Last night I upgraded from WordPress v2.6.1 to WordPress v2.6.2. You’ve heard me extoll the virtues of WordPress. Free, open source, easy to modify and customize, highly secure and… updated (infuriatingly) often.
If you see any weirdness, please let me know so I can take a look at the issue.
Google has a saying, “launch early and iterate.” Launch your idea, get feedback, make it better, keep doing it! As a friend of mine has delicately suggested, I’m no Google. This doesn’t mean I can’t learn from Google, right?
Two of the calculators I’ve been developing are a commutation calculator (for pre-1/1/2003 injuries) and a retroactive benefits calculator. I’ll discuss the commutation calculators more closer to their launch.
However, today is the day I’m publicly launching my Retroactive Benefits calculator! Its fairly straight-forward. You tell it the weekly rate, start date, end date, payment date, and an interest rate. It tells you how many days, how much is due, how many days the benefit was delayed, and how much is due with interest.
Take a look, play around with it, let me know what you think. Drop me a line or post a comment.
In my never ending quest to build the world’s best workers’ compensation website, I’ve made a few upgrades:
Using open source software can be a two-edged sword. On the down side, anyone with the ability to read the source code can figure out the security vulnerabilities. The plus side is that people are constantly working to improve and eliminate those very same security vulnerabilities.
Since people are working on WordPress all the time, it will need to be upgraded all the time. Doing so allows me to take advantage of the latest features and security updates. So far I’ve used WordPress 2.3.2, 2.5, 2.5.1, 2.6, and now 2.6.1.
The theme (the “look” of this website) is completely user configurable. Since this website’s launch I’ve been constantly tweaking the look. Minor changes to the color scheme, menu at the top of the website, and how many posts are shown on the blog page.
I work on the theme in order to (hopefully) make the website more aesthetically pleasing and easier to use.
I’d like to make the free registration process as quick and as painless as possible. I’ve had the opportunity to watch a few people go through the free registration process for this website. What I saw was that people were logging in for the first time and were sent to their user page – which looks totally different from the rest of the website. Unfortunately, this caused no end of confusion.
I modified an existing plugin to override website’s default settings to send users directly to the calculator page as soon as they log in.
I just posted a new EAMS article with three new downloads and some important information about walk throughs and case filings!
Mario Puzo, the famed author of The Godfather, The Sicilian, and The Last Don, also wrote a slightly lesser known book by the name of “Fools Die.” ((Did you know Puzo also wrote the screenplays for Superman and Superman II?)) Fools Die was a very cynical look at the gambling, literary, and film industries. Some of the best parts were the casino owners talking about gambling:
Percentages never lie. We built all these hotels on percentages. We stay rich on the percentage. You can lose faith in everything, religion and God, women and love, good and evil, war and peace. You name it. But the percentage will always stand fast.
Throughout the book characters say, “no percentage,” or “bad percentage,” or “I have the percentage.” This phrase refers to a (slight) mathematical advantage or disadvantage which, with the inevitability of a glacier, will guarantee a net win or loss over time.
I’ve given a little more thought to the idea of offering website calculators that can be used from a cell phone. Right now, there are precious few cell phones and cell phone web browsers that are capable of using the basic internet protocols necessary to use these workers’ compensation benefits calculators.
At this point I could redevelop the calculators to work with more phones. No one is clamoring for cell phone based permanent disability and permanent impairment calculators. Though I have a feeling that day is not far off, right now there is no percentage in that game.
However, do not despair – I’m thinking of offering something of a consolation prize. More on this later.
