life – Page 15 – Tiana Feng

The Great Instagram Purge of 2014

December 28, 2014Social Media, TechnologyLeave a Comment

Last week, Instagram went through a giant purge of bots. That meant a great deal of users lost followers in some way. Some lost thousands. I only lost 40, but it still felt like a lot.

I’ve never ever bought followers nor am I a huge user of hashtags, because I know they contribute to a lot of the bot numbers. But I guess they still managed to find me in some way. Instagram’s not like Twitter and there’s not so many tools out there for moderating your contact list (nor do I trust most that exist). I’ve never really used any strange “marketing techniques” to garner any of my current followers (on any social networks). I am a very big advocate on the attitude of “if they want to follow you they will”.

I’m a very big believer of influencer marketing, a topic that is now of heavy debate in Singapore. I think that’s what prompted me to write a post on the matter. This Instagram purge was very necessary for the network to know it’s real users and to reveal who their true influencers are. While Instagram still has yet to be infiltrated with ads, it has a lot of potential to be very valuable to advertisers. Hell, the other day I saw my first “sponsored ad”, one by Ferrero Rocher, my favourite chocolate in the world. How they knew that, I don’t really know. All I know is, Instagram’s ad network will be very targeted.

I’m not freaked out about social media and advertising. I’ve kind of always dove nose-first into it. We make unconscious decisions about everything we purchase and are surrounded by ads and marketing almost everywhere we look. I will just remain being myself everywhere online.

If you’d like to connect with me on Instagram you can find me here: http://instagram.com/tianafeng!

A Crazy Little Thing Called Life

October 12, 2014LifeLeave a Comment

View this post on Instagram

Best day! Cotton candy at work

A post shared by Tiana Feng (@tianafeng) on Sep 10, 2014 at 10:00am PDT

Hey guys, sorry for being a little bit MIA lately. There has been so many things going on in the past little while that I’ve had no time to blog (and not just on this one)! A lot of exciting things have happened/are happening that I will surely tell you about soon.

Life’s a little like cotton candy, you must eat it (or experience it) before it melts.. or maybe I have no idea what I’m talking about.

Allow Yourself To Do Nothing

July 22, 2014Health, LifeLeave a Comment

I’ve always been the type of person to keep busy. Even when I was watching a TV, I needed to be reading articles on the internet, drawing, learning how to code, blogging or whatever. I couldn’t justify simply doing the recreational thing without being busy with something I deemed “productive”. In my head I felt like I was wasting my life if I took that extra hour of sleep, nap, caught up on Youtube or even hang out with friends.

Ever since I got a full-time job these priorities changed. I still struggled with the need to “keep productive”, this time with more of a focus on reading a book or writing the blog posts that keep all my sites updated. I now have less time than ever to do any of those things and being able to prioritize has been a challenge.

However, I let myself turn-off the brain when I’m exhausted. An extra hour of sleep, hanging out with friends or letting myself relax and play video games does wonders for the amount of things I can get done the next day (including write this blog post). We live in an age where “being busy” is addictive and seems trendy but it’s important to know when to just kick back once in a while.

Dear Kids That Egged My House

March 27, 2014March 27, 2014LifeLeave a Comment

I cannot think of any reason why you would’ve chose our house out of all the ones on the block. We do not know you and have never provoked you in anyway. I’m sorry for whatever reason you think that we deserved to spend a few hours cleaning our window.

I’m sorry you have nothing better to do on a Wednesday night but get into mischief in the freezing cold. I thought that in age of video game systems, social media, computers, awesome toys, there would be hundreds of other things to do. Sorry your life lacks those things and had to spend all your money on eggs instead.

I’m sorry that the eggs didn’t stain my house. They took mom an hour to clean, but it eventually got removed.

I’m sorry your mother has never told you not to waste food. Think of all the starving people all over the world who would have loved to eat those eggs.

I’m sorry you like Justin Bieber because that’s the only way you’d think egging is cool. Justin Bieber is not cool. I’m sorry that you have been brainwashed.

I’m sorry that I didn’t catch your face or your name but next time I’ll make it up to you and post it on all my social feeds so the world can know cool you think you are.

Ride the Tempo on CBC Music!

March 7, 2014Inspiration, Life, Music, Social MediaLeave a Comment

Today my music blog Ride the Tempo was featured in CBC’s list of “Canadian Music Blogs You Need to be Reading”. Normally I don’t care for lists but CBC was one of the early outlets that got me caring about Canadian music and influenced me to change the blog’s format to focus entirely on it. It was actually a difficult decision to make. Canadian music is not as popular or hit-generating as some of the bigger indie artists out there. Blogs that write about everything get a lot more hits, and return generate more ad-revenue.

I don’t blog because I think I’ll one day get rich off of it. I love exploring the Canadian music landscape. I care about it and will continue to do so.

Ride the Tempo Redesign

January 8, 2014DesignLeave a Comment

A new year called for a new redesign on my music blog Ride the Tempo. For a while, I was obsessed with the purple dark background of the past. I’ve been wanting to change the colours and make it easier to read for long-form posts. Yesterday, in light of my resolution (or lack of) just do it, I did it. I went into the CSS and made all the necessary tweaks. Other changes including making the Disqus comment box larger and switching the plugin I used for related posts. I also redesigned the logo a bit so that it would match the new colours.

While tweaking the site is a continuous endeavour, the new colours make it easier to test new features. I’m very happy with it so far and excited to continue sharing emerging Canadian musicians with all my readers.

My Resolution This Year is to Have None

January 5, 2014Inspiration, LifeLeave a Comment

In the past I’ve written so many post about resolutions and things like that but this year I am going to have none. I made the Vlog below to talk about why.

How to Photograph a Funeral

March 18, 2013March 18, 2013Art, Photography1 Comment

While photographing a funeral may seem morbid to some, it is normal in some cultures to want to capture the moment. Funerals tend to be one of the very few times where entire families and friends gather in a room, even those who haven’t seen each other for 10 years. Asian funerals tend to have a lot of tradition and are quite interesting to document.

To be honest when grandma asked me to photograph grandpa’s funeral, I thought it was weird. I thought I would be shy, break down (well I did occasionally), or that it would be awkward. However, I learned a lot from this experience and think I became a much better photographer because of it.

Here are a few tips:

1. No Flash
Having a photographer at a funeral can be awkward enough for some visitors, don’t be intrusive with a giant flash. I used my 50mm 1.8 lens for the majority of the shots so that I could absorb the most light as well as purposely blur backgrounds.

2. Be Considerate
Funerals can be a great opportunity to be photojournalistic, but at the same time you have to still be sensitive. Don’t stick cameras in people’s faces and be as invisible as possible. In my case, it was a little bit more difficult because I was part of the immediate family.

3. Edit Photos to Fit The Mood
Photos shouldn’t really be high of contrast and colour, that doesn’t really fit the mood of a funeral (or at least not the ceremony/wake). Don’t “bloom” your photos, apply appropriate filters that aren’t too bright and cheery. A mix of black and white and colour is okay too.

4. Watch People Interact With Each Other
Chances are if you’ve been asked to photograph a funeral, the person doesn’t just want to remember the deceased, but also all those who came out.

5. Be Confident
If you act like you are unsure you are supposed to be there, than it makes it awkward for everyone else too. If you’re confident than people will know you are doing your job.

If you ever get asked to photograph a funeral, treat it as a honour to help someone keep their last memories of a loved one. For now, most of the photos are for my family’s eyes only but they are some of the most intimate and emotionally beautiful photographs that I have ever taken.

Bullying Affects All.. To This Day

February 20, 2013February 20, 2013LifeLeave a Comment

Growing up, I was the bookworm, the nerd, the keener, the teacher’s pet. The smart ass. By grade five, I also had ridiculous glasses. I was constantly called names, made fun of. Pens thrown at me. Despite being a skinny Asian girl, I had a negative self-image. It wasn’t until later in University that I truly felt beautiful.

Talking about bullying isn’t an easy thing. Friends and parents tell you to “ignore it” that it’s just kids being kids. That was much easier said than done.

My boyfriend showed me Shane Koyczan’s To This Day Project. The poem, written by Koyczan features work from animators and motion artist who worked together to provide 20 second segments in their unique style. Tied together with some emotionally charged reading and powerful music they aim to share the impacts of bullying.

I may be older now but there are still outstanding effects of being bullied. I have self-confidence and anxiety issues that I still deal with from time to time. However, if I learnt anything over the last couple of years, it is to be true to myself. And to share the experiences, because that’s the only way for people to acknowledge that bullying hurts and is much more common than they realize.

The Only Things I Remember From Having Leukemia

February 6, 2013February 14, 2013Health, LifeLeave a Comment

It wasn’t until I was around 20 that I learnt why I was sick when I was around 4. Growing up I just periodically had to go to Sick Kids for checkups every year and I just assumed it was a regular routine thing for a growing child. I’m completely healthy now, whatever strain of leukemia I had (I’m still somewhat unclear on all the details), it was curable. Doctor visits have become much less frequent and trying to recall the events of back then is actually rather difficult. Here are some things I do remember:

I remember my doctor’s name was Dr. Freeman. Other than that, I don’t remember what he looks like. Every time I try to picture him I get the image of Colonel Sanders from Kentucky Fried Chicken. Maybe that is what he looked like.

I remember ALF came to visit me in the hospital and it was fuckin’ frightening for a 4 year old. Also I’m pretty sure I still have the pogs he gave me.
I remember playing with a kitchen set. It was yellow, and I loved pretending to cook pretend food.

I remember wearing a weird fanny pack for a while when I was out of the hospital. It made me feel like a robot. Around the same time my parents also threw out all the microwaves and we weren’t allowed to have them until 10 years later.

I remember making friends with a girl name Sarah. She had down syndrome. I wonder where she is now and how she is doing.

What I don’t remember is what it felt like to be sick or how I got there. I don’t remember all the depressing parts of being sick. I have Sick Kids Hospital to thank for that.