Entertainment – Page 16

What If?

April 8, 2015Books, EntertainmentLeave a Comment

My current reading the book version of XKCD’s What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions. The website and the book is a gold mine for those who’ve always had curious questions they were too embarrassed to ask out loud. Face it, we all have had those.

Take this one:

If you suddenly began rising steadily at one foot per second, how exactly would you die? Would you freeze or suffocate first? Or something else?

While you can find the answer here, I really enjoyed that Randall Munroe used giraffes to illustrate some points.

What type of hypothetical question would you ask a scientist? I think mine would probably be: How much bacon could I eat and still live?.

What Do People Do With Each Other Between Meals?

March 27, 2015March 27, 2015Entertainment, LifeLeave a Comment

Ever since transitioning into adulthood – the strange world after univeristy/college – my social life has noticeably changed. People have become busier because of their careers or because they have started families. The only times I’ve hung out with people are at concerts (but those are a different kind of people) or while having a meal.

It’s like I don’t know what to do with people if we are not eating (or having the drink which I put under the same category). I don’t think it’s entirely my fault either. I think meal plans are more concrete, everybody has to eat and they can easily be booked in your calendar. Want to meet me at the restaurant for 6pm? sounds like a better plan that Want to come over and play board games? One sounds a lot easier to cancel than the other. Plus, who knows if the other person wants to play games with you, but again.. everybody has to eat.

Food also helps with any awkward silences. You can have the excuse “too busy eating to talk”. Also when it’s over, you are not obligated to continue the night. This is different when you invite someone over to your house and you want to go to bed but you still have to kick the person out.

I seriously don’t know what adults do with each other between meals. I can amuse myself fine: with blogging, cleaning, art and various hobbies but it’s hard to invite someone else into those situations (unless hey, you really want to help me clean my apartment).

What do you do with your friends?

Dollarama Review: Bejeweled Blitz

March 24, 2015Board Games, Dollarama Reviews, Entertainment, ShoppingLeave a Comment

One of the biggest treasure troves of Dollarama is its toy selection. I wish I had such a cheap selection of toys at my disposal when I was a kid. Anyways, recently I picked up Bejeweled Bitz, a game that began originally as a Facebook game.

The box comes in a nice case of 84 cards that have two gems on each. There are also 7 plastic boost gems you collect for extra points.

The game is played by drawing cards and making lines of cards. Matching 3 in a row combines those cards into a deck. Chains can also be made as a result (like the real game). The game is over when the deck runs out. The winner is the person with the most points. Points are calculated by counting the numbers of cards in your largest pile. The jewels count as 5 extra points each and are obtained by being the first person to make a row of the corresponding shape.

The game is a lot of chance, but there’s some thinking involved to in terms of where you place the cards. For $3, this was actually worth it as it’s a great adaptation of the mobile game.

Cutting the Cable

February 26, 2015Entertainment, Technology, TVLeave a Comment

When I moved downtown in October, I had no plans to get Cable (or Satellite TV). I felt like I could live without it and now I have convinced my parents to do the same. We no longer pay for the juggernauts that is Rogers (or Bell) to provide us with daily entertainment.

We all thought that we’d miss out on important things like news if we cut the cord. But when was the last time anybody got “Breaking News” from the tube? We hear it first on social media, or read it from the internet. My parents now have an Apple TV & an Asian equivalent of the same thing. We also have a Chromecast. For my own apartment, my laptop is my entertainment center. I caved in and got a Netflix subscription. I learned how to VPN with Hola so I could watch the American show.

Not having a TV has encouraged me to do other things too. I used to have the TV on when I blogged most of the time, but that’s a little bit harder to do when you’re also typing on the same computer, so I don’t. I blog in silence and it helps me pound out content quicker. Now I tend to only watch shows while eating dinner or before bed. Not while doing anything important.

It seems like a lot of people have decided to cut the cord this year. Have you? I’d like to know!

Video Round-Up: Controller.Controller Reunion, Valentine’s Day, More Wavelength!

February 21, 2015Life, Music, VlogsLeave a Comment

Time for another video round-up! I was busy last weekend at Wavelength’s 15th anniversary so most of these Vlogs are from there. Friday night was a bunch of Canadian bands covering their idols as well as Controller.Controller reuniting!

Next up we had Valentine’s brunch and then I headed to the Polish Combatants Hall for Lowell, The Acorn, Del Bel and more!

Final night of Wavelength!

Wavelength 15

February 16, 2015February 16, 2015Entertainment, Life, MusicLeave a Comment

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For some reason I love this shot of @lowellcat I took earlier #wl15

A post shared by Tiana Feng (@tianafeng) on Feb 14, 2015 at 11:18pm PST

Today’s a holiday here in Toronto. It’s Family Day, but I am using it to recover from a very busy weekend at Wavelength’s 15th anniversary music festival. Find all photos and reviews here.

FiiO X1 MP3 Player Review

February 3, 2015Music, Shopping, Technology3 Comments

A few months ago, I left my beloved iPod Classic on the subway. I then waited way too long to buy a new one and the classics were now discountinued. This left me with not much option in terms of iPods. Spending $300 for an iPod Touch didn’t seem to make much sense since I had an iPhone, while the lower ones lacked enough space to hold my entire library. I then turned to the internet to research affordable high-end mp3 players and concluded that my best choice would be the FiiO X1 player at $99.

I bought it in gold (silver is the other option). You can watch me unbox the thing here:

Inside the tiny packaging, there were a ton of accessories that I didn’t expect it to come with: 3 screen protectors (1 of which is already on the screen); a silicone case; 2 sets of decorational stickers. Oddly enough it does not come with earphones. You also have to purchase a micro-sd in order to use it as there is no internal storage. It supports cards up to 120GB.

The player looks a lot more expensive than it’s $99 price tag. There aren’t that many instructions that come with the machine, but it’s fairly easy to use. Here are two tips for future FiiO owners:

– You must go into the system settings and hit “Storage Formatting” on your new SD card if you wish to use your own SD card reader instead of the cable to transfer songs.
– Every time you transfer songs going to “Update Media Library” in the system settings is recommended as it refreshes all the album information. Otherwise, songs only shows up in the list of all your mp3s.

Besides the above, everything is basically drag and drop. You can drag your entire iTunes library (or whatever library you use) onto the SD card and leave all folders in tact. It plays FLAC, APE, ALAC, WAV, WMA, MP3, AAC and OGG files, with up to 192-kHz/24-bit resolution. I can definitely hear the sound difference. Everything is more crisp, clear and loud sounds don’t clip. I also hear a certain warmness of each artist’s recording setting that I didn’t pay much attention to before.

Album covers display, but only if they’ve been part of the original mp3 meta data. What this means is that if you did the “Get Album Artwork” thing in iTunes, it probably didn’t embed itself in the metadata, but elsewhere.

The battery lasts very long (12 hours I think) and the system preserves it well. The screen automatically turns off after a certain time and it also turns itself off. The buttons take time to learn but really once you understand how to hit enter (centre button) and go back (top right), the rest don’t really matter. $99 is totally a steal for this thing!

The Red Carpet @ The Juno Nominations

January 30, 2015January 30, 2015Entertainment, Life, Music, PhotographyLeave a Comment

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A post shared by Tiana Feng (@tianafeng)

I’ve never applied to go to an award show before but Ride the Tempo was on the red carpet of the Juno Nominations!

The actual announcement of the nominations went by very quickly. There was no way that you could type fast enough on a phone to live tweet everything. Names scrolled past on a screen in an instant. Before I knew it, it was all announced. Luckily, we were handed red pamphlets with all the information

Afterward, we gathered by the red carpet and stood behind the signs of our respective media outlets. It was cool having my own spot and helping out SOCAN at the same time. I learned that connections I made while blogging translated into my job, and I was an excellent wrangler at getting artist interviews and photos.

I’ll be back for the real Juno Awards ceremony in Hamilton in March but for now you can view the portraits I shot during the nominations here.

Let Yourself Do Nothing

January 16, 2015Books, Inspiration, LifeLeave a Comment

I’m a workaholic. I’m guilty of glorifying busy. I rarely let myself truly do nothing. I read on my commutes to and from work. I take my lunch breaks at my desk (so I can blog or get my work done) and when I get home I manage all my blog e-mails, edit photographs or write some more.

If I take the time to watch TV (without actively doing something else), or play video games, I feel a bit guilty inside. I feel like there’s always something more important I could be doing (including the newly added responsibility of household chores) or going (shows, friends etc). By the time I get to bed, I’m exhausted. Sleep is the only time I’m truly doing nothing.

This is a habit, I want to break. Recently, I read Jeremy Dean’s book Making Habits, Breaking Habits and in doing so I became more aware of the pattern of actions I take every day. I also learned that there’s only so many habits you can force yourself to do at once without a break, or it lowers productivity. Therefore, taking appropriate breaks are important and may lead to better output.

For now on, I’ll let myself have those mental breaks, watch an episode of something on Netflix, go for walks or literally sit in a chair and do nothing. Sometimes my best work happens during those types of events. In fact, I pretty much wrote this post in my head while showering.

Sony MDR10RBT Hi-Resolution Wireless Headphones Review

August 5, 2014August 5, 2014Entertainment, Music, TechnologyLeave a Comment

Over on Ride the Tempo, I’m giving away a pair of Sony MDR10RBT Hi-Res wireless headphones and I also had the pleasure of being sent my very own pair to review.

The biggest surprise was that they fit comfortably on my giant head, a serious problem I’ve had with other headphones like Skullcandy. They Sony headphones are light and the ear pads are soft and comfy. The band is loose enough that it doesn’t add too much pressure to my head.

These were the first wireless headphones I’ve ever owned and I found them very easy to set up with my iPhone. The rechargeable battery lasts for up to 17 hours of continuous play, so it would probably last a normal person a week without charging. While Bluetooth is activated, there are also volume, track control and answer call buttons that can be used. Included in the box is a cord if wired play is desired. There’s also a microphone on the headphones for answering calls. They do take a while to charge though with a laptop. However, the USB end plugs into my iPhone/iPad blocks without problem.

Now to get to the sound! While wired or wireless, I found that the mid to high-end sounds were crisp and amazing. I also swear to god that the headphones sound a bit different now than when I first tested them on my laptop and iPhone. I think they have a burn-in period where it auto-adjusts how it sounds. The bass is just how I like it, but I could see EDM listeners thinking it’s not “booming” enough. However, these headphones react well to EQ adjustments, so for those who want a little more of certain levels than that is an option.

Design-wise these are sleek and like I previously mentioned, super light. They ear cups swivel so that they can easily fold into the included portable carrying case. I’ll definitely be putting these in my purse.

To learn more about the Sony MDR10RBT headphones head over here. Learn more about the Sony Hi-Res line at: http://store.sony.ca/hi-res-audio/cat-31-catid-All-Hi-Res-Audio. To win your own pair, head over to RTT now!