Figuratively Speaking

Percentage of Americans who reported they would feel completely relaxed if they were entirely "off the grid" (without any electronics or Internet access), according to results from a survey by Princess Cruises: 67

Percentage who say that having a smartphone makes it harder to relax: 52

Percentage of Americans who choose music to help decompress: 40

Source: Princess Cruises.

Percentage of college students between the ages of 18 and 23 who said they usually do not go more than 10 minutes without using some form of technology during an average school day, according to the results of an annual survey by Vital Source Technologies Inc.: 45

Source: Vital Source Technologies Inc.

Ranks of values, emotional support, discipline and income on the list of what Americans say is "extremely important" for a father to provide, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center: 1, 2, 3, 4

When Americans were asked the same question about the role of mothers, ranks of values, emotional support, discipline and income: 1 (tie), 3, 4

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

Percentage of Americans who think that it's easier to meet someone online than at a public place, according to a survey by YouGov: 52

Percentage of Americans who believe that it is acceptable for people of all ages to use online dating sites or apps: 44

Percentage who believe that relationships formed through online dating sites are just as likely to succeed as relationships formed elsewhere: 36

Source: YouGov.

Percentage of marketing professionals who said they spend three to four hours a day on email, according to the results of a study that looks at a day in the life of a marketer by AtTask: 34

Percentage of marketers who said they frequently multitask in meetings: 41

Of those, percentage who also said they do so reluctantly: 43

Source: AtTask.

Estimated number of Americans who are aged 100 or older, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 53,000

Of those, percentage who are women: 83

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Number of "social media assets" (Twitter handles, employee blogs, etc.) owned by the average mid-size or large-size company (1,000 employees or more), according to Marketingeasy: 178

Percentage of companies that offer social business training to their employees: 25

Source: Marketingeasy.

Number of times more likely that children of parents who have used marijuana are to use it themselves, according to a nationwide survey of youth ages 18 to 25 commissioned by the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation's Center for Public Advocacy: 3

Among children who reported their parents had used or currently use marijuana, percentage who indicated they also have used marijuana: 72

Percentage of children whose parents have never used marijuana who reported having used marijuana themselves: 19.7

Source: Hazelden.

Percentage of Americans who have not saved any money for retirement, according to a Bankrate.com report: 36

Percentage of 18- to 29-year-olds who haven't saved anything for retirement: 69

Percentage of 30- to 49-year-olds who haven't saved anything for retirement: 33

Percentage of 50- to 64-year-olds who haven't saved anything for retirement: 26

Source: Bankrate Inc.

Percentage of Americans who indicated they were paid via direct deposit, according to results from the 2014 Getting Paid In America survey, conducted by the American Payroll Association: 96

Source: American Payroll Association.

Idle Thought

"One is happy as a result of one's own efforts once one knows the necessary ingredients of happiness: simple tastes, a certain degree of courage, self denial to a point, love of work, and above all, a clear conscience." -- George Sand, novelist, 1804-1876

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

Percentage of Americans who said they would be willing to be late for work -- and risk getting scolded by their boss -- in order to get their morning coffee, according to the results of a survey by Cumberland Farms: 56

Percentage of respondents who said they would prefer giving up alcoholic beverages for a week than giving up coffee: 69

Source: Cumberland Packing Corp.

Percentage of credit card holders who asked their credit card issuers to waive a late payment fee who were successful, according to a CreditCards.com report: 86

Percentage of cardholders who asked for a lower interest rate who were approved: 66

Source: Bankrate.com.

Average age that working Americans plan to retire, according to the results from an Ipsos eNation survey: 64

Average age that working Americans think they will realistically be able to retire: 66

Percentage of those who say they will never be able to retire, up from 7 percent last year: 13

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Percentage of employees who report feeling guilty if they do not work, either on site or from home, when they are sick, according to a poll of adults who work full-time conducted on behalf of Randstad: 47

Percentage who feel compelled to monitor their emails once their workday is over: 45

Source: Randstad-USA.

Percentage of consumers globally who now say they are very concerned about environmental problems, compared with 56 percent in 2012, according to results of the 2014 Greendex, a collaboration between National Geographic and global research consultancy GlobeScan: 61

Rank of U.S. consumers' behavior on the list of the sustainable lifestyles of all countries surveyed since the inception of the Greendex study in 2008: 17 (last)

Source: National Geographic Channel.

Although the frost has barely touched the pumpkin, percentage of consumers who have already begun their holiday shopping, according to CFI Group's Holiday Retail Spending Report: 22

Source: CFI Group.

Ranks of the 2014 Lexus RX 450h, 2014 Lexus ES 350 and the 2014 Lexus RX 350 on the list of the top 15 most worry-free cars to own, according to research by Cars.com: 1, 2, 3

Source: Cars.com.

Year that the nation's oldest institution of higher learning conferred its first nine college degrees, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1642

Year that the school then called the "New College," founded by Puritans in 1636, began teaching: 1638

Year that it was renamed in honor of John Harvard, a young minister who bequeathed his library and half his estate to the institution: 1643

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of business-to-consumer marketers who say they have acquired a customer through Facebook, compared to 60 percent for a company blog, according to research by Marketing Charts: 77

Among business-to-business companies, percentage that said they had acquired a customer through the professional network LinkedIn: 65

Source: Marketing Charts.

Percentage of U.S. broadband households that have at least one TV series that they "never miss," according to Parks Associates: 50

On average, number of hours that consumers spend each week watching video on TV screens, compared to 1.3 hours on tablets and 1.6 hours on smartphones: 20

Source: Parks Associates.

Idle Thought

"Our society must make it right and possible for old people not to fear the young or be deserted by them, for the test of a civilization is the way that it cares for its helpless members." -- Pearl S. Buck, Nobel prize-winning novelist

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

Global billionaire population today, according to Wealth-X: 2,325

Number of new billionaires added in 2014, a 7 percent rise from 2013: 155

Rank of Europe as the world leader in terms of billionaire population and billionaire wealth: 1

Number of billionaires in Europe: 775

Billionaire wealth in Europe: $2.37 trillion

Source: Wealth-X.

Percentage of workers who check personal email at least once a week while on the job, according to a Ricoh Americas Corp. online survey conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of Ricoh: 76

Percentage who take personal calls: 61

Percentage who text using a mobile phone: 67

Source: Ricoh Americas Corp.

Percentage of senior marketing executives at business-to-business and business-to-consumer organizations across North America who view customer centricity as critical to the success of their business and role at the company, according to research from SAP SE: 73

Percentage of marketers who say that customer centricity is ranked high within their organization: 14

Source: SAP SE.

Rank of doctors, military officers, firefighters, scientists and nurses on the list of occupations that U.S. adults consider to have either a great deal of prestige or to have prestige, according to a Harris Poll: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Though only 40 percent of Americans consider accounting prestigious, percentage who would encourage a child to become an accountant: 78

Source: Harris Interactive.

Percentage of brides who said they would make a few "minor adjustments" to the proposal if they could, according to David's Bridal's eighth annual "What's on Brides' Minds" survey: 53

Percentage who would have changed the location: 22

Percentage of the women who wished the speech had been different: 20

Source: David's Bridal Inc.

Percentage growth of the affluent population in the United States since 2013 ("affluents" defined as adults aged 18 or more living in households with at least $100,000 in annual household income), according to an Ipsos survey: 8

Number of additional affluent adults this represents compared to a year ago, all earning and spending at the same or greater levels: 5 million

Total number of adults in this segment of the population: 67.5 million

Percentage of U.S. households in this category: 23

Source: Ipsos Affluent Survey.

Cost to Americans of damaged iPhones since their introduction in 2007, according to the results of a study by SquareTrade: $10.7 billion

Estimated amount Americans have spent on repairs, replacements and insurance deductibles for cracked, dropped, submerged and water-damaged devices in the last seven years, including iPhones: $23.5 billion

Source: SquareTrade.

Percentage of workers who reported they have felt bullied at work, according to a CareerBuilder study: 28

Percentage of these workers who left their jobs because of it: 19

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Percentage of Americans who said that it is acceptable to use a cellphone while walking down the street, according to research by TheStreet Inc.: 65

Percentage of respondents who say that it is OK to be on a phone while checking out at a supermarket or retail store: 34

Source: TheStreet Inc.

Percentage of chief information officers and IT decision makers who believe that all data generated has value if the organization is able to store, access and analyze it optimally, according to a survey commissioned by enterprise storage leader HGST: 86

Percentage of respondents who admit they are not storing all available data, keeping them from unlocking its full value: 48

Source: HGST.

IDLE THOUGHT

"If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear." -- George Orwell

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

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