Shanghai is known for its bar scene. Unlike Beijing, Shanghai’s bars display a wide diversity of genres, prices, decors, and entertainment. The hobnobbers convene nightly along the Bund drinking brandy for $30USD a glass while the English teachers rendezvous along Hangshan Road, where cold beer can flow for as cheap as $1USD. Everything imaginable lies in between these extremes, the most intense of which are the so-called all-you-can-drink bars catering almost exclusively to expats.
One of the top bars in Shanghai’s all-you-can-drink scene is De La Coast where for 100 RMB (about $14USD) you can do your best to damage your liver amid flashing lights and endless seizure-like dance offs. A truly gifted DJ blasts perfectly mixed tunes while friendly bartenders mix an unending barrage of rail drinks. The bar is successful primarily because it attracts a steady stream of regulars.
While De La Coast may be one of the more dual-gendered bars in the area, attracting a plethora of expats and locals alike, the traditional drink-for-a-sum bars in Shanghai use blunt human-nature tactics for attracting foreign currency: pigtails, pushup bras, and stick on purple eyelashes.
[CLICK TO READ MORE... >>]
2,673 views
Intro
The Dell XPS M1330 is a slick, travel powerhouse laptop small enough to actually be used in an airplane or airport coffee house. You get most of the bells and whistles of a larger laptop without the weight and chunkiness. As always, Dell offers tons of stuff to customize your build: Bluetooth, different Wi-Fi options, as well as an expanded batter pack. Plus, it’s just so damn sexy.
Design
This to me is was the biggest factor in buying a 13.3 inch laptop. Of all the laptops I looked at (sorry I didn’t bother looking at the Macs), this was the one that stood out the most. It’s thin, the keyboard is encased in brushed aluminum, and above the keyboard is a touch sensitive row of keys for DVD playback, sound intensity manipulation, and Media Direct initialization. On the leading edge, you got dual headphone jacks, a Mic jack, and an SD media port. The disc tray is a slot load, which is a welcome change, and though this laptop comes with all the standard I/O ports (USB, IEEE and VGA), it also comes with a HDMI port. A nice surprise is that where your dummy PCI express card usually would sit there is a media remote included with your purchase.
[CLICK TO READ MORE... >>]
1,198 views
I recently read in The Guardian, that bible for middle-class twits like myself, that while sales of cheap mobiles and expensive mobiles were healthy, phones in the middle range were suffering.
Seems that Bob Customer’s mindset is either, ‘Ahh! Credit crunch: I’ll have to downsize!’ or ‘Right, if I’m going to lose my job, I want lots of buttons to play with and a big screen containing more pixels than the combined populations of India and China to stare at in between hunting for a new job.’
I empathize more with Bob number 2. When I was obsessively hunting (is there any other way?) for reviews and info on the latest phones recently, all I wanted to know was, which one had it all without being prohibitively expensive?
Finally, a winner emerged – the Nokia N82. In black, of course, not the cheap silver that it was originally released in.
[CLICK TO READ MORE... >>]
1,919 views
I’ve been putting this phone review off for a bit just cause I wanted to get some time in using it. I’ve traveled a bit now since getting it so I was able to use it in a few countries and feel that this review can be put out.
Right off the bat you have to love just the look of the phone. The QWERTY keyboard is under a good size screen all encased in solid steal. This phone says “High end” right when you look at it and once you get it into your hand you feel something that I had never felt with a cell phone……..build quality!!! This thing is the meeting the design team had when they were planning the E71.
“Ok guys now this is what I want you to do. I want you to build me an M1 Abrams…………….but it has to make phone calls get email and fit into your pocket and oh yeah it can’t kill people”
[CLICK TO READ MORE... >>]
305 views
I just picked up a Sony VAIO VGN-UX280P UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC) from a buddy of mine that gave me an offer I couldn’t refuse. Well, he didn’t have to try that hard – if someone is selling a gadget around me I am sure to buy it.
The Sony VAIO VGN-UX280P is one of the smallest UMPC’s around, you can fit it in a case and wear it on your belt, or even shove it into the leg pocket of a pair of cargo pants.
An ultra portable PC like this could potentially be the ultimate “laptop” for Independent Travelers, it is only one pound and the size of four packs of playing cards 5.9 x 3.75 x 1.5 inches (WxHxD)
[CLICK TO READ MORE... >>]
457 views
I have always hated having to pull out my Nokia N90 and click through a bunch of buttons then scan for WiFi or whipping out my laptop and booting it up just to find out that… well, no WiFi.
So I decided to pick up a keychain WiFi Locater, I usually don’t like “this only does one thing” type of electronics but after looking at several online I decided on the Kensington WiFi Finder Plus because if its size and the quality of Kensington products (actually I couldn’t find another name brand WiFi Locator).
[CLICK TO READ MORE... >>]
178 views
Oh the irony! A short time ago I had posted online some photos from a trip I’d taken to Peru and Mr. Grey proceeded into chiding me about my Maxpedition Jumbo Versapack that I had slung on me. I weathered his slings and arrows knowing in my heart that despite what he said, owning one did make me a *tough guy* and it wasn’t the other way around!
Being the upright guy that he is, his decision the have me write a brief review of the “Jumbo Versapack” is the right thing to do for all you professional adventurers.
[CLICK TO READ MORE... >>]
289 views
I picked up Nokia’s newest smart phone wile I was in the Dubai Duty free last month. The N90 has a qwerty keyboard, a Microsoft office compatible office like program, GPS with downloadable maps, tri-band, 3.2 MP camera with flash, MP3 player, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, records video and playback with real player, voice recorder, world clock, VOIP calls, AM/FM radio and just about every other feature you would need in a PDA.
[CLICK TO READ MORE... >>]
185 views
