Disclaimer 1: The good folks of No Starch Press were kind enough to provide me with a review copy of this book, but this did not influence my assessment in any way.

Disclaimer 2: Links to books are Amazon affiliate links.

Statistics Done Wrong: The Woefully Complete Guide

Let me preface this review by saying that if you’re looking for a book to learn statistics from, this is not it. The author assumes a certain knowledge on the subject matter and unless you have that, you probably won’t get much out of this text as explanations are a bit on the terse side (though heavily referenced for additional reading).

So who is this book for then? Everyone who works with statistics and/or data analytics, and wants to get a handle on some of the most common mistakes and fallacies committed in the field, whether knowingly or unknowingly. Like mentioned before the style can be a bit terse, and I think occasionally chapters could have benefitted from slightly more background on the presented concepts, especially since this book is marketed as a “complete guide”. I nonetheless consider it a good resource for people as myself, who mainly picked up their statistical knowledge in relation to their main interest, i.e. for machine learning or bioinformatics. If you feel like you have at decent handle on basic statistics, but wouldn’t trust yourself to set up your own analysis or experiments, you’ll certainly gain something from “Statistics Done Wrong”.

On a stylistic note, I have to say that for a book on statistics, this has been a surprisingly entertaining read and the author deserves some bonus points for pointing out the irony of using published studies and papers to point out fallacies in other studies and papers.

If you are an experienced statistician you probably can give this one a pass, but if you want to freshen up or add to your existing basic statistics knowledge, this is a very enjoyable book.

• The Ketamine Connection
• The art of the urban nap: let’s lose the stigma of public snoozing
• 14 days running a secret Dark Web pedophile honeypot
• Tetris blocks traumatic flashbacks even after the memory is fixed
• Gang wars: Tackling Thailand’s vocational college violence
• Magazine: Life and death along the Thai-Myanmar border
  
• Going home to Inner Mongolia

• Math for eight-year-olds: graph theory for kids!
  This is a great example of how to present math to children!
• Yes, androids do dream of electric sheep
  Super interesting, and some beautiful images. See also Inceptionism: Going deeper into Neural Networks.
• Earth’s sixth mass extinction has begun, new study confirms
  :-(
• More Than Just Peat and Smoke: The Best Islay Single Malts
  Consider this post a todo list ;-)
• Harmony Korine on Kids: ‘It would be impossible to make that film now’
  I loved this movie when I was about the same age as its protagonists.
• Hero Ex Royal Marine Saves 100 Civilians in Nairobi Mall Killings
  It’s nice to read something good once in a while.
• The Sikhs who saved Parmesan
  Very interesting story about migration.
• Why We Cry on Planes
  In case you ever wondered…
• What Makes the Expat Lifestyle So Addictive?
  I may not agree with everything, but it’s a good read.
• There’s a dark side to startups, and it haunts 30% of the world’s most brilliant people
  30% seems high, but from personal experience I can confirm that this is a problem in our community.

• Berlin becomes first German city to make rent cap a reality
  
• Aussie student proves existence of plasma tubes floating above Earth
  
• A grandmother’s 36-year hunt for the child stolen by the Argentinian junta
  
• Ursula K. Le Guin Calls on Fantasy and Sci Fi Writers to Envision Alternatives to Capitalism
  
• Kalief Browder, 1993–2015
  
• Map: The remarkable distances you can travel on a European train in less than a day
  
• Absolute power
  
• Vladimir Putin, interview to the Italian newspaper «Il Corriere della Sera»
  
• My Startup’s Dead! 5 Things I Learned
  
• Lost Posture: Why Some Indigenous Cultures May Not Have Back Pain
  

Since I won’t manage to publish a new issue of Information Overload every Sunday, from now I’ll adopt a “whenever I feel like it” schedule.

• It Only Took Four Months For China To Achieve A Jaw-Dropping Reduction In Carbon Emissions
  That’s good news for a change.
• Why so many Dutch people work part time
  Bottom line: because they are smart.
• Stalking Your Friends with Facebook Messenger
  This illustrates nicely how location data could be correlated and why that is a problem.
• A TED speaker coach shares 11 tips for right before you go on stage
  
• Why French Kids Don’t Have ADHD
  Answer: more reasonable parenting.
• The people who think they are made of glass
  Speaking of psychology, this is one of the stranger conditions I’ve heard of.
• »Ich bin in Rage angesichts unserer Sexualkultur«
  Interesting interview with a sexologist (in German).
• Skyping with the enemy: I went undercover as a jihadi girlfriend
  Title says it all, an intense read.
• A Border Town Built for Vice
  Border towns can be fascinating places.
• Nigeria Outlaws Female Genital Mutilation
  While this won’t solve the problem, it’s a good first step.

• Google got it wrong. The open-office trend is destroying the workplace.
  I agree with a lot of the points mentioned in this article.
• The 10 world cities with the highest murder rates – in pictures
  8 of them are in the Americas.
• Slave Revolt in Jamaica, 1760-1761
  History, maps, revolution. Count me in!
• The Largest Vocabulary in Hip Hop
  Nice combination of music, language, and statistics.
• Before I Go: A Stanford neurosurgeon’s parting wisdom about life and time
  Despite the heavy topic, this is a very good read.
• Why Some Men Pretend to Work 80-Hour Weeks
  My take: because they are subjected to an extremely unhealthy work culture.
• How many iPhones can fit in a 747?
  Interesting little writeup on transport logistics.
• Want a Steady Income? There’s an App for That
  The Silicon Valley really seems be believe that every problem can be solved with an app. At least these guys are trying…
• The Fake ‘Asian’ Who Fooled 18th-Century London
  This very bizarre story would make a very interesting movie.
• Vera Putinas verlorener Sohn
  An interesting story about Vladimir Putin’s alleged real origins (in German, also available in English).

With a slight delay…

• China’s Man-on-the-Side Attack on GitHub
  Using censorship infrastructure for DDoS attacks. More information: Pin-pointing China’s attack against GitHub
• Mr. Anarchist, we need to have a chat about colonialism
  Interesting read and a good reminder to look for bias in your own arguments/assesments.
• I made an NES emulator. Here’s what I learned about the original Nintendo.
  For retro nerds.
• Incredibly Detailed Map Shows SE Asia’s Amazing Diversity
  I love maps and am very interested in SEA, so this is very fascinating.
• Iran’s Been Two Years Away From a Nuclear Weapon for Three Decades
  The poignant title says it all.
• Tragedy in the Maldives
  On the exploitation and mistreatment of Bangladeshi migrant workers in the Maldives.
• Sie wollen ihr Leben zurück
  Not all women are happy to be mothers (in German).
• How Hong Kong’s subway turns a $2 billion annual profit
  Maybe they should use the money they make from property development to subsidize transport.
• Fascists at the gate in Greece It’s always scary to see institutionalized fascism.

• Why We Should Demand a Shorter Workweek
  To add some perspective: Refusal of work
• The Lost Civilizations of Asia
  Some preservation would indeed be appreciated, many of the lesser known sites are slowly rotting away.
• Why Birds Keep Crashing Into Cars And Planes
  Apparently because they judge the potential danger of approaching objects by distance and not by speed.
• Burma’s bizarre capital: a super-sized slice of post-apocalypse suburbia
  I only drove through Naypyidaw by bus at night, but it sure did feel bizarre.
• The great escape that changed Africa’s future
  Highly recommended, a very good read and a gripping story.
• Being an Animator in Japan Is Brutal
  I’m no Japan expert, but I can’t imagine that 1000$ a month is anywhere close to a living wage.
• No more physics and maths, Finland to stop teaching individual subjects
  I’m not sure I like the premise, but education surely can do with an overhaul.
• Guest Post: 5 Chinese Ghost Cities That Came Alive
  Good read, especially because gives an alternative version on China’s urban development.
• Ebola whole virus vaccine shown effective, safe in primates
  That’s some great news.
• The Origin of the Tale that Gavrilo Princip Was Eating a Sandwich When He Assassinated Franz Ferdinand
  Time for some history.

• Why Thai women cut off their husbands’ penises
  The article is somewhat older, but still an interesting read.
• Wie Austromarxismus zum Spottbegriff wurde
  A short but interesting article about Austrian Marxism after the first Wold War.
• Journey to the Centre of the Earth
  Fascinating visualization by the BBC.
• Hip Hop Video from Saudi Arabia Takes on the Exploitation of Immigrant Laborers
  Good to see some social awareness in the region.
• A new New Cairo: Egypt plans £30bn purpose-built capital in desert
  Egypt plans to build a new capital with up to 5 million inhabitants within 5-7 years.
• Lighten Up
  Our narratives should be as diverse as our realities.
• Parasite turns shrimp into voracious cannibals
  Exploring the role of parasites in cannibalism.
• Noam Chomsky on the Roots of American Racism
  Once again a very interesting interview.
• The Bengal Famine: How the British engineered the worst genocide in human history for profit
  Als this is not the only politically motivated/engineered famine.

• Google crocks capacitors and deviates DRAM to root Linux
  That’s one creative exploit.
• Chinese Labor Strike: 5,000 Workers Strike At Factory Making Shoes For Nike, Timberland, Kenneth Cole; Police Dogs Deployed
  There is a certain irony to labor strikes in “Communist” countries.
• Psychoactive Plant May Hold Key to Reversing Diabetes
  Always good to see some potential advancements for chronic diseases.
• Government agents ‘directly involved’ in most high-profile US terror plots
  While there’s no need to get the tinfoil hats out, this trend for entrapment by government agencies is rather disturbing.
• Here’s what happened when Bogota decided to let graffiti artists do their thing
  Bogota is a city I feel I didn’t have enough time for. Certainly would be worth another visit.
• Neil Gaiman: ‘Terry Pratchett isn’t jolly. He’s angry
  RIP Sir Terry Pratchett!
• Listen: Why Scientists Have Created Music Just for Cats
  Animals react to music that’s specifically made for them.
• For the first time, the world economy grows while carbon emissions don’t
  They are still crazy high though…
• How Ikea took over the world
  A really good read.
• Malaysia’s first warrior woman
  A female MMA fighter is helping in destroying stereotypes.