Percentage of Americans who revealed that they have peeked at a colleague's pay stub, admitting that they have given in to temptation and crossed the line to satisfy their curiosity, according to the Harlequin Romance Report 2010: 48
Percentage of American women surveyed who admitted to taking money from their significant other's wallet without their knowledge: 20
Source: Harlequin Enterprises Limited.
Percentage of employees who have had a co-worker take credit for their idea, according to a survey by OfficeTeam: 58
Percentage of employees who spoke up to let others know it was their idea: 27
Percentage who did nothing: 41
Source: OfficeTeam.
Estimated global digital music industry revenues in 2009, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry's 2010 Digital Music Report: $4.2 billion
Percentage of all recorded music industry revenues worldwide that now comes from digital channels: 25
Since 2004, percentage increase in digital revenues: 940
Source: International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.
Number of 30-second commercial slots during the Super Bowl in 2010, an increase from 55 in 2007, according to industry research firm IBISWorld: 62
Cost this year of a 30-second commercial spot, down from $3 million last year: $2.7 million
Percentage of ad space for the Feb. 7 game that has already been sold, despite major players like Pepsi and FedEx dropping out due to economic troubles: 100
Source: IBISWorld.
While the national unemployment rate remained at 10 percent in December 2009, percentage of unemployed people who have been out of work for more than 27 weeks, according to O.I. Partners: 40
When counting people working at part-time jobs who would prefer full-time work, and those who have become discouraged and stopped looking altogether, combined unemployment/underemployment rate: 17.3 percent
Source: O.I. Partners.
Percentage of respondents who think society is less judgmental about cosmetic surgery than it was five years ago, according to a survey by the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery: 71
Percentage who said society's attitude toward cosmetic surgery made them feel more comfortable about getting a procedure: 62
Ranks of breast augmentation (42.4 percent), facelift (32.2 percent) and tummy tuck (32.1 percent) on the list of the most accepted invasive procedures: 1, 2, 3
Source: American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery.
Percentage of advertising and marketing executives who said they have received bad career advice from coworkers, according to a survey by The Creative Group: 60
Percentage who said they have been steered in the wrong direction by their bosses: 54
Percentage who said they had received bad career advice from parents/relatives: 35
Source: The Creative Group.
Percentage of adults who have flown two or more times in the past year and are satisfied with the procedures for going through security checkpoints, according to a Gallup Poll: 65
Percentage who are satisfied with the airlines' efforts to deal with problems of flight delays/cancellations: 53
Percentage of travelers who are satisfied with fees charged by airlines for baggage or for rebooking a flight: 24
Source: Gallup.
Percentage of U.S. health care executives who believe the U.S. health care system is in crisis and are concerned health care reform legislation may negatively impact the quality of care and hospitals' profit margins, according to the 2009 National Survey on the Impact of Technology in Healthcare Reform: 74
Source: Arketi Group.
Percentage of active travelers who have visited a social networking Web site, according to the results of the travelhorizons survey: 59
Ranks of uploading photos/videos (49 percent), rating products or services (46 percent), visiting a chat room and/or posting content to a blog (25 percent) on the list of the most popular activities while on these sites: 1, 2, 3
Percentage who have joined a community of users who share common travel interests: 20
Source: Ypartnership Public Relations.
Idle Thought
"Many demolitions are actually renovations." -- Jalaluddin Rumi, poet
(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)