Ranks of Illumina, Tesla Motors, Google, Samsung, Salesforce.com, Dropbox, BMW, Third Rock Ventures, Square and Amazon on the list of companies from 11 U.S. states and six countries -- organizations at the forefront in displaying "disruptive innovation" -- that will prove to surpass the competition, transform an industry and change our lives, according to the MIT Technology Review: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Source: MIT Technology Review.

Percentage of respondents in 15 developed countries around the world who are in a relationship who are likely to say they are "happy," according to a poll by global research company Ipsos on behalf of Reuters News: 78

Percentage of those who are not in a relationship who say they are "happy": 67

Percentage of respondents in Sweden who are in a relationship and say they are happy -- highest of the 15 countries polled -- compared with 76 percent of those who are not in a relationship and are happy: 91

Percentage of respondents in the United States who are in a relationship and say they are happy, compared with 74 percent of those who are not in a relationship and are happy: 89

Source: Ipsos Global.

Increase in outstanding household debt during October to December, the biggest quarterly jump since 2007, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York: $241 billion

Overall household debt by the end of 2013 -- 2.1 percent higher than it had been for the previous three months: $11.52 trillion

Ranks of mortgage debt ($8.05 trillion), student loan debt ($1.08 trillion), auto loan debt ($863 billion), credit card debt ($683 billion) and home equity line of credit ($529 billion) on the list of items that make up the overall household debt: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: Pewsocialtrends.org.

Ranks of Vancouver (No. 5 globally), Ottawa (14), Toronto (15), Montreal (23) and San Francisco (27) as the highest-ranking North American cities with the world's best quality of living, according to a list of 223 cities worldwide compiled by Mercer: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Ranks of Mexico City (No. 122 globally), Detroit (70), St. Louis (67), Houston (66) and Miami (65) on the list of North American cities with the lowest quality of living: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: Mercer.

Percentage of young adults between the ages of 24 and 34 who live at home with their parents, according to results based on Gallup Daily tracking interviews: 14

Source: Gallup.

Estimated losses between 2002 and 2012 in U.S. manufacturing revenue due to unfair competition fueled by low-cost imports made by global firms using illegal software, according to a study by Bill Kerr, associate professor at Harvard Business School, and Chad Moutray, chief economist for the National Association of Manufacturers: $240 billion

Number of jobs that a 10 percentage point reduction in global software piracy over four years would add to the U.S. economy as a whole: 65,745

Source: National Association of Manufacturers.

Percentage of IT decision makers (ITDMs) who say technology has improved the overall quality of their life, according to the results of a Harris Poll: 86

Percentage of U.S. adults who say the same: 71

Percentage of ITDMs who say technology encourages people to be more creative: 79

Percentage of U.S. adults who say the same: 65

Source: Harris Interactive.

Percentage of Americans who at least sometimes check reviews before purchasing a product or service, according to YouGov research: 79

Percentage of Americans who claim to always check reviews before purchasing a product or service: 26

Source: YouGov.

Estimated number of black-owned businesses in the United States, a gain of more than 60 percent in just five recent years, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 2 million

Estimated number of people employed by these businesses, a growth of more than one-fifth in the same period: 920,000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of Americans who have a traditional homemade soup recipe in the family, according to The Snapware brand sponsored survey: 74

Percentage who want to keep it a secret: 44

Source: Zeno Group.

Idle Thought

"A ship in port is safe; but that is not what ships are built for." -- Grace Hopper, computer scientist and a U.S. Navy rear admiral

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

Percentage of managers who thought their organizations communicated well with customers through old and new channels such as text and email, according to a study commissioned by Ricoh Company Ltd.: 43

Percentage of customer-facing employees (bank clerks, call center operators, nurses, bank managers and shop supervisors -- those on the front line dealing with customers first-hand), who felt this was far from the case: 83

Percentage of these employees who said there's a gap between the experience they can deliver and the experience the customer expects: 89

Source: Ricoh Americas Corp.

In the last 10 years, percentage increase in the available hours of sports programming, according to Nielsen's 2013 Year in Sports Media Report: 232

Estimated number of hours Americans clocked watching sports on TV in 2013: 33 billion

Source: Nielsen Media Research.

Percentage of Americans who are dating or single who say they are unwilling to date or marry someone who has significant debt, according to findings from Country Financial on love and money: 66

For the 73 percent of Americans in relationships (married, engaged or dating), percentage who say they know just how much debt, if any, their significant other has: 72

In a relationship, percentage of Americans who say the three-month mark is appropriate to discuss money: 31

Source: Country Financial.

Average debt from 2013 holiday purchases carried by Democrats, according to a RetailMeNot survey: $260

Average debt carried by Republicans: $248

Average debt carried into 2014 by independents: $218

Source: RetailMeNot.com.

Ranks of Pollock's Path on the The Peak in Hong Kong ($11,148 per square foot), Kensington Palace Gardens in London ($9,941) and Avenue Princesse Grace in Monaco ($7,990), on the list of the three most expensive streets in the world, according to Wealth-X: 1, 2, 3

Source: Wealth-X.

Estimated amount of money Russian President Vladimir plowed into the Black Sea resort of Sochi, with its subtropical climate, to make it a fitting site for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted at about the same time as the Post/ABC News poll: $51 billion

Percentage of Americans who have an unfavorable view of Russian President Vladimir Putin, compared with 27 percent who saw him favorably, according to a Washington Post/ABC News survey: 58

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

Percentage of Americans who believe students respected teachers when they were in school, according to a Harris Poll: 79

When thinking about school dynamics when they were K-12 students themselves, percentage of Americans who recall mutual respect between teachers and parents as having been especially strong: 91

Percentage of Americans who believe parents respect teachers today: 49

Percentage who believe today's K-12 students respect teachers: 31

Source: Harris Interactive.

Ranks of gas (54 percent), electricity (36 percent) and all other types of fuel (9 percent) on the list of the most common heating fuels used in American homes, according to the Census Bureau: 1, 2, 3

Estimated number of occupied housing units in America: 115 million

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of executives who said they are optimistic about their companies' near-term growth prospects, according to a Robert Half survey: 91

Percentage of chief financial officers who are less certain about their ability to recruit skilled candidates for professional-level positions: 63

Source: Robert Half.

Percentage of American vacationers who said they have booked a rental home when traveling with family or a large group, according to the results of a TripAdvisor survey: 61

Of those respondents, percentage who said the main reason they enjoy a rental is spending time together in common living space: 48

Source: TripAdvisor.

Idle Thought

"It is error only, and not truth, that shrinks from inquiry." -- Thomas Paine, philosopher and writer (1737-1809)

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

Percentage of chief financial officers who said non-business-related Internet use, including social media, is the greatest time-waster at work, according to a survey from Robert Half Management Resources: 32

Percentage of CFOs who said that chatting with co-workers is the greatest time waster: 27

Percentage who said meetings drain significant time, with the data suggesting this issue is most pronounced at larger firms (more than 1,000 employees), where meetings received 19 percent of the response: 11

Source: Robert Half Technology.

In 2013, percentage of parents who strongly agreed that college was an investment in their child's future, the highest in the six years since the study began, according to a national study from Sallie Mae and Ipsos: 85

Percentage of families that borrow to pay for college: 40

In all, percentage of families that eliminated colleges based on cost at some stage during the research and admissions process, up from 58 percent in 2008: 67

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Percentage of respondents who say a good marriage, someone to come home to at night and a good family life lead to the most happiness over a lifetime, according to a CreditDonkey.com survey: 72

Percentage of respondents who say that prioritizing family and personal time over higher earnings leads to the most happiness in the long run: 38

Source: CreditDonkey.com.

Percentage of the adult smokers who plan to quit to save money, according to a survey conducted for national public health nonprofit Legacy: 37

Percentage who want to quit because they don't want their clothes and hair to smell: 32

Year of the landmark U.S. Surgeon General's Report on Smoking and Health: 1964

Source: Legacy.

Ratio of single men in their 20s to single women in their 20s, according to a Retail Advertising and Marketing Association survey: 1.2 to 1

Ratio of single men 65 or older to single women 65 or older: 0.33 to 1

Source: NRF.

When asked in early January, percentage of Americans who were looking forward to this year's Super Bowl, according to Pew Research Daily Numbers: 55

When asked, percentage of Americans who said they looked forward to the Winter Olympics: 58

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

Percentage of all public and private schools that have a uniform policy, according to research by the U.S. Department of Education, the University of Florida and other groups: 23

Annual school uniform sales: $1.3 billion

Average annual cost to parents for school uniforms: $249

Source: Statistic Brain.

Percentage of adults with children younger than 18 who say their family eats dinner together at home six or seven nights a week, according to a Gallup poll: 53

From 2003 to 2008, average number of times per week that U.S. adults reported they eat dinner out at a restaurant, according to Gallup estimates: 1.2 to 1.4

Source: Gallup.

Percentage of Americans 68 and older who say it would be more difficult to start dating than to stay single, according to a Marist Poll sponsored by Home Instead Senior Care: 66

Regardless of age, percentage of Americans who said that if they were to start dating at age 65, the most stressful decision when getting ready for a first date would be what to talk about: 35

Percentage who said where to go: 25

Source: Home Instead Senior Care.

Number of years ago when workplace settings did not include telephones, typewriters, calculators, digital computers and even women, according to Frost & Sullivan's new analysis, Beyond SOHO: The Future of Work: 100

Estimated number of years in the future when today's average work environment will be as foreign to most people as today's work environment would be to someone living a century ago: 10

Source: Frost & Sullivan.

Idle Thought

"Life is like a 10-speed bike: Most of us have gears we never use." -- Charles Schulz, cartoonist

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