There has been a recent stir around mobile application privacy and security this past couple of weeks with Path. The mobile social network was caught uploading users’ address books to its server without asking permission to do so. The chief executive of Path, Dave Morin, apologized for the automatic download and said Path would correct it, but also mentioned that such processes were “industry best practice.”

Surprise! Path isn’t the only app to upload and store address book data! According to VentureBeat, apps from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Foursquare, Foodspotting and Yelp upload names, e-mail addresses and/or phone numbers from users’ address books to their servers, sometimes without explicit permission. The apps are trying to see whether your friends have accounts on their services, so that you can all connect and share every detail of your waking lives.

As for storing the data that they upload? Some claim that the data collected is not stored. However, as VentureBeat points out, this is somewhat arguable if the apps do not transmit your data safely. Foodspotting reportedly transfers your data over an unencrypted HTTP connection in plain text, which means that people can easily intercept the data even if it isn’t stored.

Other apps DO ask for permission, but don’t tell you that they’re uploading your address book to their server and storing it. Take Twitter for example. Twitter has acknowledged that after mobile users tap the “Find Friends” feature on the app, the company downloads users’ entire address book (including emails and phone numbers) – and get this – keeps this data on its servers for 18 months! As with many online social services, Twitter allows users to look for friends that are also registered users.  In the case of Twitter’s iPhone app, users see a screen noting that the service will “Scan your contacts for people you already know on Twitter.” The short description of the feature does not mention that it also downloads every entry in the address book and stores it. According to the Los Angeles Times, Twitter spokeswoman Carolyn Penner said the company is planning an update to the language they use in the mobile app. Penner also noted that Twitter users can have the service remove their contact databases using the “remove” link on the Twitter webpage.

Since the Path fiasco, Instagram and Foursquare have added extra dialogue screens that explain what the apps are doing when they access the address book.

The bottom line is that privacy and security is not a big deal to these companies and that they show a lack of understanding about the consequences of data mining. Not requiring user permission should be treated as a security hole and fixed promptly.

It’s the week to celebrate love, which means that countless people are soaking in the bliss and good vibes of the holiday. At the same time, probably just as many people (if not more) are feeling bitter or annoyed. Valentine’s Day is supposed to be about love, but it’s also the day that countless single people (and married people, for that matter) dread. As the saying goes, there’s a thin line between love and hate.

In order for us to appropriately celebrate Valentine’s Day, it made sense to walk that proverbial thin line, and what topic brings out both emotions more than Microsoft? Yes, Microsoft, Bill Gates’ baby, the user-friendly software giant that even your grandmother can operate but man, it crashes a lot. Just about every facet of Microsoft walks that thin line and let’s take a peek at both sides of the argument: is Microsoft your friend or your enemy — or maybe a little bit of both?

Windows

Friend: Since the launch of Windows 95, just about every commercial computer (sans Apple, of course) comes installed with some form of Windows. You can’t argue with success, and the truth is that Windows has evolved to something so user-friendly that everyone from little kids to grandparents use it. As an operating system, it’s an office standard, meaning that IT professionals often know just what they’re up against.

Enemy: Just because something is popular doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily the best. Every Windows iteration comes with its share of bugs, and for the tech-heads out there, its limited customizability is frustrating. And while having an industry standard is good (and in reality, Microsoft has certainly taken steps forward in back-up and patching), IT professionals know that some Windows problems just can’t be fixed.

Office

Friend: Everyone uses Microsoft Office. No, really — when was the last time someone sent you a WordPerfect document? “Put together a PowerPoint Presentation” or “Send me the Word Doc” are common around every organization on the planet. And while Office 2010 has seen its hit-or-miss GUI changes, the bottom line is that Microsoft is continuously evolving its flagship applications to cross-communicate, integrate, and streamline into a singular experience.

Enemy: Of course, not everyone wants their experience to be interconnected. And you can’t talk about Office without mentioning bugs and crashes — both for the end-user and the IT administrator. However, it’s easy to nitpick about what Office does or doesn’t have; ultimately, it does its job well enough that everyone knows how to use it. Sometimes, people just hate the popular kid in school, regardless of whether or not she’s actually nice.

Company

Friend: Founded in 1975, Microsoft has done a lot of things right in its nearly four decades of operation. The simplicity of its applications and Windows operating system has opened the door to making the computer mainstream. Think about it; if we used a Linux interface or still needed DOS commands, would Grandma be checking her email? And Microsoft brings in the fun and games too, with its DirecX development powering PC gaming specs. Oh, and there’s that XBox thing too, it sounds like some people enjoy that. As for the company founder, Bill Gates has stepped outside of the software industry to become one of the world’s biggest philanthropic contributors — something that everyone has to respect, regardless of your feelings towards his company.

Enemy: In order to hit the mainstream, you’re going to have to simplify things. Because of that, more tech-savvy users can easily get frustrated by the fact Microsoft products are literally everywhere and in just about everything with a CPU in it. And while Microsoft dominates market share, they aren’t necessarily the most innovative company and their interfaces usually lean more toward clunky than elegant.

So, is Microsoft your friend or enemy? That depends on who you ask. For the everyday Joe that just wants to check his email and get a presentation ready for the afternoon meeting, they’re probably just fine with Microsoft products. For the IT administrator, it’s probably a mix of love and hate — they know what they’re getting, they know what to expect, and there’s something to be said for that level of reliability, even when it’s not what you want. For everyone else, well, it’s safe to say that the world would be quite different without Microsoft. Despite the gripes of IT professionals and tech-heads (yes, us included), technology wouldn’t be where it’s at without Microsoft.

Friend? Enemy? Love? Hate? For people in the industry, Microsoft is more like that old high school friend that stayed home and never went to college — reliable, friendly, not the brightest, but you know what you’re getting with him…and there’s definitely a certain comfort to that. Happy Valentine’s Day to dear Microsoft, the IT industry’s best frenemy.

By: Rebekah Iliff, Co-founder & CEO, talkTECH Communications

Olivia Khalili

As a business owner, entrepreneur, part-time recovering control freak and analysis junkie, I’ve spent days…no weeks…pondering the idea of running a “social business”: up and down, around and around, in and out, my brain does flips as it tries to wrap itself around this idea of “People versus Profit.” Or is it “People before Profit?”

At my core a thought lingers, or perhaps it is just a hunch: businesses are about money. Period. But then my “female energy” (yes, I am a true Californian now) kicks in, and I think…but is it? I mean, profit is what we strive for, and after all money is the obvious panacea to the problems we get ourselves into as a culture…as a planet, really. So where does all this “doing good” stuff fit?

My personal belief is that profit cannot be sacrificed for people’s happiness; rather, it is up to the leader of a business or organization to maintain a delicate balance where well being is a priority, and profit is a priority: but neither are mutually exclusive. Many non-profits exist under the auspices of “doing good” but they often spend years as entities that underpay staff and cannot sustain themselves. Who does this benefit? This cannot be a “social good” or “socially beneficial” can it: supporting organizations that do not have a sustainability plan?

But I digress; before I get too far down the rabbit hole I recognize that this is not my particular area of expertise. Not only do I lack sympathy in many areas, but I also tend to say things about things of which I know nothing, only to later regret them after being “schooled” as to the error of my ways.

So…because I “know what I don’t know” I engaged a friend and colleague who has made it her life’s work to answer the questions that haunt me often enough: how do I run a business, make money, and make people feel good about themselves all at the same time? What is the “right” balance of the people/profit issue? Don’t I have a “social mission” if I am honest, kind, and transparent in my business dealings?

Enter: Olivia Khalili, Founder of Cause Capitalism and purveyor of truth for all things social business. Thank you in advance, Olivia, for articulating this idea of a social business so adeptly…you are a total rockstar!

RI: What year did you start Cause Capitalism?

OK: January 2008

RI: What inspired you to start a blog focused on using a social mission to grow business?

OK: Frustration with the choice presented to me, as to many, of you can “do good” or you can “make money.” I had worked in both the corporate and nonprofit sectors as well as in international development. In each, I felt that one part of me was active and valued and the rest discounted: in the corporate sector, ambition was rewarded but at the cost of my values; while during my time with non-profits (which were quite traditional) I felt that innovation and business practices were met with skepticism. So after a stint of heavy questioning, I came upon the idea of business as a tool for social good, which was a concept that spoke to both my idealism and my pragmatism. I began Cause Capitalism as a blog to capture my ideas and the examples and research I unearthed. Several months later, I began interviewing entrepreneurs about how they founded and grew their socially driven businesses and realized that their stories and tactics would be interesting for other people. That’s the point at which I actively began blogging for more than my inner circle.

RI: Why do you recommend that businesses have a social mission?

OK: One way to think about it is that adapting a social mission is a holistic approach to business that takes into account a complete set of stakeholders. Companies that operate under a sustainability lens are motivated by factors outside of direct profit, for example, the health of supply chain communities, employee engagement or energy use. At the outset, financing an on-site daycare center for employees’ children seems like an expense, totally disconnected from profit. But it’s not. Patagonia’s on-site daycare saves the company hundreds of thousands of dollars in recruitment and training costs yearly and increases the productivity and contentment of its employees. Here’s a list of 15 reasons to adopt a social mission.

RI: You’ve completed over 260 posts and interviews for CauseCapitalism.com – have any businesses that previously did not have a social mission increased year-over-year revenues? If so, what are some examples?

OK: A favorite example is Interface Flooring. After Interface revamped its carpet production process to consumer less energy and materials and generate less waste, it saved millions of dollars in material, energy and waste removal costs yearly. The company’s sustainability impact has been even greater. It’s on tract to be zero waste by 2020 and has influenced a sustainability shift in the entire industrial carpet sector.

Or take Walmart’s prescription drug plan, which makes nearly all prescriptions available for $4, a tremendous cost savings for customers. The program was launched as a social business strategy to attract new customers and spending to Walmart while supporting the healthcare needs customers, many of who were uninsured or on Medicare.

RI: What advice would you give to those interested in bringing a social mission to their business?

OK: First off, it’s hard to fail. Create a mission statement that you can communicate publicly, but that more importantly serves to guide your decisions going forward. When you introduce values to business, the decisions can be hard so it helps to have a set of principles and values against which to evaluate the tougher decisions. Look for ways to integrate a social mission into your core business offerings so that it’s not a tangential component but supports your product or service. Start small. Be authentic and take actions that are personally meaningful or support the values and interests of your consumers or community. Learn and fail publicly. Ask for help from traditional competitors, businesses outside of your sector, and from consumers. Understand that you’re still running a business, not a marketing or volunteer campaign. Socially driven companies don’t get a pass from business but they do gain a competitive advantage.

RI: How should those interested in working with you get in touch?

OK: I’m happy to speak with anyone looking to integrate social mission or grow their business. I can be reached here (http://causecapitalism.com/work-with-me/)

According to a recent Gigaom post, the use of cloud services by small-to-medium-sized businesses (SMBs) is becoming the default method for IT. The post predicts that SMBs “will continue to embrace cloud at an accelerated pace, faster than the enterprise adoption rate.”

I agree with these predictions, and believe that cloud services are a great resource for SMBs in all industries. These services offer a variety of solutions, allow easy access to high-level functionality, and many providers offer data centers and hosting for external storage.

Click here to read the original article and learn more about the cloud services market predictions for 2012.

What cloud services do you use/plan to use for your small or medium-sized business? What cloud services are your clients using? What are your favorites?

Let me know – I am always excited to learn about new services!

As a part of Mashable’s weekly video series Behind the Brand with host Bryan Elliot, “How iJustine became a Media Mogul,” sought to reveal the ‘secret sauce’ behind creating a million-plus member community of online viewers.

According to Wikipedia, “as of June 1, 2009, [Justine Ezarik] had over a half a million Twitter followers, and almost 100,000 subscribers to the iJustine YouTube channel. [And] by December 2009 these numbers had grown to about 1 million Twitter followers and 300,000 YouTube subscribers… [with an additional] USA Today estimates that her videos have attracted a total of 64 million viewers.”

In addition to her online following Justine has been nominated for a number of tech based awards and won a Webby for Best Personality in 2011. Given her success- what we can learn from iJustine’s model? What has worked for her and what hasn’t?

- Parodies garner you great SEO but can backfire if the material has devoted fans.

- Tweet your idols for access to seemingly unobtainable partnerships.

- Don’t underestimate the power of raw, honest coverage.

- Record your own audio, manage your own editing, build your own site; in short, have a hand in every aspect of your production.

- Have fun with it!

- Build a community through consistent, topical content.

- The term “viral video” is often misused, and is different than having devoted subscribers. Subscribers are the key to building your online community.

- Work via all networks- all the time.

- Don’t expect corporate sponsorship even if they seem like obvious partnerships.

- Loyalties should lie to products not companies.

- Learn from your community which things to improve upon from each blog post and video.

- Diversify your content. Engage multiple platforms.

- Good audio and lighting is key but you don’t have to spend a fortune on equipment.

- YouTube is really generous with their content creators with grants for future development.

- Interactive TV. is a game changer for current content creators.

CLICK HERE to read the original article and watch the video interview via Mashable.

This year, my list to Santa was dominated mostly by beauty products to help in erasing away another year of wrinkles and Pamela Love jewelry (I’ve become quite the cult fan of this line)…but as a self-proclaimed lover of “all things tech”, I still managed to squeeze some gadgets and tech accessories onto my wish list. Here’s an inside look at some of the presents Santa dropped off on Christmas morning…

Olloclip | As a huge fan of photography and one of those people whom often chooses their iPhone over their professional camera for impromptu shots, I had been eyeing the Olloclip for a while now. This little wonder includes a fisheye lens that gives you the best shots for those tight places, a wide-angle lens for when you need that extra field of view, and a macro lens that lets you apply a 10X multiplier, which is like looking through a magnifying glass. Most of all, this detachable quick-connect lens easily screws onto your iPhone and fits in your pocket – pretty convenient for all those random shots of your friends goofing off (which often clutters your Facebook wall) or if you’re one of those mature types, think sunsets, art, etc.

Lanvin Face Print iPhone Holder | When I was in Paris this past September, I originally spotted this iPhone case at the trendy boutique, Collette, and haven’t seen anyone sporting it in the U.S. As a natural trendsetter (→this is joke), I thought I should debut this in the states because after all, who doesn’t loooooove anything and everything Lanvin! The quirky sketch by Lanvin’s Artistic Director and seasoned fashionista Alber Elbaz, reminds me of some of the fabulous Parisians Rebekah and I encountered in the lovely city.

Jawbone charity: water Jambox | This was on the top of my wish list this year so I was very happy to see this mini bundle of joy on Christmas morning. The Jambox is the smallest, portable wireless speaker on the planet that delivers the best hi-fi audio…plus its really adorable! This limited edition model in particular is special because it allows your to give back – $50 from each sold will go to support charity: water, an organization that brings clean, safe drinking water to the billion people currently living without it.

O’Hanlon Mills Laptop Case | I’ve been on the verge of ditching my worn-in, neoprene Second Skin sleeve for several months now. Santa to the rescue! Not only are the indie fashion Gods pleased with this woven pattern detailing, but this O’Hanlon Mills laptop case is very functional with a wrist strap and just enough padding to protect my Mac – minus that bulky feel.

I must say, Santa was really nice to me this year (I was actually expecting a couple lumps of coal) and I’m very thankful for these wonderful gifts I’ve received. But most of all, I am so grateful that I was able to spend the holidays with my family and friends back home. I’m so blessed to have these amazing people in my life and couldn’t ask for a better present.

As 2011 draws to a close, everyone is looking to 2012 in preparation, making predictions about what the future holds and how we can collectively better use our talents. In the corporate world and startup environment, there has been renewed interest in social good in the past 15 years. To maintain this legacy innovators are asking: what in the past year has worked and what hasn’t? GOOD’s recent article proposed to answer just that.

What can we take away from their analysis?

1) Social Impact Investing came onto the Scene.

2) Daily Deal Sites matured, causing consumers to think more critically about their choices and what they were willing to pay for them.

3) Social Enterprise boosted developing nations…fighting poverty, waste, and broken systems.

4) Crowd Funding became a celebrated new model for garnering needed monetary funds from one’s peers and supporters.

5) “Buy One Give One” giveaways spurred competition and controversy.

6) Revolutions abounded and were aided by social media and new online voting systems.

7) Microfinance hit a few bumps; showing that “credit alone [might not be] enough [in the future].”

What does the next decade hold based on this analysis? It’s hard to tell. But one thing’s for sure and that is that innovators and techies love to give back. If we’ve learned anything at talkTECH Communications from our clients, it is that entrepreneurs have some amazing ideas about how to make the world better and people stronger.

CLICK HERE to read the original GOOD article and make your own predictions about the future of social innovation in 2012 and beyond.

What happens when you put a bunch of techies and business dudes in a room with female entrepreneurs and marketing-types assisted by some very yummy wine, beer and food (including dessert) and call it a “Holiday Mashup?”

Well, I can tell you what I believe happens (networking, interesting conversation, education, a possible “hook up” here and there) or I can simply show you.  All I can say is WOW.  So grateful for our warm San Francisco welcome and we are excited to be expanding beyond Los Angeles in 2012.  And thanks to our amazing co-hosts and partners: PeopleBrowsr, Kred, Three Day Rule, Crosswa.lk, RewardMe, Go Go Mongo, Unsocial, TechZulu, SFFAMA, and Fashion + Tech SF.

The party starts in 3…2….1….

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Stay tuned for our next event, V-Day Mashup, to be held the third week in February. You do NOT want to miss this! We promise it will be worth your while!