LaTeX: Change Format of a Custom Counter

I just spent more time that I would like to admit trying to figure out how to change the display format of a custom counter. Specifically, I was trying to get the counter to display as a capital letter. I found several examples that

1. claimed that this is done with the \Alph command and
2. gave an example on how to change a NON-custom counter.

What took me forever to figure out is that the command for a counter called CounterName is \theCounterName. Thus, the command I was looking for is:

\renewcommand{\theCounterName}{\Alph{CounterName}}

I hope this post can help others.

Google Chrome Security: Less than Perfect

One of the major features touted when the Google Chrome web browser was introduce was its vastly improved security features. Their actions triggered other browsers to implement similar features, thereby improving the web for a much larger user base. However, their security is still not perfect.

My beef with Chrome is that it frequently prompts me that the file I am downloading might be dangerous for my computer. First off, I use Linux so even if I did download a "harmful file", it still cannot do anything that harmful unless I give it sudo rights...which I won't. But even if I was using Windows, I still think that this message appears too often.

The false positive rate for this feature is something like 50% but should be no larger than 5%. This message is supposed to be a security feature, but an alarm that is always going off is ignored.

I created a bug report for Chromium, the open source browser on which Google Chrome is based, about this issue. Hopefully people will see it, take it seriously, and provide a fix.

Android Video: arcMedia

I could make this post very long, but instead I will give the short and sweet version.

(I am generalizating somewhat from my case to the mostly likely affected scenario.)

If you want to play a mov video file that uses an mp3 codec (such as the video files in the Dimensions video series) on your Android 2.2 based phone, the audio does not work when using the default video player. I (more-or-less) submitted a bug report to Motorloa about this, so hopefully future versions will work correctly. In the meantime, the (free) arcMedia app plays the video correctly.

In addition to actually supporting some audio and video codecs that Android is supposed to, arcMedia also supports many other formats that Android does not, such at wma and wmv.

This is the kind of functionality that I expect from VLC Player, which is not in the Android market yet.

To download arcMedia on your Android phone, scan or click the following QR code:

Four Chord Song

Did you know that "all" the musical pop hits of the last few decades are really the same song with different lyrics? Just listen to the comedy rock band Axis of Awesome preform their Four Chord Song for proof.

(Foul language is used twice back-to-back before the songs start and once more in the last song. Proceed with caution.)

Maxed Out

Maxed Out is a documentary about the abusive practices of the credit card industry. It was created by James Scurlock.

Dave Ramsey was interviewed for the documentary. I first heard of him through Financial Peace University, his bible-based training in practical finance. Several people I know have taken this course and have nothing but great things to say about it.

Since this documentary was created in 2006, there have been many opportunities for reform. Indeed, there was great victory last year when the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009 was passed. There are numerous protections in there that will benefit every one of us. I am glad that we live in a country that is not (completely) corrupt :)

Goodbye GOOG-411, Hello BING-411

Google recently announced that its toll-free directory assistance, GOOG-411, would be discontinued on November 12, 2010. This is unfortunate, because I use this service from time to time.

Thankfully though, there are other companies that offer toll-free directory assistance. These include

• Microsoft with BING-411,
• Verizon with THE-INFO, and
• Jingle Networks with FREE-411.

I will be using BING-411 because it does not make me listen to ads while the other two do.

AT&T's Great Customer Serivce

When I moved to my new apartment this summer, I ordered DSL internet service from AT&T. $15/month gets you 3.0 Mb/s (for a year), which is an amazingly good deal. I ordered this service through their website and signed up to have my bill automatically changed to my credit card.

When I received my most recent bill, it said that I was past due on a payment and changed $0.24 interest. When I called AT&T's customer service, a guy answered and said,

"Hello. My name is ****. My job is to make you a satisfied customer. What can I help you with?"

Wow! I knew at this moment that this was going to go well. I explained to him the situation. He said that their online system does not always initiate the automatic credit card payment system. Then, without me having to ask for anything, he said that he would credit my account $1 and get the automatic credit card payments set up.

What wonderful customer service! I have called AT&T before with a technical problem, but the problem was not resolved so promptly. (The beginning of the conversation went something like this.)