Percentage of American teens who say they know of President Barack Obama, according to an Ipsos Public Affairs poll: 72

Rank of Taylor Swift (68 percent) in terms of awareness among American teens: 2

Ranks of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. (62 percent), Oprah Winfrey (52 percent), actor Zac Efron (52 percent), NBA star Kobe Bryant (40 percent), Vice President Joe Biden (26 percent) and Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg (14 percent) on the list: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Source: Ipsos Reid Public Affairs.

Percentage of American adults who acknowledge being scared to check the balance on their bank statement in the past year, according to a Country Financial survey: 33

Percentage who say they have decreased spending on leisure activities: 51

Source: Country Financial.

Age of Benjamin Franklin when he invented swim fins, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 12

Estimated number of gadgets and games that youngsters present to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office each year -- earmuffs, water skis and Popsicles among them: 500,000

Average number of patents granted each year by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office: 185,000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of American adults who say they have at least one step-relative, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center: 42

Percentage who have a step or half sibling: 13

Percentage who have a living stepparent: 18

Percentage who have at least one stepchild: 13

Source: Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends.

Percentage of women who have gone clothes shopping for themselves in the past year, according to research from Mintel: 87

Percentage of female clothes shoppers who say they avoid items that require a trip to the cleaners: 75

Percentage who are loathe to purchase clothing that has to be hand washed separately: 59

Percentage who look for items that don't have to be ironed: 71

Source: Mintel.

Number of contacts produced by a single student, according to WikiGeeks: 140 facebook friends, 80 twitter contacts, 30 acquaintances from other online and offline networks

For every 10,000 people reached via social networking about a sustainability or environmental issue in Africa, Asia, the Middle East or Latin America, estimated number who will pass on the information to others via their own networks: 850

Number who will contribute valuable ideas for improving the project: 75

Number who will donate funds: 30

Number who will actually want to volunteer to help in person: 3

Source: Friends Beyond Borders.

Percentage of small business CEOs who expect increased revenues in the coming year, according to Vistage International: 77

Percentage who foresee higher profits in their own companies: 63

Percentage of respondents who expect to hire more employees in the coming year, which is the first time in three years that the majority of CEOs planned to expand the number of jobs: 54

Source: Vistage International Inc.

Percentage of brides-to-be who update their Facebook with their new name or relationship status within a day of taking their vows, according to the fifth-annual "What's on Brides' Minds" survey by David's Bridal: 48

Percentage of brides who are interested in doing whatever it takes to get their 15 minutes of YouTube fame, like a choreographed dance down the aisle or first dance: 44

While watching wedding reality shows may be a guilty pleasure of brides, percentage who said they'd never let their wedding be featured on a controversial reality show in order to save money and get five minutes of fame: 69

Source: Wakefield Research.

Percentage of Americans who say that they have received a good suggestion for something to try as a result of their use of social media, according to the results of a Harris Interactive poll: 40

Percentage who say they have made a connection regarding a job opportunity: 15

Percentage who say they have found a new apartment or house through their social media use: 9

Source: Harris Interactive.

Rank of "vacations taken with parents and siblings" on the list of the "most awesome" holidays, according to a survey of kids between 6 and 17 years of age conducted by Ypartnership: 1

Ranks of a religious retreat (27 percent) or theme-park vacation (26 percent) on the list of most frequently mentioned memorable vacations: 1, 2

Source: Ypartnership Public Relations.

Idle Thought

"The average man, who does not know what to do with his life, wants another one which will last forever." -- Anatole France, novelist

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)

Rank of Texas on the list of magnet states in 2010, according to Allied Van Lines' 43rd Annual Magnet States Report, which tracks inbound and outbound moves to determine U.S. migration patterns: 1

In the last 6 years, number of times Texas has placed first on the list: 6

Ranks of Colorado, Florida, South Carolina and Arizona on the list: 2, 3, 4, 5

Ranks of Michigan, Illinois and Pennsylvania on the list of the highest net relocation losses (more outbound than inbound shipments): 1, 2, 3

Source: Allied Van Lines.

Should they be lucky enough to win the lottery, percentage of people who say that paying off debt would be the first thing on their list, according to a Market Strategies study: 33

Percentage who said that buying a house would be first on their list: 25

Percentage who would either A) help family and friends, or B) save or invest (tie): 15

Source: Market Strategies International.

Total annual economic cost of overweight (body mass index between 25.0 and 29.9) and obesity (BMI of more than 30) in the U.S., according to a study released by the Society of Actuaries: $270 billion

Total cost of excess medical care caused by overweight and obesity: $127 billion

Economic loss of productivity caused by excess mortality: $49 billion

Source: Society of Actuaries.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the year that a widely accepted habit of many generations of Americans came under official attack when Surgeon General Luther Terry issued the first government report that smoking may be dangerous to health: 1964

Estimated percentage of adult Americans who smoke: 20

Estimated percentage of the residents of Kentucky who smoke -- the state with the highest proportion of smokers: 28

Estimated percentage of the residents of Utah who smoke -- the state with the lowest proportion of smokers: 12

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of women who aspire to dress younger than their years, according to research carried out by Debenhams: 89

Percentage who cite 70 as the age they felt they would either be or had been happy to dress their age: 55

Percentage of women who said that their 70s would be no barrier to dressing and looking younger: 45

Source: Debenhams.

On the heels of the announcement that Time magazine had named Mark Zuckerberg 2010's "Person of the Year," percentage of teens who responded that they have a Facebook page, according to a poll of American teens conducted by Ipsos Reid: 75

Percentage of those who admit to accessing their Facebook page continuously throughout the day: 27

Percentage of teens who can access the Internet through their mobile device who are continuous Facebook users: 65

Source: Ipsos Reid.

Estimated increase in the number of gym memberships, from 29.5 million in 1998 to more than 40 million in 2010, according to a special report from IBISWorld: 10.5 million

Number of cigarette and tobacco manufacturing plants -- the number having dropped at an annualized rate of 9.5 percent since 2005: 77

Source: IBISWorld.

Percentage of mobile Internet time spent on e-mail, according to the State of the Media Fact Sheet compiled by the Nielsen company: 38.5

Percentage of time spent on social networking: 10.7

Percentage of time spent on news and current events: 7.2

Source: Nielsen Media Research.

Projected number of sales worldwide by 2015 of Internet-connectable TV devices (consisting of Internet-connectable HDTVs, Blu-Ray players, game consoles and digital video players), according to Parks Associates: 350 million

Source: Parks Associates.

Percentage of Americans who plan to spend at least some of the extra money they will receive through the one-year Social Security payroll-tax reduction that became effective Jan. 1, 2011, according to The RBC U.S. Consumer Outlook Index: 74

Percentage who plan to spend all or most of it: 42

Source: RBC.

Idle Thought

"You can't shame or humiliate modern celebrities. What used to be called shame and humiliation is now called publicity." -- P.J. O'Rourke, writer

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)

Percentage of people who say relatives overstay their welcome after a day or less, according to a special edition of the "HomeAway Vacation Rental Marketplace Report": 22

Ranks of "leaving their belongings all over the place" (31 percent), "not helping with the cooking/cleaning" (26 percent), and "wanting to be entertained constantly" on the list of the most annoying habits of houseguests: 1, 2, 3

Source: Home Away.

Rank of Johnny Depp on the list of top money-making stars of 2010 in Quigley Publishing Co.'s 79th annual poll of motion picture exhibitors: 1

Number of times Depp has appeared in the poll, including two other first-place finishes in 2007 and 2006: 6

From 1949 to 1974, number of times John Wayne was voted one of the top 10 money-making stars: 25

Source: Quigley Publishing Co.

Percentage of Americans who say religion is losing its influence on American life -- one of the highest such responses in Gallup's 53-year history of asking this question, according to a Gallup Poll: 70

Source: Gallup.

When consumers were asked to cite the kind of advertising they're most likely to ignore, percentage who cited Internet banner ads, according to an AdweekMedia/Harris Poll: 43

Ranks of search engine ads (20 percent), TV ads (14 percent), radio ads (7 percent) and newspaper ads (6 percent) on the list of advertising they were most likely to ignore: 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: AdweekMedia/Harris Poll.

Between 1970 and 2000, percentage growth in the undergraduate student population, according to Universities.com: 72

According to information from the National Center for Educational Statistics, percentage of students who are part-time: 39

Percentage of postsecondary students who are 25 years of age or older: 39

Source: Universities.com.

Percentage of Internet users who have paid to download or access some kind of online content from the Internet, according to a Pew Internet & American Life survey: 65

Percentage of Internet users who say they have paid for digital music online: 33

Percentage who have paid for digital newspaper, magazine or journal articles or reports: 18

Source: PEW Internet and American Life Project.

Percentage of employers who plan to hire full-time, permanent employees in 2011, up from 20 percent in 2010 and 14 percent in 2009, according to CareerBuilder's annual job forecast: 24

Percentage who plan to decrease headcount, an improvement from 9 percent in 2010 and 16 percent in 2009: 7

Percentage who anticipate no change in their staff levels: 58

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Percentage of U.S. homes that have a digital video recorder, according to Nielsen research: 38

Percentage of time-shifted prime-time broadcast programming that is played back the same day it was recorded: 49

Percentage that is played back within three days: 88

Source: Nielsen Media Research.

Percentage of households that have made home improvements to save on their utility bill, according to international research from Parks Associates: 68

Percentage who cite personal comfort as another primary reason for making upgrades: 65

While consumer awareness of smart grids remains low, percentage of U.S. households that are still taking energy-saving actions themselves, and making energy-related improvements in their home: 80

Source: Parks Associates.

Percentage of new-car shoppers who say they are waiting to find the right deal before making their final purchase decision, according to the latest study from Kelley Blue Book: 72

Percentage who say they have not yet finalized their purchase or lease decision because they are still undecided on the specific vehicle they want to purchase: 43

Percentage of new-car shoppers who have delayed their purchase in the past year: 52

Source: Kelley Blue Book.

Idle Thought

"Every man's work, whether it be literature, or music or pictures or architecture or anything else, is always a portrait of himself." -- Samuel Butler, poet

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)