survey

Acronis, a major vendor of backup software, released a report earlier this week stating that about 87 percent of computer users back up their data once every two or three months--way less frequently than recommended. This suggests that most of us live dangerously when it comes to backing up.

The survey was widely reported in the press, but it turns out the numbers didn't seem to go well with Acronis' report.

The percentages released to the media were taken from the question "How often do you back up your hard drive or files?" Results include: 48 percent for "once a week (or more)"; 55 percent for "2-3 times a month"; 81.5 percent for "once a month"; 86.8 percent for "every 2-3 months", 91.4 percent for "2-3 times a year", 94.6 percent for "once a year or less"; and 25.5 percent for "never."

It may be that I'm Asian and extra good with math, but I couldn't help but notice that when added up, the numbers total around 500 percent. Other ways to interpret the chart didn't justify the reported 87 percent, either. So maybe you're not as bad at backing up as some media reports told you you were. … Read more

The results are in for the spring installment of Piper Jaffray's biannual Teen Survey, and not surprisingly, things look very good for Apple--particularly when it comes to the iPod.

According to the survey, now in its eighth year, 92 percent of students own some sort media player--up from 87 percent a year ago--and of those who do own a media player, 86 percent own an iPod. Only 4 percent of the 600 students interviewed for the survey owned a Zune. (The average age of the students surveyed was 16.3 years old; 54 percent were male, and 46 percent … Read more

Despite the economic downturn, companies are still planning to invest in long-term sustainability projects and want to make sure that their customers--and anyone else who asks-- knows it.

The American Marketing Association and public-relations firm Fleishman-Hillard sponsored a small survey (PDF) to determine whether companies were still keen to invest in sustainability practices despite economic downturn and what influenced them in their decision.

To give you an idea of where the economy was when people were asked about their commitment, the survey was conducted by the AMA during January and February 2009, and included 270 people spread about equally throughout … Read more

This should come as no surprise to anyone, but people in the U.S. are worried that as the economy worsens, the chances for identity fraud, particularly with regard to credit card data theft, will increase.

Nearly 75 percent of Americans believe that the global financial crisis increases their risk of identity and related fraud, according to the Unisys Security Index due to be released on Monday.

More than two-thirds surveyed said they are extremely or very concerned about other people obtaining and using their credit and debit card data, with 90 percent at least somewhat concerned.

Credit and debit … Read more

There has been much ado about Rackspace's recent "cloud hosting" survey (PDF), in which it finds that small businesses are essentially unaware of services that fit that description.

Specifically, the survey found that more than two-thirds of small businesses (not defined in the survey, unfortunately) have never heard of "cloud hosting."

Several prominent bloggers, the CNET Blog Network's Dave Rosenberg and CloudAve's Krishnan Subramanian among them, have pointed out that the question asked may have courted the response received. To quote Rosenberg:

Not too surprisingly, the majority of SMBs were not aware nor terribly interested in "cloud hosting." I suspect that some of this had to do with the use of the term "cloud hosting" rather than an interest in moving toward hosted applications and infrastructure. I would argue that questions about using "the cloud" versus "cloud hosting" would have come up with a different set of answers.

Good point, but I think that there is more to this story.… Read more

More Americans are ditching traditional landlines in favor of cell phone services, according to the results of a federal survey released Wednesday.

More than one in six American households, or 17.5 percent, depended solely on cell phones for their telephone communications during the first half of 2008, up from 13.6 percent a full year earlier, according to survey results released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And 13.3 percent of American households reportedly received all or almost all of their calls on cell phones despite having a landline telephone in their home.

The group relying … Read more

Technically it's the "left" coast but yes, Justin Yu will be traveling three hours back in time next week as he makes his way back to California to spend the holidays with family. So my present to Justin is doing this blog post for him.

The 404 will continue on as we've got plenty of great guests planned for the last week of shows for 2008. Make sure you listen next week as we've got Wicker Hollow, Rana Sobhany, and Libe Goad all booked! Also, send us your best Morgan Freeman impressions for a chance to win the new Prince of Persia video game.

On today's show, we reminisce about last night's debauchery known as the "Black-Ops Holiday Party." Justin was a disaster after just three sips of rum and we've got the photographic evidence to prove it. We'll disclose those photos at a later date--maybe when he's gone next week.

Check out today's episode to learn more about the nude photographic habits of America's teenage population along with some great voice mails and e-mails from the public. Have a great weekend!

I don't know who conducts sexuality experiments at the University of Sydney. And I refuse to wonder about their sex lives.

But the latest results of one of the University's experiments may leave many male readers' blood above safe temperature levels.

The researchers delved into the sexual biographies of 185 students and emitted some breathtaking conclusions.

Female arts students are the most likely to have sex. And the least likely? Oh, yes. Another dart at the genitals of male science students.

The research report, published in the journal Sexual Health, declared: "Males in the study were less … Read more

Despite being a fan of Zagat's restaurant surveys, I've never been overly impressed with the mobile applications for Windows Mobile Smartphone and PocketPC, BlackBerry, and Palm.

Regrettably, Zagat To Go '09 for the iPhone and iPod Touch ($9.99 per year) isn't markedly different.

The components to a great mobile app are all there--venerable content, click-to-call, a Web site link, OpenTable reservations for some restaurants, and search and sorting filters--but the whole is somehow less than the sum of its parts.

Stability is a major concern, the app cries for an in-app browser, and Zagat To Go … Read more