The Acid2 test for browser compliance to the W3C recommendations for web standards, namely: CSS, XHTML & PNG is now one year old. Happy Birthday.

This test was put together by the Web Standards Project aka WaSP (who by the way is sporting a fancy new page design these days). Web browsers should be able to display the smiley face correctly, as it’s simply markup and one .png image for the eyes. The markup is purposely full of many known to be buggily displayed (if supported at all) CSS1 & CSS2 features. The markup along with explanations is available.

Give your favorite (or not so favorite) browser a whirl at the Acid2 test.

Finally getting some of the intended content for my PHP Toolbox. I’ve shared my PHP functions for displaying: Random Quotes, Random Text and Random Images.

Hope they help someone.

I’ve had my fill of the infallible 900 lb. gorilla that is insurance companies. North Richland Hills, the city of my most recent experience with front-end damage, will impound your car if you don’t have insurance. The state of Texas has enacted legislation to fine an uninsured driver $350 to $1000, suspend their license and impound the car.

Two experiences this year lead me to believe it is nothing short of strong-arm tactics by government to enrich the insurance companies coffers while giving minimal (in my case none) compensation to victims.

Example #1:

I park our 2005 Chevrolet Equinox at the local WalMart. I walk out of the store to see that the truck parked in front of ours is on fire. A heroic attempt to move my truck away from the flames proves futile. We end up with a melted front end.

The individual whose truck caught on fire is fully insured with Allstate Insurance. After 2 weeks of wrangling with their representatives we are told that the cause of the fire was a defective cruise control device which Ford had just recalled. Too bad, so sad. Allstate refused to pay any compensation.

Example #2:

I’m making my 3/4 mile trek to work in my old 1988 Ford Taurus. While waiting at the red light to turn right, one very impatient Rickey Dean Nelson of 6501 Dustin Ct. in Watauga, Texas rolls up behind me and starts blasting his horn because I’m not turning right on red. Little does Mr. Nelson know, I’m not gonna turn right on red until I can safely cross over 3-lanes of traffic to make my left-hand turn just 1/4 mile up the road. So, he continues to honk, mouth words to me and shake his fist. Traffic clears, I turn right and move over to the left lane. Within 125 feet, he nearly takes off the front of my car by swerving in front of me, and slams on his brakes.

Thank God a witness saw the whole thing. Mr. Nelson was ticketed for ‘Changed Lane When Unsafe’. Additionally, it was cited in the police report that a contributing factor to the wreck was his ‘Road Rage’. Alright. Should be a slam dunk to get compensated for the damage right? He is fully insured with Farmers Insurance.

Well, after 3 weeks of car pooling with my wife and girls, I finally get a verdict from Farmers Insurance. Same song. Same verse. Too bad, so sad. This is a tort. Insurance companies in the state of Texas are not required to pay compensation for intentional torts.

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is that both of these damages against my property, by fully insured individuals, results in no payments by the insurance companies. Total damage for both events is over $4,500.00.

Thanks Allstate Insurance. Glad your insured is ‘in good hands’.

Thanks Farmers Insurance. Glad you get your insured ‘back where they belong’.
Thanks state of Texas. Too bad your ‘Don’t mess with Texas’ slogan doesn’t emcompass any like concern for your citizens.

I’m kicking around trying out textpattern for a while. I’ve seen several cool web sites that look really nice using the textpattern framework. I haven’t found the time to style this blog section with the rest of my site.

I’ve been a Wordpress advocate for about 1 1/2 years now, but it might be neat to try something different.

Amusingly enough, I integrated Wordpress into a clients site at the WDCIRJFA. He claimed that Wordpress was ‘the most difficult content managment system in the world.’ Maybe for the benefit of future would-be web page makers, I should learn about textpattern.

No. I’m well beyond turning 18. It’s the losing eighteen pounds mark. Woo hoo. When I started working out, I didn’t think I could get very excited about basically working to get back to the weight I was at a couple of years ago. But, not so true anymore. It’s great to be losing pounds from my current weight. My wife is doing great as well. She only has about 6 pounds to go before she is at her lowest weight in many years. I’m really proud of both of us.