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Looks like someone in Stuttgart has been listening to a bit too much of the Rolling Stones. The 2012 Porsche Boxster S Black Edition is a monochrome menace of a machine, powered by a 3.4-liter six-cylinder engine – paired with either a six-speed manual or Porsche-Doppelkupplungsgetriebe seven-speed double clutch transmission – that outputs 320 horsepower and propels the car from 0 to 60 mph in just 4.8 seconds, with a top speed of 170 mph. As you might have guessed from the name, the exterior is all about the darkness, with a black body, black convertible top, black-painted 19-inch wheels, black safety bars, black side air intakes, black twin exhaust tailpipes, black seats – basically everything that isn’t an aluminum or stainless steel accent. (Price - $65,200)
For anyone who’s ever said, “Damn, I wish my cellphone was more like my Nintendo DS,” we present the Kyocera Echo. Powered by a 1GHz Snapdragon processor and running Android 2.2, the Echo sports dual 3.5-inch touchscreen displays connected by a new pivot hinge that lets them run independently, side-byside in Simul-Task or Optimized modes, or in a combined Tablet mode that turns the handset into a 4.7-inch single display – with a huge black thing in the middle, of course. Other features include 3G networking, WiFi, a five-megapixel camera, 720p video recording, Bluetooth 2.1, 1GB of internal memory with microSD expansion, and the ability to convince Luddites that your shrink ray has successfully been tested on a cheap laptop. (Price - $200)
THE MAJOR ROLE OF GENETICS IN OUR PHYSICAL APPEARANCE by Adam Bruster
Some people are tall and skinny, some are short and round, and others are a combination of the two. Some people have long limbs while others have short limbs. All body types have advantages and disadvantages, and our physical gifts and limitations start at birth. There are three different body types: Ectomorph, Mesomorph, and Endomorph. “Most people are a mixture of the three body types, with tendencies toward one” (Nieman, Exercise Testing and Prescription). Listed below are common traits of the three body types.
Ectomorph:
Slim build, skinny, hard time gaining weight, narrow shoulders, narrow hips, flat chest, smaller bones and joints. Examples include Mick Jagger, Howard Stern, and basically any supermodel.
Mesomorph:
Athletic build, broad shouldered, “hour glass” shape for females, “rectangular” shape for men, gains muscle and fat easier than the ectomorph, larger bone structure. Examples include Arnold Schwarzenegger, almost every NFL linebacker, Serena Williams (female tennis pro), and Jennifer Lopez.
Endomorph:
Heavier, gains weight easily, pear-shaped, often shorter arms and legs in relation to body, upper arms and legs are often more developed than the lower parts of the arms or legs (www.bodybuilding. com/bodytypeinformation.html). Famous endomorph examples include John Goodman, George Costanza, Roseanne, and Kevin Smith (actor/director). We all start off with a body type “floor plan” at birth, and we build on it daily by eating too much or too little, and by exercising or not
“Fitness Guru”
exercising. Our physique is determined by genes passed on from our parents and our daily lifestyle. Many people seek a change in physical appearance or athletic performance. Some men have the goal of increasing the size of their calves, chest, arms, or legs. Others may want to gain or lose weight. Some women are happy with their upper body appearance but want to lose fat in their lower body. Some of these men and women will be able to reach their goals with hard work, while others, due to genetic limitations, will not meet their ambitious goals. If you follow a proper nutrition and exercise regimen, whatever results are destined for you will appear (after long-term dedication). You cannot “spot”reduce fat. Part of the female population has lean upper bodies with fat deposited primarily in the hips and legs. The others have thinner legs with more fat stored in the abs and arms. At no point did they make a mistake with exercise or nutrition; they were simply predisposed at birth to store fat in certain areas, and no exercise can change that. If a male has an ectomorph frame, he will probably never have the chest size of the gym alpha male that he admires. There are also many mesomorph/endomorphs who envy the leaner frames of their ectomorph friends. An endomorph would face an uphill battle if he chose to be a marathon runner, and the same would go for an ectomorph trying to play offensive line in football. I consider myself a mixture of the mesomorph and endomorph frame. I’m happy, but have always been a little jealous of guys like my brother who were very lean from day one (especially when we had to play shirts versus skins in basketball or football)! I also know that I don’t follow a strict nutritional plan, and I can’t blame that on my genetics. * Consult physician before beginning an exercise program