USC Trojans

By Richard Stephenson

"Trojans garner top rated recruiting class"- With the recruiting season finally coming to an end the USC Trojans, seemingly depleted from all the early entries throughout its star studded roster as well as losing valuable players who ran out of eligibility, had to find replacements for all the departed talent and came away with the No.1 rated recruiting class in the nation narrowly edging out the University of Florida for that honor. The USC Trojans signed 14 of the top 100 prep players in the nation The USC Trojans 2006 class may be one of the best in school history, due to the fact that several of the players can play numerous positions such as S/WR Taylor Mays (6-3 218) from Seattle, Washington who is a 10.5 sprinter with a '37 inch vertical leap and is considered the top Safety prospect in all the land, WR/DB Vidal Hazelton from Chatham,Virginia who received the highest player grade in the country with an 8.3 due to his freakish combination of size (6-3 200) and speed (4.47) It almost seems unfair that the USC Trojans were able to lure so many talented prep stars from all around the country, many positions (RB,DB) which were a concern of the coaching staff due to depth are now now team strenghts.Running Back was a need and the USC Trojans got 4 of the best in the nation with the two headliners being Stafon Johnson(5-11, 200,4.4) from Los Angeles Dorsey H.S. and Emmanuel Moody (6-1, 195, 4.4) from Coppell(Texas)) H.S, both should be able to contributed immediately,this group will ensure the 4-time defending Pacific Ten Conference Champion USC Trojans of being a national power for the foreseable future.Here's the complete list of USC Trojans signees: Kenny Ashley RB Venice H.S., Walker Lee Ashley DT Eden Prairie,MN, David Ausberry WR Leemore,Ca, Allen Bradford LB Colton,Ca, C.J. Gable RB/S Sylmar,Ca, Garrett Green QB Sherman Oaks,Ca, Stanley Havili FB/RB Salt Lake City,UT, Zack Heberer OL San Pedro,Ca, Jamere Holland WR/DB Woodland Hills,Ca, Vincent Joseph DB Long Beach,Ca ,Butch Lewis DT Aurora,Co, Anthony McCoy TE Fresno,Ca, Michael Morgan LB Dallas,Tx, Alex Parsons DT Irvine,Ca ,Travon Patterson WR Long Beach,Ca , Antwine Perez DB Camden,Nj, Alfred Rowe DB Long Beach,Ca ,Derek Simmons DE Fairfield,Ca ,Joshua Tatum LB Oakland,Ca ,Gerald Washington TE Rancho Cucamonga,Ca ,Shareece Wright DB Colton,Ca in additon to the stars mentioned above.With the addition of these standouts the USC Trojans have 40 players on their roster who will play in the NFL, according to one NFL general manager, a truly scary thought to all the opponents who have the USC Trojans on the schedule.

Richard Stephenson is a documented member of the ticket broker association with BarrysTickets.com. USC Trojans Tickets

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Stephenson

How to Play Guitar Notes - Some Knowledge That You Shouldn't Miss

By Tom Mandasco

This is a bitter pill for most of the guitar players in the beginning phase. Unless you are already music notes reader, you will not like to learn music notes since it takes time and commitment. Beginners want to be able to play it in a short time. However, you will need to know guitar notes if you want to progress well in your playing. This article will give you some of the information on how to play guitar notes.

You don't have to be afraid of the notes.

Right, it is not that complicated and it is learnable. It doesn't require much of the intelligence but it does require your consistency in practice. Here are some of the notes for guitar playing.

The notes are labeled by the following alphabets.

A = La

B = Ti

C = Do

D = Re

E = Me

F = Fa

G = So

Can you relate to what you have known before? Every body should be able to sing the scale from one C to the next C without any trouble. The interval between one C to the next higher C is called an Octave.

Now, you will have to know that between each notes, there is a small note. For example from C to D, there is a small note called C#. It can also be called Db. Both are the same note. In pronunciation C# is Do Sharp and Db is Re Flat. There are two exceptions. There is no note between B and C. Also, there is no note between E and F.

If you look closely to the notes, it will go like this:

A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G G# A (next octave )

Please notice that A# is equal to Bb, C# is equal to Db, D # is equal to Eb, F# is equal to Gb and G# is equal to Ab.

In addition, there is no such note like B# or Cb. And there are no E# and Fb.

I hope you get a picture now. The good news is if you learned above notes correctly, you can be able to relate them to guitar chords. Above are also the names of major guitar chords that you will have to know when you really play guitar.

Now, you will have to learn how you can use this knowledge to the music notes you see. The most popular music note is with the G key. This means you will have the center of the head music symbol at the second line from the bottom.

The notes will go like this:

F--------
(E)
D-------
(C)
B--------
(A)
G-------
(F)
E-------

The dot lines represent the line on the music sheet you see.

I hope this gives you enough basic for learning guitar notes. Once you know this, you can step up to learn further guitar notes which will be more interesting.

Tired of No Progress in Learning Acoustic Guitar? Check Out Jamorama Acoustic Review http://jamoramaacousticreviews.com Learn to Play Like a Pro Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tom_Mandasco

2009 Spring Training Preview - Chicago Cubs

By Chuck Zodda

The Cubs finished up a superb 2008 season by winning the NL Central in relatively easy fashion with a final record of 97-64, with one game being canceled due to inclement weather. Unfortunately, the Cubs were then swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in three games in the Divisional Series, leading to yet another crushing exit for Cubs fans to deal with over the winter. The outlook for 2009 still looks strong, with the addition of Milton Bradley in right field and a returning core that includes standouts Derrek Lee, Geovany Soto, and Aramis Ramirez, along with starting pitcher Carlos Zambrano. Look for the Cubs to be the favorite in the NL Central again in 2009, led by a solid offense and good pitching across the board.

C Geovany Soto - Soto had just about as good of a rookie year as you can have, leaving the Cubs with a tremendous catcher under their control for at least the next five seasons. He put up a line of .285/.364/.504 while playing in 141 games. He displayed good power, with 23 home runs and 35 doubles. He showed solid plate discipline that still has plenty of time to improve, and a good approach at the plate. Soto was also outstanding defensively, throwing out 29 of 84 basestealers and providing solid defense behind the plate. With Soto's offensive prowess, he could be a complete zero defensively and still have a future in the league, but he looks to be a star for the forseable future due to his combination of offense and defense at the catcher position.

1B Derrek Lee - Lee put up solid numbers in 2008, but will probably never approach the massive 2005 that he had when he hit 46 home runs and batted 335 for the season. Lee is a dependable bet to hit around .280-.290 with 40+ doubles and around 25 home runs. Defensively, Lee is pretty average at first, where he makes the plays he should, but doesn't really have a good enoguh first step to take advantage of his massive frame and get to a ton of balls. Lee is still only 33 years old, so he might have a couple more good seasons before he starts to decline, but at some point in the next couple of years, the Cubs are going to need to think about replacing him. He still should be a solid bet in 2009, and should put up a line somewhere around .280/.370/.480, certainly good production from first base.

2B Aaron Miles - Miles comes into spring training having signed a two-year deal with the Cubs after spending the last three years with the Cardinals. He is projected to be the starting second baseman for the Cubs, and is a below-average hitter who is average defensively. His only season in which he posted an OPS+ of greater than 100 was in his first season, when he got only 12 ABs, which can be completely discounted due to small sample size. He will hit for good average, but does not walk much and has almost no power to speak of. Defensively, he has decent range and a solid arm, but will not dazzle you in the field. He's a safe bet at 2B, but definitely not a long-term solution for the Cubs, though he should do an adequate job in 2009.

3B Aramis Ramirez - Ramirez has become one of the best offensive third basement in the majors, with last season being the only time in the last five that he has not reached the .900 mark in OPS, missing it with a .898. Ramirez has solid plate discipline, and good power and gap power. Look for him to put up a line of .290/.370/.530 in 2009, as he has been one of the most consistent hitters in baseball over the last five years. Defensively, he is right around the league average for third basemen, though he occasionally does show better range than many people give him gredit for. While Ramirez tends to get left ouf of conversations with David Wright and Alex Rodriguez, there is no doubt that he is not far behind them and is certainly one of the top third basemen in the majors.

SS Ryan Theriot - Theriot has spent the last two seasons as the primary SS for the Chicago Cubs and has been adequate offensively while being just about average defensively as well. He saw his OPS rise to .743 in 2008, largely on the back of a .343 BABIP that might be unsustainable in the long run. Theriot does have a good approach at the plate that draws a fair number of walks and works counts effectively. Look for him to post an offensive line of around .280/.360/.360 next season, which certainly wouldn't be a huge drop from this year. Defensively, he is an average defensive shortstop, making routine plays and occasionally getting to balls that he shouldn't. He'll be a solid contributor to the Cubs in 2009, but don't expect anything extraordinary from him.

LF Alfonso Soriano - Alfonso Soriano is a tremendously talented offensive player whose only reason he is not a superstar is because of his pitch selection. In 105 games last year, he hit 29 home runs. In the same span, he walked on 41 times. This was nearly double his career walk rate. It certainly is possible that Soriano finally caught on to what pitchers were trying to do to him, but it is more likely that his walk-rate will return to somewhere near his career rate of 5.7% in 2009. Defensively, he will be patrolling LF for the Cubs next season, and is a fairly average defender there, though he has managed 29 OF assists due to his strong arm over the course of the last two seasons. Look for another solid season out of Soriano with an OPS in the mid-high 800s for the Cubs in 2009.

CF Kosuke Fukudome - Fukudome came over from Japan in 2008 and posted a decent first season, putting up an OPS of .738 in his first taste of the majors. He showed good patience and a solid approach at the plate, though he seemed to see more of a drop in his power numbers than other Japanese hitters who come over to the United States. Fukudome will move from RF to CF in 2009, with Milton Bradley coming in to play right for the Cubs. Fukudome was an excellent defender in RF, but it remains to be seen whether or not this translates to CF, as there is only a limited sample size from 2008. Look for him to improve on his 2008 numbers at the plate, and he should put up a line of somewhere around .270/.370/.430 in 2009.

RF Milton Bradley - Bradley has always oozed natural talent, but his temper and ability to translate that talent onto the field have meant that he has had a hard time securing a solid job. With his monster 2008, that changed, as the Cubs signed him to a three-year deal for $30 million in the offseason. While Bradley is unlikely to put up an OPS of nearly 1.000 again, he should find himself somewhere around the .900 mark with consistent playing time in Chicago. Defensively, he gets good jumps on balls and will make all of the plays that he is supposed to, though he is prone to the occasional gaffe. Look for him to thrive in Chicago with the comfort of his new deal, and he should bring a significant amount of offense to the Cubs, who need him to push them over the edge in the playoffs.

SP Carlos Zambrano - Zambrano had a solid 2008, posting a 14-6 record with a 3.91 ERA at the top of the Cubs' rotation. However, Zambrano's 2008 was also filled with some troubling signs for the big righthander. First, he spent two separate stints on the DL for a "right shoulder strain" and "rotator cuff tendonitis." Second, his peripherals posted a huge drop, as his K/9 has dropped from sitting in the 8+ range in 2004-2006 down to 6.20 last season and his HR/FB also dropped to 9%, which might be unsustainable in the future. While none of this points to an inevitable decline over the next season or two, it certainly is troubling from a max-effort guy of his size. Zambrano's 2009 should look something like last year, but it wouldn't be surprising if he started to break down a bit more or fall off a bit, and if 2008 was the first sign of this.

SP Ted Lilly - Over the past few seasons, Lilly has transformed himself from an afterthought at the back end of a rotation into a legitimate, #2/3 starter in the majors. In 2008, he went 17-9 with a 4.09 ERA, giving up 187 hits and striking out 184 in 204.2 innings. Lilly's biggest problem is the lack of truly great stuff, but he keeps hitters off-balance with his attack, and manages to keep them off the bases. He is prone to giving up the long ball, as he has averaged nearly 30 home runs against him in the last three seasons, but they tend to be of the one-run variety, and not three-run bombs that can cripple a pitcher. Look for Lilly to have a solid 2009, with numbers right around where he was in 2008 for the Cubs.

SP Ryan Dempster - Dempster has spent the last five seasons with the Cubs, but only returned to the rotation in 2008. He was very solid there, going 17-6 with a 2.96 ERA and striking out 187 in 206.2 innings. While it might be a bit tough to say he's going to be that good again, since his BABIP allowed in 2008 was twenty points below his career average and his home run rate dropped as well, he certainly has established himself a a solid #3 for the Cubs. Look for him to notch 13-15 wins in 2009 and have an ERA in the high-3s, as long as he can continue to sustain his K-rate to make up for the fact that his BABIP against is most likely going to regress.

SP Rich Harden - Harden came over to the Cubs in a mid-season trade and was absolutely dominant, posting a 5-1 record with a 1.77 ERA while striking out 89 in 71 innings. So why do we have him listed as the Cubs' fourth starter? In the last four seasons, he has never had more than 25 starts in a season, with two seasons of less than 10 starts. Harden is the prototypical dominant starter who simply cannot stay healthy. In every season, he comes in as a potential Cy Young candidate, but simply cannot log enough time in order to be seriously considered. A prediction for Harden in 2008 would have to start somewhere around a 2.5 ERA with a K/9 of 9.5, but inning totals and win predictions could vary greatly, so we'll stay away from them and not even bother.

SP Sean Marshall - LHP Sean Marshall is now 26 years old and has a chance to solidify a spot in the Cubs' rotation out of spring training. He has good stuff, and should be able to lock down the #5 spot for the season. Last season, he started 7 games for the Cubs while appearing in 27 out of the bullpen, going 3-5 with a 3.86 ERA. He struck out 58 batters in 65 innings, which was a bit above his career rate and we can expect some regression, but he has the ability to be a good pitcher in this league. Look for him to post an ERA in the mid-high 4s during his first real shot at a full-time starting spot with the Cubs.

CL Carlos Marmol - Marmol was the primary 8th inning guy for the Cubs last year and also spent some time filling in for closer Kerry Wood when he was either out or simply overworked. Marmol has some of the best stuff in baseball, with a K/9 above 11 in each of the past two seasons. Unfortunately, he has also had a BB/9 above 4 in each of the past two seasons, which is a large portion of the reason that the Cubs are somewhat hesitant about handing him the closer spot out of spring training. It looks like he's the frontrunner for it, and should be able to handle it, but closers who walk a lot of batters tend to run into repeated trouble. He'll need to square away his control problems a bit, but if he does, he will be an absolutely dominant closer in the majors.

http://www.baseballblackboard.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chuck_Zodda

How To Become An NFL Player Part 3

By Martin Chase

In my first two articles on how to become an NFL player, I discussed the work you need to do to in the class room, the community, and how to take care of your body to increase your odds of becoming an NFL player.

In this article I am going to discuss the specific football drill skills you need to develop to make you look attractive to college football scouts. For maximum results, I recommend that you work on these drills with a strength coach or a professional trainer.

Here are the drills you need to master:

* Vertical Jump - designed to test leg strength and lower-body explosiveness.

* Broad Jump - designed to show sluggishness, heavy-leggedness and lack of explosiveness.

* 225-lb. Bench Press - designed to test the upper-body strength of a player.

* 40-Yard Dash - times show how explosive a player is off the line and how he maintains it.

* 20-Yard Dash - times show how explosive a player is off the line and how he maintains it.

* 10-Yard Dash - times show how explosive a player is off the line.

* 20-Yard Shuttle - designed to test explosiveness, how a player bends and changes direction, and body control.

* 60-Yard Shuttle - designed to test explosiveness, flexibility, and body control; and a subtle test of endurance.

* 3-Cone Drill - designed to test a player's efficiency in changing direction moving left and right, explosiveness, balance, body control and mobility.

The most important skills to master are the 40-yard dash and the 3-Cone drill. The reason these two drills are so important is they help football coaches determine what positions you are best suited to play.

You should know that the speed players are completing these drills has been improving every year. This is because more and more high school and college players are working with professional sports trainers to help them maximize their performance.

Below I have listed the minimum times you need to have by position if you want to impress college football scouts. One thing to keep in mind for these tests is the size of the player. Smaller players should have an advantage over their bigger counterparts in regard to speed. If you are a big player, it says a lot about your athletic ability if you perform well in these drills.

40-Yard Dash:

QB: 4.7 seconds or faster

RB: 4.5 seconds or faster

WR: 4.4 seconds or faster

FB/TE: 4.7 seconds or faster

OL: 5.2 seconds or faster

DT: 5.1 seconds or faster

4-3 DE and 3-4 OLB: 4.8 seconds or faster

4-3 OLB: 4.7 seconds or faster

ILB: 4.7 seconds or faster

S: 4.5 seconds or faster

CB: 4.5 seconds or faster

3-Cone Drill:

QB: 7.1 seconds or faster

RB: 7.1 seconds or faster

WR: 7.0 seconds or faster

FB/TE: 7.2 seconds or faster

OL: 7.8 seconds or faster

DT: 7.7 seconds or faster

4-3 DE and 3-4 OLB: 7.2 seconds or faster

4-3 OLB: 7.1 seconds or faster

ILB: 7.2 seconds or faster

S: 7.1 seconds or faster

CB: 7.0 seconds or faster

In summary, to become a professional football player, you must master the skills colleges and NFL teams use to measure the quality of an athlete. If you want to make it to the NFL, you should work with a professional sports trainer to help you maximize your performance so you can achieve and exceed the drill speed times discussed above. Other athletes are doing this and for you to compete with them, you need to do it too.

Martin Chase is a retired NFL player who has played with the Giants, the Saints, the Redskins, the Ravens, and the Jaguars. Martin now owns and manages a popular sports memorabilia website - http://www.mcsportsfan.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Martin_Chase

Dallas Cowboys Draft Analysis

By Jeremy Dunklin

The day started off pretty good for Cowboys' fans as the Cowboys selected Bobby Carpenter. I think he was the perfect fit for our defense. The picks seemed to go downhill after Carpenter's selection.

The Cowboys' put me into a state of disbelief when they selected TE Anthony Fasano. I have warmed up to this pick since then, because the guys I wanted in the 2nd Round were all still available at our 3rd pick.

Fasano is basically a blue-collar guy who outworks his opponent. He is a good receiver with great hands, but he lacks tremendous athletic ability. He has a very low bust factor, and should be able to contribute as both a receiver and blocker immediately.

The guys left over were WR Demetrius Williams, FS Ko Simpson, NT Gabe Watson, and OG Max Jean-Gilles. Then the unthinkable happened, we selected freaking DE Jason Hatcher in the 3rd Round. Come on now, I like him as a player and I think he is very underrated, but DE is the deepest position on our club. Hatcher is 6'6 285 and basically dominated his opponents at Grambling St. He has great athletic ability and could really become a great player. And he better, with the players we passed up on to get him.

I definitely wouldn't be surprised to see us trade Ellis, because that would make the selection make more sense. The only other explanation i see for this pick is that Bill is displeased with Marcus Spears, and doesn't think he is going to be a good player. This pick reminds me of what the Patriots did a couple of years ago. They spent three high picks on defensive ends for their 3-4 when they already had starters in place.

The only good thing I can say about our first day is that we added four picks. This sounds great on paper, but if we don't start selecting players at positions of need, these picks won't even get a chance to make the team because they will be behind too many guys on the depth chart.

This all shows just how unpredictable the draft can be. You think you know what your team needs, but they go in a totally different direction. Nobody could have predicted that Simpson or Watson would have fell this far. I didn't expect to see the Bills select Donte Whitner at #8.

Another thing that surprised me is that alot of the pre-draft rumors turned out to be true. Think about Mario Williams going to Houston, Young going to the Titan, and the fact that the Raiders actually passed on Matt Leinart.

I just hope Bill knows what he is doing, but this draft is starting to remind me of the 2004 Draft were we basically missed on every pick except Jones, Crayton, and possibly Peterman. I know I don't know as much about these players as each team does, but think how awesome our draft would look with Carpenter, Watson, and Simpson as our 1st day picks. Even though it is almost pointless, I will provide at 2nd day mock for you guys. These picks could hopefully salvage the draft. All I can say is TRUST IN BILL!

4th - FS Ko Simpson

There is obviously something about this guy teams don't like.
He is falling much like FS James Butler did last year. He was a projected 2nd-3rd round guy who went in the 7th. The funny thing is, he actually had a pretty good rookie year with the Giants.
Please Bill, get either Simpson, Jean-Gilles, Watson, or D. Williams.

5th - NT Montavious Stanley

We need a backup nose tackle. This and free safety are the two remaining glaring holes.

6th - G/T Issac Sowells

We need depth along the offensive line. Parcells is obviously pretty confident in our guards though, or we would have already taken one.

6th - WR Jeremy Bloom

Bloom could give us some young depth at receiver, while contributing mainly as a punt returner.

7th - FB Matt Bernstein

After the drafting of Fasano, we are obviously eliminating a FB from our main offense. We still need a fullback FB however, and Bernstein would excel at that. The FB position has pretty much died in the NFL, it is a shame too.

7th - P Steve Weatherford

A punter, long range field goal kicker, and kick-off specialist.

Writer and Creator of http://www.cowboys-fan.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jeremy_Dunklin

What is the Difference Between DDR1 DDR2 & DDR3? - The Complete Idiot's Guide

By Brian Hopkin

What is the confusion about RAM?
Most of the computer users do some research before upgrading their system so they exactly know about a perfectly matching CPU, motherboard and video card combination that will meet all their needs. But most of them fail when it comes to RAM. They just know the size of the RAM i.e. 1GB, 2GB or 4GB, but they don't know what this DDR1, DDR2 or DDR3 is all about. So that's why I came up with a idiot's guide for buying a RAM, because it turns out that selecting the proper DDR variant is a very important factor that determines how your overall system will perform, thus every computer user should be well-advised to learn it.

DDR1 Specifications
DDR-DIM (Double Data Rate DIMM or DDR DIMM), or most popularly just plain DDR. Double Data Rate interfaces provide two data transfers per differential clock. The data becomes registered when the CK goes high [the + side], and /CK goes low [the - side]. DDR1 utilizes the JEDEC standard for Double Date Rate [DDR I] SDRAM. Like all DDR RAM it is available as registered or un-buffered. Registered DIMMs are generally known as FB-DIMMs and have their address and control lines buffered in order to reduce signal loading. FB-DIMMs are considerably more expensive than un-buffered DIMMs and are generally reserved for server use. There are very few enthusiast/prosumer/gamers utilizing FB-DIMMs in their CPU's. Un-buffered DIMMs don't feature address lines and control line buffering, so they cost quite a bit less. However, they may be system-loading limited and are thus generally restricted in the number that can be fitted onto one system. You'll find that most un-buffered DIMMs these days can only be installed on one motherboard to a maximum of 4 x 1GB. Buffered or registered DIMMs don't have these limitations and server boards can accommodate 8 x 1GB, 16 x 1GB or more. An interesting and largely unknown aspect of un-buffered DDR DIMMs is that they are able to operate one clock cycle faster then FB-DIMMs.

DDR2 Specifications
DDR2 memory is the second generation in DDR memory. DDR2 begins with a speed level of 400MHz as the lowest available while the 400MHz speed is actually the highest speed for DDR1. Therefore, DDR2 picks up where DDR1 leaves off. It's a bit strange but due to different latencies a 400MHz DDR1 will outperform a 400MHz DDR2, but the advantage returns to DDR2 as soon as the speed reaches the next step 532MHz, which DDR1 cannot reach.

DDR3 Specifications
DDR3 is the third generation in DDR memory. DDR3 begins with a lowest capacity level of 800Mbps and goes up to 1600Mbps with bus speed as high as 2000MHz. Higher performance with lower power consumption is the major benefit, since operating voltage is only 1.5V for DDR3 compared to 1.8V for DDR2. Lower heat is generated, which means that systems will run cooler. Ultimately the new technology will result in higher capacity modules: Up to 8GB modules (Using 4Gb Chips) to help lower server/workstation system costs.

Transfer Rates
Another confusion is that RAM is mostly referred in PC-number, so here are the Transfer Rates for the various DDRs:

DDR1 Transfer Rate
DDR SDRAM: Double Data Rate SDRAM (DDR200, DDR266, DDR333 are standard) PC1600 (DDR-200 SDRAM); Clock Speed: 100MHz, Data Rate: 200MHz, Throughput 1600MB/s PC2100 (DDR-266 SDRAM); Clock Speed: 133MHz, Data Rate: 266MHz, Throughput 2100MB/s PC2400 (DDR-300 SDRAM); Clock Speed: 150MHz, Data Rate: 300MHz, Throughput 2400MB/s PC2700 (DDR-333 SDRAM); Clock Speed: 166MHz, Data Rate: 333MHz, Throughput 2600MB/s PC3000 (DDR-366 SDRAM); Clock Speed: 183MHz, Data Rate: 366MHz, Throughput 2900MB/s PC3200 (DDR-400 SDRAM); Clock Speed: 200MHz, Data Rate: 400MHz, Throughput 3200MB/s

DDR2 Transfer Rate
DDR2 SDRAM: Double Data Rate SDRAM II (Quad Edge Clock Rate, 1.8v signaling), Second Generation PC2-3200 (DDR2-400 SDRAM); Clock Speed: 100MHz, Data Rate: 400MHz, Throughput 3200MB/s PC2-4300 (DDR2-533 SDRAM); Clock Speed: 133MHz, Data Rate: 532MHz, Throughput 4300MB/s PC2-5300 (DDR2-667 SDRAM); Clock Speed: 167MHz, Data Rate: 667MHz, Throughput 5300MB/s PC2-5400 (DDR2-675 SDRAM); Clock Speed: 167MHz, Data Rate: 667MHz, Throughput 5400MB/s PC2-6400 (DDR2-800 SDRAM); Clock Speed: 200MHz, Data Rate: 800MHz, Throughput 6400MB/s

DDR3 Transfer Rate
DDR3 SDRAM: Double Data Rate SDRAM III (Quad Edge Clock Rate, 1.5v signaling), Third Generation PC3-6400 (DDR3-800 SDRAM); Clock Speed: 100MHz, Data Rate: 800MHz, Throughput 6.40GB/s PC3-8500 (DDR3-1066 SDRAM); Clock Speed: 133MHz, Data Rate: 1066MHz, Throughput 8.53GB/s PC3-10600 (DDR3-1333 SDRAM); Clock Speed: 166MHz, Data Rate: 1333MHz, Throughput 10.67GB/s PC3-12800 (DDR3-1600 SDRAM); Clock Speed: 200MHz, Data Rate: 1600MHz, Throughput 12.80GB/s
Now it will be really hard to list down which RAM best fits which motherboard. Before buying the RAM you should research your CPU manufacturer's RAM recommendations and fit that exact type of DDR in it. You would be just as foolish in using a PC3-12800 DDR3-1600 with an AMD Sempron 2800+ as you would be to burden down your Intel QX6800 with a PC1600 DDR-200. Every CPU/chipset combo has its proper DDR fit, and you should find out exactly what they are and stick to them. If you fir a slower than recommended DDR to your system will terminate critical RAM functions and could slow your system.

Top Manufacturers
Here is the list of Some of the leading as buying a RAM from an unknown vendor would end up in warranty issues.

Kingston
Corsair
Centon
Crucial
OCZ
Patriot

If you follow these guidelines and thoroughly research the proper DDR for your system, you'll be enjoy years of speedy and trouble-free computing. A little bit of study is a small price to pay!

Cheap PC Memory

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Brian_Hopkin

Leverage - Margin Debt

By Henry Lu

What is leverage?

Here is a definition of leverage from an online dictionary
"leverage - The use of credit or borrowed funds to improve
one's speculative capacity and increase the rate of return
from an investment, as in buying securities on margin."

Essentially, the core idea of leverage is that investors can
use less money to control bigger amount of investment so
that investors can make more money when the price movement
is in investors' favor. In fact, the investment involved in
leverage does not have to be stocks, it can be bonds, or
real estate, or any other investment vehicles. It does not
have be margin or debt either. Options (put or calls),
warrants are special kind of leverage where small amount of
dollar can control much bigger amount of common stocks.

Leverage is common tool available for individual investors.
Whenever we open a brokerage account at pretty much any
broker, such as E*trade, TD Waterhouse, etc, we can enable
margin or option feature pretty easily. Because options
usually are not favorable leverage tool for value
investors, I generally do not recommend options for
investment purposes. This article will focus mainly on
margin to illustrate the concept and usage of leverage in
stock investment.

Leverage - how it works?

Margin is open-ended debt that investors borrow money
forever as long as the margin requirements are met. Right
now at this low interest rate environment, brokerages
typically charge about 5% - 7% interest rate on margin
debt.

Here is an example how an investor can make more money by
using margin. Suppose John had $10,000 deposited into a new
brokerage margin account 5 years ago. Margin interest rate
was 5% for past 5 years. John has invested into only one
stock XYZ with 20% yearly smooth performance( there was
rarely such stock existing, just a hypothetical one) for
past 5 years.

Case 1

If John did not use any margin and fully invested that cash
into stock XYZ, the past 5 years performance was 20% per
year or 149% total performance for 5 years as in Table 1.

Table 1 Full investment into XYZ, no margin.
year Account Equity Value

start $10,000

year1 $12,000

year2 $14,400

year3 $17,280

year4 $20,736

year5 $24,883

Case 2 If John invested $20,000 into XYZ in his account and
borrowed $10,000 money on margin 5 years ago, every year
John had to pay 5% interest or $500 margin interest, but the
investment performance was 30% per year or 273% total
performance for 5 years as in Table 2. That is significantly
higher performance than Table 1 case.

Table 2 Borrowed $10,000 on margin. 5% margin interest

year Account Equity Value

start $10,000

year1 $13,500

year2 $17,800

year3 $23,060

year4 $29,472

year5 $37,266

Leverage - are there any trap?

By looking at table 1 and table 2 cases, should we all rush
into margin tomorrow? Not yet. There is serious flaw in
above 2 cases.

In real life, you can rarely find a stock performed like
above example XYZ! In fact, investors should never expect a
stock can rise smoothly over relatively long time frame.

Here is a typical stock XYZ would have done for 5 years. The
5 years performance was still 20% per year in average, but
not smoothly. In the beginning of second year, due to a
short term negative event, XYZ lost 60% of price suddenly
and recovered all losses and gained 20% that year at year end.

Now let's redo that math for above cases.

Case 1 If John did not use any margin, the 5 year
performance was no difference. John did not sell during the
second year 60% loss and he still made 20% for that year.

revised Table 1 Full investment into XYZ, no margin.

year Account Equity Value

start $10,000

year1 $12,000

year2 $14,400

year3 $17,280

year4 $20,736

year5 $24,883

Case 2 If John invested $20,000 into XYZ and borrowed
$10,000 money on margin 5 years ago into that portfolio,
The beginning of second year John had $24,000 in XYZ with
roughly $10,500 margin on it. Because XYZ lost 60% suddenly
during that year, which triggered margin call, John's
broker liquidated John's account and John lost everything on
year2! John's account was wiped out

revised Table 2 Borrowed $10,000 on margin. 5% margin
interest

Account Equity Value

start $10,000

year1 $13,500

year2 $0

year3 $0

year4 $0

year5 $0

Let's think about above revised tables. XYZ stock was not really
bad stock, it performed well with 20% return over past 5
years. However, by misusing margin, John actually lost
everything and got wiped out!

Don't use leverage, don't use margin if you do not fully
understand it!

Rule No. 1 - Forget about reward, focus on safety

The No.1 reason investors want to use leverage is to make
more money, not to lose money. Wipe out is especially bad.

Over past decades of stock investment, I made lots of
mistakes before, speculation and losses at earlier years,
misjudgment of stock analysis, etc. But one thing I never
encountered that I never got wiped out because I have always
been aware of the danger of margin and danger of leverage
lure.

I have seen online BBS discussions that somehow wipe out is
beneficial to investor and a great investor must go through
multiple wipe outs. Maybe one wipe out was not that bad for
an individual so that he/she can learn a lesson in earlier
years. Something must be wrong if the investor went through
multiple wipe outs. He/she was not learning from past
failures.

The risk of margin comes from the volatility of stocks and
diversification degree of portfolio. To avoid risk of margin
leverage, investors can study past chart of stock price, and
diversify portfolio into different stocks or different
industries. While a value investor does not have to care
that much about short term stock price movement, a value
investor must take extraordinary caution on analyzing the
volatility of a stock if he/she is using leverage in stock
investment.

While past stock price volatility and portfolio
diversification are all relevant, there is more to consider
on leverage. Here comes Rule No.2 below.

Rule No. 2 - the riskier the investment, the less the
leverage

The key thing to avoid wipe out in leveraged investment is
to use leverage based on risk of investment. The more risk
of portfolio, the less leverage or less margin can be used.

The risk can not just be past volatility, a value investor
must do home work of business analysis of company profits or
earnings to assess the risk of investment.

Real estate is relative safe so that homeowners or real
estate investors can use 4-1 to 10-1 leverage to buy a
house on mortgage.

Banks use up to 100-1 leverage and most local banks in USA are
pretty safe. Bank business is essentially like a leveraged
investment. Banks borrow money from retail depositors and
lend out money with mortgage or business loans. We can
consider mortgages or business loans are "investment
vehicle" of banks. The interest difference between checking
account (0%-1%), or CD (2%-3%) and mortgage or business
loans (5% to 8% or more) is what banks are making. Because
interest rate up or down volatility is not as big as that of
stocks, 100-1 leverage is not really as scary as it may
appear in many cases.

Value investing is just a "special" kind of business just
like bank business or real estate investing. Value investors
can evaluate leverage usage just like a bank or real
estate investor. There is nothing truly wrong with leverage
if investors can properly use it. The value investor master
Benjamin Graham said clearly in his book Intelligent
Investor, that it is perfectly OK to use margin to profit
from some bond arbitrage opportunities while it is actually
very unwise to load full bunch of hyped up penny stocks in a
cash account!

Rule No 3 - Look for minimum 2-1 margin interest coverage

In typical security analysis, an interest coverage of 4-1 or
2-1 minimum ratio is usually standard criteria to assess the
risk of bond investment. If a company's pretax or
pre-interest earning is $4 per share, and its debt interest
is $1 per share, it meets the 4-1 interest coverage ($4
divided by $1) and therefore the company's bond is
considered as safe investment.

The same concept can be applied to leveraged value
investment. This is particularly true for certain bond-like
investment like REIT or high dividend stocks. If the
investment reward is less than 2-1 ratio, don't even
consider to use any leverage.

Case study on FB Here is case study of my past 2001 stock
pick Friedman, Ramsey Asset (Ticker FB, now merged into
FBR). In 2001, FB was trading right at its book value with
18% dividend yield, and it was REIT stock. Its business
model was leveraged mortgage investment by borrowing short
term loans with 3% and investing into long term Fannie Mae
or Freddie Mac mortgage with interest of 5%. FB utilized
10-1 leverage on this 2% interest rate spread and made
nearly 20% return to support this 18% dividend yield.

FB business risk is mainly from interest rate risk. Because
the mortgage was guaranteed by a quasi-government company
Fannie Mae or Freddie Mak, there was little credit risk
involved in FB business model. In fact, compared to banks'
sometimes 100-1 leverage ratio, FB business leverage was
pretty low and reasonable. After an internet bubble, I
predicted that interest rate would be quite stable
if not lower. The stock volatility was not issue as well. If
FB stock price dropped below book value too much, FB company
and its affiliate FBR would simply buy up its common shares
instead of investing into mortgages.

Considering 18% dividend yield vs 5% brokerage margin
interest, there was nearly 4-1 ratio of margin interest
coverage if I use margin to buy FB stock, which was exactly
what I did in 2001. During 2001, 2002 and 2003, FB was very
solid stock delivering 18% dividend yield. After the merger
with FBR, FB+FBR almost doubled from where they were couple
of years ago.

Of course, FB investment was just one position of my
diversified portfolio together with NEN and other stocks.
But the rule of 2-1 minimum margin interest coverage can be
applied to other positions as well.

Certainly with portfolio full of safe stocks like FB, or
NEN or other similar value stocks, using a small amount of
margin made sense to enhance performance back in 2001 even
though the market was horrible then. If the stock was a tech
stock like CSCO or YHOO, margin would have been disastrous
and sure way to wipe out an account.

Currently with 7% dividend yield and rising interest rate
outlook, FBR is no longer as safe and profitable investment
as FB was in 2001. FBR no longer qualifies my margin
interest coverage requirement today.

OK, that's all for today, remember Don't use leverage until
you fully understand it!

Article by Henry Lu of BlastInvest LLC, a premium investment newsletter publisher in Connecticut. Visit http://www.BlastInvest.com for FREE "how-to" investing assistance, web services and more.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Henry_Lu

Incremental Backup Vs Full Backup - Which One is More Effective?

By Alexander Golishev

When looking for the most effective backup solution, people are often confused by the terms 'Full backup' and 'incremental backup' which often stay unexplained on the developers' websites. So I feel it my duty to explain this difference as best as I can for you to no longer feel confused or misguided by the "pro's language".

Let's start with full backup (FB). FB means to copy data files from one location to another in full. That is every single file and folder in the specified location is overwritten in full upon each backup session. FB copies data with no regard to file changes that may take place in-between backups. FB is bigger in size, takes longer to perform, but in easier to recover than IB.

Incremental backup (IB) copies only the new and changed files of the selected data. Normally IB is preceded by FB. When FB is done, the backup software copies only the new and changed files that have accumulated in-between backups. However, IB does not copy the files that have changed earlier than the previous backup. Because increments are not overwritten, each increment is responsible for copying changes within a certain period of time. When doing data recovery, the backup software must take into account the first FB, as well as each increment that followed. If one or more increments are missing, the recovery may be problematic.

When applied to specific user needs, both backup types have their advantages and disadvantages. Let's start with the advantages and disadvantages of FB. The major advantage of FB is that you can recover it much quicker than IB. However, a serious drawback of the FB is that it takes longer to record and occupies more space on the selected storage medium. Some professionals believe that FB is generally more secure than IB, because it's just one file, and there is no data separation.

IB is easier to do because it only records the new and changed information, so it's smaller than FB and it is easier to store. However, to make sure your IB is restorable; you need to keep all the increments that have been created. While, with FB you only need to keep one backup file. Another advantage of IB is that you can keep track of the file changes that take place in-between backups with the ability to restore the needed file versions. Read more about incremental backup and its uses!

Alexander Golishev is a copywriter for Novosoft LLC, software developer, with a great deal of expertise in data backup and recovery matters.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alexander_Golishev

Piano Keys - How the Piano Keyboard is Arranged

By Duane Shinn

There are 36 black and 52 white keys (88 total) on a piano. These keys trigger hammers inside the piano that strike the pianos strings to produce sound. The white keys are a piano "natural" notes while the black keys are used for notes that are either sharp or flat. The first key (on the far left of the keyboard) is the note A and the last key (on the right), the note C.

The keys are arranged in half steps (semitones) and in the order of a chromatic scale (half step, half step, half step, etc.). The white and black keys alternate except for the fact that there are no black keys (sharp or flat notes) between the notes B and C, or E and F (the notes B#, Cb, E# and Fb do not exist).

Some think the piano is based on a C scale, but that is really not the case. You can play any scale on the piano (a D minor scale, an Ab 7 scale, etc.) simply by choosing a certain starting point (piano key) and playing the notes in the proper order. Playing left to right creates ascending (higher and higher) notes, playing right to left creates descending notes.

The piano keyboard can also be looked at from the standpoint of octaves. An octave is an interval casually thought of as 8 scale notes above or below the reference note (or the beginning and ending note of a scale). The note names of notes an octave apart are the same (i.e., you can play the note E, then play another E an octave higher). Notes an octave apart (and all notes for that matter) are measured as a certain Pitch (a particular note or tone). Pitch is measured in cycles per second (written as hz). Whereas the note A is measured at 440hz, the A above (an octave higher) is measured at 880hz. The note A above that (another octave higher) is measured at 1760hz. Octaves provide a basic framework for scales and chords.

One of the challenges of a pianist is the stretching of the hands and fingers to play certain combinations of notes that produce chords or arpeggios. It takes time to develop the flexibility and strength needed and certain exercises are used for that purpose. At times, all ten fingers are needed to play the music as written (or desired). As a general rule in music written for the piano, the left hand plays the notes of the bass clef, while the right hand plays the notes of the treble clef. Typically, the melody of the piece is played by the right hand (with the left hand often providing bass notes, runs, and arpeggios).

Portable, electronic keyboards rarely contain all 88 keys. Depending on size and purpose, a portable keyboard can contain as few as 24 keys. The musician is limited in the number of notes that can be played and often has to "rearrange" the melody and chords by playing one octave above or below the intended passages.

A free email newsletter on exciting piano chords and chord progressions from Duane Shinn is available free at "Musical Theory"

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Duane_Shinn

Interbase ODBC or Driver OLE DB. Review of Data Access Ways

By Andrew Merkulov

Many people do not understand the differences between Firebird OLE DB and ODBC technologies. In this article we'll compare an ODBC driver with an OLE DB provider and review Interbase components.Interbase ODBC driverFirebird ODBC driver - is the ODBC API realization with C. ODBC API calls are sent to the definite Interbase, Firebird database API.ODBC drivers were the Microsoft first attempt to provide a standard of data accessing.Advantages of the ODBC techology is cross platform features. UnixODBC development lets ODBC drivers' use on Unix platform.Interbase and Firebird ODBC manufacturesGemini InterBase/Firebird ODBC Driver - project is not supported since March, 2005 Easysoft ODBC drivers spread separately for Firebird and InterBase:
- Easysoft ODBC-InterBase Driver - declared about Interbase 6, IB 7.5, IB 6.5, IB 7 support
- Easysoft ODBC-Firebird Driver - declared about FB 1.5Firebird 1 supportThere is a large list of ODBC drivers but no information about drivers' last update for Firebird and InterBase. If to look at the numbers of supported versions, the changes were long ago.Interbase and Firebird OLE DB component - IBProviderOLE DB (or OLEDB) - Object Linking and Embedding, Database.OLE DB technology was created after ODBC and became the Microsoft Corporation idea about standard data access interfaces.It allows connection to the Firebird and Interbase SQL Server applying the Firebird and Interbase provider in Visual Studio 2008, 2005, c#, C++ and other environments.Advantages of standard interfaces use
The technologies goal is to isolate the client from data source providing him with standard data access interface.There are some pros of such approach:
- independence of client application from data source.
- easy update of SQL Servers versions.
- application connectivity with many SQL Server.
- Multiple development tools' support.The idea is that it's easier for developers to realize 1 standard interface than to support multiple database servers with different API.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andrew_Merkulov

Dallas Cowboys Draft Analysis

By Jeremy Dunklin

The day started off pretty good for Cowboys' fans as the Cowboys selected Bobby Carpenter. I think he was the perfect fit for our defense. The picks seemed to go downhill after Carpenter's selection.

The Cowboys' put me into a state of disbelief when they selected TE Anthony Fasano. I have warmed up to this pick since then, because the guys I wanted in the 2nd Round were all still available at our 3rd pick.

Fasano is basically a blue-collar guy who outworks his opponent. He is a good receiver with great hands, but he lacks tremendous athletic ability. He has a very low bust factor, and should be able to contribute as both a receiver and blocker immediately.

The guys left over were WR Demetrius Williams, FS Ko Simpson, NT Gabe Watson, and OG Max Jean-Gilles. Then the unthinkable happened, we selected freaking DE Jason Hatcher in the 3rd Round. Come on now, I like him as a player and I think he is very underrated, but DE is the deepest position on our club. Hatcher is 6'6 285 and basically dominated his opponents at Grambling St. He has great athletic ability and could really become a great player. And he better, with the players we passed up on to get him.

I definitely wouldn't be surprised to see us trade Ellis, because that would make the selection make more sense. The only other explanation i see for this pick is that Bill is displeased with Marcus Spears, and doesn't think he is going to be a good player. This pick reminds me of what the Patriots did a couple of years ago. They spent three high picks on defensive ends for their 3-4 when they already had starters in place.

The only good thing I can say about our first day is that we added four picks. This sounds great on paper, but if we don't start selecting players at positions of need, these picks won't even get a chance to make the team because they will be behind too many guys on the depth chart.

This all shows just how unpredictable the draft can be. You think you know what your team needs, but they go in a totally different direction. Nobody could have predicted that Simpson or Watson would have fell this far. I didn't expect to see the Bills select Donte Whitner at #8.

Another thing that surprised me is that alot of the pre-draft rumors turned out to be true. Think about Mario Williams going to Houston, Young going to the Titan, and the fact that the Raiders actually passed on Matt Leinart.

I just hope Bill knows what he is doing, but this draft is starting to remind me of the 2004 Draft were we basically missed on every pick except Jones, Crayton, and possibly Peterman. I know I don't know as much about these players as each team does, but think how awesome our draft would look with Carpenter, Watson, and Simpson as our 1st day picks. Even though it is almost pointless, I will provide at 2nd day mock for you guys. These picks could hopefully salvage the draft. All I can say is TRUST IN BILL!

4th - FS Ko Simpson

There is obviously something about this guy teams don't like.
He is falling much like FS James Butler did last year. He was a projected 2nd-3rd round guy who went in the 7th. The funny thing is, he actually had a pretty good rookie year with the Giants.
Please Bill, get either Simpson, Jean-Gilles, Watson, or D. Williams.

5th - NT Montavious Stanley

We need a backup nose tackle. This and free safety are the two remaining glaring holes.

6th - G/T Issac Sowells

We need depth along the offensive line. Parcells is obviously pretty confident in our guards though, or we would have already taken one.

6th - WR Jeremy Bloom

Bloom could give us some young depth at receiver, while contributing mainly as a punt returner.

7th - FB Matt Bernstein

After the drafting of Fasano, we are obviously eliminating a FB from our main offense. We still need a fullback FB however, and Bernstein would excel at that. The FB position has pretty much died in the NFL, it is a shame too.

7th - P Steve Weatherford

A punter, long range field goal kicker, and kick-off specialist.

Writer and Creator of http://www.cowboys-fan.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jeremy_Dunklin

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Chandra Leigh Brown: The Soul of a Survivor

By Fran Briggs

Chandra Leigh Brown is a woman who lives a life of dedication and perseverance as she fights for the rights of the disabled, and differently-abled. Following a horrendous car accident where she was ejected through her car's window, Brown suffered multiple fractures and a severe brain injury. Left on life support, she was not expected to live. But it was while she was still unconscious that Brown says that she was determined to "go back" because she still had things to do. Chandra eventually completed three years of physical and cognitive therapy (which included relearning the alphabet and how to tie her shoes). While it's true that she has not fully recovered from the extent of her injuries, she speaks with a clear, calm, and upbeat voice, and enjoys working out three days a week. Her personal nature includes a heightened sense of humor, and an infectious smile and laugh.

Passionate and determinedly inspirational, Chandra Brown is devoted to serving disadvantage youth and women. She is also an advocate for social change having adopted a resolve to help disabled individuals worldwide with their plight for living in a more equitable society.

I sat down with the Chandra Leigh Brown and interviewed her as part of the OnTheMove Interview series. We talked about her accident, her road to recovery, how she became the International Chairperson for Disabled Individuals for the Oprah Winfrey for Nobel Peace Prize Fan club, and her vision for her future.

Fran Briggs: Good morning, Chandra. Thank you for taking the time to speak with us today.

Chandra Brown: You are welcome. And, thank you for inviting me.

FB: May 3, 2002. Would you briefly describe the events of that day just prior to your accident?

CB: I woke up with the idea of going to visit my mother. I was living in Jonesboro, Georgia and my mother lived in Mableton, Georgia; it's about a 40 minute drive. I went to the gas station to fill up my car and proceeded out of the parking lot after I filled the tank. And, that's all I remember.

FB: Has your spirit changed since the day of the accident? If so, how?

CB: My spirit has changed a great deal. I've always believed in God, but I am happier. I smile more and I am more humble. I feel good about life and about living and carrying out God's divine plan. I have been awaken by God's love and power! Today, I feel God's Hand on me -- holding me and supporting me on my journey.

FB: Many people simply give up after experiencing a traumatic, life-altering event such as you did. Was there ever a time when you felt like giving up after the accident?

CB: Give up? No. I would always have to give my best -- whatever the situation may be. I've been an athlete most of my life. I played basketball, played a little tennis, and I ran to stay in shape. Since my accident, I have taken what I learned from sports, and applied it to my life living with a brain injury. That is the conditioning and discipline part. Fall down 7 times; get back up 8 times. No pain, no gain. I could never give up. I thrive on challenges. Giving up has never been an option of mine. I do get tired, frustrated, and angry with myself. My life is so much different from what it used to be -- it does get frustrating. There are times when I have to take long breaks to regroup with myself. After that, it's time to get the job done. I have learned to go at my own pace.

FB: You are the International Chairperson for Disabled Individuals for the Oprah Winfrey for Nobel Peace Prize Fan Club. How did that come about?

CB: I was on the computer getting lost one day (laugh) and I came across Mr. Rocky Twyman's website, oprah4peaceprize.org/ I signed the petition and told Rocky my story. Rocky emailed me back after visiting my web site, (http://www.thesoulofasurvivor.org//) and he asked me to become The International Chairperson for Disabled Individuals! How could I decline such an honor? I told my partner, Janet about it and she has joined the crusade. We have been canvassing on behalf of Oprah. We have gone to The Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia to promote Oprah for the Nobel Peace Prize and I gave my testimony. There was also an article that was published about us in the paper while we were at The Carter Center.

FB: What are some of the milestones that you have accomplished as an advocate for the disabled and challenged?

CB: A speaking engagement -- at Shepherd—Kendra Moon, at Shepherd Center. It's a rehabilitation center for brain injured and spinal cord patients. They found out about my website and asked me to speak to a group of their clients. I want to show them that, even with this challenge, we can still live a productive life. My second milestone was when I became a Court Appointed Child Advocate Worker (CASA). I work with abused and neglected children in foster care. I may be a littler slower now, but I still have a voice for others. It's not just all about me.

I told my supervisor, about my brain injury. To my surprise, she told me that she already knew. You see, when I initially contacted her about volunteering, I forgot to remove my website information at the bottom of my email correspondence to her. I didn't want to reveal my brain injury because I have been discriminated in the past and not given a chance to prove what I was capable of performing certain job functions. She just saw something totally different about me and trusted me with one of the toughest case loads my (training) class had.

FB: What is/was the most powerful thing that you either experienced or discovered?

CB: Since the accident, I have experienced the true realness of God. I have always been a believer. However, while on life support, God visited me. I told God that I was not ready to go.

FB: Chandra, what would you say to someone who is struggling with their different abilities to the point where, they just want to give up?

CB: I would try to show them the importance of never giving up -- whatever the disability and/or challenge is, never give up. I would tell them that I know that our body is not the same as it use to be. I would tell them stories about me and how I begin to laugh at myself at times. I would also explain to them that there are times when I get frustrated (we need to know the truth and have real life stories to go by) at myself, and how that energy has used up the rest of my energy for that day to try to improve and/or work on bettering myself. We don't need to wallow in self pity. We will get exactly where self pity has taken others like us; and that's no where. I would also give life examples of today's heroes.

Exercise is very important. My personal trainer, William Jenkins, has me on a program to help me lose the 35 plus pounds I gained because of the meds I was on. My memory is much more clearer and stronger because of what I am doing. And, I'm putting good, fresh fruits and vegetables into my body. We must be made aware of what we do with our body. Doing exercise will change your tune about giving up.

FB: What would you say has been your biggest surprise?

CB: My biggest surprise was after my accident one of my cousins came to see me at home. She was a straight A/B student with dreams to become a lawyer, but got hooked on drugs and never made her way back home. She has children but stays away from her family months and sometimes years at a time. So, it was a blessing and surprise for me to see her. I know that her heart means well, she just has a problem.

FB: What new things have you learned about life as the result of the accident?

CB: The first thing I did after my accident, once I understood what happened to me is that I had a talk with myself and I told myself that I could still do it. I had to change and change and change my program of what my life used to be. I had to make things as simple as possible for me. I found out that there's power in simplicity, meaning, the more I keep things simple; it won't complicate my ability to get the task done correctly. This gives me the freedom not to be limited if I just keep my task and life simple.

FB: You have a powerful website which you use as a tool to embrace, enlighten, and encourage disabled and challenged individuals, everywhere. What has been the general reception from your visitors?

CB: Thank you. I have received nothing but praise about the site. I think the tab, "People Are Talking," is the most beautiful page to me on the web site. It pumps me up on my hard days. My late, best friend's daughter is the very first one to make a comment and then there are all kinds of different people ranging in different ages from across the US. The reception has been warm and the people are excited about this web site becoming bigger. It's not quite a year old. It will be a year old September 22nd of this year (2006).

FB: You have such a tremendously positive and warm spirit. To whom, or to what do you attribute it to?

CB: Again, thanks. My grandmother, Mildred E. Smith has such a beautiful attitude about life and her relationship with God. My grandmother still gets on her knees every night to say her prayers, She's 86 years old. No matter what is going on in my grandmother's life, she stays a lady. I have never seen her lose face. My late grandfather, Carl D. Smith, Jr., my late best friend, Annetter E. Cleveland. My grandfather died of cancer and Annetter died of breast cancer. I had watched both of these two people have a long tough fight with their illnesses. The only time they complained about the pain was chemo and at the end of there're fight with the disease.

I am told that Annetter would come to visit me while I was on life support and not talk to anyone, just come in with me talk, sing and pray. No one knew at that time just how sick Annetter was. I am forever grateful for having such a wonderful friendship of over 20 years. Annetter's son-in-law, Stephen Nuttall (owner of – http://www.soulphoto.net//) is the guy who put up my site because, he knew that Annetter would have wanted him to help me.

FB: Chandra, What advice would you give to someone who is thinking of getting involved in working with the differently-abled and challenged, but have no idea where to start?

CB: Get educated on the subject. Two people may have the same thing, it can sometimes affect one person different from another person. Ask questions. The most unintelligent thing is not asking a question. Go to the doctors, their assistants, go to the library and do research. Go to the hospital and ask to do volunteer work. You can also get on the Internet and find wonderful new things to learn.

FB: There is a page on your site where you express what you are thankful for. Have you always had such an attitude for gratitude?

CB: I have always been thankful to God. Since my accident, my whole attitude has been more profound. I just want others to catch on, I want it to become so contagious. God is good! I know that God has his hands on me. How else can you describe me? God has allowed me to come back to earth to be a strong, positive voice for the challenged/disabled, the abused, the neglected and sexually abused children.

FB: You're beaming with positivity; is your positive energy something that you struggle with sustaining?

CB: Hmmmm... My attitude in life has always been positive. I recently went to Emory Hospital to take a neuro-pschy exam. The doctor is a qualified brain injury specialist who performed the test. She said that I am dealing with my brain injury fine and I can go to any job to work, and I can go to school. I am all right where I am in the universe today. I accept my brain injury. That does not mean that I am giving in; nor does it mean that I am giving up on what I want to accomplish. The doctor also stated that I am at an "average level" for someone living with a brain injury. This is the only time I will be OK with someone calling me average (laugh)!

FB: What things do you consider unacceptable in your life?

CB: I will not accept any negative individuals in my life. Such as individuals who steal, cheat, or lie. Not that I am better than anyone else. No, I am just better off not be engaged with, or intertwined with negativity in my life.

FB: Tell us, what does life look like for Chandra Leigh-Brown five years from now?

CB: Very soon I will change my name. In the book of Genesis, 32:28, it says, "You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed."

I would also love to get my B.A. degree. I have a history in my family that the women have gotten their education. My grandmother, Mildred E. Saunders Smith. After raising her two children, she went back to school to get her degree. She is an author of a children's book and a book on poetry. I have a cousin, Dr. Jane E. Smith, who has done marvelous work for the African-American Community and now she is the Executive Director of Center for Leadership ... Civic Engagement for Spelman College. I also have a deceased aunt who has a school named after her, Bazoline Estelle Usher Middle School. I really want to be a member of that club. I want my degree. I need to show myself that I can do it and show others that it can be done. I want to lead be example-the right way.

FB: What projects are you working on now?

CB: The projects I am constantly working on include getting my story out -- from childhood to adulthood. I want my book to be published. I also want my own radio talk show. I can start off with an Internet radio talk show. I have other projects I will later name. I also want my very own comic strip which will tell about the lives of individuals who have challenges/disabilities. I was in a clinic one day and Whoppi Goldberg was on the TV educating teen-agers about sex and AIDS and other diseases. I thought after I saw that program, "that's what I want to do!" I want to educate individuals about the different challenges and disabilities. I want to be the spokesperson.

FB: Chandra, is there a thought or idea you wanted to leave our readers with?

CB: I want readers to know that every 15 seconds someone in the US will have sustained a brain injury. That number is more than cancer and AIDS put together. Someone in our family will have one. We all need to be educated about this disability. As well as other disabilities. Back to having a brain injury. There are some individuals who are ashamed of it because it is a mental challenge. I and I know that there are others like me who are not ashamed of it-just glad we are alive. Just get educated about it, because it coming to your doorstep sooner than you know.

Fran: Thank you Chandra for spending your time with us today.

Chandra: You are welcome. I honor your greatness! Thanks for inviting me.

Chandra Brown was interviewed in July, 2006. She can be contacted at:

e-mail: thesoulofasurvivor@gmail.com

website: http://thesoulofasurvivor.org

About the Author:

Want to hire this writer? Crystal clear, content-rich and compelling communications should be the mandate as it pertains to your business or organization. Fran Briggs is an accomplished writer available on a contract basis to dynamically put your vision into words. Areas of expertise include short copy, press releases, investigative reports, radio spots, publicity, public relations, website content, and editorial. Write franbriggs@aol.com Fran is also an author, peak performance coach, motivational speaker, and the President of The Fran Briggs Companies, an organization dedicated to the personal and professional development of individuals and groups around the globe. The company's personal development website offers a free, exciting twice-monthly newsletter designed to help individuals live a happier, healthier and wealthier life. Please visit http://www.franbriggs.com for more information.

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Facebook & Building Brand Awareness

By Simon Salt

I am one of the 100 million facebook users. No I'm not a teenager, nor a wannabe cool Gen Xer. Actually I use Facebook for a lot of things. I use it to stay in touch with my daughters, both of whom live in England, I get to see what's new in their world and they mine. I use it to reconnect with friends that I have lost touch with and I have actually made new friends via Facebook. I also use it to connect on a more social level with business contacts, those people with whom I have a real connection.

Like other Facebook users I also use it to have a little fun. I like to show my affiliation with certain causes and brands. Being from England there are certain foods and other items that I miss from home and so searched for them to add them to my profile. Having taken part in a posting regarding the use of Social Media and goal setting. This started me thinking about the brands that might be using Social Media well and those that aren't.

Using only Facebook (FB) as a exemplar I searched for popular brands. Why FB ? Well the statistics for FB speak for themselves, it is the #1 photo sharing application on the web and the #4 most trafficked website in the world (both figures are from comScore.com). Of the 100 million users, the largest growing demographic is those aged 25 years and older and for those in the 17 - 25 age group it is the #1 site on the web, with 50% of those users visiting it daily. It is available in via both the standard and mobile web, which means that users can post from a desk, a coffee shop or wherever they are with their smartphone.

The results of my initial search were not all that surprising, some brands have embraced social media and are actually using it to drive brand awareness and brand affiliation, others are not.

Firstly I searched for a favorite food item, Doritos chips. These are listed by more than 500 people on their personal pages as being a favorite item, there are several "groups" founded by FB users in support of Doritos, yet there is no product page on FB for Doritos. This seems like a missed opportunity to me, if you know you have a fan base and those people can be communicated with and will in turn influence other users to spread the word about your brand, why would you not engage with them?

Ferraro, makers of products like Nutella, recently used their FB page to run a competition amongst fans of Nutella to get them to vote on proposed new flavors. I don't know if any of the flavors were actually going to be manufactured but I do know that the competition was forwarded to thousands of FB users. Ferraro had tapped into their fan base and increased it.

When you search for the top three motor manufacturers on FB you get the following results, Ford - 8,922 fans, GM - 142 fans, Chrysler - 2,495 fans. Now these numbers are the result of many factors, age and other demographics, but they are also the result of engagement with the tools available. Ford has product placement in game applications available on FB, it has sponsored competitions and is actively promoting brand consciousness on FB.

There are many other examples of brands that have either not engaged at all or have done it poorly and then abandoned the effort.

So what does all this mean for marketers? When I see marketers wanting to set tangible goals for a social media campaigns, I wonder do they really understand what a social media campaign is. What it isn't is a conventional media campaign conducted in Web 2.0 world. Opening a FB account and simply loading your latest marketing collateral isn't a social media campaign. I believe that a social media campaign is a lot harder, a lot more resource intensive than many marketers realize. Starting one without the ability to maintain it, is a form of brand suicide. Like blogs whose last entry was a year ago, an abandoned social media campaign shows both a lack of understanding and a lack of real engagement. Setting traditional goals for a Social Media campaign is not relevant to the medium, social media is about influencing influencers. Key individuals whose opinion is valued amongst their connections, and who, given the right level of communication will engage with both the brand and their network. These concepts don't only apply to big name brands or only to FB, they are true for all who are in the business of promoting, marketing or otherwise trying to drive brand awareness. They are equally applicable in the B2B space as they are in the B2C space. Influencing influencers is one of the major keys to a successful social media campaign.

Is it better not to do anything, I'd say yes, if you aren't prepared to do it properly its better not to do it at all.

Simon Salt http://www.theincslingers.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Simon_Salt

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A Forex Brotherhood Review - 6 Months on - Is it a Scam?

By Rob R Carmichael

The Forex Brotherhood was released in September 2008 and it is now possible to gauge some user reviews and feedback on how this automated software now performs.

If you're not familiar with the FB, the guys who set this up are a group of elite traders, with 10 years plus experience that allows membership for a monthly fee. Here you get an inside view on their "private society" as they call it, which consists of archived content, daily webinar information and an online chat system with expert advisers who conduct daily trading coaching.

Author of FB:

Jason Jankovsky, author and publisher on Forex issues with 20 years of experience believes that the society he's set up is a good solid deal that very few teacher trading systems online can match.

He advises the use of his alternative systems as well, the Forex Tracer and the Forex Tunnel. These run on two different currency pairs, the FT is set against the EUR/USD and the FF against the USD/JPY. These therefore offer you a variety of options.

So far, user's performance over the last couple of months has been mixed. Before you sign up there marketing promises you profit with "TEETH", but every new system will undergo teething problems and inevitably wont hit the road running.

Initial forex brotherhood reviews suggested this guy had taken on too much and their ticket support system was slow. Since November he's taken on more staff to help cope with the increase in subscribers and complaints seem to have leveled off.

Regarding the most important question as to whether this is making anyone any money, newbie traders first stated that the profit to loss ratio was about 2:1, 2 gains against one loss. Traders felt this like taking two steps forward one step back.

Now traders on their forum see it as 3:1, stating that when he wins, he wins big.

If you are interested in trading on the Forex Brotherhood platform, bear in mind that you are entitled to a "Full 60 Day Refund" should your chips not role your way.

Do not expect to win outright though, and in some cases you will take some losses before you progressively start to hit big.

What traders do appreciate however is that you are trading with him, an experienced trader which some find invaluable.

That's why Forex Brotherhood Reviews suggest it would be well worth your money as you will learn the ropes faster and make good solid trade decisions with the help of you Expert Authors.

If you would like to try trading with the Forex Brotherhood, you can set up a demo-account to test the water. Remember you are entitled to a full refund which they are proud to brand on their website so this offers some clarity as to how they value themselves and their autopilot trading product.

To find out more - Click Below:

Forex Brotherhood Review Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rob_R_Carmichael

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2009 Spring Training Preview - Cleveland Indians

By Chuck Zodda

The 2008 Indians finished up the season at 81-81 and in third place in the AL Central, largely due to a substantial number of injuries that eventually led them to trade away C.C. Sabathia to the Brewers. While injuries were a significant problem, there were several positive aspects to the Indians' 2008 season, most notably the resurgence of Cliff Lee in the rotation, as well as the continued development of Jhonny Peralta and Kelly Shoppach, who saw much of the time at catcher in the absence of Victor Martinez. The outlook for 2009 is mixed, as the Indians need bounceback years from Travis Hafner and Martinez in order to be successful, but with how wide open the AL Central could be, they still do have a shot at taking the division, though a wildcard berth is probably out of the question as that looks to come from the AL East next year.

C Victor Martinez - Martinez saw action in only 73 games last year and put up a less-than-stellar line of .278/.337/.365 during that time. Martinez is supposedly healthy to begin the year, and should be able to return to form in 2009, assuming that he has no lasting ill-effects from the previous season. When healthy, Martinez is one of the top offensive catchers in the game, usually good for batting around .300 and hitting 20 home runs a season. He is still only 30 years old and probably has another 3-4 years before he starts to decline, so look for him to enjoy a solid offensive season in 2009. Defensively, he is below-average, and his throwing problems have been well-documented. The Indians need his bat to be effective in order for him to have any value to the team, as Kelly Shoppach is a far better defensive catcher who showed great improvement at the plate last year. Nevertheless, look for Martinez to get most of the time behind the dish this year, unless injury derails him again.

1B Ryan Garko - Garko has been the full-time 1B for the Indians for the last two seasons, and while he doesn't possess prototypical power skills, he is a slightly above-average offensive player. His OPS dipped to .750 in 2008, largely due to a 20 point drop in his BABIP from his career norms and also due to a drop in his HR/FB that should normalize in 2009. Look for an OPS around .800 for him in 2009 and going forward, as that looks to be right around where his career line should end up. Defensively, Garko has good hands, but doesn't have particularly good range. He'll help out his other infielders, but won't make a ton of plays otherwise. Garko is pretty much league-average across the board, which certainly is something that a lot of teams would like to have, and he will be a solid contributor to the Indians in 2009.

2B Asdrubal Cabrera - Cabrera's true value probably lies closer to his 2007 than his 2008, where his OPS dropped to .713 from .775. Cabrera's BABIP fell by 30 points in 2008, so look for some bounceback there, as well as for him to continue to show improved plate discipline, as he showed an improved walk rate last season. Power will probably never be a big part of Cabrera's game, but as long as he gets on base at a clip around .350, he should have plenty of value to Cleveland, who has plenty of big hitters in their lineup to drive him in. Defensively, Cabrera is a bit above average, with solid range and quick hands capable of turning the double play. Look for him to show an improved offensive game over 2008, but don't expect him to blossom into a feared hitter anytime soon.

3B Mark DeRosa - The departure of Casey Blake last season was supposed to open the door for highly-touted Andy Marte to become the third-baseman of the future for the Indians. With Marte's continued struggles, it now appears that the Indians will turn to DeRosa in order to solidify their infield for the upcoming season. DeRosa is coming off two very solid season with the Cubs, in particular his 2008, where he posted an OPS of .857. DeRosa's numbers are unlikely to be quite that good going forward, but look for him to post an OPS of around .800 in 2009, as his power numbers for last year were built on an HR/FB that was significantly above his career average. Defensively, is flexible and can see time at 2B as well as 3B, but he is a very capable 3B who has a solid arm and should provide stability for the Indians there in 2009.

SS Jhonny Peralta - After a tremendous first full season in 2005, Peralta regressed in 2006, but showed improvement over the next couple of years, finally getting back to being the player that the Indians thought they had when he first came up. He posted an OPS of .801 last year, hitting 23 home runs while batting .276. Peralta's game offensively relies mostly on his ability to generate extra-base hits, as strikeouts have always been a problem for him and will probably prevent him from consistently getting his average in the .280 range or above. Even so, his power still makes him a solid offensive player. Defensively, Peralta is pretty average, with solid range and a strong enough arm. Look for him to post an OPS of between .775-.825 next season, as he should settle into this range for the rest of his career.

LF Ben Francisco - 2008 was Francisco's first full year with the Indians, and he posted a solid line of .266/.332/.438 over the course of 447 ABs. What can you expect in 2009? Probably more of the same, with a little improvement. Francisco should hit between 14-18 home runs in a normal year and probably will post a bit higher batting average and OBP, but his ceiling looks to be as a player who posts an OPS of around .800 in a given year. Defensively, he has average speed but takes good lines towards balls, allowing him to get to a couple that he probably shouldn't. He did have 12 outfield assists last year, so his arm is certainly strong enough to help out as well. Francisco is another one of Cleveland's new generation of players, and look for him to contribute as a solid corner OF in 2009.

CF Grady Sizemore - Sizemore is a star and arguably the best centerfielder in the majors at this point. A typical Sizemore line at this point is .280/.370/.500. He combines great patience, the ability to drive the ball to the gaps, home run power, and speed into a package that is almost the prototypical centerfielder. Defensively, he is well above-average, with good range and an arm that is average. We can toss around plenty of superlatives, but Sizemore is a perennial All-Star who should win an MVP before the end of his career, assuming that his teams are competitive. Look for him to put up another superb 2009 and continue to show he is one of the premier players in the game.

RF Shin-Soo Choo - Choo took over in RF for the second half of 2009 and posted tremendous numbers, with a combined line of .309/.397/.549. Choo's BABIP has always been on the high side, so the .373 that he posted there isn't as shocking as you would initially think. What was a bit unusual was his spike in power, as his HR/FB was 16.1%, which he almost certainly will be unable to maintain in 2009. Look for a line in the .280/.370/.450 range, which would still be superb for him in his second year. Defensively, Choo has slightly below average range, partly due to some poor jumps that he can get on balls from time to time. His arm is adequate, though nothing particuarly special. In any case, his offensive ability should be able to carry him, as he should be a valuable member of the Indians squad in 2009.

DH Travis Hafner - Hafner had about as bad of a season as you could possibly have in 2008, with the possible exception of Andruw Jones. He posted an OPS+ of 65 after being above 165 for 2004-2006, and was injured much of the season, playing in only 57 games. Hafner's 2007 numbers had shown some decline, as he hit only 24 home runs and batted .266, but this was partially due to a BABIP that was almost 30 points below his career average. His awful 2008 can be attributed mostly to injury, on the other hand. So what can you expect out of him in 2009? Assuming he is healthy, look for him to bounce back to a level slightly above his 2007 performance, perhaps in the 25-30 home run range while batting around .280. He still has a solid approach at the plate and should put up an OPS in the high-.800s when back in good health. If he turns out to still have health issues, look for the Indians to be aggressive in promoting Matt LaPorta, who could be the successor to Hafner if they decide he is not adequate defensively.

SP Cliff Lee - After what could be described as a disastrous 2007 season, Lee bounced back in 2008 to be one of the top starters in the American League, posting a 22-3 record with a 2.54 ERA en route to winning the AL Cy Young. While at first it might look like Lee has turned a corner, it is doubtful that he will repeat the success that he had in 2008, though he should still be a very solid ace for the Indians. Why the regression? For one, his HR/FB dropped to 5.1%, nearly half of what it has been over the course of his career. His BB/9 also dropped nearly in half, which he will most likely not be able to maintain, leading to a bit of slippage as well. In the end, look for him to post an ERA in the mid-3s with a K/9 of around 6-6.5. He's certainly going to be a very good top-end starter, but 2008 is most likely going to be a career year for Lee.

SP Fausto Carmona - Carmona had a subpar season in 2008 that was derailed by injury and failed to capitalize on the momentum of his 2007 season. He posted an ERA of 5.44, giving up 126 hits in 120 innings while striking out only 58. The drop in his K-rate and return of his control problems were the prime causes of his struggles, his phenomenal sinker still kept the ball in play and on the ground. Carmona's 2007 might turn out to be the best year he has, as his walk rate spiked up to 5.52 BB/9 last season, which is certainly a bad trend to keep in mind. Look for an ERA in the mid-4s this season from him as he looks to get back on the right path and hopefully avoid the troubles of last season.

SP Aaron Laffey - Laffey is another groundball pitcher for the Indians, who is a solid #3 starter for them. He posted an ERA of 4.23 in 93.2 innings last season while seeing a significant amount of time in AAA as well. Laffey's stuff is average, but he commands it well and keeps that ball down, which helps minimize the damage that hitters can do against him. He's never going to be an ace for a team, but he certainly can help out in the middle of a rotation. Look for him to continue to be a solid starter in 2009, posting an ERA in the mid-4s while eating innings for the Indians.

SP Jeremy Sowers - Sowers probably wasn't as bad as he looked in 2008, but he certainly isn't going to be a top-end starter either. He projects as a #4/5 guy with below-average stuff but solid command who can keep hitters off-balance. In 2008, he was 4-9 with a 5.58 ERA, giving up 141 hits in 121 innings while striking out 64. Sowers did have some trouble with the home run in 2008, giving up 18, which worked out to a rate of 1.34 per nine innings, which certainly isn't what you want from a starting pitcher. That number should trend downward a bit in 2009, as his HR/FB should come back to normal. In any case, look for him to post an ERA in the high-4s to low-5s and be a back-end starter for the Indians.

SP Anthony Reyes - Reyes came over from the Cardinals in the middle of 2008 and posted a combined record of 4-2 with a 2.56 ERA in 49 innings. In the long run, don't expect Reyes to be quite that good again. Reyes profiles as a pitcher who can eventually be a #3 starter, possibly a #2 if everything goes well for him. Reyes K/9 dipped to 4.59 in 2008, which is well below the range of 6-6.5 that he should sit in. 2009 should be a big year for his development, as he has a shot to make the Indians rotation out of spring training, though he will face competition from other starters, such as the recently-acquired Carl Pavano.

CL Kerry Wood - The Indians signed Wood to be their closer for 2009 after he had a very good 2008 for the Cubs finishing out games. He racked up 34 saves while posting a 3.26 ERA in 66 innings while striking out 84. This was the first time that Wood had pitched more than 50 innings in a season since 2005, so he obviously has some durability concerns that will continue to linger, simply because of his history. Still, when healthy, he has shown that he still possesses the great stuff that made him a dominant starter, and had good makeup for the closer's role. Health will always be something to monitor with Wood, but look for him to have a solid 2009 for the Indians if he continues to stay off the DL.

http://www.baseballblackboard.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chuck_Zodda

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