March 2018 Summaries

Dominik Kundel outlines a project where developers can create a serverless coffee ordering app, named Twilio Barista, using Twilio's APIs such as Programmable SMS, Twilio Sync, and other web technologies, in celebration of the Hyper Text Coffee Pot Control Protocol's 20th anniversary. The app allows users to order coffee via SMS and receive notifications when their coffee is ready. It employs Twilio Functions for handling incoming orders, storing them in a Sync List, and using React to build a web app for baristas to manage orders. The guide also details setting up real-time order updates using Twilio Sync, updating order status, and notifying customers via SMS when their order is complete. Additionally, the article mentions future improvements and invites readers to explore further enhancements or adaptations for other events, providing resources and contact information for collaboration.

Toll fraud, also known as International Revenue Sharing Fraud (IRSF), is a significant issue that leads to $10 billion in annual revenue losses globally. It involves teams of criminals exploiting apps by placing calls to international premium rate numbers, which can result in a virtual wire-transfer from the company's bank account to theirs. Twilio has developed a dynamic solution to help protect applications from toll fraud, including classifying destinations according to risk and enabling low-risk permissions for most businesses. To further reduce risk, users can navigate to the Geo Permissions High-Risk tab and de-select countries with high-risk checkboxes enabled, while being cautious not to disable the low-risk tab. Additionally, Twilio provides guidance on detecting blocked calls and understanding which permission group is required to call a particular phone number.

The tutorial describes how to build a video chat application using React, Node.js, and Twilio Programmable Video. The application allows users to create rooms and join them, with the ability to customize the room's appearance and add tracks such as audio and video. The tutorial covers setting up the project, creating an API key, and implementing user authentication and authorization. It also discusses how to handle participant connections, track additions, and disconnections, as well as detaching participants' tracks from the room when they leave. The application is tested locally and a demo application is provided on Heroku for future reference. The tutorial highlights the benefits of using Twilio Programmable Video, including its simplicity and ease of use, making it an ideal choice for building custom collaboration tools.

Making phone calls programmatically with Twilio from an iOS app can be done safely by running the app on the server using Swift. To achieve this, you need to use the Twilio client-side library, which stores sensitive credentials, or use the Twilio REST API directly. The author recommends using the latter approach and provides a step-by-step guide on how to make a phone call with Twilio from a Swift server-side application. This involves creating a TwiML Bin, which is a set of instructions that tells Twilio what to do with a phone call or how to respond to a text message. The author also discusses using the Swift Package Manager to handle dependencies and provides example code for making a phone call with Twilio from a Swift server-side application.

The author of the text describes how to build a Progressive Web App (PWA) using Node.js, Hoodie, and Service Workers. They start by setting up an environment with Node.js and npm, then install the Hoodie package for offline-first functionality. The app allows users to add items to a shopping list, save it, and view a summary of the totals on a separate page. The app uses Hoodie's storage API to store data locally on the device and syncs it with the server when there's a network connection. To make the app work offline, they use Service Workers to intercept requests and respond with cached responses. They also use the Cache API to cache assets and serve them from the service worker. The app is still incomplete as a PWA but lays the foundation for future development.

A LinkIt ONE board can be used to send SMS messages with a Seeed Studio LinkIt ONE using Programmable Wireless, AWS IoT, and Lambda. To start, sign in to a Twilio account and create an account with Amazon Web Services. Find or purchase an SMS-capable number and add it to the Twilio console. A programmable wireless SIM card can be purchased and activated if needed. The LinkIt ONE board is then programmed with a custom code that uses AWS IoT as a middleman to revoke certificates if a device goes missing without invalidating them on other devices. The code also includes a Twilio message handling callback that handles incoming messages from AWS IoT. A new Lambda function is created to handle these messages, and environmental variables are set for the Twilio account. Finally, the LinkIt ONE board can be used to send SMSes by publishing to an MQTT topic through AWS IoT and triggering a Lambda function.

This summary provides a concise overview of the text without using lists or code snippets. It describes how to create a Django Twilio Programmable Chat Application from scratch, including setting up the development environment, adding chat functionality, and integrating Twilio API keys. The process involves creating a virtual environment, installing necessary packages, generating API keys, and configuring the application to read the keys from environment variables. Finally, it adds code to request a token from Twilio using the API keys, enabling the app to send and receive messages.

Twilio Programmable Chat API is a powerful tool for adding real-time communication to web applications, and it's easy to use with Java Struts 2 application. To set up Twilio Programmable Chat, you need to create a new chat service and get the service SID and API key. Then, you can add the Twilio library to your project and initialize the chat SDK using the token generated by the `CreateToken` class. The chat SDK provides methods for creating channels, sending messages, and listening for message additions. To display messages, you need to append them to an HTML div with the id "msgItems". The `appendMessage` function is used to add new messages to the interface. Finally, test your finished Struts 2 chat app by loading it in different browser tabs or sharing it with friends and start communicating.

The author, Tsahi Levent-Levi, showcases how to automate Twilio Contact Center testing using testRTC, a service that enables testing and monitoring of WebRTC-based services. The reference application for the Twilio Contact Center is used as a starting point, with three customer journeys making use of WebRTC technology. TestRTC is chosen for its ease of use and suitability for the task at hand. To set up the test server, a testRTC account, AWS Lambda, and JSON files are required. The author walks through testing video calls and callback voice calling workflows using Twilio Contact Center's reference application and testRTC scripts. For inbound voice calling, an AWS Lambda function is used to instruct a Twilio number to dial into the contact center at a specific time. The author shares how these tests can be modified to cover larger scenarios and scale to 1000s of agents in a contact center.

Sending text messages using Twilio from an iOS app can be dangerous due to the need to store Twilio credentials in the app. However, by running Swift on the server, this risk is eliminated. The code uses Alamofire to make an HTTP request to Twilio's REST API and authenticate with Twilio account SID and auth token stored as environment variables. A Swift package is created using the Swift Package Manager to handle dependencies, including Alamofire. To send a text message, a Twilio phone number must be purchased and the account SID and auth token used in the code. The code is run using `swift build && ./.build/debug/SwiftSMS`, allowing server-side Swift to send text messages with Twilio.

Twilio has introduced guardrail, a framework for providing principled code-generation in type-safe languages and frameworks, aiming to improve API documentation and ensure conformance to published specifications. The goal of guardrail is to make it easier to generate accurate, maintainable, and self-documenting APIs by leveraging typesystems to ensure correctness. By providing an abstract interface with concrete types that insulate the business layer from the underlying HTTP layer, Twilio's guardrail helps developers avoid common pitfalls like undocumented routes and mistakes in API documentation. The framework is initially targeted at Scala and Lightbend's akka-http web framework, but experimental support for http4s clients has been added recently.

The bot is built using Python 3 and connects to Google Analytics, allowing users to view various metrics such as pageviews, demographics, and more. The bot can display data for the current week or any other time frame specified by the user, and it also includes a graphing feature that uses matplotlib to create visualizations of the data. The bot's capabilities include displaying lists of possible commands, handling errors with unknown commands, and offering suggestions for valid metrics and dimensions. To further enhance the bot, potential next steps could include integrating spell checking, implementing statistical analysis, and exploring options beyond Google Analytics integration.

The Pwned Passwords API is an online service that allows developers to check whether a password has been exposed in public data breaches across the web. The API can be used to advise users to choose better passwords when they sign up for services or log in, and it provides a way to validate user input against this database of compromised passwords. A Ruby gem called pwned makes it easy to use the Pwned Passwords API in Ruby applications, and there are also gems available specifically for Rails that provide an ActiveModel validator for validating user passwords against the API. These tools can help encourage users to use stronger passwords and improve overall security.

I've built a voice assistant system using Twilio Studio that provides my grandma with her daily weather forecast, which she's been receiving for decades. The system is designed to be maintenance-free, as everything is hosted by Twilio and can be updated through the console. I've created a flow that makes an HTTP request to OpenWeatherMap every time a call comes in, retrieves the current weather data, parses it, and plays a message with the forecast information. The system has been successfully tested and can now provide my grandma with her daily weather update.

This summary provides a detailed overview of building an Angular application from scratch using Webpack. The author of the text, Maciej Treder, guides readers through setting up a Node project, creating an Angular application, bundling it with Webpack, and configuring the TypeScript compiler. The article covers various aspects of Angular development, including dependency injection, components, services, and modules. It also discusses how to create a service that communicates with an external API using the `HttpClient`. Throughout the process, readers learn about different tools and technologies used in the project, such as Webpack, TypeScript, and RxJS. The article concludes by summarizing the steps involved in building an Angular application from scratch and provides resources for further learning.

Twilio Flex has been launched, offering a programmable contact center platform that re-imagines the stack at every layer. The company showcased its capabilities by throwing an Arduino Uno into a blender, demonstrating the flexibility and customizability of the platform. This launch was part of Enterprise Connect 2018, where Twilio highlighted its innovative approach to building a contact center solution.

Twilio Flex is a cloud contact center application platform that's programmable at every layer of the stack, offering developers a way to build better communications experiences without compromising customization or speed. It introduces a new approach to building fully programmable communications solutions by providing an entirely new way to build and deploy contact centers with APIs. Twilio Flex offers features such as instantly deployable channels, a flexible UI, interaction workflows, intelligent routing, and two-way integrations with CRM and other tools, all built on a secure and scalable platform that powers 40 billion interactions worldwide.

Notifica is a mobile app developed by United We Dream, an immigrant youth-led organization, aiming to provide urgent support and critical resources to undocumented immigrants in the event of a deportation. The app offers two main features: emergency alerts that can be sent with the touch of a button to designated contacts, and information resources detailing an immigrant's legal rights during a law enforcement encounter. By providing these tools, Notifica seeks to empower users to prepare for potentially stressful situations, such as immigration raids, and maintain connections with their communities while ensuring their safety and dignity.

The .NET Secret Manager is a tool that helps developers protect sensitive information such as passwords and API keys from being stored in source control, making it easier to keep their projects secure. By using the Secret Manager, developers can save sensitive details in environment variables on their machine, rather than hardcoding them into their code. The tutorial provides step-by-step instructions on how to add the Secret Manager to an ASP.NET Core web API project and use it to protect passwords and other sensitive information. The example project demonstrates how to use the Secret Manager to connect to a Spotify API using client ID and secret credentials, making it possible for developers to build secure projects without having to manually manage sensitive information.

TextEverything is a plugin-driven SMS-based bot written using Node.js that allows users to build functional SMS bots with just a few lines of code. It uses Twilio's webhook requests to tell it when there is a new incoming message, and relies on ngrok to create a public URL for the web server running on the local machine. The bot can be customized by writing plugins in JavaScript, which contain metadata about the plugin such as aliases and functionality. Plugins can be easily added or removed without modifying the core code of the bot, making it easy to customize the bot's behavior. The project is actively developed and has a GitHub repository with extensive documentation and example plugins.

Twilio Notify is now generally available, providing a single API for sending bulk notifications over push, SMS, and Facebook Messenger, allowing users to track notification preferences and reach customers on their preferred channels. The product has undergone significant testing, including resiliency testing and security audits, to meet stringent quality and reliability requirements, ensuring an uptime of 99.95%. With the Passthrough API, developers can now reach up to 10,000 users across multiple channels with a single call, simplifying notifications workflows. Twilio Notify is covered by the same reliability and uptime guarantee as other Twilio products, including AirBnB, Netflix, and Uber.

The author, David Gouldin, created a "Poop Button" using Amazon IoT button, Twilio's Python Helper Library, and AWS Lambda function to help potty train his toddler. The button triggers an AWS Lambda function that uses Twilio to call the parent's phone when the child presses it, indicating they need to use the bathroom. To set up the Poop Button, one needs to purchase an Amazon IoT button, sign up for a Twilio account and an AWS account, and configure the AWS Lambda function with Twilio's Python Helper Library. The author provides step-by-step instructions on how to set up the system, including configuring environment variables, creating a new Lambda function, and setting up the AWS IoT trigger. The Poop Button is a creative solution that uses third-party services to help parents with potty training, and it has been successful in helping the author's toddler overcome nighttime emergencies.

Google has made it difficult to send emails programmatically using Gmail due to security concerns, but it's still possible to do so with Python and Flask. To code along with this post, one needs Python 3.6.4, Pip for installing dependencies, Virtualenv, a Gmail account, and install the required dependency Flask-Mail. The application is configured by setting up environment variables for email credentials and using the Mail extension from Flask to send emails. However, due to Google's security measures, users may encounter authentication errors and need to hack their Gmail security settings to make it work. As an alternative, services like SendGrid offer more maintainable solutions for sending emails programmatically.

The Twilio Studio Contest is an online competition where participants can create innovative applications using Twilio's visual builder, with the goal of showcasing their creativity and practical application. The contest runs from March 2nd to March 30th, 2018, and winners will receive a $500 Amazon gift card and free tickets to the SIGNAL conference. Participants are encouraged to share their projects on social media using the hashtag #mytwiliostudioflow, and can find more information about the contest rules and guidelines on Twilio's website. To get started with Twilio Studio, users can access the platform for free, with a range of video tutorials, interactive games, and pre-configured templates available to help them build their applications.

To send an SMS message with Kotlin and the Twilio API, you need to add the Twilio helper library to your project's Gradle or Maven file, initialise the Twilio REST Client with your Account SID and Auth Token, and then use the Message.creator method to create and send a message. This can be done in just 30 seconds by following the steps provided, which include specifying the phone number you are sending from, the Twilio number you are sending from, and the body of the message. Once complete, you can run the code and wait for the magic to happen, after which you will have successfully sent an SMS message using Kotlin and the Twilio API.

In a Chrome browser, a new feature was added to capture screen output using an installed extension. However, there was a missing functionality: detecting whether the extension is installed before attempting to use it. A new Chrome extension was built to address this issue, allowing developers to detect its presence from the front end. The extension uses the `chrome.runtime.onMessageExternal` event listener to listen for messages sent by web pages to the extension. If the message is "version", the extension responds with its current version number. To test this functionality, a Chrome screen capture example was updated to send the "version" message to the extension and detect its presence based on the response. When the extension is installed and enabled, the "Get the screen" button appears in the page, allowing users to interact with it. If the extension is disabled or not installed, the button does not appear, and a "No extension" message is logged to the console.

Twilio.org celebrates Women's History Month by recognizing several women in the Twilio community who are making a positive impact through communications technology, including developers, entrepreneurs, CEOs, and social impact leaders. These individuals are using their skills to build solutions such as text-based alert systems, mobile education programs, and voter registration tools that aim to drive social change and improve communities worldwide.