Review: Nokia Lumia 900

I would like to start this review with a disclaimer, all of my previous phones have been blackberry bolds. That is where the bar is set. At first I was VERY disappointed in the phone's 16GB of space but then I realized I only had a 2GB SD card. On top of that you can transfer files "to the cloud" using sky drive. What this means is I can use the internet as an external hard drive and transfer files to and from my phone.

My phone is set up to wirelessly sync with my windows 7 computer whenever I walk into my house, which is also pretty nifty. At first I was concerned about the battery life because my blackberry lasts almost a week and I don't always have a plug with me but the salesperson showed me a portable battery you plug into the phone. It's about the size of a large zippo lighter and it's enough to charge the phone 2x so that's enough to last 3 days or 24 hours of talking. More than enough time.

I miss having a physical keyboard but you can get a nice bluetooth keyboard that's even better. Surprisingly though I've been using voice-to-text more than anything else. The voice commands on this phone are great, I just wish it searched google instead of bing. 4G LTE is lightning fast, occasionally faster than my home internet.

Another thing I worried about was how fast the phone is. This phone is a computer first and a phone second. With the blackberry all I had to do was push the answer key and the phone "app" popped up. I liked that, a lot. With the Lumia I can either push the voice command button which is extremely accurate once you get used to it, or I can tap 2 buttons, both options are nearly as fast as dialing on the blackberry.

The phone has yet to give me any errors, it has yet to show any "lag" like most phones do. So far, I'm glad I traded it in. It's a bit more of a hassle to text compared to the blackberry, and it can't hold an SD card. But I can get a full size bluetooth keyboard if I need to, and with access to the cloud for $50.00 a year I can upgrade my storage space to 107 GB. Yeah, it's a yearly payment but SD cards are around $40 for a GOOD 32 GB card so it'll be over 2 years before it would be cheaper to own 3 SD cards and by then I'll have a newer phone so the point is moot.

The glass is extremely tough. The guy at the store dropped his phone on the concrete, the glass was fine, the sides were messed up. He said the glass will probably last longer than the phone case will. With all my friends having their phones shatter, it's nice to have that reassurance.

I like not having to worry about losing my memory card and photos automatically being backed up to the internet for safe-keeping. I like buying a song on my phone and having it show up on my computer before I reach the study. I like having a radio so I can listen to music and being able to buy songs that I hear over the radio. I like having netflix on my phone and a connection fast enough to view it. I like how everything is smooth, fluid, and the phone doesn't have any hang-ups. I like the 8MP camera, it takes amazing pictures compared to my blackberry and the white balance actually works. I like how it automatically added all my contacts from all of my social media accounts and when I look up my contacts on my phone it shows their latest facebook/twitter feeds and I can choose to send a message to them using any of my social media accounts.

Before, I used to carry a music player, a camera, a phone, a laptop, because I didn't have a device that could do all those things in one. Now I do. I'm still upset about the SD card issue though so I'm giving this phone a 9/10. It's not perfect (SD Card) but I give it an A.

Review: The Union

The Union was the last bar on my 1st tour of Westport. The music here was great, I loved how the Main DJ area was actually underground. The main dancefloor was outside in the open which was also awesome because many dance floors get really stuffy and there was a wonderful breeze. I believe I tried a jack and coke and it tasted better than most. I'm not sure what they did but it had the jack daniels taste without the jack daniels burn. The people there were fairly nice considering I'd never met any of them and I'll probably never meet them again. Behind the DJ booth there was an LED curtain playing videos. I left very impressed with this bar and when I talk about my tour of westport The Union is tied with The Riot Room. Definitely a 10/10.

Review: The Riot Room

The Riot Room is an awesome bar in Westport. The music was awesome, the drinks were awesome, the atmosphere was awesome. Everything was just great. The entire place was out in the open except for where the DJ booth is located. Everyone who wasn't sitting at the bar was dancing. No cover charge, definitely a 10/10.

Review: The Foundry

The Foundry is a bar in Westport. They had great music and after midnight a bunch of guys started break dancing. If you like stouts, this is a great bar to go to. Absolutely massive beer selection. Make sure you get there early because seats fill up quickly. Servers came by to make sure we were ok every 10 minutes. The design of the whole building was really cool. I like the garage doors leading to the patio. The drinks were more expensive than the other local bars though so I can't give it a perfect score. I'll give it a solid 9/10.

Review: Buzzard Beach

Buzzard Beach is a dive bar in Westport. It has 3 levels. In the basement is a shuffleboard table and some arcade machines. The middle floor is where the main bar is and the top floor is a balcony. The drinks were inexpensive and they didn't skimp on the liquor. The staff was very attentive to our table even with the massive crowd. The music was lackluster but it wouldn't fit the atmosphere if it had a large sound system. It wasn't a bad bar, but other than the shuffleboard and cheap drinks it didn't wow me. I give it an 8/10.

Review: 888 International Market

This place is genuinly one of the coolest markets I have ever been to. It reminds me of a lot of the pictures I've seen of market stalls in hong kong. I've never been to a grocery store where you can buy pigs feet, movie fx colored contacts, and sign up for internet all in one hy-vee sized store. On top of that everything is very inexpensive. If you can read the signs you can find stuff cheaper than any of the other local stores. The only down side I can think of is I can't read many of the signs but other than that it's awesome. 9.5/10.

Review: Bacchus-D Energy Drink

I'm not usually an energy drink fan. They never really do anything to me. I don't know what is in these tiny bottles but I was absolutely wired for several hours. 40 calories a shot and 79 cents each. Not a lot of sugar or sodium compared to standard energy drinks. The taste is a little weird but the price is really great. 9/10.

Review: Olathe Gun Shop

I've never held a gun in my life before so this was quite a trip. Walk in the door and everything is very neatly organized and the staff was very professional and nice. Even though I knew nothing about guns they walked me through all the parts of each model I looked at. I don't remember which assault rifle I looked at but it looked very intimidating and it was only $900. I also checked out a Taurus 66 revolver. I've always fancied revolvers due to the smaller amount of moving parts. This one was a .357 magnum and held 7 bullets and I believe it was $450. Anyways the staff was very knowledgeable and taught me a lot. The only "flaw" would be that they tend to sell out of stock very quickly. Probably because their prices are so fair but they're willing to hold something for you for a deposit and you can call them and request they buy something for you to pick up later. I give them a 10/10.

Review of Sonic Boom SB300 Alarm Clock

If you need an alarm clock to wake up an entire house, look no further. For the deaf ones among us (or soon to be deaf, this thing is LOUD) there is also a vibrating disc you can put in your pillow case. This disc is strong enough to move on its own yet it's thin profile allows to put it in even small pillows without getting in the way. The display is very loud and bright. Even with the dimmer switch it was too bright for this reviewer. There aren't many function, it's a very simple alarm clock but if you need a no-frills alarm clock that's loud enough to wake the dead, here's your best bet.

I give the Sonic Boom Alarm Clock a 9/10. The only thing I would change is a better dimmer or the ability to turn off the display until the alarm goes off, and an AM/FM radio and an ipod dock.

Review: Netflix

The price for online only is very fair especially when you compare it to cable tv. I wish shows were more up-to-date but I understand licensing fees are very expensive and the logistics of uploading that many episodes every single week would be ridiculous. Most shows are now available in high quality and netflix has been slowly but steadily increasing the efficiency of the layout. The most recent user interface change on the PC version has been my favorite so far. Considering the price I have nothing to complain about. I get hours of movies and many great shows for less than the price of one ticket to the movie theater. For these reasons I will be giving netflix a 10/10.