Technobabble

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Feb
15
2012
Not Workers Compensation, Technobabble

Easily replaceable tablets
Easily replaceable tablets

A few weeks ago I was at the Oakland WCAB when a Judge asked me if I could help find the owner of a lost tablet computer. 1  I was handed the tablet… but was unable to turn it on.  It turned out that the computer had been turned on and the battery drained down to nothing.  There was no charge cable, no standard USB charging port, no way to power the device, and nothing about it that apparently indicated the identity of its owner.

Here’s what I tried:

  • I looked all over the tablet and inside the case.  Any mobile PC you own should have something identifying it.
  • I looked all over the tablet for a way to possibly charge the device.  Even had I been able to do this, I probably wouldn’t be able to get past the unlock/password screen.
  • The vast majority of 3G/4G mobile broadband computers will have a little tiny “SIM” card in it.  It is a tiny chip about a quarter of the size of a standard SD card.  In some devices you have to open the battery compartment to get to it.  If you can remove the chip you can find out who the broadband carrier is.  In this case the chip had the Verizon name and logo as well as a 10 digit number printed right on it.  It’s that number that lets the tablet PC’s user connect their computer to their Verizon account.  I then called Verizon, spoke to one of their representatives, told them the 10 digit code, gave them my cell number, and about fifteen minutes later the owner of the PC (a friend of mine as it turned out!) called me up!

So, the moral of the story is to make sure you put something on your mobile PC to indicate your ownership so that if someone finds it, they can let you.

  1. Photo courtesy of Helzer [↩]
Sep
9
2010
Laptop, Technobabble

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Youd have to know the theme song to really get it...
You'd have to know the theme song to really get it...

You’ll understand the title in just a moment…

For the last few months my laptop has been in bad shape.  Such bad shape I’ve been using a backup laptop. 1  Something on my laptop’s motherboard went bad and killed the battery. 23  I could still use it – but I had to keep it plugged in all the time.  If I needed to move it, I had to shut it down all the way, move it, then boot it up – since it had no battery life at all.

Well, Dell’s kick ass incredible customer service took care of me – once again.  I can’t thank these guys enough for going above and beyond.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, my next laptop is going to be a Dell. Thanks to Lionel my laptop is sporting a totally brand-spanking new motherboard and power cord.  I’ve also just slapped in a totally new battery as well.

Anyhow, I’m beyond happy. 4

  1. Trust me, the back up laptop is nothing to brag about. [↩]
  2. You see, the motherboard – it went bad.  It was one bad mother…  Oh, forget it. [↩]
  3. The photo does not belong to me and is probably the property of MGM. [↩]
  4. Yes, yes, I’m a nerd – whatever. [↩]
Mar
3
2010
Cell Phones, Not Workers Compensation, Technobabble

Ye olde cell fone
Ye olde cell fone

Here’s some trivia for you.  I have the world’s crappiest cell phone.  I get a lot of flack for my cell phone.  It’s beat to hell, got a cracked screen, dented, scratched, and it’s ridiculously old.

How old?  Well, March 15 will be the six year anniversary of the FCC’s acceptance.  My cell carrier has been sending me ever more frantic flyers for the latest cell phones for about four years now.  It’s gotten pretty pathetic, really.

Unfortunately my trusty phone is now taking it’s last gasps and I need to find a replacement.  :(

Oct
23
2009
Author, Technobabble

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Antivirus Pro 2010 SCAM
Antivirus Pro 2010 SCAM

My father in law’s laptop is infected with a very nasty program called “Antivirus Pro 2010.”  It disables a bunch of core Windows functions, messes with other programs, shuts down the computer randomly, tells you the computer has a virus (which is technically true), and then offers to help you out for $40.00.  In reality, this program is itself malware/spyware etc.

The problem is that it really looks like its an official MicroSoft or Windows program! 1

After several attempts and trying to use numerous different programs, I’ve been unsuccessful in deleting it.  It installs pieces of itself all over the computer – and if you don’t delete each piece it will install the entire thing all over again.  The various recommendations I’ve seen on the internet have been ineffectual.

If When I finally remove it, I’ll post the information here.

  1. Photo courtesy of bleepingcomputer.com [↩]
Oct
12
2009
2005 PDRS, AMA Guides, Ogilvie, Technobabble, Wage Loss, Workers Compensation Resources

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Back to the drawing board
Back to the drawing board

DOWNLOAD THE MATHEMATICAL PROOF AS A PDF!

A little while ago William S. Morris, an Applicant’s attorney, told me that the Ogilvie adjustment calculation could be further simplified. 1 He suggested the following2 :

  1. Earnings Loss34
    1. L = (PIESSE – PIEA) / PIESSE
  2. Individualized Proportional Earnings Loss
    1. = (WPI / L) / 100
  3. DFEC Adjustment Factor
    1. = ([1.81/a] * .1) + 1
    2. = ( (1.81 * .1)/a) + 1
    3. = (.181/a) + 1
    4. = 1 + (.181/a)
  4. Ogilvie DFEC Adjusted Rating
    1. = WPI * DFEC Adjustment Factor
    2. = WPI * (1 + (.181/a) )
    3. = WPI * (1 + (.181 / Individualized Proportional Earnings Loss) )
    4. = WPI * (1 + (.181 / ( (WPI / L) / 100) ) )
    5. = WPI * (1 + (18.1 / ( (WPI / L)  ) )
    6. = WPI * (1 + (18.1 * (L/WPI) ) )
    7. = WPI + (18.1 * L)
  5. Conclusion
    1. If the injured workers’ individualized proportional earnings loss is outside all of the FEC ranks, you may calculate the Ogilvie adjustment by adding (18.1*Earnings Loss) to the WPI.

The only flaw with the proofs offered by William and myself is that they are too exact.  The WCAB in Ogilvie never sets forth the exact process for performing the Ogilvie adjustment calculation – so the only official method involves rounding to different significant figures at different places.  Thus, a calculation performed in strict accordance with the WCAB in Ogilvie and through one of these mathematical proofs would differ very slightly.

What do you think? Leave a comment or drop me a line.

  1. Photo courtesy of Dahveed76 [↩]
  2. I’m paraphrasing here [↩]
  3. PIESSE = Post Injury Earnings of Similarly Situated Employees [↩]
  4. PIEA = Post Injury Earnings of Applicant [↩]
Sep
6
2009
AJAX, Author, Calculators, Cell Phones, CSS, Javascript, MySQL, PDRater, PHP, Technobabble, Website Updates, Workers Compensation Resources

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Easy-to-make iPhone
Easy-to-make iPhone

A company once told me someone had offered to build permanent disability calculators for their website in three months for $7,500.  One said six months and $20,000.  Recently, another suggested it would take them a year and $40,000.  My response is usually some variation on “You’ve got to take that deal.  You’re wasting your time talking to me.”

It’s no big secret that building a great product takes a lot of work.  The important thing to remember is that just because something is easy-to-use, that doesn’t mean its easy-to-make. 1

Real iPhone
Difficult-to-make iPhone

Let’s take the iPhone for example.  Everyone will concede its an easy phone to use.  However, it was released more than two years ago on 6/29/2007. 2  In that time the other players – BlackBerry, LG, Nokia, and Palm have all been trying to catch up.  If this easy-to-use phone were easy-to-build everyone would have their own version.

Look, there’s no special magic to building a website like this.  Really, anyone can do it.  All you have to do is learn the calculations inside-and-out, deconstruct the math involved in the various calculations, learn some client and server side programming languages, learn a content management system, make it all work together, keep current on changes in the law, start all over again each time the law changes, and earn the respect of the workers’ compensation community.  Once done, you’ll have your very own workers’ compensation calculator website!

To return to the lesson of the iPhone, building a touch screen phone that can play music and surf the web is totally doable.  Doing it right is another matter entirely.

  1. Visit the link for a PDF of a cut-and-fold iPhone.  Thanks Gizmodo! [↩]
  2. Wikipedia link. [↩]
Sep
1
2009
Author, Calculators, Design, PDRater, Subscription Features, Technobabble, User Interface, Website Updates

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Dont worry, its not your fault
Don't worry, its not your fault

Yesterday I received an e-mail from a beta tester, Jeff Duarte, who was having trouble with one of my calculators.  He said that he didn’t really understand how to use a particular calculator.  My response was:

The problem is not you, its me.  :)  If I designed my calculator better you wouldn’t have any questions.

Seriously – sorry Jeff, its my bad.  My goal is to make these calculators so easy and intuitive to use that no workers’ compensation professional would have any trouble figuring out how to use them.  If you don’t figure out how to use it just by looking at it, I designed it wrong. 1 Getting feedback is a very important and instructive process for me.  It lets me figure out what works for people and what doesn’t.

The good news is that Jeff”s suggestions have given me an idea on how to make two calculators easier to use and for two entirely new features!

So, send me an e-mail if you have an idea on how I can make a calculator more intuitive, easier to use, or just plain work better!

The problem is not you, its me.  :)  If I designed my calculator better you wouldn’t have any questions!
  1. Photo courtesy of TreMichLan.  Terrible pun – all me! [↩]
Aug
31
2009
Author, Calculators, Cell Phones, PDRater, Workers Compensation Resources

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Theres nothing silly about Verify!(R)
There's nothing silly about Verify!®

A few weeks ago I launched a Social Security Number verification tool powered by Verify!®.  Since its launch its become a very popular tool.  One of the coolest things about having these calculators is finding out all of the new ways people think of to use them.  These new and unintended uses are almost always far more interesting than the original pedestrian reasons for which a tool was created.

Take Silly Putty for instance.  Silly Putty was originally created as a potential replacement for rubber during World War II.  It didn’t work as a replacement for rubber, scientists were unable to think of a use for it, and it sat in a lab for years before a toy store owner began stuffing it in plastic eggs.1

Here are a few ideas:

  1. Use it to determine whether someone is a U.S. citizen.
  2. Use it to double-check someone’s year of birth.
  3. Use it to determine approximately when someone became a U.S. citizen.2
  4. Use it to determine whether someone is potentially Medicare eligible.3

What other uses can you think of?

  1. Photo courtesy of unloveablesteve [↩]
  2. I thought of this one during a deposition last week when a deponent couldn’t recall when they first came to the United States.  I just fired up the cell phone web browser, went to the calculator page, and asked the follow up question. [↩]
  3. Thanks Chris! [↩]
Aug
26
2009
Blogging, Ogilvie, PDRater, Technobabble, Website Updates, Workers Compensation Resources

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Happy Birthday PDRater!
Happy Birthday PDRater!

I’ve been so busy lately I completely forgot to mention PDRater’s second birthday!1

This site was launched on July 23, 2007.  For both of you who were using it back then, you remember it was an ugly ugly baby.

I’ve really enjoyed working on this website for the last two years.  I use the word “work,” but I don’t really mean it.  Building calculators, creating charts, and unraveling the mysteries of Ogilvie are my hobbies too.  :)

What would you like to see from this website in the coming year?  Please let me know in the comments or send me an e-mail.  I already have several (more) new calculators in the pipeline, but I’m always open to ideas.

  1. Photo courtesy of rmansoorian [↩]