Facebook and Employment...

Funnily enough I read two articles about Facebook yesterday; one about Goldman Sachs interest in the social networking site's potential and one about why it pays to be vigilant as to what you post on your personal Facebook page. There is probably some overlap in there somewhere.

The first was about Goldman Sachs USD 500 million investment into Facebook. This sees Facebook valued at somewhere in the vicinity of USD 50 billion. So, what is in the water up Cambridge way that allows Harvard drop-outs to head up multi-billion dollar behemoth tech companies? I wonder what this puts Mark Zuckerberg's personal stake in Facebook at in dollar terms? There was some talk of the company being forced to go public or at least run an Initial Public Offering with the Goldman Sachs investment. But, Zuckerberg seems pretty intent on not taking the public route at this point in time.

The second article was about how employers are getting applicants to log into their Facebook accounts as part of the interview process as a means of vetting whether the applicant is a suitable match for the prospective work environment. So, whatever happened to psychometric testing to find that synergy stuff out?

The article also noted how some employers were doing the hard research yards off their own bat and checking out prospective employees for themselves to find out whether there are the necessary values and ideals matches required to be successful. I am guessing that these vetting procedures would probably extend to blogs as well. I would reckon people are more likely to find "controversial" discussion on my blog rather than my Facebook or Twitter pages.

There is no doubt that the exponential growth of social networking capabilities and the technology to facilitate our interactions through social networking has meant that there is stuff going online every second that at some point, somewhere, and for some one is going to cause them some embarrassment or grief. Whether that grief be a broken relationship or a failed job application remains to be seen. However, as the photo here clearly shows, people post some really outrageous shots of themselves and others on their Facebook pages.

Perhaps the moral of this story, if there is one, is that one should think twice, maybe even three or four times, before posting those Friday or Saturday night party snaps on Facebook. Then again, maybe it is not only the pictures that are a problem. It is probably not a good idea to post on Facebook as a status update that you are not going into work today because your too drunk to get out of bed (or that you are in bed with the Boss' wife or girlfriend or whatever).

Ho hum...

Men as Sexual Objects...

Nah, whoever would have thought that there would be a little balance placed back into the ledger of men and women behaving badly. A young woman, and recent graduate of Duke University, has placed a list of her sexual conquests online. Her exploits include 13 young men of some [former] repute, who I am quite sure were not so willing in the take my photo and critique my sexual prowess online participants stakes. However, this might be a lesson in taking a moment or two to think about where your next hook-up might end up.

The list, which is eloquently described as a thesis, "An education beyond the classroom: excelling in the realm of horizontal academics", to satisfy the completion for the award of a degree in horizontal academics, has gone viral. You can see the list over at Jezebel. I went to college just up the road at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, so some of the bars and other places of interest noted in this thesis are places that were around back in 1992 when I was there (yes, punters and friends, I am that old).

The beauty of this list is that it shows pretty clearly that, there are at least, some women out there who critique men on their attractiveness, penis size, and abilities with the other appendages they possess (is the tongue an appendage?). It was particularly nice to see that an Australian accent rated highly on the suitability stakes. This means that there are genuine hopes for all Aussie fellas out there roaming the college campuses of America in search of a hook-up.

On a serious note. There is nothing funny about this list. There is nothing worthwhile in even thinking about putting it together in the first place, let alone putting it together and then seeing it published online. It says a lot more about the woman who did it than the men who fell victim to her "research". Interestingly, the vast number of research subjects targeted were members of the Duke Lacrosse team.

I guess the question that needs to be posed now is, "Is what this young woman did wrong?"

Beer Goggles

It has finally been proven that what most of us men already knew is a scientific fact, beer goggles are real! A team from the University of Bristol has proven in a controlled study that alcohol intake increases the regularity of our thoughts on sex and improves the appearance of those around you.

The team conducted a controlled experiment on 84 heterosexual volunteers. The experiment involved half of the group getting a little bit drunk and then the whole group being asked to rate the attractiveness of others in a series of photographs. The results of the study are reported in the New Scientist magazine.

The results indicate that those that were slightly drunk rated the attractiveness of those in the photos that they were shown as being more attractive than the group that was sober. An interesting aside was that the slightly drunk volunteers also found members of the same sex to be more attractive.

This would seem to end the argument as to whether the "beer goggle" theory is true or not, it seems that it has now been scientifically proven. I reckon that this will now become the scientific reason and excuse for those many indiscretions of one's youth.

Happy drinking to you my loyal readers!

The Cork & Screw...

It sounds more sexual than it really is! Yet, then again a really good bottle of wine can be an experience that makes you feel warm and fuzzy and perhaps tingly all over :)

I have gotta say I have been a bit of the proverbial loser on the going out front and have not been devoting sensible time to going to one of the now many many excellent wine bars that have sprung up across the capital (Jakarta). I am sure there must be a fine wine (and cigar) guide that lists all these establishments and the relative cost involved!

I did have cause to go to the Cork and Screw in Wisma Kodel last week after the launching of a new website that I am involved with...Why a week you ask? Well, as I am sitting here in front of my computer screen thinking that I should be doing some work and not blogging, I am also thinking about how a nice glass of red would taste! A Margaret River or a Penfolds would probably hit the mark...

Red wine -- my poison of choice!

Perhaps I will make a concerted effort to write a few reviews of the myriad of wine bars in Jakarta...I might just be able to swindle a bottle or two for my efforts (I might have to embellish my visitor stats a little in order to convince them I am reaching a lot of people).

Unfortunately, the Cold Chisel song, Cheap Wine is out of place here as there is not a lot of cheap imported wine, but when it is all said and done I could find myself mellowing out in a wine bar to the rockin' grooves of Cold Chisel...