Percentage of teens who send more than 100 text messages a day, or 3,000 texts a month: 33

Percentage who send 50 or more text messages a day, or 1,500 texts a month: 50

Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Percentage of consumers who said they would miss aspects of reading paper books if they switched to reading e-books: 41

Ranks of touch (36 percent), portability (13 percent) and making notes (13 percent) on the list of the top aspects consumers mentioned said they would miss most: 1, 2, 3

Source: PriceGrabber.com.

Ranks of Vienna, Zurich, Geneva, Vancouver and Auckland on the list of cities with the world's best quality of living, according to Mercer's 2010 Quality of Living Survey: 1, 2, 3, 4(tie)

Ranks of Honolulu and San Francisco on the list (the top-ranked U.S. cities for overall quality of living): 31, 32

Rank of Baghdad, at the bottom of the list: 221

Source: Mercer.

Percentage of singles who confessed to negative feelings about the wedding season, according to a poll by CatholicMatch.com: 20

Percentage who said that they're dreading it: 13

Percentage who said that it would be "kind of a drag": 7

Source: CatholicMatch.com.

Percentage of Americans who agree that many of the jobs lost during the recession are not likely to come back, and that many employers will ask more of current employees instead of hiring new ones, according to a Zogby poll: 60

Percentage who believe America's best days still lie ahead: 43

Source: Zogby International.

Percentage of human resources managers who said formal evaluations are effective in improving employee performance, according to a survey by OfficeTeam: 91

Percentage who said they were very effective: 40

Source: OfficeTeam.

Increase in the demand for temporary workers in the U.S. over the same period in 2009, according to the Palmer Forecast: 10.8

According to the Sterling Resource Funding Corp. -- a company that provides funding to over 300 staffing companies -- percentage of its clients that are expanding in 2010: 80

In 2009, percentage that were shrinking: 80

Source: Palmer Forecast.

Percentage of U.S. travelers who plan to take leisure trips this summer, according to the results of TripAdvisor's annual summer travel survey: 91

Percentage of travelers who will take seven or more days of vacation this summer: 80

Percentage who say the recent volatility in the stock market impacts their plans: 11

Source: TripAdvisor.

Percentage of Americans who choose to eat a chocolate based on conditions that include their mood, the occasion, the time of day and even the weather, according to a survey by Lindt Chocolate: 61

Percentage of Americans who agree choosing their own chocolate is just as personal a decision as making their own menu choice: 70

Percentage of women who believe choosing their chocolate is just as personal a decision as selecting their lipstick or makeup: 66

Source: Opinion Research Corp.

Percentage of working mothers with children younger than age 5 who said they didn't have enough time to do what they needed to do "yesterday," according to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index: 41

Percentage of working mothers with older children who said the same: 34

Percentage of working women with no children younger than 18 who said the same: 28

Source: Gallup.

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

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

Percentage of senior executives and managers who keep a list of things to do every day, according to NFI Research: 93

Number of them who complete everything on the list by the end of the workday: 0

Percentage who finish 50 percent or less of their list each day: 51

Source: NFI Research.

When Americans were asked how they would rate the overall state of moral values in the country today, percentage who said "excellent," according to a Gallup Poll: 1

Percentage who said only fair: 38

Percentage who said poor: 45

Source: Gallup.

Percentage of business owners with between two and 10 employees who are earning more than they had hoped to make when they started their companies, according to a survey by SnagAJob.com: 21

Average number of hours these small business owners say they put in every week toward their business: 58

Source: SnagAJob.com.

Estimated percentage of the variance in math and reading grades that can be accounted for by children's social and emotional skills, according to a study conducted by the Devereux Center for Resilient Children and the Anchorage, Alaska, School District: 25

Source: Devereux Center.

Percentage of Americans who rely highly on Google searches as a source of health care information, according to a survey conducted by Capstrat and Public Policy Polling: 22

Rank of Google in terms of influence in seeking health information: 2 (Second only to doctors -- 44 percent.)

Source: Capstrat and Public Policy Polling.

Average amount of money that car owners can save annually by opting for their local independent repair shop versus the car dealership, according to AutoMD.com: $300

Approximate amount of money spent annually at dealership service centers: $56.7 billion

Source: AutoMD.com.

Year that the first disc-type phonograph record was demonstrated publicly, an invention of Emile Berliner of Washington, D.C., according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1888

Decade when these discs were replaced by compact discs: 1980s

In 2000, estimated value of CD sales: $13 billion

Today, estimated value of CD sales, as consumers turn to downloaded digital music: $13 billion

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of teen passenger deaths that occur in vehicles driven by another teen, according to an analysis of crash data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety: 60

Percentage of teens who admit to feeling unsafe with another teen's driving, according to a survey by The Allstate Foundation: 75

Percentage who are willing to speak up in risky driving situations: 59

Percentage of teen girls who report they will say something in dangerous situations on the road, versus 66 percent of teen boys: 53

Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Percentage of firms with more than 1,000 employees that achieved at least a 6 percent increase in revenue compared to the previous reporting year, according to a survey of investment managers released by SimCorp StrategyLab: 52

Ranks of the introduction of new products, targeting new client segments and entering new geographic markets on the list of key growth acceleration strategies: 1, 2, 3

Source: SimCorp Strategy Lab.

Percentage of chief executives of Fortune 100 companies who have substantial international experience, according to a study by Healthy Companies International: 75

Percentage of top CEOs who had held a senior overseas assignment 10 years ago: 54

Source: Healthy Companies International. Contact Stephen Parker at 703-879-3381 or e-mail Stephen.Parker@healthycompanies.com.

Idle Thought

"A couple of months in the laboratory can save a couple of hours in the library." -- Frank H. Westheimer, chemistry professor

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

Number of times more lawyers per capita in the District of Columbia than there are in any state in the country, according to the U.S. Census and Martindale-Hubbell: 13.8

Source: See http://www.averyindex.com/lawyers_per_capita.php.

Percentage of Wall Street professionals who say they have been approached at least once by headhunters since the start of 2010, according to a survey by eFinancialCareers: 72

Percentage of the respondents who indicated the number of calls was substantially or moderately higher than last year: 44

Percentage of respondents who said their current employer hasn't offered any positive incentives to deter them from moving to another firm: 82

Source: eFinancialCareers.

Percentage of parents who regret the names they have chosen for their children, according to a study by bounty.com: 20

Percentage of people who are fed up with the sheer number of other children sharing the same moniker: 19

Percentage of parents who say that much to their dismay, their child's forename has been the cause of amusement among friends and family: 15

Source: Bounty.com.

Of the number of special observances in May (ranging from National Vinegar Month to National Smile Month), rank of Root Canal Appreciation Day on the list of the most intriguing, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1

Estimated number of teeth that are saved each year by the procedure: 17 million

As a nation, estimated total annual bill for dental services: $100 billion

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Rank of Baltimore on the list of the "Most Dangerous Cities for Drivers," according to a study from insurance.com: 1

Percentage of drivers in Baltimore who claim a prior accident when receiving a car insurance comparison quote from insurance.com: 36.5

Percentage of drivers in Yuma, Ariz., who claim a prior accident when receiving a car insurance comparison quote from insurance.com, the safest city in the country: 17.2

Source: Insurance.com.

Percentage of employers who say they plan to hire seasonal workers for the summer, according to CareerBuilder's annual summer jobs forecast: 22

Percentage of employers who say they are planning to hire the same amount of summer workers as last year: 15

Percentage of companies that reported they would consider some of their seasonal recruits for permanent placement within their organizations when the summer ends: 57

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Rank of songs from the soundtrack of the classic "Rocky" films on the list of the most motivational songs to run to for the fourth year in succession, according to a poll of marathon runners by realbuzz.com: 1

Ranks of "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor, "Keep on Running" by the Spencer Davis Group, and "Chariots of Fire" by Vangelis as the most popular individual songs: 1, 2, 3

Source: Realbuzz.com.

Percentage of global business executives who view public CEO apologies as less effective than other strategies to repair tarnished company reputations, according to an 11-country survey by global public relations firm Weber Shandwick and KRC Research: 59

Percentage of business leaders who say the best steps to beginning the reputation recovery process are announcing specific actions the company will take to fix the problem: 76

Percentage who believe the company should create an early warning system: 76

Source: Weber Shandwick.

Percentage of chief financial officers who said today's accounting grads might have more success cutting their teeth at smaller companies than at public accounting firms or big corporations, according to a survey developed by Accountemps: 56

When asked what area of specialization they would recommend for newly minted graduates, percentage of CFOs who said general accounting: 60

Source: Accountemps.

Percentage of business professionals who are either very concerned or somewhat concerned that there may be a "double dip" in the economy, according to the results of a Deloitte Financial Advisory Services survey: 85

Percentage of respondents who think that some cost-cutting measures that their company implemented to weather the recession will be enforced during the upturn: 63

Percentage of respondents who believe that their company will not fully recover from the recession until after 2011: 31

Source: Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP.

Idle Thought

"Once we assuage our conscience by calling something a 'necessary evil,' it begins to look more and more necessary and less and less evil." -- Sydney J. Harris, journalist

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