An anonymous reader writes: Researchers in Japan have established an almost 75% correlation between Google Trends data on keyword surges and equivalent Wikipedia page views. Since Google provides aggregate web-trends data with little granularity, the 'early ripples' of web interest are far harder to detect via its APIs than by a system that gathers information from Wikipedia's publicy accessible page views data.

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I’ve been at home and injured — with lower-back spasms, which are excruciating but getting better today — which explains my string of snarky tweets during the Apple event today. (Also the pain medication might have something to do with it.)

But there was one tweet I wanted to explain:

Apple events always give me the near-overwhelming urge to go outside and roll around in the dirt.

That’s the lyrical version of “I find Apple events to be more precious than I’d like.”

By precious I mean, as an old version of Webster’s has it: “Particular; fastidious; overnice; overrefined.” Think of precious as high-end, high-emotion kitsch.

Apple events are sugar pills with a sugar coating. Me, I prefer a sugar pill with a bitter coating (as in the British version of The Office), or a bitter pill with a sugar coating (any Kurt Vonnegut novel). (Note: I stole this metaphor from Vonnegut.)

Which is to say: I’m as cheap and sentimental as the next person, but I think my sweets taste better with some peppers.

However — and this is important — the way Apple does these events is utterly appropriate. For me to criticize it from a personal taste perspective is ridiculous, given that my personal tastes would work against Apple’s success.

So I was just being a jerk, in other words.

My back hurts.

* * *

Apple announced some great things today. Of particular interest to me is the iPad Pro.

I’m a Mac developer — I’ve done my time with iOS, and don’t have any wish to return to it. Except… except that the iPad Pro is sneaking up on being a Mac. Or on being the thing that replaces Macs in the long term. (Or on being the thing Macs turn into, or something.)

I love writing productivity apps. Not games, not diversions, but apps where you get work done. And the iPad Pro looks like the first iOS device designed for productivity apps.

I keep thinking, though, that if I could plug in my old Apple Extended Keyboard II, my Magic Mouse, and a 27" display, then I could get real work done on it. Well, if I could run Terminal and BBEdit and Xcode. And if there was something like AppleScript.

All right, so it’s not a Mac, and isn’t supposed to be — but it’s some steps closer.

And that’s intriguing. I don’t expect to go back to writing iOS apps again (unless, of course, at Omni I’m asked to) — but, gosh, it would be fun to write for iPad Pro.

I wonder if it’s possible to write apps that run only on iPad Pro. That might tempt me more. Obviously, in that case, I wouldn’t be writing for money but for love.

* * *

I don’t have plans or interest in writing for Apple Watch or Apple TV. It’s nice, for once, to enjoy platforms where I’m just a user. I like my TV and my watch, and it’s fun to use them without knowing anything about their respective SDKs. Like a regular person.

(That said, it’s always possible that at Omni I could end up working on anything, which is fine, but so far I’ve been on Mac apps and I’m happiest that way.)

* * *

This event shows, again, that the Mac is at the back of the bus. But I like that — we can horse around a bit back there.

P.S. Looks like the El Capitan ship date is September 30. I’ve been happily using the betas.

rjmarvin writes: Vietnam is in the midst of a tech boom. The country's education system is graduating thousands of well-educated software engineers and IT professionals each year, recruited by international tech companies like Cisco, Fujitsu, HP, IBM, Intel, LG, Samsung, Sony, Toshiba and others setting up shop in the southern tech hub of Ho Chi Minh City and the central coastal city of Da Nang. Young Vietnamese coders and entrepreneurs are also launching more and more startups, encouraged by government economic policies encouraging small businesses and a growing culture around innovation in the country.

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The European Commission has called on EU countries to take in 160,000 refugees as thousands continue to stream in.

jfruh writes: Microsoft became an OS and PC behemoth in part by relentless focus on business sales, and is partnering with old friend Dell to try to recreate that success, trying to woo companies into buying Surface Pros loaded with Windows 10. It may seem topsy-turvey that Dell would be selling someone else's hardware, but Dell is offering ancillary services, including warranties, on the Microsoft hardware.

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