The news out of Sydney touched me immediately on Sunday, as it was just about a year ago that I was near the coffee and chocolate shop that is currently under siege. That and the fact that I have friends in Sydney on both personal and professional levels. Thankfully, all are safe, and thanks to iMessage and email I knew within seconds of asking. While not on the same level as 9/11 in New York City, when I think how far we've come in the ability to contact and confirm that people are safe one can quickly realize the impact that technology has on society. What's also a very powerful force today is streaming media and social media. Both are very important to following the story. The first story below will take you to ABC-Australian Broadcasting Corporation's live news broadcast.

Watch the ABC News 24 – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Coverage of the Lindt Cafe Siege

Australia's most trusted source of local, national and world news. Comprehensive, independent, in-depth analysis, the latest business, sport, weather and more.

The recent Taylor Swift flap with Spotify may end up being a very well crafted publicity stunt, but the bottome line is musicians and artists need streaming media.

Why Musicians and Advertisers Need Streaming Internet Radio

Taylor Swift ignited a renewed debate about music industry revenue and the impact of Internet radio on artists. Like many debates what you believe may be driven more by where you stand than by reality. On one side you have artists and music labels that have experienced a decade long slide in music sales.

A new app, Workflow,  may be the IFTTT or Zapier for iOS apps. Right now it's a very primative but powerful tool that will only get better over tim at automating some repetitive tasks.

Workflow is a powerful automation tool for iOS

A new app called Workflow aims to close the divide between the power of OS X and the convenience of iOS. By offering curated and custom workflows, the app can automate just about anything you'd want to do on the iPhone or iPad – along with actions you probably haven't thought of before, like calling an Uber car to take you to your next meeting with one tap.

There's lots of money in take out and delivery and now venture capitalists and developers are looking at multiple ways to bring your food to you.

Why Commerce and Tech Companies Want To Deliver Grub

6:15 AM EST December 15th, 2014 Big players in the payments space tend to have a knack for disrupting every market they enter. Look at Amazon and retail or Uber and cab services. They've stepped on the toes of businesses – big and small – undercut business models, and managed to make a few enemies along the way.

New tracking technology using video may help change the way offers and information are presented to us.

Next-generation tracking technology could be in your gadgets soon

Sophisticated tracking technology, the likes of which you might associate with governments or big companies, may soon be in consumers' hands, homes, cars and local stores. If it works as described – a big "if," of course, – the technology could detect not only people but determine what they are doing, where they are going and even what they may be thinking.

Over the weekend the Drone Expo was held in Los Angeles and drones remain a hot topic with a lot of focus on management.

Drone management: The next frontier

About a year ago, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos made a bold publicity move – he sat down for a 60 Minutes interview and showed off the company's planned use of drones for same-day delivery to its customers. Those familiar with the reluctance surrounding drones in the U.S.

If you've got a charitable effort needing crowdfunding Indiegogo just gave it a kick. Now non-profits can use the Indiegogo platform to raise funds without paying any fees to the company. This doesn't remove costs for credit card transactions, but it helps put more money into organizations that need it.

Indiegogo cuts fees for good causes so you keep every penny

Raising money for medical bills, memorials, sports and other worthy causes are now fee-free on the popular crowdfunding service. More of your money is set to go to good causes as Indiegogo cuts fees. The popular crowdfunding site has got rid of fees when you're raising cash for emergencies, sports, volunteer efforts and other worthy causes.

If you're worried about your email being insecure, TechCrunch has penned a story titled "The Founders Guide to Email Security." 

The Founder's Guide To Email Security

With the horror of the Sony Pictures breach unfolding in slow motion before us, we are reminded that operational security – OpSec – is absolutely key at any company. Whether or not you traffic in high-value data, the expectation that your servers are secure enough and that your data is worthless is foolhardy.

While SilentCircle promises uncrackable text messaging and voice calling Verizon has new encrypted calling app that has one wrinkle. The NSA can listen in…..hmmm.

Verizon's New, Encrypted Calling App Plays Nice With the NSA

Verizon is the latest big company to enter the post-Snowden market for secure communication, and it's doing so with an encryption standard that comes with a way for law enforcement to access ostensibly secure phone conversations.

At Comunicano, we've always said it's all about the story. Seems The Harvard Business Review and New York Times AGREES.

Storytelling Your Way to a Better Job or a Stronger Start-Up

IT'S been called a strategic tool with " irresistible power" by Harvard Business Review. And " the major business lesson of 2014 " by Entrepreneur magazine What exciting new 21st-century technology is this? The age-old art of storytelling – something humans have done since they could first communicate.