Rotundus.com

More from Statistics Done Wrong:

One 1992 telephone survey estimated that American civilians use guns in self-defense up to 2.5 million times every year – that is, about 1% of American adults have defended themselves with firearms. Now, 34% of these cases were in burglaries, giving us 845,000 burglaries stymied by gun owners. But in 1992, there were only 1.3 million burglaries committed while someone was at home. Two thirds of these occurred while the homeowners were asleep and were discovered only after the burglar had been left. That leaves 430,000 burglaries involving homeowners who could confront the burglar – 845,000 of which, we are led to believe, were stymied by gun-toting residents.

That Americans must use their guns roughly 415,000 times a year while sleepwalking seems the only "sensible" conclusion.

Why Moore's Law, not mobility, is killing the PC

I think they're more or less right here - with a slower pace of change visible to consumers now that manufacturers have had to work on parallelizing things more rather than simply increasing the speed of a central component there isn't as big a rush to upgrade anymore.

Too big to make money?

"Profits of top 5 U.S. banks by assets, with and without taxpayer subsidy." This covers the past 10 year time frame and looks pretty mediocre.

Stop Requiring College Degrees

A deceptively titled article asserts that "Nearly 30% of Americans with associate's degrees now make more than those with bachelor's degrees" - given the irrelevance to many jobs of the subjects studied by bachelors degree holders perhaps that's a sign of progress.

Fla. high school student reportedly suspended after disarming gunman

Zero-tolerance policies for the win?

The Huffington Post said of the Roku 3's remote that it "[c]ould Save Your Marriage". Why?

The Roku 3's remote control features a headphone jack and volume buttons on the side, so as soon you plug in a pair of earbuds, the sound from the TV mutes and plays through the remote.

This works for any content you watch through your Roku: If you pop your headphones into the remote, you'll be able to hear your program in your ears without disturbing your sleeping spouse (or anyone else in your home, either).

Wireless headphones - it's about time that someone's done this right. I spent a while previously looking for wireless headphone options but the existing ones all sucked. With the added ability to build custom apps and channels (but strangely not supporting, e.g., Youtube at the moment, the availability of headphones built into the system might be enough to get me to buy one.

TSA Will Permit Knives, Golf Clubs on U.S. Planes

Security theatre about to become a little stranger: pocket knives are OK but box-cutters are still out.

And Now, From I.B.M., Chef Watson

"I.B.M.’s Watson beat “Jeopardy” champions two years ago. But can it whip up something tasty in the kitchen? ... Watson’s assignment has been to come up with recipes that are both novel and taste good. In the case of the breakfast pastry, Watson was told to come up with something inspired by Spanish cuisine, but unusual and healthy ..."

Age Your Canned Goods

The byline: "Why I now think of best-by dates as maybe-getting-interesting-by dates." The author - also behind one of the best known books on food science - notes that "Food technologists define shelf life not by how long it takes for food to become inedible, but how long it takes for a trained sensory panel to detect a “just noticeable difference” between newly manufactured and stored cans. There’s no consideration of whether the difference might be pleasant in its own way or even an improvement—it’s a defect by definition."

baconmockup

Attn: Web developers: "A simple way to use pictures of tasty meat as placeholders in your design. Just put your image width and height in our url and you'll get some meat. Inspired by the awesome placekitten.com. Combine with Bacon Ipsum for best results."