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The State of California will soon require forms and documentation used in processing workers' compensation cases be filed electronically. Aside from using the proposed proprietary system the only method mentioned for submitting files is to upload PDFs. I'm am currently developing interactive on-line forms that will allow users to fill in, download and print out these forms. Unlike PDFs found on-line, this site will allow the user to save their data and both amend, emend and create new documents from the same form.

These forms (I currently have only one ready for use, WCAB Form 1, Application for Adjudication of Claim) are part of a comprehensive case management system currently under development. When operational, the system will be a data dictionary for populating forms, documents and letters. The system is being developed using PHP5, MySQL, and Open Office utilizing a technique referred to as Ajax.

Science News May 26, 2007 has a note about increased incidence of nail-gun injuries. It reports that between 2001 and 2005 roughly 37,000 people annually were treated for injuries from pneumatic nail-guns. "Nails driven into hands or fingers accounted for two-thirds of the wounds."

Figures for "weekend carpenters" increased from 4,200 in 1991 to nearly 15,000 in this latest period. The article notes that most such accidents occur among professionals but that "their mishap rate has held steady since such data on workers' injuries were first collected in 1998".

Science News cites:
Lipscomb, H.J., and L.L. Jackson. 2007. Nail-gun injuries treated in emergency departments—United States, 2001–2005. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 56(April 13):329-332. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5614a2.htm

I can well believe this as I spend a fair amount of time working in the "tool corral" at my local Home Depot and I've sold alot of nail guns and compressors. More than a few customers don't know what nails to load the guns with let alone have experience using them. They just want to put that molding on as fast as possible. I guess it's quicker to shoot your thumb with a nail gun than it is to hit it with a hammer.

Herein is a most impressive production of The War Prayer, Mark Twain's perceptive and poignant take on invoking God to aid in war.

Robert Albertini
AP English block A
2/18/04
Wuthering Heights Essay

Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights presents significant observations of social life in England during the first half of the nineteenth century. The novel is set during the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in Europe. The revolution brought about the development of the middle class and reshaped the roles of the upper and lower classes. The author provides much social commentary about class and roles as they were developing at the time. The novel focuses heavily on the limitations imposed upon individuals based on their social status. Bronte’s novel illustrates the negative consequences of restricting a person’s actions to the expectations of their class. The author presents immense contrast between the impulsive, naturalistic character, Heathcliff, and the rest of the characters, who are more bound to social class, to portray the absurdity of the developing mechanical society.

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Robert Albertini
AP English A block
Ms. Poole
12/9/03
Battling Entropy

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a play in which the central conflict results from a disruption in social order. The Elizabethan philosophy of divinely established social order is referred to as the Great Chain of Being. It is evident that Shakespeare adhered to this prevalent philosophy of the English Renaissance, since a great number of his works revolve around the theme of social disorganization. Hamlet portrays how alterations and inversions at any level of the Great Chain of Being yields a definite formula for chaos.

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