SpaceX's successful disaster

Space launched the Starship SN10 prototype. As in previous launches, the rocket climbed to the assumed altitude and started free falling. But this time, during the landing attempt, everything went perfectly. Starship returned from free-falling to vertical position and landed on the ground.

It is the first time Starship managed to do that, but the test was not  a complete success. A  couple of minutes after the landing, the rocket exploded. Although SN10 did not survive, Space X is making noticeable progress. So maybe the next time, the rocket will pass the entire test.

Microsoft Mesh

During the Ignite conference, Microsoft announced the AR and VR collaboration platform called Mesh. It is a collaborative platform that allows anyone to have shared virtual experiences. It's like Microsoft Teams of the future. Participants can be in the same place, even though they are not physically together. At the moment, the platform uses virtual avatars taken from the AltspaceVR social network. But in the future, people will be able to appear as themselves.

Microsoft Mesh is a super cool idea that looks like taken from a sci-fi movie, but as some people say - the future is now.

Image credits: SpaceX

SpaceX Crew-1

For the second time, SpaceX and NASA launched the Crew Dragon capsule with people onboard. Following the successful Demo-2 mission, NASA gave SpaceX's Crew Dragon an operational status, and the Crew-1 mission is the first flight with such status. Crew of 4 astronauts launched on Sunday, and docked to the International Space Station the next day. According to NASA plans, astronauts will spend in space about 180 days.

Apple reduces AppStore tax to 15%

Apple announced, that from January 1st, the AppStore tax will be reduce from 30% to 15% to all developers that during a  year made under $1 million. If the developer exceeds the $1 million threshold then the 30% tax will be applied.

This is huge for the most of the developers. The change from 30% to 15% cut, by then increases developers revenue for about 20%.

ARM Macs delivers

Apple started shipping new ARM powered Macs and the first benchmarks started showing up. It looks like, all Apple claims about new hardware are true. New macs are not only the fastest, but also super efficient, which improves battery life. Now, the only thing that might stop a customer from choosing an ARM mac is a software compatibility. But even that should not be a big issue for the most users. And if a particular application is not ready yet, it should be very soon.

Dope links

• macOS defaults list
• Does Apple really log every app you run? A technical look
• Api diff between net5.0 and netcoreapp3.1 & netstandard2.1
• I built a VR chainsaw in Unity

Image credits: NASA/SpaceX