James Zhan in real life.
James Zhan in real life.
James Zhan
Hi, I’m James, a full-time videographer and video editor at University of Toronto, a YouTuber, a former audio engineer of 10 years, and someone who majored in English and writing, loaded with opinions. This is my personal blog where I write opinion pieces, personal reflections and articles about rabbit holes I’ve gone down, and share what I’m currently up to.
Latest Posts
When was the last time you typed a quotation mark or an apostrophe? Most likely today, very possibly within the last hour. When was the last time you took a good look at them? I bet never1. I’ve been doing some copy-editing and...
This year (2025) marks my 10th year as a professional audio engineer, and it’s also the year I decided to officially retire from professional audio engineering work. My audio engineering stats, generated in June 2025 It’s been a long and...
When I first chose Bear Blog as my blogging platform, I didn’t realize that it had such a vibrant and wholesome community (discover other Bear Bloggers). I saw a Bear Blog carnival going on for Nov 2025 (hosted by Absurd Pirate) and I’m...
Preamble: The whole affair is Google’s fault and not Bear Blog’s. Huge thanks to Herman—Bear Blog’s founder and dev—for his patience and help. A month after I started my first Bear blog at blog.james-zhan.com, my blog was entirely...
I had been in such a creative rut this year. Last year, I published 11 videos on my YouTube channel. It may not seem like a lot, but I make videos on YouTube for fun as a creative, not for a living—it’s where I channel my creativity (pun...
Affinity apps are undergoing controversial changes in 2025 after the Canva acquisition: subscription fears, AI concerns and a move from forum to Discord.
Why we ditched Facebook Messenger for Signal: A personal reflection on privacy, AI overreach and why data security matters to everyone.
What does citizenship mean today? A naturalized Canadian explores identity, freedom and belonging after giving up his birth citizenship.
Introverts share why they chose a small city hall wedding over a big celebration—and how COVID helped them avoid family pressure for the perfect day.
How forcing University of Toronto staff back to the office five days a week undermines the university’s own diversity, equity and inclusion goals.
Confused about the em dash, en dash, and hyphen? This article explains when to use each, how to type them and what to avoid.