Estimated percentage of all U.S. employees who spend three hours or more watching March Madness hoops during the workday, according to a survey by global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas of Chicago conducted by MSN: 33

Estimated value of work not performed during the first two days of the tourney: $134 million

Source: Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Number of NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament games to be played in 21 days during March Madness, according to RetailMeNot Inc.: 67

Average amount of money a fan is willing to spend vs. the average amount of money a fan of a Sweet 16-bound team is willing to spend: $40 vs. $85

Ranks of clothing, accessories, and kitchen and bar items on the list of most popular spending items: 1, 2, 3

Source: RetailMeNot.com.

Parents' estimates of sleep time for their children ages 6 to 10, according to findings from the National Sleep Foundation's (NSF) Sleep in America 2014 poll: 8.9 hours

NSF recommendation for children 6 to 10: 11 hours

Parents' estimates for 11- and 12-year-olds: 8.2 hours

NSF recommendation: 10 to 11 hours

Percentage of parents who understand that quality sleep is extremely or very important for their child's performance in school, health and well-being, mood and behavior the next day: 90

Source: National Sleep Foundation.

Percentage of early baby boomers who will not run short of money in retirement, according to an analysis of the EBRI retirement readiness ratings: 56.7

Percentage of Gen Xers who will not run short of money in retirement: 57.7

Source: EBRI.

Size of the U.S. Hispanic population in 2012, nearly six times the population in 1970 and a 50 percent increase since 2000, according to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau data: 53,027,708

Percentage increase in the overall U.S. population from 2000 to 2012: 12

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of adolescents who start smoking who do so because of smoking images they have seen in the movies, according to research funded by Legacy: 44

By eliminating tobacco imagery in youth-rated movies, estimated projected percentage decline in youth smoking rates: 18

Estimated number of tobacco impressions (tobacco incidents multiplied by number of tickets sold per film) in 2013 youth-rated movies that were delivered to theater audiences, a 169 percent increase from 2010: 14.8 billion

Source: Legacy.

Percentage of small and mid-sized businesses that have loyalty programs, according to the Merchant Warehouse Resource Center study, which focuses on the benefits of loyalty programs for business owners: 40

Percentage of consumers who say that their choice of retailer is influenced by where they can earn customer loyalty/rewards program points: 69

Source: Merchant Warehouse.

Ranks of the Caribbean, Italy, French Polynesia, Thailand and China on the list of the five most popular international honeymoon destinations, according to Jetsetter.com: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Rank of a free-standing, claw-foot tub in the bedroom on the list of best special requests: 1

Source: Jetsetter.com.

Percentage of parents with kids in elementary school who have traveled by air to a sun destination within the last three years or plan on doing so who are willing to pull their kids out of the classroom for a week or longer for a family vacation, according to the Ipsos Reid poll conducted on behalf of Tripcentral.ca: 80

Percentage of parents with kids in high school who are willing to do the same: 70

Source: Ipsos Reid Public Affairs.

In 2010, percentage of executives who said they viewed March Madness activities, including watching games and participating in pools that don't involve money, as having an adverse effect on employee output, according to an OfficeTeam survey: 22

Today, percentage of respondents who retain that same negative view: 11

Source: OfficeTeam.

Idle Thought

"Experience is not what happens to you; it's what you do with what happens to you." -- Aldous Huxley, author

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

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.)