Number of Americans (36 percent) who believe it's socially acceptable to have a poor credit score, according to a survey conducted by JZ Analytics on behalf of ID Analytics: 77 million

Number of Americans (35 percent) who are more afraid of becoming an identity theft victim than they were five years ago: 75 million

Source: ID Analytics Inc.

Number of times their final pay level that workers need to meet their financial obligations in retirement, according to a survey by Aon Hewitt, the global human resources solutions business of Aon PLC: 11

Number of times their final pay that the average U.S. worker comes up short in savings: 2.2

Source: Aon PLC.

Year that Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen (accidentally) discovered an image cast from his cathode-ray generator, and named the new form of radiation "X-radiation" (X standing for "unknown"), according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1895

Year that Americans got their first glimpse of this medical marvel in an exhibit in New York City -- it came quickly into use in U.S. medicine, and then into overuse, (Thomas Edison's assistant Clarence Dally, after long, unshielded experimentation with X-rays, had both arms amputated, and then died in 1904 from exposure to radiation): 1896

Estimated number of medical devices and supply manufacturing establishments in the U.S.: 12,000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Percentage of American workers who had not yet taken all of the vacation days allotted to them by their employer as of the end of November, according to a survey by Adecco Staffing U.S.: 75

Percentage of workers who are allotted three weeks or more of vacation time annually: 36

Source: Adecco.

Percentage of men and women around the world who say, "Flirting is just playful fun," according to a survey from Zoosk.com: 41

Percentage of men who will flirt with a woman even if he is not interested in pursuing a relationship with her: 54

Percentage of women who will flirt with a man even if she is not interested in pursuing a relationship with him: 41

Source: Zoosk.

Percentage of U.S. adults who feel that they have little (33 percent) or no (12 percent) control over the personal information companies gather while they are browsing the Web or using online services such as photo sharing, travel or gaming, according to a survey conducted by Ipsos on behalf of Microsoft: 45

Percentage who say that they only minimally understand (17 percent) or are totally confused (4 percent) when it comes to personal online protection: 21

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs RS.

Ranks of Ellen DeGeneres, Mark Harmon, Jon Stewart, Jim Parsons and Bill O'Reilly on the list of America's favorite TV personalities, according to a survey by Harris Interactive: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Ranks of Denzel Washington, Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks, Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt on the list of America's favorite movie stars: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: Harris Interactive.

Percentage of adults who report having been through an interview process, according to a poll conducted on behalf of Hire-Vue: 63

Percentage who say they have never done so (including 61 percent of those who are retired, and 45 percent of those without a college degree): 37

Source: Hire-Vue.

Percentage of global executives who are increasingly concerned about the growing risks to their supply chains and costly negative impacts such as margin erosion and the inability to keep up with demand, according to a survey from Deloitte: 53

Percentage of executives who say their supply-chain risk-management programs are only somewhat effective or not effective at all: 45

Source: Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP.

When asked about typical activities you'd do in a taxi, percentage of participants who responded that they talk, text or email on their phone, according to the annual global taxi survey compiled by Hotels.com: 76

Percentage who also said they slept: 56

Percentage who have shared a cab with a stranger: 35

Source: Hotels.com.

Idle Thought

"Cheerfulness and contentment are great beautifiers and are famous preservers of youthful looks." -- Charles Dickens

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

Year that the personal computer was empowered to become something much greater than a glorified word processor with the release of the spreadsheet program Lotus 1-2-3 (spreadsheet, charting and graphing), according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1983

Today, estimated number of packaged software development firms there are in the U.S.: 8,200

Estimated number of people who work in the industry: 390,000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of consumers who felt they had been overcharged for a repair at a dealership, according to a survey by AutoMD.com: 80

Percentage who said they believed they could save at least 10 percent by visiting an independent shop: 90

Percentage of respondents who said that they trust an independent repair shop more than a dealership to repair their vehicle: 67

Source: AutoMD.com.

Ranks of Samsung, Asus, Lenovo/IBM, HP, Toshiba and Apple on the list of the most reliable personal computer manufacturers, according to the results of Rescuecom's 2013 computer reliability report, which defines "reliability" as the physical reliability of the computers plus the after-the-sale computer support by the manufacturers: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Percentage rise in the share of repair calls for Apple computers in 2012, up from 7.8 percent in 2011: 12.7

Percentage of all repair calls that are attributed to Dell: 33.2

Percentage of all repair calls that are attributed to Samsung: 0.7

Source: Rescuecom.

Projected average amount that diners planned to spend to celebrate Valentine's Day (63 percent more than the typical OpenTable check average of $85 per couple), according to a survey released by OpenTable: $139

Percentage of people who planned to dine out on the Thursday, Feb. 14: 51

Source: OpenTable Inc.

Percentage of the full-time workforce that is eligible for benefits, according to the 2012 Study of Large Employer Health Benefits from the ADP Research Institute: 88

Percentage of the total full-time workforce that is covered by their employer's health plan: 68

Percentage of the total workforce that is made up of part-time workers: 23

Of these part-time employees, percentage who are eligible for benefits: 15

Source: ADP.

Although it's been almost 45 years since Herbie hit the big screen in "The Love Bug," number of U.K. motorists who have been proposed to behind the wheel, according to research from Allianz: 1.9 million

Number of U.K. motorists who have had the brakes put on their relationships and been dumped while in the car: 2.3 million

Source: Allianz Life Insurance.

Percentage of companies that use a combination of individual and team measures in their sales compensation plan, according to a survey of 125 companies sponsored by the Alexander Group and WorldatWork: 41

Percentage of estimated annual median increase in sales revenue for all companies in 2013: 8.4

Percentage of companies that plan to increase their head count in 2013: 50

Source: The Alexander Group Inc.

Ranks of Aspen, Colo. ($241), Olympic Valley, Calif. ($239), and Alta/Snowbird, Utah, ($236) on the list of the most expensive ski resorts in the United States, based on what travelers would currently have to spend per night for a hotel room (minimum: 3-star hotel) that is located inside or within close proximity to the respective resorts: 1, 2, 3

Source: Cheaphotels.org.

Vaccination rate among individuals 50 years of age and older, according to an Ipsos poll: 50

Percentage of Americans who think that vaccines are not safe: 16

Percentage who think that one can catch flu from a vaccine: 34

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Rank of the Anheuser-Busch commercial in the 25th annual USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter (featuring a touching moment between a man and his Clydesdale) with a score of 7.76 (on a scale of 0 to 10): 1

Ranks of Tide, Ram and Frito-Lay Doritos on the Ad Meter: 2, 3, 4

Source: USA Today.

Idle Thought

"If you wish to make an apple pie truly from scratch, you must first invent the universe." -- Carl Sagan, astronomer and writer

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

While families that have stay-at-home dads and working moms are more accepted by society than they were five years ago, percentage of moms who said stay-at-home moms are less accepted than they were five years ago, according to a BabyCenter report: 27

Source: BabyCenter, LLC.

Number of students who were taking at least one online course during the fall 2011 term, an increase of 570,000 students compared to the previous year, according to the 2012 survey of online learning conducted by the Babson Survey Research Group: 6.7 million

Percentage of higher education students who now take at least one course online: 32

Source: Babson College.

Year that three Bell Laboratory scientists unveiled what would become the junction transistor, the foundation of the information age, and shared the Nobel Prize in physics, according to the Census Bureau: 1956

Estimated number of stores selling electronic devices in the U.S., with sales worth $109 billion annually: 51,000

Source: Census Bureau.

Even if they've left the nest, percentage of today's emerging adults (defined as young people between the ages of 18 to 29) who maintain close contact with their parents via texting, email, phone or in person, according to a Clark University poll: 77

Percentage of emerging adults who contact their parents every day or almost every day: 52

Source: Clark University.

Average annual Valentine's Day spending, according to Statistic Brain Research: $13.19 billion

Number of Valentine's Day cards exchanged annually: 180 million

Average number of roses produced for Valentine's Day: 196 million

Percentage of Valentine's Day cards bought by women: 85

Percentage of flowers bought by men: 73

Source: Statistic Brain.

Percentage of Americans who believe that remorse motivated Lance Armstrong to confess to taking performance-enhancing drugs, according to an Ipsos/Reuters Poll: 12

Percentage who believe he came forward because he could no longer continue to deny it: 48

Percentage who say he confessed to help rebuild his public image: 31

Percentage of respondents who say he confessed to minimize his legal issues: 28

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Percentage of formulated food that contains sweetener, according to a study published in The Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: 75

Percentage that use caloric sweeteners: 68

Percentage of yogurts and sport/energy drinks that use noncaloric sweeteners: 33

Percentage of waters (plain or flavored) and dietetic sweetened beverages that use noncaloric sweeteners: 42

Source: Food Nutrition & Science.

Percentage of data breaches that are attributable to lost paper files and portable memory devices, according to a survey conducted by the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics (SCCE) and the Health Care Compliance Association: 65

Percentage of compliance and ethics professionals who said that their department led the remediation effort following the last data breach: 69

Source: Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics.

Number of natural peril events that occurred worldwide in 2012 (2011: 257), according to the Annual Global Climate and Catastrophe Report and Catastrophe Insight: 295

Total economic loss caused by these events: $200 billion

Percentage of all 2012 insurance losses globally (nearly half of all economic losses for the year) that were accounted for by two U.S. natural peril events, Hurricane Sandy and a year-long drought: 66

Source: AON PLC.

Percentage of non-IT respondents who consider their IT department a support or maintenance organization, compared with 39 percent of IT: 54

Percentage of IT and non-IT respondents who are in agreement about the future importance of the internal IT team, and believe IT will become more critical to the business over the next two years: 60

Source: Information Week.

Idle Thought

"We are so vain that we even care for the opinion of those we don't care for." -- Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

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