TLDR 2022-04-15

Meta has announced plans for a significant update to WhatsApp that will allow users to participate in discussion groups called Communities. Communities will support file-sharing, 32-person group calls, emoji reactions, admin tools, moderation controls, and more. The feature will allow groups to create networks for their members to interact. Communities can create sub-groups for specific discussions. Communities will not be discoverable, so users will have to be invited to join them. Many more details about the new feature are available in the article.

Elon Musk has made an offer to buy 100% of Twitter for $54.20 per share in cash. The offer values Twitter at around $43 billion. Musk believes that Twitter must go private for it to change. He will reconsider his position as a shareholder if the offer is not accepted. The Twitter board met to discuss the offer but it is unclear if a decision has been reached. A copy of the offer letter sent by Musk to Twitter is available at the end of the article.

Austria-based Cyclotech and Japanese delivery firm Yamato have partnered to create a concept delivery drone. The CCY-01 will use a thrust vectoring propulsion system developed by Cyclotech that will enable it to land in confined spaces and handle challenging wind conditions. The drone is able to produce horizontal sideways thrust without tilting. The CCY-01 has a payload capacity of 99 lbs and it can fly up to 25 miles at speeds of around 80 mph. A video of the CCY-01 performing its first free flight is available in the article.

Green Launch is a company that wants to launch satellites into space using a huge gas cannon. A hydrogen impulse launcher is a long tube filled with hydrogen, helium, and oxygen. When it is fired, the gasses expand extremely quickly, launching projectiles at incredibly high speeds. Rockets launched by Green Launch's system won't need to carry as much fuel, but they will need a second stage rocket to steer into the correct orbit. The system would be able to send rockets into space every 60 to 90 minutes. Videos of the launcher being fired are available.

Hired's 2022 State of Software Engineers report looks at over 366,000 interactions between companies and software engineers to provide insights for both engineers and employers. This year, the survey found a boost in demand for security engineers, a high demand for Go programmers, that Silicon Valley still offers the highest salaries, and that the average salary for software engineers in 2021 was $156,000. More findings from the study are available in the article.

Kyverno is a policy engine designed for Kubernetes. It manages policies as Kubernetes resources and it is compatible with kubectl, kustomize, and Git. Kyverno can validate, mutate, and generate configurations using admission controls and background scans.

Reddit has updated its search feature to index comments. Users will now have an option to search through comments, making it easier to find something specific. The ability to search comments was one of the most requested features from a user survey last year. The results will take into account post interactions and how popular a particular result is. The new search features are currently only available for desktop users.

The US is in the middle of a housing shortage. Not only are there two million fewer homes built than needed every year, but construction quality and materials have also declined significantly. ICON is a company that makes 3D printed homes and structures. It is planning to build a 100-home community in the Austin area this year. The company aims to create the best homes on the market. A video showing off one of ICON's homes is available in the article.