December 2019 Summaries

Binance, a rapidly growing cryptocurrency exchange, emphasizes user security by requiring two-factor authentication (2FA) for withdrawals, offering both SMS-based and app-based options like Google Authenticator. However, users can also opt for the Authy app, which provides additional features such as a user-friendly interface, multi-device synchronization, cloud backups, and easy account recovery. The guide outlines a step-by-step process for setting up Authy 2FA on Binance, including downloading the app, scanning a QR code, and entering necessary information to enable the feature. Authy's multi-device capability allows users to access their accounts from multiple devices, adding an extra layer of security, especially if a device is lost or stolen. While app-based 2FA significantly enhances account security compared to SMS-based methods, the document also recommends using a hardware wallet for optimal protection of digital assets.

Twilio Pay aims to simplify the process of collecting digital payments securely for nonprofits and social enterprises. To build a donation system using Twilio Studio and Pay, one needs a free Twilio account, a configured payment connector such as Stripe, and access to a phone number where donors can call in to make donations. The process involves creating a Twilio Studio flow that captures credit card information, handles payments securely, and provides feedback to the donor. After setting up the payment connector and configuring the Twilio Studio flow, one must associate the correct flow with the phone number to trigger the donation system. Testing involves using a test phone and credit card to verify the functionality of the donation system. The guide aims to help nonprofits and social enterprises build a secure and efficient donations system using Twilio Pay.

Here's a neutral and interesting summary of the provided text: Tarik Zawia, an Account Executive at Twilio, collaborated with Adam King, a Senior Solutions Engineer, to develop a solution for organizing a large Christmas party. They identified key pain points such as late-comers not knowing where the party has moved to, people being split up during venue changes, and moderators needing to send messages to attendees. The team used Twilio's Studio flow, Sync service, Functions, Messaging Service, and Notify service to create a system that allows moderators to send ad-hoc messages to attendees via SMS, while keeping user data organized in the Sync service. After building the prototype, Tarik tested it on the night of the event, which reportedly went well, and encourages others to consider adding real-time communications to their projects using Twilio's services.

The tutorial covers creating an ASP.NET Core application using the Twilio SDK for C# and .NET to receive voice calls and play motivational quotations. To get started, a Twilio account is required along with a call-enabled phone number, and ngrok is used to make the app visible on the internet. The application uses TwiML to define instructions for Twilio when an incoming call comes in, including playing a random quote from a predefined list. The tutorial also covers adding packages from Twilio, creating a web API controller, connecting to Twilio, and testing the app. Possible improvements include connecting to a quotations API and randomly selecting a voice.

Queueing emails with Python, Redis Queue, and Twilio SendGrid is a useful technique for asynchronously sending emails from within a web application without blocking requests. By using the `requests` library to make an HTTP request to the Taco Fancy API, which returns a randomly generated taco recipe in markdown format, we can convert this data into HTML content using the `markdown2` library and then send it via Twilio SendGrid. To improve efficiency, we use Redis Queue to enqueue jobs for each email that needs to be sent, allowing us to take advantage of asynchronous processing without blocking requests. This approach enables developers to generate and send emails without waiting for previous requests to complete, making it a valuable technique in web development.

This application allows users to send and track faxes using the Twilio Fax API, built with Ruby and Sinatra. The application has a simple interface for uploading a PDF file and entering a fax number, which is then sent to the specified recipient via Twilio's API. The application tracks the status of the fax, including any errors that may occur during transmission. To protect the webhook endpoint from unauthorized access, the application uses Rack::TwilioWebhookAuthentication middleware. Once the fax has been sent, the user can view the status updates in real-time. The entire application is available to clone from GitHub and provides a working example of how to integrate Twilio's Fax API with Ruby and Sinatra.

This tutorial provides a step-by-step guide on how to receive faxes using Twilio's Programmable Fax service, Python 3, and Flask. The process involves setting up a virtual environment, installing necessary libraries, configuring the Flask application, and integrating it with Twilio's fax service. The application uses ngrok to expose the web service to the internet and validate incoming requests from Twilio servers. Once configured, the application can receive faxes sent via email and store them as PDF attachments. The tutorial also highlights security considerations, such as validating cryptographic signatures, and provides recommendations for production deployment.

Twilio.org has pledged $5 million by the end of 2019 to United States and internationally-based nonprofits focused on crisis response. The Crisis Response and Prevention Initiative aims to enhance the communications efforts of nonprofits who are supporting individuals in crisis, particularly those affected by abuse, substance abuse, sexual assault, suicide prevention, natural disasters, and other crisis situations. Nonprofits will use the grants for projects such as expanding technical development, hiring personnel, integrating chatbots, developing new applications, and implementing GPS location tools to quickly distribute resources to people in crisis. The initiative has already awarded nearly $3.7 million in grants to 26 nonprofits who operate in the U.S. and internationally, including organizations that support victims of crime, survivors of human trafficking, refugees, and LGBTQ+ individuals. Twilio.org also established the Crisis Response Technology Network (CRTN) to help nonprofits using communications technology to respond to crisis situations, bringing together organizations with expertise in delivering crisis response communications at scale via technology.

Authy's Multi-Device feature allows users to access their two-factor authentication (2FA) tokens on multiple devices, preventing lockout situations due to lost or damaged phones. This feature enables synchronization of 2FA tokens between devices and can be used for migrating tokens from one trusted device to another without needing individual reconfiguration. Users should enable Multi-Device by following a step-by-step guide, then disable it after installation on two devices for added security. Authy ensures local encryption of authentication tokens and recommends password protection on devices used for authentication.

This post uses TensorFlow.js to analyze the sentiment of Twilio text messages for the year 2019, providing an objective measure of whether the user's time was positive or negative. The model uses a pre-trained Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) trained on a set of 25,000 movie reviews from IMDB. The code retrieves old text messages from the Twilio API, cleans input with regular expressions, and performs sentiment analysis on texts using TensorFlow.js in JavaScript. The output provides a decimal score showing how positive or negative the model thinks the text is, along with a classification as positive, neutral, or negative based on the score. The author invites readers to explore other applications of sentiment analysis with this technique.

Remkus de Vries, a Manager of Partnerships at Yoast in the Netherlands, uses Authy for two-factor authentication (2FA) to secure his online accounts. He discovered Authy about five years ago and has been using it ever since due to its ease of use and upgrade path when switching devices. Remkus also recommends Authy to others seeking a solution for managing 2FA.

The tutorial provides a step-by-step guide on how to add chat functionality to a Laravel application using Twilio Programmable Chat. The author of the tutorial assumes that the reader has basic knowledge of the Laravel framework and Vue.js, as well as a Twilio account. The tutorial covers various aspects of integrating Twilio with Laravel, including setting up Twilio credentials, creating a new Laravel application, installing dependencies, and implementing user authentication. It also discusses how to create a chat component using Vue.js and integrate it with the Laravel backend. Additionally, the tutorial explains how to generate access tokens for authenticated users and send messages between users in real-time. The author concludes by encouraging readers to explore further capabilities of Twilio Programmable Chat.

To send location details on WhatsApp using Node JS, developers need a Twilio account, Node version 8 and above, and the Twilio API for WhatsApp. The process involves setting up a project, activating the WhatsApp sandbox, creating an account token and auth SID, defining the message body, sending the request via Axios, and testing the functionality. With secure end-to-end encryption and the ability to share user contacts, documents, locations, and media, businesses can leverage WhatsApp for customer engagement and notifications.

The tutorial covers building a web-based email client in Laravel PHP using Twilio SendGrid. The prerequisites include basic knowledge of Laravel, installation of Laravel and MySQL, setup of a SendGrid account, and configuration of the environment variables for the application. The tutorial then guides through setting up the database, seeding the users table, creating a controller class to handle sending emails, building the view with a form for users to fill out, updating the routes, and testing the application. The final result is an email client that allows users to send custom emails to multiple recipients using the Twilio SendGrid SDK.

Polly Circuit Breakers are used to handle transient faults and longer outages in .NET Web service consumers. They can be viewed as state machines that start in a closed state, allowing the flow of requests across it, but move to an open state when a problem is detected, blocking all requests for a specified period. The circuit breaker then moves to a half-open state where the first request is treated as a test request, and if successful, the circuit closes and normal operation resumes. Polly offers two variations of the policy: basic and advanced, with the basic one cutting the connection when a specified number of consecutive failures occur, and the advanced one cutting the connection when a specified percentage of errors occur over a specified period and when a minimum number of requests have occurred in that period. The circuit breaker can be used to handle connections to multiple endpoints, sharing state while executing requests.

The new version of Twilio's Phone Number Compliance APIs (v2) is now in Beta, introducing significant changes to simplify regulatory compliance for users. The migration aims to make it easier for developers to provision phone numbers in regulated countries by providing a more programmatic way to follow each country's telecom regulations and operate within the country. With this update, Twilio's Regulatory Rules Engine will handle complex regulation requirements, such as End-User, Supporting Document, and Address items, making it simpler for users to manage regulatory compliance. The new API offers a scalable solution to provide required regulatory information, reducing the time-consuming process of pushing compliance information to carriers or regulators. Users can now access the Regulatory Compliance v2 Console and APIs to start using this updated feature, ensuring their phone numbers are compliant with local requirements, thereby preventing potential disconnections by regulators or carriers.

Twilio has partnered with Google to bring Verified SMS, a messaging service that promotes trust and confidence in digital communications, to its customers. This feature empowers consumers to make informed decisions about business communications they receive, while enabling businesses to deepen relationships with their customers and boost engagement for their messaging campaigns. By partnering with Google, Twilio aims to deliver trusted communications and improve the end-user experience. Verified SMS is currently available by invitation only and offers a richly branded profile including the business name, description, and logo, helping to promote trust in digital communications.

Twilio Verify is a service that allows developers to add phone verification to their applications, reducing fake accounts and enhancing two-factor authentication. To work with Twilio Verify, developers need to create a new service in their Twilio account, assign a Service SID, and obtain their account SID and Auth Token. With these credentials, they can send verification SMSs or voice calls to users, requiring them to enter a code to complete the process. The API is simple and easy to use, with Python developers able to run verification tests directly from a shell. By implementing Twilio Verify, developers can increase the security of their applications and provide an additional layer of protection for user accounts.

Twilio is a cloud communication platform that enables developers to build software on the internet using common protocols and simple markup, providing a bridge between the internet and telephony networks. It simplifies worldwide connectivity by interacting with Twilio's platform, which is much simpler than traditional telecommunications. Twilio provides a virtual presence on the physical telephony network through phone numbers, allows developers to turn real-world events into virtual signals that software can handle, and offers various products and services such as voice and messaging communications, public REST API, and short codes.

The Flask-WTF package makes it straightforward and fun to work with forms in Flask, but sometimes you need to include fields that fall outside of the standard primitive field types. In this article, a phone number input field for Flask forms is built using Flask-WTF and Bootstrap-Flask, which provides an easy way to create forms based on the Bootstrap 4 CSS/JavaScript framework. The form includes a dropdown that lists all the countries with cute little flag icons and their corresponding numeric country codes, once a country is selected, the content portion of the field shows a phone number template that helps the user know how to enter their number correctly. JavaScript to the rescue! The intlTelInput library is used to implement this fancy phone input field. The form rendering uses a hybrid approach by rendering the form with the Bootstrap-Flask macro and then dynamically inserting a JavaScript-based phone input field in the correct position, which is an effective way to make the field invisible but still visible for editing purposes.

The author designed a scheduling function for Twilio Studio to handle holidays, irregular hours of operation, and different time zones. The function takes a JSON file as input, which contains schedules for holidays, partial days, and regular hours. The function evaluates the current date against these schedules and returns an object with information about whether the contact center is open or closed, along with additional details such as the description of the day. The function can be used in Twilio Studio flows to determine when to play a welcome message or a closed message to customers. A schema file was also created to validate the JSON file format, ensuring that it meets the required structure and formatting.

Flex Insights, a reporting solution for Twilio's TaskRouter, does not report on calls that are abandoned or resolved in the IVR by default. To track these calls and create reports from Studio, a dummy task is created for them, routed through TaskRouter, and updated with attributes to pass data into Flex Insights. A simple Studio flow creates this dummy task, while another workflow ensures no one can pick up the task. Three functions are created: `create-ivr-reporting-task.js`, `update-ivr-reporting-task.js`, and `delete-ivr-reporting-task.js`, which handle creating, updating, and deleting the tasks respectively. These functions use Twilio's TaskRouter API to create, update, and delete tasks. The solution also includes a sample report in Flex Insights with attributes such as Segment, Date, Time, Conversation Attribute 1, Abandoned Phase, and Kind.

Authy has released a new feature called Logo Search that allows users to search for brand-appropriate logos and icons for their two-factor authentication (2FA) tokens. This update is available on both Android and iOS versions of the app, making it easier for users with multiple accounts to identify them quickly. The Logo Search tool can be accessed by opening the Authy application, going to Settings, tapping on Accounts, selecting the desired 2FA account, and then choosing "Edit logo." Users can search for logos by brand name or use a generic key logo if preferred. Currently, logos are not automatically updated across devices, but this feature is expected to be added in future updates.

To identify a phone number's line type with Twilio Lookup and Node.js, developers can use the Twilio Messaging API to query the Twilio Lookup API for information about a phone number. The lookup API provides carrier information, which can be used to determine the line type of the phone number. The possible values for line type are mobile, landline, or voip, and this information can be obtained using the Twilio Node library in JavaScript. By running the provided code example, developers can see what comes back when querying a phone number's line type, which can be useful for businesses that require specific line types to sign up for services such as VoIP numbers.

Twilio's Lookup API can be used to identify the carrier behind a phone number, helping developers and users understand whether the number is real or fake. Node.js and Twilio are used together to achieve this, with a simple code example provided that fetches carrier information for a given phone number. The accuracy of the results may vary, as telephony systems can be spoofed, but Twilio is working to address this issue with other industry leaders.

The Twilio Lookup API is a service that helps identify the carrier behind a phone number, which can be used to determine if a caller has a real mobile number. To use this API in Python, you need a free Twilio account and the Twilio Python module. The API offers two types of requests: carrier and caller-name. A simple example code is provided that performs a carrier lookup using the `client.lookups.phone_numbers('+18557477626').fetch(type=['carrier'])` method. The returned information includes the carrier name, which may change over time as carriers rebrand themselves. While the API can provide accurate results, it's not foolproof and spoofing of phone numbers is still possible. Twilio has implemented measures to address this issue, but they are expected to be effective by 2020. The Lookup API can also be used for other purposes, such as validating phone numbers, identifying line types, and detecting robocalls and spam.

Twilio Verify is an API that allows users to send verification codes via SMS or voice calls, which can be used for two-factor authentication in Flask applications. To add two-factor authentication to a Flask application with Twilio Verify, you need to install the required libraries, create a new module for the high-level functions of the Twilio Verify API, and store the user's phone number in the database. The login route needs to be modified to handle users with two-factor authentication enabled, and a new verification route is added to prompt the user to enter a verification token. A form with a submit button is presented for disabling two-factor authentication.

Here's a neutral and interesting summary of the text: A Python developer with a donut shop can use SendGrid to send bulk emails to customers who have signed up for their email list. To start, they need to set up their Python development environment, create an API key from the SendGrid dashboard, and install the Sendgrid Python helper library. They can then copy and paste code into a file called `send_mail.py` to send an email to multiple recipients, with options to personalize the email by using substitutions or custom arguments. The developer should be aware of the current API rate limit of 1000 emails per request and take steps to split their email addresses if they need to send more than that. Additionally, personalizations can be used to customize emails based on customer preferences, such as mentioning a customer's favorite type of donut in the subject line.

This tutorial provides a comprehensive guide to building an SMS-based food ordering service using Laravel and Twilio's Programmable SMS. The application allows users to place orders by sending an SMS with specific commands, such as "menu" for displaying menu items or "no: <item ids> address: <delivery address>" for placing an order. The system also includes a database seeded with dummy data, a command handler that processes incoming SMS messages, and a webhook configuration to receive responses from the user's phone number. After completing this tutorial, users can create their own food ordering application using Laravel and Twilio's Programmable SMS service.

Sam Agnew's guide provides a comprehensive walkthrough on scheduling tasks in Python using the Redis Queue (RQ) and RQ Scheduler, particularly focusing on setting up notifications for when the International Space Station (ISS) is overhead. The process begins with configuring the Python environment and installing necessary dependencies like the requests library, RQ Scheduler, and Twilio's REST API for sending text messages. Redis must be installed and running for these tools to function, and users are guided through writing functions to interact with the ISS Open Notify API to predict flyovers based on geographic coordinates. Agnew offers a detailed explanation of how to integrate Twilio for SMS alerts and utilizes RQ Scheduler to automate notifications. The guide includes instructions for testing the code and a creative "time traveling" method to verify functionality promptly. The tutorial concludes with ideas for further applications of RQ Scheduler, encouraging exploration of its potential in various Python scheduling tasks.

Twilio SendGrid has successfully scaled its infrastructure to manage billions of emails reliably, quickly, and securely, including processing 4.1 billion emails on Black Friday in 2019 and 4.2 billion emails on Cyber Monday this year. To provide faster delivery times, Twilio SendGrid has introduced a new metric called "Time to First Attempt" (TFA), which measures the time it takes for an email API request to be delivered to the mailbox provider server, achieving a median TFA of 1.9 seconds over the last three months. The company's proprietary Mail Transfer Agent (MTA) enables scalability, reliability, and agility in handling billions of emails expeditiously. Twilio SendGrid has established endpoints worldwide to handle emails from various parts of the globe and uses authentication, processing, and delivery as its "secret sauce" to ensure optimal delivery. The company provides deliverability consultation services to help senders build trust with mailbox providers by following best practices such as SPF, DKIM, DMARC, email validation, and hygiene.

You've learned how to deploy a web application built with Angular 8 and ASP.NET Core 3.0 on Microsoft Azure, leveraging Twilio Programmable Video for robust video chat functionality. You can host your app in a fully managed enterprise-grade cloud platform, deploy configuration settings securely, and take advantage of continuous deployment features provided by Visual Studio and Azure. The process involves publishing the code from Visual Studio, adding Twilio configuration credentials to Azure through the Azure Portal, and configuring the app for production use. After publishing, you can test your video chat application functionality in a browser, allowing users to join rooms and engage in live video conversations.

This tutorial provides a comprehensive guide on how to secure a Laravel PHP application with two-factor authentication (2FA) using Twilio's Authy Service. The author, Brian Iyoha, walks through the process of setting up 2FA for a new development project, which includes creating a database, installing the necessary packages, and configuring the Authy SDK. The tutorial also covers how to update the user model, add 2FA logic to the authentication system, send and verify OTPs, and integrate with Laravel's built-in middleware. Additionally, the author provides an overview of the complete source code for this tutorial on GitHub.

The world is facing an increasing number of personal crises, resulting in a growing need for effective crisis intervention services. Non-profit organizations are using technology to provide help to people in crisis, such as veterans who struggle with PTSD and survivors of gang-related violence in El Salvador, by creating mobile applications that connect them to peer support and mental health resources. These technologies aim to improve access to help, reduce wait times, and enhance the overall experience for those in need. Joining forces with organizations like Twilio.org, individuals can contribute to building technology that enables people to access crisis hotlines more effectively, using innovative communication channels such as WhatsApp, and meeting clients where they are on a platform they trust.

Twilio has announced that SIP Refer, a feature allowing call centers to transfer calls with context using Twilio and SIP infrastructure, is now generally available. This feature enables call centers to save money on their calls by removing Twilio from the call path, while maintaining call context. When used in conjunction with SIP UUI Headers, a feature released this summer, context can be passed along with the SIP Refer. Call centers can transfer calls from Twilio to their internal SIP infrastructure, handling sensitive information internally and maintaining call context. The feature is priced at $0.10 per refer and SIP UUI Header is free. This enables regulated industries to remove Twilio from the call path and handle sensitive information within their internal SIP infrastructure.

RQ is a Python library that uses Redis for queueing jobs and processing them in the background with workers, offering a lower barrier to entry and simplicity compared to other libraries like Celery. It's suitable for executing lengthy or blocking functions, such as networking requests. By setting up an environment with Python 3, pip, and Redis, developers can use RQ to execute asynchronous tasks without blocking the main code. The library provides a simple way to enqueue functions and arguments, making it easy to process tasks like hitting the Mars Rover API. RQ workers run in the background, performing tasks added to the queue, allowing for non-blocking execution of functions that would otherwise block the main code. With RQ, developers can add asynchronous task processing to their projects with minimal additional code.

Slim is a lightweight PHP micro-framework that provides compatibility with various PSR standards, including PSR-11 for the container, PSR-7 for HTTP messages, and PSR-15 for middleware. To add Twig as a view renderer to Slim, Composer is used to install Twig, and a configuration file is created in the `config/dependencies.php` directory to tell PHP-DI how to create a new instance of the Twig environment when requested. The Twig environment is then available in the handler, allowing it to render templates using the `render` method. A template named "home-page.twig" is created in the `view` folder and contains placeholders for variables that are passed to it from the handler. With this setup, Slim can now use Twig to generate HTML responses.

### Staying Safe on Cyber Monday` CyberMonday has become increasingly popular, making it easier for cybercriminals and hackers to target unsuspecting consumers. To stay safe during the holiday shopping season, two essential tips are recommended: protect your passwords on any site where you regularly shop or bank, and enable two-factor authentication (2FA) wherever possible. This will provide an additional layer of security linked to your device, making it more difficult for attackers to access your accounts. Additionally, be cautious when visiting websites, responding to email offers, monitoring credit card and debit card transactions, and verifying the authenticity of online retailers. By following these tips, you can help protect yourself from potential cyber threats and have a safe and happy shopping experience.

Message Redaction is a feature offered by Twilio that allows developers to redact sensitive information from messages and phone numbers in their applications, providing an additional layer of customer privacy. This feature is now generally available and can be enabled on a per-message or account-level basis, with options for redacting both message body and phone number content. By using Message Redaction, organizations can ensure that sensitive communications are protected, while also meeting the needs of developers building novel projects to support critical experiences.

Deepanjan Nag, a software developer from India currently working in London, shares his experience with two-factor authentication (2FA) providers. Initially using Google Authenticator due to lack of alternatives, he eventually switched to Authy for its features such as cloud syncing and PIN protection. He suggests improvements like account organization through folders or tags, search capability, and a Night Mode feature. Deepanjan highly recommends Authy as the best 2FA solution available.