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20 Inspirational, Free Tools For Better Typeface Pairing
Pairing type is one of the toughest parts to get right in a web design project, and having tons of custom fonts at our fingertips doesn't make things any easier.
If you're just at the start of your journey to web typography mastery, it's likely that reading something along the lines of…
The Display and its Stencil are monolinear … but they radiate great rhythm and warmth, with a touch of handwriting.
– Tremolo Typeface Review by Laura Meseguer
… will probably make as much sense to you as wine tasting does to a teetotaler.
Font selection is more an art than a science. Therefore, reading about typography, individual typefaces and foundries goes hand in hand with lots of practice. However — as Tim Brown says in his guide Combining Typefaces — "practice can take an unreasonable amount of time if you're not careful" (p.38). In the meantime, the website you are working on makes immediate demands on your budding typography skills. You need to come up with a great solution, and do it quickly.
In this article, you'll find plenty of online resources that will complement your learning about web typography and help you come up with beautiful type combinations.
You'll also learn how some of the services listed below let you test the browser rendering of your chosen fonts and offer hassle-free ways of including them in your project.
Great Typeface Combos
Browsing websites with good combinations of typefaces is a great way to develop an eye for how typefaces work together and in which contexts they're being used. Check out the resources below for some great examples.
Google Fonts Pairings Feature
Google Fonts is not just a service for picking custom fonts. It's also a place where you can learn more about your chosen typeface, including suggestions on a number of typefaces that work well with it.
When you select a typeface on Google Fonts, click on the small Pop out button to the bottom right of the font's container box.
Next, click on the Pairings tab and you'll see examples of how your selection is paired on the web with other typefaces.
Although I like this resource, in my view it doesn't say much about the context in which the suggested pairings are used. For instance, what kind of websites use Open Sans and Roboto together? Are they text-heavy websites like news sites and blogs? Are they image-focused websites like a photography portfolio site? Which page elements use Open Sans and which ones use Roboto?
This is super helpful information when it comes to selecting type combinations, and in order to find it we have to look elsewhere.
Beautiful Web Type
Beautiful Web Type showcases a selection of typefaces from Google Fonts.
The examples are a bit generic – they're not taken from real websites with specific goals and strategies. That said, the website shows off its typeface selections in beautifully designed sections. Notice how text hierarchy, font weights and styles, all play a part in making the text more readable and conveying the appropriate mood.
Google Web Fonts Typography Project
Another inspirational collection of typeface combinations from Google Fonts is on the Google Web Fonts Typography Project website.
The designs on this website are beautiful illustrations of type pairings and their uses on the web. As the project's README file on the GitHub repo says:
The primary goal is to communicate, not decorate.
Typ.io gives you tons of information on trendy typography designs and an up-to-date range of websites with well paired typefaces.
Not only will you see matching typefaces, but you will also get a sense of the role type plays in the design of real websites – which typeface is used for headings, which one for body copy, the font selection the designer has made for a certain kind of website, e.g., portfolio, blog, marketing, etc. In fact, you can search websites by industry, typeface, and font service.
Finally, click on the image with your favorite typeface combination, and you'll get the CSS code and the links to the services where you can purchase or download the font files.
Fonts In Use
Fonts in Use is another popular resource offering a wide collection of typefaces that work well together, taken from real websites.
Its impressive search functionality lets you browse the typography archive by:
- industries
- formats
- typefaces
To stress the point, showing how type works on websites from a variety of industries and contexts is crucial to developing an eye for good typesetting decisions.
Interactive Type Pairing Tools
The resources I'm going to list below will ask for your input in the search for the perfect type combination. Be it a way of testing typefaces or simply making a selection and waiting for a number of suitable matches, these tools are interactive and fun to use.
The beauty of Typespiration is that it lets you browse different designs showcasing beautiful free fonts and color palettes.
If you click on any of the designs, you'll have the option to:
- Preview a close-up of the design. If you click the Baseline grid button on the top right you can also check how the text sits on the baseline grid:
- Learn about the fonts and colors used in the design:
- Copy and paste the HTML and CSS code you need to recreate the design in your project:
Font Pair
Font Pair allows you to browse typeface combinations on the basis of a number of filters:
- Sans serif/serif – the title will use a sans serif typeface, body copy a serif one. Serif letterforms have small flourishes on the end of each character, sans serif ones don't.
- Serif/sans serif – serif for the title, sans serif for the body copy.
- Sans serif/sans serif – sans serif typefaces for both title and body copy.
- Cursive/sans serif – cursive for the title, sans serif for the body copy. Cursive typefaces have a handwriting style, which suits titles and logos but is best avoided for body copy.
- Cursive/serif – cursive for the title, serif for body copy.
- Serif/serif – serif typefaces for both title and body copy.
If you have already decided on a typeface and you're looking for a suitable match, just enter its name in the search box at the top of the page. The website will display a list of suggestions using your selection:
One more cool thing you can do here is replace the sample text with your own. This is great for testing how your selected combination works with your website's content:
Type Genius
Type Genius is a smart service that lets you find great matches for your chosen typeface.
Just select a font and click the View Matches button.
Type Genius will show you a page with:
- Suggested pairings using your selected typeface.
- Links to the websites using the suggested pairings.
- Editable title and body text to experiment with your choice of typeface.
- Links to the service where you can download the font files.
Font Combinator
Font Combinator is a powerful online tool, great for browsing matching combinations of typefaces designed by Typotheque, a type foundry and design studio in the Netherlands.
You can choose typefaces from the Latin, Greek and Cyrillic character sets. A select box lets you browse font pairings using various keywords such as Elegant, Classic, Trendy, etc. You can fully edit the text on display, adjust the styles of the selected typeface, and drag any typeface listed to the right of the page on to the display area for testing.
Adobe Typekit Combos
Adobe Typekit Combos by Fontdata is a nifty tool, still in beta, that lets you select a Typekit font and finds matching fonts for you.
Once you make your selection and click the View button, this tool displays a list of suggested matching Webkit fonts and a link to a number of websites where you can see those fonts on display.
Type Pairing Learning Tools
The tools I'm going to list below are not only good for making great suggestions about typefaces that work well together. They also, and most importantly, give you bite-sized chunks of knowledge about type and how to match typefaces.
Type Connection
This is a favorite of mine. Type Connection by Aura Seltzer calls itself a Typographic dating game.
It's a highly interactive tool in the form of a dating game for finding great type pairings and learning about typography.
Type Connection starts with well-known typefaces looking for the right match. You're the matchmaker who's going to find the ideal partner using one of the strategies for combining typefaces. At each step of the way, you'll learn something about the meaning of typographic terms, history of type, etc. Once the game is over, you'll find out the reason why the match does or doesn't work.
Its creator has condensed Type Connection's main goal like this:
By playing Type Connection, you deepen your own connection with type.
Don't stop at the game, though. The Type Connection website is a treasure trove of typographic nuggets, including a summary of typeface combination strategies and tons of links to a variety of references about typography.
Mixing Typefaces (PDF)
Mixing Typefaces is a PDF copy of a page taken from U&lc (Upper and lower case), a historic publication targeting the design community.
Pick a typeface on the vertical axis to the left for body copy and cross-reference it with a display typeface on the horizontal axis. The number inside the box at the intersection of the two typefaces indicates the degree of compatibility between them:
- Combine at will.
- Not a conservative choice.
- Think again.
The Art of Mixing Typefaces
The Art of Mixing Typefaces is a great infographic about combining Google Fonts created by FastPrint, which takes inspiration from the U&lc document I listed above.
The information is conveyed using colors rather than numbers, but it works pretty much the same way.
The Art of Combining Fonts
The Art of Combining Fonts is a fantastic infographic for learning a thing or two about type pairing … ah, it's also fun to read.
Mixing and Matching Fonts
Mixing and Matching Fonts is another beautiful infographic with some mini typography lessons baked in by Fontaholic.
The Ten Commandments of Typography
This infographic by DesignMantic includes both examples of typeface combinations and excellent advice about typography.
Previewing and Displaying Fonts in the Browser
Before purchasing or downloading a font, it's a good idea to test how it renders in the browser at different screen resolutions.
The online resources below do a good job at letting you preview your chosen fonts. Some of them will also help you include the fonts in your project.
Google Fonts Preview and Streaming Service
When you're browsing a font on the Google Fonts library, you have various display options for previewing your selection.
You can:
- Preview a single sentence, which is the default view:
- Preview a single word:
- Preview a paragraph:
- Preview an enlarged, poster-like display of your font:
- Select different text for preview or enter your own:
- Increase and decrease the font size in your preview:
With a bit more digging, you'll find that Google Fonts has a few additional options for previewing and testing your font selections.
Try adding a couple of fonts to a collection by clicking on the Add to Collection button.
I've added Droid Sans and Droid Serif to my collection for testing. Selecting from a type family with sans serif and serif variations is one of the safest bets when you're just starting out.
Once your fonts are inside a collection, you can:
- Remove an individual font by clicking on the x icon next to it.
- Remove all selected fonts by clicking on the Remove all families from Collection button.
- Test your selections in a variety of interactive ways by clicking on the Review button at the bottom of the screen.
Once you're on the Review screen, click on the Test Drive option to put your selection to its paces.
From this screen you can test your typefaces for body text, headings and sub-headings, change font size, line height and other CSS properties, replace the existing content with your own, and more.
If this weren't enough, you can test your selection further on Typecast by clicking the Try in Typecast option on the Review screen of the Google Fonts website. This will land you on the Typecast app, which I'm going to cover in the next section.
Once you're happy with your selection, you can painlessly include the fonts in your project using Google CDN (Content Delivery Network).
Start by clicking on the Use button at the bottom of the screen.
From here you can fine tune your selection by picking the font styles and character sets you need. Stick to what you really need – the more styles and character sets you add the longer it takes for the files to load in the browser.
Best of all, you can simply grab the code Google Fonts provides and paste it in your project, then let the service stream the fonts to your website.
Typecast Prototyping Functionality
Typecast offers an interactive canvas to design working prototypes. By creating a free account you can then export all the necessary HTML and CSS code for easy inclusion in your project.
By clicking inside any part of the text in the Typecast app you can do all sorts of stuff like:
- Adding your own text content.
- Changing typefaces.
- Adjusting tons of CSS values like background color, color, font size, line height, etc.
- Previewing your typefaces at different viewport sizes.
- Checking how your text behaves on a baseline grid.
Web Font Blender
Web Font Blender is not as feature-rich as Typecast, but it's got all you need to quickly mix and match typefaces from the Google Fonts library, edit the existing text, adjust CSS font values, and grab the code for a seamless integration with your project.
Adobe Typekit Preview and Web Font Streaming Service
Like Google Fonts, Typekit by Adobe lets you preview an impressive number of fonts and takes care of streaming your chosen fonts to your website for easy inclusion. No need for you to license each individual font.
Unlike Google Fonts, Typekit is a subscription-based service offering different pricing plans. You can give Typekit a try using the free subscription plan, which lets you choose from 940+ fonts for your website.
You have a number of options for browsing fonts, including recommendations for headings and paragraphs, languages, type families, and more.
When you're ready to preview a typeface, click on it. On the new screen you'll be able to inspect its various weights and styles and to learn more about the font family and the foundry that created it.
If you click on the Specimens tab, you'll see a link to Open expanded Web Font Specimen. This link displays a screen where you can preview your chosen typeface at various sizes for body text and headings.
You can go further by clicking on the Type Tester tab, next to the Specimens tab. Now you can add your own text and preview your chosen typeface at different sizes using all its available weights and styles.
Once you're ready to use a font or a selection of fonts on your website, click on the Use fonts button on the top right of the screen, then on the Web tab.
Typekit uses kits as a way of including fonts in a web project. Here's a short tutorial on how to create a kit. For a detailed one, head over to the Typekit help page.
Start by clicking on the create a new kit link that you see in the image above.
Next, a popup screen asks you to enter a name for your kit and your website's domain. Go ahead and do so, then click on the Continue button.
Cool, you've just created a kit!
To use the kit in your project, simply copy and paste the code Typekit gives you inside the <head>
section of your HTML document. Then click the Continue button to access the next screen.
The final step is to select the font's character set, weights and styles. Keep an eye on the kit size information at the bottom of the popup window – the more character sets, weights and styles, the more weight you'll be adding to your web page.
If you want Typekit to take care of styling your typographic elements, enter the relevant CSS selectors in the input box at the top of the page. Alternatively, you can simply add the relevant CSS rules to your website's stylesheet.
When you're done, go ahead and click Publish. Your website should display your chosen typefaces within minutes.
This article has been all about online resources for picking great typeface combinations, previewing them and painlessly including them in your project.
Keep in mind that you can use more than one of these tools together. For instance, you can find nice combos on Google Web Fonts Typography Project and try them out on Typecast.
For better learning results, have a read through these evergreen articles about combining typefaces:
- On Web Typography by Jason Santa Maria
- Combining Typefaces: Free guide to great typography, by Tim Brown
Can you suggest other resources for selecting and previewing typefaces? Hit the comment box below to share them with the community.
Frequently Asked Questions on Typeface Pairing
What is typeface pairing and why is it important?
Typeface pairing is the practice of combining different fonts in a way that they complement each other and enhance the overall aesthetic of a design. It's crucial in graphic design, web design, and other visual mediums because it helps to create hierarchy, contrast, and harmony in your design. A well-paired typeface can make your content more engaging, readable, and visually appealing.
How can I choose the right typeface pair for my project?
Choosing the right typeface pair depends on several factors including the nature of your project, the message you want to convey, and the visual appeal you want to achieve. You can start by understanding the characteristics of different typefaces and how they can impact your design. Experiment with different combinations, consider the contrast, hierarchy, and harmony, and choose the pair that best fits your design needs.
What are some popular typeface pairs?
Some popular typeface pairs include Roboto and Open Sans, Lato and Raleway, and Montserrat and Merriweather. These pairs are popular because they offer a good balance of contrast and harmony, making them versatile for various design projects.
Are there any tools to help with typeface pairing?
Yes, there are several online tools that can help you with typeface pairing. These tools offer a variety of features such as font pairing suggestions, visual previews, and customization options. Some popular tools include Fontjoy, Font Pair, and Google Fonts.
Can I use more than two typefaces in a design?
While it's possible to use more than two typefaces in a design, it's generally recommended to stick to two or three to avoid clutter and confusion. Using too many typefaces can make your design look unorganized and difficult to read.
What is the difference between a font and a typeface?
The terms 'font' and 'typeface' are often used interchangeably, but they have different meanings. A typeface refers to a family of related fonts, while a font refers to a specific style and weight within a typeface.
How can I ensure good readability with my typeface pair?
To ensure good readability, consider factors like size, spacing, and contrast. Make sure your typeface pair offers a good contrast so that the text is easily distinguishable from the background. Also, ensure that the size and spacing are appropriate for the medium and audience.
What are serif and sans-serif typefaces?
Serif typefaces have small lines or strokes attached to the ends of larger strokes in a letter or symbol. They are often used for body text as they are considered easier to read in long passages. Sans-serif typefaces, on the other hand, do not have these small lines and offer a more modern and clean look.
Can I mix different typeface styles in a pair?
Yes, mixing different typeface styles can create an interesting contrast and hierarchy in your design. For example, you can pair a bold, decorative typeface with a simple, clean typeface for a striking effect.
What are some common mistakes to avoid in typeface pairing?
Some common mistakes to avoid include using too many typefaces, not considering readability, and choosing typefaces that clash with each other. It's important to choose typefaces that complement each other and enhance the overall design rather than detract from it.


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Air Conditioning Glossary
What is SEER rating? Is there a difference between an Air Conditioner & an Air Handler? Baffled? This is for you!
Whether your having and AC repair or furnace technician come to your home, be sure to learn the terminology so that you can make a well-informed decision.
Absolute Humidity: The amount of water vapor in a given amount of airspace. Grains per cubic foot measure absolute humidity.
Accurator: A piston type-metering device that feeds the proper amount of liquid refrigerant into the evaporator.
AFUE: Stands for Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency. This is a percentage measurement of a furnace's heating efficiency. For example, an AFUE of 90 means that 90% of the fuel is being used to warm your home, while the other 10% escapes as exhaust with the combustion gases. The U.S. Department of Energy's minimum efficiency level is 78%. The higher the AFUE, the more efficient the furnace.
Air Change: The amount of air required to completely replace the air in a room or building; not to be confused with re-circulated air.
Air Diffuser: An air distribution outlet or grille designed to direct airflow into desired patterns.
Air Handler: The portion of the central air conditioning or heat pump system that forces heated or cooled air through your home's ductwork. In some systems a furnace handles this function. Also known as a fan-coil.
Ambient Temperature: The air temperature (usually the outdoor air temperature) surrounding the heating or cooling equipment.
Atmospheric Pressure: The weight of a 1 square inch column of the earth's atmosphere. At sea level, atmospheric pressure is 14.696 pounds per square inch.
Auto Changeover: A control package that allows you to automatically switch from a primary air conditioning system to a backup in the event of the primary system's failure.
Balance Point: An outdoor temperature, usually between 30° F and 45° F, at which a heat pump's output exactly equals the heating needs of the home. Below the balance point, supplementary electric heat is needed to maintain indoor comfort.
Blower: An air handling device for moving air in a distribution system.
Boiling Point: The temperature at which the addition of any heat will begin a change of state from a liquid to a vapor.
BTU: Stands for British Thermal Unit — the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree (Fahrenheit). Used to describe a device's heating or cooling capacity. One BTU is approximately equal to the heat given off by a wooden kitchen match.
BTU/h: The abbreviation for British Thermal Units per Hour. A common measure of heat transfer rate.
Capacity: The ability of a heating or cooling system to heat or cool a given amount of space. For heating, this is usually expressed in BTUs. For cooling, it is usually given in tons.
Carbon Monoxide (CO): A colorless, odorless gas produced by burning any fuel. Old and malfunctioning heating systems produce high volumes of this gas. CO is highly toxic and potentially deadly. Symptoms of CO poisoning are similar to those of the flu: headaches, fatigue, shortness of breath, nausea and dizziness. The Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends annual inspections for carbon monoxide.
CFM: Stands for Cubic Feet per Minute. Commonly used to measure the rate of air flow in an air conditioning system. The higher the number, the more air is being forced through the system.
Centrifugal Compressor: A type of compressor used in vapor compression refrigeration cycles where a rotating impeller is the device which compresses the refrigerant vapor. The vapor is drawn into the impeller axially, and is discharged racially after energy is added to the vapor within the impeller.
Centigrade: A temperature scale with the freezing point of water at 0 degrees and the boiling point at 100 degrees at sea level. Also known as the Celsius scale.
Charge: The amount of refrigerant in a system.
Compressor: Part of a split-system heat pump or air conditioner's outdoor unit that controls the pressure applied to the refrigerant so that it can circulate. It plays a vital role in taking in heat to warm your home with a heat pump or getting rid of heat to keep your home cool.
Compression: The reduction of volume of a vapor or gas by mechanical means.
Compression Ratio: The ratio determined by dividing the discharge pressure by the suction pressure in PSI (pounds per square inch).
Condensation Point: The temperature at which the removal of any heat will begin a change of state from a vapor to a liquid.
Condenser: A device that transfers unwanted heat out of a refrigeration system to a medium that absorbs the heat and transfers it to a disposal point. There are three types of condensers: air-cooled condensers, water-cooled condensers, and evaporative condensers. Most residential systems have an air-cooled condenser.
Condenser Coil: A series of tubes filled with refrigerant, normally located outside the home, that removes heat from the hot, gaseous refrigerant so that it becomes liquid again.
Condensing Unit: Part of a refrigerating mechanism which pumps vaporized refrigerant from the evaporator, compresses it, liquefies it in the condenser and returns it to the refrigerant control. It's the outdoor section of a split system air conditioner or heat pump.
Cooling Capacity: A measure of the ability of a unit to remove heat from an enclosed space.
COP: Stands for Coefficient of Performance. A ratio that compares a heat pump system's heating efficiency to that of electric heat. For example, a heat pump system with a COP of 3.0 provides heat at 3 times the efficiency of electric heat. A heat pump's system COP will decrease as outdoor temperatures drop, eventually providing little or no efficiency advantage over electric heat – and that's the point when your auxiliary heat kicks in to heat your home.
Damper: A valve or movable plate used in duct work that opens or closes to control airflow. Used in zoning to regulate the amount of warm or cool air entering certain rooms in your home.
DB: Stands for Decibels. A unit measuring the intensity of noise.
Defrost Cycle: The process of removing ice or frost buildup from the outdoor coil during the heating season.
Dehumidification: The reduction and removal of water vapor in air by cooling the air below the dew point.
Direct Expansion Systems: One of two types of basic cooling media (the other is chilled water). Direct expansion systems utilize Freon for cooling and dehumidification. The three most common methods of heat rejection are air-cooled, water-cooled and glycol cooled.
Direct Vent: An opening that pulls in outside air for combustion and expels combusted gases directly outside.
Downflow Furnace: A type of furnace that takes cool air from the top and blows warm air to the bottom. Commonly used where furnaces must be located in a second-floor closet or utility area.
Duct: A hollow pipe or closed conduit made of sheet metal, fiberglass board, or other suitable material used for carrying heated or cooled air to and from an air handling unit to the vents in your home.
EER: Stands for Energy Efficiency Ratio — a measurement of the efficiency with which a product uses energy to function. It is calculated by dividing a product's BTU output by its wattage.
Efficiency: A rating on comfort equipment, similar to the miles per gallon rating on your car. The higher the rating, the more efficient the system and the lower your fuel consumption will be.
Electronic Air Cleaner: An electronic device that filters out large particles and contaminants in indoor air.
Emergency Heat: The backup heat built into a heat pump system. Also known as supplemental or auxiliary heat.
Energy Saver Switch: A switch that causes an air conditioner's fan and compressor to cycle on and off together, reducing energy consumption.
ENERGY STAR: A government program that helps businesses and individuals protect the environment through superior energy efficiency. Products earn the Energy Star rating by meeting strict anti-pollution and energy-efficiency guidelines set by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy. Products with the Energy Star rating will help you use less energy and save on utility bills.
Evaporator Coil: Part of a split-system air conditioner or heat pump located inside the home. A series tubes filled with refrigerant cools and dehumidifies the air by converting liquid refrigerant into a gas (or vice-versa). A blower motor then moves air over the coil to either heat or cool your home. It is also known as a cooling coil, blower coil, chilling unit or indoor coil.
Fahrenheit: The scale of temperature measurement most commonly used in the United States of America. In this scale, water freezes at 32 degrees and boils at 212 degrees.
Fan Coil: An indoor component of an air conditioner or heat pump system, used in place of a furnace and evaporator coil, to provide change the refrigerant from a gas to a liquid (or vice-versa) and blow air over the coil to cool or heat your home.
Filter: A device used to remove dust and other particles from air to provide healthier air quality and to protect the HVAC equipment. The higher the MERV rating, the better the filter.
Freon: A general term used to identify any of a group of partially or completely halogenated simple hydrocarbons containing fluorine, chlorine, or bromine, which are used as refrigerants. R-22 is the most well-known and used of these refrigerants; it will be phased out in the coming years.
Furnace: The part of a heating system that converts gas, oil, electricity, or other fuel into heat for distribution within a structure.
Glycol-Cooled System: A type of air conditioning system that uses Freon as a refrigerant and a water/glycol solution as a condensing medium. Typically, the glycol-cooled condenser is located inside the air conditioner with the rest of the refrigeration components. The glycol keeps the solution from freezing during winter operation.
GPH: Stands for Gallons Per Hour. An efficiency rating for oil furnaces.
Ground Water-Source: Water from an underground well is being used as the heat source or heat sink for a heat pump.
Heating Capacity: The rate at which a specific device can add substantial heat to a substance, expressed in BTU/h (British Thermal Units per hour).
Heat Exchanger: The part of a furnace that transfers heat energy from the source to a conveying medium.
Horizontal Furnace: A type of furnace that lies on its side. It draws in air from one side, heats it and sends the warm air out the other side. Most often used in attics or crawl spaces.
Heat Gain: The amount of heat gained, in BTUs, from a space to be conditioned, at the local summer outdoor design temperature and a specified indoor design condition.
Heat Loss: The amount of heat lost, in BTUs from a space to be conditioned, at the local winter outdoor design temperature and a specified indoor design condition.
Heat Pump: A unit that both cools and heats your home. It works just like an air conditioner in cooling mode; however, in heating mode, the refrigerant flow is reversed and heat is extracted from the outside air to heat your home. A heat pump system can be either a split system or a packaged system.
Heat Transfer: The movement of heat from one place to another, between two substances, or within a substance.
Humidity: The amount of moisture in the air. Air conditioners remove moisture for added comfort.
Humidifier: A piece of equipment that adds water vapor to heated air as it moves out of the furnace. This adds necessary moisture to protect your furnishings and reduce static electricity.
Humidistat: A device designed to regulate humidity input by reacting to changes in the moisture content of the air.
HSPF: Stands for Heating Seasonal Performance Factor. A measure of the heating efficiency of a heat pump. It's calculated by dividing the heat pump's total heating output (BTU/h) by electrical wattage per hour. The higher the HSPF number, the more efficiently the heat pump heats your home.
HVAC: Stands for Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning. The initials are often used to describe the industry that produces and services home comfort equipment.
Hybrid Heat System: A fuel-saving alternative to traditional heating and cooling systems that combines a furnace with a heat pump. A Hybrid heat system reacts to changing temperatures and automatically adjusts to the most efficient energy-saving method available to heat or cool a home. Hybrid Heat is adaptable for gas or electric systems and by using a variable speed fan hot or cool air is distributed consistently and evenly throughout a home.
Indoor Unit: This is usually located inside the house and contains the indoor coil, fan, motor, and filtering device, sometimes called the air handler.
Insulation: Any material that slows down the transfer of heat.
Integrally Controlled Motor: A variable-speed motor that operates at low RPM when possible for maximum efficiency and quiet operation. ICM motors are more than 90% efficient versus 60% efficiency for conventional motors.
Isolation Valves: Valves used for the transfer and isolation of refrigerant charge in the cooler or condenser, allowing refrigerant to be stored inside a chiller during servicing.
(K) Factor: The insulating value of any material. Also known as conductivity.
Kilowatt (kW): A measurement of the energy output of a device. Equal to 1,000 watts.
Kilowatt-Hour (kWh): A common unit of electrical consumption measured by the total energy created by one kilowatt in one hour.
Load Calculation: A series of measurements and studies used to analyze and determine the heating or cooling requirements of your home so that properly sized air conditioning and heating equipment may be installed. This calculation uses information such as the square footage of your home, window or door areas, insulation quality and local climate to determine the heating and cooling capacity needed by your furnace, heat pump or air conditioner.
Low Boy: A type of furnace configuration in which the furnace is shorter and occupies more floor space.
Matched System: A heating and cooling system comprised of products that have been certified to perform at promised comfort and efficiency levels when used together, and used according to design and engineering specifications.
MERV: Stands for Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value. A measurement of air filter's ability to remove particles from 3 to 10 microns in size. The MERV scale ranges from 1 (least efficient) to 16 (most efficient).
Microprocessor Controls: A air conditioning control system that uses computer logic to maintain precise control of temperature and humidity and to monitor the unit's operation.
Natural-Draft Furnace: A furnace in which the natural flow of air from around the furnace provides the air to support combustion.
Outdoor Coil/Condensing Unit: The portion of a heat pump or central air conditioning system that is located outside the home and functions as a heat transfer point for collecting heat from and dispelling heat to the outside air.
Packaged System: A self-contained heating and/or air conditioning system which has all components located in one cabinet. It is placed outside the home – on the ground, on the roof, or sometimes mounted through the walls of the building.
Payback Analysis: An overall measure of the efficiency and value of your home comfort system. By combining your purchase price and ongoing operating costs, a payback analysis determines the number of years required before monthly energy savings offset the purchase price.
Purge Device: A device, which removes air and water vapor from the refrigerant inside a chiller.
Puron: An environmentally sound refrigerant designed not to harm the earth's ozone layer. Federal law requires that all manufacturers phase out ozone-depleting refrigerants in the next few years. Puron Refrigerant has been approved by the US Environmental Protection Agency as a replacement for Freon R-22 and other ozone depleting refrigerants.
R-22 Refrigerant: An ozone-depleting, hydro chlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) refrigerant that has been the refrigerant of choice for residential heat pump and air-conditioning systems for decades. Because of its potentially harmful environmental effects, production of R-22 and systems that use it are being phased out and will cease in 2015.
Reciprocating Compressor: A type of compressor used in air conditioners that compresses refrigerant through a piston action.
Recycling: The removing, cleaning and reusing of refrigerant.
Refrigerant: A substance that produces a cooling effect while expanding or vaporizing.
Refrigerant Lines: Two copper lines that connect an air conditioning system's condenser coil (the outdoor unit) to the evaporator coil (the indoor unit).
Register: A combination grille and damper assembly covering an air opening or end of an air duct.
Relative Humidity: The ratio of the amount of vapor contained in the air to the greatest amount the air could hold at that temperature. Normally expressed as a percentage.
Return Air: Air drawn into a heating unit after having been circulated from the heater's output supply to a room.
Reversing Valve: A device in a heat pump that reverses the flow of refrigerant as the system is switched from cooling to heating.
Scroll Compressor: A specially designed compressor that works in a circular motion vs. an up and down piston action.
SEER: Stands for Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio. A rating that denotes the efficiency of air conditioning equipment. It is the amount of cooling your equipment delivers for every dollar spent on electricity. It is the ratio of cooling delivered by a system (measured in BTUs) to the dollar cost of the electricity to run the system (as measured in watt-hours. The higher the SEER, the more efficient the unit. The more efficient the unit, the lower the operating cost. The U.S. Government's minimum SEER is 10 for split systems and 9.7 for packaged units.
Setback Thermostat: A state-of-the-art electronic thermostat with a built-in memory that can be programmed for different temperature settings at different times of the day.
Single Package Product: A year-round heating and air conditioning system that has all of the components completely encased in one unit outside the home.
Split System: A central air conditioning or heat pump system consisting of two or more major components. The system usually consists of a compressor-containing unit and condenser (installed outside the house) and a non-compressor-containing air handling unit (installed within the building). This is the most common type of system installed in a home.
Storage Tank: A steel shell where the refrigerant charge for a chiller may be temporarily stored while the chiller is serviced.
Supercooled Liquid: Liquid refrigerant cooled below its saturation point.
Subcooler: This is a section of some condensers in which the temperature of the condensed refrigerant liquid is reduced. This improves the energy efficiency of the chiller.
Superheated Vapor: Refrigerant vapor heated beyond its saturation point.
Superheating: Creating a rise in temperature by adding heat energy to a refrigeration vapor.
Switchover: A device in a heat pump that reverses the flow of refrigerant as the system is switched from cooling to heating.
Temperature: The measure of the intensity of heat that a substance possesses.
Thermidistat: A sophisticated, programmable thermostat that senses the outdoor temperature, indoor air temperature, and indoor relative humidity. A built-in microprocessor determines the most efficient way to achieve ideal comfort.
Thermostat: A temperature control device, typically found on a wall inside that consists of a series of sensors and relays that monitor and control the functions of a heating and cooling system.
Thermostatic Expansion Valve: A precision device used to meter the flow of liquid refrigerant entering the evaporator at a rate that matches the amount of refrigerant being boiled off in the evaporator.
Ton (or Tonnage): Not 2000 lbs, but a unit of measure used to describe the cooling capacity of an air conditioning system. One ton of cooling is based on the amount of heat needed to melt one ton (2000 lbs.) of ice in a 24-hour period (equal to 12,000 BTU/h).
Two Stage Compressor: Two Stage Compressors are capable of two levels of operation, a low stage and a high stage. Properly sized equipment will operate 80% of the time in low stage, enhancing efficiency and comfort with lower humidity levels and quieter operation. It's like getting two air conditioners or heat pumps in one system.
UL: Stands for Underwriters Laboratories, an impartial, non-profit organization that tests and rates electrical product for public safety.
Upflow Furnace: A furnace that pulls return air in from the bottom and expels warm air from the top into the ductwork. This type of furnace is usually installed in a basement or an out-of-the-way closet.
Vacuum Pump: A pump used to remove air and moisture from a refrigeration system.
Vapor Seal: A barrier that prevents air, moisture, and contaminants from migrating through tiny cracks or pores in the walls, floor, and ceiling into a room. Vapor seals may be created using plastic film, vapor-retardant paint, vinyl wall coverings and vinyl floor systems.
Ventilation: The process of supplying or removing air, by natural or mechanical means, to or from any space. Such air may or may not have been conditioned.
Ventilator: A device that captures heating or cooling energy from stale indoor air and transfers it to fresh incoming air.
Zoning: A way to increase your home comfort and energy efficiency by controlling when and where heating and cooling occurs. Programmable thermostats control the timing of when your equipment operates; dampers are used to direct airflow to certain sections or "zones" of your home.
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Chinese social media platform Weibo banned a fan club of BTS from posting for 60 days, saying it had raised funds illegally, days after photographs of a customized airplane funded by the fan club were posted online.
The fan club account, which had over 1.1 million followers on Weibo, was centered around BTS member Jimin. The restrictions imposed on the account came amid China's campaign to clean up the entertainment industry and clamp down on "irrational behavior" exhibited by fans.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for a "national rejuvenation" with tighter Communist Party control of business, education, culture and religion.
The party has since reduced children's access to online games and is trying to discourage what it sees as unhealthy attention toward celebrities. Last week, the government banned effeminate men on TV and banned idol development shows for their "low moral values" that could be a bad influence on the youth.
The BTS fan account was banned from posting on Weibo after images circulated online last week of a customized airplane from Jeju Air with images of Jimin on it. The customized airplane was part of the club's plans to celebrate his 26th birthday in October.
The stunt drew swift criticism online for its excess. Following the backlash, the account issued a statement last week on its feed urging fans to be "rational" when chasing celebrities for a "harmonious and healthy internet environment."
Weibo said in a statement Sunday that the group has been banned from posting for 60 days after it was found to have raised funds illegally.
"Weibo firmly opposes such irrational star-chasing behavior and will deal with it seriously," the statement said.
The fan club began raising money in April to prepare for the birthday celebrations, according to state-owned media Global Times, with over 1 million yuan ($150,000) raised in the first three minutes of the fundraising activity and 2.3 million yuan ($360,000) in the first hour.
The club also planned to run advertisements celebrating Jimin's birthday in newspapers like The New York Times.
It is not uncommon for K-pop fans worldwide to celebrate the birthdays of their favorite celebrities by taking out advertisements in newspapers and billboards or customizing public transport vehicles with images of their idols.
Many fans also fundraise to donate to charitable causes such as funding education for the underprivileged or sponsoring wild animals in stars' names as part of such celebrations.
Weibo also said in a separate statement on Sunday that it banned 21 other fan accounts for 30 days for posting "irrational star-chasing" content. The banned fan accounts were mostly centered around K-pop celebrities, such as members of South Korean boy bands NCT and EXO, and girl group BLACKPINK.
Celebrities in China are often pressured to conform to values espoused by the Chinese government or face the repercussions. Celebrities such as Fan Bingbing and Zheng Shuang have been fined heavily for evading taxes, and popular actress Zhao Wei last week had her name removed from credits of films and TV shows she had starred in without explanation.
Chinese singer and actor Lu Han, a former member of popular K-pop group EXO, said Sunday (Sept. 5) that he would cut ties with Swiss luxury watch brand Audemars Piguet after a video circulated online last week showing its CEO refer to Taiwan as an "ultra-modern, high-tech country."
China, which claims Taiwan as its territory, objects to any reference to the self-governing island as a country. Under the one-country policy, other countries have diplomatic relations with either China or Taiwan, but not both.


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Future Music's list of the top 40 synth sounds of all time has sparked a fair bit of debate - as much because of the artists it doesn't feature as those it does.
I'm not going to get into the rights and wrongs of it here - that's for you to do elsewhere on MusicRadar - but its publication did get me pondering on what I think makes a great synth sound.
My conclusion is this: while programming and production are important, it's the way the sound is actually used that's crucial. Or to put it another way, the sound itself is actually less important than the notes you play with it.
Let's take the synth riff from Van Halen's Jump as an example. I should emphasise here that this wouldn't be anywhere near my own personal top 40, but it's certainly iconic.
However, this isn't because of any sound design genius. It's simply because the riff, love it or loathe it (and played on an Oberheim OB-Xa, in case you were wondering), has a bombastic ridiculousness that grabs your ears (as does the lead line in The Final Countdown).
It's the same with many of the other 'sounds' on FM's list - they've become famous not because someone spent hours twiddling knobs, but because they formed the basis of a musical idea that resonated with the listening public.
If you really pushed me to name my favourite 'synth part' - a better description than synth sound, I think - I'd go for the bassline on Stevie Wonder's Boogie On Reggae Woman: a perfect marriage of technology and musical talent. This didn't even make the lower echelons of the Future Music top 40, though, so what do I know…


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Starting Point-Teaching Entry Level Geoscience
Studio Teaching in the Geosciences
Why change to studio teaching?
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Why change to studio teaching?
Studio classrooms provide a dynamic learning environment where students and instructors work as partners to promote learning
A properly managed studio classroom can provide a quintessential active and cooperative learning environment. The value of such an environment has been well described by many. (See references in the reference list.) Studio classrooms, however, take these pedagogical approaches much further by providing a holistic learning environment that emphasizes individual learning and responsibility as a consequence of interactive engagement. Studio classes are designed to provide a rich learning environment in which all activities and interactions move toward the same goals: meaningful content learning and individual intellectual development.
Studio teaching moves a classroom toward recognized learning goals
Studio teaching is consistent with goals summarized in National Research Council reports including National Science Education Standards (NRC, 1996) and From Analysis to Action: Undergraduate Education in Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology (NRC, 1996). It also matches recommendations in the AAAS Publication Science for All Americans by Rutherford and Ahlgren (1991), and in the NSF report Shaping the Future: New Expectations for Undergraduate Education in Science, Mathematics, Engineering , and Technology (NSF, 1996). In these reports, and others, emphasis is placed on getting students actively involved in doing science and thinking like scientists. In its executive summary, the NSF report recommends that ". . . all students learn [science] by direct experience with the methods and processes of inquiry." While doing, thinking, and inquiring, students learn science and also develop key skills including collaboration, teamwork, communication, and responsibility.
Studio teaching is a particularly effective method of instruction for upper level classes that cover new and difficult-to-understand ideas
Studio teaching is particularly appropriate for classes that cover complex information and ideas. In such classes, students need to "do" the science and really think about what they are doing, not listen to someone talk about. Additionally, the interaction with their peers can be very important during the learning process. The best learning occurs when students solve problems or discuss things together. The superiority of studio teaching for such classes is obvious from both and instructor's and the students' perspectives.
Studio teaching can bring new life to an introductory class
Studio teaching also works well for entry-level classes. Many introductory science classes are simply surveys. Classes typically include lots of topics, lots of vocabulary, and little context. In a studio classroom information is presented in context, and it is used to solve problems or complete projects. So, students remember key ideas and concepts much better than if their main learning activities are studying for exams. While doing so, they learn to think and develop other holistic skills.
Studio teaching engages students
With almost no exceptions, students report that studio classrooms are fun and exciting. Students get involved, work hard, come to class every day, and do it all without losing their smile. They all report great learning success and often say that all classes should be taught this way.
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By Max Papis Racing | May 23, 2011 at 10:51 am
CONCORD, N.C. (May 20, 2011) – Twenty-four weeks out of the year, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series travels around the country, racing at tracks from Daytona to Las Vegas. However, there is one race at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway that every driver and team looks forward to. Instead of sleeping in hotels and being away from family, the GEICO Racing team gets to be at home, competing only miles away from the Mooresville, N.C. race shop.
Max Papis relishes the opportunity to race in front of the 'home' crowd. The one-day show at the 1.5-mile track started with two practice sessions where the GEICO crew tuned in the handling of the No. 9 Toyota Tundra. Optimistic entering qualifying for Friday night's North Carolina Education Lottery 200, Papis laid down a lap of 30.888 seconds to place the Gecko in the 13th starting position.
Under beautiful weather conditions, Papis was ready to attack, stay out of trouble, and finish inside the top-10 at the end of 134 laps. SPEED Channel's pit road reporter Hermie Sadler started the broadcast by spotlighting Papis and the No. 9 GEICO team for their performance so far this season, which provided an uplifting boost to the crew. Once the green flag dropped to start the event, Papis reported of a loose handling condition, causing the driver to drop back to the 20th position on lap four.
The first caution of the night came on lap nine for a spin by Papis' Germain Racing teammate, Todd Bodine. Crew chief Randy Goss brought Papis to pit road for fuel and two rounds down on the track bar to help the loose condition. As the majority of the field stayed out, Papis restarted on lap 12 from 27th-place. In a short five laps, the GEICO Toyota was up to the 21st position.
Another caution slowed the pace on lap 21, with Papis inside the top-20. Goss called Papis back to pit road for four tires, fuel, and one round down on the track bar as the previous adjustments had helped the GEICO Tundra. Papis restarted on lap 25 from the 25th position. Over the next 25 laps, two cautions were brought out as Papis continued to gain ground on his competitors and move into 19th-place.
On lap 53, the fourth caution was displayed, as Papis returned to the attention of his GEICO crew for fuel and a right rear shock adjustment to continue to help with the loose handling in the center of the corner. Papis restarted in the 12th position on lap 59, challenging for a spot within the top-10. In one brief circuit around the Carolina track, Papis had taken over eighth-place.
Two quick cautions in 15 laps stalled Papis' ability to continue his charge to the front. The lap 75 restart saw Papis in the seventh position and the GEICO team was hoping for a green flag run to help the No. 9 Toyota. Unfortunately, two short laps later on lap 77, Papis received racing contact in the right rear from Matt Crafton, sending the Gecko into teammate Brendan Gaughan. Heavy damage was sustained to the GEICO Toyota, but the crew resiliently repaired the truck on pit road during numerous stops to complete the race.
Over the final 55 laps, Papis and the GEICO team continued to work on the truck when the chance became available, but the international driver was unable to pick up any spots. As the checkered flag flew, Papis crossed the finish line in the 25th position.
"It was a tough night for the GEICO team," said Papis, after the race. "I'm extremely proud of the effort that the guys put in to build this brand new truck and it was very, very fast. We were going to have a great top-10 finish if not even higher, so it was definitely disappointing that we got contact in that wreck. Crafton came over and apologized, which was a very classy move. I said at the beginning of the year that 10% of the races in the championship were going to be nights like these and we had one. The GEICO crew will regroup and head to Kansas."
Despite falling victim to a tough night, Papis still managed to maintain his status in the top 10 of the point standings, as he rests in the 10th position. He sits just 10 points shy of seventh-place James Buescher. The Truck Series will take a one-week break before returning to racing action at Kansas Speedway on June 4, 2011.


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San Francisco
Anita: I have been there once a long time ago when I... well, not that long but when I was twelve years old I went there with my family.
Todd: Great. You know, I'm from San Francisco so what did you think?
Anita: I think it was a very beautiful city. You had... there's so many nice houses in these little winding streets, you know, going up the hills and down the hills, and you get the old, the historical trams.
Todd: Right, exactly.
Anita: Right?
Todd: The cable cars.
Anita: The cable cars, and the Golden Gate Bridge is beautiful of course.
Todd: Yeah, actually I think the Bridge is still pretty amazing. I mean, even people that live there, it's just an amazing thing to look at, to cross. It's nice. But one thing about my city is it's really expensive. Did you find it expensive when you were there?
Anita: Well, thankfully I went there as a child so my parents paid for everything, so I didn't have to worry about that so...
Todd: Right.
Anita: If I went there now, I mean, probably I would be worried about that, yeah.
Todd: Yeah, I think... I'm sorry. I forgot. You said you were twelve.
Anita: Yeah.
Todd: So, OK. Well, when you were in America did you enjoy American food?
Anita: Yeah. I like any kind of food, so... I don't like to eat too much fast food but I didn't have any problems now that I recall, now that I remember so... It was OK.
Todd: Right. Yeah, but in America we don't eat that much fast food, at least not in San Francisco.
Anita: OK, I'll take your word for it.
Todd: Did you talk to anybody, or did you meet people?
Anita: In San Francisco, not that I remember. Of course, we talked to people we met but we didn't visit friends. We just went there as tourists and you know, took a couple of tours, so yeah we talked the tour guide who lives there, and it was nice meeting somebody from San Francisco.
Todd: Now, my favorite part of the city is... there's two places actually: Golden Gate Park and also the Presidio. The Presidio is also a park. Did you go to either of those?
Anita: I think we did. I don't remember them very clearly but all the major sites that are there we definitely went to. It's hard to miss.
winding street
There are so many nice houses in these little winding streets.
A 'winding street' has many curves and bends. It isn't straight. Notice the following:
- Her house is on a winding street.
- Winding streets can be dangerous in bad weather.
We got to see the historic trams in San Francisco.
A 'tram' is a train that travels around the streets of a city. Notice the following:
- We got to ride an historic tram.
- Let's take the tram.
pretty amazing
I think the Golden Gate Bridge is pretty amazing.
Something that is 'pretty amazing' is so good or so surprising that we almost can't believe it. Notice the following:
- The beaches are pretty amazing.
- That's an amazing view.
Did you find it expensive when you were in San Francisco?
To 'find something to be a certain way' means to learn some information or express an opinion about it. We can replace 'find it' with 'think.' Notice the following:
- I found transportation to be cheap there.
- I find organized tours boring.
a couple of
We took a couple of tours in San Francisco.
A couple of means two. Notice the following:
- He lived there for a couple of years.
- I've been there a couple of times.
Vocabulary Quiz
find • a couple of


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Putting your child's concrete goals in action is a lot easier (and more effective!) when you've got a great bond with his teacher. After all, she may spend more waking hours with your child than you do — and see behaviors that you might miss. Follow these do's and dont's in order to forge a strong connection:
Do lay the groundwork for a friendly partnership by telling the teacher how excited you are that your child is in her class. And share the goals you set with your kid. She'll appreciate your proactive approach.
Don't dictate your expectations. Saying, "Noah's mastered his times tables, so you can put him in the highest math group" puts your opinion above her observations. Let her assess your child's needs.
Do stay on top of class events by reading her notes or website posts.
Don't call the teacher at home unless it's an emergency. E-mail or phone the school to set up a time. And don't hit her up at open house or school assemblies with personal questions about your kid.
Do send thank-you notes once in a while. ("Sam really enjoyed making slime during science yesterday.") Teachers love knowing they matter in a child's life.
Don't bad-mouth the teacher within earshot of your child. Even if you think she's the Wicked Witch of the West, you need to present a united front, or your child will lose interest in her teacher, and possibly learning.
Do make sure your child gets a good night's sleep (it's the number one request from most teachers!). Tired children have a harder time focusing and may become overly silly or emotional in class.
Don't talk to the principal about your classroom concerns before you've addressed them with the teacher first.
Do be understanding. Teachers face a difficult job: Balancing the academic, social, and emotional well-being of a roomful of kids, plus keeping parents happy, isn't easy!
Get ready for your child to go back to school with our guide — it's full of recommended books, teacher tips, homework help, and more resources for a successful school year.


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Sumatran orangutans have undergone a substantial recent population decline, according to a new genetic study, but the same research revealed the existence of critical corridors for dispersal migrations that, if protected, can help maintain genetic diversity and aid in the species' conservation.
One of two species of orangutans, the Sumatran orangutan is classified as "critically endangered" by the IUCN Red List. Once widespread on the island of Sumatra, only an estimated 6,600 individuals remain, restricted to small forest patches on the northern tip of the island. Recent large-scale deforestation is among the most significant factors bringing about the range collapse of the apes.
A recent study published via Advance Access (DOI: 10.1093/jhered/ess065) in the Journal of Heredity investigated population structure, movement patterns, and reproductive interchange in Sumatran orangutans using genetic techniques. The investigators isolated DNA from fecal and hair samples from wild apes throughout their Sumatran range, as well as blood samples from orangutans of known origin that had been kept privately as pets before being confiscated by authorities. The investigators used two different genetic markers to examine population structure and gene flow: mitochondrial DNA, which is inherited only from an individual's mother, and autosomal microsatellites, short, repeated DNA elements that are inherited from both parents.
A strong genetic signal revealed a striking population decline in Sumatran orangutans. "The orangutans from one of the study areas on the west coast of the island exhibited very high genetic diversity," explained Dr. Alexander Nater of the University of Zurich Anthropological Institute & Museum, lead author on the study. "This diversity is a clear indication of a large historical population size. However this area currently harbors only around 400 orangutans," leading the authors to conclude that the population has recently declined dramatically.
The data also showed that Sumatran orangutans have a pronounced population structure containing a number of subpopulations, resulting from geographical barriers including major rivers and a large volcanic caldera. These barriers isolate groups of orangutans, some of which contain only a few hundred individuals.
"Such isolated, small populations will inevitably suffer from a decline in genetic diversity and negative effects of inbreeding," said Nater. "This means that local orangutan populations are at substantial risk of extinction."
Extinction risk can be further exacerbated when the subpopulations adapt to specific local environmental factors such as food sources or disease. While these local adaptations may allow the subpopulation to thrive in the short run, if environmental conditions change quickly the group may be unable to adapt.
Despite the isolation of the subpopulations, the authors found genetic evidence for recent reproductive interchange, specifically by breeding males. "Our study revealed that some males can range widely over large distances and across natural barriers in search of females," Nater said.
The data pinpointed a specific inland high-elevation area as an important corridor for reproductive interchange across the island. The males appear to be using this passage to circumvent major rivers close to their headwaters high in the mountains, providing important genetic exchange among Sumatran populations.
But it is critical that these corridors remain forested to facilitate these migrations. Sumatran orangutans are the most arboreal of the great apes, spending nearly all of their time in the forest canopy.
"This result highlights the need to conserve these important dispersal corridors to uphold genetic exchange," Nater said, "and it also gives hope that it is not yet too late to preserve these unique Asian great apes."


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Government term
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 results.
The inaugural national commemoration of the New Zealand Wars has been held in the Bay of Islands, attended by Crown/Māori Relations Minister Kelvin Davis, Associate Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Carmel Sepuloni and Associate Māori Development Minister Willie Jackson.
- Hon Kelvin Davis
- Hon Carmel Sepuloni
- Hon Willie Jackson
- Arts, Culture and Heritage
- Māori Crown Relations: Te Arawhiti
- Māori Development


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Serves 6/ A refreshing summertime drink to celebrate the fruit of the season.
6-8 soft, ripe, white peaches skinned and pitted
1 bottle sparkling wine
1. In a food processor or blender, purée peaches.
2. Pour 1/4 cup peach purée into a champagne flute and top off with sparkling wine.
Cal 138, Cholesterol 0, Carb 6g , Protein 1g


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Pick up the September issue of Rhythm and you'll find…
Rhythm's 25th Anniversary Special Issue - 25 Drum Icons Interviewed
Rhythm has enjoyed 25 years as the UK's best-selling drumming magazine, and we're marking the occasion with a special issue jam-packed with star interviews. Past Rhythm cover stars including Thomas Lang, Neil Peart, Stewart Copeland, Mike Portnoy, Steve Gadd, Joey Jordison, Nicko McBrain, Travis Barker, Ian Paice, Dave Weckl, Chad Smith, Terry Bozzio, Nick Mason and Steve Gadd share their memories of the magazine and their careers during the last 25 years, and reveal what lies ahead. We've also re-printed classic interviews with sadly departed drum legends Jeff Porcaro and Elvin Jones.
25 Tips, Tricks and Lessons From The Pros
As our 25th birthday present from us to you, we present tips, tricks and lessons from an array of awesome drummers. We've picked up advice from the stars, as Ray Luzier (Korn), Andy Hurley (Fall Out Boy), Shawn Drover (Megadeth), Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree) and more help make you a better player.
Also Interviewed
Jason Bonham on the birth of Black Country Communion
Steve Gorman looks back on a Black Crowes classic
Eric Kretz (Stone Temple Pilots) picks out his favourite tracks
And more!
Free Drum Icon Collectors' Prints of Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, John Bonham and Charlie Watts
Gear Reviews
ddrum Reflex Drum Kit, DW 2000 Bass Pedals, Gretsch Full Range Snare Drums, Zildjian Oriental China Trashes and ZXT Trashformer Cymbals, Sabian B8 Triangles and Bar Chimes and the Roland TD-12KX Electronic Drum Kit
The New-Look Rhythm CD
Playalong tracks featuring Talking Heads, The Cult and Mountain
Video lessons
Learn to play like Josh Freese, Tom Brechtlein and Billy Cobham
Exclusive guest lesson from Frank Benbini (Fun Lovin' Criminals)
And more
Bag yourself a shedload of drum gear worth more than £10,000!
All this and more in the September issue of Rhythm, on sale 31 August. Or you could order your copy from www.Myfavouritemagazines.co.uk.


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With his partner, Evgenia Shishkova (now his wife), Russian-born figure skater Vadim Naumov competed in two Winter Olympics, and together they captured the World Pairs title in 1994. In 1998 they turned pro and moved to the United States. Today, as pairs coaches at the International Skating Center of Connecticut, they're passing their knowledge on […]
By Ian Aldrich
Dec 21 2007
Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov coach pairs figure skating in Connecticut.
Photo Credit : Nemeth, TiborWith his partner, Evgenia Shishkova (now his wife), Russian-born figure skater Vadim Naumov competed in two Winter Olympics, and together they captured the World Pairs title in 1994. In 1998 they turned pro and moved to the United States. Today, as pairs coaches at the International Skating Center of Connecticut, they're passing their knowledge on to a new generation. We spoke with Vadim at the home he shares with Evgenia and their 6-year-old son, Maxim, in Simsbury.
If I presented to the kids who are just starting out how much it takes for them to get to the Olympics, there's no way they'd do it. It's no fewer than 10 years of hard training — no summers off, no vacations. You have to fight through the idea that you're missing out on things with your friends. Then you have to be resilient enough to withstand the injuries, the pain, the frustration, and people telling you, when things aren't working, to stop because you're not going anywhere. It's very difficult. I bet if you asked the world's best skaters whether they'd want their children to walk the same path they did, almost all of them would say no.
"We had a girl who finished skating at our rink a few weeks ago. She and her family had moved from Tennessee just so she could be here. They sacrificed a tremendous amount to make the move. They left their house, brought all their stuff, and moved into a small apartment, just so their daughter could skate. The girl ended up not appreciating it — she didn't want to push herself as much as she should. Her parents couldn't find jobs, either, and so finally they decided she should stop, and they moved back [to Tennessee].
"People don't understand how expensive it is to be a skater, especially in this country, because it isn't accepted like baseball, basketball, or football. We worked with one team, Katie Orscher and Garrett Lucash, for six years. They were national champions in 2005, and even after that they still struggled for money. They couldn't find a sponsor. Medication, equipment, ice time, coaching, the choreographer — they had to pay for everything. I bet it was $25,000 to $30,000 a year.
"I believe kids in this country are overexposed to competition. That goes back to the cost. Because of the price, parents want to see results for what they're paying for, and coaches want to show those results. It's like, You've achieved this, okay, let's go to another level. In Russia the government paid for our training. I practiced with a group, and I didn't start to really compete until I was 15. Our focus was to develop our abilities, not just win competitions. That came later.
"We fall all the time. You have to make an enormous number of attempts to achieve one successful element. But [then] you have to make another million attempts to become consistent. Even then things can happen. What's important is being able to pick yourself up, finish strong, and stay on target. If you can't, you're not going to go anywhere.
"We're not naturally made to do what we do on skates. You're balancing on a metal plate a third of an inch wide, doing tricks that even while standing on your feet would not be possible — while moving as fast as a sprinter, being graceful, and delivering emotion, all at the same time.
"It's an amazing feeling when everything's working, almost as though you're watching yourself skating. Your mind has to be absent, because if you try to process what you're doing, control every movement, you're not going to be successful. That's where the training is so important. Your body just continues what you've been doing for so many years. When people ask, What were you thinking when you landed? I have no idea. Maybe I was looking at the ceiling, or the judge's face — I don't know.
"When you win a championship, it's proof that everything, all that work, the ups and downs, has been worth it. But at the same time you think, What's next? I've been there, the highest peak; there's nothing more. You're a champion only as long as you're on the podium. That's why you have to find another target — another motivation to continue — because knowing that you may not need the skills that you've trained 25 years to develop can leave you with an empty feeling. Fortunately, Evgenia and I found coaching. The goal shouldn't be a medal. If you don't go to the Olympics, that's okay. There's still a lot you can get out of it. It teaches you to be tougher. There will be times when you have to perform at your best at a particular moment and not the moment after. That's worth a lot."


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Robert Parker
Robert Parker was an American astronaut who was born on December 14, 1936, in New York. Before he became an astronaut, Parker was an astronomy professor.
Parker became an astronaut in 1967. He has spent over 463 hours in space on two spaceflights.
Parker made his first spaceflight aboard Spacelab in 1983. This mission performed several experiments in medicine and physics. In 1990, Parker flew aboard STS-35. The crew made observations of deep space.


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- The online beauty market is fragmented with small companies, but the potential for new players to capture significant market share through Internet sales at manageable costs is there.
- In general, female shoppers' online spend preferences/habits are similar to those in brick-and-mortar shops, and market research demonstrates the propensity for women who search for beauty products online to also make their purchase online.
- For an online-based beauty company, answering customers' questions and helping consumers learn more about products and their specific beauty concerns is critical.
The beauty industry is finding the Internet a vibrant place to operate. The potential for growing sales and the opportunities to reach ever larger numbers of consumers mean that there are plenty of opportunities for new brands online. In fact, in the current state of the Internet and social media, new players in the beauty industry have a favorable environment and the tools to stand out from and compete with the long-dominating multinational brands, to circumvent hard-to-break-into retail channels and centralize management to control costs. Young labels are now able to grow into robust, global competitors due to the multinationals' legacy channel strategies, which might gradually become a burden in online markets.
Few major brands have an online presence stronger than their traditional retail channels, and no major global brand aggressively sells online internationally. The majority of beauty products are currently sold through traditional retail channels, with supermarket ranking as the top channel with 46% of total sales revenue generated in the U.S. The traditional distribution channels include:
- Department Stores
- Flagship Stores
- Spas/Salons
- Medical Clinics
- Drugstores
- Supermarkets
- Mass Category Specialty Stores
- Direct Selling
But if online sales are so viable, why do the large global players sell primarily through the above channels?
These channels require long-term investment in capital and human resources on such a large scale that it is rarely an option to redirect or to reallocate a significant portion of resources to promote sales online.
The first seven channels require a physical shelf presence and a tremendous amount of capital to operate. In addition to the cost of real estate, department stores, flagship stores and spas/salons, in particular, also need large, trained, full-time sales forces; the capital required to develop a sustainable direct sales network is no less significant. And because of these large investments, brand owners dependent on these channels lack the incentive to persuade their customers to shop online. Diverting foot traffic away from stores would also lower the return on the investments on the entire infrastructure—inevitably impacting store sales. Because retailers evaluate their tenants (the brands on the shelves) by how much profit each generates per square foot, underperforming brands/products can lose space to competitors. Therefore, the risk of seeing lowered return on the most costly investments might seem to be too great for some established brand owners to try to develop significant online sales.
Though brand owners are faced with rising costs, diminishing bargaining power vis-à-vis retail partners and growing competition from, as one example, private label brands, brand owners cannot negate all the investments and infrastructure established to date—and it is often too risky to grow sales online.
So why is it that multinational brand owners don't simply start a new brand to grow their online businesses worldwide instead of simply using the Internet as a complementary selling tool for potential customers who are looking for product information or a sales channel for people who might be too busy or too distant to reach a store? A meeting with an executive from a global European beauty company provided a clue about why there hasn't been any significant efforts in pushing online sales.
The executive visited UNT Skincare in Taipei because the company needed a licensee to take over its mail catalog/Internet-based brand in Taiwan, and he shared a few of the hurdles that the large global brand owners face when considering and building their online business. For one thing, they tend to be very centrally managed companies, and that contradicts the characteristics of e-commerce. E-commerce moves fast by nature, responding quickly to last-minute market changes and is highly adapted to local conditions. In a centrally managed company, everything needs approval centrally. In the case of the visiting executive's company, the servers were all located at the headquarters, and all changes on the international websites needed to go through the system managers, also located at the headquarters—even when errors caused the site to be out of service.
For those same reasons, customer relationship management campaigns were slow to implement, and developing new services and site functions were unimaginable. Consequently, the only and most important channel for this brand owner's Internet-based brand, its own website, gradually slowed and became laden with error messages for potential customers.
The Potential and Critical Factors
Many businesses across industries have grown by developing their presence and business through the Internet, but is it possible to grow a beauty brand to a significant scale internationally online? Based on the research UNT Skincare compiled, yes. In general, female shoppers' online spend preferences and habits are similar to those in brick-and-mortar shops—clothing, accessories and cosmetics are the top shopping categories. And in the virtual stores, they remain the strongest categories. Market research also demonstrates the growth potential and the propensity for women who search for beauty products online to also make their purchases online (going beyond using the Internet as simply a research tool).
With large global brands primarily invested in traditional brick-and-mortar retail channels, the online beauty market is fragmented with small companies. And because there is no dominant player, it is full of potential for new players. Although no small or indie brands have captured a significant market through Internet sales and marketing strategies alone, that may change in the near future—and at manageable costs.
As an example, UNT Skincare develops cosmeceuticals and markets and sells directly to consumers. Based in Taiwan, the company sources everything directly from suppliers and operates its own primary sales channel, www.shopunt.com. Eliminating middle players in the value chain and operating a direct sales model has created a lean cost model for the company. It enables UNT to offer cosmeceuticals at mass market prices in 97 countries. In terms of market opportunity, it is worth noting that the top 20 international beauty companies sell 84% of their cosmeceuticals through brick-and-mortar channels such as clinics, pharmacies and department stores. That has often kept effective skin care a luxury for many consumers.
In this effort, five critical factors in building a successful online beauty brand have been identified:
- Engage the end-user emotionally;
- Gain end-users' trust;
- Provide quick-to-respond interactive services;
- Integrate a global payment solution;
- Continually draw learning from information collected from advertising campaigns and from the use of the website.
We have learned that companies have to do all of them well in order to succeed in a long-term.
Interactive Services: A Case
Communicating with consumers is vital, and the Internet—notably blogs and social media outlets—is invaluable in spreading the word about a beauty brand and connecting with consumers. UNT's efforts in building a nail brand is an apt case study.
UNT launched its natural nail lacquer collections in 2009, and by the time this article was written in 2011, sales volume on the collections in Taiwan exceeded that of an established global brand nearly fourfold. To make headway as a entirely new nail brand in Taiwan, UNT built a story around each season collection. For instance, one of the fall/winter collections, "The Grand Destiny of Elie Ledoux," is built on the story of a young Parisian actress' rise to stardom. Each color in the collection is labeled with its chapter in the story, and they all, individually and taken as a whole, elicit romantic emotions tied with the colors and their use on nails.
For the launch UNT, invited bloggers, not professional manicurists or stylists, to write and share their personal thoughts on the collection's story and the emotional impact the story had on them. Thanks to the latest social sharing behavior, consumers then shared their stories with each other and shared how much they liked each color—which further facilitates the purchase decision of all the consumers in that conversation.
In these efforts, it is also important to educate consumers about the brand and products. In this case, UNT made an effort to educate consumers on and draw their attention to differentiators—how these lacquers smelled in relation to other lacquers, durability, shine, etc. The lab test results from SGS (a control and inspection company represented in more than 130 countries by 210 affiliated companies), demonstrating full compliance of the nail lacquer to accepted/permitted standards.
For an online-based beauty company, answering customers' questions and helping consumers learn more about products (or even more on related and wholistic topics—skin care, for example, beyond treatment via a product) are critical. How fast the consumers receives the answer to a question is critically important to a successful outcome—a purchase. UNT Skincare's experience shows that if a question is answered within 20 minutes of it being asked, the probability for the purchase is dramatically increased. Therefore, UNT has developed its own live chat customer support system and collaborates with a team of medical professionals to provide customers with free skin consultation services. Through this tool, customers can learn the most up-to-date and science-backed information on skin and cosmetics.
The successful outcomes of efforts such as this demonstrates that e-commerce is half art and half science. Working directly with as many consumers as possible, you can gather detailed information about consumers beyond what website and online advertising metrics tell you—including differences in similarities of consumers across the globe. This scientific approach to data collection allows marketing teams to draw and utilize data from each market to develop new innovations to continually better the business, the brand and the products. The company stays in tune with the market to best serve the market.
Herman Chein is vice chairman of UNT Skincare.


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SNOW HILL- Diakonia homeless shelter got a reprieve this week when the Worcester County Commissioners voted to grant the non-profit $30,000 to keep the shelter open.
Earlier this month, Diakonia executive director Claudia Nagle asked the Worcester County Commissioners for $65,000 to operate the 45-bed emergency shelter and transitional housing until the new fiscal year in July. The shelter, Diakonia Treasurer Roy Frick reported at that meeting, was flat broke.
The commissioners discussed Diakonia's request during a break in this week's Tuesday morning commissioner meeting. The matter was not scheduled for discussion.
"I feel that we should support Diakonia," said Commissioner Louise Gulyas, who suggested a grant of $30,000. "I don't know where we would get the money to support them fully."
Commissioner Bud Church agreed. "I think Diakonia provides a service that is so different from the other groups we have in the county and have proven their worth," he said. "Because of the need, it should be closer to the amount they're asking for."
"Maybe we can't do the whole $65,000, [but] $30,000 is not going to get them through the next three months," said Commissioner Bobby Cowger.
"I agree that Diakonia serves a very worthy purpose and helps our most vulnerable citizens," said Commissioner Judy Boggs. "People are great and do respond when there is a need. I have a lot of confidence that the entire community will respond. Of course, we'll be monitoring it."
As the commissioners have repeatedly warned, and as the state budget woes have borne out, money will be very tight this fiscal year.
"I'm in favor of doing everything we can to keep the doors open but budget time is coming," Commissioner Jim Purnell said.
Others said the same situation could arise next year. "This year is going to be very difficult for the county. Next year may be worse," Boggs said.
Diakonia serves Worcester County residents, as well as people from Wicomico County, Commissioner Linda Busick said, and those other jurisdictions should help.
"I would like to see each municipality come forward with a contribution," said Busick.
"I would like to see Ocean City make a match to help Diakonia," said Gulyas. "If they went to Ocean City maybe they would come up with some money."
Worcester County, Ocean City, and Berlin contribute to Diakonia during the regular budget processes.
The town of Salisbury, in Wicomico County, acts as the recipient of state pass-through funding for the shelter.
"We know $30,000 won't do it," said Church. "As a compromise, I'd like to say we grant them $50,000."
The commissioner was unable to get the motion already on the floor, for a $30,000 grant, altered.
The commissioners voted 5-2 in favor of the $30,000 grant, with Cowger and Church opposed.
"I'm opposed to the amount, not giving them the money," Cowger said.
Shockley said Diakonia could ask for more funding in their regular budget request during the upcoming budget process.
"I was very pleased," Nagle said of the commissioners' decision. "I know they probably had difficulty figuring out where to get funds. I appreciate the willingness to invest in Diakonia."
Guests at Diakonia can relax for another few weeks, certain that they can spend a little more time in their temporary home.
"People are really pleased. They feel somewhat relieved," Nagle said.
While the amount granted by Worcester County is less than half the shelter's request, Nagle was upbeat about raising more funds.
Nagle will go before the Ocean City Town Council at the first April meeting to request help. She also plans to contact other municipalities to request support.
Also under consideration are grants and different funding streams, but these options cannot help with the immediate crisis.
Since the news of Diakonia's money woes broke two weeks ago, the shelter has received some community support, Nagle said.
"We have had monetary donations and offers to help us with fund raising over the next few months," Nagle said.
The commissioners would like to see Diakonia staff and directors look more closely at their budget.
"Next year they're going to have to work with a tighter budget or something," said Cowger.
Worcester County is one of the few counties in Maryland that offers grant money to non-profits, and organizations are becoming dependent on county help, according to Boggs.
"We're getting to a point where we're almost the victim of our own generosity," said Boggs.
Diakonia requested $100,000 from the Worcester County budget last year, only to be assigned just $20,000, as had been the practice for several years.
The need for services has increased, but funding levels have not, and donations and bequests have slowed down as the economy has slowed. In the past, the shelter has been able to keep going during funding gaps from timely donations, but no such largesse has arrived to bridge this shortfall.
"We asked for $65,000 because we needed $65,000," Nagle said.
The shelter would not have approached the commissioners if there were any other recourse.
"I'm very cognizant of the situation and if it hadn't been a very dire situation. We try to avoid doing that at all costs," said Nagle. "It's a bare bones budget. We don't have things like staff training. We don't have agency provided cell phones."
Sixty-four percent of the budget goes toward staff salaries. Diakonia has four full time staffers, including Nagle, as well as a program coordinator, senior case manager, and property manager.
The shelter also has 11 part-time employees, including part-time case managers, and overnight attendants, support, and maintenance.
Diakonia needs a trained, professional staff and coverage 24 hours a day.
"It is labor intensive and you need people who know what they're doing," Nagle said. "If only it were simple and it was a matter of giving them a bed, getting them a job, and then they move on and are fine."
Despite continuing challenges, Nagle, staff, and guests continue to have hope.
"I have faith we're going to get through this," Nagle said. "We're going to learn a lot. It's going to strengthen us."