2.43.2 Greatest hits from previous weeks

2.43.2.1 Absolute Value Symbols
2.43.2.2 How to influence the position of float environments like figure and table in LaTeX?

Greatest hits from previous weeks:

2.43.2.1 Absolute Value Symbols

http://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/43008/absolute-value-symbols

What is the "best LaTeX practices" for writing absolute value symbols?  Are there any packages which provide good methods? 
Some options include|x| and \mid x \mid, but I'm not sure which is best...
 

- asked by jamaicanworm (132 votes), answered by Peter Grill (105 votes)

2.43.2.2 How to influence the position of float environments like figure and table in LaTeX?

http://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/39017/how-to-influence-the-position-of-float-environments-like-figure-and-table-in-lat

How to influence the position of float environments like figure and table in LaTeX? 
This is a general question and should collect useful answers for all users. I hope we can use this as a reference
 

- asked by Marco Daniel (442 votes), answered by Frank Mittelbach (672 votes)