Useless Facts to Start Your New Year

Here are some fascinating (but almost useless) facts that I thought you might find interesting.

Computing

• 25% of Internet users are hit with phishing e-mails. Most think they might be from legitimate companies, and 70% were fooled by the e-mails


• 56% of PC users run no antivirus software, or have it, but have not updated it within a week. 44% do not have a firewall properly configured, 38% lack spyware protection


• By 2010, 10% of US ad market will belong to Internet ads


• 35% of the world's software is pirated. That is only a 1% drop over 2004.


• 72% of US small businesses have a Web site


• European computing statistics - 48% of the traffic is Web and e-mail, 19% - Usenet, 14% - streaming multimedia, 13% - peer-to-peer, 4% - online gaming and 3% - VOIP


• 78% of podcast listeners are male


• The Bush administration estimates that 100 million e-mails addressed to President George W Bush will become part of the National Archives after he leaves office. In contrast, President Clinton left only 38 million e-mails to the National Archives


• Consumer electronics sales climbed 10% during the holiday shopping season in 2005 compared with 2004


• By 2008, 100 million Americans will telecommute to work


• More than 500 billion spam e-mails were blocked by AOL filters in 2005. The number of junk e-mails reported by AOL's 26 million members worldwide has declined about 75% since 2003

Shopping and Misc.

• 67% of all credit cardholders have a reward card in their wallets


• UBS Securities estimates that while the annual spending average for a regular Visa card are about $5,200 a year, it jumps to $26,100 for a reward card. 38% of reward cardholders said their cash-back card was their primary card, while only 14% cited their air-miles card


• During the 2005 holiday season, online merchants attracted 27% of all spending


• eBay says 52% of surveyed customers have "re-gifted" in the past, while 49% believe it's socially acceptable


• The average tire in 2005 costs $76


• CD and digital album sales in 2005 are down 8% compared with end of year 2004


• At the end of 2005 Netflix had 4.1 million subscribers (that includes the addition of Walmart.com video rental subscribers), while Blockbuster Online had 1 million


• 51% of US households have cable TV, 26% receive their television via satellite, 1% has both, and 22% have neither


• 88% of Americans have a VCR and a CD player; 82% own a DVD player; 75% - a cell phone and a PC; 39% - a gaming console; 30% - a portable gaming console like Sony PSP or Gameboy; 28% have an HDTV; 25% own a DVD recorder or DVR; 24% have an MP3 player; 14% are owners of a satellite radio


• An estimated 5% of US adults are not literate in English, which means 11 million people lack the skills to perform everyday tasks