Chevy Volt

 
The Chevy Volt was a concept car that was first introduced around the year 2006 but was not put on the assembly lines until recently. The original concept for the Volt was to make a fully electric car that could handle the average person's daily commute (roughly 40 miles). The idea of Chevy making a full electric car was great but it didn't quite go as planned. Originally the Volt was designed to look like a futuristic muscle car (above image), but I guess Chevy decided that it would give people the wrong impression. After all, we wouldn't want people to think electric cars are cool or fast or anything, then people might stop driving gas guzzling trucks and SUV's and further fattening the car/petrol company's wallets.

Instead of the sleek and attractive design shown in the concept, the final product came out looking more like a Prius than a muscle car. The "all electric" idea talked about in the concept was scraped and a small petrol engine was added to the car to supplement the power supply. The power of the car is also lacking. There are three modes in which include Normal, Sport, and Mountain and even with the car in sport mode and wet asphalt it proved to be very difficult for me to make it break traction. Perhaps the biggest problem with the Volt is in its push button start. I have personally witnessed someone forget to power down before getting out, and several hours later, it was still on - despite the fact that the key was not in it. One part of the original concept that did meet the expectations of the designers it the battery range, which is exactly 40 miles on a full charge. Even though the car is not all that I hoped for, and Chevy changes the car almost completely since the concept was born, it is still a step in the right direction - one that I think all car companies should be making.

Call of Duty Black Ops

Since the game came out, days of my life have been lost to Black Ops with no regrets. The story line was relatively short, but nonetheless eventful, and could easily be finished in one day of heavy gaming. The majority of my time, however, is spent playing Zombies and Multiplayer. I was a huge fan of World at War because of the Zombie maps, and had actually bought all the expansions for the zombie map alone. Unfortunately, in Black Ops, zombies has lost some of its appeal. Although the open spaces in the new maps leave more room for an offensive player to run, those of us that enjoy a more defensive game find that the massive new maps often make it relatively difficult for teammates to revive their wounded comrades. The maps that do appeal to a defensive player now have so many levels, loosing your team happens all too often. If I could ask for one thing of the next CoD game with Zombies, it would be that they make maps, big and small, appealing to all styles of game-play.

Now on to the multiplayer... I was never a huge fan of the mulitplayer until recently, with the Nuketown 24/7 promotion. Since then, nothing has been the same. Prior to the 24/7 promo, I was strictly a Team Deathmatch kind of player, which lead to long level grinding. But now, my eyes are opened to the wonders of Domination, Search and Destroy, and the other game modes. I have come to realize how easy it is to level up. My issue with the multiplayer in Black Ops is the completely overwhelming air support from the killstreaks. I am relieved  to hear that the developers have listened to the community and supposedly fixed the problem for MW3.

Overall, Call of Duty is an amazing franchise and I will definitely be purchasing the next installment and (to the dismay of my fiance) am highly anticipating the next set of zombie maps in CoD 9.

Tippman X7 Review

My interest in paintball started in high school when a few of my friends where talking about it. I had already taken up the hobby of airsoft and really enjoyed playing. There was something more to paintball that airsoft didn't have, Maybe it was the undeniable truth that you have been hit or the fact that more of my friends played. I got started with a simple Spyder and a 12 oz. tank, but since then my arsenal has grown. I purchased the Tippman X7 when it first came out. My X7 is set up with an 18 in barrel, response trigger, and flow through stock. The biggest complaint I have heard other reviews talk about is the response trigger eating up the CO2 but I haven't really had that problem. She's been a good gun to me so far. It has accuracy and reliability. My X7 has never chopped a paintball. The only real problem is that now the original X7 is being replace with the new and improved X7 Phenom which has claimed to have better seals, use less CO2, and have a mechanical and Electronic trigger all in one. I would love to buy it but as an original X7 owner it just doesn't have enough features for me to shell out another $400. However if you are a first time buyer or looking to upgrade to a more realistic marker then I would highly recommend any of the Tippman markers because of there superior craftsmanship and customization options.

Also if you are looking for the ultimate Mil Sim experience check out the new Tacamo magazine feed conversion kit for the A5, X7, and Phenom.