Last week, I linked to an article on the 12 most dangerous (and safest) states, based on various violent-crime statistics. Many New England territories were among those judged as "safest," and for the sixth time in seven years, Vermont has now topped the charts as America's healthiest state (I guess the locally made Ben & Jerry's ice cream is enjoyed sparingly!). The rulings, published by Morgan Quitno Press for the past 15 years, are based on 21 factors, including teenage birth rate, health coverage, and rate of certain diseases.

Next on the list is Minnesota, hitting number one in terms of the percentage of residents who exercise regularly and those carrying health insurance. The New England region rounds out the top five, with Massachusetts, Maine, and New Hampshire taking the three-through-five spots.

The remainder of the top 12:

With the new Sony Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii gaming consoles having been on the marketplace for almost two months now, the sheer quantity of Nintendo Wii consoles sold far outshines the number of Sony Playstation 3 consoles that have been sold. There are many reasons for this (take your pick): Sony's parts shortages, the lower price of the Nintendo Wii, different availability at certain retailers, ad embargos, etc. When going into a Best Buy store to do some research yesterday, I asked a few clerks which gaming console had shown more interest since early December. Before I could finish the sentence, both said "the Wii -- no contest". They even had a few Sony Playstation 3 consoles sitting on the shelf for sale -- but no Wiis at all.

One thing that is extremely interesting as I plow through Sony's upcoming fortunes with my Lexan crystal ball, is the niches that the Nintendo Wii is starting to attract. That particular gaming console is only $249 -- lower than the lowest-configured Microsoft Xbox 360 or Sony Playstation 3 consoles -- and offers some of the more innovative features out there like wireless (gyroscopic) controllers, a penchant for games that get players into physical activity, and increasing interactiveness with its games. That's huge -- but it's been ignored in many ways as one of the larger value-adds to the Wii.

This Nintendo Wii owner lost over 9 pounds "playing" his Nintendo Wii with the Wii Sports boxing game -- which features physical exertion as you virtually "pummel" your opponent with similar physical movements to a real boxing match. Nintendo may have found a neat niche here: people who want to play games but who also want to physically interact with the game into the realm of actual exercise. Sony should be watching this space.