Actual Facebook Graph Searches Below

So, spoiler alert: Facebook's new search tool is being used as designed, which allows searchers to elicit information about 'friends' and strangers that was never intended to be shared or searched.

'Current Employers of People Who Like Racism' ... and More Actual Facebook Graph Searches - The Atlantic

Funny story: at one time, SJN Sales had staffers called 'researchers'. Among other duties, these folks pulled the loose threads at the edge of every resume we received, looking for unrevealed data about the placement candidate. Once, this had the result of a sales job assignment being filled in 8 days (it had been empty for 7 months) by a candidate our researcher recruited. Her secret sauce? Recognizing that the hiring location was located near a state border, she made 15 calls across the line and matched a skilled sales pro with her dream job.

It wouldn't be terribly difficult to run Graph to make it do that kind of connecting for you--in fact, that's what it's for. So the interesting question is, What are the costs and benefits to all of us from anyone who can operate a keyboard getting access to the kinds of connections that once required both inspiration and skill? In the case of employment recruiting, the industry has changed so much that it doesn't exist anymore: SJN Sales reviews few resumes today, for the simple reason that we've become an outside sales company. What are the benign applications of this aggregation power, and do they outweigh the differentially extracted price paid for it? More from the tech desk at Slate.

Facebook attempts to grow out of its role as a waste of working hours

As this review by the Atlantic's Rebecca Rosen points up Facebook wants to eat your time. (My SIL who owns a chain of hair salons should be a flu outbreak tracking device: Her staff are playing more games (during no-shows) than last year at this time. ) We have a Facebook 'page' at SJN Sales, which no one knows how to use or why. Is Graph going to force us into contortions to meet the unstated specs of a whole 'nother marketing channel that cannot be ignored? Stay tuned...

The upside of warming

Econ 101 tells us that changes to the climate will shift business opportunity. SJN Sales has started representation for five companies providing solutions to climate change and shifting utility costs since 2009. These solutions have key features in common: They can deliver a solution to a problem business owners already have. We've had no success with the tools for tracking future impacts of the shifting high and low temps. They can be budgeted in an existing expense category. While it's true that in the future all CFOs will have a tab for 'environmental expense', it's also the case that today, no one does. Most important: They change how something works, not what staffers do. If you've ever delivered training that attempts to change the habits of workers who are already feeling competent on the job, you can see how important this is.

Delivering something to Asia?

Good luck with that. As explained in this review of UPS' attempt to add Dutch carrier TNT Express, DHL and FedEx are stronger across the Pacific, and will remain so since EU regulators rejected the merger. SJN Sales recently expanded our footprint to include an office in Bangkok, for the convenience of our Asian clients. We're delighted to be able to offer real-time conversations with staffing and sales clients throughout the region. Alas, we've also learned that anything larger than a legal size envelope can be complicated as well as expensive to get in hand from the US market. Thus demonstrating again that data is the cheap thing to exchange.

Ads that know where you're shopping, and what for?

In Alexis Madrigal's summary of ' Ads That Pop Up on Your Phone' the take-away is that locaiton-sensing push ads may change how your phone talks back. SJN Sales reviews 3 apps a month pitched to retailers, that allow the specific location to offer coupons or discounts. The issue is getting consumers to install them.