Terry White's Tech Blog

September 6, 2023September 6, 2023

Where’s Terry? Welcome to my NEW Events Page

I initially intended this post to share news about the events I’ll be speaking at, notably my forthcoming TEDx Detroit talk. However, as I began updating my blog with these details, I discovered the old plugin, Gigpress, that I’ve been relying on is no longer in use. It’s been succeeded by the more modern Events Calendar plugin. Thrilled about this, I promptly integrated it into my site and populated it with all my forthcoming appearances. As a result, this post has taken a new direction. I invite you to visit my revamped Events Page, where you’ll find details on both my in-person talks and live streams, which I promise to keep current.

You can check out and bookmark my NEW Events Page here.

P.S. If you missed my Photoshop World Keynote earlier this week, you can check it out here.

July 10, 2023July 9, 2023

I Just Revamped My Home Office

I’ve worked from home most of my career. Having a great home office setup for me is very important. We had the Forth of July week off, and I took this opportunity to revamp my home office setup. This included some cleaning, decluttering, and painting.

This is the office that I use to do offices work, remote meetings and record tutorials.

I posted some pics of my new setup, and my followers insisted I do a video tour.So I recorded one that you can check out here.

Although I put links to all the gear in the description of the video, I putting in this post for your convenience as well:

June 19, 2023June 24, 2023

My 2023 Smart Home: New Additions and Recent Evictions!

Dedicated Apple Home iPad Pro in the kitchen

Ever since I ventured into the realm of smart homes in 2016, upon moving into my newly constructed abode, I’ve been managing a variety of gadgets such as thermostats, garage door openers, security cameras, alarm systems, and more, all via the Apple Home app on my mobile devices and Mac.

My smart home journey has been a constant evolution. Over the years, some devices have proved their worth and remained constant companions, like my trusty Lutron Caseta products. Others have given way to innovation, like my August WiFi smart locks, which have since been replaced with the more advanced Schlage Encode Plus locks.

Back in 2021, I shared my first smart home tour video. I skipped the 2022 tour, but I’m excited to announce that I’ve returned with an upgraded Smart Home Tour Video for 2023!

In this new video, I didn’t get into every single device I use. Instead, I focused on showcasing the new additions to my home automation ecosystem and the devices I’ve phased out. Nonetheless, I thought it would be a good idea to provide a comprehensive list of all my smart home devices right here:

May 23, 2023May 22, 2023

The Most Significant Update to Photoshop in 20 Years

Fasten your seatbelts, Adobe Photoshop enthusiasts! Ever since we embraced the Creative Cloud subscription model in 2013 – yes, a thrilling decade has flown by – Adobe has been faithfully delivering updates, making your Photoshop experience smoother and more efficient. However, brace yourselves, because today’s update is a game-changer, ready to send shockwaves through your digital design journey. This is not just an update – it’s a jaw-dropping revolution!

Introducing Generative Fill

In March this year, Adobe released a public beta of its generative AI technology called Firefly. You can check out Firefly at firefly.adobe.com (there is a waitlist to get access to the site and we’re working hard to clear the backlog as soon as possible). While the website is fun to play on and allows you to generate images via any text prompt that you can dream up, bringing that technology into Photoshop takes Photoshop to the next level.

April 17, 2023April 18, 2023

How to Store and Backup Your Photos Like a Pro

Now that my network upgrade is complete (see my Networking gear guide here to see every item I put into my new server racks), it’s time to focus on something I’ve been putting off for way too long. It was time to replace my 2012 Mac mini Server and Drobo 5D. During the COVID-19 pandemic Drobo went M.I.A. They had no products in stock, and it was reported that calls were largely unanswered.

While my Drobo and Mac mini running Mac OS X Server Sierra 10.12 was working fine, I knew I was living on borrowed time. I feared that getting a replacement would be difficult or impossible if my Drobo had some mechanical failure.

Time to upgrade to a NAS (Network Attached Storage)

I had been researching solutions from Synology and QNAP. As much as I pride myself on being tech-savvy, it wasn’t easy trying to distinguish which one was better and which product in their respective product lines would be best for me.

February 27, 2023July 21, 2024

How I Solved My WiFi Nightmare

I have 1GB Internet (1200Mbps down/35Mbps up), and when everything went downhill, this was the **AWFUL WiFi speed** I started getting.

I’m not an IT guy. I have had to learn about networking out of necessity, not out of desire or fascination. I view a home network as something that should just work, and you shouldn’t have to think about it day-to-day, just like your refrigerator. You open it and expect things to be cold. You close it and forget about it. You don’t spend hours trying to optimize it. You don’t look for Facebook groups looking for support because it either works or doesn’t. There isn’t much in-between. If it doesn’t work, you get it repaired, replace it, and then forget about it again. In my opinion, a WiFi network should be the same way. You never know how much you depend on your WiFi and internet until it dies!

One day my WiFi just went to hell

January 23, 2023January 22, 2023

Take advantage of Siri Shortcuts

Most of you know I’m a fan of smart home technologies. I spend a lot of my spare time thinking of new Automation ideas. However, not every device or application is compatible with smart home systems. For example, Apple HomeKit has no category for robot vacuums. I still can’t believe that robot vacuums aren’t a supported HomeKit category, but it’s not. This means I can’t create a HomeKit automation to vacuum based on certain conditions like “start vacuuming after the last person leaves the house.” However, my latest robot vacuum, the Roborock S7 MaxV does support Siri Shortcuts.

Siri Shortcuts are awesome

In the case of the Roborock vacuum, I can simply say, “Hey Siri, vacuum the family room.” The vacuum will start and head to the family room to complete the task.

January 16, 2023January 15, 2023

I put two of the newest smart locks to the test

I went from being apprehensive about adding a smart lock to my smart home to having one on every entry door. I’ve tried a few different models and just finished comparing two of the latest and best, especially if you have an Apple HomeKit smart home.

Level Lock+ vs. Schlage Encode Plus

These two locks have the latest and greatest technologies in them. Rather than write it all here, I put together this short video review/comparison. Watch til the end to see which one I choose as the best smart lock available today. Check it out:

The Bottom Line

Smart locks have come a long way over the years, and 2023 promises to be a great year for smart homes in general as the new Matter standard starts to bear fruit.

June 30, 2022June 30, 2022

Solar + Battery Storage = Power Grid Independence

Two Enphase IQ 10 Batteries were installed in my garage

Those of you who have been around me or this blog for the past few years know that I’m a fan of tech, green energy, electric vehicles, and of course solar power. At the end of 2019, I went solar and documented it here. My electric bill dropped by more than half and I’ve been very happy with my system. No complaints. It just works! However, there was something that I knew I would ultimately want to complete the system and I mentioned it back then. battery storage!

A solar system without battery storage will only go so far

Solar only, no battery storage. Excess power is going back to the grid

June 6, 2022June 5, 2022

My Switch To Mirrorless Wasn’t Planned, But It Is Complete!

I bought my first “serious” Mirrorless camera three years ago when the Nikon Z6 came out. I bought it mainly because I like new tech and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Back then the mere mention of Mirrorless brought Sony to mind. Sony got a big jump on the industry. However, the handwriting was on the wall. Soon all manufacturers began their transition from DSLR to Mirrorless.

My former camera was the legendary Nikon D850. An amazing camera body and in my opinion one of the best cameras Nikon ever produced. Since I already had a D850 I chose to get the Z6 over the Z7. Again, I wasn’t planning on switching at the time. Nikon made it really easy to start using their Mirrorless cameras because they included an (FTZ) adapter that made it possible to use your existing F-Mount Nikon lenses with no loss in quality. This was probably the biggest thing they needed to do if they ever hoped to get people to consider or move to mirrorless. Bodies come and go, but people hold on to good glass (lenses) for years and years.