Yepp YP-55H MP3 players: The new toy in town

Imagine clutching four cigarettes together. That will give you an idea of the size of Samsung's Yepp YP-55H mp3 player-cum-voice recorder-cum- fm tuner. Only, this is a lot heavier than four cigarettes, and while it does not drag you under with its weight, it is not the lightest player going.

First, let's talk about the player itself. It is remarkably small and boasts an LCD screen that would make a digital watch proud. You spend a few minutes squinting into it to read exactly what it is you are listening to, and by the time you are done, the song changes. Unlike other players, it does not have a directory function, so the songs play alphabetically (the only way around this is to either switch to shuffle mode or number the songs before leading them up).

That said, Yepp plays both mp3 and WMA formats and comes with a formatting CD that allows you to rip off your audio CDs into digitised music (and at various bit-rates as well). The 128mb of memory on the player can take almost two hours of near-CD quality mp3s. Lower the bit-rate slightly and you can cram in up to four hours of music. And being flash-memory based, it cannot skip, making it ideal for Mr Muscles for gym listening.

You can also directly encode fm music onto the memory for later listening and-this is the part I loved the most as a journalist-you can record six hours of voice in wav format. OK, I have officially fallen in love with the Yepp now. Best of all, the doodad doubles up as a portable hard-drive and can plug into any machine running Windows XP or Mac OS X without any software installation.

Now for the flame. The first problem is changing modes: the remarkably minuscule mode button is a pain. Admittedly, my fingers are stubby, but even those with long delicate tapering ones will find this button difficult to use. Another problem is the very long earphone cable, and btw, the earphones themselves are nothing to write home about.

The other problem with Yepp is the Apple iPod. I used a 20 GB model a few months ago, and it rocked. I know, it is more expensive, a Yepp costs Rs 13,000 to the 20 GB iPod's Rs 19,000, but then it can store almost 350 hours of music. And although the sleek silvery Yepp doesn't look half-bad, the iPod is a lot cooler. However, hard-drive-based players like the iPod are not for everybody, and if a flash memory-based player is what you need, this new Yepp might be what you're looking for. Not a resounding yepp, but not a no either.

-Kushan Mitra

HIC CALIX

Deepak Menon: Cheers!

One of the sad realities of life is that most people are pathetic public speakers.

Now, dear reader, what if we tell you that there is a global organisation spanning 70 countries whose aim is to make people deliver sparkling extempore speeches, even raise toasts. Welcome to Toastmasters International (TMI).

There are 9,300 Toastmasters Clubs across the world registered with TMI; 19 of them are in India, with a majority of them in Bangalore (Infosys and Wipro have clubs inside their campuses). TMI's methodology is scientific: it is a 10-step process, each step involving a new learning in speech delivery. As is its appraisal process: each speech is judged by club members using rather interesting parameters, such as the 'ah' counter, which counts fillers like 'umms' 'hmms' and 'ahs'.

Delhi's first Competent Toastmaster is chartered accountant Deepak Menon, who has 'evolved' from a jittery speaker to a confident one. "I believe that I can talk to an audience on virtually anything, which is another aspect of TMI-it helps you to think on your feet," claims Menon.

For more information visit www.toastmasters.org

-Kushan Mitra

HEALTH NOTES

JUST KEEP IT RISIN'

Zyada soya khane se, breast hota hai," said prasad, the burly new trainer at my gym, his vocabulary and Hyderabadi diction bludgeoning the language even more than what I have been able to do in my five years in Delhi. Forget the unchaste Hindi. What was this guy talking about? You grow breasts if you eat more soyabean? "Yessir," he reaffirmed when I asked him if that's what he meant. Too much soya equals man boobs. You know, the dreaded stuff, the floppy, sagging, fatty things that can make grown men's chests look like female adolescent protuberances. Shock and disbelief were my first reactions but later I decided to do some research. Here's what I found.

Eating soya foods-soya milk, soyabean curd and the like-is good for you. Apart from helping lower cholesterol levels and be a good source of protein for vegetarians, it also helps keep your sex drive high. Yet, there's a downside. One of the ways in which soya helps give you these health benefits is by simulating or acting like estrogen, the female sex hormone. And according to some research in the US, consuming too much soya can cause some hormonal imbalances (think not only breasts but also lower sperm count). But that may not mean soya should be a no-no. Reasonable amounts of soya products, say, a couple of times a week, shouldn't be a cause for concern.

Last time, I'd mentioned some foods that can cause mojo problems in bed and promised I'd list some foods that do the opposite-keep it risin'. So here goes.

Nuts. Nuts have a certain type of amino acid (arginine) that helps synthesise nitric oxide, which, in turn, is involved in the erectile function. Nuts have a twin benefit: they also help reduce cholesterol.

Olive oil. Some foods are not only healthy but come with the promise pleasure too. Olive oil's monosaturated fat keeps arteries functioning well, unlike saturated fat and trans fats that can clog arteries. Better arteries mean more blood down under. Got it?

Oysters. Yes there may be a grain of truth in the myth that oysters are an aphrodisiac. Studies show oysters are loaded with zinc, which, as I mentioned last time, is essential for men's sexual function.

Tomatoes. Lycopene, a vitamin compound in tomatoes, helps in maintaining prostate health. A good prostate means good supply of seminal fluid. And what that in turn means is a no-brainer.

CALORIE COUNTING

Quick, you weigh 85 kg and run 20 minutes each morning at 11 kmph, how many calories do you burn? The answer is 337. Most fitness enthusiasts want to know how many calories they can burn from doing different activities. For instance, if you walk briskly at six kmph? Or run?

Or swim? Or climb stairs? Or just stand and mooch about (yes, even that can help you lose calories)? Simple. Just log on to this url: http://exrx.net/Calculators/Calories.html. Enter your body weight, select your activity and enter the number of minutes or hours of doing it and click a button. Presto! You have your number. Oh, if instead of running 20 minutes at 11 kmph, you Mister 85-Kilo were to lie down for 20 minutes, you'd burn 37 calories and not 337. And just so that we get it in perspective, an average burger is loaded with more than 450 calories.

-Muscles Mani

FAQs ABOUT KNEE INJURIES

For some, it's love that turns them weak at knees. For most others, it's adopting an aggressive approach to fitness.

Dr. Yash Gulati, Senior Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at Delhi's Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, says, "After settling down, execs take to exercise and sports on a full throttle. Rather than doing things in a graded manner, they go the whole hog." This sudden rise in exercise levels results in "overuse" injuries.

Symptoms: Pain, mild swelling.

Prevention: Warming up before exercising, supervised workouts, and wearing proper footwear helps, notes Gulati.

Dr. K.C. Malhan, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at Mumbai's Wockhardt Bone & Joint Hospital, says high-flying execs can have injuries related to an "acute episode", like a misstep, excessive twisting and over-rotation of the joint.

Symptoms: Sharp severe pain, swelling, locking of knees.

Treatment: If medicines don't work, arthroscopic surgery is the answer, says Malhan.

So all you fitness freaks, there's nothing to despair, youu can always go in for a knee replacement.

-Payal Sethi