https://api.path.com/3/contacts/add

.
Upon inspecting closer, I noticed that my entire address book (including full names, emails and phone numbers) was being sent as a plist to Path. Now I don’t remember having given permission to Path to access my address book and send its contents to its servers, so I created a completely new “Path” and repeated the experiment and I got the same result – my address book was in Path’s hands.
Path’s CEO and co-founder Dave Morin tried to address the concern raised by Thampi in the comments section, which has now also been updated in the blog post by Thampi.
Arun, thanks for pointing this out. We actually think this is an important conversation and take this very seriously. We upload the address book to our servers in order to help the user find and connect to their friends and family on Path quickly and effeciently as well as to notify them when friends and family join Path. Nothing more.
We believe that this type of friend finding & matching is important to the industry and that it is important that users clearly understand it, so we proactively rolled out an opt-in for this on our Android client a few weeks ago and are rolling out the opt-in for this in 2.0.6 of our iOS Client, pending App Store approval.
The major concern here is that the entire address book is being uploaded to Path’s servers without informing or taking an authorization from users.
points out that apps that typically use the address book, hash the data and save only the checksum rather than saving the entire data in plain text format on the servers. Morin has said that they would look at implementing the hashing procedure as that’s the industry best practice.
If you’re really spooked by this revelation then you can send a email to service@path.com and request them to delete your address book account from their servers.
We feel that though it was poor decision on Path’s part not to have the opt-in and the hashing procedure in place from the beginning, they have been extremely proactive and honest in dealing with the situation. It’s a young company and we’re sure  that this incident will put privacy on the top of their priority list when they decide on which new features should be rolled out next.
in case of users who used their initial version, which did not take off).

Miss your iMac? Dress your iPhone up as one.

(Credit:
Schreer Delights)

If you’re an Apple fan feeling nostalgic for the days of your old iMac or classic iPod , you might want to snatch up one of these retro cases for your iPhone .

(Credit:
Schreer Delights)

Schreer Delights offers a set of iPhones designed to look like old Apple products, including the iMac G3, Power Mac G4, and first-gen iPod . We particularly like the old-school Macintosh model, which includes such details as vent grooves and an SCSI port.

Compatible with the iPhone 4 and 4S, the cases give you access to the smartphone’s ports and camera. Schreer Delights says the graphics are printed deep into the case’s surface, so they won’t fade, peel, or chip.

That said, we suspect the folks in Cupertino may have something to say about the unauthorized use of their intellectual property, so if you fancy one of these cases, you might want to grab one soon. Each case costs $44.95.

(Via Core 77)

[Read more]

One of the most powerful data sets on your iOS device is your list of contacts. Many of the amazing features the iPhone and iPad have are predicated on the information available from your address book. To help get the most out of your iDevice experience, you can use Twitter to beef up your contacts.

iOS 5 added quite a bit of Twitter integration, including the ability to automatically retrieve usernames and profile photos for any of your contacts who have Twitter accounts.

(Credit:
Screenshot by Joe Aimonetti)

Essentially, if your contact has an e-mail address associated with a Twitter account, you can choose to use the profile photo associated with that account as your contact’s photo, as well as add that person’s Twitter username to contact information on your device.

To get your contacts synced with Twitter:

Open Settings on your iOS device and tap Twitter.Sign in to your own Twitter account (if you haven’t already).Tap the “Update Contacts” button and wait for the sync to happen.

(Credit:
Screenshot by Joe Aimonetti)

Now, when you access your contacts, you can tap on the Twitter account name to send your friend a tweet (directly from iOS) or check out what your friend has been tweeting (which opens the Twitter app on your device). Of course, you can also manually add Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr, a… [Read more]

My Little iPhone .

(Credit:
ION-factory)

Even electronics need to let their kink flags fly sometimes. Open-minded iPad and iPhone 4S owners can dress their devices up as furries with ION-factory’s fur covers.

The Monster Fur Cover for the iPhone is a hard snap-on cover with a shock of artificial fur on the back. It comes in three colors: snow white, creamy camel, and schnauzer grey. Gotta dig that schnauzer grey.

At least it won't shed in the summer. (Click to enlarge.)

(Credit:
ION-factory)

The iPhone cover costs $40, while a leopard-print version for the iPad 2 costs $70. Ion encourages you to pamper your new flat tribble with combing and grooming. Your real-life Shih Tzu will soon become jealous of the care and affection you heap upon your smartphone.

The covers seem to be aimed at furries, Cute Overload addicts, and people whose leases don’t allow pets.

The covers come with an odd warning: “Allergic reaction may occurred due to the fur material, please co… [Read more]

Stitchtagram brings Instagram to your couch.

(Credit:
Stitchtagram)

In the span of weeks, a friend of mine who shall remain nameless (but goes by the initials Elinor Mills) has become completely addicted to the photo-sharing app Instagram. The world has become one big Instagram photo opp for her as she points her iPhone at flowers, friends, train tracks, oil-slicked sidewalks, and anything else in her path–and still tries to get some shut-eye now and then.

This self-portrait, my favorite of Elinor's Instagram creations, would make a magnificent pillow. (Click to enlarge.)

(Credit:
Elinor Mills/@shiksabomb on Instagram)

Happily, I’ve come upon Stitchtagram, a service that makes custom handmade throw pillows from Instagram photos, and now feel confident that Elinor can stay close to her beloved app even while she rests up between Instagram shoots.

The process is simple. You design a pillow by arranging your favorite Instagram photos using Stitchtagram’s layout tool. Stitchtagram then prints the digital pics on a linen-cotton canvas and attaches it to a dark… [Read more]