#FollowFriday - @LN_Dragonsong: Writer, Actress, Artist, Podcaster, and Gypsy Pirate

This week's pick is someone special. I don't know how I've managed to neglect this person for so long. Maybe it is just that when you follow a lot of awesome people, you can't pick out everyone at once. And so someone who is very deserving of recognition ends up getting passed over far too often. But no longer. I am, of course, talking about the lovely and talented Laura Frechette, aka @LN_Dragonsong. But Laura isn't just my pick, she is Scott's pick, too. We both wrote her up at the same time. Thus Laura is our first Double Follow Friday nominee! This article is an amalgamation of what we each wrote.

iTeleport

[Editor - Sorry for the delay in getting this one out folks. Unfortunately, there is little that you can do when your guts kick you in themselves. Hope you enjoy.]

Ever go off somewhere, to a meeting, or to visit a friend, and realize that you wanted to show something on your computer to someone? Maybe you had your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad along with you, and you checked Dropbox and Evernote and cursed yourself because the file wasn't in either one, but was safely on your computer at home, just out of reach. Well, if you have iTeleport installed, that file won't be out of reach anymore. You'll be able to connect to your home computer, find the file and drop it into Dropbox, e-mail it, or anything else you want!

An unexpected turn of events.

Friends and Neighbors, I was in the midst of putting the finishing touches upon today's review, when I began suffering several bouts of painful gastric distress. It has been very distracting and has eaten up my time this evening. The upshot is that today's review will be late as I need to get to sleep and hopefully recover from this malady. I will have the review finished and out to you as soon as I am physically able.  I am most sorry for the delay.

#FollowFriday - @GraceBridges: Mystic wordnerd. Independent friend. Urbanite hermit. Head in clouds.

Part of me really wants to move to New Zealand. If the footage from Lord of the Rings is any indication it's positively gorgeous. Add to that the awesome tweeps I've met who're from that blessed island and I simply have to think that it's got to be as near perfection as any place on Earth. So with that, I want to introduce you to @GraceBridges.

#FollowFriday - @TRReed: Math Teacher, Podcast addict, Bitstrips artist, and Texan

Have you met @TRReed? And yes, that's not a typo. Or at least, it isn't OUR typo. If he typoed his Twitter name and never bothered to fix it, that isn't our fault. Or it could have just been that @treed got there before him, but I digress... Thomas Reed, our @TRReed, is a Math Teacher, compulsive podcast listener, and a proud Texan. He is also the creative mind behind a hilarious series of Bitstrips depicting scenes from the world of Social Media. In the past three years he has created 402 Bitstrips comics based on events in his on-line and off-line life.

Happy Birthday, Nifty Tech Blog!

A year ago today, the Nifty Tech Blog launched with our first review of Delicious Library. So much has changed in a year. Since that time we've published 29 other reviews,  43 Follow Friday recommendations, and 5 editorials. In February 2010, the blog was a one man show, hosted in a corner of my .Mac account space using iWeb. Now Scott Roche has joined the staff, and we've had contributions by Odin1Eye and Philippa Ballantine, and a crossover event with Tee Morris' Bird House Rules. We moved our hosting to Blogger, and thanks to the generous contributions from our readers, we're getting ready to move to our own servers and to stand up a WordPress version of the Blog.

AVG Anti-Virus

My personal philosophy when it comes to anti-viruses is, so long as you follow a few simple rules they shouldn't be necessary. Most of the big name commercial anti-virus packages are what I call "bloat-ware". They slow down even the newest computers and in my experience either lull people into a false sense of security or bombard their owners with too many "false positives". As a result I actually don't load them on my personal computers as a general rule.

#FollowFriday - @IndianaJim: Author of forthcoming WARS novella from Grail Quest Books, Host of The Adventures of Indiana Jim podcast, SF/F Geek

There are geeks and then there are geeks like @IndianaJim. I would feel safe in calling him a geek's geek or perhaps a geek among geeks. I mean come on, his Twitter handle is a tribute to the iconic Harrison Ford character and he produced a fantastic full cast Star Wars audio drama. I don't know that he's particularly a techie geek, but we've hardly let that stop us before.

#FollowFriday - @VG_Ford: Writer, Fencer, Podcaster and Pirate Captain

There is just something about a woman with her sword in her hand, especially when she knows how to use it. That certain air of danger that lends an extra allure. Enter @VG_Ford, fencer, writer, and scourge of the high seas! Oh, and she writes, too! Val has published two books with Dragon Moon Press: Not your Father's Horseman, and Dark Moon Seasons. She also writes a variety of short fiction for different venues, and podcasts. You can get some idea of what she does on her blog, http://vg-ford.com/.

Can Apple survive Steve Jobs?

Steve Jobs' latest medical leave of absence has once again triggered speculation on Apple's ability to survive without Jobs' hand firmly on the helm. Media pundits are harking back to the long slow decline of Apple since Jobs was ousted in the mid '80's, and wondering if it is likely to happen again if for whatever reason Jobs is unable to return to work. They seem to believe that Apple's success since Jobs' return in 1997 is solely due to Jobs' influence and business acumen. Are they right? Is Jobs' personality the only thing that is keeping Apple going?

Craptech: The Apple iPad Dock

Normally, here at The Nifty Tech Blog, we try to bring you examples of the best and most useful technology available. If it doesn't measure up to that yardstick, we just don't mention it. Or we wait and watch it to see if it manages to rise above the pack and ask for our notice. But sometimes we run into a product that just utterly fails to provide any kind of utility. For those products, we created the category of Craptech. These are the products that are full of so much fail that everyone had best be warned not to waste their money on them. And the first one of these products that we are going to talk about is the Apple iPad Dock.

#FollowFriday - @RhodesTer: Funny Man, Satirist, and Alien Implant Survivor

I blog occasionally in my spare time (explains the infrequency) and so I know how hard it is to put out a blog post that's timely or funny or interesting on some kind of regular basis. Today I want to introduce you to a blogger that manages to do all of the above, or at least enough of the above to earn a passing grade. @RhodesTer, aka Dave, is a San Francisco based writer who is even now writing about what life's like as a resident of that fair city. Knowing him there will be enough snark/sass/smartassery mixed in with the commentary to set it apart from other Bay blogs. You can find that blog here.

#FollowFriday - @NLowell: The Chuck Norris of Writing and Podcasting.

This Friday I am paying my respects to @NLowell, a writer, podcaster, and the creator of stories so good, they can only be referred to as podcasting crack. Nathan Lowell is a man who has become a legend in his own time. His prowess at completing projects draws the awe and envy of the podcasting community, and accounts of his exploits continue to grow in the retelling. He once won NaNoWriMo in 15 days, with a goal of 100,000 words. His name has even become a unit of measure to which writers aspire: the Lowell. Instead of uploading a new episode every couple weeks, he uploads them every couple of days, in four and 5 episode chunks. Which is fair, as listeners easily devour at least four chapters a day. He has raised the bar of the straight read to a new standard. And that is just the true stuff! For the latest news on his work, head over to http://solarclipper.com/.

Scrambled Bits - Part Three: TrueCrypt

In parts one and two of this series I talked to you about the encryption software native to the newer versions of Windows. Contrary to what some would like to believe there are a lot of older versions of Windows still running around out there. There are also a number of operating systems other than those put out by Microsoft that people are fond of. And that's not counting people that aren't fond of Vista or Windows 7. So what if you find yourself in this group?

#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.