RIP Patrice O'Neal

I am saddened by Patrice O'Neal's death at the age of 41 after a severe stroke. I was a big fan of his from his appearances on the Opie & Anthony show over the years. His comic brilliance elevated the show consistently and his career as a comedian was on the verge of taking off. He recently had a successful Comedy Central appearance and also was featured on the Charlie Sheen roast (check link in at 58 minutes when he eviscerates all the speakers before him). My favorite comedians die too soon. First Sam Kinison and now Patrice. He died just when opportunity was starting to knock.

Comedians and fans have been venting on Twitter and Facebook about Patrice's passing and extending condolences to his family. I would like to extend those condolences as well.

I would like to direct you to some of his work online, but it's not safe for workplace listening. His "Black Phillip Show" on XM was great and captured on this page. Patrice just riffs on a variety of topics for two hours. This is a video that compiles some of his scenes from different TV spots (late night, Tough Crowd, Opie & Anthony, etc.).

Please enjoy this clip and look for others on youtube to appreciate his work...

Shatner shows his comedy skills in Thanksgiving safety video

This was just too funny not to share.

Ryan Dunn, Daredevil Comedian of ‘Jackass,’ Dies at 34 - NYTimes.com

Ryan Dunn, Daredevil Comedian of ‘Jackass,’ Dies at 34 - NYTimes.com

It's a sad day in entertainment. RIP Ryan. You and your cohorts made me smile.

Technology and the future of jobs and work

Not many people are shedding tears for lawyers displaced by the software that can search discovery documents, saving clients millions of dollars in billable time for the most complex legal cases. One lawyer at a chemical company told the New York Times about this innovation: “People get bored, people get headaches. Computers don’t.” Technology renders the task of reading rooms full of legal documents into a simple database search. Computers have become more intelligent to incorporate context and use linguistics to help users find and retrieve the veritable “needle in the haystack” from gigabytes and terabytes of storage.

In many respects, this will create upheaval in industries that required many people to search for that needle. It could be in the field of academia, medical research, marketing and other information intensive industries. Our economy has been an information-based economy for the past three decades as manufacturing moved offshore. Now the information business has become hyper-efficient, in large part from smarter computing, and the workforce has to think about how to position itself during this wave of innovation.

From a technological standpoint, companies do not want to be left behind in this capability to automate tasks and bring new efficiencies to benefit customers and improve the bottom line.

This represents a sea-change in work, much like the industrial revolution. If you think about it, Facebook has a $50 billion market valuation and only 2,000 employees. Wal-Mart, the nation's largest private employer, has over 2.1 million employees worldwide and a market valuation of $187 billion. In other words, Facebook is valued at $25 million per employee. Wal-Mart, which has revenue of $420 billion or about the same as the entire output of Sweden's economy, is valued at $89,000 per employee. Valuations are sometimes a dodgy prospect, since there are assumptions about growth rates.

The point that's being made here is that wealth is not necessarily determined by the size of an enterprise. Businesses are doing more with less and we will need to adapt to that new reality. Just as the car rendered horse carriages obsolete, our culture needs to think about what will be valued in the new economy.

What's Financial Armageddon? CNBC Editors Weigh In - CNBC

What's Financial Armageddon? CNBC Editors Weigh In - CNBC The only opinion that has merit is the guy who thinks canned goods can be currency. If the sh*t goes down, the person with the guns and canned goods has the clout.
Haven't these people ever seen the Road Warrior?