My time as a PhD student is coming to an end and I'm ready to move into a full-time role at a company around August. TL;DR is included with more details below.
I am finishing my Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. I enjoyed my time in academia and especially when paired with industry experience. I am now seeking a new adventure in industry and would like to start around August.
I am looking for a remote position to work from Omaha, Nebraska. I founded a family there and want to nurture our roots as a legal permanent resident. I have a dedicated home office and live 20 minutes from an airport with excellent connections to anywhere in the world.
My primary job criteria is that I continue to work in open source. I have ten years experience in open source and focused my 4-year Ph.D. program on how organizations engage with open source projects. I co-founded the Linux Foundation CHAOSS Project to foster industry collaboration for better understanding open source project health. I strategically steered the project as a Governing Board member, tactically fostered a community as a maintainer, and operationally created content as a contributor. I made many friends across organizations and projects and want to continue working with these amazing people.
As part of my employment, I would like to continue giving talks at conferences and connecting with people face to face. Conferences I like to travel to and present at include Linux Foundation events, CHAOSScon, FOSDEM, and SustainOSS.
TL;DR The idea is to establish a checklist of best practices for sustainable open source communities. We could follow the same model that the CII Best Practices Badge has for security best practices. Communities voluntarily sign up to achieve a badge and provide public evidence for following sustainable best practices. The Sustainable Best Practices Badge application tracks this information, serves as a place for checking the status of a community's badge, and provides badges that communities can display on their repositories, websites, blogs, newsletters, and marketing material. With wide adoption, this badge becomes a quality signal for open source communities. Foremost, the badge serves as a checklist for communities to review their practices and improve where necessary.
Open source communities have no uniform way to signal that they are sustainable. An observer has many different signals to look for, for example: What is the bus factor? How is the community financed? How diverse are the contributors? Are there security policies? Is there a code of conduct?
Communities want to signal that they are sustainable because it attracts users, developers, designers, translators, advertisers, and in short new contributors. Users need to know they can count on the community to support an open source software long term. Especially, corporate users face risks when an open source software to go unmaintained after it was integrated in their innovation stream, product development, and service offering. Contributors want to contribute to a community that is welcoming, values their contributions, and serve as a credential on their open source resume. In short, all stakeholder incentives align to benefit from signals about the sustainability of open source communities.
We, as the open source ecosystem are lacking a reliable way to signal the sustainability of an open source community. We may look at the size of a community, what companies are backing it, whether it has a code of conduct, how active the members are, when the last release was, or whether it gets positive press coverage. Sustainability is a many-sided problem and to date, only one-sided solutions exist.
We have a Sustainer Manifesto with principles that sustainers believe in (Adam Jacob's established similar principles). However, these principles need to be translated into specific actions and best practices.
Academic research has not identified what best practices make an open source community sustainable. Researchers report that communities have a variety of different governance models and establish their own practices. Tracking various metrics to predict whether a project will be sustainable and continues to be active in the future yielded inconclusive findings. Many of these studies were conducted with Sourceforge.net but GitHub is now the norm. These older studies are also unable to speak to the new reality considering the recent influx of corporate community members. In short, research does not have an answer but rather poses many unanswered questions.
Several resources exist for open source communities to learn about sustainability issues and how to address them. These are based on anecdotal evidence.
The problem with these resources is that they are input for communities but do not translate into signals for observers to know whether a community is sustainable.
The CHAOSS project collects different metrics for assessing open source communities. The problem is that as an observer, who is not part of a community, data for metrics can be difficult to collect. CHAOSS is useful for communities to figure out how to measure themselves and prepare metrics as signals for outsiders. CHAOSS is addressing the problem that communities signal in inconsistent ways and thus observers have no baseline for comparison.
The CII Best Practices Badge advanced security practices in open source. Communities can self-certify to follow security best practices from a checklist and have to provide public evidence. Many communities report having changed their practices in an attempt to earn the badge. As a reward, communities can display the badge to signal that they follow security best practices.
The idea is to combine the above existing work. We borrow the idea from the CII Best Practices Badge and create a checklist of sustainable best practices. We may even fork the web app that CII developed. We derive best practices from the resources available today and common sense. We vet the list of best practices through a community review process with long-standing members of the open source ecosystem. We use CHAOSS metrics to measure outcomes from appropriate best practices and provide evidence. We follow a scientific approach to track which best practices are more indicative of sustainable communities.
Each Sustainable Best Practice has to be actionable for communities to implement them. The checklist serves as a tracker of how many best practices a community is already following. A sustainable community may have little to change to check all best practices and earn a badge.
Communities can use the Sustainable Best Practice Badge to signal that they are following these best practices. This is not a guarantee that a community is indeed sustainable. A checklist cannot eliminate all risks and danger. However, airplane safety has improved thanks to checklists pilots go through before every flight. Similarly, communities can be more sustainable if regularly checking that they are following known sustainable best practices.
Communities have an incentive to earn a Sustainable Best Practices Badge because of the signal it provides and because it helps them establish proven practices.
I am putting this idea forward for discussion and would love to hear feedback, criticism, support, and suggestions on the SustainOSS forum.
While the idea for a Sustainable Best Practices is mine, it is shaped by conversations at the Sustain Summit, metrics work in the CHAOSS project, co-authoring the Sustainer Manifesto with Justin Dofman, and a Twitter thread with Adam Jacobs. This proposal is based on my own experience. In the spirit of transparency, I will declare my involvement. I co-authored the paper on why we need more research into open source. I co-founded the CHAOSS project and am a member of its Governing Board. I translated the CII Best Practices Badge to German and participated in the discussion for adding silver and gold badges. I know there is more work out there and I look forward to the conversation this blog post hopes to start.
TL;DR: When recording through conferencing system is unavailable, I use three open source tools to record interviews: OBS Studio, Blender, and Audacity.
As a qualitative researcher, I enjoy engaging with people directly and occasionally I want to record an interview. I conducted XL (roman numeral) interviews as part of my PhD and I figured out how to capture the audio and transcribe it. A primary concern is the quality of a recording. Because I am undoubtedly not alone, I describe here lessons learned and my open source tool chain.
My first attempt at recording an interview involved an old-school telephone on speakerphone and my smartphone with an audio recording app. The audio quality was abysmal. My voice was clear, but my informant's voice was distorted through the analog transformation between phone speaker and smartphone microphone. I never tried this again.
The best solution is using the conferencing system that my university provides. The system allows my informants to connect via app, browser, or phone. In my experience, about 90% of informants join via app and activate their camera, which makes for a great conversation. The recording quality is only dependent on the microphones quality. Sometimes, I ask informants if they have an alternative they switch between a headphone to a built-in microphone.
This optimal solution is not always practical and some informants prefer to use alternative ways to connect, such as Skype, Jitsi, Meet.me, GoToMeeting, or a conferencing system they control. When I need to make a phone call, I use Google voice from my laptop. I developed a toolchain of open source software that allows me to record an interview in such settings. I use three tools: OBS Studio, Blender, and Audacity.
OBS Studio (Open Broadcaster Software Studio) allows to capture anything on my screen and record in-going and out-going audio. I simply record the audio output from my computer and my microphone input during an interview. The quality is the same as directly recording it through a conferencing solution. The downside is that OBS requires computing resources and at times bogs down my laptop. I end up with a *.flv video file that contains the desired audio.
Blender is a 3D modeling software but has powerful video editing capabilities. I recommend Mikeycal Meyers' tutorial on how to get setup. Blender is overkill for extracting audio, but it is a tool I know. Once the *.flv file is loaded into Blender, I export the audio, without doing any editing. I end up with a *.flac audio file.
Finally, I use Audacity to cut the audio and tweak it. I edit any audio, whether recorded by OBS or a conferencing system, with three goals in mind. First, I cut the beginning and end because small talk is not important to my analysis. Second, I check to make sure my informant is audible. When the audio is too quiet, I boost it using Effect –> Compressor… for the whole audio or Effect –> Amplify… for small sections. Third, I shorten pauses using Effect –> Truncate Silence… which saves fees on transcription services. I export the final audio as an *.mp3 audio file.
After generating a good quality audio file, I need to transcribe the interview. I transcribed one interview myself using OTranscribe and it took me six hours for a one hour interview because I worked to get every word and half sentence and expression right. I quickly learned that this level of detail is hindering me and a more streamlined transcript is easier to analyze. After making this experience, I value having a research grant that pays for a transcription service and I am a returning customer of rev.com.
For four years, I publish academic papers. All in English. Today, I have my first paper in my native language, German.
A big thanks to UNO Criss Library for funding the Open Access fees! It is great to have the amazing support for a future of a more open science.
I am very happy to have an amazing author team of Malvika Rao, Don Marti, Andy Leak, and Rich Bodo. They developed the core of the idea before I joined them and created a welcoming environment for me to learn so much and expand my horizon. – THANK YOU!
A big thanks to all of my test readers who provided invaluable feedback and helped me fix mistakes. Admittedly, I German grammar rules are different from English.
Open Source ist ein zunehmend beliebter Kollaborationsmechanismus für die Entwicklung von Software, auch in Unternehmen. Unsere Arbeit schafft die fehlende Verbindung zwischen Open Source Projekten, Unternehmen und Märkten. Ohne diese Verbindung wurden Koordinations- und Finanzierungsprobleme sichtbar, die zu schwerwiegenden Sicherheitslücken führen. In diesem Paper entwickeln wir acht Design Features, die ein Marktplatz für Open Source haben sollte, um diese Probleme zu beseitigen. Wir begründen jedes Design Feature mit den bestehenden Praktiken von Open Source und stellen einen Prototypen vor. Abschließend diskutieren wir, welche Auswirkungen die Einführung eines solchen Marktplatzes haben könnte.
Der Artikel ist open access und bei Springer verfügbar.
The popularity of open source as a collaboration mechanism for developing software is increasing. Organizations increase their engagement. In our work, we draw the missing connection between open source projects, organizations, and markets. Without this connection, we have seen severe software vulnerability result from coordination and financing breakdowns. In this paper, we develop eight design features that a market place for open source should have to address these breakdowns. We develop the design features based on literature about the practices of open source. We present a prototype and discuss what implications would result from implementing such a market place.
The paper is open access and available from Springer.
I published the following blog post originally on Opensource.com.
If wealth is the abundance of valuable possessions, open source has a wealth of software. While no one "owns" open source, some are better than others at converting this communal wealth to personal wealth.
Many open source project maintainers who produce free open source software do not have a model for deriving income from the assets they have created. However, companies that use open source software to enhance their products and services convert this valuable asset into income.
We need to identify projects that are important and need funding.
We lack fair rules for distributing money among open source project contributors.
Transaction costs are too high in underbanked areas. Bugmark and ossgrants (both discussed below) are two project ideas for addressing this problem.
An amateur developer creates an open source project as a side project or hobby and releases the software free of charge. The software increases communal wealth when users derive value from it. Companies in particular leverage the open source software in their innovation stream, building products and services with less investment and converting valuable open source software assets into income.
A growing user base brings more support inquiries, bug reports, and feature requests, which take more time and increase costs for the maintainer. A community of contributors might form and share the work of developing and maintaining the software. Sharing the cost of creating communal wealth by contributing, however, does not provide income for the maintainer, who cannot generate personal wealth without mechanisms that distribute income from other users.
It is important to recognize that maintainers need to make a living, and if they have no income from open source projects, they likely have another job—which reduces the time they can spend on maintaining open source software. A lack of funding for open source projects becomes problematic when the software is part of our modern infrastructure and requires long-term maintenance.
The relationship between those who create open software and those who generate income from this communal wealth.
The question then becomes: How can the wealth created by use of open source software be distributed to support long-term maintenance by paying maintainers?
At MozFest 2018, 23 people gathered to discuss this question. In small groups, participants discussed problems of interest, chose one problem to work on, and later presented their solutions to the larger group. This post summarizes key takeaways from this presentation and draws on ideas discussed during Sustain Summit 2018.
Participants in MozFest 2018 met to discuss open source wealth distribution.
A central question is this: Why would companies share the income they generate from using open source software?
Donating to open source projects earns a good name within the open source ecosystem. Donating to a project or a maintainer—for example via Patreon, OpenCollective, or an open source foundation—funds development work without exerting influence.
Funding open source maintenance ensures that an open source project will be updated and vulnerabilities fixed, which is important for companies that rely on the software for their products, services, and infrastructure.
A company gains influence over the strategic direction of an open source project when a donation or membership fee is rewarded with access to core maintainers. Special access can require that maintainers sign non-disclosure agreements and help develop solutions for vulnerabilities that may not yet have been publicly disclosed.
An open source project can also start a company that provides hosting and support services, and collect funds by selling their services. This is the most formalized way of securing funds and provides a clear value proposition. The key point is that a maintainer must figure out how to participate in the economy around open source software.
First, not every project benefits equally from funds. Do you rely on open source software that might become unsupported if you do not donate to the project? The goal of such an evaluation is to find weak spots in an open source supply chain that can be strengthened with the least amount of cost. Consider using metrics, like the ones created by the CHAOSS project, for determining the health of an open source project. How exactly to identify open source projects that need funding before they become unmaintained is an unsolved problem. The Core Infrastructure Initiative has developed the Census Project to work on a solution. TideLift takes an innovative approach, paying more than $1 million to open source project maintainers based on how much a project is used.
Second, how should funds be distributed among open source project members? Defining how donations will be used should be declared upfront to avoid conflict. One approach might be to recognize individual contributors based on their contributions. For example, you could distribute funds based on the number of issues closed, commits accepted, lines added, wiki pages edited, documentation pages revised, forum messages posted, blog posts published, or other quantifiable contributions. But not all contribution types to a project can be measured—for example, organizing meetings and presenting at conferences are valuable but time-intensive contributions that do not produce trace data in a collaboration software. Every project must set its own rules, but we can share stories and best practices. Open Collective brings this conversation to the public.
Third, transaction costs hinder fair distribution of the wealth created by open source. Specifically, many people in underbanked regions struggle with the logistics of receiving payments. When an open source team member must wait for hours to cash a check, the cost of the time might outweigh the amount they receive for their work. This very real problem may be beyond the scope of what open source projects can do (except perhaps initiatives for Web3), but it deserves attention. Ultimately, the solution is to bring banking to all people and improve the interoperability of banking systems around the world.
There are many initiatives to solve the sustainability problem in open source, but I'll highlight two projects that I find intriguing.
Bugmark answers the question of who within an open source project should get paid, and how much, by creating a marketplace that introduces price signals to open source. The Bugmark exchange allows trading on the status of an issue—for example, issues listed by an open source project on their GitHub issue tracker. Unlike bug bounties, trading on the status of an issue is independent of doing work. By decoupling payment and work, Bugmark has the potential to fund open source work that is not reliant on fixing an issue. For example, a project member who does bug triaging, an honorable but tedious task, has in-depth knowledge of how a project is doing and what is being worked on. This person can use their insider knowledge to trade on Bugmark and earn money. For more details on how Bugmark works, I recommend this publication.
Funding Index is an early-stage idea that revolves around donations. Donations provide a project with money without restrictions. Donations benefit companies, but the publicity effect is short-lived. At SustainSummit, we developed an idea to capture donations more permanently and create a funding index. Donations would be logged and aggregated across companies and projects. Similar to consumer rating agencies that rate products and services, this index would rate companies by how much they donate to open source projects relative to how many employees they have. We could produce badges for "#1 donor to open source," "#1 donor to infrastructure open source projects," or "#1 mid-sized company donor to open source." Such a badge would extend the publicity effect of donations and hopefully incentivize companies to donate more. Funding Index exists in a first prototype and welcomes discussions on the Discourse Forum.
Funding helps to pay for living expenses, servers, stickers, and travel to conferences to enable face-to-face collaboration. Funding is a necessary component of a sustainable open source project, but it requires additional elements.
A sustainable open source project fosters a healthy community, which is welcoming, provides a productive work environment, supports its members, and is prepared to let members move on when their focus in life changes. These governance and community concerns build the foundation from which open source projects work, and once they are in place, funding can leverage the work and help project members excel.
A final thought: Companies that are willing to financially support open source projects need to see the business value. Currently, there is no single solution that fits all open source project contexts. Every open source project may need to experiment for themselves and find a way to secure funds. Umbraco, for example, built a sustainable business around its open source CMS system and has experimented with 11 different business models since its inception in 2004.
More conversations are needed, and experiences must be shared. SustainOSS.org brings sustainers together to have these conversations. In conclusion, fair distribution of the wealth created by open source can enhance what already works well in open source, but it will not replace traditional open source practices.
I acknowledge that companies and foundations also create open source projects. Sustainability issues exist nonetheless, and takeaways transfer.


text:
In the mathematical subfield numerical analysis, tricubic interpolation is a method for obtaining values at arbitrary points in 3D space of a function defined on a regular grid.  The approach involves approximating the function locally by an expression of the form

This form has 64 coefficients ; requiring the function to have a given value or given directional derivative at a point places one linear constraint on the 64 coefficients.

The term tricubic interpolation is used in more than one context; some experiments measure both the value of a function and its spatial derivatives, and it is desirable to interpolate preserving the values and the measured derivatives at the grid points.  Those provide 32 constraints on the coefficients, and another 32 constraints can be provided by requiring smoothness of higher derivatives.

In other contexts, we can obtain the 64 coefficients by considering a 3×3×3 grid of small cubes surrounding the cube inside which we evaluate the function, and fitting the function at the 64 points on the corners of this grid.

The cubic interpolation article indicates that the method is equivalent to a sequential application of one-dimensional cubic interpolators. Let  be the value of a monovariable cubic polynomial (e.g. constrained by values, , , ,  from consecutive grid points) evaluated at . In many useful cases, these cubic polynomials have the form  for some vector  which is a function of  alone. The tricubic interpolator is equivalent to:

where  and .

At first glance, it might seem more convenient to use the 21 calls to  described above instead of the  matrix described in Lekien and Marsden. However, a proper implementation using a sparse format for the matrix (that is fairly sparse) makes the latter more efficient. This aspect is even much more pronounced when interpolation is needed at several locations inside the same cube. In this case, the  matrix is used once to compute the interpolation coefficients for the entire cube. The coefficients are then stored and used for interpolation at any location inside the cube. In comparison, sequential use of one-dimensional integrators  performs extremely poorly for repeated interpolations because each computational step must be repeated for each new location.

See also
 Cubic interpolation
 Bicubic interpolation
 Trilinear interpolation

References

External links
 Java/C++ implementation of tricubic interpolation
 C++ implementation of tricubic interpolation
 Python implementation
 NumPy implementation
  einspline library

Multivariate interpolation

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


One of the many classes that were attended.
Notes taken during one of the classes to bring back to share with the department.
One of the many exhibit floors of apparatus and equipment.
FF/EMT Clancy trying an apparatus driving simulator.
FF/EMR Geiger trying a pump simulator.
Captain Hardie sampling new rescue tools while Lt. Drangula speaks with an equipment representative.
Hardie, Lieutenant Phil Drangula, FF/EMT Jim Clancy, and FF/EMR Matt Geiger.
Together, the members attended over twenty-five training sessions and visited dozens of exhibits. There are many fire service conventions and exhibits throughout the year all over the world. This conference, however, is widely known as the best one out there. The members attending this year can certainly attest to that claim. First responders from all over the world attended this conference throughout the week. This is the third year that members of the Cinnaminson Fire Department have attended the conference.
Each member will be able to bring the lessons they learned from their training sessions back to the department. The training topics included driving and operating apparatus, rapid intervention teams, scene size-up, officer development, and much more. These sessions were taught by some of the most prestigious and well-respected fire instructors from around the world.
While meeting with equipment companies, the members were able to sample the latest, state of the art equipment. Rescue tools, ground ladders, and training props were a key focus for our members to research. With cancer becoming a big problem within the fire service, the members also sought out information on products to prevent cancer. These items included soaps, wipes, turnout gear, and uniforms.


The Flexpoint Executive Visitor chair has a clean sleek look and adheres to many environments. It can be used in meeting rooms, training rooms and executive offices. This chair has an upholstered seat and a cantilever leg which gives it its upper market feel. It can be matched with the Flexpoint task and Flexpoint executive chair.


text:
Attorney General wants judges in Ascension recused from Matassa case
3 years 11 months 3 weeks ago Wednesday, January 24 2018 Jan 24, 2018 January 24, 2018 5:40 PM January 24, 2018 in Crime
By: Chris Nakamoto
GONZALES- Prosecutors for the Attorney General's office said in court today they intend to file a motion to have the judges recused in Ascension Parish regarding the Matassa case.
At least one of the judges, Jason Verdigets, already recused himself. He is having to work closely with Ascension Parish President Kenny Matassa on plans for a new courthouse.
The motion will have to be filed within five days and it's likely an ad hoc judge would make the decision.
Matassa is accused of offering a bribe to a candidate for Gonzales City Council. That bribe would have been in exchange for him dropping out of the City Council race.The meeting where the alleged bribe was offered was recorded. Those recordings were published to the Pelican Post, an online newspaper.
Publisher Wade Petite was subpoenaed in court to produce certain financial documents. But, Petite said many of the documents Matassa's attorney, Lewis Unglesby, was requesting did not exist.
"Mr. Unglesby is prostituting himself, saying things, he has no basis in fact," Petite said. "He has to represent his client. I understand that. Everybody heard the recordings. They are publicly available."
Unglesby said, "It's a politically motivated case by the attorney general trying to make a name for himself. I'm not embarrassed to call Jeff Landry out on that. He should be embarrassed for supporting the idea of dishonest government and that's what he's working for."
Proseuctors quickly fired back.
"Mr. Unglesby can say what he likes, we don't have any comment on that," Prosecutor Jeff Traylor said. "We are just here to get a trial date and present the case to the people of Ascension Parish."
Unglesby added his client is ready to put this behind him.
"No one likes to have to get up in the morning, come to the courthouse and have their name besmirched. No one enjoys being on the front page of the paper, headline that he got indicted by some goofy made up legal theory that has no basis," Unglesby said. "Nobody likes that."
Matassa's trial is scheduled for February 21, but will likely be pushed back if prosecutors file a motion for the remaining judges recusal.
Deputies looking for person who robbed Dollar...
Deputies looking for person who robbed Dollar Tree at gunpoint
Rash of violence Monday leaves 3 dead,...
Rash of violence Monday leaves 3 dead, 6 hurt across Baton Rouge
Suspect arrested, 3 still wanted in St....
Suspect arrested, 3 still wanted in St. Helena killing
Man found shot to death inside vehicle...
Man found shot to death inside vehicle on I-110 overnight
More than 50 pounds of meth seized...
More than 50 pounds of meth seized in Denham Springs drug bust

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


For previous readers of the blog, you'll recall my fondness for old British Pathé videos. The above clip features Thomas Inch performing a comedy weightlifting routine from 1915. Physical culture aficionados will no doubt appreciate this insight into the sort of vaudeville performances physical culturists used to earn a living in the late nineteenth and early twentieth-century. If nothing else, it's a great reminder that weightlifting can be fun and functional in equal measure.


Montreal is the second largest city in all of Canada, with almost two million residents as of 2017. It is home to two of Canada's top universities, Concordia and McGill, as well as a variety of thriving industries. Montreal's highly educated workers are at the forefront of innovative fields like artificial intelligence and other information technology, life sciences, and aerospace engineering. The prevalence of these fields gives Montreal the second highest median income in Canada. Combined with tight controls keeping rents low, this provides a strong consumer culture in Montreal. If you're an entrepreneur looking to build or expand an existing business in Montreal, you've come to the right place. Here at the Exchange Marketplace you can find both retail and service-based businesses for sale in a wide variety of industries. And you don't need to live in Montreal to buy one of them - we facilitate the entire purchasing process online, so you can buy your new business from home. Whether you're looking for a cheap turnkey solution or a big business with an established audience you can start earning income from right away, we've got what you need.
My store is focused on home storage, there are endless ideas that sell in our store, more than that we can easily get loyal customers who come back and makes us more profit. People with passion for decorating will find many fantastic ideas.
Established website with potential to grow even more (this was a side project!) Ability to incorporate a host of different niches and products. Proven selling ad campaigns and email marketing will provide steady income.
Operating in the Jewelry niche, we did over 6K orders in less than 14 months. Almost 240K$ revenue generated with around 14 % net profit. We have over 11K customers so you are buying a customer for less than a dollar.
Montreal is brimming with opportunities for entrepreneurs of all kinds, and with some help from Exchange, you can start doing business there too. We facilitate the bidding, negotiation and transaction processes so you can do it all from home, with nothing more than an internet connection. With Exchange, buying and running your next business is easy. Exchange offers both new and established Montreal businesses for sale by owner across a wide range of industries, with a heavy focus on retail and wholesale businesses. We also offer a selection of service-based companies in fields like graphic design and social media marketing. Once in a while you might even find a franchise opportunity here on the Exchange Marketplace. All of the businesses listed on the Exchange Marketplace come with fully functional ecommerce websites featuring at least one pre-existing product line. Once you've purchased one of our ecommerce stores, dropshipping technology allows you to sell products all over the world, from anywhere in the world, without having to handle all the shipping details yourself. Some businesses may come with existing physical stock. In these instances we recommend local purchases, as this gives you the opportunity to quality-check the stock yourself. Local business owners may also be able to take advantage of Montreal-specific tax benefits and business development programs.
Operating as a general store, we did over 1,2K orders in less than 3 months. Almost 45K$ revenue generated with around 11 % net profit.


Over the last 20 years MedPharm has built a worldwide reputation for helping our clients navigate the complex route to successful development of their pharmaceutical product. MedPharm is now well established as the leader in dermatological, nail, eye, airway, mucosal membrane and transdermal product development. Its unique industry-leading service ensures that its clients establish a data package regulators and investors can trust.
From its roots at King's College London, MedPharm has grown into a thriving organisation with facilities in Guildford, UK and Durham, North Carolina, USA. MedPharm has supported clients across the globe in the US, Europe, Australia, Japan, India, S.Korea, the Middle East and China.
MedPharm has also developed its own patented dermal drug delivery technologies (such as MedSpray®) which have the potential to enhance the clinical effectiveness of our clients' products and which complement its fee for service work.
Demonstrate optimal PK/PD performance for NCE formulations.
Approval of generic products with in vitro bioequivalence testing only.
Substantiate quantifiable marketing claims for OTC products and devices.
MedPharm clients know to trust its scientific integrity and flexible and comprehensive approach. MedPharm employees know it is an exciting place to work at the forefront of pharmaceutical research and development.


text:
October 31, 2009 .
Virginia Comes Back to Beat Duke on Senior Day
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The third-ranked Virginia field hockey team concluded the regular season with a come-from-behind, 2-1 victory over No. 14 Duke Saturday at the University Hall Turf Field. Sophomores Paige Selesnki and Michelle Vittese each scored and contributed an assist in the win.
Virginia seniors Lauren Elstein and Traci Ragukas were honored following the game for their contributions to the program.
With the win, the Cavaliers conclude the regular season with a 16-2 mark and a 3-2 record in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The team's only losses were to No. 1 Maryland and No. 2 North Carolina in overtime.
For the game, the Cavaliers outshot Duke 15-8 and also had a 7-5 advantage on penalty corners. Selenski and junior Inga Stöckel each had four shots to lead Virginia.
Duke (9-9, 0-5 ACC) was first to strike, scoring in 21st minute on a penalty corner. Lauren Miller recorded the goal, beating UVa keeper Kim Kastuk. The Blue Devils led 1-0 at halftime.
Five minutes into the second half, Selenski tied the game, tipping in a pass from Vittese from the right side. The Cavaliers struck again four minutes later, this time Vittese scoring on a two-on-one opportunity, receiving the pass from Selenski.
Selenski leads Virginia with 22 goals on the year, while Vittese scored her sixth of the season.
Kastuk finished with three saves, while Samantha Nelso had eight stops for the Blue Devils.
The pairings for the 2009 ACC Field Hockey Championship will be announced later this evening by the conference office. Virginia will play host to the event next Thursday (Nov. 5) through Sunday (Nov. 8) at the University Hall Turf Field.
Roller-Coaster Ride Continues for Cavaliers
Stattmann, Franklin Postgame vs. Wake Forest
Photo Album: UVA Men's Basketball vs. Wake Forest


Salt Water New England: A Reader Question for the Community: What is the Shoe Equivalent of an Oxford Shirt?
A Reader Question for the Community: What is the Shoe Equivalent of an Oxford Shirt?
Is there an equivalent to an OCBD in shoes? I mean a pair of shoes that could be said to be essential, multi-functional, capable of being dressed up or dressed down. I ask because it is not clear to me that any such shoes exist.
I suppose an easy answer would be to say loafers or moccasins, but these seem too lightweight. Can a person really walk all day, comfortably, on camp soles? Boots, on the other hand, seem too heavy. Then there are sneakers; and I confess to having worn sneakers for most of my life. But white-soled sneakers show dirt all too easily; not to mention that the bizarre designs of modern sneakers are, shall we say, difficult to integrate into traditional style.
I'd go with an Alden penny loafer, or I also like the classic Gucci bit loafers.
I agree with Anon, a penny or bit loafer with either hard rubber (Gucci lug sole) or full leather sole is my equivalent to the OCBD.
I've never been a sneaker person but for walking comfort I do wear sneaker type styles made by Ecco and I have a pair of Sorel Out and About Plus that I love in a sage color because it doesn't have a white sole. I wear loafers and boat shoes 90 percent of the time. I have loafers made by Ralph Lauren and Bass- some are dressier than others.
suede oxfords with crepe soles. especially white ones in the summer. at least here in New Orleans.
Yeah, it's called the Oxford shoe!
I agree with Anonymous above- a well-fitting cordovan captoe oxford can be worn with most colors of dress or business suit, and as it ages, re-soling it with a rubber half sole makes it fine to wear as a sport shoe with more casual trousers. Eventually it can be used for hiking, gardening, lawn mowing, painting etc, just like a worn-out OCBD shirt. My grandfather used to do this - don't recall that he owned any boots or sneakers- just a few pairs of oxfords in various states of respectability.
I would venture that while an OCBD is a nearly universal garment (e.g. not for black/white tie events), shoes have to afford one mobility depending upon the situation or weather. I can shovel snow or mow the lawn in an OCBD, my feet require activity appropriate cladding. My .02 cents.
I agree with RCJH and will normally wear Top-Siders in nice weather but will switch to Merrells for walking, hiking, snow, etc. To me, the classic shoes to be worn for that WASPY look would be penny loafers, boat shoes, desert boots (out west anyway), and camp shoes. I used to wear wingtips with OCBD shirts and a suit but that was the 70's. Come to think of it, the OCBDs were actually pinpoint OCBDs.
If you put starch in your shirt or wear non iron shirts, penny loafers. If you don't, bluchers. The equivalent of a polo shirt is boat shoes or tennis shoes.
Sounds right on-target to me.
Longwing brogues aka wingtips, e.g. Florsheim Imperial Kenmoor, double soled if necessary for comfort. They can be worn with a suit, blazer or sports coat.
Paraboot Rousseau or Andersen (in brown calf or suede). Versatile, sturdy, Goodyear-welted, outstanding leather, with very comfortable rubber soles. Due to the "floating lining", they're breathable and can be worn nearly year-round.
Plain toe cordovans...haven't seen a pair in years, but the last ones I saw are probably in great shape and look, as always, great. In my life time, I've seen many cordovan colored shoes but few made of cordovan leather. If I hadn't shrunk to five feet six with feet that have grown to size nine and a half, I might consider treating myself to a pair. Not only do I agree with your choice, I thank for a reminder of times past, for me at least.
+1 for bucks. They can be worn with jeans, chinos, shorts or moleskins, so tick the dress-up/dress-down box. They are also comfortable, practical and utilitarian.
There are some great suggestions listed above so I won't repeat them, but if there's one shoe that actually works on both extremes, it has got to be the Gucci loafer. Their new Jordaan bit loafer isn't necessarily my personal cup of tea, but I have seen someone wear the very dark navy version sockless with shorts during the summer, as well as with an outright tuxedo at a gala. Amazingly, they looked fitting in each circumstance. There are certainly shoes you can wear casually as well as with a suit, but a tux? No others come to mind.
I think a suede lace-up oxford would be the best shoe.
Brown penny loafers, any brand, beefroll, leather soles.
Blucher Mocs or Camp Mocs by Rancourt or Quoddy. The quality is there as in a good OCBD as well as being versatile between work and play.
I completely agree. I particularly like the Alden Black Chromexcel unlined LHS loafer with the tan stitching and the matching tan sole. You can wear them with shorts and no socks, or with a suit.
Sperry Gold Cups are my usual with khakis and OCBD. Add a blue blazer and tie for church, going out to dinner, or casual days at the office. Also, Alden tan bucks.
Much depends on which side you fall in the Great Moccasin Divide. The moc-toe is a characteristic quirk of preppy footwear. Its contrast stitching and puckered vamp makes any leather shoe a bit more casual, like a shirt with buttons on the collar points. If you like the moc-toe, then go on wearing your weejuns, penny loafers, boat shoes, camp mocs and ranger mocs. These are all basically outdoor slippers, with rawhide laces if any. For myself, speaking as a foreigner, and with apologies to my fellow readers, the moc-toe seems to have little charm or relevance outside of its native New England. I hold to plain-toe shoes, of the oxford/balmoral/blucher/derby families (ignoring for now the matter of wing tips and perforations). If suede then call them bucks. I've read that G. Bruce Boyer wears nothing but brown bucks, and there's wisdom there. The trick is to find a pair that hits the right measure of both earthiness and fussiness, to borrow an expression from our dear editor. A few principles may be suggested: that they be made from a reasonably durable and low-maintenance leather, not too shiny or too dark in colour, with a light rubber sole for a touch of weather resistance. Perhaps someday we'll invent an acronym for the idea.
I've worn many brands from Sperry to Rancourt, Eastland to Bean, lace-ups to loafers and liked them all. For all-day comfort I have to give it to Rockport and also nod to their Dressport line. Shoes that hold up with dress chinos and a jacket and very underrated penny loafers. It's sad to hear that Rockport is now in hard times.
I have to concede defeat on this. My personal must-haves include black captoe oxfords, brown gunboat wingtips, penny loafers, boat shoes, and blucher mocs. Tassel loafers and cordovan await me when I get older, camp mocs are too close to the boat shoe (hence my preference for the bluchers) and bit loafers and chukkas just aren't for me.
The problem comes with the fact that I might be wearing an OCBD with any of these shoes. With a suit and the black oxfords, with a sport coat and the pennies or wingtips, or, casual as can be with the boat shoes or blucher mocs. Thus, the shirt transcends them all. However, each of these shoes would be inappropriate in at least one situation. Black shoes aren't for khakis, gunboats might still be too formal for some on the weekend, (I at least) don't get the support from pennies that I feel like I could walk around the world in them, and the bluchers and boat shoes obviously are inappropriately casual for some settings.
Either I've been stumped, or the OCBD proves its unparalleled versatility, yet again.
If you're willing to entertain a little GTH style however, the white buck, albeit a summer shoe, almost allows the OCBD's cross-cut (depending on industry and place of employment).
Sneakers – clean, "dressy" sneakers. Remember that the OCBD comes from sportswear, and Brooks Brothers still likes to call it a polo shirt. Traditionally I'd say boat shoes, which are sneakers. But we ought to look to the future on this one.
Bucs (or penny loafers - maybe more so) are the exact moral and sartorial equivalent of an OCBD in every way, shape, and form. You can wear them everywhere but a gala, funeral, or board meeting.
Alden's Leisure Hand Sewn penny loafers, preferably in shell cordovan leather, and preferably the unlined version Brooks Brothers carries. Dressy enough for any professional environment these days, and casual enough to go with shorts, sans socks. Extremely comfortable, and good for walking. I know, I know, there'll be nay-sayers who say you can't wear them with suits, so therefore they don't meet the "professional" requirement, but I see so few suits these days anyway, and I work in a profession where coat and tie is a daily requirement.
Assume this is directed at the men, but clogs are my universal go-to, once Blundstone season has ended.


Oh. My. Goodness.I left a review on another of their publications: and that was bad enough, but the formatting on this is something to behold (or preferably not). I bought both at the same time which was a mistake, because having seen one I'd not have got the other.What are they playing at? It took a long time to dig through to find the nuggets – and there was some good information – and I gave up a couple of times to have a rest.The formatting was all over the place, it was hard to tell where one section ended and another started, there was lots of red writing, and many words were broken off half way to start on the next line. Really, I would expect better from the American Association of Diabetic Educators.To add insult to injury, I found the information from in here as well, so the other purchase was a waste of money.What's the point of having good information if it's so cunningly concealed? The fact that there is some in there means this got three and not the one or two stars I feel like giving.


Today has been one of those bitter cold winter days that make me feel homesick and dream of warmth, sunshine and sand in my toes. To fight the winter blues I decided to play in the kitchen. I spent all morning making soup, juices, lotion, kombucha and straining some lavender infused oil I had made some weeks ago. Just smelling the oil made me feel good! There's something about lavender that's so comforting and warm, perfect for late February in NY.
I use the oil in the bath, as moisturizer, to make lotion and soap. I also mix it with water and spray a bit in my pillow if I am having trouble falling asleep. I love the smell of lavender and its many healing properties, especially when it comes to relaxation.
The herbs should look and feel very dry after you finish squeezing the oil out. I usually save them and use them to make a face/body scrub but you can also use them for a facial steam or add them to a warm bath.


There are lots of reasons why i'm remaking the pages, even thought the original verison took me a year (and hundreds of hours of sewing) to make -it's not just because I like to make things hard for myself!
And don't worry if you loved the original – lots of the pages will be almost identical – it's just that they've had to be reworked. Below are the two owl pages. On the left is the original page, and on the right the newer one. Except for them facing a different direction there is not too much difference between the pages. I've added a bit more foliage to the new one, as well as reduced the size of the owl and added more embroidery.
It's difficult to photograph from the book. Not only is the surface not flat, but there is bias binding around the edges which means i'd have to crop the pages very tightly and would loose some of the image when printing.
The quality of the stitching needs some improvement. I think of my fabric books as sketchbooks and as such don't worry about raw edges on fabric, large, visible stitches and mis-placed scraps of fabric. However in print these tiny errors can seem much more visible, so although I'll still be keeping the raw edges and hand stitches, I'll have to be more careful that they will look good when photographed.
I want to exclude some of the quoations added. I've had interest from lots of different areas, including forest educators and parents with small children and I'd like to make it as accessible as possible. Therefore I'll be excluding some of the longer quotes.
The original book was a personal project and therefore I didn't worry too much about copyright/ attribution/ using direct inspiration from other artists, and I'd like to make sure I produce original work for each page.
I want to add in some new pages -feathers, acorns, tracking … I haven't decided exactly what yet! (any suggestions greatly recieved!
I'm remaking each of the pages as either single or double spreads in flat sheets. Some of these i've changed from the previous book – this mushroom one, for instance was a single page in the first version, but is now a double. I have marked the page size on the background with thread and left lots of space around the outside of the image for bleed; The artwork will be extended into the bleed space so none of the image gets cut off when printed.
Detail of new mushroom page – I've kept most of the mushrooms the same but with some additions like this one now the page is bigger.
Stay tuned for more page updates!
next post: Into The Woods – Update!


Our Giving Back Program was launched with grieving families in mind, and it offers a practical avenue for healing. When a child passes away, grief engulfs the entire family and it is often impossible to claim hope, or to muster the energy to work towards healing and wholeness. Families tell us that the time they spent with their ill child in the hospital prior to his/her death was some of the most meaningful of their lives, and they long for a way to acknowledge that time, the people who surrounded them, and the battle their child fought.
The Giving Back Program provides a tangible way to accomplish this, and to serve other families experiencing similar trials. Our hope is that it helps families heal and offers a needed lifeline, when the thought of creating one from scratch seems overwhelming and impossible. We come alongside families with the desire to give back, help them choose an avenue that honors the uniqueness of their child and meets a need of other children and of the hospital, then help them implement their vision and see it through to completion.
It is a joy for us to be involved in this incredible process and to watch the healing that it offers grieving families. True to our overall mission, each child is remembered in a way that is unique to them, and families guide us on their specific vision. Some families choose to give gifts to patients – often things that were special or helpful to their child. We have distributed everything from smocked dresses to crib mobiles and soft lovies in memory of children. Other families have asked their communities to donate to the Forrest Spence Fund in honor of their child, or have given their time volunteering with us.
We know that the grieving process is necessary, and cannot be side-stepped. It is a privilege to offer the Giving Back Program to families in addition to the emotional support and professional counseling we provide. The healing that comes from acknowledging the journey and giving back to others cannot be paralleled. Thank you for the support you provide that makes this possible for hurting families.


Dr. Justin Lyman, MD is a rheumatology specialist in Lake Charles, LA and has been practicing for 14 years. He graduated from Lsu School Of Medicine, Shreveport in 2005 and specializes in rheumatology.
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At least two firefighters were flown to Maricopa County Medical Center's burn unit in Phoenix, according to initial reports.
The Trump quote in the Robert Mueller report shows how far profanity has come. Does anyone care if the media curses anymore?
The congresswoman went full Team Trump on the Mueller report. Good for her election campaign, perhaps. But in terms of her credibility ... game over.
The Border Patrol's decision to alert the media about a migrant girl's measles case, which turned out to be strep throat, is coming under criticism.
It looks like Arizona's 6th Congressional District will see a competitive Democratic primary for the second election cycle in a row.
Arizona is closer than it has ever been to enacting a ban on cellphone use while driving. The governor has indicated his support.


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General Assembly Theme 2019:
Joshua 1:19
— Main Menu —Home Our Church	- History - Statement of Faith - Leadership	- - Ministers - - Other Parish Officers - - Men's Christian Association - - Women's Guild - - PYPAN - Contacts Us Ministries	- Teenage & Youth Resources	- Sermons - Bible Study Events Media	- News - Announcements - Gallery John Knox College
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Youths of First Abuja Parish Celebrate
Prince Chukwudire
By Sister Grace Nartey-Addo
The youth of the First Abuja Parish recently joined other young Presbyterians across the country to mark this year's Young People's Association of Nigeria (PYPAN) Emphasis Week. The week-long activity under the theme "The Strong and Courageous Youth,'' started on Monday 19 August, and ended on Sunday 25 August 2019.
Activities marking the week-long celebration included praying, fasting, and Bible Studies on the sub-theme, "fear not.'' The Bible Studies were conducted solely by the youth on Tuesday, 20 August 2019. Midweek Service also solely conducted by the PYPAN on Wednesday, August 21, 2019, featured a message delivered by Engr Okechuku Ude on the topic: ''Be Strong in the Lord'' (Ephesians 6:10). There was Musical Drama on Friday 23, 2019, while the youth went hiking at Usman Dam on Saturday 24, 2019.
Sunday, August 25, 2019, was the climax of the activities for the Emphasis Week. In his goodwill message, the National Youth Desk Coordinator of the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria (PCN), Rev. Lekwauwa Eke, congratulated the youth for another glorious time in the presence of the Lord. He acknowledged that the Presbyterian Church is blessed with young dynamic zealous and committed youth, who are the strength, life wire and future of the church.
The PYPAN Desk Coordinator noted that the theme for this year's celebration was selected to highlight how God is raising young men and women who will totally trust and stand for Him without fear or intimidation. Like the three Hebrew boys, Esther, and recently Leah Sharibu, who stood out among their peers despite persecution, Rev Eke said that God is today looking for the Shadrachs, Meshachs, Abednegos, Josephs, and more Leahs in the PCN who will not compromise their faith or defile themselves irrespective of the consequences in our homes, offices, schools and government.
Continuing, Rev Eke explained that being courageous means standing with God and His promises to overcome the giants such as cultism, evil company, and other sins that hinder us from entering our promise land. While expressing gratitude to the leadership of the PCN, Rev Eke encouraged parents to courageously support and defend the youth in their personal and collective struggles in order to give them a sense of belonging within the church and the family.
In a sermon titled, ''Strong and Courageous Youth,'' Miss Ubok-Ubong Asanga explained that being strong and courageous means overcoming fear, bracing ourselves against all odds, and being brave in doing the extraordinary (Det. 31:6). Miss Asanga cited some Bible characters who were strong and courageous in their time. For the youth, being strong, according to the preacher, requires putting on the whole armour of God. She said one of the armour that every strong and courageous youth must constantly put on is the belt of truth, especially in a generation where lying has been made so glamorous and attractive. By way of conclusion, the preacher advised her fellow youth to always be strong and courageous and to always ask for the grace of God to crush fear. Miss Asanga further challenged the Presbyterian youth to always focus on God and the scripture and inspire change.
The PYPAN members were re-dedicated to God by the Parish Minister-in-Charge and other pastors, with intense prayers.
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Thoughts of the Week
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Meets every Tuesday at 5:00PM. Please come fasting. Also Sundays at 8:00AM.
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All the ministers are available every Tuesday & Wednesday from 9:30AM - 1:30PM for anyone who has need for special prayers and counselling.
Offering Duty for May
Esther House
Hour of Mercy
Meets on Fridays from 7:00AM to 8:00AM. Women should not miss this one hour with God.
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Join the Thursday Class at 5:00PM prompt
In His Presence
1st day of every month at 6:00 am
Holds every Tuesday at 6:00 pm
Mid-week Service:
Holds every Wednesday at 6:00 pm
Prayer Squad:
Meets every Tuesday at 5:00 pm (Come fasting), Sundays at 8:00 am and Wednesdays at 5:00 pm.
Prayer and Counselling:
All the ministers are available every Tuesday and Wednesday from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm for anyone who has need for special prayers and counselling.
Hour of Mercy:
Meets every Friday from 7:00 am to 8:00 am. Women with special challenges should not miss this one our with God.
Catechism Class:
Join the Thursday class at 5:00 pm.
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A cute and stylish printable Girl Spa party invitation. This personalized spa birthday invitation features a hot pink banner across the center breaking up the card into 6 squares being lime green, yellow and pink. There's a girl in a pink robe getting pampered in one square with nail polish, lotion and manicure in another with a sleep mask and relaxation candles for the rest.