Why are we taking the name of some obscure Hanna-Barbara cartoon character in an article about a cellular handset? Well, QD had to expand to something, right?

Given my rather tedious, time-consuming experience with the first Nokia N.Gage, let alone the part about looking stupid, I did not expect much from the N.Gage Version 2, titled the QD. Talking on that phone meant looking like a cross between a Mr. Spock of Star Trek and Big Ears from Noddy comics.

But the QD soon began to impress. Firstly, it is lighter, more compact and more ergonomic than the previous phone. It is still a bit unwieldy to use, particularly for those people who have become accustomed to Nokia's more traditional 'slim candy-bar' type phones, but the earpiece is where you would expect it to be. The buttons are not too awkwardly placed, but getting proficient at messaging takes a little bit of time.

But, this is not why Nokia made the N.Gage QD. It made it to play games on, and that is exactly what I did. This is the best portable game machine I have used, and it is, as I was reminded more than once, a phone to boot. Not that I really appreciated being called in the middle of playing Ashen; the phone's default setting means that a phone call takes priority over the game.

The single-most important difference between the first and second N.Gage is the hot-swappable card feature. On the first N.Gage, one had to take out the battery and then change the game (or memory) card. Now, one has to press a button, choose the 'remove memory card' option, open a rubber strip and voila.

The QD got me through edit meetings, weddings, traffic jams and other assorted boring stuff, playing Tiger Woods Golf 2004 (which I have become quite good at, even if I say so myself), Ashen and Spider-Man.

The games took full advantage of the N.Gage's rather adequate screen; the graphics were not as bad as I expected them to be (in fact, they were surprisingly good). The Java-based games for the phone were a flashback to Arcade games from the 1980s and they did take time to load. It may not be as much fun as playing on your pc or through a console, but then again you will not find your pc or console with you on the back seat of an Indica headed towards Dadri.

I have never liked portable game consoles. I am not particularly fond of the Game-Boy Advance, but the N.Gage's bigger screen and dual functionality (one does need a phone, right?) makes it quite useful. The price is not that bad as well-at a mrp of Rs 11,599 (a Nokia 'Best Buy' price of around Rs 9,999), the addiction factor only increases. I could not test the Bluetooth-enabled multi-player gaming facility of the phone and the Nokia N.Gage arena website is not complete in India as yet (assurances were given by Nokia that it would be up and running by August), but since accessing the web through GPRS is not the easiest thing to do, online gaming might take some time.

The Nintendo Game-Boy Advance is a tad cheaper at around Rs 6,000 and has several more games available, but it is not available through legal routes. Then again, even though there are only around 60-odd titles available on cards (initially at Rs 1,000 each), you can download more (albeit Java-based) games from operator websites or Nokia's own website, for a lot less.

Of course, there is supposed to be the Playstation Portable (PSP) heading for release by the end of the year, but chances of that coming to India are minimal, at least for the time being. So if you want the fun of portable gaming, the N.Gage QD is the thing to buy. And as I will never tire of saying, it is a phone to boot.

-Kushan Mitra

TREADMILL
BUTT, NATURALLY

A	B

It's a part of the body that most men don't bother about-at least if it's their own. But the butt is an important area of the body to focus on for a variety of reasons. First, a taut and well-muscled butt adds to the strength of the lower body and a good posture. Try looking good in a pair of jeans if you have a wimpish butt and you'll know what I mean. The butt (or the bum or the glutes) is a prominent part of the body and it is easy to neglect its muscular function. Your gait and your ability to move your hips and thighs are all influenced by the state of your butt! More important, in case you didn't know it, a man's sexual attractiveness is influenced by the shape and size of his butt. Don't believe it? Ask a woman.

More seriously, each of your buttocks has three muscles: the gluteus maximus, the gluteus medius and the gluteus minimus. In gym slang, they're collectively referred to as the glutes. The biggest of them is, as the name suggests, the gluteus maximus, which is the largest and the most prominent and visible part of the butt. The gluteus medius is the part that contracts to hold the pelvis upright when you walk. And, finally, the gluteus minimus, which lies under the medius and works in consonance with it. When you twist your lower body (try touching your knees together), it's these muscles that help in the movement. Ergo, a strong butt stabilises the hip and pelvis.

So, what's the best workout for the butt? While gymmers and trainers trot out a perplexing range of exercises-like the bent-knee kickback, leg curls and lunges, I'd say it's the stiff-legged deadlift that works the best. So does the squat. Call me old-fashioned if you like, but I like "basic building block" exercises like the squat and the deadlift. The squat is more common than the deadlift but you're unlikely to encounter too many people doing either of them, particularly in the new breed of effete gyms that are springing up in the metros and the bigger cities. I'm going to describe the deadlift-not the squat-in this instalment.

The exercise itself can look deceptively simple (see Fig. A & B) but there are a couple of variants and a caveat. First, the bent leg deadlift, which targets the glutes the best. With feet flat beneath a bar, squat down and grab the bar with hands shoulder width or a little wider. I suggest an overhand grip but you could also use a mixed-one overhand another underhand-grip. Now lift the bar by straightening hips and knees. If you do the same exercise with your legs straight throughout the movement, it also targets your hamstring muscles. Here's the caveat: you need to keep your arms, knees and back straight throughout this exercise otherwise, particularly if you're going heavy with the weights, you can injure your back.

-Muscles Mani
write to musclesmani@intoday.com

BUILD UP YOUR BONES

Despite your mother's advice, chances are you've given up your morning routine of milk and Complan. No worries, says Batra Hospital's Ambrish Mithal. Milk does the body good, but it's not crucial to the health of a 30-35 year old. Studies show calcium is most important in two life stages: before the age of 20 and after 50.

TWO IMPORTANT STAGES: Bones are living, and they grow, shrink and remould themselves. Until the age of 20, when bones reach their peak weight, calcium is vital to building bone density and length. After 30, bones lose about 1 per cent of their weight yearly; that loss increases dramatically at age 50, when it again becomes important to increase calcium-intake.

ONE COMPLICATION: People whose bone mass in teen years was low have increased chances of getting osteoporosis, a disease in which the bones become brittle (in severe cases, even a sneeze can cause a fracture). But even if your original bone mass was high, it is equally important to prevent excess calcium loss in old age by stepping up calcium consumption.

THREE PREVENTIVE MEASURES: The most obvious step to preventing osteoporosis is increasing body calcium by consuming foods like low-fat milk, cheese, or broccoli.

The second step is increasing Vitamin D consumption, which increases the body's absorption of calcium. Calcium cannot leave the intestines and enter the bloodstream without it. Thirdly, studies show weight-bearing exercises cause the bones to retain and possibly gain density.

-Sushma Subramanian