AllThingsD » Alabama

U.S. Tech Job Growth Was Strongest in…Oklahoma City?

Arik Hesseldahl — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 15:00:44 +0000

The TechAmerica Foundation’s annual Cybercities report covering the state of America’s local technology job markets for 2009 (the most recent data available) paints–as you might expect–a depressing picture in all but a few of the markets surveyed.

One big surprise: The job market with the strongest growth in tech jobs–with a net gain of 900–was Oklahoma City. Don’t pack up the U-Haul just yet. Yes, it added the most technology jobs of the 60 cities in the survey, but it also had one of the smallest overall tech job pools, accounting for only 18,000 jobs, ranking 57th of the 60.

The New York statistical area, which includes New York City, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, had the largest pool of tech jobs at 317,000. It lost 8,700 jobs during the survey period, which as we all know was during the worst throes of the recession and the catastrophe that struck the data-driven financial industry. Fifty-three out of 60 cities saw job losses. Nationally, the group found that the tech industry lost about a quarter million jobs in 2009.

Statistically, the TechAmerica report considers San Francisco, Oakland and the San Jose areas as separate. But if you added them all together, tech jobs would outnumber New York at 394,000. San Jose led the nation in tech pay, at an average of $132,100 per year, and not surprisingly had the highest concentration of tech jobs as a percentage of the workforce: One job in three is tech-related.

The only markets to see job growth aside from Oklahoma City were places like Huntsville, Ala., and San Diego. You can take a look and see how different cities fared here.

Election 2010: The View From YouTube

Voices — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 22:34:53 +0000

Google rolled out some fun facts on last month’s election-related YouTube video views today, with the rankings reflecting viral popularity as much as political viability. For what it’s worth, all 10 of the most viewed News and Politics videos were from Republican campaigns or supporters, and the predominant theme was anger–from the ominously orchestrated “America Rising” to the royally ticked-off, gun-toting, horse-riding candidate for Alabama Ag Commissioner, Dale Peterson. The most popular of the 450 official candidate channels on YouTube was that of Delaware Senate contestant Christine O’Donnell, fueled by her “I’m not a witch…I’m you” video.

Gawker Settles a Libel Suit With a Correction, but Not a Check

Peter Kafka — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 11:09:59 +0000

Sometimes Nick Denton likes to boast about Gawker Media’s legal battles. Other times, he keeps quiet.

Like earlier this month, when Denton settled a libel suit filed by motorcycle-maker Confederate Motors. His blog network’s only comment about the case is an oblique “correction” on his Jalopnik car blog, noting that Confederate does not appear to be “unable to do business” in New York.

MediaPost and media law blogger Ben Sheffner seem to be the only two outlets keeping tabs on the case, and you can get the full download at their sites.

But the very short story is that Confederate sued Gawker over an April 9, 2009, post (now deleted, though Google shows traces) about some of its vehicles.

Things Confederate (Really! I know!) didn’t like included an assertion that its bikes are “so unreliable you’ll have to push them” and that “we heard the Alabama-based company was being sued so heavily in state courts by disgruntled owners that they were unable to do business here.”

The Jalopnik post seems to be the sum total of Gawker’s concessions to Confederate. Gawker COO Gaby Darbyshire tells MediaPost her company didn’t pay Confederate a penny and that it settled only “because it was too trivial an issue to take to court….One must pick one’s battles.”

Sounds reasonable! Especially when there are much bigger battles looming on the horizon.

Jobs Back on the Job, Says Apple

John Paczkowski — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:47:12 +0000

[ See post to watch video ]

iPhone 3GS–The S Is for "Shortage"

John Paczkowski — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:27:06 +0000

The iPhone 3GS has been on the market just 10 days now, and already a growing number of Apple (AAPL) stores around the country are running short of the device. It seems that demand for the 3GS, which topped one million units sold its first weekend at market, has exceeded even the company’s presumably aggressive targets.

At the time of this writing, Apple’s iPhone availability widget (pictured) is showing shortages of various iPhones at Apple stores across the United States. The device is completely sold out in states like Alabama, Delaware and Kentucky, where Apple (AAPL) has a limited retail presence. In others, its availability varies, though there seems to be higher demand for black phones than white.

An impressive performance, particularly at a time when consumers are inclined to be more frugal than usual.

iPhone 3GS–The S Is for "Shortage"

John Paczkowski — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:27:06 +0000

An impressive performance, particularly at a time when consumers are inclined to be more frugal than usual.

10 CAR PILE-UP! ROTFL!

John Paczkowski — Fri, 22 May 2009 14:50:55 +0000

It’s no surprise to hear that one in four Americans drives like an idiot, but to learn that a similar percentage truly are idiots, well… I guess that’s not really a surprise either. After all, you’d have to be pretty dim to text while driving, a practice that widespread research and more than a few fatal accidents have proven to be a dangerous distraction. My God, people can’t even walk and text at the same time.

According to a new survey from Vlingo, a company that develops speech-recognition technology for mobile phones, 26 percent of its nationwide sample of 4,816 mobile phone users said they sent texts while driving. This despite laws against Driving While Texting in some seven states and some nasty DWT-related accidents. The states with the highest percentage of DWT drivers: Tennessee (42 percent), New Jersey (35 percent), Alabama (34), Idaho (33) and Oklahoma (31.7).

Ironically, 83 percent of the people surveyed said they feel texting while driving should be illegal.

“In just one year, the public conversation about the issue of DWT has escalated, particularly in the wake of some high-profile accidents,” Dave Grannan, chief executive of Vlingo, said in a statement. “Texting is such an integral component of our daily lives, and the cautionary tales about DWT danger have not stemmed the tide. We predicted last year that this problem would get worse, and it has since more people are texting. The good news is that many state legislatures are starting to take up this issue, and today more advanced technologies exist that can increase safety on the roads.”

My God, if one in four drivers admit to driving while texting, how many more were too ashamed to?

Class-Action Suit Patch Sadly Absent From iPhone OS 2.0.2 "Bug Fixes"

John Paczkowski — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 15:15:29 +0000

Apple may soon regret the “twice as fast, half the price” slogan it chose for iPhone 3G. A first lawsuit has been filed against the company over the device’s performance and reliability, and it seeks class-action status. Brought by Birmingham, Ala., resident Jessica Alena Smith, the suit (PDF) alleges that while the iPhone 3G may be half the price of its predecessor, it is almost certainly not twice as fast. Worse, it’s prone to dropping calls. “Immediately after purchase, Plaintiff soon noticed that her Internet connection, receipt and sending of email, text messages and other data transfers were slower than expected and advertised,” the lawsuit reads. “The defective iPhone 3G appeared to connect to the 3G standard and protocol less than 25 percent of the time. Additionally, Plaintiff experienced an inordinate amount of dropped calls.”

Familiar complaints to some iPhone 3G owners, or to anyone who’s spent any time in Apple’s support forums lately. Indeed, Apple recently acknowledged the device’s reception problems. That said, the company’s “twice as fast, half the price” messaging does include the caveat “actual speeds vary by site conditions,” which would seem to absolve it of Smith’s charges of false advertising. And, beyond that, those who are disappointed by the performance of their new iPhone 3Gs had 30 days to return the device without consequence. Which is not to say that iPhone 3G’s performance hasn’t been disappointingly subpar or that it’s unreasonable to demand that Apple (AAPL) fix it. Just that Smith had recourse other than a suit demanding that Apple pay unspecified damages in addition to repairing or replacing all defective iPhones.

Class-Action Suit Patch Sadly Absent From iPhone OS 2.0.2 "Bug Fixes"

John Paczkowski — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 15:15:29 +0000

More States Mull Taxing iTunes, Other Digital Downloads

Eric Savitz — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 14:24:07 +0000

State legislators look at Apple’s (AAPL) iTunes and other digital download services stealing away business from offline retailers and you know what they see? A piggybank.

News.com reports today that at least nine states this year have considered enacting “download taxes” on digital goods–and five of those states have adopted them, including Nebraska, Tennessee, Indiana and Utah. Similar laws are already on the books in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Washington.

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