#FollowFriday - @thegearheart: Wrtiter, Artist, Musician, Podcaster

Today's Follow Friday recommendation is @thegearheart. There are people out there who are criminally under followed. Now I realize that not everyone wants a thousand plus follows and I respect that. Still, when you've got someone as talented as Alex White running around on Twitter, you'd hope that he'd be a little closer.

"But wait," I hear you say, "who is Alex White and what is The Gearheart?"

#FollowFriday - @BrightEyedDyer: Dyer, Writer, Editor, Podcaster, She who brings fiction to fiber.

This week, I'd like to introduce you to @BrightEyedDyer, a writer, podcaster and podcast editor, and one of the most sought after dyers ever to grace Balticon. Sue Taliaferro, as she is otherwise known, not only dyes yarn, but she is known for creating the most striking color combinations. If you're into the fiber arts, you can find out more about that side of her by checking out her blog, Dyed Bright Here, or her Etsy store. But the most coveted yarns that she produces are the are the Balticon Limited Edition Colorways. These are special color sets that are each inspired by a specific novel written by one of the authors who frequent Balticon's literary track. The sets are released each year at Balticon on Memorial Day weekend.

Scrivener 2.0

[This week's review for The Nifty Tech Blog is a Guest Review by author Philippa Ballantine. Pip is the author of Geist and the co-author of the forthcoming Phoenix Rising: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel. We are happy to have Pip's review as part of her Blog Tour promoting the release of Geist.


Some notes not included in Pip's review: Scrivener is published by Literature & Latte Ltd. and costs $45 . Up until this year, it has been Mac OS only, and developed by Keith Blount. But now Keith is assisted by a number of contributors, and a new Windows version is now in public beta. But enough of me, here's Pip! Enjoy! - Editor]

#FollowFriday - @IdentityG: The Official Twitter profile of Identity Guard

I don't follow many "corporate" or commercial Twitter accounts. Life's too short and I have too many real people* to follow. The exceptions I make are... exceptional. Enter Identity Guard, aka @IdentityG. This Twitter account provides its followers with some really solid information on the latest scams and risks that pop up on the internet. They're very active in social media and have a podcast and blog where you can get additional information.

#FollowFriday - @Etherius: Podcaster, Shaper of Minds, and ReShaper of Bodies

Welcome back for another Follow Friday! This week I'd like to direct your attention to @Etherius, aka Chris Lester, high school teacher, podcaster, and creator of the Metamor City Podcast, and two time Parsec Award winner. Metamor City is a sci-fi/fantasy anthology set in a world where magic and technology work together. It is a city piled upon itself where skyways held up by magic and anti-grav divide the city into four social levels. Walking the streets of Metamor, you could meet gods, werewolves, vampires, psis, wizards, or even Eli's own prophet. A place where the citizens can accept an ancient threefold curse and reshape their very bodies, or live out their lives as mere mortal humans. Oh, and there is the occasional elf, too. Chris presides over an open world where he allows others to come in and act out stories in his world. These stories are done as full cast productions and paint a vivid picture of a rich world, and demonstrate how we strive to create our own certainties in a world where anything is subject to change without notice.

Scrambled Bits - Part Two: BitLocker To Go

Previously on "Scrambled Bits" I told you about how to encrypt your computer's hard drive using a Windows tool called Bit Locker. It's fairly straightforward and better yet it's free. Even more important than encrypting a PC's hard drive, is encrypting the ubiquitous USB drives that so many people carry in their pockets. It's easy enough to misplace them and without encryption any stranger can plug one into any PC and read its contents.

#FollowFriday - @jack_daniel: InfoSec Curmudgeon, Reluctant CISSP, and Amateur Blacksmith

The gentleman to the left is not an aging rock star, at least not in the traditional sense. As the blurb above suggests he is a well rounded individual and one well worth a follow. I got the opportunity to meet Jack (and yes I assume that's his real name) at BSidesATL, an open source security conference in Atlanta and have been following him since then.