Hal Varian Rule of Thumb

Between the dawn of civilization and 2003, we only created five exabytes of data [5 thousand gigabytes]; now we’re creating that amount every two days ... by 2020, that figure is predicted to sit at 53 zettabytes (53 trillion gigabytes), an increase of 50 times. ... data is like food: we used to be calorie poor and now the problem is obesity; we used to be data poor, now the problem is data obesity!

Ray Isle Rule of Thumb

Don't worry too much about good or bad vintages ... instead, invest your energy in knowing producers who make excellent wines year in and year out!

Earl Wilson Rule of Thumb

One way to get high blood pressure is to go mountain climbing over mole hills!

[Thanks, Emre Toker!]

Chuck Cohen Rule of Thumb

A 150 pound person walking 4 mph burns 85 calories per mile ... if you weigh more, you'll burn more.

Audrey Hepburn Rule of Thumb

I believe laughing is the best calorie burner ... I believe in kissing; kissing a lot ... I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong ... I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls, and happy boys the most handsome ... I believe that tomorrow is another day ... and I believe in miracles.

Dave Moore Rule of Thumb

Internet obsession starts when someone spends more than six hours a day online not for work or school purposes, and becomes angry when unable to access the Internet.

Zongorazik Lassan Rule of Thumb

If you are getting thirsty you are probably mildly dehydrated already ... in an ideal world you should not get to the stage of getting thirsty at all.

Scott Ziemba Rule of Thumb

The old rule of thumb, that employers pick up 80% of health care insurance premiums and you pick up 20%, is now closer to a 70-30 split.

David Gerard Rule of Thumb

Your risk of dying increases exponentially, doubling about every eight years.

Ted Kennedy Rule of Thumb

Children should not be denied the opportunity for a healthy start in life because their parents cannot afford insurance ... families should not have to worry about paying medical bills at the same time they are struggling to cope with all the other strains that serious illness brings ... older couples should not see the savings of a lifetime swept away by a tidal wave of medical debt ... and no Americans should find that the quality of their medical care is determined by the quantity of their wealth ... but that fundamental wrong occurs every day in America, over and over and over again.

Russ Turley Rule of Thumb

Always walk up 2 flights or walk down 3 flights of stairs instead of taking an elevator.

Sara Kincaid Rule of Thumb

The key to losing weight is to lose a pound or two per week.

Ethan Becker Rule of Thumb

Combined with regular exercise and not smoking, a truly nutritious diet is your best bet for staying healthy or getting back to good health.

Eugenie Jones Rule of Thumb

Cold symptoms are typically felt from the neck up ... flu symptoms can be felt all over.

Jim Jindrick Rule of Thumb

Limitation is the severest storm of fattery ... eat less, exercise more.

Michael Pollan Rule of Thumb

Eat food ... not too much ... mostly plants.

Jay Rayner Rule of Thumb

If, at the bottom of a pub chalkboard menu, you see the words 'some dishes may contain nuts' - run away ... it means the food wasn't prepared there and they don't know what's in it.

Hiramalini Seshadri Rule of Thumb

If your feet hurt, cut back on salt, make sure there is enough protein in your diet, put up your feet, walk regularly, and get into the right weight ... if you're prone to swollen feet, definitely use support stockings if you are taking a long flight.

Jack LaLanne Rule of Thumb

Take your current weight and multiply that by 10 to get your daily allowance of calories ... if you weigh 200 lbs multiply that by 10 and you get to eat around 2000 calories a day ... if you are trying to lose weight, aim for 75% of this allowance.

Brad Townsend Rule of Thumb

I don't want to eat many things that I might see when I take my 7-year-old twins to the zoo.