When asked their favorite way of standing out from other candidates when applying for a job, percentage who said they do nothing special at all -- claiming their CV and experience speak for themselves, according to the results of a global survey conducted by FindEmployment: 63

Percentage of candidates who go the extra mile and personally hand their CV to the HR department in order to enhance their prospects: 28

Percentage who attach an attractive photo to their CV, hoping to catch a recruiter's attention: 5

Percentage who attempt to flirt with interviewers to try to gain notice: 3

Source: FindEmployment.

Percentage of Americans who would not like their child to go into politics as a career, according to a poll by Gallup: 64

Source: Gallup Organization.

Year that one of our favorite ice cream concoctions -- the sundae -- was purportedly invented to bypass the strict Sabbath laws of the time, which forbade selling flavored soda water, thus Edward Berner came up with the idea of putting chocolate syrup on ice cream, according to the Census Bureau: 1881

While drugstore soda fountains are gone, estimated number of ice cream shops there are across the country today: 11,500

Estimated number of employees who are busy making delights for customers worth nearly $3.2 billion a year: 90,000

Source: Census Bureau.

Percentage of people who believe erroneously that there is a chemical added to swimming pools that turns a conspicuous color in the presence of urine, according to a Mason-Dixon survey: 52

Source: Water Quality and Health Council.

Number of drinks in a two-hour period that are enough to put the average American male (four for the average woman) above 0.08 percent BAC (blood alcohol content) -- the legal limit in all 50 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: 5

Percentage of Americans who consume alcohol at least once per month, according to a national survey conducted by BACtrack: 75

Percentage of respondents drinking more than four drinks in one night who admit to making poor choices: 44

Source: BACTrack, Inc.

Projected number of car sale units in 2013, the highest in six years, according to CarFinance: 15.5 million

Percentage of Americans who are buying cars with "below-prime credit" and who may be focusing only on the purchase price of the vehicle, unaware of some of the significant variable costs that are part of purchasing and maintaining a vehicle: 45

Total cost of ownership for a Honda Civic over five years, whereas the selling price is $18,423: $43,000

Source: mWEBB Communications.

Percentage of hiring managers who view millennials' (those 18 to 34) unknown long-term commitment to a company as the biggest possible liability, according to a survey by Adeco: 46

Percentage who have concerns about millennials' unwillingness in taking direction from older management: 27

Rank of "wearing inappropriate interview attire" and "posting potentially compromising content on social media channels" on the list of the biggest interview mistakes made by millennials: 1, 2

Source: Adecco.

Amount of trash the average American produces each day, according to the Environmental Protection Agency: 4.4 pounds

Amount of trash produced in the United States each year: 250 million tons

Percentage that is currently recycled: 35

Source: The Ad Council.

Percentage of chief information officers (CIOs) who said they plan to hire new IT graduates in 2013, according to a poll by Robert Half Technology: 35

Percentage of CIOs who say new IT graduates are unprepared to start contributing as soon as they start a new job: 26

Among these executives, percentage who said the reason is a lack of skills in areas such as communication and leadership: 55

Source: Robert Half Technology.

Percentage of people who would either never allow a camera or sensing device to be connected to their TV, or would probably never be convinced that such technologies could be beneficial, according to the results from a Strategy Analytics study: 43

Percentage who said they had some reservations, but would not object if the TV service improved significantly: 20

Percentage of respondents who said they would not mind at all if their TV viewing behavior was observed and data collected: 14

Source: Strategy Analytics.

Idle Thought

"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around." -- Leo Buscaglia, author

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

Percentage of American workers who admit to using their sick days as "vacation" days, according to a survey by Adecco Staffing: 47

Percentage of workers who get upset when their co-workers take multiple long weekends off: 29

Percentage who feel as though their colleagues judge them when they take any time off: 23

Source: Adecco.

Percentage of adults who say they have tried marijuana, up from 40 percent three years ago, according to a Pew Research Center survey: 48

Percentage who said they smoked "just for fun": 47

Percentage of young adults who say they've tried marijuana: 56

Percentage of adults 65 and older who say they've ever used marijuana, though a third support its legalization: 22

Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Percentage of women who are camera shy (citing anxiety about their appearance) and say that it prevents them from capturing important memories, including photos of a beach vacation, their own wedding pictures or even photos of the birth of their child, according to Dove global research: 77

On average, age at which women become more self-conscious in front of the camera: 24

Source: Dove Research.

Ranks of Provincetown, Mass. ($217), Cape May, N.J. ($204), and Martha's Vineyard, Mass. ($202) on the list of the United States' most expensive destinations, according to the finding of a survey from CheapHotels.org based on the average price of each locale's cheapest available room: 1, 2, 3

Source: Cheaphotels.org.

Amount that Hong Kong millionaire Tiffany Chen revealed she paid for what Christie's auction house calls "the largest and most perfect briolette diamond ever sold at auction," signalling a trend among the world's ultra net-worth individuals, according to Wealth-X: $11.15 million

Percentage increase in rough diamond prices since 2005 -- and likely to rise a further 20 percent between 2013 and 2017, bolstered by demand from China and India: 33

Rank of Hong Kong billionaire Yu Tung Cheng, honorary chairman of Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group, on the list of the wealthiest billionaire diamond collectors with a net worth of $19.6 billion: 1

Source: Wealth-X.

Value of the North America weight loss/obesity management market in 2012, according to a report by MarketsandMarkets.com: $104 billion

Projected value of the market by 2017: $139.5 billion

Rank of the U.S. on the list of the largest markets for weight loss/obesity management: 1

Source: MarketsandMarkets.com.

Percentage of British citizens lucky enough to win at least 1 million British pounds who still say they would choose not to stay in five-star hotels despite their unexpected new wealth, according to a study conducted by lottery operator Camelot and Oxford Economics: 32

Source: Holiday Hypermarket.

Percentage of moms who sleep in separate beds from their spouse or partner so at least one of them can get an uninterrupted night of sleep, according to BabyCenter.com: 40

Percentage of sleep-deprived moms who would rather get a good night's sleep than have sex with her partner: 72

Source: BabyCenter LLC.

Percentage of executives who rated their network as "very fast" (20 megabytes per second or faster), according to a survey at LTE World Summit: 50

Percentage of respondents who believed that their network was still not fast enough: 68

When executives were asked what rate of acceleration would make it worth their while to invest in technologies to boost their network's speed, percentage who said they would be satisfied with as little as 20 percent acceleration: 70

Source: LTE world Summit.

Percentage of moms and dads who divulged they wouldn't trust their teenage children to host a party, according to research from Allianz Your Cover Insurance: 29

Percentage of teenagers who revealed that they, too, fear a party could get out of control -- their top fear being uninvited guests turning up: 42

Source: YourCoverInsurance.co.uk.

Idle Thought

"They are ill discoverers that think there is no land, when they can see nothing but sea." -- Francis Bacon

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

Percentage of Americans who believe their communications histories (including phone calls, emails and Internet use) are accessible to the government, businesses, and others, according to figures from Allstate/National Journal Heartland Monitor poll: 85

Percentage who feel that they have little or no control over the type of information that is collected and used by various groups and organizations: 66

Percentage who feel that they are unable to correct inaccurate personal information: 59

Source: Allstate Insurance Co.

Percentage of Americans who have enough savings to cover at least six months' expenses, according to research from Bankrate.com: 24

Percentage who have less than three months': 50

Percentage who have no emergency savings: 27

Source: Bankrate.com.

Average number of hours per month that baby boomers spend watching TV (significantly more than millennials' 107 hours per month), according to Nielsen: 174

Percentage of prescription drug sales accounted for by boomers: 77

Percentage of leisure travel spending accounted for by boomers: 80

Source: Nielsen Analytics.

Percentage of Americans who say Kanye West and Kim Kardashian's baby will be more spoiled than Prince William and Kate's baby: 50

Percentage who said William and Kate's baby: 10

When women were asked which famous mom they would like to have a play date with, percentage who picked Kate Middleton: 19

Percentage who chose Kim Kardashian: 4

Source: Harris Interactive.

Percentage of consumers who are more likely to choose a lower price over better service (a choice that tends to fall in the favor of larger businesses that can take advantage of economies of scale), according to a survey by by CreditDonkey.com: 52

Percentage who say they have not bought something because they were not happy with the customer service they were getting: 80

Percentage who said their customer service experience with small companies meets or exceeds expectations: 94

Source: CreditDonkey.com.

Percentage of Americans and their bed partners whose sleep is interrupted by snoring (though most just suffer through it instead of seeking help), according to a survey sponsored by ResMed: 84

Number of times more likely that men are to say their bed partner leaves the room to escape their snoring: 2

Percentage of people who still choose to suffer through a sleepless night instead of leaving the bedroom or seeking solutions: 65

Source: ResMed.

Of the top 20 most-searched international destinations for summer travel, number of European cities that made the list, according to Fly.com: 8

Number of Caribbean islands that made the list: 7

Ranks of London, Paris and Dublin on the list: 2, 3, 5

Ranks of Puerto Rico, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic on the list of 20: 1, 4, 7

Source: Fly.com.

Percentage of homeowners nationwide who are underwater on their mortgages, according to Zillow Negative Equity Report, May 2013: 25

Percentage of homeowners who plan to make a home improvement or addition this summer: 60

Median amount homeowners plan to spend on summer home improvement projects: $1,200

Source: Zillow.

Percentage of workers who identified in-house, instructor-led workshops as the type of professional training they value most, according to a survey from OfficeTeam: 33

Percentage of employees who cited tuition reimbursement for off-site seminars: 22

Percentage who cite online courses: 18

Percentage who named reference books: 16

Source: OfficeTeam.

Percentage of Americans who believe that in the next 40 years computers will be able to converse like human beings, according to Pew Research: 81

Percentage who believe there will be a cure for cancer: 71

Percentage who believe there will be artificial limbs that will perform better than natural ones: 66

Source: Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.

Idle Thought

"Our chief want in life is somebody who shall make us do what we can." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher

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