Category: Workers Compensation Resources

By Posted on Posted in Author, Average Weekly Wage, Business, EAMS, Free, Open Source, PDRater, Technobabble, Website Updates, Wordpress, Workers Compensation Resources Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Oct
17
2008

Changing themes for a WordPress website is incredibly easy.  However, sometimes there can be slight problems in the transition.  I had heavily edited and customized the prior theme’s code so that it would be better suited to this website.1

Fixing things
Fixing things

Changing the website’s theme has involved a few small tweaks2 :

  • For about four days the Articles section was merged with the Blog section.  This has been fixed.
  • I’ve found a really great plugin that allows me to insert footnotes into blog posts.3  My previous attempts at inserting footnotes manually were either time consuming or incredibly clumsy. 4
  • I’ve made minor alterations to the current theme – background colors, menu ordering, etc.
  • Some people were separating their WCAB “legacy” number to ADJ number searches by semi-colons, rather than commas.  I believe there’s really no sense in fighting users. 5  If a slightly different method makes sense to users, go with it.  I’ve adjusted the WCAB “legacy” number to ADJ number search function so that you can separate by semi-colons or commas.6
  • In printing out some Average Weekly Wage calculations, I discovered to my dismay that this website looked terrible when you tried to print it out.  Worse yet, the website header, sidebar, and other navigation information took up nearly a page.  This meant that a printout of a calculation might span two or more pages.  I’ve since fixed this using some particularly cool CSS.7
  1. Click this link see what the prior theme looked like. [↩]
  2. Photo courtesy of CharlesThompson [↩]
  3. Cool, no? [↩]
  4. A special thanks to Mr. Simon Elvery for writing this great footnote plugin. [↩]
  5. Unlike a certain “web-based” electronic adjudication management system… [↩]
  6. Or both! [↩]
  7. Well, my definition of cool, anyhow. [↩]

By Posted on Posted in Insurance, Not Workers Compensation Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Oct
15
2008

There are two types of “smell tests.”1

Smell test: Good or bad investment?
Smell test: Good or bad investment?

The first type of smell test is a very literal smelling test.  A bachelor smells an article of clothing to determine whether said article of clothing could be worn on that day around the people said bachelor anticipates being near.  Doesn’t smell bad?  Put it on!  Smells bad?  Turn it inside-out and put it on!

The second type of “smell test” is where you evaluate a situation based upon your gut reaction.

Some blame “credit default swaps” for our current financial crisis.  (Disclaimer: I have no special knowledge about finance – I just listen to NPR constantly).  So, here’s what happened:

  1. Investors (Company A) buy up lots of sub-prime mortgages through a trust.
  2. Company A, looking to make money as investors are wont to do, sell pieces of the trust as if they were stocks.
  3. Other people (Company B), having seen these investors buying up risky sub-prime mortgages, have a great idea – “credit default swaps.” (Or, as they are known on NPR, “CDS’s”).
  4. Company B promises Company A that, in exchange for a very reasonable sum, if one of the people living in one of those sub-prime mortgage homes stops paying that mortgage, Company B will be responsible for that lost asset and income.
  5. Company B tells Company A that this wonderful product is called a “credit default swap,” and that it is definitely-not-insurance.  In fact, its significantly cheaper than buying insurance.
  6. Since Company B is not selling insurance they don’t have to be regulated like insurance.  Insurance companies are required to hold “reserves.”  A “reserve” is simply money that can’t be spent in case an insurance company be required to honor some of their insurance policies.
  7. There are so many Company A‘s looking to hedge their bets that all the Company B‘s CDS’s are selling like hotcakes.  The people that own Company B are so pleased with themselves that they don’t really bother with reserves.
  8. In a few years those sub-prime mortgages with adjustable rates were finally out of their introductory rate period – and thousands of people start defaulting on their loans.
  9. Company A‘s portfolio is now worthless, but they are very happy they had so much foresight as to take out not-insurance policies with Company B.
  10. Company B‘s doesn’t pick up the phones.  Their offices are boarded up, the e-mails bounce back, and Company A stops getting Christmas cards from Company B.

The problem is that Company B went out of their way to invent something that was definitely-not-insurance so they wouldn’t be regulated like insurance companies.  Obviously, Company B didn’t use the “smell test” when they designed their product.  If they had, they would have charged more or kept more money in reserve.

Unfortunately, Company A didn’t use the “smell test” either when shopping around for a way to insure their investments.  You don’t insure your home, car, or life with the cheapest or newest insurance company.  You choose a company that has been around a while and charges reasonable rates for reasonable risk.

When people stop performing the “smell test” $62,000,000,000,000.00 evaporates overnight.

  1. Photo courtesy of Charles & Clint.  Photo editing: All me! [↩]

By Posted on Posted in Author, EAMS, Open Source, PDRater, PHP, Technobabble, Website Updates, Wordpress, Workers Compensation Resources Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Oct
13
2008
New v5.0
New v5.0

First off, don’t be afraid, this is the same website you’ve come to know and love.  Change can be good!  Besides, this latest change is almost 100% cosmetic.

I have been meaning to change the entire look of PDRater.com for a while now.  Thus far I’ve been focusing on improving the workers’ compensation calculators and the website content.

Previously I showed the evolution of PDRater.com from a ridiculously ugly but useful website into a less ugly and more useful website.  Since these latest changes have been mostly cosmetic rather than functional, this should really be something like Version 4.647.  I figure with adding six new calculators in September and updating the look, I’ve earned the right to call this Version 5.0.

Besides, its my blog, right?

The last theme I used was based upon the fantastic WordPress Themer Kit, which is an incredible tool for people who either have little graphic design skill or who don’t want to build a new theme from scratch.  Ultimately, I just don’t have the skill, time, or inclination to build an aesthetically pleasing theme.  (But, let’s be real, its mostly the lack of skill thing).

That said, I am good at adjusting and incorporating.  The original Aeros theme looked significantly different than the one you see.  I’ve changed the background color, removed the slight transparency, highlighted the different sidebar sections, and moved the top menu to the left side.  Since the theme was open source, this mostly involved tinkering with the CSS and underlying PHP.

How do you like this new theme?  Shoot me an e-mail or leave me a comment.

By Posted on Posted in Author, Calculators, EAMS, Laptop, Not Workers Compensation, PDRater, Technobabble, Website Updates, Workers Compensation Resources Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Sep
30
2008
*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 Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Sep
29
2008
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.