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Hitting the 30,000 Subscriber Mark on YouTube!

A couple of years ago I started posting more to my YouTube channel and more often. My thought back then was that while my award winning “Adobe Creative Suite Video Podcast” was doing well, why not broaden my reach? I figured that if I was already taking time to record video tutorials and making them freely available, that it wouldn’t hurt to put them on YouTube also. That bet paid off big time as I just passed the 30,000 subscriber mark this past weekend to my YouTube Channel and I’m nearing the 10 million view mark. Back when I started the podcast in 2007, YouTube’s quality was severely lacking. Of course that all changed and they now support full HD 1080p content.

My Creative Suite podcast and My App will always be the best way for viewers to watch offline and get bonus content, but it’s clear that people are finding me on YouTube that otherwise wouldn’t know that I exist.

THANK YOU for being a subscriber and if you haven’t subscribed to my channel yet, you can do so here.

Do you have my App?

See more of my Adobe Creative Suite Videos on my Adobe Creative Suite Podcast and get the App here.

Learn Adobe Creative Suite with Terry White - Wizzard Media

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Actiontec MyWirelessTV Stream HDMI Sources Wirelessly to Another HDTV

In my studio I have one Comcast cable connection connected to a TiVo box in an upstairs office. However, in the reception area I have an HDTV on the wall that’s used to display photos via an Apple TV. While I could easily have Comcast run a line to that HDTV on the wall, I didn’t want an ugly cable box hanging off it. I could also perhaps run a long HDMI cable from the upstairs room through the walls to the HDTV in question. However, I didn’t want to attempt it on my own. I’ve been skeptical of the performance of wireless streaming systems, but I decided to give one a try. As a matter of fact I was so skeptical that I didn’t even open it for 2 weeks after it arrived.

Actiontec My Wireless TV WiFi / HDMI Multi-Room Wireless HD Video Kit

Wow, that’s quite a product name (they need help there). Let’s just call it the Actiontec MyWirelessTV for the sake of this review. I decided to finally open the box and setup the Actiontec MyWirelessTV. The installation was very straight forward. I didn’t once think about looking at the manual. The transmitter has 2 HDMI ports, one for your source (my TiVo box) and the other goes back out to the HDTV (the one upstairs). They include 2 HDMI cables (one for the transmitter and one for the receiver). I plugged in the IR receiver as well as the power supply. I saw the lights blinking and headed downstairs to the reception area HDTV. I plugged the receiver into a second HDMI port on the TV, I plugged in both the IR transmitter and the power. Much to my amazement after a few seconds I was seeing the live broadcast from the TV box on the reception area HDTV right in front of me. The image quality was AWESOME. MUCH MUCH MUCH better than I expected. The sound was good. I was done! It worked! Floored!

The next thing I tried was grabbing the Harmony One remote from upstairs and trying to change channels. Unfortunately that didn’t work at all. I’m still trying to troubleshoot the IR Blaster transmitter/receiver to see if there’s something else I have to do? Luckily if I just point the remote at the staircase it bounces the signal up to the TiVo and I was able to change the channel.

Lastly I don’t want to see the box! I tried simply putting the box behind the HDTV resting on the wall mount. At 1st I completely lost signal. I unplugged it and plugged it back in and everything came back. My HDTV reports that the signal being received is 1080p.

Now the only thing I have to do is get a multi-AC plug adapter so that I can hide the power cord behind the TV as well. Currently the two plugs are being taken up by the HDTV and the Apple TV.

One thing I should point out. Although the long name has the word “WiF” in it, it doesn’t connect to your WiFi network at all. It uses its own internal wireless technology. That’s why it just worked the minuted I plugged it in.

The Bottom Line

Even if I don’t get the IR function working, I’m completely happy to be able to watch my TiVo and LIVE HDTV in another room without having to run cables or pay for additional cable boxes. Is the quality as good as a hardwire HDMI connection? No, but it’s more than acceptable for the use that I bought it for.

UPDATE! I tried the original TiVo remote and the IR Blaster worked just fine. So it appears to be an incompatibility with my universal remote, the Harmony One. Now I’m 100% happy with it! I was planning on keeping the TiVo remote downstairs anyway so I wouldn’t have to carry the remote back and forth.

You can get the Actiontec MyWirelessTV Video Kit here.

You can get additional receivers here.

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A Belt for Air Travel

I’m loving the fairly new TSA PreCheck program that lets frequent travelers go through security without having to take off their shoes, belts, and they can leave their gear in their bags. However, even with TSA PreCheck it’s random and every now and then I have to go through the regular security line. I’ve been traveling for a living for years and I can get through as fast as possible, but the one thing that I dislike the most is having to take off my belt. Well actually taking off my belt is no big deal, it’s the time it takes to put it back on that bugs me. We’re talking a few extra minutes here and while that might sound trivial, it seems like an eternity when you’re trying to get to your gate.

Do you really have to take off your belt?

TSA will absolutely make you take your belt off if they see it! Sometimes I’ve actually forgotten to take it off and my shirt was on the outside and long enough to go over it and as you would guess it was no problem. Even going through the body/back scatter scanner it was no issue. I thought, “cool I’ll just always wear my shirt on the outside and not take it off.” The only problem is that doesn’t work so well on walk through metal detectors that have the sensitivity turned up. My regular dress belts have metal buckles and they will set off metal detectors at various airports.

Get rid of the metal

Problem solved! I searched for a belt that contains no metal and I found a nice one! I used it going to and coming back from Photoshop World last week with no problem. The belt I found is nice because it looks like a regular dress belt and not some nylon sport belt. It’s also reversible with black on one side and brown on the other. However, I wouldn’t use it as my primary every day belt. I don’t think it would be strong enough for daily use. However, it’s definitely my new airport travel belt. I wear this one to the airport and just pack my regular belt in my carryon luggage.

This belt is also very useful for visiting other facilities where you have to pass through a metal detector. Our County building, which also houses the courts makes you go through a metal detector and so do most Federal buildings.

Check it out here.

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Hey! That’s My Work in Print and On Display at Photoshop World

Photoshop World 2012 Show Guide – Model: Kandice Lynn, Makeup Artist: Houda Bazzi

Nothing pleases me more as a photographer than to see my work in print or on display. At this year’s Photoshop World Vegas my Egyptian themed shot was used in Westcott’s ad in the Photoshop World Conference Schedule/map book and the good folks over at Metal Mural had one of my images on display in their booth. See more of my work in print here.

Metal Mural Booth – Model: Aferdita DreSHaj, Makeup Artist: Renata MUA

I also caught this one!

The Westcott Shootout Contest – My image in the lower right corner
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What I’m Teaching At Photoshop World Vegas Next Week

It’s that time of year again. It’s time to head out to one of my favorite shows – Adobe Photoshop World. As usual I have a slew of classes that I’m teaching on a variety of topics. Everything from using the iPad in your Digital Photography Workflow, to InDesign classes for Photographers and Designers, to Importing and Managing your Images in Lightroom 4. Also while I’ve got your attention, the class that I’m doing on creating Interactive Portfolios is based on using InDesign to create Interactive Portfolios for Tablets, not websites.

I look forward to seeing you there!

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Why Adobe Revel 1.5 Just Became My Favorite Way to Show My Photography

Adobe Revel is Adobe’s Photography Cloud Service. There’s currently a desktop Mac version and an iOS Version. With the Revel Service you can add photos from any device, do non-destructive enhancements and see those photos on any device. While Revel isn’t new, the 1.5 update adds the one feature that I’ve been waiting for – ALBUMS! Now that I can organize my photos in Albums (I know, simple concept right?) It just became much more useful to me.

The Lightroom Integration is the Key

Adobe Revel as a stand alone product/service isn’t that interesting for my workflow. However, with the updated Lightroom 4.2 (RC) Publish Collection plug-in I can now create Smart Published Collections that mirror my Portfolios (Collections) in Lightroom.

This means that when I update any of my portfolios (collections), all I have to do is press the Publish button in the Revel area and those portfolios are sync’d to the cloud and therefore my iPad, iPhone and other Macs.

The Syncing is the Key

There are some really great Portfolio apps for the iPad out there that do all kinds of cool things. Many let you customize them with your own brand, they have nice transitions and they allow for music to play during the show. GREAT! However, where most of them fall down is the difficulty in updating or keeping the portfolios current. For example, one of my Portfolios called “Recent Work” It has 24 images in it and after each shoot I put 1-3 images in and remove the oldest ones keeping it at 24. This takes two seconds in Lightroom. Now getting most Portfolio apps to reflect that update is often a very manual process. With Revel, I hit the Publish button on my “Recent Work” smart collection and my iPad is updated!

Is it perfect?

Well no! Most things aren’t perfect. Revel on iOS was not designed to be a portfolio app! It doesn’t have branding, music, transitions, etc. However, those kinds of things are much easier to add over time than getting the workflow right and getting the workflow right is the most important thing for me. Lightroom 4.2 with Revel 1.5 Album support is just about there.

You can download the Lightroom 4.2 RC build from Adobe Labs. It also includes:

New Camera Support in Lightroom 4.2 Release Candidates

  • Canon EOS 650D / Rebel T4i
  • Canon EOS M
  • Fuji FinePix F800EXR
  • Leaf Credo 40
  • Leaf Credo 60
  • Panasonic DMC-FZ200
  • Panasonic DMC-G5
  • Panasonic DMC-LX7
  • Pentax K-30
  • Sony DSC-RX100
Also tethering for the Nikon D4 and D800/D800E

You can learn more about Adobe Revel here. Please note that Adobe Revel is a paid service and you can try it for 30 days at no cost.

Get Revel for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch here.
Adobe Revel - Adobe Systems Incorporated

Get Revel for Mac OS X here.
Adobe Revel - Adobe Systems Incorporated

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20% Off CrashPlan Now thru 9/8/12

CrashPlan is my offsite/cloud backup of choice! I love the service and it has even saved my bacon a couple of times since I’ve been using it. Now it’s on sale for 20% off through Sept 8, 2012. Check it out here.

There are two types of computers users: those who have lost data and those who are about to lose data – BACKUP!

What good is your backup if it’s sitting next to your computer and you have a tragedy (fire, flood, theft, etc.)?

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Exclusive Adobe Illustrator Update for Creative Cloud Members 8-28-12

We’re very excited to announce the release of a new set of Adobe Illustrator features exclusively to Adobe Creative Cloud members and customers subscribed to Illustrator. These new features are being released to Creative Cloud members now, delivering on our promise that Creative Cloud members will get early VIP access to our latest innovations, including new features in our desktop software.

The three new features are focused on improving productivity, and will let you automatically package Illustrator projects and their related files for fast and accurate hand-offs, quickly unembed images that have been placed and embedded into Illustrator files, and more efficiently access information in linked files. To get these updates, just open Illustrator, and from the main menu, choose Help > Updates. Or download Illustrator for the first timehere.

To learn more visit the Illustrator or Creative Cloud product pages. If you aren’t a Creative Cloud member, or are signed up for the free Creative Cloud membership and want access to these Illustrator features, you can become a paid member here. Current Creative Suite customers can join Creative Cloud and get 40% off their first year of membership, and pay just US$29.99 per month for the first 12 months. See if you qualify.

 Are you missing out on my Bonus Content?

See more of my Adobe Creative Suite Videos on my Adobe Creative Suite Podcast and get the App here. It features EXCLUSIVE CONTENT that no one else gets to see. This episode has a BONUS CLIP that is available only in the App! My iOS App is a Universal App for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. I also have an Android version:

Learn Adobe Creative Suite with Terry White - Wizzard Media