Does UPS deliver on Martin Luther King Day?
Yes, United Parcel Service delivers on regular service on Martin Luther King Day. From the UPS website: Days of Operation UPS 2010 Holiday Schedule In the United States, UPS observes the following holidays: Memorial Day - May 31, 2010* Independence Day (observed) - July 5, 2010* Labor Day - September 6, 2010* Thanksgiving Day - November 25, 2010* Day after Thanksgiving - November 26, 2010** Christmas Day - December 25, 2010* New Year's Eve - December 31, 2010** New Year's Day - January 1, 2011* In addition, the following holidays are recognized, but not observed: Martin Luther King Jr. Day - January 18, 2010 Lincoln's Birthday - February 12, 2010 Valentine's Day - February 14, 2010 President's Day - February 15, 2010 Washington's Birthday - February 22, 2010 Ash Wednesday - February 17, 2010 St. Patrick's Day - March 17, 2010 Passover - March 30, 2010 Good Friday - April 2, 2010 Flag Day - June 14, 2010 Rosh Hashanah - September 9, 2010 Yom Kippur - September 18, 2010 Columbus Day - October 11, 2010 Veteran's Day - November 11, 2010 Hanukkah - December 2, 2010 Christmas Eve - December 24, 2010*** * UPS Express CriticalSM available 365 days each year ** Delivery and pickup of air and international packages only *** Regular delivery day; pickup of air and international packages only
Is there such a thing as perpetual motion?
PERPETUAL? Define "perpetual". Does it mean "Forever"? If so, nothing is perpetual. Some day - millions of years in the future, the Sun will expand into a red giant and swallow Mercury, Venus and probably the Earth as well. So even this planet isn't perpetual, (orbitng the Sun forever). But on a more practical scale, scientists will tell you that since there will always be friction, (at least resistance of the air, plus loss in bearings), that no machine can run perpetually. That's the "scientific view". BUT: Scientists don't admit that the field around a magnet represents potential energy. There have been a number of machines invented - I desgned one - which use interacting magnetic fields to allow continuing motion - and they generate enough energy to allow the machine to provide energy - either rotation or electricity - to an external device! (YouTube has a bunch of videos of such machines in operation!) There are houses which have received all thier electricity from such devices for a decade or more! So yes, there is such a thing as "perpetual motion" machines, using "Zero-point energy" but you can't go to your friendly hardware store and buy such a unit.So why aren't they in use all over the country? Because the power companies and other energy producers do not like anyone cutting into thier massive profits! When they notice anyone using or advertising such a device, the results are not pretty. 'Nuff said.
What are the best horse racing blogs?
Take a look at Timeform.com as one of the oldest and most respected opinions in horse racing its a good starting point.Their rating system is seen as the definitive measure of a horses ability.They provide free content and insight around all the UK & Ireland races. Worth a look, fantastic reading and a good place to start your form research. They provide lots of useful tools like a free horse tracker and a handy App with free daily tip sheets.
Did President Obama “misspeak” when he repeatedly claimed, "if you like your health care plan, you can keep it"? Was it a lie? Will there be any political consequences now that it appears to be untrue?
At the moment President Obama made that statement, it was technically the truth - since he was basing that on what his team was proposing. It was not yet law, and Obama was trying to “sell” and also “explain” the proposal.Later, there were those in Congress who insisted that “big insurance” be allowed into the room, before they would ever consider voting for it. These congressmen insisted that Blue Cross, and Cigna, and all of the others be allowed into the negotiations. The major insurance corporations, who already were making the entire health care system in the U.S. such a disaster. [NOTE: I will leave it up to the reader to guess what political party those members of Congress might have belonged to, and remember that some members of Congress take a lot of money in contributions from those “big insurance” corporations.]At the moment Obama made that statement, it was true. He was describing his own plan. Before it was law.After big insurance was allowed to enter into the negotiations, that began to change. And, change. And, change.(The same is true of Obama’s other statement, that he made, where Obama claimed “you can keep your own doctor.”)Once the major insurance providers were allowed in, the ACA was now subject to something that would allow those major corporations to “stay alive,” and “keep their profits rolling in,” and “satisfy their corporate board.” The ACA was diminished, and altered, and changed, and modified.The ACA is flawed. It needs to be be fixed. However, right now, the Republicans will not touch it (since they spent the last six years campaigning on how it was the worst thing since cyanide — a terrible exaggeration.)So, as of today, we are stuck with a very flawed law. It is (honestly) better today, than those days when anyone with a pre-existing condition could not even get health coverage. But, it is far more expensive than it needs to be because “big insurance” is still collecting a huge chunk of everything that happens, every time you go to a doctor, or go the E.R., or visit a hospital, or dare to have a surgery.The rest of the planet has figured this out. The U.S. is the last “advanced” nation on this planet that still does not have the balls to tell the major insurance corporations that they can go fuck themselves.
Why do some people dislike Vladimir Putin, when he's one of the few competent leaders Russia has had in the last 100 years?
How exactly is Putin competent? :) The only thing he is competent in is stealing, cheating, spreading propaganda and other underhanded KGB techniques. Though, given his history, he was really a second-rate KGB agent in his time. It’s through manipulation and back-stabbing that he was able to occupy the president’s chair in the Kremlin. He’s reviving the cult of Stalin and the despotic tsars. He’s destroying the Russian economy, which is really a gas station for some parts of the world, dependent almost completely on oil revenues.Any leftist anti-American arguments entirely miss the point. People are often so blinded by their ideology and anger at the behavior of the American government (and I agree that there are plenty of reasons to be so angered), that they fail to see how this case is very different. Putin was not “provoked”, he invaded Ukraine as a result of his long-standing plans to do so. When his puppet president Yanukovych was chased away by the Euromaidan mass protest movement in 2014, he used that opportunity to invade Crimea (he was preparing the ground for years, illegally passing out Russian passports to many people in Crimea, and so on). Ukraine was unable to resist only because Yanukovych effectively gutted out the Ukrainian military, selling off most assets and stealing the proceeds. Now that the Ukrainian military is rebuilt, the Russians would not be able to repeat the trick.So, calling Putin a “competent leader” sounds like what Trump and other idiotic right-wing admirers of dictators say. It is nonsensical.
What are the most important books in Computer Science?
Donald Knuth's "The Art of Computer Programming" is way more than three books but is close to the most influential thing you can read on computer science."Compilers: Principals, Techniques and Tools" AKA the Dragon book is the book on practical aspects if your going to create your own language. Other language books are better at advanced type theory or novel features, but this is the book for parsing, compiling and code generation."The Pragmatic Programmer" Is my favorite book for softer aspects of being a programmer. It has good advice on habits that can make you a better engineer."Concrete Mathematics" also by Knuth is a really good book for math that is not generally covered in most people's educations but is really useful for computer scientists. Like rules of how to manipulate a summation formula into an analytic formula."Computational Geometry in C" is the book for this rarely encountered class of algorithms. It goes over things like voronoi diagrams, convex hulls, points in polygons and other things that like that. You don't tend to use these much but they are invaluable when you need them."Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software" AKA the gang of four design patterns is massively influential though I have never read it myself."The Mythical Man Month" is a little dated now but it is one of the most influential books on software project management. It does a good job of describing the problems inherit in software management. However we have found better solutions to the problems then the ones this book offers."The Design of Everyday Things" is not about computers but design of physical usable artifacts but it is useful to apply to UI design.Bonus answer "Dreaming In Code" is a good book to give to non-programmer friends/loved ones that want to know what being a professional programmer is like.note: the question originally asked for the three most important books so some of my answers make more sense in that context.
Should men have a say [or an opinion] about women's issues?
Yes.An opinion's validity does not change regardless of who vocalises it.The claim that men should not have a say or opinion about women's issues arises from a conception of group rights, of taking women as a group (and implicitly one with only one opinion). Indeed, this is deeply insulting and dehumanising to women.It is also an intensely cynical perspective which denies our shared humanity - our capacity to care about and identify with other people.Women's issues are often also men's issues - while a fetus might reside in its mother's body, there is no such thing as a Virgin Birth (i.e. a man is also involved), and if/when a baby is delivered the father is legally responsible for the child's upkeep. Bodily sovereignty does not trump the rights of other people - as an analogy, if I am infected with Ebola (or some other contagious and deadly disease), my bodily sovereignty and freedom of movement are justifiably forfeited if I refuse treatment and/or quarantine.Those who claim that men should not have a say about women's issues are just trying to shut down debate and opposing voices - witness how they tellingly excoriate women who disagree with them (who presumably have views equally as valid as theirs, given that they are of the 'right' sex).Notice too that men are never lambasted for talking about women's issues when they say the 'right' things (e.g. being pro-abortion rights).This whole issue is something of a red herring in any case given that, for example, there is no gender gap in views on abortion - there is no reason to expect a man to have a significantly different opinion from a woman on the topic (Pew Study Finds 'No Gender Gap' on Abortion Debate Positions).
How is life in IIT Kanpur?
With great freedom, comes great responsibility. -- Many on IIT Kanpur Life at IITK is free. No compulsory attendance policy ( though some profs may have for individual courses), no internet restriction ( except for LAN BAN between 12-6 ) and a very flexible academic system ( availability of majors and minors).There are a plethora of extra-curricular activities one can engage in - robotics, electronics, photography, dance, drama, music, entrepreneurship, social initiatives, prayas and many more. All have very passionate people and opportunities to learn and grow. You can choose one, many or none. But freedom is not always advantageous. It has its shortcomings too if not coupled with responsibility. The outlook of the 4/5 year stint here depends upon the balance between the two. It can be depressing or hopeful, boring or exciting , happy or sad, confusing or enlightening. But one thing is for sure, life here is challenging and punishing ( at least the academics is).To summarize it, life in IIT Kanpur is what you make it. It is a bit of cliche, but fits beautifully here.