July 2014 Summaries

The blog post is a tutorial on building a self-destructing chat message feature using Babel, an open-source chat widget and API built with PubNub, as part of a five-part series. It walks through the steps of setting up the PubNub JavaScript SDK, finding users using the Presence feature to detect online statuses, and sending messages with properties like recipient, sender, and time-to-live (TTL) to ensure messages self-destruct after a set duration. The process involves using the setInterval method to regularly update and eventually delete messages once their TTLs expire. The series covers setting up a chat application, key exchange systems, sending TLS encrypted messages, and building a chatroom UI, with resources available in the Chat Resource Center and on GitHub.

Taylor Alexander, co-founder of Flutter Wireless, has developed an innovative wireless electronics platform based on Arduino, which has gained significant support due to its potential in the Internet of Things (IoT) landscape. Flutter Wireless, known for its long-range capability of over half a mile and affordable starting price of $20, utilizes an Atmel ARM-based SAM3S processor and ATSHA204 cryptographic chip for secure communication. The platform is designed to be user-friendly, allowing for easy network setup via Arduino code or a mobile app, and supports various protocols like Bluetooth for flexible connectivity. It is open-source, encouraging community contributions and enhancements, and is suitable for a wide range of applications, from quadcopters to remote sensors, leveraging the Maker Movement's trend of innovation and community validation. The platform's design, which includes cryptographic hardware to secure communications, positions Flutter Wireless as a promising solution for connecting IoT devices reliably and securely.

NodeCraft, a provider of online game server hosting, sought to enhance their application with real-time node-to-node communication capabilities to ensure stability and security, which are crucial for online gaming experiences. Initially, they attempted to build their own real-time infrastructure using open source MQ libraries and technologies like RabbitMQ and ZMQ, but these efforts failed to provide the necessary stability and security within their timeline. Facing these challenges, NodeCraft opted to use PubNub's Data Streams to manage real-time communication, allowing them to focus on their core application rather than the complexities of backend network maintenance. This decision enabled NodeCraft to deliver stable and secure game servers while alleviating concerns around network crashes and operational maintenance. PubNub's solutions also unexpectedly addressed additional issues, providing NodeCraft with confidence in the reliability of their network infrastructure.

Ian Jennings, a PubNub Developer Evangelist, presents the fourth installment of his series on creating a multiplayer game using JavaScript, focusing on a random matchmaking algorithm. This part of the series delves into the process of connecting two random users in a multiplayer game by implementing a "Find Match" button and using the PubNub Presence API to list online users. The tutorial shows how to filter out the user's own username from the list, select a random opponent, and demonstrates the matchmaking process through a simple demo on CodePen. The guide also highlights the versatile applications of matchmaking algorithms beyond gaming, such as pairing individuals for phone calls or collaborative document editing. Subsequent parts of the series promise to explore more advanced matchmaking techniques, including skill-based and user-challenging systems.

The blog post provides a guide on building a key exchange system using PubNub, which is part of a series on developing Babel, an open-source chat widget and API. Babel enables the exchange of 1024-bit RSA public keys and the transmission of self-destructing, encrypted messages in a chatroom. The tutorial outlines the initial steps, including signing up for a PubNub account, importing the PubNub JavaScript SDK, and initializing it with unique keys. It explains public key sharing through PubNub's Presence feature, allowing users to see who is online and exchange state information, facilitating encrypted messaging between users. The series aims to cover further topics like sending encrypted and self-destructing messages, and the post encourages readers to visit the newly launched Chat Resource Center for additional resources and tutorials on building and deploying mobile and web chat applications.

Babel is an open-source chat widget and API built with PubNub, designed for sending and receiving encrypted, self-destructing messages and exchanging 1024-bit RSA public keys in chatrooms. It is introduced in a five-part tutorial series aiming to guide users through building a self-destructing chat app, akin to Snapchat, but within a chatroom setting. The series covers various aspects, including setting up a key exchange system, sending TLS encrypted messages, and designing a chatroom UI. Users need to sign up for a PubNub account, obtain unique keys, and import necessary libraries such as the PubNub JavaScript SDK, babel.js, and cryptico.js to use Babel. The platform allows users to perform public key exchanges, send messages with a time-to-live (TTL) feature, and manage user presence with methods like onMessage and onPresence. Babel's functionalities are further explained through a working demo and detailed tutorials, which are available alongside the source code on GitHub.

The text discusses how to use the PubNub Data Stream Network with Google Dart to subscribe to a bitcoin feed, recommending the use of the standard 'dart:js' library interop for this purpose. While it discourages using a non-library method, it suggests starting with the HTTP REST Push API documentation if one chooses to proceed that way. To access PubNub services, users must sign up for an account to obtain unique keys through the PubNub Developer Portal. The process involves setting up an HTML file with specific script tags and including a PubNub <div> with the bitcoinSubscribe Key parameter. The Dart app code then opens a TCP socket to the live stream, utilizing example channel IDs to receive signals like Trade, Depth, and Ticker. The document serves as a guide for implementing real-time price and trade event streaming solutions, with an invitation to explore PubNub's Bitcoin Solution Kit for building bitcoin exchanges or streaming apps.

The blog post by Ian Jennings, part of a series on creating a multiplayer game with JavaScript, explains how to display and update a real-time list of online users in a chatroom using the PubNub JavaScript Presence API. It details the process of setting up a chat interface using Bootstrap's grid system to create a two-column layout, with one column dedicated to displaying online users. The PubNub Presence feature is utilized to track user activity within the chatroom, triggering events when users join or leave and updating the user list accordingly. The blog post emphasizes the use of the unique UUID identifier for each user and the importance of managing the user interface dynamically as users interact with the chatroom. It serves as the third installment in a comprehensive guide covering various aspects of building a multiplayer gaming experience, including matchmaking and creating private chatrooms.

PubNub has enhanced its support for the MQTT protocol within its Data Stream Network to facilitate efficient and reliable connectivity for low-powered embedded devices, particularly in the context of the Internet of Things (IoT). MQTT, a publish/subscribe protocol originally developed by IBM, is well-suited for environments where resources are limited, such as those involving smart devices. PubNub's integration allows users to leverage existing MQTT infrastructure while benefiting from PubNub's scalability and real-time capabilities. To use MQTT with PubNub, users must sign up for a PubNub account to obtain unique publish and subscribe keys, which are essential for establishing connections and creating channels. Although the current support is limited to QoS level 0 and does not include topic wildcards, future updates are expected to address these limitations. PubNub's integration with MQTT aims to provide a seamless experience by allowing messages to be published across both PubNub and MQTT, thereby enhancing the flexibility and reach of IoT applications.

Ian Jennings, a PubNub Developer Evangelist, introduces a blog series dedicated to creating a multiplayer game in JavaScript, focusing initially on building a multiplayer game lobby for a card game called MemeWarz, which features Internet memes as trading cards. The series begins with the construction of a chat room using the PubNub platform, which facilitates real-time communication by allowing clients to send and receive messages over designated channels. The initial steps involve signing up for a PubNub account, obtaining unique keys, and using jQuery, Twitter Bootstrap, and the PubNub JavaScript SDK for setting up the chat room environment. The guide details how to initialize PubNub, establish a communication channel, and handle message broadcasting and receiving, demonstrating the basic real-time interaction capabilities through a working chat demo. Future blog posts aim to expand on these concepts by developing the game server and client, enhancing matchmaking functionalities, and introducing private chat features.

Brandon Scott, a software and web developer from Bournemouth University, describes the development of Cadence and Pulse, a server health monitoring suite created as part of a university project. Cadence, an open-source project, features a RESTful API that allows for extensive server monitoring and reporting, focusing on real-time updates and platform-agnostic accessibility. It integrates technologies like PubNub for real-time data streaming and Twilio for user notifications, transforming it into a proactive solution that alerts users to server issues as they occur. Pulse, the client-side app, is available as both an Android app and a website, allowing users to subscribe to server groups and view history and real-time statistics, enhancing user experience through an intuitive interface. The project emphasizes the importance of extensibility, allowing for platform accessibility and user data ownership while employing methodologies like Scrum to address teamworking challenges during the software engineering course.