TL;DR: It’s about 3.5x more lethal to be black in the USA. # PLOS ONE: Bayesian Analysis of Racial Bias in Police Shootings, 2011–2014


In case you wanted to see some data that confirms how much deadlier it is to be black…

“The results provide evidence of a significant bias in the killing of unarmed black Americans relative to unarmed white Americans, in that the probability of being {black, unarmed, and shot by police} is about 3.49 times the probability of being {white, unarmed, and shot by police} on average.”

A Multi-Level Bayesian Analysis of Racial Bias in Police Shootings at the County-Level in the United States, 2011–2014

Despicable. # Turkish police fire rubber bullets at banned Gay Pride parade


Pitiful, scared behavior of the Turkish gov’t & police. They should be protecting the right of their citizens to assemble, not preventing them because of threats!

Organisers blasted the ban on this year’s event in a statement that they tried to read aloud at the protest before they were dispersed.

“We will always exist, shout out our existence, and always be proud of our existence,” the statement said.

“They are right to be afraid of us because we are uniting, growing, and marching.”

TL;DR: Breakfast Research Is A Mess # “Sorry, There’s Nothing Magical About Breakfast” – @NYTimes

As much as I love breakfast, I have to agree that breakfast research is in a sad state. Conflicts of interest and weak methods abound! In short: it’s probably OK to not eat breakfast, and I’d wager eating well is more important.

The bottom line is that the evidence for the importance of breakfast is something of a mess. If you’re hungry, eat it. But don’t feel bad if you’d rather skip it, and don’t listen to those who lecture you. Breakfast has no mystical powers.

Apple R&D Budget Reveals a Pivot Is Coming (via @AboveAvalon)

Fascinating and astute analysis of Apple’s R&D spending. TL;DR: Apple is spending A FREAKING TON of money on R&D, more than it has ever before.

Apple has likely spent upwards of a few billion dollars on [its automotive product] so far when including real estate and stock-based compensation. When considering that Apple will likely be spending upwards of $14 billion per year on R&D by 2017 or 2018, Project Titan could easily end up being a $10-$15 billion project before Apple even ships a product. This is uncharted territory not just for Apple, but for the entire auto industry.

TL;DR: Malcolm Gladwell got the “10,000-hour rule” wrong—there’s no limit to the benefits of practice.

TL;DR: There’s nothing magic about 10k hours and depending on the field that may be inaccurate. On the bright side, though…

One way to think about this is simply as a reflection of the fact that, to date, we have found no limitations to the improvements that can be made with particular types of practice. As training techniques are improved and new heights of achievement are discovered, people in every area of human endeavor are constantly finding ways to get better, to raise the bar on what was thought to be possible, and there is no sign that this will stop. The horizons of human potential are expanding with each new generation.