Year the first commercial electronic computer — UNIVAC I, designed by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly for the U.S. Census Bureau to tabulate the 1950 census — was used: 1951

Year that the general public became aware of the computer, when it was used on election night television to predict that Dwight Eisenhower would win the presidential race: 1952

Percentage of children who now use computers in their classrooms: 86%

BYTE ME TRIPS

Average number of hours that U.S. adults who go online to plan a vacation spend doing so, according to a http://www.hotels.com survey: 8

Average number of reviews they read prior to booking a hotel: 8

When asked what red flags would stop them from booking a lodging, percentage who said a dirty room: 96%

BEAUTY VS. BUCKS

Percentage of American women who say they are willing to give up 10 percent of their savings to look a decade younger for the rest of their lives, according to Sustainable Youth and Kelton Research: 33%

Percentage of women with household income of $40,000 or more who would give up 10 percent of their savings if it means they'd look 10 years younger: 44%

RIPA? REALLY?

Ranks of Kelly Ripa (26%), the Obamas (19%), the Pitt-Jolie family (16%), Oprah Winfrey (16%), Jon Stewart (13%) and Stephen Colbert (10%) on the list of celebrities Americans would most want to share a vacation rental home with, according to HomeAway: 1, 2, 3 (tie), 5, 6

CAR AMBIVALENCE

Percentage of consumers who said the current economy and struggles of U.S. automakers will have no impact on whether or not their next car purchase will be an American car, according to a recent Cars.com survey: 59%

Percentage who said the risk of bankruptcy by U.S. carmakers makes it unlikely they'll buy an American car: 20%

DARING THE SUN

Percentage of Americans who recognize the direct link between sun exposure and skin cancer, according to a survey by Neutrogena: 80%

Though skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the U.S., percentage of American adults who report that they rarely or never put on sunscreen: 60%

IDLE THOUGHT

"A fixed idea is like the iron rod which sculptors put in their statues. It impales and sustains."

— Hippolyte Taine, historian

Contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre@bwr.eastlink.ca.