TLDR 2021-07-01

Huddles is a new feature in Slack that allows team members to jump in and out of a persistent call freely at all hours. The feature is designed to replace the informal office conversations that colleagues used to have across their desks. There is a screen-sharing feature, so teams can use it for spontaneous meetings. Huddles can be created in any channel or DM, including between companies. Slack will introduce voice, video, and screen recordings in the coming months.

Instagram is building a feature that will allow creators to publish exclusive content to their Instagram stories that will only be available to their fans. Access to Exclusive Stories will likely come with a subscription payment of some kind. Screenshots of the feature were leaked and confirmed as authentic by Instagram, but the company has declined to share any details about it. The leaked screenshots are available in the article. Instagram has been working on more features to help creators monetize their work.

Chinese auto firm IM Motors hired a London-based studio to design its new electric vehicle. The firm had no experience designing cars, although it was behind the futuristic designs of Google's new buildings in Mountain View and London. The vehicle design features double sliding doors, adjustable seats that can be turned into beds, and a battery-powered air purifier that will help clean the air around the vehicle. Its interior is being envisioned as an extension of the home. Pictures of the design are available in the article.

The AirCar, a flying car that can transition between flying and driving modes, performed a 35-minute international flight on June 28. It transitioned into its driving mode on landing and drove downtown after the flight. The AirCar weighs approximately 2,425 lbs and can lift an extra 440 lbs. It has completed over 40 hours of test flights and it is near production. The creator planned to start selling the vehicle in May, but couldn't as aircraft certification tests were still pending. A 3-minute video showing the AirCar completing its first-ever inter-city flight is available.

CSS is one of the prime factors that impacts page load times. The more CSS there is, the longer it takes to create a Render Tree. CSS is loaded on priority, so is said to be render-blocking. This article discusses how to resolve this issue and make pages load faster by using non-blocking CSS.

Radix Colors is a color system for designing websites and apps. It features multiple combinations that are guaranteed to pass WCAG contrast ratio, dark mode, and transparent variants for UI components that need to blend into colored backgrounds.

Radix Colors is a color system for designing websites and apps. It features multiple combinations that are guaranteed to pass WCAG contrast ratio, dark mode, and transparent variants for UI components that need to blend into colored backgrounds.

A recent survey by jobs site Monster found that 95 percent of workers are now considering changing jobs, with 92 percent willing to switch industries to find the right position. Burnout and lack of growth opportunities were the biggest drivers for the shift. There are also a higher number of job openings than ever before, contributing to why people are willing to try out new opportunities. Many employees want to continue working remotely, so most organizations are trying to work out how to combine remote and on-site work.

Google and Microsoft have agreed to stop the non-aggression pact that was signed five years ago. The pact allowed the companies to set aside their numerous lawsuits and resolve their conflicts behind closed doors. The companies recently disagreed over fair pay in ad tech, and they are escalating the issue by unraveling the pact. By undoing the pact, the companies are opening themselves up to additional antitrust scrutiny.