by jeremy on May 19, 2010
According to a 2010 survey, the Dalai Lama may just be the most popular religious leader in the world.
Leader of the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama is believed to be the latest incarnation of a succession of tulkus–enlightened Buddhist lamas said to be able to reincarnate themselves to continue their vows–descended from Avalokiteśvara, the embodiment of the compassion of the Buddhas.
The Dalai Lama has, in the past, been the leader of the Tibetan government. In the current day, he is responsible for the Central Tibetan Administration, Tibet’s government-in-exile.
The Dalai Lama placed second, by only two percentage points, behind Barack Obama as the world’s most popular leader. The survey was conducted in six countries between March 31st and April 12th, 2010, by Harris Interactive for France24 and Radio France-Internationale.
by jeremy on April 21, 2010
Role-playing games in their current form owe their existence to a 15th century form of improvisational theatre called commedia dell’arte, where players were given roles and situations without a script to guide them. It wasn’t until the 1970s, however, that Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson combined this theatrical form with Gygax’s Chainmail wargame to create the world’s first modern role-playing game—Dungeons and Dragons.
Currently in its fourth edition, Dungeons and Dragons remains the most popular tabletop role-playing game. Its future has looked uncertain at times. In the early 1980s, the game was mired in a moral panic centered on the accusation that the game promoted Satanism, witchcraft, murder and other unsavory practices. Later, the game’s original publisher, TSR, approached bankruptcy before its 1997 purchase by Magic: The Gathering publishers Wizards of the Coast. D&D recovered from these setbacks, however, and current estimates place its player base around 1.5 million.
Of course, RPG video games and the explosion of the MMORPG—Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game—have redefined public perception of the RPG. The desktop, rather than the tabletop, is now the preferred venue for role-playing (although staunch advocates of tabletop gaming might argue that this is not, in fact, role-playing).
Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft is now the most popular role-playing game in the world. Based in the setting created for Blizzard’s original Warcraft real-time strategy games, the game was first announced in September 2001. New areas of the world were unveiled in 2007 and 2008 by the Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King expansions.
World of Warcraft had 11.5 million subscribers as of December 2008 and holds a Guinness World Record for the most popular RPG by subscribers. It holds over 60% of the MMORPG subscription market.
by jeremy on April 2, 2010
If you’ve ever seen an “I’d rather be shopping at Nordstrom” bumper sticker, take note: America really would rather be shopping at Nordstrom. According to a recent survey by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ASCI), Nordstrom is the most popular department store in the country.
The upscale department store was founded in 1901 when Swedish immigrant and successful gold prospector John W. Nordstrom returned to Seattle and opened a shoe store with Carl F. Wallin, a local cobbler. It wasn’t until 1963 that Wallin & Nordstrom, then owned by Nordstrom’s three sons, expanded to include apparel and changed their name to Nordstrom Best. That name lasted ten years before being shortened to Nordstrom.
Nordstrom has dominated ASCI almost every year it’s been measured. Target managed to rank first in 2001, however, and Nordstrom’s rank wasn’t measured for the five years following that victory.
This year, Nordstrom ranked first with a score of 83 while Target holds second place at 80. Dollar General, J.C. Penney and Kohl’s all ranked third most popular with scores of 79.
by jeremy on March 24, 2010
In 2009, there were more than 6,000 robberies, burglaries and larcenies committed in banks across the United States—almost 1,000 fewer than in 2008. Thankfully, only twenty-one people were killed during these incidents and each of those was one of the criminals involved. Of the over $45,000 taken during these robberies, only $8,000 has been recovered.
Most important to those who’d rather avoid being present for a bank robbery, though, is the day most of them occurred. The most popular day of the week to rob a bank was Friday. Twenty percent of the heists occurred on Fridays, with Mondays and Tuesdays being the second and third most popular days at 18% and 17%, respectively.
The least popular days were, unsurprisingly, Saturdays and Sundays.
Twenty-seven percent of the crimes occurred between the hours of 9 and 11 am, while 23% occurred between 11 am and 1 pm and 22% occurred between 3 and 6 pm.
The statistics were compiled in the FBI’s Bank Crime Statistics report for 2009.
