Every football season, players across the country are treated for concussions. Although helmet technology has improved in recent years, traditional helmets sometime fail to protect a players brain from hits.

Xenith — a company that makes innovative sports technologies — has developed a new football helmet that uses shock absorbers that adjusts to the magnitude of hits. It is designed to reduce the sudden movement of the head, which reduces the risk of brain injury. There are some high schools and colleges that are using the technology now, and the NFL could join the parade sometime in the future.

Make sure you read this Sunday's News Illustrated page which talks about Xenith's new technology and also gives some incite on Riddell's concussion fighting helmet, the Revolution IQ.

Here is a video about Xenith helmet technology:

Here is a look at Riddell's helmet technology:

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For those who have driven by the Central Broward Regional Park off State Road 7 and Sunrise Boulevard in Lauderhill, then you probably know there's a really nice cricket stadium that was built to accommodate cricket tournaments, like last year's MAQ T20 International Tournament.

However, since the stadium was built there have been few of the envisioned tournaments coming to the region, as highlighted in a Sun-Sentinel story by Georgia East that is coming Tuesday.

So, let's do our part to help out the county and fill up those stadium seats by learning how to play cricket. Check out this graphic that my colleague Cindy did a few years ago. And if you're interested in American cricket leagues check out the Cricket Council USA.

But if you do want to play: Be warned, the game could take a long time so definitely clear your schedules on a weekend afternoon.

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This page dates back a few years, but fortunately, the techniques and rules are pretty much the same. The graphic was produced by Cindy Jones-Hulfachor. Download the page to learn how to catch them and get tips on keeping safe.

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Surfers are known to ride the waves from stormy weather but it can be fatal. Take the man who was injured during Tropical Storm Faye and is now in critical condition.
To prevent from being blown around, read up on our News Illustrated about the basics of kite boarding here.

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I’m a stranger in this place.

It took this print reporter three weeks to learn Flash and create the video gamer package you see here.

Here’s the story: about a month ago, I approached Len to see if the graphics department could throw together a flash page to tie together all the multimedia elements I had gathered (two videos, a slideshow, lists, etc.) for a story I was working on.

He turned me down. The department was bogged down with other higher priority requests, he said.

Damn! Couldn’t they just throw together something small and basic? Maybe use the template used in the Rip Currents flash package, ( ) another project I had gathered multimedia for? No and no.

I was distressed. Instead of a slick, user-friendly experience, people could only access my multimedia through ugly links buried below the middle of the screen, out of a reader’s line of sight like a pair of old sneakers hanging high on a power line.

I had to make it myself. And here’s what it took:

Three weeks:
• Two for learning from a book and a class with Belinda and a week to create from scratch.
•Adobe’s Classroom in a Book and Mindy McAdam’s Flash Journalism to learn basics and concept for visual story-telling
• Guidance and patience from graphics/flash team for great feedback, help iron out kinks, provide crazy coding.
• Support from my editor to help me block off my schedule to focus on this project.
• Seemingly endless tweaking perfecting fonts, adjusting layers, making stuff fit.
• Crash course on design philosophy.
--key is consistency
--take out anything unnecessary or flashy, much like writing
• Troubleshooting
--It took almost as much time to troubleshoot it as it did to design.

My editor and I are thinking long-term use with this knowledge.
We’re going to see how we can create Flash templates to tie together the deluge of info that pours in during big breaking news stories. I can't wait to get started. Give us three weeks.

Andrew Ba Tran

Staff Writer
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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Two of our favorite West Coast newspapers created guides to the U.S. Open. Our sister paper, the Los Angeles Times, has video reports on each hole.

And our friends at the San Diego Union-Tribune created a terrific hole-by-hole guide to the course, complete with zoomable graphics, walk-throughs and flyovers.

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Hurricane season starts Sunday. So with that in mind, this week's News Illustrated page in the Sun-Sentinel takes a look at weather buoys, which give us information to predict the weather. Sensors placed on the buoy help scientist measure air temperature, atmospheric pressure, wind speed, wind direction and wave data. These measurements help forecasters predict storms and, in turn, helps us prepare for them.

But weather buoys can also be use for lounging:

Also this Sunday, the Sun-Sentinel is chock-full of hurricane coverage, including our annual hurricane guide. Don't forget to pick it up.

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If you're one of the millions that will be watching or betting Saturday's race, make sure you pay attention to where your horse is positioned at the start of the race. This graphic I found on the wires shows the number of wins per pole position since 1900. And if your money is on Big Brown, pay particular attention to how many wins has gone to his spot.

And if you need a little help on picking your favorites, check out this list of contenders from the Kentucky Derby. And stay logged on to the Sun-Sentinel sports for complete derby coverage.

Or if you just want a little more to curb the wait, check out my 2006 News Illustrated that shows how good genes and training breed racing horses. I built this page after a sports editor mentioned how athletic these horses are (their leg muscles must make body builders weep). Because our sister paper, The Baltimore Sun, covers the Preakness race, I was inspired by one of their old graphics and used it as a guide to build mine.

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Here is an interactive game that I made to go along with my News Illustrated page running in the Outlook section of the Sunday paper. I did the page to go along with an event happening this weekend in Kendall. It's the 25th Annual Sunrise Community Hot Air Balloon Race. More than 40 balloons will be taking off and it's FREE! That is always a plus. Here is a flyer with more information about the activities, such as Laser tag and crafts. It should be a fun event and a great way to see hot air balloons in action.

If you want to see a copy of the full page, click here.

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If you missed the MMA explainer in Sunday's News Illustrated, you can download it here.

Also, for more local coverage you can look at some of the best fighters in South Florida and their profiles at our photo gallery

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Mixed Martial Arts, aka ultimate fighting, has exploded, gaining a huge fan base.

Learn more about the sport's rules and some of the more popular moves in the interactive above. Or look in Sunday's Outlook section for the News Illustrated page that gives a basic overview. Also, check out Sunday's Sports section for full coverage of the latest and greatest in MMA.

For more updated information, visit our MMA site.

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It's only April and I already miss football. Anyone for a game of the paper variety? In fact, let's start a league. Oh wait, one already exists.

The interactive graphic above was created by Multimedia Director R. Scott Horner for last year's football preview. Enjoy.

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After a three-year absence, dragon boats will be paddling in the Synergy Dragon Boat races in Deerfield Beach's Quiet Waters Park on April 19. This marks the first of at least three festivals in the state for the next several weeks. The race, will be a little different from the bigger Miami festival on May 31, in that they're using smaller boats that can fit a crew of 10 to 12.

For more information, download my News Illustrated page, which features a typical racing crew and how they operate. You can also see the types of boats used in the sport and learn how to make the perfect stroke.

But before you go, check out this graphic that explains how a racecourse is set up. That way, if you watch the races, you'll impress tourists and gawkers alike.

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Let's get it straight: This is not canoeing. Nor is it rowing, or crew and definitely not kayaking.

Dragon boat racing involves a team equipped with extra large paddles, a steersman and ... (wait for it) ... a drummer! Music sets this sport apart from the others because the beat helps synchronize paddling of 18 to 20 people.

How do they do it, you ask? Well, on Sunday you can see for yourself in my full-page graphic that shows how the crew works and the different types of dragon boats. You'll even learn how to make a perfect stroke.

But if you simply can't wait, check out this training video I found of the Puff dragon boat racing team that participated in the annual Miami dragon boat festival last year. Perhaps that will wet your appetite.

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Last night on "Dancing with the Stars", Jason Taylor used these basic fox trot steps to wow home viewers.

To learn more about ballroom dancing check out www.ballroomdancers.com. The site has diagrams, videos and other instructional information on all types dances, including the waltz, tango, cha cha, rumba, paso doble and the jive.

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