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PDRater

Nov
25
2008
Business, Free, Marketing, PDRater

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Going Viral
Going Viral

“Going viral” is the latest marketing buzzword to make it into the public consciousness.  This phrase refers to a process where something is promoted mainly by word of mouth.  The “viral” part of the phrase means to imply that popularity will spread exponentially, like a virus.1

The most memorable examples of “viral marketing” in recent years is probably the “Blair Witch Project.”  This super-low budget movie was popularized largely through word of mouth, making the highest profit-to-cost ratio movies of all time.2

What does this have to do with you or PDRater.com?

Scott Adams, the creator and author of the wildly popular Dilbert comic, recently published a blog post about what he referred to as, “digital tipping.”  He puts up a blog post every day3 but makes little to no money off of it.  Recently he partnered with a company which provides a free service4 in the hopes, or so I believe, that people will use the free service and upgrade to the pay service providing him, in turn, with a financial reward.

Scott Adams made an interesting point about how his blogging has affected his core business – publishing comic strips.5 He discovered that his sometimes controversial blog posts sometimes turned people off from his comic strip – thereby losing a portion of his fan base forever.  On the flip side, although his blog is fairly popular his blog rarely improves his comic strip fan base.

A simple cost benefit analysis would suggest that the observed risk is not worth the potential incremental benefit – especially in light of the ongoing time commitment required to publish blog posts.  I suspect that my own blog posts have a similar risk-reward scenario.

Assuming that I’m acting rationally in blogging, why do I continue to do so in light of an unfavorable bost benefit analysis?  Firstly, I rather enjoy writing.  Secondly, its my understanding that search engines rank frequently updated websites slightly higher.  Thirdly, it is my hope that popularity, knowledge, and use of this website will “go viral.”

Much like Scott Adam’s concept of “digital tipping,” I hope people will help me at no cost to themselves by telling their friends about this website, how useful it is for them, and how this website saves them time.  So, if you enjoy or appreciate this website, why not tell a friend?

  1. Photo courtesy of AJC1 [↩]
  2. Incidentally, unseating Mad Max which held the title for twenty years. [↩]
  3. Its not easy!  I missed two days last week! [↩]
  4. Which can be upgraded to a pay service. [↩]
  5. I wish I could find that link! [↩]
Nov
24
2008
AJAX, Javascript, PDRater, Technobabble, Website Updates

Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Calculator
Calculators

Last week a website user notified me of a problem he was experiencing with this website’s rating calculators.  He’s been a regular user for nearly a year now.  When he tried to perform a calculation the calculators would just show waiting indicators without showing the answer.  If he closed the browser window and reopened it, it would sometimes fix the problem.  To complicate matters, his coworker was having a similar problem.

Worst of all, this problem had been plaguing them for two weeks.  If you have a problem with this website, let me know as soon as possible so that I can track down the last change to the site to see if its causing a problem.

My troubleshooting went like this:

  1. Get a detailed description of the symptoms.
  2. Try to replicate the problem.
  3. Reiterate the problem to make sure I’ve got it right.
  4. While working to diagnose and fix the problem, offer a temporary fix (putting up a temporary site for their use).
  5. Look into recent changes in the website (going back two weeks).
  6. Since I couldn’t replicate the problem, ask additional questions.
    • Does the problem occur at a particular time of the day?1
    • What web browser and version do they use?2
    • What operating system?  When was the last update?3
      • Explain how to figure out their version of Windows and how to install update.
    • Do they have any third-party “toolbars” installed?  Yahoo, Google, MSN, etc toolbars.4
      • Ask them to temporarily disable or uninstall the toolbar.  Give them links to where they can re-download the toolbar software.
    • Do they single-click or double-click on buttons?5
    • Are other co-workers having the same problem?6
    • Do they have this same problem on different computers?7
    • Is the browser showing javascript errors?8
    • Ask them to try out a new browser. I recommended the PortableApps.com version of FireFox.
      • If the problem disappears, its obviously in their computer or network.  If the problem persists, it could still possibly be their network or the website.
  7. Above all else: KEEP THE CLIENT INFORMED.9

As of right now, one of this client’s co-workers has contacted me to say that he’s no longer having trouble with the website.

So, problem solved?  If not, let me know, alrighty?

  1. This would indicate a data bottleneck at the server.  Time to upgrade! [↩]
  2. And, tell them how to find this information. [↩]
  3. Have I mentioned how much I loathe Microsoft Vista?  Seriously, I think people should delete Microsoft Vista because its crap. [↩]
  4. These browser helper objects are notorious for interfering with normal browser operations.  Worse, you can’t rule them out based upon when they were installed because they’re constantly downloading and installing updates to themselves. [↩]
  5. Double clicks send two requests to the server – and might be confusing the browser. [↩]
  6. Two computers on a single network could be a coincidence, a sign of a problem with the website, or a sign of a problem with the client’s network. [↩]
  7. If not, its a problem with that computer.  If so, could still be a problem with either the website or their computers/network. [↩]
  8. Tell them how to tell if there’s an error and how to give you the error code information. [↩]
  9. They may not care for the constant updates, but they will know you’re on the case. [↩]
Nov
20
2008
2005 PDRS, Calculators, PDRater, Subscription Features, Technobabble, Website Updates, Workers Compensation Resources

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Calculator Performance Issue: It has come to my attention that some users are having problems with the “Body Part” code finder.  This problem apparently occurs when you click on the “Body Part” button and just see a spinning blue “waiting” disc instead of a list of body parts.

Temporary Fix: Even though the Body Part code search function does not work for some users, the rating functions still appears to work just fine.  If you know the Body Part code, you should be able to enter it manually in the box provided.  If you are performing a 2005 schedule rating, please use the full 8 digit body part code.

Permanent Solution: I am working on a fix for this problem and will update this website as soon as I am able.  I cannot be sure, but I suspect that the problem is being caused, in part, by the recent increase in the popularity of this website.1

To all paid-subscription users:

I value your business and appreciate your patience.  If this problem persists, I will create a second website exclusively for your use.

In the meantime, if you’re having problems with the calculators, however small, please e-mail through the Contact Us link at the top.  The more information I have about the problem, the better able I will be to diagnose and fix it.

Thank you again for your patience.

Sincerely,

Jay Shergill

  1. Yay, popularity!  Boo, problems! [↩]
Nov
18
2008
PDRater, Workers Compensation Resources

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Imaginary Security
Imaginary Security

What’s worse:

Having no security or having the illusion of security?12 Before you answer, you might want to read this article about how TSA security at airports is just plain ridiculous.

Keep in mind that by definition, the only difference between no security and illusory security is your ignorance – not someone else’s.

That said, having the illusion of security is worse.

No Security

If you have no security, you could at least take steps to improve security.  Let’s restate the question to highlight the distinction:

Would you rather have no burglar alarm or have a burglar alarm that never works and tells you it does?

Although not having a burglar alarm won’t prevent you from making foolish decisions3, at least you’ll have the opportunity to know you’re making a foolish decision.  Without a burglar alarm your decisions might be wise or foolish – but only accidentally so.

Illusory Security

Some would argue that the illusion of security provides a deterrence effect.  The only people who believe in the illusion of security is better are those who have something to gain by selling illusory security.4

  • First, deterrence is not a benefit of actual security.  Actual security depends upon the ability to actually stop something from occurring.  Deterrence is, at best, only a side-effect of actual security.  To the extent that actual security relies upon deterrence, its really just illusory security.  When good security is employed deterrence is either irrelevant or unnecessary.  Case in point:  If I have a good guard dog outside my house, I could care less what he looks like.
  • Second, as the above article suggests only stupid or careless criminals are deterred by illusory security.  Even the stupidest criminal knows that some people have actual security and other have only the illusion of security.  Don’t forget, if a criminal doesn’t care about whether you have actual or illusory security, then there is no deterrent effect.  If that same criminal cares whether you have illusory or actual security, then they’ll do the minimum to determine whether you have security.  If this hypothetical criminal instead who doesn’t know or care about illusory or actual security is stupid and will try out security measures.
  • Third, deterrent effects do not require illusory security.  Case in point:  If you know you don’t have a burglar alarm, there’s nothing preventing you from buying signs that say you do.  If deterrence is truly a worthy goal, then why not just opt for no security and specificallly develop the illusion of security.

Stupid Security

Why am I blathering on about security today?  I had an appearance at the Oakland WCAB on Monday afternoon.  As per the instructions of the security guard, I removed all metal from my person and placed it all in the plastic bin provided.  As I was about to walk through the metal detector, she pointed to my shirt pocket and asked what was in it.

Jay:  “Paper – see?”  I showed the parking lot ticket and a receipt from lunch.

Security Guard:  “Put that in too.”

Jay (giving a puzzled look):  “Why?  There’s nothing metal in it.  Its just paper.”

Security Guard:  “Just in case.”

I swear her response was, “Just in case.”  At this point I gave up.  There is little point in arguing with truly profound ignorance.

Just in case of what, exactly?

Just in case paper turns into metal?  Just in case I was hiding something in the paper I just showed her?  Isn’t that what metal detectors are supposed to find anyhow?

  1. Original photo courtesy of Daquella manera [↩]
  2. “i” stands for an imaginary number.  :) [↩]
  3. Such as going on vacation with the front curtains wide open showing off your 60″ plasma screen. [↩]
  4. Call this a reductionist statement and ad hominem attack all you want.  But, you better back that up with an actual reason why illusory security is better than no security.  If you’ve got one, I’d like to see it. [↩]
Nov
17
2008
Laptop, Not Workers Compensation, PDRater, Technobabble

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Data is important...
Data is important...

Quick recap:

...so backup your Data
...so keep a backup

Here’s what I’ve learned:

  1. Backup your data before something goes wrong23
  2. A flash drive is your friend
  3. Decide whether it makes sense to repair or replace your laptop
  4. Make sure you find a good reliable laptop repair shop
    • Get a referral, if possible.  Otherwise, do your homework.
    • Researching a repair shop is time consuming, but you’ll be glad you did.
  5. Make sure your repair shop stands behind their work.  Paramount Technologies’ repair warranty is 90 days.  I think that’s pretty reasonable.
  6. Ask them what went wrong and how to prevent it

Ideas for new posts:

  • What to do when your laptop or computer dies?
  • How do you choose a laptop repair facility?
  1. Dell’s are great – if you know what you’re doing OR if you spring for the all-you-can eat repair buffet AND like talking to tech support. [↩]
  2. Like discovering you have an evil android twin who’s exactly like you – except that he has emotions. [↩]
  3. Thanks to wikipedia for the photos. [↩]
Nov
14
2008
PDRater, Technobabble, Website Updates

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This baby monkey has nothing to do with workers' compensation at all.
This baby monkey has nothing to do with workers compensation at all

This website was recently re-launched on July 6, 2008 in a “blog” style format using WordPress to power everything except the calculators.1

On July 23, 2008 this website was all of one year old.  That day I made a goal of posting something2 every single weekday.3  Today is the 100th post on this site and I can’t help feeling somewhat accomplished.4

As any website regular can tell, I’m constantly tinkering with this site.  I fully understand constant change might be somewhat disorienting.  On the other hand, I’m making these changes in an effort to improve the appearance and usability of the website.

Most recently, I moved the Medical Provider Network and Links sub-pages to be their own5 menu options.  These pages seem to be things people use a lot and really deserve their own spot at the top.  Then again, I don’t want the top menu to be too cluttered.  There’s really no one great solution to this dilemma.

Other changes I’m considering:

  1. Moving the EAMS and WCAB search functions to their own page.  Some users6 use these functions exclusively and probably don’t appreciate the dozen or so other calculators.
  2. Combining the Blog and Articles pages.  I haven’t done this so far because I doubt people want to sift through my technobabble to learn something about workers’ compensation.

While I have you here:

Drop me a line and let me know.

  1. Photo courtesy of nycgeo. [↩]
  2. Admittedly, sometimes nonsense. [↩]
  3. Even on holiday-weekdays. [↩]
  4. I’m not exactly ready for NaNoWriMo, but you need to walk before you can run. [↩]
  5. Top level [↩]
  6. I suspect mostly non-attorneys. [↩]
Nov
13
2008
EAMS, Free, Laptop, Open Source, OpenOffice, PDRater, Technobabble, Workers Compensation Resources

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MicroSoft has no one to blame but themselves for my deleting MicroSoft Office.  Well, its partly Dell’s fault too, but that’s a long story I’ll tell some other time.  (Short version: Dell repaired a prior laptop and shipped it to a construction site in Oakland.)

Once I tried OpenOffice, I never looked back.  Its my preferred word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, office suite program.  Not only is it better than MicroSoft office in just about every way, but its also completely free.  You might be interested in trying it out because I believe it will help you tremendously with EAMS.

OpenOffice.org
OpenOffice.org

OpenOffice.org released version 3.0 of their program on October 13, 2008.  It was so wildly popular that their website was crushed under the overwhelming demand.  The three most important things to know about OpenOffice are:

  1. Its open source, so its completely free.  So, there’s no reason not to give it a shot.
  2. It can open, edit, and save to any MS Office 2000, 2003, 2007, and WordPerfect formats.
  3. It can print or export any file to a PDF.

If you’re a Workers’ Compensation professional in California, you’re probably dealing with EAMS.  Since filing things with EAMS means working with a lot of PDF’s.  In order to keep from reinventing the wheel, it makes sense to save those PDF’s of the document cover sheets.  But what if you need to make a small change later on?  Well, OpenOffice v3.0 can help with that too.

Using an extension ((basically a small program)) OpenOffice can open and edit and re-save a PDF file. Not even Adobe, the company that promotes the PDF format1 , does a good job of opening and editing PDF’s.

This is a really big deal to me because editing saved PDF’s is going to save me a lot of time editing settlement documents and various pleadings.

Update

I wrote the above about a month ago while I gave OpenOffice 3.0 a shot.  It won’t install on my Vista laptop but works great on my XP desktop.  I’ve reverted to OpenOffice 2.4 on the laptop while I wait for a fix.  OpenOffice 2.4 is still free, but it won’t open MS Office 2007 formats (which not everyone is using anyhow) and cannot edit PDFs.

  1. I know that’s redundant. [↩]
Nov
12
2008
Business, Calculators, EAMS, Free, Javascript, PDRater, Technobabble, Workers Compensation Resources

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In a prior post I talked about the top five PDRater.com features that make your life easier.  But, when was the last time you thought about your office staff, hmm?

How can you make their job easier?  Well, the good news is you don’t have to, I’ve given you all the tools to make your office run faster and more efficiently, saving you time and money.

  1. American Idol, Top 5
    Top 5

    MPN’s.  Medical Provider Network lists, complete with logins and passwords.  Whether you’re on the applicant or defense side, your staff is going to need access to these lists.  You can find a doctor for your client or so you can give a list of doctors to opposing counsel.

  2. EAMS DWC to ADJ Number Search Engine. Chances are you’ve got cases with more than one “legacy” Board file number.  With this search engine, you can search for the corresponding EAMS ADJ numbers.  And, you can search for as many Board (or ADJ) numbers as you want at the same time, just by separating them with commas.
  3. EAMS Office Search Engine. When your staff is filling out documents for you, they’re going to need to know the correct name and address for all the parties.  When they need to call opposing counsel, they can also look up the phone number with this search engine.
  4. EAMS Document Type and Document Title Search Engine. Your staff needs a quick way to find the exact EAMS document type and EAMS document title for every document cover sheet getting filed with the Board.  Sure, they could comb through four or five pages of 3 point font on the Board’s form.  Or, better yet, they could search and find exactly the document type and title they need.
  5. EAMS Body Part Codes. There are 62 different body part codes in the EAMS system.  There’s no need to keep the EAMS chart on hand, just tell your staff what body part you want on the form and have them look it up on this website.
  6. DWC / WCAB  / EAMS Forms. There are now more than 130 different forms, new and “legacy”, available on the DIR website.  There’s no reason your staff should have to scroll up or down looking for the right form.  Type in a few characters and get a direct link right to the exact form you need.
  7. Date Calculator. Sure, everyone in your office could have their own date wheel.  In my experience, date wheels and money charts are two of the most commonly swiped office aides right after the good stapler and scotch tape.  With a date calculator built into the website, all of your staff can quickly and easily calculate the number of days between two dates or what day it will be in a certain number of days.

So, there you have the top 5, er 7, PDRater.com website search engine and workers’ compensation calculators your staff is going to benefit from using.  Registration for this site is quick, easy, and free.  Save your staff some time and frustration by having them register for this website and try out the calculators, search engines, and links.

Nov
11
2008
MySQL, Open Source, PDRater, PHP, Technobabble, Wordpress

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Wordpress
Wordpress

I’ve been upgrading to the latest releases of WordPress as soon as each one comes out.  And, its a good thing too.

Over the last week or two a website named “Wordpresz.org” ((I’ve edited the link so that it goes to WordPress.org instead.  I don’t want contribute to these hackers fooling anyone else.)) was discovered.  The people who created this website were using a vulenerability in WordPress version 2.6.2 to redirect users to their website.  Their website purported to release WordPress version 2.6.41.  The problem was that they had hacked one file in the installation package to create a bigger security vulerability.

This just goes to show that:

  1. Monitor for Updates. Many programs these days automatically check to see if new versions are available.  If the program does not have this feature2 , its a good idea to check about once a month or so.
  2. Update Frequently. Not all software updates are equal.  If the program is being updated to fix security vulnerabilities or improve the program’s stability, you definitely want to install the update.  This website’s installation of WordPress was already “inocculated” against this kind of attack because I had alled version 2.6.3 almost as soon as it came out.
  3. Use Official Sources. WordPress is open source software built using PHP and MySQL.  Since the program is open source, its easier to modify the code. ((As Uncle Ben said, “With great power comes great responsibility.”))  The themes and plugins available through WordPress.org are reviewed by other users for malicious code and for possible improvements.  If you’re not certain how to examine source code for malicious code, its best to only use official sources.
  1. The latest version is 2.6.3 which is just version 2.6.2 with a small but important security fix. [↩]
  2. Or if you turn it off, as I sometimes do. [↩]
Nov
7
2008
Occupational Code, PDRater, Technobabble

Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
89 days and counting...
Wake up!

Perhaps its the political climate, or the recent daylight savings time change, or that I’m an argumentative guy.  Today’s post is my argument against daylight savings time.12

If Wikipedia is to be believed, Daylight Savings Time was not invented by Benjamin Franklin.345 6 If Wikipedia is to be further believed, some guy named “William Willett” was the one who thought of it.

Its a mixed blessing for Mr. Willett that no one knows his name.  Ben Franklin gets the credit for daylight savings sandwiched between kudos for electric kites and bifocals.  Then again, Franklin also has to put up with abuse from people who hate daylight savings.  Such as myself.

The Benefits

Set aside for the moment the historical benefits to daylight savings time – the farmers getting out of bed and whatnot.  I’ll stipulate that it may have served some terrific purpose yeas ago.  The real issue is whether daylight savings time has any ongoing net benefits for our society.

Let’s assume arguendo there are practical benefits to getting everyone in your state to wake up, get home from work, and go to bed an hour earlier or later.  They have more “time” to do whatever is they want to do. 7  Let’s even suppose that having an “extra hour” improves the mood of people with seasonal affect disorder. 8

The Problems

Infrastructure. You have to admit that a truly Herculean effort is required to support the infrastructure necessary for daylight savings time.  People engineer wall clocks that manipulate the time twice a year.  Cell phones, computers, and TiVo’s all have to be pre-programmed to change the time twice a year.  Its exactly this kind of ridiculous time-accounting nightmare that lead to the Y2K bug in the first place.

Manual Upkeep. All of non-computerized devices such as coffee pots, car stereos, wristwatches, ovens, microwaves, climate control devices, and sprinkler systems need to be manually reset.  In this way, daylight savings time is almost like having a guaranteed power outage twice a year.

Productivity. The missed appointments, reschedulings, and groggy commuters and workers.  I wouldn’t be surprised if Starbucks was behind the continued use of daylight savings time.

Uniformity. Not every state, let alone every country, uses daylight savings time.  What happens why you’re in California and you need to call Hawaii or Arizona before the close of business? 91011

Workers’ Compensation Claims. The workers compensation implications alone are staggering.12 Every home and every office must keep one poor bastard around whose job duties include dragging a chair or step ladder around the office to change all the wall clocks.

If the Office Poor Bastard falls and gets hurt, you’re going to have to hand him a claim form.  If the Office Poor Bastard gets an attorney, that attorney is going to see the mechanism of injury and argue for a higher occupational code than “Office Poor Bastard.”1314 The Office Poor Bastard will be considered an occupational code 482, “RIGGER, HIGH amuse. & rec.”15

The Solution

There are two possible solutions.

First, we eliminate daylight savings time.  If the potential drawbacks of daylight savings time outweigh the benefits, then it should be eliminated it.

Secondly, as an alternative we could agree to set the entire coutnry on the time halfway between daylight savings time and non-daylight savings time.  If you get 100% of the benefits and drawbacks from daylight savings time, then at the time halfway in-between you’d get half the benefit and drawbacks. 1617

I’m in favor of eliminating daylight savings time altogether, but I would certainly be willing to “split the baby.”

  1. I wonder if I should try to put it on the ballot as a proposition… [↩]
  2. Original photo courtesy of Laffy4k. [↩]
  3. Third best Ben Franklin quote here. [↩]
  4. Second best Ben Franklin quote: “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to prosper.” [↩]
  5. Best Ben Franklin quote: “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”  Too political for a Friday?  :/ [↩]
  6. Thanks QuoteDB!  [↩]
  7. Keep in mind, they get no more than one “extra” hour. [↩]
  8. Not that I think anyone’s arguing this.  I’m just setting up the best possible arguments in favor of daylight savings time. [↩]
  9. Those Arizonans really are mavericks. [↩]
  10. Or, how about: “Well, I guess Hawaiian and Arizonans are both mavericks!” [↩]
  11. Too soon? [↩]
  12. I bet you thought this wasn’t going to have anything to do with workers’ compensation. [↩]
  13. “211 OFFICE CLERK, GENERAL clerical,” for those of you playing at home. [↩]
  14. <shameless plug>I’d suggest this great workers’ compensation website to help you find such things.</shameless plug> [↩]
  15. I say this only half-jokingly.  Years ago I had someone make this exact argument to me.  Ken, I’m looking at you. [↩]
  16. This assumes an arithmatic progression of benefits and costs associated with daylight savings time. [↩]
  17. This also assumes that no new benefits or costs are conferred by half-daylight savings time.  I can concieve of at least one additional drawback – namely that the United States would be in time zones half an hour from the rest of the world.  Then again, I suppose that’s better than being a full hour off? [↩]