January 2022 Summaries

The recent sponsorship of the Lezer parser system by the CodeMirror team marks a significant development for the new Liquid Editor, enhancing its functionality with syntax highlighting, error reporting, and autocomplete capabilities. Previously, these tasks were attempted using regexes, but the limitations of that approach led to the adoption of Lezer, which allows for the definition of a grammar for Liquid and the creation of a syntax tree. This switch provides a robust structure for implementing advanced editor features. The sponsoring entity expresses high regard for the tool's quality and the professionalism of Marijn and the team, emphasizing its commitment to supporting high-quality open-source software (OSS). A more detailed discussion on the reasons and methods behind using Lezer is anticipated.

Recent updates to Tines aim to streamline user experiences by introducing features such as the ability to emit all held events upon publishing a Story, which eliminates the need for manual emission and reduces potential frustration. Additionally, when unpublishing a Story with held events, users can now easily emit these events via a new button in the publish dropdown. To enhance the management of Webhooks, Tines has introduced an option to randomize Webhook secrets during export, preventing the accidental creation of duplicate Webhooks and maintaining unique URLs upon re-importing, which also addresses privacy concerns regarding Webhook URLs. These updates reflect ongoing efforts to improve functionality, with more significant product developments anticipated in the near future.

As cyber threats become increasingly sophisticated, it is crucial for organizations to make informed decisions regarding their security posture, which includes constantly evaluating and improving their security team's effectiveness. This involves identifying relevant security-related key performance indicators (KPIs) that align with the specific needs and context of the organization, rather than relying on generic metrics. Key considerations include ensuring the availability of suitable data sources, understanding what success looks like, assessing the organization's readiness for implementing security measures, and defining clear goals to avoid overanalyzing data. The article highlights the importance of measuring meaningful metrics, such as detection response times and the number of incidents handled through automation, while cautioning against the pitfalls of measuring irrelevant data. Tines, a security automation tool, is mentioned as a valuable resource for improving security operations by enabling organizations to respond quickly to potential threats.

The concept of a "full-stack" engineer is often challenged due to the vast amount of knowledge required across various technologies, suggesting instead the value of fostering curiosity among engineers. In a scenario involving the development of a web app for managing widgets, both front-end and back-end engineers devised separate workarounds to overcome API limitations, leading to an inefficient system and a poor user experience. This highlights the pitfalls of engineers being too narrowly focused on one part of the stack, which can result in overlooking simpler solutions that involve minor changes elsewhere or earlier collaboration with designers. Instead of striving for deep expertise across the entire stack, the emphasis should be on cultivating curious engineers who ask critical questions, explore unfamiliar areas of the system, and collaborate with other experts to find more effective solutions. Such curiosity can lead to a deeper understanding and potentially enough knowledge to function like a full-stack engineer.

Yile Ou, a web developer and musician, joined Tines in September 2021 as the first web developer on their marketing team, transitioning from a small Irish web agency. His initial responsibility was to transform new designs into a functional website, a task he completed quickly with the support of existing automation processes and a collaborative team. Yile's role has since evolved to include developing marketing automations that integrate with various APIs like Slack and Salesforce. He values the trust-based culture at Tines and finds inspiration in Bach's music, which has influenced his approach to work by highlighting the importance of pattern recognition. Outside of work, Yile enjoys playing keyboard instruments, designing, coding, and engaging in activities like bouldering and badminton, as well as meeting new people for fresh ideas.

The YDWWT (You Did What With Tines) competition, celebrated for showcasing the innovative use of the Tines platform to solve automation challenges, concluded its Winter Wonderland Edition by awarding Handogotchi as the winner. Created by Valentine Mairet, a Security Engineer at GitLab, Handogotchi ingeniously gamifies team handovers, utilizing Tines and Slack's APIs to facilitate seamless transitions in distributed teams like GitLab. This example underscores how non-developers can harness Tines to build impactful automation tools, highlighting the value of APIs in creating unanticipated functionalities. GitLab has shared a version of the Tines Story for others to learn and replicate, and Tines encourages users to explore creating their own automations.

Tines has welcomed Dan Hubbard as their Strategic Executive Advisor to support the company's rapid growth and establish Tines as a leading no-code automation platform for security teams globally. With a background as CEO of Lacework and CTO at OpenDNS and Websense, Dan brings extensive experience to the company, offering guidance on board management, fundraising, product development, and recruiting. His role will involve making tactical decisions and participating in projects to enhance Tines' mission of empowering security practitioners to automate complex manual processes, regardless of their technical background. Dan's enthusiasm for Tines stems from the platform's ability to combine various technologies to enhance efficiency, security, and intelligence, which he witnessed firsthand during a demo. He emphasizes the importance of automation in maintaining competitive advantage, compliance, and security in a rapidly democratizing IT landscape.

William Tabi, a software engineer at Tines, has been spotlighted for his contribution to the cURL-to-Tines feature, which simplifies the integration of API examples into Tines. Having joined the company in March 2020 after a five-year stint at Intercom, William has transitioned from a primarily backend focus to embrace frontend development, becoming proficient in React, Relay, and GraphQL. A typical workweek for him includes setting personal goals, collaborating with the engineering and design teams, and occasionally participating in interviews. Originally from Cameroon and residing in Dublin since 2009, William spends his free time with his children, following Formula 1, and occasionally hiking, although the latter has been on hold since the pandemic.