Notes From All Over -- Nothing About The Bakken -- August 8, 2020

 Apple / T-Mobile: to supply one million iPads to California students.

• Apple and T-Mobile are collaborating to provide iPads with high-speed cellular connectivity to students across California, as planning for distance learning in the next school year takes shape. Apple and T-Mobile will fulfill orders directly from districts, offering significant discounts in addition to standard education volume pricing.
• The global health crisis forced an estimated 97 percent of 6.2 million students in California to resume their education with distance learning, but many schools have experienced a shortage of devices to accommodate it. Since April, the State Superintendent, Governor's Office, state lawmakers, and various nonprofits, have been working to remove unjust barriers to education by working directly with internet service providers and tech companies.
• California has included $5.3 billion in one-time funding in the state budget for schools to support distance learning, which can be used immediately to purchase the required devices. Apple and T-Mobile expect to be able to fulfill school district demand through the end of 2020.
• So, 16% of students in CA just got a new iPad… not bad.

Amazon hit: UPS to impose hefty fees on large shippers during the holiday season. Link over to Fox Business News. Let's see. "Large shippers"?

• Amazon
• Amazon
• Amazon
• Amazon
• Walmart
• Target

NASA. Say what? 

We discussed this earlier this week. 

NASA announced on Wednesday that it would stop using the terms "Eskimo Nebula" and "Siamese Twins Galaxy". 

Instead, the agency will refer to the celestial phenomena by their International Astronomical Union designations -- NGC 2392, NGC 4567, and NGC 4568. 

"'Eskimo' is widely viewed as a colonial term with a racist history, imposed on the indigenous people of Arctic regions," NASA said in a statement. 

"Most official documents have moved away from its use." 

The changes are part of a broader "commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

Many Twitter users ridiculed the change. 

Writer Christina Hoff Sommers tweeted: "Dear NASA: Will you also address the following hurtful and insensitive terms: Big Bang Theory, Uranus, black holes, dwarf stars, and dark matter."