8 of the Top 10 Fastest-Growing US States are in the South or West

Eight of the Top 10 Fastest-Growing US States are in the South or West according to the latest updates in population estimates by the US Census bureau.

source: US Census

Durham Study Shows Correlation Between Migraines and Cardiovascular Disease

A new study by Durham company CoLucid Pharmaceuticals Inc. discovered that a substantial proportion of people who suffer from migraines also have cardiovascular disease, events or risk factors.

Source: CoLucid

Mobile Phones Now Account for 17% of Total Time Spent on the Internet

People are spending more time on the internet from a variety of non-PC connected devices, finds GfK in a new report. Mobile phones now account for 17% of time spent with the internet (up 42% from 12%), and tablets 6% (double last year’s 3%).

Source: Marketing Charts

Just 0.5% of the World’s Online Data is Being Analyzed

The amount of data being generated on a daily basis by people and machines (the “digital universe”) is expanding at a rapid rate, providing a mass of Big Data potential.  Of all that data, the researchers suggest that slightly less than one-quarter would be useful were it to be tagged and analyzed. But, just 3% is tagged and only 0.5% is analyzed, leaving what the study dubs “the untapped big data gap.”

Source: IDC Digital Universe

By 2060, Almost 1 in 3 Americans Will Be Hispanic

According to the latest projections from the US Census Bureau, Hispanics will make up 38% of the under-18 population in 2060. Significantly, the projections also see Hispanics accounting for 31% of the total US population of 420.3 million in 2060, and the US becoming a majority-minority nation in 2043.

source: Marketing Charts

Duck Dynasty Tops Facebook's 2012 Television Trends

According to Facebook, Duck Dynasty was the #1 discussed Television show of 2012 on the social media site in the US.

source: Facebook

Duke Study Says Aerobic Exercise Better for Weight and Fat Loss

In order to shed those extra pounds after the holiday season, it's better to do aerobic exercise, say Duke researchers in the journal of Applied Physiology.  Researchers compared aerobic training, resistance training, and a combination of the two to determine the best way to loose weight and burn fat.

source:  The Herald Sun

At $7 a Cup, It's Starbucks' Most Expensive Coffee Ever

Starbucks has introduced the Costa Rica Finca Palmilera, or its most expensive coffee ever, costing customers up to $7 for a plain black cup.

source: Daily Mall

Barack Obama has Most Retweeted Tweet of the Year

Barack Obama's election day tweet, "Four more years" with a picture of Barack and Michelle Obama embracing was retweeted more than 810,000 times this year, making it the most retweeted tweet of 2012.

source: Twitter

Whitney Houston, Gagnam Style Top Google's Most Searched List of 2012

Whitney Houston was the most searched for term worldwide on Google in 2012, followed by Gagnam Style and Hurricane Sandy.

source: Google Zeitgeist 2012

4 in 10 Emails Are Now Read on a Mobile Device

Four in 10 emails sent are now being read on a mobile device, says Return Path in a new report, up 300% in the past 2 years alone.

Source: Return Path

Facebook Photos Represent 89% of Brands’ Most Engaging Posts

Recent research from HubSpot has indicated that Facebook photos generate higher engagement than the average post. Socialbakers took a sample of approximately 90,000 posts from 24,000 brand pages around the world during the week of November 26-December 2, and analyzed the top 10% most engaging posts. Of those, 89% were photos, with the remainder being links (4%), videos (4%), and status updates (3%).

Source: Marketing Charts

Say "Google" in Swedish

Did you know that "Google" isn't always pronounced "Google" in other languages? If you want to use the search engine in Spanish, you will want to googlear.  In Swedish, it's att googla.  For a list of other ways to pronounce Google, go here.

6 in 10 Americans Prefer Shopping In-Store to Buying Online

Most Americans prefer shopping in-store to online, according to survey results from Ipsos. 59% of the Americans aged 18-64 surveyed online said they would rather make a purchase in-store than on their computer (31%), on their mobile phone (6%), or on their tablet (3%).

40% of Social Media Time Now Comes From Mobile

According to Nielsen's "The Social Media Report 2012," 40% of time spent on social media now comes from mobile users.

It Takes 20 Seconds Before People Get Annoyed About Waiting for the Elevator

Theresa Christy, a mathematician who works for Otis Elevator Co. told the Wall Street Journal that once you press a button and wait for the elevator, it takes about 20 seconds before you start getting impatient and annoyed.

Americans Monthly Spend 121 Billion Minutes on Social Media

Nielsen says in its annual Social Media Report that Americans spent a collective 121 billion minutes on social media in July alone, up from 88 billion the year before.

Durham Tech Transfer Students Success Marked by 3.1 Mean GPA

The mean GPA of the 193 Durham Tech transfer students in 2010-11 was 3.1; of those enrolled at UNC Chapel Hill, one of the main destinations for transfers, it was 3.2. Ninety-seven percent of the Durham Tech transfer students had a grade point average higher than 2.0 after one year at a UNC system campus.

Facebook Users Post 3.2 Billion Likes and Comments Daily

Facebook’s 955 million users spend an average of six hours and 35 minutes per month on the desktop site, posting 3.2 billion likes and comments every day.

Source: AllFacebook

60 Minute Naps Improve Alertness

A nap of 60 minutes improves alertness for up to 10 hours.

Source: Daily Infographic

Unique Visitors to Pinterest Equal Half That of Twitter

In just the last year, Pinterest has seen its web traffic grow from 700,000 unique visitors to 20 Million - half the unique visitors of Twitter.

Source: Synecore Technologies

Study Says Tuesday the Best Day for Social Media Engagement

According to a study by Yesmail, Tuesday is the best day of the week for engagement on Twitter and Facebook.

Source: PR Daily

Durham Tour de Fat Raises $15,000

New Belgium Brewing's second Durham Tour de Fat event raised $15,000 to benefit the Triangle Spokes Group as well as the North Carolina Active Transportation Alliance and the Durham Bike Co-op.

Durham Reached a Record High of 99 °F on June 20, 1964

The highest temperature ever recorded in Durham, NC on June 20th was 99 °F in 1964; the record low was 54 °F in 1959.

Source: Wunderground

Durham Nonprofit Arts Spending Supported 4,550 Full-time Jobs in 2010

Spending by nonprofit arts groups supported 4,550 full-time jobs in Durham County in the 2010 fiscal year.

Source: Arts and Economic Prosperity IV Study

85% of Duke MBA Grads Had Job Offers by Graduation

85 percent of day-time 2012 Duke MBA graduates from the Fuqua School of Business had received their first job offers by graduation day.

Source: Businessweek

Social Media Reveals 46% Increase in Memorial Day Travel Chatter

IBM’s Social Sentiment Index, which aggregates public opinion from Twitter, blogs, message forums and other social media channels, has revealed a 46 percent increase in the amount of conversations about Memorial Day travel over last year.

Source: MediaBistro

Increasing Cycling by 0.5% Could Save US 462M Gallons of Gas

The U.S. could save 462 million gallons of gasoline a year by just increasing cycling from 1% to 1.5% of all trips.

Source: 1World2Wheels.org

Facebook's Impending IPO Generates 166,147 Twitter Interactions in 12 Days

73,284 unique Twitter users have generated 166,147 interactions about Facebook's IPO in the past 12 days.

Source: DataSift

Pinterest Now Third Most Popular Social Media Site

Pinterest is now the third most popular social media site on the Internet, behind Facebook and Twitter.

Source: PR Daily

30% of Google+ Users Don't Return for Second Post

According to a new report from RJ Metrics, roughly 30% of Google+ users who make a public post never make a second one.

Source: Fast Company

Happy Birthday YouTube

YouTube loaded its first video “Me At the Zoo” seven years ago today. Flash forward and more than 4 billion videos are viewed every day with more than 3 billion hours of video are watched each month.

Source: Mashable.com

Users Average 405 Minutes on Facebook per Month

Users spend an average of 89 minutes per month on Pinterest; Facebook users spend an average of 405 minutes per month on the site.

Source: VentureBeat

Social Media Adopted by 8/10 Marketers

More than eight out of ten marketers are now using social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter to raise brand awareness and a full one third of these professionals invest 11 or more hours every week into their social marketing efforts.

Source: MediaBistro

40% of Workers at Durham's GE Plant are Vets

Nearly 40 percent of workers employed at the GE plant in Durham are veterans of the Armed Forces.

Source: Triangle Business Journal

Internet to Become World's 5th Biggest Economy by 2016

If the Internet was a country, its gross domestic product would be the world's fifth largest by 2016.

Source: Boston Consulting Group

Ellington's "In a Setimental Mood" Composed in Durham

Duke Ellington's "In a Sentimental Mood" was composed on the spot at the N.C. Mutual Building in Durham, NC to pacify two women who were giving a friend some unspecified "trouble."

Source: North Carolina Miscellany Blog

Twitter Growing Faster than Facebook in US

Twitter's growth in the US surged above Facebook in 2011 at a pace of 31.9 percent compared to Facebook’s significantly lower 13.4 percent.

- MediaBistro

Apple Sold More iOS Devices in 2011 Than All Macs in Company's History

Apple sold more iOS devices in 2011 than all the Macs it sold in 28 years.

Source: Tech Fortune

18% of Mobile Users Have Recently Scanned a QR Code

18% of mobile users report that they have scanned a QR code in the past 90 days.

Source: JiWire

Durham Wayfinders Program Now Over 1,600 Volunteers Strong

DCVB's Durham Wayfinders program now boasts over 1,600 volunteers and provided over 1,220 hours of volunteer service in the month of January 2012.

Superbowl Sets Record as Most Viewed TV Event in History

An estimated 111.3 million people watched the New York Giants defeat the New England Patriots in the 2012 Superbowl making it the most viewed television event in history.

Source: The Neilsen Co.

Twitter Users Say Only 36% of Tweets Are Worth Reading

Twitter users say only 36% of the tweets they receive are worth reading, according to the Carnegie Mellon study "Who Gives a Tweet?," and 25% of tweets are not worth reading at all.

Source: "Who Gives a Tweet?"

63% of Mobile Users Have Initiated a Phone Call from the Bathroom

Findings from the report "IT in the Toilet" indicate that American's are more connected than ever with approximately one quarter of the 1,000 individuals surveyed reporting that they don't go into the bathroom without their phone. 63% of those surveyed said they have initiated a phone call while using the bathroom and 38% have surfed the Internet. Android owners admitted using their smartphones in the bathroom more than any other group of smartphone users.

Source: IT in the Toilet

NC Entrepreneurs Have Created 40,560 Jobs Since 1992

North Carolina entrepreneurs have started 1,823 high-growth companies since 1992, creating 40,560 jobs.

Source: “Starting Something: The State of the Entrepreneurial Economy of North Carolina, 1992-2011”

Valued at $400 Billion, Apple Now Worth More Than Some Countries

Valued at $400 billion on the stock market, Apple  is now worth more than the countries of Greece, Austria, Argentina and South Africa.

Source: Gizmodo

Durham-Chapel Hill the Country's 101st Most Populous Metro Area

With approximately 520,000 residents, the Durham-Chapel Hill metro area is the 101st most populous in the country. In 2010, the MSA was ranked 102nd.

58.4 Million Photos Shared on Twitter in December

The number of photos shared on Twitter grew by 421 percent over the course of 2011. In December, Twitter users shared 58.4 million photos.

Source: MediaBistro.com