August 2013 Summaries

Twilio is emphasizing the importance of security in its apps, reminding developers to implement best practices such as encrypting credentials using HTTPS and using subaccounts to segregate data. The company also highlights the benefits of automation, including enabling Usage Triggers to automatically suspend accounts based on specific criteria and utilizing Twilio for two-factor authentication. By following these tips, developers can enhance their app's security and protect themselves and their customers from potential threats.

This tutorial guides developers through building an SMS phone verification system using Node.js, Express, and Socket.io. The system uses Twilio's REST API to send SMS messages and verifies users' phone numbers by generating a unique code that must be entered by the user. The application consists of two main parts: the client-side view written in Jade, which includes a registration form and verification process, and the server-side app.js file, which handles socket.io connections, interacts with Twilio's API, and stores data in a database using nstore. When a user registers or verifies their phone number, the system checks for existing records and generates a unique code to be sent via SMS. The application can be run locally by setting environment variables and running the node app command.

The author of the text is Carter Rabasa, and he wrote this blog post about building a real-time SMS and voice voting application using Node.js. The previous parts of the series created a scalable voting application that can process votes for events via SMS or voice and display the real-time progress of voting. However, there was no web interface for administrators until this part of the series. This tutorial uses AngularJS to create a simple web interface for administrators. It covers creating the beginning of a simple AngularJS app, routing web requests to it through Node.js, authentication using CouchDB credentials, and handling login with a RESTful API and the $http interceptor. The application interacts with the server via AJAX calls and checks for 401 errors to let the user know they need to log-in. The tutorial also covers building a RESTful login API and creating a view for the app.

TwilioCon is pleased to announce that renowned speakers Jeff Pulver and Mitch Kapor will be presenting at the conference, bringing their expertise in using technology for social good and innovation in communication. To date, Mitch Kapor has been a prominent figure in advocating for digital rights through his work with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, while Jeff Pulver has made significant contributions to VoIP technology through his founding of Vonage. Both speakers have had a lasting impact on the way we communicate today.

DialDrive is a complete phone platform for web and mobile marketing that utilizes Twilio, enabling users to set up an end-to-end call center or voicecamp with ease. It offers a range of features, including targeted live call transfers, complex inbound call campaigns, pay-per-call networks, cloud-based infrastructure deployment, and detailed metrics analysis. Built on Twilio Client and WebRTC, DialDrive provides improved voice quality and user experience, while remote management of hardware and software eliminates IT burden. The platform is ideal for companies that acquire customers through a combination of web and mobile advertising and traditional phone-based salesmanship.

TwilioCon's Startup Showcase features 14 startups that are expanding the future of communication using Twilio in innovative ways. These startups will exhibit and demo their apps as part of the event on September 18th-19th, showcasing a range of solutions including mobile app development tools, online CRM software, social media integration, language translation, and marketing services. The showcase also highlights peer-to-peer storage marketplaces, automated lead generation platforms, and youth fundraising initiatives, among others. The startups are from all over the globe and have received funding or recognition for their innovative approaches to communication technology.

TwilioCon is hosting an after party with musician Jonathan Coulton, featuring his folk/rock songs that are both catchy and thoughtful, released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. The event is open to all conference attendees and will take place on September 19th at the Concourse Exhibition Center. Coulton's songs often incorporate themes of coding and geek culture, reflecting his background as a former software programmer.

The author Keith Casey compares and contrasts two text-to-speech (TTS) voices, one being the traditional female voice and the other being a new Alice TTS voice. The Alice voice is found to be better in terms of pronunciation, especially when it comes to handling acronyms, heteronyms, and uncommon words. To improve the accuracy of the traditional female voice, tips are provided such as inserting spaces between letters or using regular expressions to handle specific cases like acronyms and homonyms. The article also discusses the use of homonyms in place of heteronyms to solve some problem cases. Finally, it highlights the importance of considering pronunciation over spelling when working with TTS voices.

By Kyle Kelly-Yahner on August 19, 2013, Twilio is partnering with Parse to host Parse Developer Day in San Francisco on September 5th, where Twilio's Devangelist Kevin Whinnery will present a talk on building a cloud-based call center using Parse and Twilio. The event features a Partner Track with Microsoft, Stripe, SendGrid, and Xamarin, as well as two Parse-focused tracks for beginners and advanced users. All proceeds from ticket sales go to CodeNow, a non-profit providing free computer programming training to high school students. This partnership builds on last year's announcement of the Twilio-Parse Cloud Module integration, which allows developers to add voice response, mobile app distribution, and two-factor authentication to Parse-powered apps using the Twilio Cloud Module.

The Art Of Documentation, Empowering Users` is a topic discussed by Rob Zazueta at the Mashery Twilio Tech Talk. He shares his experience of over 15 years in development and documentation, emphasizing the importance of empowering users with quality documentation. Nisha George and Elaine Tsai also talked about crafting documentation that supports customers, aiming to provide them with a place to get their questions answered while they are using their code. The talks highlight the significance of building beyond traditional manual documentation to create a more user-friendly experience.

This summary highlights how Microsoft Excel and Access can be extended to send SMS messages and initiate outbound phone calls using the Twilio API. By utilizing VBA code in both applications, users can create custom logic to interact with the Twilio API, allowing them to easily send text messages and make phone calls directly from within Excel and Access. The examples provided demonstrate how to achieve this functionality by creating custom UI elements, writing VBA code to handle button clicks and form submissions, and integrating the Twilio API to send SMS messages and initiate outbound calls. The code is designed to be straightforward and easy to follow, making it accessible to non-developers who want to extend their applications with the Twilio API.

Twilio and Google App Engine for PHP allows developers to create scalable and reliable applications using the PHP runtime. The application uses the Twilio PHP helper library to send text messages and make phone calls, leveraging the virtualized file system and queuing system of App Engine. To set up the environment, developers can follow Google's Getting started with PHP on Google App Engine instructions and upgrade the Twilio helper library to v3.11+. The application uses URL routing in the app.yaml file to map different URL patterns to individual PHP scripts. With this setup, developers can create a scalable and reliable PHP application on Google App Engine.

Twilio Client for iOS is a popular library used by developers to build Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) applications. Installing it using CocoaPods simplifies the process of adding dependencies to an Xcode project. To get started, install CocoaPods and create a podfile with the TwilioSDK package. Then, run `pod install` to install the pods. The resulting workspace includes a new Pods project that contains library files, frameworks, and WAV files used by the Twilio Client library. However, adding two values to the plist file is still required to enable VoIP functionality in the background.

This application integrates Twilio SMS, XMPP, and Channels to create a group chat application that connects users via SMS, XMPP, and browser-based chat clients. The application uses App Engine's scalable infrastructure and high-level APIs for persistence, file management, and other common web app needs. It receives inbound messages and sends outbound messages using the Twilio API, App Engine's XMPP service, and Channels API. The application also utilizes App Engine's Channel API to push new chat messages to browser-based clients.

Twilio and I, Ben Nunney, are teaming up to showcase the talented young coders of the UK through a project called #CodeOnTheRoad. We'll be visiting 20 centres across the country, meeting with 200 young coders who will be working on projects using open government data and APIs. The goal is to capture the essence of Young Rewired State's week-long event and highlight the importance of APIs in the software industry, asking if the rest of the industry is doing enough to engage with the next generation of developers. We'll be documenting our journey through social media and video blogs, sharing updates on our experiences and meeting some amazing young people along the way.

Anish Kahnzode, a developer, built an SMS-based live voting system for a local non-profit's singing competition in under three weeks using Twilio's scalable platform and customizability. The app handled over 5,500 SMS requests per night, with no single SMS dropped, and displayed real-time voting results on stage. Anish's rapid prototyping and use of Volt DB's database were key to the system's success. He is now looking to bring the app to other nonprofits to help them host similar events.

Autism Hackathon Recap: Building For A Future of Clear Communication` A recent hackathon organized by Autism Speaks aimed to empower autistic individuals with technology to improve their communication skills. The event brought together developers, designers, and novice hackers to build tools that would help autistic people interact with others effectively. One winning project, VIP Virtualizes Real-Life Communications, used XBox Kinect to measure body language and eye contact, while another, MyMonitorGlasswear, monitored social interactions via Google Glass. Additionally, MindFlower created a marketplace for hiring adults on the autism spectrum, and Audeo provided visual cues to help users understand emotional context within conversations. The hackathon's goal is to develop an all-in-one app that can be used by autistic individuals to navigate any situation, with Autism Speaks aiming to bundle each team's creation into this platform.