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As a foreign student in the UK, the question of mobile phones is always one to ponder. I heard good things about one month rolling contracts, so I tried one out for a month with a cheap SIM free phone.

Phone: Nokia Lumia 530

The Nokia Lumia 530 is well in the ‘bargain' bracket of smart phones. After a quick look online at the time of writing, you can get it for a ridiculously cheap £50. So, what do you get for your money?

The phone fits nicely into your hand and although the case feels a little plasticy, the bright green of my handset certainly makes it stand out from the crowd. At first, I struggled to get the back off to get to the battery and sim slots, but that may just be me.

It uses the Windows operating system, and as with any new platform, it can take a little time to get used to, but actually the customisable tile layout is pretty easy to master. For a cheap phone it actually handled my day to day usage pretty well. I could, for example, have several apps open and be using the web and there would rarely be any noticeable slow down.

With Christmas just a week away, our writers are giving their views on the festive season in a series of posts. Last week we had Colombian student Johanna describing her first Christmas in England and Erik explaining the tradition of St Nicolas' Day in his home country of Slovakia. Here Shaun Dent describes his relationship with Christmas:

"Christmas for me is a bit of a double edged sword. I love Christmas itself. Going right back to my childhood, it consists of getting new toys, spending time locked up in the warmth playing with new toys, and eating far too much. What more could you want with your time off?

I tend to work right up till Christmas so this is still very much a holiday for me, as I didn't like going to school a great deal either. Also no university essays are looming anymore, which is far more pleasant. The toys may change (tablet computers rather than Lego), whilst some stay the same (I have some gaming to catch up on...), but a lot about Christmas still feels as good as it always does.

There was a lot of talk this week about the New York Post and the papers' decision to publish a photo of Ki Suk Han moments before his death (above). Han was pushed onto the subway tracks in New York and was struck by an oncoming train. He died shortly after.

In my opinion there has been far too much attention and debate around the newspapers decision to publish the photo, rather than the tragedy itself. At the end of the day it is their job to publish news, however horrifying or ugly it might be. Did it need to be on the front cover? Of course not. Was it incredibly poor taste to run the picture with the headline "Doomed"? Definitely, but papers make money from printing the news so to argue that it's exploitative seems ridiculous to me.

The man who pushed Han, Naeem Davis, has been arrested and charged with murder, though it will of course be of little comfort to his family. The fact that he was able to slip out of the subway without anyone stopping him is shocking, but highlights the unfortunate truth that many people turn to sheep in crowded public situations. People have asked why no one did more to save him, but in all honestly how could you know what you would do in that situation? I don't blame them for not rushing to help Han, and I'm sure more than one of them regrets their decision