September 2017 Summaries

HTML forms are fundamental to web authentication, collecting user credentials and transmitting them to a web server for processing. To understand how forms work, one must grasp the basics of HTTP requests, including GET and POST methods, which determine how form data is transmitted to a web server. Understanding form security is crucial, as it involves using SSL to encrypt communication between the browser and website, preventing Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) attacks by implementing CSRF tokens and cookies, and ensuring that sensitive information is not cached or logged on the server-side. By mastering these concepts, developers can build secure websites that protect user data and prevent malicious attacks.

Travis CI is a widely used Continuous Integration (CI) tool that syncs with GitHub accounts and automates the building, testing, and deployment processes. To receive SMS notifications when a project fails to build or test, Travis CI can be configured to use Twilio Functions, which are hosted by Twilio and allow for automation without renting and configuring servers. The process involves installing Node.js and the Travis CI Client, creating a GitHub repository, building a boilerplate Node.js app, configuring build notifications, handling Travis CI requests with Twilio Functions, setting up webhook notifications, testing the webhooks, and customizing notification frequencies in the `.travis.yml` file. With this setup, developers can receive SMS updates whenever their project fails to build or test, allowing for more effective communication with teams of developers.

This article guides readers through building an SMS notification application using JavaScript, the Serverless Framework, AWS, Twilio, Google Recaptcha, and Node.js. The project starts with setting up dependencies, API credentials, and deploying the serverless application, which includes integrating with multiple APIs to enrich functionality. The guide covers adding Google Recaptcha to validate user input, creating a static site using the Serverless-Finch plugin, and testing and debugging the application. Throughout the process, readers can deploy their own project and customize it according to their needs, making it suitable for various applications such as email contact forms or SMS messengers.

Dominik Kundel describes building a TodoMVC application using Twilio Sync and JavaScript. He outlines the setup process, which includes installing Node.js, creating a Twilio account, and cloning the template repository. The application uses Twilio Sync to store data and share it across multiple devices in real-time. The author explains how to implement various functions such as storing, finding, inserting, updating, removing, and dropping items, as well as handling authentication and permissions. Finally, he demonstrates how to use Twilio Sync's event-driven capabilities to update the list in real-time, showcasing its potential for building complex applications with real-time data synchronization.

The Twilio Notify API has announced a change in the default APNS message format for iOS devices via APNS, starting from October 30th, 2017. The new format allows developers to take advantage of the title attribute, making it easier to use Notify for web push targeting Safari browsers on OS X. The old format will continue to be used for services created before October 30th. Developers can choose to keep using the old format or migrate to the new one, which requires changes in the `aps.alert` attribute from a string to an object with a title attribute.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a major piece of legislation coming out of the European Union that could severely impact businesses based in the U.S. or abroad, particularly those processing personal data of EU individuals. The GDPR ensures appropriate protection of personal data and aims to balance individual rights with business needs, outlining key principles such as lawful and transparent processing, accuracy and security. Non-compliance can result in significant fines, up to €20 million or 4% of global revenue, whichever is higher. Businesses must ensure compliance by May 25, 2018, when the GDPR takes effect. The regulation applies not only to EU-based businesses but also to those offering goods or services to people in the EU or monitoring their behavior. Understanding and complying with the GDPR is crucial for any business dealing with personal data.

This walkthrough assumes a PHP development environment with git, composer, and access to the project through localhost or virtual hosts. It sets up video groups on top of a Laravel 5.5 installation with basic auth and dependencies like twilio/sdk and laravelcollective/html. The project uses Twilio's Video API to create local tracks, connect to a room, and initiate participant setup. To troubleshoot issues, it recommends using Firefox instead of Chrome due to blocking errors on localhost or https connections, and suggests setting the `$identity` variable to a random number in the `joinRoom` method for testing purposes. The project also includes log messages for debugging and viewing console output in the browser's inspector.

This tutorial teaches developers how to send SMS messages using Twilio and Golang. The author starts by explaining the basics of Golang programming and then uses it to generate random quotes from an array, which are then used to send SMS messages via Twilio. To do this, the developer must first sign up for a Twilio account, create a new program in Golang that imports the necessary packages, sets up the Twilio credentials, and creates an HTTP POST request client. The program then makes a POST request to Twilio's API with the quote as the message body, sender and receiver phone numbers, and authentication tokens. If the request is successful, the developer can confirm that the SMS was sent by navigating to Twilio's Programmable SMS dashboard.

This project utilizes Python, Flask, and Twilio's Programmable SMS service API to create a simple birthday app that sends reminders via phone number. The app uses Facebook's birthday calendar export feature and SQLite database to store birthdays, with the ability to add custom phone numbers for friends. A daily cron script checks for active birthdays and sends SMS notifications to an admin phone number, while also allowing users to send birthday messages or cards via SMS or MMS. The project demonstrates Flask-SQLAlchemy integration, Twilio API usage, and image processing with Pillow, showcasing a practical application of programming skills.

This tutorial guides the reader through creating a boba tea shop finder with Python, Google Maps, and GeoJSON. The author starts by setting up the environment and dependencies, including installing necessary packages and generating an API key for the Google Maps API. They then create a class called `BubbleTea` to handle processing and methods for their bot. This includes using the Google Maps API to initialize authentication and pandas to read in the CSV file containing boba tea places and addresses. The author then converts the addresses into coordinates, creates shapely Point geospatial objects, and visualizes the data using GeoJSONio. Finally, they use the `visualize` method to deploy their visualization with GeoJSONio's display function.

Twilio's SIGNAL London 2017 conference was a success with over 600 attendees and 23 sessions, including the announcement of new tools such as Twilio Studio for building engagement solutions, Global Phone Numbers Catalog for finding tailored phone numbers, and Twilio Understand for improving customer experience through faster and more accurate interactions. The conference also featured breakout sessions on topics like GDPR and its impact on businesses, as well as a presentation by Age UK showcasing how technology helps combat loneliness among older people. The event was marked by thunderous applause and excitement from developers and attendees alike, with many praising Twilio's efforts to simplify the lives of developers through new tools and features.

The Good Call hotline provides free 24/7 legal assistance to individuals arrested in New York City's Bronx borough. It uses Twilio Programmable Voice technology to connect callers with qualified attorneys who can provide guidance and representation, helping to prevent undue harm caused by an arrest. The hotline was designed to address the challenges faced by low-income New Yorkers, particularly those who have been arrested for minor offenses or lack access to a lawyer upon arrest. By automating the process of connecting callers with attorneys, Good Call aims to deliver timely support during a critical moment in the arrest process.

Twilio has introduced Twilio Studio, a visual interface that allows companies to accelerate the development of world-class customer engagement applications. With Twilio Studio, developers and cross-functional teams can collaborate to build various engagement solutions in minutes instead of weeks, leveraging specialized expertise of every individual. The platform provides a faster way to build engaging customer experiences, improved agility to iterate on those experiences as customer needs change, rapid development and deployment of new communications use cases, and unmatched scalability and reliability to grow with the business. Twilio Studio also offers extensibility through custom functionality via Twilio Functions, allowing developers to extend workflows beyond what's available out of the box.

Twilio is committed to being GDPR compliant by May 25, 2018, and is taking steps to support its customers in meeting this requirement. The company recognizes the importance of data privacy as a human right and understands that non-compliance with GDPR can result in severe fines. To help prepare for GDPR compliance, Twilio will be publishing additional blog posts and a white paper over the next six weeks, and has already updated its data processing addendum to include GDPR-compliant terms. The company's leadership principle of "wearing the customer's shoes" guides its approach to supporting customer compliance objectives.

Twilio Functions now supports npm, a package manager for JavaScript that makes it easy to share and reuse code, allowing developers to leverage the ecosystem of packages and modules provided by the Node.js community with no need to upload or manage packages manually. With this addition, Twilio Functions Packages automatically retrieves, installs, and deploys third-party packages, taking care of logistics behind the scenes, so developers can focus on using them. Developers can start using npm modules inside their functions by including them with the `require()` method, ensuring consistent and up-to-date function environments with every change to the npm list deployed instantly.

The Twilio Global Phone Numbers Catalog is a new offering that provides instant access to a large selection of phone numbers available for over 100 countries, with features such as use case tailored numbers and easy-to-use web portal. The catalog offers a broader choice of phone numbers, more powerful search and management options, and rich phone number metadata. It allows developers to zero in on the perfect number for their application by using use case-based search and granular attribute filters. The new API is independent of existing endpoints and provides access to developer preview, with more information available in reference docs.

Alessio Fanelli's guide explains how to create a daily fantasy football salary tracker using Ruby and Twilio MMS, offering enthusiasts a way to gain a competitive edge by receiving timely price alerts. The project involves using SQLite as the database to store player data, while Sequel serves as a lightweight database toolkit for Ruby. The setup includes automating CSV downloads from websites like DraftKings or FanDuel, comparing new data with previous entries, and notifying users of player salary changes via MMS. The guide details the development environment setup, including installing necessary dependencies such as Bundler, SQLite, and ImageMagick, and provides comprehensive code snippets for building the tracker. It also covers obtaining API keys from Imgur and Twilio for image uploads and sending notifications, emphasizing the importance of keeping sensitive keys secure using Dotenv. Finally, the post advises setting up a task scheduler to automate the process, ensuring users receive updates every few hours, and suggests hosting solutions for continuous operation.

In JetBrains Rider, the built-in REST client allows developers to test Twilio SMS requests without leaving the IDE. By using the Rider REST client, developers can craft HTTP requests, add authentication headers, and send requests to the Twilio API with ease. The client also keeps track of previous requests and allows for easy re-use, export, and import of requests, making it a useful tool for testing and development.

This tutorial guides the reader through deploying a JavaScript and Node.js application to AWS Lambda. The author starts by setting up an npm project and creating a 'hello world' application. They then refactor the app to collect and keep friends names in memory, set up a serverless framework configuration, and deploy the application on Lambda environment. The tutorial covers various aspects such as configuring the environment, installing dependencies, and using the Serverless framework to deploy the application. It also touches upon setting up AWS CLI, configuring the serverless.yml file, and deploying the function. The author provides a live demo of the application and encourages readers to build their own projects using this base application.

Twilio has expanded its Origin-Based Pricing coverage to 19 European countries, including Belgium and Netherlands, offering significant price reductions for calls made within Europe. This pricing model takes into account the caller's ID, routing calls based on whether it originates from a European Economic Area (EEA) number or not. With this change, customers can now save an average of 72% compared to other providers, with prices starting at $0.06 per minute for local calls within Europe. This opportunity is available for both Programmable Voice and Elastic SIP Trunking solutions, making it easier for businesses to reduce their bills by setting the Caller ID with a qualifying local EU/EEA number they own. The expanded coverage allows customers to take advantage of this price reduction, which can be realized through various examples such as sending voice marketing announcements or bridging SIP calls between Europe and other regions via intra-EU PSTN. To determine if specific destinations qualify for this large price reduction, customers can check the rate decks or consult with Twilio support.

The SIGNAL London 2017 conference will take place in just under a week, featuring carefully selected talks on various topics including two-factor authentication, serverless computing, data protection, and the Internet of Things. Notable speakers include B. Byrne, Martin Amps, Kat King, Sheila Jambekar, Jen Aprahamian, Aayush Iyer, Saurabh Daftary, Kavya Prasad, ZhiCheng Miao, Andres Jaan Tack, Tim Panton, and Karen Cohen. The conference will also feature a new product announcement, live demos, hands-on learning, and the first-ever European $BASH developer party. A promo code is available for 20% off ticket prices.

The Twilio.org Impact Corps is a community of volunteer developers who connect with nonprofits to build positive change through communications technology. Through the program, volunteers and nonprofits meet on their own schedules to work on projects such as creating custom applications that help organizations reach people in need. The initiative aims to provide technical assistance to nonprofits and social impact organizations, allowing them to establish critical communications and make a greater impact.

The author of this article has successfully created their own fax machine using Tessel, JavaScript, and Twilio. The fax machine consists of a Tessel board, a thermal printer, a power supply, jumper wires, and a case to hold everything together. The Tessel is connected to the thermal printer via serial communication, and the printer sends the faxes received by Twilio to the Tessel for printing. The article covers the process of setting up the hardware, creating a Node.js project to handle the fax machine's functionality, and deploying it on a local server using ngrok. The fax machine is then programmed to periodically request new faxes from Twilio and print them out. To test the setup, a file called send-fax.js is created to send a fax using Twilio, and the author invites readers to try sending faxes to their number to test the system.

This tutorial provides an overview of implementing request signature authentication in a Python IVR web application using the Pyramid framework, specifically for Twilio's Voice API. It covers setting up a Twilio account, configuring the ngrok tunnel, and creating a demo app that validates requests made to its endpoints, ensuring only authenticated Twilio requests are allowed access. The tutorial also discusses how to verify request signatures, handle authentication failures, and implement custom error handling using Pyramid view decorators. By following this guide, developers can ensure secure communication with Twilio's Voice API while building their IVR applications.

The article provides a step-by-step guide on how to customize users in a Symfony 3 project using the FOS User Bundle. The process involves expanding the user entity, creating getters and setters for new attributes, updating the schema, overriding forms, and modifying templates to include dynamic content. By following these steps, developers can add custom attributes to their users, such as phone numbers, and incorporate FOS User forms and pages into any Twig templated project.

Relay, a peer-to-peer texting platform, was launched by Daniel Souweine after running a successful national volunteer texting program during the Bernie Sanders campaign. The platform allows online organizers to reach their audience via Twilio SMS at scale, making it easier for them to rally people behind a cause or action. With the power of peer-to-peer texting, Relay has scaled from zero to millions in 81 days and is now powering national organizations like the ACLU and political campaigns across the country. The platform's simplicity and effectiveness have made it a valuable tool for organizers, allowing them to have personal conversations with their audience at scale.

Lesley Cordero's tutorial provides a comprehensive guide to performing sentiment analysis on Twitter data using Python's natural language processing library, nltk. The process begins with setting up the Python environment, including downloading necessary datasets of pre-labeled positive and negative tweets. The tutorial emphasizes the use of Jupyter Notebook for an interactive coding experience and outlines the steps to format data for analysis by converting tweets into tokenized dictionaries. The core of the analysis involves building a sentiment classifier using the Naive Bayes algorithm, which predicts sentiment based on word frequencies. Despite achieving an accuracy rate of approximately 83%, the tutorial notes that the model's performance is hindered by the messy, unprocessed nature of social media data, highlighting the challenge of accurately classifying text due to factors like typos and grammatical inconsistencies. The author concludes by acknowledging the limitations of the classifier and invites readers to follow her on Twitter for more insights and data science content.

Twilio Functions has released templates for launching their platform faster, eliminating server and infrastructure burdens, by providing pre-written code and configuration for common design patterns such as Voice responders, SMS responders, call forwarders, conference calls, IVR systems, access tokens, contact us forms, and more. These templates can be used to create and deploy functions in just a few clicks, making the development process easier and faster.

Twilio has expanded its virtual phone number offerings to include more local numbers in the Middle East, including Armenia, Turkey, UAE, and others. This move aims to help businesses establish a local identity and drive customer engagement. The new numbers have undergone rigorous testing for performance and reliability, but are currently available by request only due to limited stock. Businesses can access these developer preview numbers with pricing and capability restrictions.

The author, Lesley Cordero, shares her experience with using Pocket, a content-saving app, to visualize her reading list. She uses the Pocket API to retrieve data about her saved articles and analyzes it to estimate how many books she has read this year. The analysis involves counting words from article titles and creating a wordcloud visualization of the most frequent words. The author uses Python with libraries such as nltk, requests, and wordcloud to achieve this. She provides step-by-step instructions on setting up the environment, obtaining Pocket API keys, and running the code in a Jupyter notebook. The final result is a wordcloud that represents her reading habits and interests.

You'll need a Zapier account and a Twilio account to connect SMS to Slack. Sign up for both if you haven't already, and purchase a SMS enabled Twilio number. Create a new zap in Zapier, selecting Twilio as the trigger app and choosing new SMS from the drop down menu. Connect your Twilio credentials and select the Twilio number purchased earlier. Then, choose Slack as the Action App and post a new message to your desired channel, authenticating with your team's Slack domain and logging in. You can control parameters of the text message, such as the body or user's phone number, before testing the zap with a successful SMS to your Twilio number, allowing you to wire up Twilio numbers to Slack channels for various marketing campaigns or events.

Here's a neutral and interesting summary of how to receive SMS in WordPress with a PHP plugin: Receiving SMS on a WordPress site is made possible by utilizing the WordPress REST API feature, which allows developers to interact with sites remotely. A PHP plugin named "Receivedx" is used to set up receiving SMS, where users can respond to incoming messages and handle two-way messaging. The plugin registers a custom endpoint using the `register_rest_route` function, which serves as a webhook for incoming messages. When a message is sent to the Twilio number associated with the WordPress site, the endpoint triggers a response with a default text, "Ahoy from WordPress". To test this setup, users can send an SMS to the configured phone number and receive the response back. This tutorial provides a basic example of how to integrate SMS functionality into a WordPress website using the REST API and PHP plugins.