Average daily spending by American consumers in stores, restaurants, gas stations and online, according to findings based on aggregated Gallup daily tracking polls: $63
Average daily spending by men: $73
Average daily spending by women: $53
Source: Gallup.
Number of e-mail messages received daily by the typical Intel employee, according to Basex research: 50 to 100
Percentage of e-mails at Intel that were unnecessary: 30
Approximate number of e-mail messages received every day by top Intel executives: 300
Approximate number of e-mail messages received every day by Intel as a company: 3 million
Source: Basex Inc.
Percentage of U.S. adults who say they see value in a decision to enroll in a career college, according to a survey by the Career College Association: 89
Percentage of adults who agree with the idea that in order for the U.S. to be competitive in the global marketplace, every American needs at least one year of college education: 67
Source: Career College Association.
Of the 80 new CEOs appointed among Fortune 1000 companies in 2008, number who were promoted from within (55 percent), according to executive search firm Heidrick and Struggles: 44
While almost all companies technically have a succession plan in place, percentage that had to go outside to hire a CEO -- indicating that many of these plans failed to hit the mark: 45
Source: Temin and Co.
Ranks of "no physical attraction" (54 percent), "lack of personality" (48 percent), "boring conversation" (46 percent), "no shared interests" (39 percent) and "different outlook on life" (38 percent) on the list of factors that singles take into consideration within the first 30 minutes of a first date, according to a survey by American Way, the in-flight magazine of American Airlines, and by specialty dating service It's Just Lunch: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Percentage of respondents who said they believe there were many potential matches they could be happy with: 81
Percentage who believe "there is one true love for each person in the world": 19
Source: It's Just Lunch/American Way.
Percentage of senior executives and managers who say that communication would increase productivity within their organization, according to a global survey of business leaders conducted by NFI Research: 48
Percentage of respondents who say that collaboration would increase productivity: 46
Source: NFI Research.
Percentage of Internet users who now say they use Twitter or another service to share updates about themselves, or to see updates about others, according to Pew Internet and American Life Project: 19
Estimated percentage of tweets accounted for by the top 10 percent of prolific Twitter users, according to an analysis of a random sample of 300,000 Twitter accounts by Harvard Business School researchers: 90
Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project.
Percentage of shoppers who report seeking products on sale and comparing prices between brand names and store brands when buying groceries or household products, according to a study by The Integer Group: 80
Percentage of consumers who believe brand names to be more expensive -- suggesting that brand names must offer incentives to consumers or they risk losing them to private labels indefinitely: 84
Source: Integer Group.
Year that Mary Anderson was granted a patent for the first hand-operated windshield wiper, saving people from having to reach outside to clear their windshields when it rains or snows, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1905
Year such wipers became standard equipment on all automobiles and streetcars: 1916
Source: U.S. Census Bureau.
Percentage increase in the amount of time Americans spent on social networking sites from 2008 to 2009, according to a study by ProCon.org: 83
Estimated amount U.S. advertisers spent to place ads on social networking sites in 2008: $1.4 billion
Projected advertising expenditures by 2012: $2.6 billion
Source: ProCon.org.
Idle Thought
"Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart. The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on Earth." -- Fyodor Dostoevsky
(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)