@egreg: Re "Also adding \left and \right everywhere is not a good idea. […] they influence the spacing and also the placement of exponents, often in nonoptimal way": So it follows that \left and \right fail to serve their purpose?
The release notes also says "Added an opt-in system for users to send performance data back to Mozilla to improve future versions of Firefox", the option is in settings under Advanced.
I just stumbled across something that I'm not sure whether I like it or not. Well, actually, I know that I don't like it. I'm just not sure whether I'm being a bit over-sensitive or not. It seems a bit small and petty (of me), but first impressions are important.
One thing I really really like...
@AndreyVihrov \left and \right are useful, but they shouldn't be used everywhere: think to $\left(a+b\right)^2$ where two things happen. (1) The superscript is raised; (2) the spacing around the + is frozen.
@JosephWright Don't like any of those. The first and third have the same problem as in my meta post. The second had already been looked at by one of our moderators!
(Some chaos in the cosmos there, server didn't respond.) In other news, I just got my TUG membership today and so learnt about iTeX. No, not that iTeX, nor that iTeX, but this iTeX. Having just gotten an iPad, I'm looking forward to trying it out.
(I originally put links in the above to all the iTeX's I meant, but every time I did that then the server stopped responding. The first iTeX was Knuth's iTeX, the second was iTeX2MML, and the third was iTeX for the iPad. Your friendly neighbourhood search engine will help you with the rest.)
@AndreyVihrov Yes, that was my thinking. We also have one somewhere about using tikzpicture inside align that had the same problem. I like that one because (if I remember right) it explained why this was an issue. But I can't find the question now.
@Raphink TBH I added all users I could collect to the map just to see "how cool" it would be, but for some reason Google Chart API is not rendering them properly (e.g., Argentina). Im thinking about a blog post on this data. :-)
@Raphink About the same as the parameter types in C's "void f(int, int, char)", but encoded as a part of function name. (Hey, C++ name mangling is very close to this.)
@Raphink They represent the arguments of a function, both the number and 'type'. So N is a single token, while n is multiple-tokens (and should be in braces in most cases).
The reason for having them formally in the name is we need expansion variants, so c is a csname: \foo:c => csname expansion => \foo:N
@Raphink When I first saw LaTeX3 code, I disliked this verbosity, but now I understand better that you can't really have "overloaded" functions without this, and that without parameter type checking this is a good reminder of what parameters the function expects.
@Raphink The LaTeX3 approach is to clearly-separate code-level and user-level functions. So internally all macros take a fixed list of defined arguments, and then at the 'last minute' this is converted to user syntax, where there may be optional arguments, etc.
The idea is then that if I want to create a new user macro using an existing piece of functionality, I should use the (documented) code-level macro plus my own alterations, and not the existing user-level macro.
@Raphink Possibly. xparse is currently a LaTeX3-to-LaTeX2e layer, but Frank Mittelbach is keen to stress that LaTeX2e may not be the best syntax model to adopt for the user.
It's pretty impressive really. It's like all questions are about the guitar or the piano... The range of music instruments seems to have dramatically shrunk since people began playing the guitar.
@Raphink It depends on the aims. Using expl3 makes life easier, in my opinion, but there is a question of the scope you want to aim at. Remember, expl3 requires e-TeX, and a lot of publishers do not have it.
The expl3 stuff comes into its own for larger, more 'programmatic' work
Unusual locations include: \location{address}, 129.21.0.0/16 , 17837, 6, Banana Republic of Germany, Old abandoned house, Somewhere in the vicinity of Sol, Your Worst Nightmare, probably skiing, and on the server farm.
@Patrick hehe. :-)
Top 10 countries: United States, Germany, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Austria, India, Netherlands, Poland and Italy.
@Gonzalo: we are doing quite good in South America. :)
I am using multicol with 2 columns, and I would love to have my figures and tables to float, so that I don't have to manually mess around with the positioning anymore. I am aware of figure*, but I want my floats to just span one column, not both.
A bit of research points to "won't work", but doe...
@AndrewStacey thanks for raising the outside moderator issue and @JosephWright for pursuing it directly. This has to be nipped at the bud. Especially since some of the comments were posted after one of us had made a similar (and more friendly) comment.
In here, I hear a lot that the general rule is: if the job you are going to apply does not require a picture, don't include it. If so, use the "cleanest" (without too much color or background stuff) possible.
BTW, I love the "A picture of you trying to lift the Leaning Tower of Pisa" part in the link.
I've already told: Gorizia, Lake Bohinj (Slovenia), Jesenice, Kranjska Gora, Tarvisio (back in Italy), Bovec (again Slovenia), Tarcento. The maps say around 600 km. The weather should be magnificent.
Using a single \foreach loop with different uses in the coordinates is much easier:
\documentclass[parskip]{scrartcl}
\usepackage[margin=15mm]{geometry}
\usepackage{tikz}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\foreach \x in{0,...,4}
{ \draw (0,\x ,4) -- (4,\x ,4);
\draw (\x ,0,4) -- (\x ,4...
@Raphink In the North America, pictures are strongly discouraged: from an employers point of view using them violates anti-discrimination laws, so if you are applying for such jobs you should not have a picture (nor other personal information such as birth date and marital status.)
@Raphink I think websites are reasonable in some cases if they are professional. But I don't have mine on my CV, and probably wouldn't add it even if I were applying for jobs.
@Raphink And if you do a Google image search for my name, there's not a single photo of me. (By design.) (Although oddly enough, there's one of @AndrewStacey.)
The "non-TeX-SX moderator" has replied. I'd be interested in knowing what others think. I know what I think, but I don't want to prejudice anyone else's opinion. I'd quite like to know what others think before responding so I know whether I'm in line with others or not.
I just stumbled across something that I'm not sure whether I like it or not. Well, actually, I know that I don't like it. I'm just not sure whether I'm being a bit over-sensitive or not. It seems a bit small and petty (of me), but first impressions are important.
One thing I really really like...
@NN good point. We are a community with more active and less active people, but still all equal.
As soon as someone acts as a parent the community will be damaged (unless everyone agrees on it, say for example when Don Knuth would join this site ...)
I agree with @AndrewStacey's post (linked above) that some statements are not nice (I'd put it in even more harsh words :) "Please respect what we are building here".
I think we should not care if this happens once or twice.
@NN Agreed. IMHO TeX.sx has its own identity amongst the plethora of SX sites. I'd prefer a lighter approach. Our moderators do a great job in here and it would be wiser to learn from them specially when in their domains.
I noticed the chat about the meta post about the comments (is that meta enough for all of us?) and thought I'd try to get a less-drama-ridden conversation going on in here than we seem to be getting on meta.
I was a bit stern -- and I'm happy to tone it down a bit to match the culture of the site -- but what really concerns me is that the community seems to think it's just fine to comment and leave that junk content lying around without deletion (or even a downvote!). At least it was flagged multiple times, showing that some of your community know it shouldn't remain there.
@HedgeMage: Since you started the parent metaphor, let me continue it. When my kids leave their lego all over the floor, I don't pick it all up straight away. Any that's in a dangerous place, or might get trodden on, then yes I clear it up. But I'd rather they learnt to pick up their own lego. At the end of the day, then I clear it up.
@GraceNote: As far as I'm aware, all flags are seen in a reasonable time (given that all our mods are Europe-based, I believe). It's just that they tend to wait before acting unless it is serious.
That's fine, as long as you do act on those. I definitely can't say I'm a fan, but as long as it isn't being read as some hard-fast unbreakable rule (and consequently open to abuse), I can find it fine.
@AndrewStacey Right, but you have just your children in your home -- you don't have random children wandering in and out all the time. The new kids will imitate whatever they see the already-there kids do -- so if your children have legos lying all about (bad metaphor -- a good parent makes the kids clean up, but I'll do my best to go with it) soon you'll have 30 kids' legos on your floor and your home is no longer a welcoming or useful place to anyone.
@HedgeMage: I think we'd better stop this metaphor! Actually, I do have random kids wandering through my house. And at the end of the day, I frequently go round to the neighbours to swap toys and coats and everything else that was left lying around. I live in Norway and, well, things are a bit unique here.
Slightly more seriously, I'm certainly not saying "Keep away". By all means, help if you see the need. But get to know us first and our way of doing things. It may be a bit different to everywhere else, but it works. It wouldn't work on other sites, but it does here.
I don't really think this issue is worth discussing any more. The stackexchange staff have posted their opinion, we have read it and accepted it and the site (tex.se) is and will be fine because of the very decent community and the great moderators here.
@JosephWright I suggested the merge, and I'm broadly still in favour of it. Does one question get totally lost? Then, I think, I would be less in favour. I just think that all those answers should be in one place (I've just had a look at Tom Bombadill's continuing saga. My word!!! Now, there's an answer that should be a package.)
@JosephWright I think that they are sufficiently different to be kept separate. One is about drawing a single cube, the other is more about drawing a grid on the cube.
@AndrewStacey That's a great deal more constructive than what I got from your meta post.
I get that, and I can be more hands-off there for now...
At this point, my concern is twofold:
1) If TeX ever does grow to a certain scale, the existing policy must change or the site will implode. What is workable at this scale is completely unmanageable at the scale of even one of our medium SE sites.
@HedgeMage and @GraceNote: I'm glad you've joined this discussion, but please note that my meta question was intended for this community to find out whether or not I was in step. Yes, I hoped someone high-up would notice it, but it was intended firstly to inform and query our community. So I'll not apologise for an "unwelcoming" tone.
2) The extreme level of hostility and drama that came up in meta over something that should have been dispensed with using a quick chat or a few notes makes me very worried that should that time come, instead of dealing with a growing problem and changing policy, the community will make matters worse by focusing on all this personal claptrap.
@HedgeMage Sorry, you've lost me there. Hostility? I certainly have not intended to be hostile at any time and in any way. I sincerely apologise for anything that I've said that has come across as hostile. It has never been my intention to offend anyone. My intention has been to ensure that the level of politeness and friendliness of the main site is maintained, even when non-TeX mods take action.
As for the method ... well, I'm an academic. We like to look at things from all angles before deciding. In particular, as a mathematician, I'm always worried by the possibility that I might be wrong. So I try my best to find out first. Hence my asking the community what they thought.
When a mod (SE employee or not) comments to a user before a deletion, that user is sent the comment in his/her inbox, but it is otherwise not visible the public at large (anyone without high-rep or diamond privs). For a community that prides itself on friendliness, pasting those comments in public is just... not what I would want for the user being chastised.
@AndrewStacey The comment (from Alan) directed at HedgeMage barely includes an off-hand welcome that's wrapped around with "Your attitude is wrong" and "Don't trespass our social convention". That is probably the most hostility of the post, but that's also the first point of contact made with HedgeMage about this incident.
@AndrewStacey No hard feelings, but yes -- I logged on today (never saw the email about this post until later -- it went to my personal account) and had 4 different people message me about my getting "attacked" or "called out" on meta.tex (their words, not mine). So regardless of how I may feel about it, it did raise a lot of drama in the community.
I'm sorry but I don't accept that. The most important thing is transparency. Moderators have to be held accountable to the community. Plus "user contributions licensed under cc-wiki with attribution required".
@JosephWright If they haven't deleted the cookie that was set when they visited, they are notified as well. Without the cookie, they don't see anything because we don't know who they are.
@AndrewStacey when you don't use the reply function, I don't know what "that" you are referring to.
I just stumbled across something that I'm not sure whether I like it or not. Well, actually, I know that I don't like it. I'm just not sure whether I'm being a bit over-sensitive or not. It seems a bit small and petty (of me), but first impressions are important.
One thing I really really like...
Using a single \foreach loop with different uses in the coordinates is much easier:
\documentclass[parskip]{scrartcl}
\usepackage[margin=15mm]{geometry}
\usepackage{tikz}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\foreach \x in{0,...,4}
{ \draw (0,\x ,4) -- (4,\x ,4);
\draw (\x ,0,4) -- (\x ,4...
