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UAE first mission to mars

UAE Successfully Launches Its First Interplanetary Mission

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The United Arab Emirates successfully launched its first interplanetary mission today. The launch took place in Japan, and the team sent to space, and eventually to Mars, a probe the size of a car. This launch marks the beginning of the UAE country’s most ambitious space project. The project aims to study Mars, its geography, and weather by following it throughout an entire year. Here’s a look at how important the launch was, and how the team got to where they are now.

Hope for the Future

Hope, which was the nation calls the spacecraft, launched out of Tanegashima Space Centre in Japan. The probe took off via an H-IIA rocket that Japan frequently uses for their launches, and the rocket launch occurred at 6:58 AM. The device will take seven months to venture into deep space. Throughout its journey, it will correct its course using engine burns to direct and align itself correctly. The probe will try to align itself with the Martian orbit sometime in February, next year. Once into the orbit, it will stay on to analyse the Martian atmosphere and gain insight into the planet’s climate and geography. 

Great Timing

For the UAE, the launch came at a critical time. The government came up with the idea for such a project in 2014 as a means to inspire their youth. Furthermore, the project was a way for the country to mark its 50th anniversary in December, next year. To ensure that the probe would be in the Martian orbit by then, the team needed to launch the satellite by the end of this summer. Also, the launch had to take place within a short window of time. This window was critical because it brought the Earth and Mars close together during their journey around the Sun. Since such a planetary alignment only occurs once every twenty-six months, the team needed to get their launch right, if they wanted to meet their deadline for next year.

Fears Subside

As far as experts can tell, the launch was a great success. However, briefly, after the launch, the scientists were afraid that the spacecraft’s solar panels had not opened correctly. Shortly afterward, the UAE government confirmed that they had deployed avoiding complications. Furthermore, the team stated that the spacecraft is in good shape and that communications have been established. This will allow them to continue monitoring the probe, ensuring it stays on course. Furthermore, the scientists will continue to analyse and process the data the probe collects along its journey.

Happy News Worth Celebrating

The UAE Ambassador to the US, Yousef Al Otaiba, stated that the launch ensures that years of hard work has paid off. During a live stream after the launch, he also congratulated the team and noted that this was just the beginning for the country. Up until recently, UAE dealt only with Earth satellites, making this a prestigious leap for them. The team comprising of engineers and scientists were able to turn a dream into a reality within six years. Furthermore, the team was able to do so by sticking to their budget of $200 million.

Project manager, Omran Sharaf said that the government was clear about the fact they wanted a new model of delivery. Rather than opting for something big budget, they wanted something efficient and fast. The team partnered with several institutions in the US, including the Universities of California, Colorado and Arizona State. All these educational institutions have experience building components for deep space probes. The partnership gave the team access to testing infrastructure, practical know-how, and experienced advice.

Big Steps Coming

The launch is big news for the UAE, but they still have a long way to go. Within the next month, they will perform the first manoeuvre needed to correct the probe’s course. It will need to keep accomplishing these engine thrusts to get itself to Mars. However, the biggest test will come in February next year wherein Hope must perform a 30-minute thruster burn to enter the Martian orbit. The move will also slow the craft, reducing its speed from 121,000 kmph to 18,000 kmph. However, by then, the craft will be too far away from the Earth. Hence, it will have to do so on its own, without any instructions from back home. 

But, February is a long way off, and for now, UAE is celebrating its successful launch. If everything goes according to plan, Mars will see quite a few spacecraft, with China planning their own launch in the days to come. NASA will follow up soon enough with their Perseverance rover, making the Martian landscape a new exploration ground.

Donald Trump

Facebook Employees Protest Over Company’s Handling of Trump’s Inflammatory Posts

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The U.S. has been set ablaze by protests concerning the brutal killing of African American George Floyd. The country has been burning due to these protests for almost a week now, and several celebrities and companies have come out in support of the movement. The protests stand in solidarity with the #BlackLivesMatter campaign, calling for more action against systemic racism. Amidst all this, President Trump has been admonished for posting inflammatory tweets and comments. AS per a New York Times report, dozens of Facebook employees are protesting to challenge the company’s response to these posts by the President. Read on to know more about what’s happening and why it is important.

People Against Trump

Several Facebook employees decided to do a virtual walkout to show their disagreement with how the company is handling Trump’s posts. These employees asked for time-offs and even signed out with out-of-office responses to work emails as a sign of protest. They also notified senders that they were protesting against the company’s stand toward the President’s posts. Facebook acknowledged the walkout and said that it will not ask employees to apply their paid time off.

Trump’s Inflammatory Posts

The issue began to build when after last week’s killing of an unarmed black man, Floyd, Trump stated, “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” He posted the same on both Twitter and Facebook, through his official handles. The statement has a very racially prominent history, as in the 1960s, it was used by white policemen during the civil unrest in Miami. The President later stated that he did not know about the history of the phrase. Twitter was quick in reporting the tweet by stating that it went against the platform’s guidelines. As the tweet glorified violence, it was tagged as being offensive and then reported.

Donald Trump
Image Source – Techcrunch.com

Facebook’s Stand

Unlike Twitter, however, Facebook took a different stand by doing nothing! CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated that their policy allowed discussion regarding the use of force. He went on to state that the situation calls for a questioning of the limits of such discussions. He justified not taking action against the Donald J. Trump post by stating that people had to know that the government would use force. Just last week, the White House announced that it would try to punish social media platforms for curtailing the right to freedom of expression. This came as a direct result of Twitter fact-checking the President’s tweets. Soon after, Zuckerberg contrasted and compared the policies of Twitter and Facebook. On a Fox News interview, Zuckerberg spoke out against platforms that acted as the “arbiter of truth” for things individuals said online.

Trump
Image Source – Techcrunch.com

Further Moves

Employees have also created and shared petitions that request Facebook to add more diversity to their positions. Some have even gone far enough to threaten the CEO with their resignation unless he rethinks his stance. A handful even spoke out against Facebook on Twitter, including Head of Portal Design Andrew Crow. He stated that allowing the platform to incite violence is unacceptable, whoever the individual who posts is. Surprisingly, the company has permitted internal unrest to spew into the open, something that has rarely happened in the past. While other tech platforms have faced the ire of employees for their political opinions, Facebook seemed to keep grievances within their walls. However, with this move, the company has alienated even top brass, such as Director of Product Management, Jason Toff. He, too, took to Twitter to say that he was “not proud” of how the company was behaving. An Instagram employee, Katie Zhu, said that she was “ashamed” at how the company is acting. 

Zuckerberg responded by declaring that the company would donate $10 million for fighting racial injustice in the U.S. The post regarding the same said that the company allowed employees to show their dissent. It also claimed that Facebook would always seek their feedback and try to grow in the process. It will be interesting to see whether the company now rethink their stands and make amends, or continue with the same principles.

Tesla

Musk Threatens to Move His Production Center Out of Fremont

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Since the coronavirus began its aggressive rampage across the US, most schools, colleges, and offices still remain shut. The US had no option but to shut down all nonessential shops and production centers in a bid to prevent the spread of the virus. Amidst all this chaos, a few industrialists have spoken out against the shutdown. For the most part, these people have been heavily criticized for not being able to understand the severity of the situations. One of the most prominent of these critics have been Elon Musk, who’s comments have startled everyone. Here’s a look at everything you need to know regarding the issue and how it impacts the economy.

Caution for Tesla

Alameda County health officials warned Tesla against restarting operations at its car factory in California yesterday. Right after this incident, Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted that the company is moving to sue the county. He also stated that the company is planning to move its operations out of the state. As he had mentioned, a few hours later, Tesla filed a suit in the US District Court of the Northern District of California. The lawsuit seeks an injunction against the county’s lockdown order. The suit explains that it is because the lockdown contradicts the Governor’s Order by restricting the operation of businesses in the area. 

To add further fuel to the fire, Tesla tweeted about the same. On Twitter, Musk said that the “ignorant and unelected” Health Officer of Alameda is acting up. Musk believes that the Health Officer’s statements and steps are in direct contrast to the Governor, President, and Constitutional freedom.

Critic for Long

Musk has been a very vocal critic of the lockdown that the coronavirus has brought on in the US. Recently, on April 29th, during Tesla’s earnings call, he called these restrictions’ fascist’ and ‘undemocratic,’ stating that the Constitution allows Americans freedom. These statements highlight the pressure that Musk feels due to his factories in the Bay Area being shut down. He further called for his supporters to voice their own criticism and disagreement with the Alameda County administration. However, the Alameda County Public Health Department recently said that it was trying its best to reach an understanding with Tesla. The team stated that they were trying to come up with safe and standard manufacturing protocols that would help with the reopening of the factory. However, the county made it clear that the safety and well-being of thousands of employees are essential for them. Also, they stated that Tesla had been responsive to recommendations and that they should reach an agreement soon.

People are Important

However, these statements, which were made hours after Musk’s tweet, did not refer to him by name or talk about his comments on the topic. The tweet had said that Tesla has had enough and that this was the final straw for the company. The tweet also threatened to move all their future programs to Nevada immediately. All planned activities in Fremont would depend on how the authorities there treat Tesla from now on.

Tesla had made it clear that they were going to resume their production in limited means at the Fremont facility yesterday. Limited operations would require around 30% of its total workforce. But, the health officials stated that as the county still had shelter-in-place orders intact, they cannot give the car manufacturer approval to move ahead with their plans. California Governor, Gavin Newsom said that the state’s production must be in tune with the manufacturing guidelines set by each county.

Fremont Shutdown

The Fremont plant assembles Tesla’s Model 3, Model Y, Model S, and Model X vehicles. It shut down on March 23rd, with the company reducing pay for all US employees as of April 13th. Furthermore, the company has also put all their hourly workers on unpaid furlough. If Musk does carry out his plan of moving out of Fremont, it remains unclear what will happen to his 10,000 workers.  Musk had made a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2018 over his tweets. They had come to an agreement that the entrepreneur should run his tweets by a company lawyer before posting them. All announcements that lead to unscheduled events require the filing of an 8-K form, as per the agreement. However, Musk has not filed an 8-K before announcing or threatening to move his plant out of Fremont.

Google

Google puts the key of leadership on a single hand while unifying the teams of its communication apps

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Strategies, opinionated discussions, absorbing consumer feedback, and implementing changes are the basic steps of teamwork and product development. Also, not to mention leadership has always been the most precious element towards quality output. With that noted, Google dropped the news of bringing all its communication and messaging apps under one team. Yesterday, Google revealed the news and also added there won’t be any changes in the products for the time being.

The announcement

Google announced yesterday that Javier Soltero, VP, and GM of G Suite will be managing this new team. With already in charge of G Suite along with Google Meet and Google Chat, the additional products that came under his team are Messages, Duo, and the phone app on Android. But, the company also mentions that this won’t harm the position of Hiroshi Lockheimer, SVP of Platforms and Ecosystems, and they will work side by side.

Users might expect some changes in the sphere of product development. But, Google clearly said that the company is unifying the team for communication products under one leader, Javier Soltero. The team will work under the mutual leadership of Soltero and Lockheimer while Soltero will still be a part of the cloud team.

Javier Soltero’s devotion towards G Suite

Javier joined Google as the VP and GM of G Suite on last October. Before that, he worked with Microsoft company for five years. After a few months of his time at Google, he was still not getting the hang of the working system like Google. In Microsoft, Javier was in charge of Outlook.

One of the most impressive things about Google that made him want to join the company is the constant innovation of products that creates a dialogue between the user and the tool. He said the tools of Google propel the users forward to learn something new instead of holding them back.

Since he has joined the company, Javier has devoted all his time and focus on understanding the demand and needs of clients. His team is very much focused on browser-based experience and native mobile experiences. He is focusing more on the implementation of AI, especially for a smart chat. Javier said the products of Google still need much more integration and coherent development.

Google Meet and Google Chat

It has not been a year and Javier successfully put behind the chaos of Hangout. The pace of development Javier has picked up after coming to Google is way faster than Google updating features on communication apps. Javier wants to give more clarity to the products and especially for the consumers. This made him rebrand Hangout to Google Chat which was followed by Google Meet. Every other product of Google comes with the brand name, but these two were left out. So, it was a brilliant move by Javier.

Moreover, at the end of last month, Google announced that Google Meet will be free for everybody. The demand for videoconferencing escalated during this pandemic. So, making Google Meet free attracted a lot of users. Also, people are trying to avoid the Zoom communication platform currently due to the zoombombing case a month ago.

Innovation shouldn’t come too fast

Javier is inclined towards bringing innovations but he doesn’t want to smudge the clarity between products. He said every product has a different job and a different goal. So, unlike Facebook, Javier is not planning to integrate all the Google chat apps. The clarity should be maintained for the sake of clients and their purpose of using it. And, this harmony will be disrupted if rapid changes are made to these products.

The integration hypothesis

Improvement can never take place if there is only one-sided opinion. While Javier says that rapid development might create difficulties for the users, Hiroshi believes in the perfect amalgamation of Google apps and Chrome OS. According to Hiroshi, it is a good idea to integrate G Suite apps and Chrome OS as the latter might work better due to the conjugation. He wants to broaden the platform for Google’s app.

But, paying importance to Javier’s opinion, he might keep the decision on hold. Because nothing can be worse than confusing the customers by making a mess which they are already trying to come out of.

Slack

Slack Out with Beta Version of Major Update That Betters User-Interface

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Slack’s mobile applications are now trying to duplicate a desktop or browser experience by using a single home screen. The company is also working on improving its swipe-based navigation. However, a new update, which will roll out on an Android Beta channel, will try to do away with these cumbersome issues. The latest beta version aims to create a more straightforward and more user-friendly app that introduces significant interface changes.

New Features in the Update

Without a doubt, the most significant change the update will bring is a new navigation bar that will allow users to switch between sections. Such a bar, which will be at the bottom of the page, will enable users to move between sections without excessive swiping. Also, it makes it easier to scan through menus and read chats with ease in the beta version. The bar will also have a home screen button, which will showcase all channels on your device. When on this screen, you can swipe right to go to your other workspaces, and left, if you wish to backtrack to the last channel you visited. Near the home tab, there will be a DM tab to help you access your private message tab.

Also, the bar will have a Mentions tab that enables you to organize your activity session, which used to be hard to get to in the older versions of the app. The last tab on the right will take you to your profile, and will serve as a You tab. Furthermore, the new compose tab will help you start new chats with people via DM. These new upgrades will significantly help with improving Slack’s Android user experience. The app was notorious for burying features and limiting ease of access to vital functions via drop-down menus and options.

Easier for Users

The cluttered sidebar, which was notorious for making remote collaboration more robust, has been improved to make it easier for users to find and join new channels. Furthermore, the addition of a new drag and drop option also makes it easy to group channels and conversations into sections that can collapse when needed. Users can also easily access files, apps, reactions, and mentions from the bar perched on top of the search bar.

The new Compose DM button also makes it easier for users to draft a new message when something comes up urgently, as you get to prepare the message and then attach a recipient to it. The latest update will also make it possible for users to drag, drop, and group channels, folders, and DMs into customizable sections. However, this feature will be available only to customers who pay to use the app, and not for the freeware users.  Additionally, there will be a new lightning bolt button, which will be put next to the message field to allow users to open a new app or utility tool when required.

Current App Issues

In the current beta version, you can access the channel list via the workspace icon, which is present on the upper-left corner of the screen. Another way to do this is to swipe left, in case you do not use the new Q gesture system, which has changed the gesture system tremendously. The DM tab and workspace are buried below layers of buttons and swipes, with them coming out only after you swipe to bring it out. However, ease of use has not changed drastically when you look at Slack on iOS.

The iOS update does not have a navigation bar, though it does come with better swiping options, which allow users to access more parts of the application. Therefore, it is safe to say that the new updates will help make Slack more user-friendly and fast. Once people get used to the new interface, they will find it a lot simpler and efficient. However, we are still not sure when Slack will come out with a public and final version of this update, and whether it will carry additional changes as well.

Whatever might be the case, the changes that have been discussed by the app are welcome ones, which users will definitely appreciate and encourage! In case you want to switch to the version anyway, you can download the Beta version from the PlayStore.

Core update

Google’s May 2020 Core Update Will Roll Out Today!

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SEO experts will be excited to know that Google’s Danny Sullivan has just confirmed that a core algorithm update will come out today. Being officially called the May 2020 Core Update, it will hit the internet later today and is part of the frequent updates that Google releases several times every year. Also, as always, Google stays one step ahead of the SEO community when it comes to naming these frequent updates. The company, at least with this update, has gone back to a generic and default Month/Year, naming model.

New Roll Out

While the May 2020 Core Update will roll out today, it will take around one or two weeks for it to become fully operational. The May 2020 Update is Google’s second update of 2020, up till now, with the first one coming out in January. While both the updates have only three months between them, they seem a world apart. The world has undergone some significant upheavals since this January with the Coronavirus pandemic. Also, the release of the new update puts to rest queries regarding whether the COVID-19 would impact Google’s core update launches. 

What do Core Updates do?

Primarily, broad core updates produce noticeable changes in search engine results around the world, in all languages. Most sites will see a drop or gain in rankings as a result of a new core update release. The changes in these rankings reflect how relevant their content is to the changing times. That is to say if the content a site produces has gained importance, the website moves up in rankings. Whereas, if the content has become less important since the last update, it ranks lower than before when the new update rolls out. Also, a unique material that was not present when the old update was in play has an impact on the rankings. All these factors are assessed and reassessed by the core update to decide the new rankings. 

First Update After the Coronavirus 

Also, since this is the first update since COVID-19, there are chances that it might be volatile. The last update came out mid-January 2020, a time when coronavirus was not a major player yet. However, since then, the novel coronavirus has taken over, changing many aspects of how the world works. All these changes have led to a significant shift in the way people use the internet. For instance, Google stated that never before in history has there been so many searches done for a particular topic.

Searches are done regarding news, the impact of COVID-19 on various fields, and also testing schemes. In many ways, it has changed the way people utilize Google as a search engine. A lot of things, such as the virus places offering services, and even products have gained relevance. Similarly, fields that were frequently searched have lost their importance due to COVID-19, such as tourism, entertainment, and travel. Therefore, the May 2020 Update will have to tackle new challenges of gauging relevance and ranking. 

Impact on SEO Job Market

The May 2020 Core Update has the potential to become a very potent tool. In case it fulfills that possibility, it could be good news for the SEO industry. The economic sanctions put in place due to the pandemic has made a lot of companies furlough and fire their staff. In such an environment, a core update inherently raises the value of SEO experts. The volatility of the algorithm change or upgrade usually decides the importance of these SEO services. Hence, a lot of such experts may soon find themselves seeing an increase in demand for their services. Also, it will be interesting to see how many companies increase their SEO budget as a result of this rollout. 

What to do about the May 2020 Update

As mentioned by Google, their guidance policy remains the same as all their core updates before. They always reiterate that websites need not ‘fix’ anything in case their ranking falls. All Google expects the website owners to do is put out great content. However, experts interpret Google’s advice in many different ways. For instance, the SEO industry was set ablaze with speculation regarding an impending update, as far back as April 28th.

Many experts saw a considerable shift and reshuffle in web search rankings, leading them to believe something was coming up. A lot of them had stated that spam websites were climbing the ranking charts, with the ranking going back to normal after a while. All these sudden changes led people to believe that a core update was going to roll out soon enough.

The most recent update in January was put under a lot of scrutinies, as the September 2019 update had let down SEO experts. Dubbed as a weak update, it had failed to create a massive impact as other previous core updates had. It will be interesting to see how the first update following the COVID-19 will affect SEO rankings. Every time Google alters its SEO algorithm, it does so to make the searching experience better for customers. Anyway, it seems like everyone will have to wait two weeks to see how the update impacts their rankings, and then take appropriate steps!