Changes: 2019 Edition

It is that time of the year when I promise grand changes that I will never follow up on. So I decided to get a jump start on a few things starting back in December.

1. Instagram

My #1 time-wasting app. Some days I post and keep refreshing to see how many likes/views I get. Some days I continuously look at other people's stories or Explore feeds, which are catered to my browsing activity. I went cold turkey once for a couple of months, so I am going to try again. I tried to delete my account and requested an extract of all my data, but Facebook/Instagram has been slow in processing my request.

Eric Kim, a renowned street photographer, has shared a few articles on his blog, which I will link below.

Why You Should Delete Your Instagram
Why I am Happier After Deleting My Instagram
How to Achieve Happiness through Photography


Funny story - I actually randomly ran into him when I was on Tokyo. More on that later.



I actually deleted Instagram, only to come back a couple of days later to join a group chat. Few days without Instagram were great, so I went ahead and just deleted the app from my phone for the time being.

2. Flickr

It got bought out by SmugMug, and 1TB storage limit got reduced to a disappointing 1,000 photos. When my Western Digital Harddrive died, I was grateful for two things: Flickr, and my laziness. I had not formatted my SD cards, so most of the RAW files were still intact. I also uploaded full-size JPEGs to Flickr for sharing with my friends, so thank you Flickr!

I have completed a download of all my data and deleted my account. It has been a few years since I have been active on Flickr, so I have very little to lose.

3. Google Plus

Apparently, there have been security incidents, so Google announced that they will be shutting it down.

4. My Scratch Map

It is powered by Google Fusion Tables, which is, unfortunately, shutting down. I will have to look for an alternative, which is actually a blessing in disguise because I will need to update it and fix the issue with Taiwan.

With all that being said, I will need to redesign some elements of this blog (social links, etc.). Perhaps an overhaul is necessary with a new theme. I will do some more research to make this my #1 platform for journaling my journey towards a more joyous life.

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