By Posted on Posted in Author, Business, Technobabble 3 Comments Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Nerdy Road Warrior
Nerdy Road Warrior

In an earlier post I gave my “my road warrior checklist for the car.”  Within the last year I occasionally worked as computer tech support and/or mobile techie.

Sometimes I was on location fixing a problem, writing a database program, or doing a small bit of programming on a friend’s larger program.  I enjoyed being a techie, but wouldn’t want to do it for a living.

When I’m a road warrior techie, here’s what I carry with me:

  • Laptop backpack
  • Laptop, extra battery, power cord
  • Portable hard drive, 120 GB (Actually a laptop hard drive in an enclosure)
  • Flash drives (4G, 128meg)
  • CDRW – rewriteable CD’s
  • DVD-RW – rewriteable DVD’s
  • USB hub, 3 ports
  • USB cable, A to B
  • USB cable, A to mini
  • Ethernet cable, 6′
  • Phone cord, 6′

If I had to keep a techi backpack stocked, here’s what else I’d put in it:

  • Zip ties, twist ties, and/or velcro ties
  • Labels
  • Small screwdriver set

What do you take with you?

Update: A (techie) friend suggested the following additions, trunk space permitting:

  • Ethernet cable, wire crimpers
  • Ethernet hub
  • Installation CD’s

By Posted on Posted in Calculators, Free, Open Source, PDRater, Technobabble, Workers Compensation Resources No Comments Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Google Chrome
Google Chrome

Google jumped head fist into the browser war last week.

The big players at the moment are Internet Explorer, Firefox/Mozilla, Opera, and Safari (Mac).  From Google’s information about Chrome, it looks like it was designed based on Apple’s popular Webkit and Mozilla’s very popular Firefox.  An added benefit is that this new browser is open source.  Google’s online comic about Chrome and their new vision of how a web browser should look and behave is actually fairly interesting.

The other bit of good news is that I’ve downloaded and installed the beta version of Google’s Chrome in order to see whether it is compatible with this website and its web apps.

Good news!  Chrome works flawlessly with my workers’ compensation calculators!  So, feel free to use your choice of web broswer to calculate permanent disability percentages, temporary disability rates, life pension rates, and nearly every other kind of benefit available under California workers’ compensation law.

By Posted on Posted in Not Workers Compensation, PDRater, Technobabble No Comments Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Spitzer - The Morning After
Spitzer - The Morning After

Okay, I’ve got good news and bad news.

Good news: The CERN LHC was fired up yesterday and the world didn’t end!

Bad news: If you followed any of my suggestions from the past few days, you might need some pointers on what to do now. ((End of the World Survival Guide, The End of the World: A To Do List.))

  1. Give up smoking and drugs.
  2. You’ll need a new will and gym membership.
  3. You kept receipts, right?
  4. You’ll probably need to go back to renting an apartment.
  5. Work on your resume.  There’s no way your boss is taking you back.
  6. Get a good lawyer to deal with the DUI, solicitation, and federal wildlife protection charges.
  7. Face facts, you’re probably uninsurable now.
  8. Two words: credit counseling.
  9. Consider switching to a religion that offers absolution or papal indulgences.
  10. STD tests for everyone!

Something most of those CERN / LHC lawsuits forgot to mention is that even though the Large Hadron Collider was fired up yesterday, it won’t warm up to smash things together for a few weeks.  So, we’re not totally out of the woods yet…

(Too bleak for a Thursday?)

By Posted on Posted in Free, Open Source, PDRater, Technobabble, Website Updates No Comments Tagged with , , ,
Wordpress Upgrade
Wordpress Upgrade

Last night I upgraded from WordPress v2.6.1 to WordPress v2.6.2.  You’ve heard me extoll the virtues of WordPress.  Free, open source, easy to modify and customize, highly secure and… updated (infuriatingly) often.

If you see any weirdness, please let me know so I can take a look at the issue.

By Posted on Posted in Not Workers Compensation, Technobabble No Comments Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

or… What Would Ferris Bueller Do?

Did the apocalypse take you by surprise?  Not to worry!  Once you’re done with the obligatory crying, rending of hair, and gnashing of teeth, I’ve got a handy-dandy itinerary. You may want to print this one out and keep it on you for the rest of the day.

Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.                                     – Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

Strap in.  Its going to be a busy day.

  1. Get up and drink as much coffee as you can tolerate.  If you didn’t do everything on the list from yesterday, try to take care of some of that stuff now.  Put on your costume (you did buy the costume yesterday, right?) and let’s get started.

    Pimp Hat
    Pimp Hat
  2. Call everyone you know – party at your house!

    Party House
    Party House
  3. Rent a Lamborgini or Ferarri.  Don’t spring for the extra insurance scam.  No matter what happens today, you’re not returning it in one piece.

    Lamborghini
    Lamborghini
  4. Drive in the carpool lane.  Top down, no seatbelt.  Why not have a drink?

    Beer Hat
    Beer Hat
  5. Try something totally new.  Color your hair, get a tattoo, a piercing.  Remember: There is no such thing as politically incorrect any more.  How about a baby seal burger?

    Baby Seal Burger
    Baby Seal Burger
  6. Try something dangerous.  Bungie jump, skydive, or swim with the sharks.  Better yet, find a way to do all three at once – time’s a wastin’!

    Skydiving and Bungie Jumping with Sharks
    Skydiving and Bungie Jumping with Sharks
  7. Overpay and overtip EVERYWHERE you go.  Have fun passing out money like its going out of style!

    Money
    Money
  8. Attend party at your house.  This is where the caterers, fireworks, and champagne come in handy.

    Party House
    Party House
  9. Hookers for everyone!

    Happy Spitzer
    Happy Spitzer
  10. Last meal:  Whatever you want to eat and drink, but you might as well try fugu too.

    Fugu - Blowfish
    Fugu - Blowfish

I like to think that Ferris Bueller would have approved of this plan.

If, by some truly freak occurrence, the Earth doesn’t get swallowed up by a black hole and we’re not stuck in a time loop, check back in tomorrow morning for a list of things ways to deal with the consequences of living like there’s no tomorrow.