The Week by the Numbers: June 9-15, 2013
By Matt Phifer
Sometimes the real story is in the numbers. This week is a short post, but these numbers pack a punch.
.161 – Ike Davis’ Batting Average When Demoted to the Minor Leagues
New York Met Ike Davis was demoted to the team’s Triple-A affiliate on June 9 after a dismal first portion of the season. Davis’ batting average was just .161, the worst of any player in the Major Leagues with enough at bats to qualify for a batting title. His slugging percentage against balls in the strike zone was just .333, which is down from .634 in 2012.
9,000-10,000 – The number of U.S. government requests for information from Facebook in the second half of 2012.
In the wake of the revelations that the NSA has allegedly been requesting information such as phone records, Facebook revealed in a blog post on June 14 that they received between 9,000 and 10,000 requests for information from U.S. government entities in the second half of 2012. The blog post said this ran the gamut from “things like a local sheriff trying to find a missing child, to a federal marshal tracking a fugitive, to a police department investigating an assault, to a national security official investigating a terrorist threat.” Facebook said the data requests applied to between 18,000 and 19,000 accounts. Comparatively, there are 1.1 billion active Facebook users around the globe.
The Week by the Numbers: June 2-8 , 2013
By Matt Phifer
Sometimes the real story is in the numbers and this past week had some pretty fascinating and big numbers.
2 – The Number of Countries That Coca-Cola Does Not Do Business In
On June 4 Coca-Cola opened a new bottling plant in Myanmar. The move comes after the United States lifted economic sanctions on the country, which was ruled by a military junta from 1962-2011. Now Coca-Cola does business in every country in the world except North Korea and Cuba.
2:55 PM– The Least Productive Time of Day
A survey by LondonOffices.com revealed that 2:55 PM is the least productive time of day. Many of the workers surveyed said they go on Facebook and Twitter at this time, while others begin planning their evening. In contrast, 10:26 AM was revealed as the most productive time of the day.
2.6 Miles – The Widest Tornado on Record
On June 4 the National Weather Service reported that the EF-5 tornado that struck El Reno, Oklahoma on May 31 was 2.6 miles wide, which makes it the widest twister on record. Its winds reached a staggering 295 MPH. As of June 3 the Oklahoma medical examiner’s office reported that the tornado and subsequent flooding killed 18 people, including six children, and sent another 115 people to area hospitals.
$12.5 Million – The Price Tag of Napster Co-Founder Sean Parker’s Wedding
Napster co-founder and former Facebook president Sean Parker agreed to pay $2.5 million to the California Coastal Commission on June 3 for his lavish wedding held over the weekend. According to the AP, Parker built a rustic cottage, fake ruins, waterfalls, staircases and a dance floor near the redwood forest and a stream with threatened steelhead trout, an area in which the California Coastal Commission must approve construction. The commission learned of the construction through a complaint. The total cost Parker’s wedding to Alexandra Lenas was already $10 million before the June 3 settlement. The additional $2.5 million will reportedly go to coastal conservation programs.
$33,765,000 – The World Record Price of a Persian Rug
A 17th-Century Persian rug sold for $33,765,000 to an anonymous bidder at a Sotheby’s auction on June 5. The bid shattered the previous record of $9.6 million for a 17th-century rug from Iran that was sold in London in 2010. The roughly 8-by-6 foot rug sold Wednesday features swirling vines and vibrant colors. The auction company estimated that the rug would sell for between $5 million and $7 million.