June 2012

It turns out Apple has an answer to this question: 514,000 in the US. 304,000 of those are either jobs at Apple or at companies that supply them.

Another 210,000 are iOS app economy jobs but let’s face it, those aren’t likely to be full time. But stepping back what Apple is claiming is that its innovations have generated new products that have created or supported jobs. From that perspective, however, 514,000 is a massive understatement. Consider the iPhone. That has spurred new activity. For one, it forced AT&T to dramatically upgrade its network. That likely changed many people’s jobs. Then it caused competitors like Google, Microsoft and Motorola (focusing on the US) to increase investments in R&D and their own manufacturing in order to compete with Apple. One suspects that once you take that into account, then the US jobs that can be somewhat attributed to Apple innovation are much higher than what Apple have claimed.

As airlines try to persuade passengers to pay for Internet access at cruising altitudes, more airports and hotels are offering it free on the ground.

Half of the busiest airports in the United States now have free Wi-Fi, including Denver, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Phoenix and Houston. Dallas/Fort Worth plans to join that list in September, teaming with AT&T in a service that will give travelers 40 minutes of free Wi-Fi in exchange for viewing a 30-second advertisement. That type of sponsored access is one way airports are balancing consumer pressure for free access to Facebook, Twitter and e-mail accounts with the cost of providing a bigger pipe for growing data needs. As devices demanding Wi-Fi proliferate, airports and hotels are also turning to tiered pricing models: offering limited Internet access free and a faster premium service to customers willing to pay.

Google said that the company will alert its users when it thinks they may be the target of a state-sponsored cyberattack.

In a company blog post, Eric Grosse, Google’s vice president of security engineering, said Google will display a warning when it detects a suspected attack on a user’s account. Such attacks, the company said, could take the form of malicious software or of deceptive “phishing” e-mails that trick users into giving up their user names and passwords. The message will read, “Warning: we believe state-sponsored attackers may be attempting to compromise your account or computer. Protect yourself now." Security experts see Google’s move as a smart, natural step for e-mail and Internet service providers.

How can an election be called before all the votes are counted? And how can an organization call a race if people are still waiting to vote?

The Associated Press makes its calls based on a variety of factors, and never calls a race before poll close, says David Pace, a news editor in Washington who coordinates AP election calls. If people were still voting when the call was made, they had to have been in line by the time polls closed, he said. No one new is allowed to get in line once polls close. The AP calls races based on early vote returns provided by state and county elections offices, exit polls that conducted with voters and vote results from a random sample of precincts around the state. It's a complicated process that also compares the voting history of counties to make sure results are in line with past trends.