Category: Laptop

By Posted on Posted in Author, Free, Laptop, Not Workers Compensation, Technobabble No Comments Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Nerds
From Uncool Nerds...

Yeah, I said it. And, I don’t care that it sounds ridiculously self-serving. Frankly, I think iTunes, MySpace, and instant messaging are to blame. These three things, more than anything else, made computers cool.

You think mechanics and handymen were always considered cool manly-men?  No way.  First cars and home improvement had to be cool. THEN the guys who fix/maintain those things became cool.

There was a day when computers and the internet were only good for word processing and searching libraries.  When these things were not indispensable, there were no real uses for nerds.  You know, besides copying their homework.

I think the first time anyone ever thought I was cool for being a nerd was when I was in law school.  A fellow law student had a floppy disk (yeah, it was that long ago…) that stopped working.  The campus tech guys were unable to do anything about it.  I asked if I could take a look – and was able to recover the data.

To Cool Nerds
...To Cool Nerds

These days a nerd can save your iPod, iPhone, laptop, recover your lost passwords, convert your files, and set up your wireless network.  They keep your computers virus free, network humming along, and your e-mails arriving right on time.

Heck, sometimes they even build online web-based workers’ compensation calculators which crank out permanent disability ratings and let everyone use them for free.

So, why not hug a nerd today?

This Public Service Announcement has been brought to you by Huey Lewis and the News, because it really is “Hip To Be Square.”

By Posted on Posted in Author, Business, Laptop, Marketing, Not Workers Compensation, PDRater, Technobabble No Comments Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

My laptop is back, up and running!  I truly cannot explain just how happy I am that I have it back.

Scotty
Scotty

As I mentioned earlier, my laptop stopped working on the Sunday night before last.  The next day I stopped by a local Fry’s Electronics and picked up a hard drive enclosure for my laptop’s hard drive.  This solved my initial problem, being cut off from my data, by allowing me to schlep my laptop’s hard drive with me.  Even though I had my data with me, I didn’t have my laptop with me.  I constantly felt as if I had lost my wallet or cell phone.  A disconcerting feeling, to say the least.

On Friday afternoon I took my laptop to a local repair shop, Paramount Technology, and, after talking with the proprietor for a few minutes, left my laptop with them at about 12:30pm.  He estimated they might have it ready on Tuesday; Monday at the earliest.

They called my cell less than three hours later to tell me my laptop was fixed.

Everyone knows how Captain Kirk would ask the impossible of Scotty.  Like clockwork, Scotty would bitch and moan about how he could not perform the impossible.  And, yet, when crunch time came, the polarity was reversed, dilithium crystals realigned, and they had warp engines back on line.

They did a great job, warranting their work for 90 days, had my laptop repaired in record time, and didn’t scratch my baby.  (FYI, Dell offers a whopping 30 day warranty on their work.  In the words of Govenor Palin, “Thanks, but no thanks.”)

I don’t care if they were practicing “under promise and over deliver.”  Paramount Technology has earned my business and my recommendation.

By Posted on Posted in Author, Calculators, EAMS, Laptop, Not Workers Compensation, PDRater, Technobabble, Website Updates, Workers Compensation Resources No Comments Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , ,
*PDRater up, the Dow down
PDRater up, the Dow down

September 2008 was a pretty good month for PDRater.com.  Yay! ((Original photo courtesy of Daniel Martini.  Mad photoshop skillz, all mine!))

Not so good for the economy. Boo! Perhaps this website needs a new, darker, tagline?  How about: “When you’ve lost everything else, you’ve still got PDRater.com”

Here’s my favorite posts from this past month.

I had the most fun with the “End of the World” posts from mid-September.  If you read nothing else, check out the one labeled, “The End of the World: A To Do List“.  That one is worth a look for my mad photoshop skillz alone.

For the more practical minded, the Road Warrior Checklists might be helpful.  I think I’ve got at least one more “Road Warrior Checklist” in me.  Also, I’ve provided some advice on what to do when your laptop stops working.

Six new calculators this month!

  1. Retroactive Benefits Calculator
  2. Convert WCAB and DWC “legacy” numbers into the new EAMS ADJ numbers
  3. Search with all EAMS registered Offices
  4. EAMS Body Part Codes search engine
  5. EAMS Document Type and Title search engine
  6. EAMS and DWC forms search engine

The World Ended on 9/10/2008

Laptop Repair Saga

Road Warrior Checklists

Virtual Real Estate (since the non-virtual kind is dead)

By Posted on Posted in Calculators, EAMS, Laptop, PDRater, Technobabble, Website Updates, Workers Compensation Resources No Comments Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
EAMS Logo
EAMS Logo

As you know, last Monday I brought you two new EAMS calculators / search engines which were basically an improved search engine for the EAMS ADJ number lookups and EAMS office lookups.

The IT guy for my law firm wrote an e-mail to me on Friday suggesting:

Hey, how about a body part search function on your website? That might be useful sometime.

First off, thank you for the suggestion TK!  Secondly, I was actually in the process of building such a calculator on Sunday September 21, 2008 when my laptop stopped working.  My laptop was fixed on Friday (more tomorrow) and I was able to finish the EAMS body part to body part code search function.

Calculator
Calculator

I was so happy to get my laptop back I built a whole new EAMS search engine and a better way to access forms.  After having a hell of a time trying to locate the proper document type and document title on Friday I decided to make this my next project.

With the new EAMS forms on the DWC forms page, you now have a bewilderingly large number of forms to search through in order to find the one you need. Not only do you have to look through the 136 different forms offered by the page, but the EAMS forms are not easily distinguishable from the non-EAMS forms.

  • What I’ve done is create an EAMS and DWC forms search engine which scans through the DWC’s lists of forms by the form type, form name, and form number, and generates a list of just the forms which fit your search.  On my forms search engine, the EAMS forms will be highlighted so you know its an EAMS form at a glance.

And THAT is how I squandered my weekend.

By Posted on Posted in Author, Business, Laptop, Not Workers Compensation, PDRater, Technobabble No Comments Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Okay, your laptop doesn’t work.  What do you do once you’re done grieving?  Your options are to:

  1. Fix it yourself. Slowest and cheapest solution.
  2. Pay someone to fix it. Moderately time consuming and expensive, and potentially fraught with peril (your laptop could get damaged or ruined).
  3. Get a new laptop. Quickest and most expensive solution.
Computer Help
Computer Help

Setting aside the idea of diagnosing and fixing the issue yourself, which is just not an option for most people, the choice is usually between fixing and getting a new laptop.  With computer processing power, RAM/memory, hard drive space, and battery life constantly increasing while prices consistently decrease, the ideal time to repair versus buying a new laptop is always going to be a moving target.  There are three main factors to consider when making this decision.

Cost

Cost is probably the single biggest deciding factor.  The good news is that your laptop can probably be repaired.  Sight unseen, it will probably cost you between $200.00 and $500.00 including parts and labor.  A new laptop will cost you roughly $500.00 for a bare bones machine, $1,250.00 for a nice machine, and $2,500.00 and up for a ridiculously powerful machine.

Lifetime

For most people a computer has a 3 year timeline of usefulness.  After that something about the computer will be too outdated to be of use beyond basic usage.  If your computer is more than 3 years old, you’ve had a good run.  Replace the poor thing.

Time & Need

If you need a computer for your business, every hour without your computer means you’re losing money.  If you don’t need it for your business, you’ve got more time to decide.  Your time is important and your downtime is even more important.

Formula

Here’s my totally unscientific and completely quantifiable formula for determining with nearly totally complete guesstimate-approximation of whether you should repair or replace your laptop.  First, let’s assume a constant – the amount you would spend on a new laptop and set that equal to the original purchase price of your current broken laptop.  The formula is as follows:

  • O = Original cost of broken laptop
  • A = Age of broken laptop in months
  • R = Repair cost
  • L = Lost work hours
  • H = Hourly rate

Repair your laptop if:

  • [(42-A)/42]*O – (L*H) – R > 0

Replace your laptop if

  • [(42-A)/42]*O – (L*H) – R < 0

Verdict:

I need to get my laptop repaired.

How about yours?