WordPress: How do I bring in just the author name and not the author's name with a link to all their archived posts?

I am trying to bring in a posts author without a link to all the authors archived posts so I can instead include a link to the author's google+ profile.

Here is the current code:

Posted in: <?php the_category(',');?> by <?php the_author_posts_link();?> &nbsp; | &nbsp; <?php comments_popup_link('0 Comment','1 Comment','% Comments');?>

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Here is what I thought it would be, but the get_the_author call doesn't bring in anything.

Posted in: <?php the_category(',');?> by <a rel="author" href="https://profiles.google.com/mygoogleID" target="_blank" title="Visit my Google+ Profile"><?php get_the_author();?></a>  &nbsp; | &nbsp; <?php comments_popup_link('0 Comment','1 Comment','% Comments');?>

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I'm also wondering if there is a way to bring in any of the other author's profile fields.