fuck up.
Though there are some shortcomings, men continue to use the scale for a number of reasons:
- We are analytical by nature and it allows us to quantify and communicate our gut feelings.
- We would be mocked endlessly by our male friends if we used adjectives descriptive enough to convey our impression of a woman's appearance.
- Most men do not possess a vocabulary large enough to use words anyway.
- The use of words is highly prone to misinterpretation.
- Because most men have ten fingers, the scale can be used across language barriers.
- Girls hate it.
Example of a combined looks-personality scale:
"Who was that you were talking to?"
"Oh, just this girl that wanted to play volleyball with us. She was cool."
"Yeah, she was kinda cute too; she has a great ass, is she going to play with us?"
"I know man, it's weird, I'm not that into her looks-wise, but there was something about her that I liked."
"Haha, yeah her ass..."
"No, like, on the looks scale I'd give her a 6.5, maybe a 7, but she was really cool; I'd say her personality brings her up to an 8, maybe even an 8.5."
"Nice! I love girls like that. See if she'll come out with us tonight. Tell her to bring her friends."
"Haha yeah I am going to."


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"I Have Prayed For You, Francis" – On Peter's Day, The Pope on The Keys
Before anything else, a refresher on this feast's context from the Catechism of the Catholic Church...
When Christ instituted the Twelve, "he constituted [them] in the form of a college or permanent assembly, at the head of which he placed Peter, chosen from among them." Just as "by the Lord's institution, St. Peter and the rest of the apostles constitute a single apostolic college, so in like fashion the Roman Pontiff, Peter's successor, and the bishops, the successors of the apostles, are related with and united to one another."...along these lines, then, here follows the reigning Pope's morning preach for this solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul – the foundational observance of a Christianity rooted in Rome, born from the blood of the Princes of the Apostles:
The Lord made Simon alone, whom he named Peter, the "rock" of his Church. He gave him the keys of his Church and instituted him shepherd of the whole flock. "The office of binding and loosing which was given to Peter was also assigned to the college of apostles united to its head." This pastoral office of Peter and the other apostles belongs to the Church's very foundation and is continued by the bishops under the primacy of the Pope.
The Pope, Bishop of Rome and Peter's successor, "is the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole company of the faithful." "For the Roman Pontiff, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, and as pastor of the entire Church has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered."
The word of God in today's liturgy presents a clear central contrast between closing and opening. Together with this image we can consider the symbol of the keys that Jesus promises to Simon Peter so that he can open the entrance to the kingdom of heaven, and not close it before people, like some of the hypocritical scribes and Pharisees whom Jesus reproached (cf. Mt 23:13).-30-
The reading from the Acts of the Apostles (12:1-11) shows us three examples of "closing": Peter is cast into prison; the community gathers behind closed doors in prayer; and – in the continuation of our reading – Peter knocks at the closed door of the house of Mary, the mother of John called Mark, after being set free.
In these three examples of "closing", prayer appears as the main way out. It is a way out for the community, which risks closing in on itself out of persecution and fear. It is a way out for Peter who, at the very beginning of the mission given him by the Lord, is cast into prison by Herod and risks execution. And while Peter was in prison, "the church prayed fervently to God for him" (Acts 12:5). The Lord responds to that prayer and sends his angel to liberate Peter, "rescuing him from the hand of Herod" (cf. v. 11). Prayer, as humble entrustment to God and his holy will, is always the way out of our becoming "closed", as individuals and as a community. It is always the eminent way out of our becoming "closed".
Paul too, writing to Timothy, speaks of his experience of liberation, of finding a way out of his own impending execution. He tells us that the Lord stood by him and gave him strength to carry out the work of evangelizing the nations (cf. 2 Tim 4:17). But Paul speaks too of a much greater "opening", towards an infinitely more vast horizon. It is the horizon of eternal life, which awaits him at the end of his earthly "race". We can see the whole life of the Apostle in terms of "going out" in service to the Gospel. Paul's life was utterly projected forward, in bringing Christ to those who did not know him, and then in rushing, as it were, into Christ's arms, to be "saved for his heavenly kingdom" (v. 18).
Let us return to Peter. The Gospel account (Mt 16:13-19) of his confession of faith and the mission entrusted to him by Jesus shows us that the life of Simon, the fishermen of Galilee – like the life of each of us – opens, opens up fully, when it receives from God the Father the grace of faith. Simon sets out on the journey – a long and difficult journey – that will lead him to go out of himself, leaving all his human supports behind, especially his pride tinged with courage and generous selflessness. In this, his process of liberation, the prayer of Jesus is decisive: "I have prayed for you [Simon], that your own faith may not fail" (Lk 22:32). Likewise decisive is the compassionate gaze of the Lord after Peter had denied him three times: a gaze that pierces the heart and brings tears of repentance (cf. Lk 22:61-62). At that moment, Simon Peter was set free from the prison of his selfish pride and of his fear, and overcame the temptation of closing his heart to Jesus's call to follow him along the way of the cross.
I mentioned that, in the continuation of the passage from the Acts of the Apostles, there is a detail worthy of consideration (cf. 12:12-17). When Peter finds himself miraculously freed from Herod's prison, he goes to the home of the mother of John called Mark. He knocks on the closed door and a servant by the name of Rhoda comes. Recognizing Peter's voice, in disbelief and joy, instead of opening the door, she runs to tell her mistress. The account, which can seem comical, and which could give rise to the "Rhoda complex", makes us perceive the climate of fear that led the Christian community to stay behind closed doors, but also closed to God's surprises. Peter knocks at the door. Behold! There is joy, there is fear… "Do we open, do we not?...". He is in danger, since the guards can come and take him. But fear paralyzes us, it always paralyzes us; it makes us close in on ourselves, closed to God's surprises. This detail speaks to us of a constant temptation for the Church, that of closing in on herself in the face of danger. But we also see the small openings through which God can work. Saint Luke tells us that in that house "many had gathered and were praying" (v. 12). Prayer enable grace to open a way out from closure to openness, from fear to courage, from sadness to joy. And we can add: from division to unity. Yes, we say this today with confidence, together with our brothers from the Delegation sent by the beloved Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to take part in the celebration of the Holy Patrons of Rome. Today is also a celebration of communion for the whole Church, as seen by the presence of the metropolitan archbishops who have come for the blessing of the pallia, which they will receive from my representatives in their respective sees.
May Saints Peter and Paul intercede for us, so that we can joyfully advance on this journey, experience the liberating action of God, and bear witness to it before the world.


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TidBITS Watchlist: Notable Software Updates for 30 June 2014
Final Cut Pro X 10.1.2, Compressor 4.1.2, Motion 5.1.1 — Apple has updated its lineup of professional video editing apps, releasing Final Cut Pro X 10.1.2, Compressor 4.1.2, and Motion 5.1.1. Final Cut Pro X can now store optimized, proxy, and rendered media in any location outside the library, and media can be deleted from within the video editor. The update can also apply the Rec. 709 high-definition standard in real time to high dynamic range and wide color gamut video from ARRI, Blackmagic Design,
Canon, and Sony cameras. Other changes include improved speed and accuracy when synchronizing clips, addition of countdown and automatic Audition creation from multiple audio recording takes, and the capability to share 4K video to Vimeo.
Final Cut Pro, Compressor, and Motion also receive added support for the new Apple ProRes 4444 XQ codec, which preserves dynamic ranges more effectively than the Rec. 709 standard during editing (for more on ProRes 4444 XQ, see this white paper). Motion 5.1.1 receives improved Sequence Text behavior for animating characters, words, and lines, plus enhanced Contrast filter parameters for refined adjustments. Compressor 4.1.2 improves status display and responsiveness when sending video from Final Cut Pro X and Motion, plus improves performance and color accuracy when encoding H.264 source files from GoPro cameras. (Final Cut Pro, $299.99 new, 2.28 GB, release notes, 10.9.2+; Compressor, $49.99 new, 304 MB, release notes, 10.9.2+; Motion, $49.99 new, 1.68 GB, release notes, 10.9.2+; all three titles available from the Mac App Store with free updates for previous purchases)
Read/post comments about Final Cut Pro X 10.1.2, Compressor 4.1.2, Motion 5.1.1.
Default Folder X 4.6.6 — St. Clair Software has released Default Folder X 4.6.6, reassigning the Command-D shortcut to jump to the Desktop rather than invoke the Duplicate command. The Open and Save dialog enhancement utility now enables you to use its Rebound feature (to quickly return to recently used folders) in column view, fixes a bug that caused some apps (like Monosnap) to save files with the wrong file names, and disables audio previews by default to avoid triggering OS X to switch to the high performance graphics processor on some Macs. ($34.95 new, $10 off for TidBITS members, free update, 10.7 MB, release notes, 10.6+)
Read/post comments about Default Folder X 4.6.6.
OmniOutliner 4.1 — The Omni Group has released OmniOutliner 4.1 with several improvements and new features for both the Standard and Pro editions, as well as improvements for exporting to Microsoft Word in the Pro edition (for our review, see "OmniOutliner 4 Refines the Outlining Process," 31 January 2014). The outline and information organization app adds row padding control, brings color to the toolbar icons (which can be switched back to monochrome in Preferences), improves support for linked attachments, ensures that adding a row using a sibling's style works
correctly, and fixes an issue where rows remained selected after being moved to a collapsed section. OmniOutliner Pro adds a second Microsoft Word export (in addition to the outline export) that preserves the outline structure via indentation on each line, improves row numbering support when exporting to Word, and adds the capability to create links to rows for improved navigation and reference to other sections. ($49.99 new, free update, 46.4 MB, release notes, 10.9+)
Read/post comments about OmniOutliner 4.1.


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February has been a most intense month in terms of Energy shifts and transformations. This seems to be a new pattern, as February 2014 was also intense and powerful. The year the energy has intensified through this month, culminating on the 22nd of February 2015. This has not been a Solar phenomenon alone. although the Sun has been in the process of activating a new Light Body structure as well, but the primary source of these transmissions is the Star system of Sirius.
Sirius has been a part of the creation and evolution of Earth for many star cycles. There is a "partnership" between the Sirian Council of Light and The Earth Councils that has been renewed to allow the Sirian Masters and Teachers to continue to provide their expertise and guidance on matters of Light Body evolution and design. The Sirian Master Teachers, acting through the Atlantean and Egyptian Sacred Schools, imparted to Earth an understanding of the nature of the creation techniques used by the Elohim and and the Archangels, as well as the design and function of the Human Angelic Light Body and its relationship to Time and Space within different Dimensional Frameworks.
In this most recent partnership, the Sirian Masters have assisted in transmitting into the New Earth Diamond Grids the Light Codes for the first Major upgrade of the Diamond Light Body. This upgrade is intended to fine tune the Light Body for its new function as a Multi-Dimensional Vehicle of Light. Intense waves of Light are being transmitted from Sirius that carry the wave patterns and frequencies of the new Light Body calibrations.
This has been one of the reasons why there has been so much snow in the northern hemisphere. The Light Codes are being held and transmitted in the crystalline shapes of the snow crystals. This vibration and pattern is then transmitted into the Earth where it becomes part of the Earth's Memory Bank that is held in the Crystalline Diamond "Data Bank" at the center of the Planet.
The information is being transmitted and received primarily through the Polar Star Gates at the Arctic and Antarctic. This means primary transmissions are being received by Lapland and Northern Russia, as well as Canada, and by the Southern countries of New Zealand, Australia, Argentina and South Africa. Powerful waves of incoming Light Codes are being grounded by Light Warriors and Light Workers in these places, as well as by others in strategic Sacred Sites and Cities on the Earth.
Feeling the Effects
Everyone will feel the effects of this incoming transmission to some extent, especially if they are also sensitive to Solar radiation. But the effects of the Sirian wave will be felt only in so far as the Pineal Gland is active and working to receive the transmission. A person whose Pineal gland is inactive will feel the waves as instability and anger and collective "irritation". If the Pineal Gland is engaged and working to transmit the energies, then the symptoms will be different.
The Pineal gland will receive the powerful Light Codes and then transmit them into the Light Body and the DNA structures of the physical body. Because the "voltage"of the Light Codes is so high, there may be side effects such as dizziness, nausea, insomnia,muscle spasms, anxiety and bad dreams. These will be temporary symptoms as the Body and Light Body adjust to the new frequencies that are enabling Multi-Dimensional consciousness as a "real" experience.
This is an image of the Sirian "Eye of Horus" symbol that was taught to initiates in the Ancient Egyptian Mystery Schools by the Sirian Masters. The image shows how the Pineal Gland in the Human Brain was the primary location for Creation and Manifestation, which was the meaning and purpose of the "Eye of Horus" symbol.
So, when the Eye of Horus or Pineal Gland is powerfully activated by Light transmissions from the Star system of Sirius, it means that a powerful energy of Creation and manifestation is under way. The Earth Councils are receiving New Templates for Higher Forms of LIfe and Consciousness on Earth.
So, you will understand that the more powerfully you are feeling the effects, the more you are a part of this wave of New Earth Reality creation. Those who are not receiving the transmissions will continue with their lives in the Reality framework that they know, until they are ready to graduate to the Multi-Dimensional framework that is being implemented right now.
There are many Guardians and Spirit Helpers busy right now, the primary one being the Archangels and the Dolphin/Cetacean Angels.
The Dolphin Angels are Beings of Light that come from the Andromeda Galaxy via Sirius to work with the Earth. They carry the Golden Light Frequency of the Christ Consciousness, as well as the Diamond Light Frequency that is needed for Multi-Dimensional travel. They are Guardians and Masters of the Time Loops and Time Spirals that are the basis for a Mastery of Time Travel and Creation in the HIgher Frequencies. Their Loving energy is assisting Humanity to begin the Mastery of Time Travel and Higher consciousness.
The New Light Body and the Time/Space Recalibration
The New Light Body upgrade creates a Multi-Dimensional Geometric vehicle of Gold and Diamond Light. This vehicle is composed of "Grid" levels and "Flow" levels that allow the Being to shift between the different dimensions of Light and Consciousness, while still staying grounded and centered in the Heart/Earth Star/Earth Heart Connection that is vital for life in the New Reality.
The "Grid" levels are geometric structures that create the Templates for a specific dimension, and the Light Body allows the person to connect into that dimensions if the grids are in place.
The "Flow" dimensions are constituted of pure energy that flows between the grids and can be experienced as movement and emotion/feelings.
These two aspects of the Light Body work together to create the Multi-Dimensional Vehicle. This vehicle is centered on the Heart, and it is from here that all Conscious Creation originates as the center of Balance. When you are in that Heart Center, then you are in the Space of No Time and No Space, the Divine Consciousness of Love and Compassion. When you begin a Creation you begin to work with Time and Space, depending on the level you have chosen and the creation that you wish to bring forth.
As you become accustomed to this "recalibration" you will release the old 3D notion of time as a linear flow from past to present to future, and you will begin to see that Time is a Spiral or circular energy that can move in any direction at any moment depending on individual and collective choice.
This image gives the clearest expression to the idea of Time and Space Flow in a Multi-Dimensional context. Past and Future are always in Flux, and you can at any moment be moving towards either the "past" or the "future", or both simultaneously.
You can exist in many realties and timelines simultaneously, and the choices that you make will affect your essence and being in all of them. The choice you make define your Reality in the Now Moment….the Fulcrum of all Time and Space.
As you work with these new upgrades and you begin to embody the new Light Body, you will open to the realization and perception of the Multiplicity of experience and being. Some of you will become fully conscious Time Travelers and you will begin to move between parallel lifetimes in a conscious way. You will begin to understand how the future shapes the past from the present, and you will become empowered to participate in this ongoing creation of Light and Love. You will embrace all that you are and the "Magic" of your Being on all levels of creation and light.
Meditation and Activation to Embody the New Light Body Upgrades from Sirius
As you embody this new light from Sirius, the Sirian Masters inform us that it is very important to do deep breathing as you focus the energies. The Heart Center is under pressure to integrate the full power of the Light Codes, so breathing into the lungs helps to expand and balance this area of the Body and Light Body.
Find a quiet place to sit. It is better to sit for this meditation than to lie down, as the powerful energies need to flow down your spine and into the Earth.
Focus into your Heart center and begin with deep breathing…….breathing in and out and allowing your breathing to slow down until your body is quite relaxed. Open your personal channel into the Earth through your Base Chakra and down into the Earth Star Chakra and into the Heart of the Earth. Breathe in harmony with the pulsations of the Heart of the Earth Mother as she aligns with the Cosmic Heart.
Bring that Energy back to your Heart and breathe deeply. Now, open the channel upwards through the Crown Chakra and the Soul Star Chakra and up to the Cosmic Hear, breathing in harmony with the Divine Heart. Bring your focus back to your Heart. Now you are aligned and grounded. You can now call in the Sirian Masters, the Dolphin Angels, the Archangel and the Elohim, if you so wish, to work with you, or any Star Masters that you wish to assist you at this time.
Open your Pineal Gland to receive the Light Code transmissions from Sirius. As the Light floods the Pineal Gland and moves through the body, keep breathing deeply and grounding the energy through your body and into the Earth.
Just simply keep breathing and grounding, until your body feels balanced and calm. You may need to continue doing this throughout the day until the Light Codes are integrated.
Also, you may need to rest, sleep and enjoy quiet time alone. Drink lots of water and stay hydrated.
Bathe or shower frequently. You may enjoy a bath in Pink Himalayan Salt Crystals.
Good crystals to work with are Diamond and Herkimer Diamonds, Clear Quartz, Tanzanite, Lapis Lazuli, Azeztulite, Golden Tourmaline and Black Tourmaline and Obsidian. Or whatever crystal companions call to you at this time.


text:
Discover everything you will need to know about having a healthy body with the right foods.
It is not a question anymore of why is it necessary to have a strong and healthy body; it is a question of how we are going to sustain a healthy body. Generally, we know the benefits of having a healthy body, however many of us don't know how to sustain a healthy body. This is actually the true challenge, and once you are able to master the concept of keeping your body fit, you'll be able to fight any physical, mental and emotional disability better than the others.
Choose a healthy lifestyle over a short-term diet. Apparently, when it comes to staying fit and healthy there is no such thing as quick fix. It should be done gradually and properly to get permanent results. Although, prevalent diets can help you get a good start in your weight loss objective, it's definitely not the package that will give you enduring benefits.
In This Book, You Will Learn:
- Maintaining A Healthy Weight With The Right Foods And Not Dieting
- What You Need To Know About A "Raw Diet"
- Using Juicing For Better Physical Health
- What You Need To Know About Natural And Organic Foods
- Choosing The Right Fats …and so much more!


text:
I've owned and used several Tom Bihn Bags over the years, starting with an Empire Builder laptop bag that my husband is still using after 8 or 9 years now. My favorite purse is the Little Swift knitting bag, and we also own wallets, Cafe Bags, a Breve iPad case, and more. I know the quality of Tom Bihn Bags, so I was very interested when I heard that they were offering a new camera bag, the Camera I-O. I was very happy to be selected to give the bag a closer look when Tom Bihn offered one to The Gadgeteer.
All photos in this review can be clicked for an enlargement.
If you've owned Brain Cell inserts for Tom Bihn laptop bags, you'll recognize the shape of the Camera I-O. You can use the camera bag inside a larger laptop bag, if desired. The name, Camera I-O, means Insert-Outsert. Outsert, of course means that you can use it as a standalone bag. Our bigger Tom Bihn bags are in use for other things, so I'll use the Camera I-O as a standalone bag.
The Camera I-O measures 14″ x 11.75″ x 3.75″ and weighs 20 ounces. The exterior is 1000 denier Cordura on the bottom and the sides and a custom-made Durastretch 520Q nylon/Cordura/Lycra blend for stretch needed for the lamination/molding process. The body is padded with a 0.25″ closed foam padding. Black is the only exterior color choice.
The bag has two grab handles sewn at the top. The straps seem to be made of the same woven Cordura used for the sides and bottom. The grab handles are padded with Poron foam.
Several belting strips are sewn at various places on the bag. There are strips under the grab handles with loops at the ends. Another long strap is sewn along the sides and around the bottom. These straps are sewn to the bag at various intervals to form loops. These loops are used as attachment points for other Tom Bihn accessories. The loops under the grab handles are similar to straps on Brain Cells that are used to attach them to the interior of a bigger bag.
In the top photo, you'll notice a shoulder strap attachment point. It's made of a thick, heavy-duty black plastic.
The interior is lined with a light grey brushed tricot. This fabric serves as the "loop" part for Velcro attachment. The top is covered by two flaps that secure with Velcro pieces. Using smaller pieces instead of one long strip makes opening the flaps much quieter than you'd expect with Velcro.
The Camera I-O comes with two small and two large removable and repositionable dividers made of 500 denier Cordura with 0.25″ closed cell foam padding. Using these, it's very easy to divide the interior of the bag to hold your camera and gear and to keep them from banging together. The black strips are the hook side of the Velcro pair. They grab the tricot interior very securely. In fact, it can be a bit of a pain while you're trying out configurations to find what works best with your gear.
A shoulder strap is an optional purchase. Two are available: the standard strap for $10 or the Absolute Shoulder Strap for $30. I received the Absolute Strap. I've used these on our laptop bags and our huge camera bag. The straps are made by OP/TECH USA exclusively for Tom Bihn. They have the straps customized with made-in-the-USA nylon webbing (more durable than standard polypropylene webbing) and double-coated metal snaphooks. The strap adjusts from 20″ to 52″. Tom Bihn says "combining a soft, durable neoprene pad with comfortable stretch backing to make bags feel 50% lighter and 100% more comfortable, it's the ideal shoulder strap for those who carry heavy loads or simply want the most comfortable strap available. "
In the top photo, the top of the strap looks blue, but it's black. (I lightened the photo to make details more visible, and it resulted in the blue appearance.) The middle photo shows the non-slip back of the neoprene pad. This strap is very comfortable, and sturdy, too. We finally had to buy a replacement for Butch's 15-pound Empire Builder after about 6-7 years of use.
I also received two Tripod – Lighting Kit Quivers. I received one each of the 360mm and the 520 mm Quivers. These circular bags have a 1050 denier US-made high-tenacity Ballistic nylon body, with the addition of a drawstring cuff made of Nylon/Dyneema Ripstop fabric. The sides of the Quivers are unpadded, but the bottom has the 0.25″ padding used in the bag.
One side of the bag has a belting strip with the sewn-in loops. There are two plastic clips in the loops, and there are two shoulder strap attachment points at the top and bottom of the tube. The top image shows the Dyneema cuff flipped up to expose the top strap attachment point.
My lighting gear is huge: tall, with large metal reflectors, and 4′ wide umbrellas. There's no way the two rigs would fit in either of the Quivers. I didn't think my huge Manfrotto tripod would fit either. You can see it with the larger Quiver. I found that I could fit the legs inside if I flipped up the drawstring cuff. I could cinch the cuff around the post under the tripod's head and could carry the tripod with the head hanging out.
The Camera I-O isn't big enough to hold my two cameras and all their associated gear. However, the bag should be a good travel bag for one camera and some accessories. These photos show what I want to carry in the Camera I-O. The top photo shows a lens (in the felt bag), a rubber air rocket for cleaning, baggies of lens caps, body caps, and the like, a battery charger, my Nikon SB-400 flash in its pouch, and a pouch of filters. The bottom picture shows my Nikon D3100 camera with a lens and a camera strap attached.
Here, I've inserted the two big dividers in the sides of the bag. It's hard to see, but there is room under each of these dividers. Any gear you store in the dividers will be suspended above the bottom of the bag and protected from drops.
I've put the lens inside the left compartment. I have room to put the rubber air blower above it. I've put the baggies of accessories in the bottom of the bag between the dividers.
The right compartment has the filter case and charger in the bottom.
I had room to put the flash unit above them.
Even loaded up, I could still close the flaps over the side compartments. I suspended one of the small dividers above the baggies in the center compartment. I was able to easily fit my D3100 in the center.
I normally keep my Nikon cameras in holsters, like the one on my D3100, above.
By squeezing the side compartments over a bit, I was able to fit the holster case inside the center compartment. It's resting on the small divider seen in an earlier picture, so the camera lens is suspended above the bag's bottom.
Using the plastic clips on the side of the larger Quiver and the strap sewn on the bottom of the Camera I-O, I'm able to bring along my tripod. It's heavy with the bag loaded up and the giant tripod hanging on the bottom, but it's better than having to use a second shoulder strap for the tripod. It's a moot point for me, anyway, because my 6'2″ husband carries the camera equipment. 😉 That's him with the Camera I-O and Quiver.
The box also contained a little gear pouch. It's marked FOT (Friend of Tom). I can't find it on the website, so it may be a freebie for some purchases. It's similar to their other small gear pouches, but it seems to be made of microsuede. It's blue on the front and black on the back, with a black binding, zipper, and a clip to attach it to the interior rings inside some Tom Bihn bags. It measures about 5.25″ X 7″. It's a great size for storing lens caps, SD cards, small cables, and the like.
I was able to fit a surprising amount of gear into the Camera I-O bag. It can't hold all my equipment, but it will make a great day bag when I want to take along one camera and two lenses or one lens and a flash. I'm used to a bag with a squarish profile, and I was a bit worried that the bag would be too narrow for my camera. The D3100 did fit, but it filled up the width. There is padding in the sides of the bag to protect the camera from bumps, though. I also liked that I could fit in the holster, too, for a little extra protection for the camera.
Everything was accessible by simply lifting a compartment flap, or by loosening one side of the small divider. The light gray interior made it a bit easier to find what I was looking for.
I never dreamed I'd be able to carry my tripod in either of those Quivers. It may not be proper usage to flip up that cuff like I did, but the Quiver is beautifully finished, so there are no raw edges or rough seams under the cuff. The attachment strap along the bottom of the I-O was perfect for attaching the tripod. It's so long, I'm not sure it would be comfortable to carry with the Quiver on the side of the bag, so it was nice to have some options. If you have a smaller tripod, you could even attach multiple Quivers to the bag to carry some lighting gear, too.
I like Tom Bihn's Camera I-O. It's a nice size for a day bag, but it's sturdy and protective enough to use as your only bag. You can easily configure the interior to fit your gear, and just as easily changed for a different collection of gear. Attaching the optional Quivers makes it easy to take along a tripod. You're only limited by your equipment and the strength of the person toting the gear!
Product Information
Price: | $110 for Camera I-O; $30 for the Absolute Strap; $40-$45 for the Quivers, depending on size |
Manufacturer: | Tom Bihn |
Pros: |
Cons: |


text: At Aerolite, we love all pallasites –but Admire is quite close to our hearts. Its name made waves when hosts Geoff Notkin and Steve Arnold pulled a hefty 223-pound "Alpha" (Admire) pallasite out of the ground on Season Two, Episode One of Meteorite Men. Not to worry! That monster made it through the back-and-forth between Geoff and Steve and remains intact. These lovely part slices, crystals and "nuggets" are from the same strewnfield but an altogether different rock. These crystals are whole and tumbled. Imagine adding an entire pallasite crystal to your collection!


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CF Pendant - White
Fused glass pendant featuring a color block pattern with four opaque squares on a clear glass background. Comes with satin cord with magnetic closure and matching glass ball stud earrings.
Perfect to add a splash of color to any outfit or to give as a Gift!
Made with Fused Glass, approximate size of Pendant is 1.75"X1.75". Cord is about 16" long. Matching glass ball stud earrings included in the price.
Designed and Hand-made by Hector Carabez in Guadalajara, Mexico.
We Also Recommend


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Tomboy supermodels: Jeny Howorth, Alice Temple and Ines de la Fressange
A lot is being made of the supermodels revival and I for one am a fan. But I'm also a fan of a number of lesser known 80s/90s models. Think Agyness Deyn is a one-off original? Hmm, I feel I've seen her type before. Namely in one Jeny Howorth, she of the cropped boyish hair and gangly limbs. (But could I find a picture? I could not. But my search doth continue.)
Alice Temple is another short-haired tomboy from the 80s. An ex champion BMX-er no less she was an i-D covergirl and postergirl of the Paninaro scene (think Chipie jeans, Chevignon puffa jackets and Naf Naf hoodies). Then there was Ines de la Fressange, Karl Lagerfeld's muse and one of the most famous models of the eighties. Gamine dark cropped hair and red lips were her trademark until she had a spectacular falling out with Karl, gave up modelling and set up her own fashion and 'lifestyle' label.
Where are they now? Jeny Howorth set up a childrenswear company and occasional models for her old agency Select, Alice Temple has lots of tattoos and makes music, while Ines de la Fressange hooked up with Bruno Frissoni and now runs the revived Roger Vivier shoe label.
Pics: Top: Alice Temple
Bottom: Ines De La Fressange
Essential reading: Arthur Elgort's Models Manual


text:
Anaheim, California – Independent software developer Reggie Ashworth today is proud to announce the release of VidConvert 1.5.2, an All-New Mavericks update to his popular video converter for Mac OS X. VidConvert is a video converter designed to make converting your videos simple and easy. VidConvert will convert just about any type of video into one of the many popular formats of today. Creating videos for your iPhone or iPad, for your Mac or TV, or formats such as DivX and MPEG are just a click away with VidConvert.
You do not need to be an expert to use VidConvert. Simply add a file, select a format and a quality, and click convert. Optionally you can change your save folder from the main window. For advanced users you can select the Advanced panel if you choose to allow such options as custom Frame Rate, Bit Rate, etc. But for most users simply choosing Normal or High quality should be sufficient. After your conversion is finished simply add more files or quit VidConvert and the job is done.
Supported formats include iPhone, iPod, iPad, QuickTime, .mp4, MPEG-1 and 2, DivX, Xvid, and audio only formats such as .mp3 and .m4a. VidConvert can add iTunes compatible videos directly to your iTunes library for convenience and for syncing with your iPhone, iPod, or other iDevice. It's also possible to turn your favorite videos into audio only tracks for playback in your favorite audio device. And VidConvert is not limited to creating videos just for Apple devices, in fact any device that can play one of the supported formats can play a video converted by VidConvert. With VidConvert converting your videos couldn't be easier.
VidConvert Version 1.5.2 will run on Lion, Mountain Lion, and Mavericks, and here are a few of the new features included:
New in Version 1.5:
* Optimized for operation on OS 10.9 Mavericks (backwards compatible with Lion/Mountain Lion)
* Supported input – Most any type of video or audio format
* Supported output – iPhone, iPad, iPod, Retina, Apple TV, QuickTime, .mp4, .avi, DivX, Xvid, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, DVD (.vob), Windows Media, Flash, Matroska (.mkv), Theora (.ogg), WebM, .m4a, .mp3, .aiff, .wav, .wma, .ac3, ALAC
* Refreshed UI design
* Full 64-bit support for the fastest possible conversion
* Eight languages: English, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Portuguese (Brazilian), Russian, and Spanish (with more to come)
* Support for latest FFmpeg releases
* Fully compatible with Retina displays
* All-around code cleanup and optimization including latest Dev tools
* Sparkle updater to always have the latest version (with new localizations)
* And More…
Feature Highlights:
* Expected features such as Preview, Joining or "stitching" files, ability to save settings, and more
* Normal and High quality presets to make video conversion automatic for most users
* Ability to author a DVD for burning
* Info panel to obtain Container, Video, and Audio details for each video
* All Apple Devices format to play on all iDevices or Apple TV
* Crop and Trim and more in the Advanced panel to customize your conversion if needed
* Drag and Drop simplicity even with folders of videos and List reordering once videos have been added
* Easily change Save To folder for each batch
* Progress indicator with time remaining for each file
Language Support:
* U.S. English, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Portuguese (Brazilian), Russian, Spanish with more to come
Version 1.5.2 now features Chinese localization, has been updated to work with the latest FFmpeg release (v2.2), using the trimming feature now takes place using minutes and seconds, and also includes miscellaneous code optimizations and bug fixes. For full Release Notes visit their website.
System Requirements:
* Mac OS X Version 10.7 Lion or later (Mavericks compatible)
* Intel only
* 20.5 MB Hard Drive space
Pricing and Availability:
VidConvert 1.5.2 is only $7.99 (USD) for a single user license. A demo which creates 3 minute samples is available. Older versions with pre-Lion support are available via the website.
VidConvert 1.5.2
Release Notes
Download VidConvert
YouTube Channel
Based in sunny Anaheim, California, Reggie Ashworth is an independent software developer whose passion for the Mac platform is only exceeded by his aim to craft simple, yet useful utilities. He is fanatical about total customer satisfaction. Copyright 2006-2014 Reggie Ashworth. All Rights Reserved. Apple, and the Apple logo, are registered trademarks of Apple Computer in the U.S. and/or other countries.


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If you have a Samsung Galaxy S10 or S10+, you can now download and install the latest working port of Google Camera (GCam). The Google Camera (GCam 8.0) has been made possible thanks to developers such as Arnova8G2 and BSG.
The latest Google Camera port for the Galaxy S10/S10+ is GCam 8.0. This version was released by Google on Android 11, and now you can install it on the Galaxy S10/S10+. Google Camera 8.0 for the Galaxy S10/S10+ comes with a number of features, including Cinematic Pan, Night Sight Portrait Mode, Quick Zoom, and improved Super Res Zoom. All functionality from GCam 7.4 and GCam 7.3 are preserved, such as Night Sight, Astrophotography mode, and HDR+ Enhanced.
Below you can download all GCam files that work with the Samsung Galaxy S10/S10+. According to the developers, the apps should work on Android 10 (One UI 2.5) and Android 11 (One UI 3.0) builds.
Download Google Camera (GCam 8.0 APK) for Samsung Galaxy S10/S10+
There are two working variants of the app. One is maintained by Arnova8G2, while the other variant is maintained by BSG. Both developers have updated their GCam mods with Google Camera 8.0 as the base and should work properly on the Galaxy S10/S10+.
BSG GCam 8.0 APK for Samsung Galaxy S10/S10+:
Arnova8G2 GCam 8.0 APK for Samsung Galaxy S10/S10+:
Download Arnova8G2 GCam 8.0 APK
How To Install Google Camera GCam 8.0 on Samsung Galaxy S10/S10+
As we have mentioned above, there are multiple variants of Google Camera for the Galaxy S10/S10+. Both variants work pretty well, but one might one better than the other. The only way to find out which one works best for your phone it to install them both and try them.
- Download the APK file of the camera app from the download links above and move both of them to the internal storage of your phone.
- Take your phone and go to File Manager, and go to the folder where you moved the APK file.
- Tap on the file to install it. If the installation process does not start, the phone will ask you to allow unknown sources. Simply tap on allow.
- Click on Install one more time, and the app will be installed shortly.
- When the phone says the app has been successfully installed, go to the app drawer and tap on Google Camera to launch it.
If the app does not open or it force closes, go to Settings -> Applications and find Google Camera. Wipe data and cache and try again.
How to use Google Camera on Samsung Galaxy S10/S10+
First, make sure that you have properly installed the app on your phone and that it does not crash. Go to the app drawer and tap on the Google Camera icon. If the app opens and the camera shows a working viewfinder, then you have a good working version of the app installed.
You can now use Night Sight, Astrophotography, and more. To enable these options, open the camera, go to Settings, and tap on Advanced. There you have the option to enable Night Sight and Astrophotography.


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If you have Google Drive, there's good news. The company has recently announced that soon they'll be rolling out a new feature to help alert users to the presence of suspicious documents.
Google Drive users will soon start seeing banners alerting them to possible dangers This will serve as an additional layer of defense that will hopefully keep people from clicking on links embedded in malicious files, which may guide victims to poisoned sites.
The company first announced the new feature back in October during the Google Cloud Next 2021 user conference.
The company explained the functioning of the new feature as follows:
"If a user opens a potentially suspicious or dangerous file in Google Drive, we will display a warning banner to help protect them and their organization from malware, phishing, and ransomware.
Google will automatically evaluate any files that are shared with you from outside of your organization for phishing or malware. If detected, Google will block your access to the file in order to protect you."
As to the message, Google kept it simple.
If you open a suspect file, you'll see a bold yellow banner across the top of your screen with a message reading:
"This file looks suspicious. It might be used to steal your personal information."
This is the latest in a series of moves the company plans to make to help protect its user base and prevent Google Drive abuse. Last year the company added phishing and malware protections in their Enterprise environments that automatically tagged all suspicious files and only left them visible to their owners and Admins.
It's a small change but it could have significant impacts. That means fewer users getting taken in by malicious documents and that's a very good thing. Kudos to Google for continuing to add user protections.


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NIST SP 800-57 §5.6.1 p.62–64 specifies a correspondence between RSA modulus size $n$ and expected security strength $s$ in bits:
Strength RSA modulus size
80 1024
112 2048
128 3072
192 7680
256 15360
This works out to approximately $s \approx 4 n^{0.43}$ (but I have no idea whether my extrapolation means anything; strengths up to 112 are indexed on DES while strengths 128 and above are indexed on AES, i.e. the strength is the difficulty of brute-forcing the corresponding symmetric algorithm with the specified key size).
What are these numbers based on? Do they come from the expected complexity of the best known factorization methods? Or are they extrapolation from the amount of computation in specific factorization efforts such as for RSA-768 (which "required more than $10^{20}$ operations")?
(I'm asking for more precise information than Difficulty of breaking RSA for a given key size. How big an RSA key is considered secure today? has a nice history of RSA factorizations, but doesn't answer my question — is that what the strength estimates are based on?)


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Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a strong warning to the protesters camped out at Taksim Square in Istanbul.
He said that within 24 hours, the situation at the square would be resolved. As The New York Times reports, the tough talk was tempered with an olive branch of sorts: Erdogan hinted that a referendum could decide whether a mall would be built in place of a park next to the square.
As we've reported, a small peaceful protest against the redevelopment kicked off the largest anti-government protests in recent memory.
The Times adds:
"'We have not responded to punches with punches. From now on security forces will respond differently,' Mr. Erdogan said on Wednesday. 'This issue will be over in 24 hours.'
"Mr. Erdogan reiterated and sharpened that warning in a speech on Thursday morning.
"'Using a Molotov cocktail is a crime, burning and destroying is a crime, destroying public order is a crime,' he said in his televised statement, in reference to protesters who set barriers around Gezi Park to block police interference. 'These cannot be called a struggle for freedom, struggle for rights.'"
NBC News reports that shortly before Erdogan's speech, the European Union Parliament passed a non-binding motion expressing concern over "the disproportionate and excessive use of force" by Turkish police.
Erdogan reacted viscerally. He said: "I won't recognize the decision that the European Union Parliament is going to take about us. ... Who do you think you are by taking such a decision?"
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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Ez a rész az azonosítókon elvégezhető különböző műveletekről nyújt információt.
Personal messages allow private communication between two members. SMF provides a variety of options that allow a member to control how private messages are displayed, who is allowed to send them, and how a few more of the features function.
The first two options address how private messages are displayed. If a member chooses All at once, a list of messages is displayed at the top with all of those messages displayed below the list. Selecting One at a time results in only one message being displayed at the top with a list of messages below it. As a conversation mimics the forum functionality, creating a topic-like list of replies. It is highly recommended that a member save their messages in their outbox if they choose to display messages as a conversation. The second option controls the order in which the messages are displayed.
Members may control who is allowed to send them private messages. It can be limited to members not on their ignore list, buddies and administrators, or only administrators.
Notification may be enabled in order to receive emails when private messages are received on the forum. Additionally, a popup message may also be enabled to notify a member of new messages.
The last two available options are the following.


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Urinary Tract
Urinary Tract
Faithful to Nature's Urinary Tract support supplements are here to help your body naturally flush out toxins and fight harmful infections that can affect your wellbeing.
Our carefully curated collection of natural diuretics like cranberry concentrate capsules, nettle capsules and olive leaf extract are free from artificial additives and relieves you from any infections .
Traditional herbal remedies for urinary tract infections like echinacea have natural antiseptic and antibiotic properties which can help cleanse your body of infection causing E. coli.
Shop natural herbal remedies for UTIs and bladder infections online at Faithful to Nature with free delivery on orders over R400.


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Automotive Adaptive Cruise Control Using FMCW Technology
This example shows how to model an automotive adaptive cruise control system using the frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) technique. This example performs range and Doppler estimation of a moving vehicle. Unlike pulsed radar systems that are commonly seen in the defense industry, automotive radar systems often adopt FMCW technology. Compared to pulsed radars, FMCW radars are smaller, use less power, and are much cheaper to manufacture. As a consequence, FMCW radars can only monitor a much smaller distance.
FMCW Waveform
Consider an automotive long range radar (LRR) used for adaptive cruise control (ACC). This kind of radar usually occupies the band around 77 GHz, as indicated in [1]. The radar system constantly estimates the distance between the vehicle it is mounted on and the vehicle in front of it, and alerts the driver when the two become too close. This figure shows a sketch of ACC.
A popular waveform used in ACC system is FMCW. The principle of range measurement using the FMCW technique can be illustrated using the following figure.
The received signal is a time-delayed copy of the transmitted signal where the delay, , is related to the range. Because the signal is always sweeping through a frequency band, at any moment during the sweep, the frequency difference, , is a constant between the transmitted signal and the received signal. is usually called the beat frequency. Because the sweep is linear, you can derive the time delay from the beat frequency and then translate the delay to the range.
In an ACC setup, the maximum range the radar needs to monitor is around 200 m and the system needs to be able to distinguish two targets that are 1 meter apart. From these requirements, you can compute the waveform parameters.
fc = 77e9; c = 3e8; lambda = c/fc;
The sweep time can be computed based on the time needed for the signal to travel the unambiguous maximum range. In general, for an FMCW radar system, the sweep time should be at least five to six times the round trip time. This example uses a factor of 5.5.
range_max = 200; tm = 5.5*range2time(range_max,c);
The sweep bandwidth can be determined according to the range resolution and the sweep slope is calculated using both sweep bandwidth and sweep time.
range_res = 1; bw = rangeres2bw(range_res,c); sweep_slope = bw/tm;
Because an FMCW signal often occupies a large bandwidth, setting the sample rate blindly to twice the bandwidth often stresses the capability of A/D converter hardware. To address this issue, you can often choose a lower sample rate. Consider two things here:
For a complex sampled signal, the sample rate can be set to the same as the bandwidth.
FMCW radars estimate the target range using the beat frequency embedded in the dechirped signal. The maximum beat frequency the radar needs to detect is the sum of the beat frequency corresponding to the maximum range and the maximum Doppler frequency. Hence, the sample rate only needs to be twice the maximum beat frequency.
In this example, the beat frequency corresponding to the maximum range is as follows.
fr_max = range2beat(range_max,sweep_slope,c);
Because the maximum speed of a traveling car is about 230 km/h. Hence the maximum Doppler shift and the maximum beat frequency can be computed as
v_max = 230*1000/3600; fd_max = speed2dop(2*v_max,lambda); fb_max = fr_max+fd_max;
This example adopts a sample rate of the larger of twice the maximum beat frequency and the bandwidth.
fs = max(2*fb_max,bw);
The following table summarizes the radar parameters.
System parameters Value ---------------------------------- Operating frequency (GHz) 77 Maximum target range (m) 200 Range resolution (m) 1 Maximum target speed (km/h) 230 Sweep time (microseconds) 7.33 Sweep bandwidth (MHz) 150 Maximum beat frequency (MHz) 27.30 Sample rate (MHz) 150
With this information, set up the FMCW waveform used in the radar system.
waveform = phased.FMCWWaveform('SweepTime',tm,'SweepBandwidth',bw, ... 'SampleRate',fs);
This is an up-sweep linear FMCW signal, often referred to as a sawtooth shape. Examine the time-frequency plot of the generated signal.
sig = waveform(); subplot(211); plot(0:1/fs:tm-1/fs,real(sig)); xlabel('Time (s)'); ylabel('Amplitude (v)'); title('FMCW signal'); axis tight; subplot(212); spectrogram(sig,32,16,32,fs,'yaxis'); title('FMCW signal spectrogram');
Target Model
The target of an ACC radar is usually a car in front of it. This example assumes the target car is moving 43 m ahead of the car with the radar, at a speed of 96 km/h along the x-axis.
Compute the radar cross section of a car, according to [1], based on the distance between the radar and the target car.
car_dist = 43; car_speed = 96*1000/3600; car_rcs = db2pow(min(10*log10(car_dist)+5,20)); cartarget = phased.RadarTarget('MeanRCS',car_rcs,'PropagationSpeed',c,... 'OperatingFrequency',fc); carmotion = phased.Platform('InitialPosition',[car_dist;0;0.5],... 'Velocity',[car_speed;0;0]);
Assume the propagation model to be free space.
channel = phased.FreeSpace('PropagationSpeed',c,... 'OperatingFrequency',fc,'SampleRate',fs,'TwoWayPropagation',true);
Radar System Setup
The rest of the radar system includes the transmitter, the receiver, and the antenna. This example uses the parameters presented in [1]. Note that this example models only main components and omits the effect from other components, such as coupler and mixer. In addition, for the sake of simplicity, the antenna is assumed to be isotropic and the gain of the antenna is included in the transmitter and the receiver.
ant_aperture = 6.06e-4; % in square meter ant_gain = aperture2gain(ant_aperture,lambda); % in dB tx_ppower = db2pow(5)*1e-3; % in watts tx_gain = 9+ant_gain; % in dB rx_gain = 15+ant_gain; % in dB rx_nf = 4.5; % in dB transmitter = phased.Transmitter('PeakPower',tx_ppower,'Gain',tx_gain); receiver = phased.ReceiverPreamp('Gain',rx_gain,'NoiseFigure',rx_nf,... 'SampleRate',fs);
Automotive radars are generally mounted on vehicles, so they are often in motion. This example assumes the radar is traveling at a speed of 100 km/h along x-axis. So the target car is approaching the radar at a relative speed of 4 km/h.
radar_speed = 100*1000/3600; radarmotion = phased.Platform('InitialPosition',[0;0;0.5],... 'Velocity',[radar_speed;0;0]);
Radar Signal Simulation
As briefly mentioned in earlier sections, an FMCW radar measures the range by examining the beat frequency in the dechirped signal. To extract this frequency, a dechirp operation is performed by mixing the received signal with the transmitted signal. After the mixing, the dechirped signal contains only individual frequency components that correspond to the target range.
In addition, even though it is possible to extract the Doppler information from a single sweep, the Doppler shift is often extracted among several sweeps because within one pulse, the Doppler frequency is indistinguishable from the beat frequency. To measure the range and Doppler, an FMCW radar typically performs the following operations:
The waveform generator generates the FMCW signal.
The transmitter and the antenna amplify the signal and radiate the signal into space.
The signal propagates to the target, gets reflected by the target, and travels back to the radar.
The receiving antenna collects the signal.
The received signal is dechirped and saved in a buffer.
Once a certain number of sweeps fill the buffer, the Fourier transform is performed in both range and Doppler to extract the beat frequency as well as the Doppler shift. can then estimate the range and speed of the target using these results. Range and Doppler can also be shown as an image and give an intuitive indication of where the target is in the range and speed domain.
The next section simulates the process outlined above. A total of 64 sweeps are simulated and a range Doppler response is generated at the end.
During the simulation, a spectrum analyzer is used to show the spectrum of each received sweep as well as its dechirped counterpart.
specanalyzer = spectrumAnalyzer('SampleRate',fs, ... 'Method','welch','AveragingMethod','running', ... 'PlotAsTwoSidedSpectrum',true, 'FrequencyResolutionMethod','rbw', ... 'Title','Spectrum for received and dechirped signal', ... 'ShowLegend',true);
Next, run the simulation loop.
rng(2012); Nsweep = 64; xr = complex(zeros(waveform.SampleRate*waveform.SweepTime,Nsweep)); for m = 1:Nsweep % Update radar and target positions [radar_pos,radar_vel] = radarmotion(waveform.SweepTime); [tgt_pos,tgt_vel] = carmotion(waveform.SweepTime); % Transmit FMCW waveform sig = waveform(); txsig = transmitter(sig); % Propagate the signal and reflect off the target txsig = channel(txsig,radar_pos,tgt_pos,radar_vel,tgt_vel); txsig = cartarget(txsig); % Dechirp the received radar return txsig = receiver(txsig); dechirpsig = dechirp(txsig,sig); % Visualize the spectrum specanalyzer([txsig dechirpsig]); xr(:,m) = dechirpsig; end
From the spectrum scope, you can see that although the received signal is wideband (channel 1), sweeping through the entire bandwidth, the dechirped signal becomes narrowband (channel 2).
Range and Doppler Estimation
Before estimating the value of the range and Doppler, take a look at the zoomed range Doppler response of all 64 sweeps.
rngdopresp = phased.RangeDopplerResponse('PropagationSpeed',c,... 'DopplerOutput','Speed','OperatingFrequency',fc,'SampleRate',fs,... 'RangeMethod','FFT','SweepSlope',sweep_slope,... 'RangeFFTLengthSource','Property','RangeFFTLength',2048,... 'DopplerFFTLengthSource','Property','DopplerFFTLength',256); clf; plotResponse(rngdopresp,xr); % Plot range Doppler map axis([-v_max v_max 0 range_max])
climVals = clim;
From the range Doppler response, you can see that the car in front is a bit more than 40 m away and appears almost static. This is expected because the radial speed of the car relative to the radar is only 4 km/h, which translates to a mere 1.11 m/s.
There are many ways to estimate the range and speed of the target car. For example, you can choose almost any spectral analysis method to extract both the beat frequency and the Doppler shift. This example uses the root MUSIC algorithm to extract both the beat frequency and the Doppler shift.
As a side note, although the received signal is sampled at 150 MHz so the system can achieve the required range resolution, after the dechirp, you need to sample it only at a rate that corresponds to the maximum beat frequency. Since the maximum beat frequency is in general less than the required sweeping bandwidth, the signal can be decimated to alleviate the hardware cost. The following code shows the decimation process.
Dn = fix(fs/(2*fb_max)); for m = size(xr,2):-1:1 xr_d(:,m) = decimate(xr(:,m),Dn,'FIR'); end fs_d = fs/Dn;
To estimate the range, firstly, estimate the beat frequency using the coherently integrated sweeps and then converted to the range.
fb_rng = rootmusic(pulsint(xr_d,'coherent'),1,fs_d);
rng_est = beat2range(fb_rng,sweep_slope,c)
rng_est = 42.9976
Second, estimate the Doppler shift across the sweeps at the range where the target is present.
peak_loc = val2ind(rng_est,c/(fs_d*2)); fd = -rootmusic(xr_d(peak_loc,:),1,1/tm); v_est = dop2speed(fd,lambda)/2
v_est = 1.0830
Note that both range and Doppler estimation are quite accurate.
Range Doppler Coupling Effect
One issue associated with linear FM signals, such as an FMCW signal, is the range Doppler coupling effect. As discussed earlier, the target range corresponds to the beat frequency. Hence, an accurate range estimation depends on an accurate estimate of beat frequency. However, the presence of Doppler shift changes the beat frequency, resulting in a biased range estimation.
For the situation outlined in this example, the range error caused by the relative speed between the target and the radar is as follows
deltaR = rdcoupling(fd,sweep_slope,c)
deltaR = -0.0041
This error is so small that you can safely ignore it.
Even though the current design achieves the desired performance, one parameter warrants further attention. In the current configuration, the sweep time is about 7 microseconds. Therefore, the system needs to sweep a 150 MHz band within a very short period. Such an automotive radar might not be able to meet the cost requirement. Besides, given the velocity of a car, there is no need to make measurements every 7 microseconds. Hence, automotive radars often use a longer sweep time. For example, the waveform used in [2] has the same parameters as the waveform designed in this example except a sweep time of 2 ms.
A longer sweep time makes the range Doppler coupling more prominent. To see this effect, first reconfigure the waveform to use 2 ms as the sweep time.
waveform_tr = clone(waveform); release(waveform_tr); tm = 2e-3; waveform_tr.SweepTime = tm; sweep_slope = bw/tm;
Now calculate the range Doppler coupling.
deltaR = rdcoupling(fd,sweep_slope,c)
deltaR = -1.1118
A range error of 1.14 m can no longer be ignored and needs to be compensated. Naturally, you might consider doing so following the same procedure outlined in earlier sections, estimating both range and Doppler, figuring out the range Doppler coupling from the Doppler shift, and then remove the error from the estimate.
Unfortunately this process does not work very well with the long sweep time. The longer sweep time results in a lower sampling rate across the sweeps, thus reducing the capability of the radar for unambiguously detecting high speed vehicles. For instance, using a sweep time of 2 ms, the maximum unambiguous speed the radar system can detect using the traditional Doppler processing is as follows
v_unambiguous = dop2speed(1/(2*tm),lambda)/2
v_unambiguous = 0.4870
The unambiguous speed is only 0.48 m/s, which means that the relative speed, 1.11 m/s, cannot be unambiguously detected. This means that not only the target car will appear slower in Doppler processing, but the range Doppler coupling also cannot be correctly compensated.
One way to resolve such ambiguity without Doppler processing is to adopt a triangle sweep pattern. Next section shows how the triangle sweep addresses the issue.
Triangular Sweep
In a triangular sweep, there is one up sweep and one down sweep to form one period, as shown in the following figure.
The two sweeps have the same slope except different signs. From the figure, you can see that the presence of Doppler frequency, , affects the beat frequencies ( and ) differently in up and down sweeps. Hence by combining the beat frequencies from both up and down sweep, the coupling effect from the Doppler can be averaged out and the range estimate can be obtained without ambiguity.
First, set the waveform to use triangular sweep.
waveform_tr.SweepDirection = 'Triangle';
Now simulate the signal return. Because of the longer sweep time, fewer sweeps (16 vs. 64) are collected before processing.
Nsweep = 16;
xr = helperFMCWSimulate(Nsweep,waveform_tr,radarmotion,carmotion,...
The up sweep and down sweep are processed separately to obtain the beat frequencies corresponding to both up and down sweep.
fbu_rng = rootmusic(pulsint(xr(:,1:2:end),'coherent'),1,fs); fbd_rng = rootmusic(pulsint(xr(:,2:2:end),'coherent'),1,fs);
Using both up sweep and down sweep beat frequencies simultaneously, the correct range estimate is obtained.
rng_est = beat2range([fbu_rng fbd_rng],sweep_slope,c)
rng_est = 42.9658
Moreover, the Doppler shift and the velocity can also be recovered in a similar fashion.
fd = -(fbu_rng+fbd_rng)/2; v_est = dop2speed(fd,lambda)/2
v_est = 1.1114
The estimated range and velocity match the true values, 43 m and 1.11 m/s, very well.
Two-ray Propagation
To complete the discussion, in reality, the actual signal propagation between the radar and the target vehicle is more complicated than what is modeled so far. For example, the radio wave can also arrive at the target vehicle via reflections. A simple yet widely used model to describe such a multipath scenario is a two-ray model, where the signal propagates from the radar to the target vehicle via two paths, one direct path and one reflected path off the road, as shown in the following figure.
The reflection off the road affects the phase of the signal and the received signal at the target vehicle is a coherent combination of the signals via the two paths. The same thing happens on the return trip where the reflected signal from the target vehicle travels back to the radar. Hence depending on the distance between the vehicles, the signals from different paths may add constructively or destructively, making signal strength fluctuate over time. Such fluctuation can pose some challenge in the successive detection stage.
To showcase the multipath effect, next section uses the two-ray channel model to propagate the signal between the radar and the target vehicle.
txchannel = twoRayChannel('PropagationSpeed',c,... 'OperatingFrequency',fc,'SampleRate',fs); rxchannel = twoRayChannel('PropagationSpeed',c,... 'OperatingFrequency',fc,'SampleRate',fs); Nsweep = 64; xr = helperFMCWTwoRaySimulate(Nsweep,waveform,radarmotion,carmotion,... transmitter,txchannel,rxchannel,cartarget,receiver); plotResponse(rngdopresp,xr); % Plot range Doppler map axis([-v_max v_max 0 range_max]); clim(climVals);
With all settings remaining same, the comparison of the resulting range-Doppler map with two-ray propagation and the range-Doppler map obtained before with a line of sight (LOS) propagation channel suggests that the signal strength dropped almost 40 dB, which is significant. Therefore, such effect must be considered during the design. One possible choice is to form a very sharp beam on the vertical direction to null out the reflections.
This example shows how to use FMCW signal to perform range and Doppler estimation in an automotive automatic cruise control application. The example also shows how to generate a range Doppler map from the received signal and how to use triangle sweep to compensate for the range Doppler coupling effect for the FMCW signal. Finally, the effect on the signal level due to the multipath propagation is discussed.
See Also
[1] Kärnfelt, Camilla, Alain Péden, Ali Bazzi, Ghayath El Haj Shhadé, Mohamad Abbas, and Thierry Chonavel. '77 GHz ACC Radar Simulation Platform'. In 2009 9th International Conference on Intelligent Transport Systems Telecommunications, (ITST), 209–14, 2009. https://doi.org/10.1109/ITST.2009.5399354.
[2] Rohling, H., and M-M Meinecke. 'Waveform Design Principles for Automotive Radar Systems'. In 2001 CIE International Conference on Radar Proceedings (Cat No.01TH8559), 1–4, 2001. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICR.2001.984612.


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Tied Up In Knots: Massage Therapists Are Not Sex Workers
LatestWhether or not the accusations against Al Gore prove to be true, it's a good moment to remember that his accuser came from a profession that is 85 percent female — one that has struggled for respect, rights, and boundaries.
In discussing how The National Enquirer got Gore's accuser to tip her hand without even paying her (she is now asking a million dollars to tell her story), The Washington Post"s Howard Kurtz refers to her as a "red-haired masseuse." No wonder Gore was so tempted by the vixen!
The distinction between massage therapists, who are licensed and trained for their bodywork, and masseuses (a term now synonymous with a front for sex work) is often muddled by people using the terms (including, at times, this site, but we'll do better from here on out) — as well as by customers. In The Daily Beast today, Nicole LaPorte interviews several massage therapists who say that just about every practitioner they know has been subject to unwelcome advances from clients, almost always men. (Though one woman described a couples massage where the woman clearly got off on watching her husband get his massage.)
Such is the reality in an industry that, even in 2010, is regarded by many-including the government-as a type of prostitution. Despite years of lobbying efforts, (not to mention research that show the physical and emotional benefits of deep tissue sessions,) massage businesses are still defined as "adult entertainment" in some parts of the country, a distinction that equates therapists with prostitutes.
The fact that this trade is dominated by women and the assumption that because you work on people's bodies, clients are entitled to make demands on your body beyond what has been clearly outlined is not a coincidence. By the way, lest it need to be repeated, sex workers also have the right to say no.
Image via Artem Efimov/Shutterstock
National Enquirer Says It Decided Not To Pay $1 Million For Gore Sex Story Interview [WP]
Al Gore's "Abuse" Masseuse Eyes $1 Million To Talk [NYP]
Men Who Prey On Their Massage Therapists [Daily Beast]
Earlier: Media Rushes To The Defense Of Nobel-Winning Sex Poodle


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You knew it was coming!
This post was a lot of fun to put together. After compiling the most popular dessert recipes of 2011, here's what I found:
You guys go crazy for:
- Anything NO BAKE!
- Quick & easy
- Chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate
- Chewy, crunchy things
- Peanut butter AND chocolate
- Short ingredient lists
- Healthy blizzards (1, 2, and 3)
- Bite-sized
- Healthy "dessert-like" snacks (see end of post for list)
- Cookie dough galore
- Classic desserts made vegan
- Balls, balls, balls
What kind of desserts did you love the most? Or maybe you want to let me know about a non-vegan dessert that you'd like to see "veganized" in 2012? Let me know in the comments below and I will add it to my list.
Here are the top 21 dessert recipes that you drooled over, indulged in, raved about, and baked (or didn't bake) the most in 2011…
21. Peanut Butter and Jam Nanaimo Bars (a personal fav of mine & also no bake)
20. Sinless Sticky Toffee Pecan Pudding
19. 5-Ingredient Almond Butter Chews & Almond Butter Rice Crisp Treats (tied)
18. 5-Ingredient No Bake Date Squares
17. Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Spiced Doughnuts
16. Rustic Chocolate Chip Banana Cake
15. Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream
14. Brownie Pumpkin Pie with a Crunchy Pecan Topping & Pumpkin Pie Brownie Cupcakes
13. Itty Bitty Carrot Cake Cookies
12. Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
11. Vegan and Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies – the crispers!
10. No Bake Double Chocolate Torte
9. Healthy Strawberry Oat Squares
8. Vegan Pumpkin Pie, three ways (with gluten-free crust option)
7. Dense, gooey, flakey Vegan Brownies, two ways (with killer gluten-free version!)
6. No Bake Peanut Butter Chocolate Crispies with "Fudge"
5. 80-calorie No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
4. Pumpkin Gingerbread with Spiced Buttercream
3. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Blizzard
2. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls
1. Double Chocolate Torte (I would have to agree with the #1 pick, although I'm partial to the no bake version too)
This torte photo was clearly before I learned how to white balance my photos…heh
If you are looking for a lighter treat, check out some of the healthier recipes below:
- Itty Bitty Carrot Cake Cookies
- Healthy Strawberry Oat Squares
- Rustic Chocolate Chip Banana Cake
- 80-calorie No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls + Blizzard
- 5-Ingredient Almond Butter Chews & Almond Butter Rice Crisp Treats
- 5-Ingredient No Bake Date Squares (high in natural sugars, but uses all natural ingredients)
- Almond Butter Rice Crisp Treats
On that note, I see carrot cake cookies in my future…


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text:
Washington • Congress has approved a sprawling bill to improve the nation's ports, dams and harbors, protect against floods, restore shorelines and support other water-related projects.
If signed by President Donald Trump, America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 would authorize more than $6 billion in spending over 10 years for projects nationwide, including one to stem coastal erosion in Galveston, Texas, and restore wetlands damaged by Hurricane Harvey last year.
The bill also would help improve harbors in Seattle; Savannah, Georgia; and San Juan, Puerto Rico, and extend a federal program to improve drinking water quality in Flint, Michigan and other cities.
The bill also sets up a new framework for large water projects run by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The changes are intended to increase local input and improve transparency.
The Senate approved the bill, 99-1, on Wednesday. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, cast the lone dissenting vote. The House approved the bill last month on a voice vote.
Lawmakers from both parties hailed the measure, which they said will create jobs and help communities across the country fix irrigation systems, maintain dams and reduce flooding.
"America needs comprehensive water infrastructure legislation that will cut Washington red tape, create jobs and keep communities safe," said Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
The panel's top Democrat, Delaware Sen. Tom Carper, said the bill invests in critical infrastructure like dams and ports, expands federal efforts to prevent another water crisis similar to the one in Flint and helps coastal communities prepare for the growing risks of climate change.
Flint's tap water became contaminated in 2014 after officials switched from the Detroit system to the Flint River to save money, exposing many residents to lead, a potent neurotoxin. Some Flint children later were found with elevated blood lead levels, which can cause developmental delays and other health problems.
State and city officials say Flint's water is now safe to drink, but many residents remain skeptical. The Environmental Protection Agency says there is no safe level of lead.
The bill includes more than $4 billion for the EPA's Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, which provides money to states and utilities to improve drinking water infrastructure.
The bill also would encourage operators of hydropower dams to invest in new infrastructure. The measure allows operators to receive federal "credit" for upgrades as they are completed, instead of waiting for a new license. Dam licenses can extend for 30 years or more.
"Giving our utilities the flexibility to better plan ahead will keep our energy sources safe and save taxpayers money," said Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.
Lee, the bill's lone named opponent, said it spends federal dollars on a series of local projects that should be funded and maintained by state and local governments.
"This bill is not the much-needed reform that national water infrastructure needs. Instead it is simple continuation of the failing status quo," he said.


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HMRC's pilot scheme for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self Assessment (MTD for ITSA) is now live.
Accountants, agents and individuals are able to sign up to the pilot and test the programme out. The pilot aims to assess the MTD for ITSA reporting environment, with an initial focus on those who are self-employed and landlords with annual income exceeding £50,000. Signing up to MTD for ITSA will become mandatory for individuals with income in excess of this threshold from 6 April 2026.
Those signing up to the pilot will be required to keep digital records and submit quarterly updates on their income and expenditure to HMRC via MTD-compatible software so that HMRC may test and develop the system.
However, after HMRC revised its list of software products that support MTD for ITSA only five are available for the private beta testing of MTD for ITSA.
These are:
- 1 2 3 Sheets Ltd
- Intuit QuickBooks Online
- Sage Accounting
- SE reports
- self assessment direct.
Chosen software must be able to create and store digital records of business income and expenses, send quarterly updates, receive information from HMRC and make your final declaration by 31 January as part of the submission of tax returns.
HMRC recommends checking with the software providers when choosing software to ensure it suits businesses' needs.
Caroline Miskin, Senior Technical Manager at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), said:
'Choosing the right software is a critical decision. Software products do need to comply with HMRC's minimum functional standards but these are quite minimal. This means there will be very significant differences between products.
'Cost is obviously a major consideration. The list includes some free products, but it is important to check the terms and conditions as well as what functionality is offered. It is disappointing that a wider range of software is not yet available.'
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