Category: Technobabble

By Posted on Posted in Articles, Author, Downloads, EAMS, Free, Links, PDRater, Technobabble No Comments Tagged with , , , , , , ,

WorkersCompensationInfo.com posted a great update on the proposed EAMS regulations. The Board website shows the new proposed regulations and forms. The comment period closes on August 21, 2008. You can download all of the EAMS Proposed Regulations at once here.

There are new forms for:

  • Compromise and Releases
  • Stipulations with Request for Award
  • Minutes of Hearing
  • Declaration of Readiness to Proceed
  • Disability Evaluation Unit (DEU) forms and regulations
  • Retraining and Return to Work (RRTW) forms and regulations

Those wishing to comment can send their thoughts as follows:

There’s a physical mail address as well – but with EAMS around the corner, shouldn’t you get used to e-mail?

By Posted on Posted in Cell Phones, Javascript, PDRater, Technobabble No Comments Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

As the man said, “you can’t always get what you want.” Here’s what I need from a cell phone:

  • Multiple numbers per contact
  • Multiple alarms
  • Scheduling events
  • Text messaging
  • Ability to jot down notes
  • A battery with 4 hours of talk time and a few days of standby time

My current phone can do all that. The battery life is failing, reception is spotty, and its been dropped more times than I was as a baby. Here’s what I want out of a new phone:

  1. Contacts and calendar that can synch with my laptop
  2. Bluetooth support and file access (to transfer files wirelessly)
  3. A web browser that works as well as IE7 or FF2 (Namely: proper HTML rendering, CSS rendering, cookies, and javascript support)

I know the LG Dare can handle #1 and #2, but I’m dubious about its support for #3.

I know the iPhone can handle #3 fairly well, but am dubious about its support for #1 and #2.

By Posted on Posted in AJAX, Cell Phones, Javascript, PDRater, Technobabble No Comments Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

So, it looks like the only phone thus far that can use these calculators is… the iPhone. Don’t blame me – blame every other cell phone maker out there. I played with an LG Dare again a few days ago and was disappointed with its web browser this time.

I’m sure its a great phone. But, let’s be real, that’s not good enough any more.

Pros:

  • Touch screen
  • Virtual QWERTY keyboard
  • A screen that rotates when you tilt the camera
  • MP3 player
  • Digital camera, video camera
  • Removable memory chip
  • 500 contact with up to 5 phone numbers each
  • A web browser that will support AJAX and XMLHttpRequest
  • Decent support of cascading stylesheets

Cons:

  • Imperfect support of javascript
  • No support of cookies/sessions

What does this mean for you? You can go to my site, but you can’t log in. If you can’t log in, you can’t use the calculators. :/

As a side note, just about every Verizon rep I’ve talked to pushes this phone’s 500 person contact list. My question, “How much memory does the phone have?” Their response: “It has 5 phone numbers per contact? Wow. That’s a lot. I didn’t know that.” Riiight – you didn’t know? Why have I heard that exact line from three separate reps? I don’t have 500 contacts. I don’t even know 500 people.

Verdict: It may be a good phone, but you won’t be able to use my calculators from it.

By Posted on Posted in Downloads, Javascript, PDRater, Technobabble No Comments Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I recently gave a brief overview of my permanent disability and workers’ compensation benefit calculators. In that post I wrote a little bit about how my website calculators work.

In late 2004 I spent some of my free time working on a calculator for the 1997 Permanent Disability Rating Schedule 100% pure javascript (the only programming language I knew at the time). I had several reasons for never publicly releasing this calculator:

  • Uniformity. Not all computers and browsers perform all javascript functions the same way.
  • Speed. A pure javascript calculator would require the user to download all of the code – not just the parts they needed.
  • Protection. Anyone with a modicum of technical knowledge could simply downloaded the calculators, and then post it as their own.
  • Obsolete. With SB 899 and the 2005 Permanent Disability Rating Schedule, my calculator became nearly obsolete. I scrapped it rather than building a second calculator.

The current workers’ compensation benefits calculators use very very little javascript. Doing so has meant that I don’t have to worry about different computers/browsers, users only need to download the code they need to run a single calculation, and my calculators don’t work without my server.

Next up, PHP!

By Posted on Posted in Cell Phones, Free, Open Source, PDRater, Technobabble No Comments Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , ,
This jet
This jet

Mostly because its so flipping cool.

I’m one of those kinds of people who likes to customize their things to suit them better. My junky cell phone has a custom ringtone I created, custom welcome/power-on message, my e-mail and word processing programs have tons of little shortcuts to make my life a little easier in a multitude of ways. My dictaphone has a sticker on it. ((A sticker of a jet.))

The great thing about WordPress is that the entire program is SO customizable. You can change how it looks with “Themes” and how it acts with “Plugins.” I’ve been using it since March or so, even though it wasn’t publicly launched until July. I’m still finding all of these cool little features.

My current favorite feature: The ability to schedule a post. I can draft a quick post and then schedule it to appear on a particular day or time. Brilliant!

Its the little things in life, you know?