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Apple TV

by Doc Coleman January 17, 2012 Featured

This is a review that I’ve planned to do for a long time. It seems like each time I get geared up to do this review, the manufacturer changes something about the product and sets me back to square one. Which means that I’m trying to do a review of a very good, unsung piece of hardware and software, and then they do something that just makes it better. Darn them!

Rating: 4.0/5 (1 vote cast)

This is a preview of Apple TV. Read the full post (1183 words, 5 images, estimated 4:44 mins reading time)

Tagged as: Apple, Apple TV

6 comments

Waze

by Doc Coleman June 6, 2011 Android

For some time now, we’ve been looking at different turn by turn navigation apps. We’ve seen a number of them that were pretty good, but costly, some that were decent, but free, and even a few that were very useful, but required an annual subscription. The big problem with turn by turn apps has been traffic. Add some traffic problems and the best GPS can become worthless, unless it can route you around the traffic. As a general rule, a dedicated GPS tends to do a better job, but there are times when your dedicated GPS fails or isn’t available. Having an app on your smart phone can make the difference between getting there and getting lost. While Waze isn’t perfect, it does have an innovative take on managing the traffic issue that we think makes it worth the look.

Rating: 5.0/5 (1 vote cast)

This is a preview of Waze. Read the full post (1190 words, 9 images, estimated 4:46 mins reading time)

Tagged as: Waze

3 comments

Welcome to the new Nifty Tech Blog!

by Doc Coleman February 23, 2011 Announcements

We’ve transitioned over to our new server! Finally! We haven’t finished all the changes we have in mind, but we’ve gotten enough done that we’re going to move to the new site. Keep an eye out for further changes as we move ahead.

Let us know what you think of the new site. We think it has a lot of promise.

Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

Tagged as: Status

1 comment

AVG Anti-Virus

by Scott Roche January 31, 2011 Featured

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.

Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

This is a preview of AVG Anti-Virus. Read the full post (658 words, 2 images, estimated 2:38 mins reading time)

Tagged as: AVG Anti-Virus, Security

9 comments

Can Apple survive Steve Jobs?

by Doc Coleman January 19, 2011 Editorial

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?

Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

This is a preview of Can Apple survive Steve Jobs?. Read the full post (826 words, 1 image, estimated 3:18 mins reading time)

Tagged as: Apple, Steve Jobs

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Scrambled Bits – Part Three: TrueCrypt

by Scott Roche January 3, 2011 Featured

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?

Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

This is a preview of Scrambled Bits – Part Three: TrueCrypt. Read the full post (551 words, 3 images, estimated 2:12 mins reading time)

Tagged as: TrueCrypt

0 comments

Scrivener 2.0

by Guest Author December 20, 2010 Featured

[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]

Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

This is a preview of Scrivener 2.0. Read the full post (980 words, 10 images, estimated 3:55 mins reading time)

Tagged as: Philippa Ballantine, Scrivener

2 comments

ZOOM H1 Handy Recorder – A microphone shootout.

by Doc Coleman November 22, 2010 Featured

This is a review that has been a long time in coming. For some of you I’m sure it seems like it was too long. But we won’t review something on The Nifty Tech Blog until we have had a chance to work with it for at least a month, so if you’ve been waiting anxiously for this review since we posted the Zoom H1 Unboxing back at the beginning of September, we’re sorry for the wait. We’ve spent that time learning the Zoom H1 thoroughly and determining how it stacks up against other products. We hope that you’ll agree that the wait has been worth it.

Rating: 5.0/5 (1 vote cast)

This is a preview of ZOOM H1 Handy Recorder – A microphone shootout.. Read the full post (2977 words, 6 images, estimated 11:54 mins reading time)

Tagged as: Zoom H1 Handy Recorder

13 comments

Osfoora HD, for Twitter – Crossover Review with Bird House Rules

by Doc Coleman October 25, 2010 Crossover

[Tee has informed me that his work is sending him on a business trip this week, and he's been unable to complete the final edits for the podcast in time to launch along with the review. I've included the links to the audio with this article, but I'm afraid that it may take as much as a week before there is anything on the other side of the link. Tee asked that I go ahead with the final article, so I hope you enjoy the review. - Editor]

Welcome back to the final installment of our series with Bird House Rules. We’ve finally made it to our last Twitter client for iPad. This one is another newcomer to the App store, but we think they’ve done just about everything right. My friends, I give you Osfoora HD, for Twitter by Said M. Marouf. The name may seem a bit strange, but there is a reason for it. We’ll get back to that later. Osfoora sells for $3.99, and to us, that seems like money well spent. Version 1.1.2 has a huge list of features. One of the surprising things about Osfoora HD is that it actually works as well in portrait mode as it does in landscape. The developer really put a lot of thought and effort into this client, and it shows. On top of that, he also developed and supports Osfoora for the iPhone, a separate code base. And he’s just a lone developer, working on his own. Said, our hat is off to you. In many ways, you’ve done more on your own than many large companies have done with a team of programmers. Respect, sir!

Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

This is a preview of Osfoora HD, for Twitter – Crossover Review with Bird House Rules. Read the full post (1953 words, 27 images, estimated 7:49 mins reading time)

Tagged as: Bird House Rules, iPad, Osfoora HD for Twitter, Tee Morris, Twitter

4 comments

Crash Plan

by Doc Coleman March 29, 2010 Featured

One of the most important things you can do with your computer, is back it up. Backups preserve your important data and can save untold hours of work by letting you revert to previous versions when you discover that you’ve done something to mess up one of your precious documents. Backups also soften the blow of losing a computer to age, theft, or other disasters. But if all of your backups are in one place, then how safe is your data?

Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)