Percentage of American adults who chose Betty White as America's favorite and most trusted personality, and the one whose endorsement of a company would be most likely to drive business, according to an Ipsos poll: 86

Ranks of Denzel Washington, Sandra Bullock and Clint Eastwood (on the list of trusted personalities): 2, 3, 4

Ranks of Paris Hilton, Charlie Sheen, Britney Spears, Kanye West, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tiger Woods on the list of the most unpopular personalities: 1, 2, 3(tie), 5, 6

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Percentage of sales that still take place in retail stores, according to analytics firm ShopperTrak, according to a recent Oracle study: 90

Percentage of sales that take place online: 10

Percentage of executives who say that improving customer experience is one of their top three immediate priorities: 93

Source: Trevelino/Keller.

Percentage of Americans who believe that destination weddings are more fun, according to the results of a study conducted by Northstar on behalf of Expedia.com: 84

Percentage of Americans who believe that hotel costs should be covered by the wedding hosts: 47

Percentage who expressed the belief that flights should also be paid for: 31

Source: Expedia.

Percentage of Americans who say that parents spanking their children is sometimes appropriate, according to a Harris Poll: 81

Percentage who believe it is never appropriate: 19

Among those with a child in the household, percentage of respondents who believe that spanking is sometimes appropriate: 78

Source: Harris Interactive.

Percentage of travelers who said being green has at least some influence on their travel purchases, according to a joint survey conducted by The GO Group LLC and GO Airport Express: 66

Percentage of those who noted they always prefer green vendors: 9

Percentage who said they usually prefer green vendors if other factors, such as price and convenience, aren't compromised: 24

Source: GO Airport Express.

Number of people who attended Mardi Gras festivities in New Orleans in 2013, 3.4 times the population of the city, according to numbers compiled by Margaret Rhodes of Fast Co.: 1.2 million

Amount of money the city of New Orleans spends on Mardi Gras each year (and sees a return of $4.48 for every dollar spent): $3.33 million

In 154 years, number of times Mardi Gras has been canceled -- for a yellow fever epidemic and riots during Reconstruction, among other reasons, but not after Hurricane Katrina: 13

Source: Fast Co.

While youth understand that the Internet is dangerous, percentage who still engage in risky behavior, acknowledging that they would change their behavior if they knew their parents were paying attention, according to findings from McAfee's Digital Deception study: 46

Percentage of parents who do not think that their children can get into deep trouble online: 62

Percentage of parents who do not even know how to find out what their children are doing online: 80

Source: McAfee Inc.

Percentage of all online adults in the U.S. who watched video content in February using a subscription video account, according to Mintel Research: 46

Percentage of all 18- to 34-year-olds who watched video content February using a subscription video account: 71

Rough percentage growth in sales of video content in each year from 2011 to 2013, resulting in a total increase in sales of $1.2 billion in 2013: 25

Estimated total sales of video content by 2018 as consumers shift away from physical discs and continue to seek out unique content: $16.7 billion

Source: Mintel.

During the past 12 months, percentage of business travelers in the United States who encountered a mishap while traveling to their destinations, according to a survey by the Global Business Travel Association: 75

Ranks of travel delay due to weather (54 percent), delayed flight/train departure (48 percent), airplane incident (mechanical issue, late arrival, etc. -- 40 percent) and missed connecting flight (16 percent) on the list of most frequently reported issues during travel: 1, 2, 3, 4

Source: Global Business Travel Association.

Percentage of U.S. consumers who prefer personalized offers reflecting their shopping habits, according to a survey conducted by Synqera: 85

Percentage of Americans who coupon-browsed instead of window-browsed during the 2013 holiday seasons: 66

Source: Synqera.

Idle Thought

"The luck of having talent is not enough; one must also have a talent for luck." -- Hector Berlioz, composer

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

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.)