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Earth Day is almost here but Google is ready to show you the effects of climate change now. They’ve launched the biggest update to Google Earth since 2017 — Timelapse.

The Timelapse feature compiles 24 million satellite photos from the past 37 years, creating an interactive 4D experience. The Timelapse video translates to quadrillions of pixels and required “a significant amount of ‘pixel crunching,’” Google noted in their blog. As far as anyone knows, Timelapse in Google Earth is the largest video on the planet of our planet.

The driving force behind the update is to show the rapid environmental change on our planet from the last half-century. Timelapse highlights five themes, which can be clicked to activate a “guided tour” through each topic — forest change, urban growth, fragile beauty, warming temperatures, and sources of energy. Google worked with experts at Carnegie Mellon University’s CREATE Lab on the technology and to translate all that environmental data into a digestible guided tour.

If you’re feeling inspired once you’ve completed the guided tour, here are four tools that can help you reduce your carbon footprint.

Watershed - A software platform to help companies create their own climate program

Aerial - An app that pulls data from your inbox, notifies you of emissions activity, and suggests options to offset your carbon footprint

Klima - An app that lets you calculate your carbon footprint and find verified climate projects to offset it

Neutral - A browser extension that enables you to offset your purchases

Today an open-source alternative to Calendly launched on Product Hunt called Calendso. The vision behind Calendso sounds akin to other open-source alternative softwares.

“Our mission is to democratise and decentralise calendar scheduling, enabling everyone to be able to use calendar scheduling however they'd like… What email has done to communication, we hope Calendso will do to meetings.” - Bailey Pumfleet, Maker

Calendso can be seamlessly integrated into businesses. Advanced customization, an open API, and payments enabled via Stripe were a few of the main draws exciting early adopters:

“Fantastic to see an open-source alternative… The UI is great as well, but the main magic is being able to do deeper integrations.” - Chris Deitrich

“Calendly [is] a revolutionary product that combined great UX & functionality… Calendso has taken it up a notch… without compromising on UX.” - Lakshmi Narayanan G

Many will likely still find Calendly’s ease of use to be beneficial for their business cases. The company launched Calendly Workflows in September to help strengthen your relationships with invitees using automation for reminders and follow-ups.

Still, between the two if you find yourself struggling with meeting fatigue or app hopping, here are 9 more tools that can help.

Superpowered - Manage your calendar from your menu bar
MeetingBar 3.0 - An alternative to Superpowered 👆
Meeting Calculator - Track meeting stats like you would a workout
Routine - Combine tasks, notes, and your calendar
Hugo 2.0 - One place to collaboratively prepare for your meetings
Comeet - Add async video to your calendar
Time Zone Pro - See everyone on your team’s time zone in a glance
Aerotime - Group meetings to free up space in your calendar
Defragged - Like Aerotime but this one's just a game for fun

Two new product launches have arrived to speed up backend development.

Yesterday, Sourcery debuted its tool that essentially works as a Grammarly for code tool. In other words, it analyzes your code, finds problems, and suggests changes for making it easier to read.



One commenter seeking information on how Sourcery makes accurate code edits got this reply from maker Nick Thapen.

“Firstly bucketloads of internal testing around each suggestion, secondly lots of detailed static analysis of the code, and as a backstop we run all of our suggestions over lots of open-source libraries then check that their tests are still green...”

Sourcery can be installed into PyCharm, VS Code, or your GitHub repos, and it works fully locally so your code is always private.

If you’re starting a new project, you might first look at today’s beta launch of Napkin, a production-ready, browser-based, backend development tool.

Developers spend countless hours setting up their backend infrastructure. Napkin works to remove all of that tedious and repetitive work. Napkin’s maker, Thomas Wang, explained his and his cofounders’ vision is to make the power of computing available for everyone, without having to become a professional software developer.

Online IDEs (integrated development environments) like Repl.it do provide some conveniences to devs, but Wang explained Napkin’s next-generation approach.

“Our goal was to differentiate early, to fit in neatly with all the modern API's, libraries, and frontend frameworks/clients. We don't want to replace, we want to complement.”

And early adopters are taking note.

“This would've made the learning process for a younger me so much less intimidating… I think we'll see an explosion of ideas manifest on Napkin… 🥳: - Jonathan Xu

“I have 0 backend experience but I've already managed to make a discord bot, slack app… and it was super simple!!” - Isamu Naets

We recently covered Paragon Connect, a low-code Zapier-like tool for speeding up integrations. We’re thinking of Napkin as a relative to the blossoming low and no-code space — another wave of making development less cumbersome and more accessible.

Learning a new language is difficult.

To make it easier, the makers of Fluent launched a new iteration of their learn-a-language Chrome extension yesterday.

“We want Fluent to be the best teacher, ever… We think that seeing yourself get a little better, every single day, is the best motivator of all.” - Gavid D, Maker

Fluent’s goal is to help you learn a new language (right now French and Spanish with Italian on the way) while you’re browsing the web — from Product Hunt to Twitter.



One of the main feature updates is tracking your progress against each word you learn, with little low-key quizzes built into your browser. You might already be aware of a similar product called Toucan, which launched onto Product Hunt seven months ago. A couple of other early adopters were curious about the differences.



We will be watching both of these products, particularly with the boost that remote life has given to EdTech. So far 2021 has already seen 24 EdTech exits compared to 45 in all of 2019, according to Crunchbase. The scope is wide-reaching. For example, MasterClass achieved a $2.5 billion valuation last week for its adult learning content, and Quizlet and Kahoot! — new to the unicorn club as of 2020 — made their first acquisitions to expand capabilities, curriculum, and communities.

Then there’s Duolingo, which raised $35M on a $2.5B valuation in November. All of this has us wondering what its next move will be, after it finishes rolling out its expansion to Yiddish and toilet paper, of course.

While we speculate, learn a new mot (that’s “word” in French).

Who doesn’t love the feeling of checking something off of their to-do list? Sadly, managing that list is just another thing to do.

Routine is one of the latest launches to tackle list burden by combining notes, tasks, and your calendar using a fast keyboard shortcut method. Maker Julien Quintard explained that since both tasks and notes are information-based, he saw no reason why they should be split up.

“In Routine, tasks can be enhanced with a media-rich description (i.e a note) but notes can also embed checkboxes which are full-fledged tasks that can be scheduled, delegated, and more.”

Routine’s integration with Google Calendars and Tasks provides big benefits. Of course, there’s strong competition among list and productivity tools. Commenters inquired about the differences between Dynalist, and Workflowy has similar benefits too.

Then there’s the recent launch of Macro. Macro’s checklists are beefed up with the ability to assign tasks, automate actions, and track progress.

We’re big on note-taking and productivity tools here. Like you, we’re always searching for the ones that give us feels and form permanent habits. Both products have piqued interest in the community. One commenter noted on Routine:

“I have the same feeling I got when I discovered Notion a few years ago: I see the deep potential of the product and the team velocity. 🚀" - Alexis Jamet

Now let’s see if this one sticks.

Millennials to boomers have something to bond over — a Craigslist memory? While Craigslist's retro simplicity may appeal to diehard fans, secondhand sellers have been flocking to newer tech.

Yesterday a new reseller product launched called Backflip with a model driven by simplicity. Maker Adam Foosaner explained:

“My co-founder and I stumbled on the idea behind Backflip when moving between apartments… We should be able to sell [our electronics] in a matter of minutes by just taking a picture on our phones.”

Users go to the Blackflip website, select their device, and get a quote. The physical transaction is done for free with The UPS Store – no box or shipping label required. Drop it off or schedule a pickup and your payment is guaranteed by Backflip.

“I finally have a chance to clean out my electronics drawer. Love it!” - Hunter Hodnett noted.

Backflip’s approach might appeal to sellers who just want to get rid of some stuff quickly. Other players in this space have stretched across channels. Poshmark, which went public in January, created a whole fashionista social community around reselling. StockX and Alt are working to ride trends in alternative investments as part of their resale model.

StockX is a shining example of the growth in the reseller space. It had a record year of revenue and just closed a funding round resulting in a $3.8 billion valuation. Beyond bidding and selling, StockX delivers users a host of data like historical sales and authenticates the sneakers too. Ebay announced their own authentication program to play catch up in October.

Besides the pandemic and eCommerce growth, another reason for the resale boom is interest in sustainability. The demand is so strong that brands like Gucci are playing with their own resale models.

If you’re in the market for sustainable threads but are looking for something new, you can check out recently launched Good Garms instead. Otherwise, it might be time to…

Clubhouse is trying to make a getaway from a growing list of big competitors.

We recently talked about how Twitter, Slack, and LinkedIn are all working on audio features. Then yesterday, news broke that Twitter was reportedly in talks to acquire Clubhouse for $4B. Meanwhile, Facebook launched Hotline into beta testing — their audio experiment that looks like a cross between Instagram Live and Clubhouse with a more formal Q&A and recording features.

Perhaps in a well-timed move to gain loyalty from the creator community early, Clubhouse introduced direct payments this week à la a new partnership with Stripe.

Clubhouse may have its first monetization feature but there have been skeptics. One of the biggest flaws they see — really in social audio in general — is lack of curation.

Yesterday Angle Audio launched and a few early adopters chimed applauding the product’s quality conversations:

“It's one of the best ways to learn and discuss hot topics with experts - gotta love some quality curation AND chit chat...” - Mingle Padegimaite

“... it felt like much more intimate, curated, premium content and people were present... - Nick Ryde

Maker Matthias Strodtkoetter explained that Angle is a social audio app focused on intimate and intentional conversations. Unlike Clubhouse, Angle has no stage and includes text-chat, screen-sharing, and time-capped conversations.

One commenter mentioned she doesn’t see Clubhouse as a competitor and she makes a good point. On one hand, Clubhouse is good for contributors—ideal even for lurkers. Listeners can hear thought leaders dive into topics of interest. On the other hand, Angle is inclusive. You’re not on permanent mute when you enter a room because you’re welcome, perhaps expected, to contribute.

This is Angle’s second launch after rebranding and improving its core features since its beta launch. There’s more to come.

Social audio seems like anyone’s game at this point.

Sandbox VR has emerged from the rubble.

The VR experience company first launched onto Product Hunt three years ago, and then in 2020 with Sandbox VR 2.0 featuring a new Star Trek experience and location in San Francisco. Sandbox combines the latest VR hardware, AAA-quality content, and movie quality, real-time motion capture rigs to create full-body experiences.

Last week the co-founders announced that they’ve bounced back from bankruptcy and will be opening a new location in Las Vegas at the Grand Canal Shoppes in the Venetian Resort.

It’s the company’s first time in the Vegas market but they will be occupying a spot once taken by The Void, another VR experience company that had brought visitors popular Star Wars and Avengers experiences through its Disney partnership before falling victim to pandemic closures.

Two of Sandbox’s seven current locations, Austin and Chicago, have been reopened under strict COVD-19 safety protocols and the company has seen an increased demand of 30% since before the pandemic. It plans to expand to 15 locations by the end of the year.

VR experiences are also opening again worldwide from Germany to Australia.

While the rest of us wait, here are six more fun VR, AR, or spatial experiences.

Karaoke Night - Get your song ready – it’s VR karaoke night

Topia - World-building with spontaneous video meet-ups

Unai - A VR headset and virtual world designed in harmony

YUR - A fitness tracker to clock those VR movements

Supernatural - A Peloton experience minus the bike plus VR

Diaroma - On-the-go AR filmmaking with the Litho controller

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is having a moment.

RPA is a somewhat new term to describe using intelligent technology (i.e. bots) to emulate human interactions and automate business processes. RPA isn’t new, but it’s a fast-growing area of tech along with AI, particularly now with companies making leaps into digital transformation due to the pandemic.

While a few companies took an early lead in this space, we’ve seen intriguing RPA innovators launch during this boom.

Maker Sergey Yudovskiy launched ElectroNeek RPA a year ago. ElectroNeek, a W20 Y Combinator alum, is an RPA platform for hunting and automating workflows. One of ElectroNeek’s drivers has been to democratize RPA, i.e. make it accessible for small to medium companies. For a fixed price, developers can design and save workflows as RPA bots, then deploy them anywhere with unlimited licenses.

The model seems to be working. In January, ElectroNeek reported 5x annual revenue growth compared to 2019, driven partly by mid-market companies.

Another innovator in this sector is nate. For all of the talk around RPA, not much is said about what it can do for consumers. Maker Albert Saniger introduced Nate in its March launch:

“We’re excited for you all to check out nate - the world’s only universal consumer shopping app, powered by AI… We developed RPA technology that can navigate websites in the same way humans do.”

Hate filling in your details everytime you check out? Autofill and Apple Pay help in specific cases, but nate works to eliminate all of it. With the app, you can skip the checkout process from anywhere.

Worried about spending too much?

“One pro tip: nate actually also applies all publicly available discounts automatically to your purchases, so we can help you save some $$$ and you don't have to lift a finger!” - Thais Branco, Maker

There are concerns about the implications of RPA, namely bots taking human jobs. Right now the tech is mostly just improving tech silos and taking some of the pain out of shopping.

Last week the makers of Paragon, a low-code visual builder for API workflows which launched last year, introduced Paragon Connect. The new Connect SDK allows developers to embed user-facing business integrations into their product in minutes. Many engineers in the community were glad to see it:

“This will save months for early-stage teams, great idea & product! 😎” - Trevor Sookraj

According to Paragon, the average company today uses over 100 different cloud apps. The goal of Paragon Connect is to save developers from the repetitive work of integrations. Commenters were quick to make comparisons to Zapier.

Zapier has become a go-to platform for both non-technical people and developers to speed through integrations. Paragon Connect may serve a more technical audience than some of Zapier’s customer base, but feedback shows an appetite for a tool that enables native integrations.

“Incredible product by the team! Much better (and needed) model compared to Zapier." - Shaun Liu

“Zapier on steroids. About time! Great work Paragon.” - Ken Wohl

Paragon co-founder, Brandon Foo explained how it works:

“Paragon… can help offload the (not fun) engineering work... adding configuration UI for each integration, access token management, stitching third-party APIs together, managing webhooks, etc... We simplify [development] by hosting a configuration modal for your integrations and providing a low-code workflow editor to deal with third-party logic instead 🙂 .“

Here are more API launches while you’re at with those integrations:

Thunder Client - Easy API testing with Scriptless GUI based testing.

ReadMe Recipes - Step-by-Step code walkthroughs for your APIs

Web ScraperAPI - Scrape data with getting blocked

Dev APIs - Single marketplace to get your suite of APIs

Public APIs - A collection of 1,000 free public and open REST APIs

Anvil PDF API - Twilio for PDFs