Greetings to the distinguished gathering of TeXperts!  My problem is: if a macro is defined with a babel shorthand containing the quote mark (") as an active character, it does not expand when invoked.  MWE (TeXLive 2014 with the latest updates):  \documentclass[11pt]{article}  \usepackage[T2A]{fontenc}  \usepackage[utf8]{inputenc} \usepackage[russian]{babel}  \newcommand{\myname}{А.",С.",Пушкин "--- самый"=самый известный русский поэт.} \newcommand{\mynamea}{\shorthandon{"}А.",С.",Пушкин "--- самый"=самый известный русский поэт.}  \begin{document} \myname \par \expandafter\myname \par \mynamea \par \expandafter\mynamea \par Benchmark: \par А.",С.",Пушкин "--- самый"=самый известный русский поэт. \end{document}   For your information, in [russian]{babel}, the following definitions are present:  \declare@shorthand{russian}{",}{\nobreak\hskip.2em\ignorespaces} \declare@shorthand{russian}{"=}{\nobreak-\hskip\z@skip}   The "--- is a shorthand for Cyrillic text dash, \cdash---.   For some reasons, LaTeX did not expand any of these four (!) commands despite the fact he had been explicitly ordered to. What is the best practice for such occasions?
The package babel with the ngerman option (and most other languages as well, but not english) provides the shorthand "|, which prevents a ligature at the given position (see p. 81 of the , e.g. Auf"|lage will result in the word Auflage without an fl-ligature (as is desired because, in German, you don't want ligatures across morpheme borders).  However, when placed in a macro, "| doesn't work anymore. Why is this and how can I circumvent it?  \documentclass{article}  %\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}% doesn't help \usepackage[ngerman]{babel}  \newcommand{\foo}{"|}  \begin{document}  ff  f"|f  f\foo f  \end{document}
Setting Objects to Null/Nothing after use in .NET revtex4-1 and colortbl doesn't fill cells The MWE below shows that the \cellcolor command doesn't properly fill a table cell in revtex4-1 where it would do so in a simple article. Can anyone help me get fills that extend to the boundaries of my cells in revtex4-1?    \documentclass{revtex4-1} \usepackage{colortbl} \begin{document} \begin{tabular}{ |c|l|l| } \hline \rowcolor{red} A    &amp; B     &amp; C     \\ \hline Hello World         &amp; other     &amp; \cellcolor{blue}stuff\\ \hline \end{tabular} \end{document} Question  Let $X_n\geq 0$ be independent for $n\geq 1$. The following are equivalent.  $\sum_{n=1}^\infty X_n&lt;\infty$ a.s. $\sum_{n=1}^\infty[P(X_n&gt;1)+E(X_nI(X_n\leq 1)]&lt;\infty$ $\sum_{n=1}^\infty E(X_n/(1+X_n))&lt;\infty$   My attempt I was able to prove $(1)$ implies $(2)$ and $(2)$ implies $(3)$ but not $(3)$ implies $(1)$. For $(1)$ implies $(2)$, observe that by Borel-Cantelli $\sum_{n=1}^\infty P(X_n&gt;1)&lt;\infty$, else $X_n&gt;1$ infinitely often w.p.1 so that $(1)$ is violated. To see that $\sum_{n=1}^\infty E(X_nI(X_n\leq 1)]&lt;\infty$, apply Kolmogorov three-series theorem (I think). For $(2)$ implies $(3)$ we can write that $$ \begin{align} \frac{X_n}{1+X_n}&amp; =\frac{X_n}{1+X_n}I(X_n\leq 1)+\frac{X_n}{1+X_n}I(X_n&gt;1)\\ &amp;\leq X_nI(X_n\leq 1)+ I(X_n&gt;1). \end{align} $$ Now take the expectation of both sides and sum on $n$ using $(2)$ to conclude $(3)$. For the last implication $(3)$ implies $(1)$, I tried to use Kolmogorov three series theorem. To this end put $Y_n=X_nI(X_n\leq 1)$. First note that $\sum_{n=1}^\infty P(X_n&gt;1)&lt;\infty$ since $$ P(X_n&gt;1)\leq P\left(\frac{X_n}{1+X_n}&gt;\frac{1}{2}\right)\leq 2E\frac{X_n}{1+X_n} $$ by Markov's inequality. But I am unable to show that $\sum EY_n&lt;\infty$ and $\sum\text{Var}(Y_n)&lt;\infty$. Any help is appreciated. Unit ball in $C[0,1]$ not sequentially compact This question is taken from Saxe K -Beginning Functional Analysis.   Show that the closed unit ball in $C[0,1]$ is not compact by proving that it is not sequentially compact.   (It's assumed that we are using the uniform norm).  I've been working on this for ages but I could not come up with any sequence $\{f_n\}$ in the unit ball such that there exists $N\in \mathbb{N}$ such that for all $m,n\geq N$ we have that $d(f_n,f_m)&gt;c$. Should be a nice example of this, please help me! Allow suppression of automatic linking of web addresses How do I resize root partition? Prove that you can make change for any amount greater than 7 cents using only 3 and 5 cent coins. I am pretty sure this question has something to do with the Least Common Multiple.    I was thinking that the proof was that every number either is or isn't a multiple of $3, 5$, and $8\left(3 + 5\right)$. If it isn't a multiple of $3,5$, or $8$, great. You have nothing to prove. But if it is divisible by one of them, I couldn't find a general proof that showed that it wouldn't be divisible by another one. Say $15$, it is divisible by $3$ and $5$, but not $8$. How long does it take for badges to be awarded? How are they generated? Do badges get calculated in real time, or do they get calculated by an external service? How long does it take for a badge to be awarded, once its requirements are met?  Does Stack Overflow use any external services to do things, like maintenance, e-mailing or badge calculation? Numerical phenomenon. Who can explain? I was doing some software engineering and wanted to have a thread do something in the background to basically just waste CPU time for a certain test.  While I could have done something really boring like for(i &lt; 10000000) { j = 2 * i }, I ended up having the program start with $1$, and then for a million steps choose a random real number $r$ in the interval $[0,R]$ (uniformly distributed) and multiply the result by $r$ at each step.   When $R = 2$, it converged to $0$. When $R = 3$, it exploded to infinity.    So of course, the question anyone with a modicum of curiosity would ask: for what $R$ do we have the transition. And then, I tried the first number between $2$ and $3$ that we would all think of, Euler's number $e$, and sure enough, this conjecture was right. Would love to see a proof of this.    Now when I should be working, I'm instead wondering about the behavior of this script.   Ironically, rather than wasting my CPUs time, I'm wasting my own time. But it's a beautiful phenomenon. I don't regret it. $\ddot\smile$ Make "compact view" as a default directory view instead of "icon view" How can I make "compact view" the default for all directory views in File Manager, instead of "icon view" ? What's a good phrase for "refining a process which is hopelessly broken"? I'm looking for a turn of phrase to describe a situation where the powers that be wish to continue making small improvements to a process which, due to deep-rooted flaws, will never be close to accurate.  I'm working on a process for estimating the states of business objects, and there's interest in fixing some edge cases which have been noticed.  This could be worthwhile, but because of missing data we're already making heroic guesses.  So if implemented, we might get from 80.0 to 80.1% accuracy.  If we were at 99.5%, I'd be happy to get it to 99.6%, but in the current situation it doesn't seem productive.  We have some CS people on E.SE; what would you call it when someone wants to optimize a two-second process to load data, though once loaded it will be chewed on by an inefficient algorithm for hours?  Something like "bailing the ocean" or "fixing a leaky faucet in a burning building" is close to what I have in mind.  There's also "rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic," but that carries an implication that the changes are wholly useless, and that events are coming to a head. What is this electronics symbol (four triangles?) The below image is from a service manual for a mobile radio. Note the small symbols that appear to be four triangles, point to point. I've searched far and wide and cannot identify that symbol. I have a nagging feeling that I've seen something like it in hydraulics, but never in an electronics diagram. I know that my radio doesn't have a bunch of stars of David printed inside it, so what could this symbol be?  Some of them have a line through the middle, others don't. Compare for example the ones near the labels "mic int" and "mic ext". Does this represent something, or is it a typo? VMware Linux Server -- how can you tell if you are a vm or real hardware? An interesting question.  I have logged into a Linux (most likely SuSE) host.  Is there some way that I can tell programmatically that I am a VM host or not?    Also assume that the vmtools are not installed. How does "this" keyword work within a function? Ways to obtain new portrait photography clients? I'd like to increase my portrait business. I've had good experiences with family, pet portraits and High School seniors.  My local newspaper is quite expensive. I've had okay luck with Craigslist, although Craiglist shoppers are far from my ideal client that is willing to pay for quality images, fast turn around and a great experience.  I have a flyer on my community message board, but not enough traffic walks by it. I was thinking about posting at my local churches. I get a few of referrals from friends and family of clients.   What are good ways to reach my local base and increase sales? Why is the ISO size for 12.04.3 larger than a CD? Why is the Ubuntu 12LTS 4MB bigger than all the blank CDs I have?  I had to burn it on to a DVD.  This never used to be the case. Python mechanize javascript Including pdf_tex images from inkscape Using v2.73, cycles and a very simple scene: an array of cubes, no big deal.   If I set the shader's material to transparent, the cubes in the foreground do become transparent but those far away in the back do not disappear completely and this strange dark things appear (visible in rendered mode and in final renders)    I've played with the clipping distance on the viewport and camera, but I can't figure out how to make those ghosts go away... I am new to Stack  Exchange and I think it's very impressive.  One thing bothers me is that because it is so far down the line, I don't think beginners stand a chance of growing.  As time goes on, more and more questions are being answered and therefore if someone asks something with a really basic answer you can just comment. However, beginners can't comment until they have a reputation of 50. The only way they can build up is by answering questions. But if they answer a basic question long winded, they will be voted down because not so much effort was needed or because its already a duplicate and will lose the bit of reputation they have earned.  Can you tell me the future for beginners?