Category: Author

By Posted on Posted in Author, PDRater, Website Updates No Comments Tagged with , , , , , ,

So, yeah, the whole getting the “new calculators working” by July 23, 2008 thing isn’t going to happen. But, you knew that. I’m kinda sorry I even wrote that post. Two reasons:

  1. I broke the cardinal rule of software development. Under-promise and over-deliver. As a one-man show, I’m wearing the programmer and project manager hats. I should really know better by now. A friend of mine had a great post on this exact issue.
  2. And, I ended a sentence with a preposition.

That said, here’s my new goal: Updated calculators before the 2009 Permanent Disability Rating Schedule is adopted!

By Posted on Posted in Author, Free, Links, PDRater, Subscription Features, Website Updates No Comments Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Today PDRater.com is one year old! You can click on the images below to see what this site used to look like.

PDRater.com circa July 23, 2007
Circa July 23, 2007

The very first version of this website was launched on July 23, 2007.

On a whim I looked up what else has happened on July 23. Birthdays: Martin Gore of Depeche Mode, Raymond Chandler mystery writer, Woody Harrelson, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, and Slash of Guns N’ Roses.

Thank you wikipedia!

This first version of PDRater.com only calculated old and new schedule ratings and generated reports. Pretty ugly, I know. At this point I was just trying to put together something that would work.

PDRater.com circa September 17, 2007
Circa September 17, 2007

I updated the entire website on September 17, 2007. I’m sure other important things happened on this date too.

This version of the website offered MDT (multiple disabilities table) calculators, CVC (combined value chart) calculators, lists of work restrictions, and a life expectancy calculator.

This was the first time that I offered a subscription version with additional features.

This is also the first version that had any kind of advertising. I started off with the ubiquitious Google Adsense you see everywhere. Then I put up ads from an independent certified impairment rating specialist SnapRater.com and a court reporter Janet Lombardi & Associates.

PDRater.com circa January 1, 2008
PDRater.com circa January 1, 2008

I spent WAY too much time developing the version of this site launched on January 1, 2008.

This version included a date calculator, temporary disability rate calculator, wage loss / total partial disability calculator, life expectancy calculator, life pension calculator, average weekly wage calculator, simple interest calculator, and permanent total disability calculator.

My goal was to offer more California workers’ compensation calculators than anyone else anywhere on the internet – and do it for free. I’m fairly certain that there is no other single source that has more calculators than you’ll find here.

PDRater.com circa July 6, 2008
PDRater.com circa July 6, 2008

The version of the website you’re now viewing was launched on July 6, 2008. I had been fiddling with WordPress as a website/blog platform for several months before this but didn’t switch over the main site until July 6.

Using WordPress as a website platform for these calculators has allowed me to focus on providing better content (links, downloads, self-indulgent blog posts) and on the calculators themselves.

When I launched this latest version, I took out all of the advertising so that I could focus on making the website look better.

That said, July 23, 2008 was a totally unrealistic and overly optimistic target date for totally revamped calculators. I really don’t know what I was thinking.

By Posted on Posted in Author, Free, PDRater, Subscription Features, Website Updates No Comments Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

Hands down, the most common question I get is some variation of “free as in FREE?” I was going to add this question to the “frequently asked questions” page, but it’s asked SO often I’ve got to post it here.

Q: Free as in FREE? WHY are these calculators free? Why would you do that?

A: I’ve got a lot of reasons for making these calculators free.

First, I made the decision to not charge for calculations. While this might change in the future, I don’t think it will. The pay-only features don’t give you more calculators or more reliable calculations. Instead, you get a lot of ways to make your calculations even quicker, easier, and convenient by improving the search functions and creating reports.

Second, there are other websites and programs that offer some of the same calculators I do. Some of those are free. No one would use this site unless it offered the same or better service at the same or better price (free).

Third, while you don’t have to pay me anything, I think the pay-only features are useful enough that people will want them. The pay-only features ((Better searching for body part codes, occupational codes, work restrictions, and e-mails with multiple side-by-side ratings, and more.)) are all designed to save you a lot of time and frustration. Most California workers’ compensation professionals have extremely high case loads. Shaving a few minutes off every case would save considerably more time and money than this website’s paltry monthly subscription.

Fourth, as the saying goes, “do what you love and the money will follow.” Heaven help me, I really enjoy working on this site. Over the last year I’ve invested a lot of time in this project.  ((Please please don’t ask me how much.))  Some people collect stamps, some people build things out of toothpicks. I design and program web based calculators for workers’ compensation professionals.

By Posted on Posted in Author, Open Source, PDRater, Technobabble, Website Updates No Comments Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

Hopefully I’ll be upgrading this website again in the next few days.

This website was created using the WordPress open source blog software. WordPress is a flexible program for creating websites and blogs. Since this program is “open source“, its source code is open for anyone to review and can be modified by anyone (sufficiently nerdy ((Such as myself.)) ).

The earliest test versions of the blog-website version of PDRater.com were built using WordPress 2.3. This was superseded by version 2.5 in late March. Version 2.6 was just released. I will be upgrading to the latest version as soon a I get a chance. If all goes well, you’ll never notice a thing.

As a side note, upgrading my installation of WordPress is a lesser priority than redeveloping the calculators.

By Posted on Posted in Author, Business, Marketing, Workers Compensation Resources No Comments
Single Rich Man
A Handsome Single Rich Man

A few weeks ago I stopped by a friend’s office on the way back from an appearance.  On the way over I called ahead to see if there’s anything I can bring with me.

Her response?  “A handsome single rich man.”  Then someone in the background piped up, “And cookies!”

“I’m 75 miles and more than an hour away, but I’ll see what I can do.”

On the way over I called up another friend who performed one internet search and placed one phone call for me.  (Thanks Ray!)  I showed up at my friend’s office with cookies and a bunch of the nearest bakery’s richest chocolate brownies with men drawn on them.

They way I figure, if the guy is rich enough he doesn’t have to be that handsome.  Amiright, ladies?

Priceless moment from my visit:

Someone, holding up a brownie, asked me if the men I brought will make a huge mess in her house like the one she already has.  I point out that the ones I brought only have a life span of about 5 minutes and shouldn’t be too much trouble.