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Why Culture is So Crucial at Metal Toad

July 6, 2017, 9:42 am
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Why Culture is So Crucial at Metal Toad
Metal Toad employees sitting and talking
Zach WangThu, 07/06/2017 - 16:42

Since the start of my finance and accounting internship at Metal Toad, the first thing that I noticed is its unique and influential culture. The combination of friendly staff and a cozy working environment make Metal Toad a community-like company. Additionally, we can see just how much effort Metal Toad makes to build a friendly company culture. I started to think — why is culture such a crucial thing for Metal Toad?

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6 Design Tips for iOS and Android

July 7, 2017, 3:03 pm
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6 Design Tips for iOS and Android
Android versus iOS
Jason SwetzoffFri, 07/07/2017 - 22:03

Recently I've been designing a few mobile apps. The first app was designed from scratch for both iOS and Android. The other was taking a pre-existing iOS app and translating the design and UX to be more suited for Android. It's been an interesting process that has taught me a lot about the differences and similarities of the two different platforms. I've also been discussing, sharing, and working directly with both iOS and Android developers to create the best experience on both platforms. I’d like to share some tips I’ve learned.
 

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What I Learned Going from the College World to the Real World

July 7, 2017, 3:44 pm
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What I Learned Going from the College World to the Real World
Classroom
Matthew MillsFri, 07/07/2017 - 22:44

As a recent graduate from Portland State University, the inclination to write this blog has been an ongoing dilemma. Since I first graduated high school, I knew limitations existed if I were to only attend school full time. Those limitations were slightly different from most others’ given the knowledge I had from my parents on just how different the real world could be from what's taught at school. Like most, I also needed financial help. It was evident to me that working while attending school was the only clear option.

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IoT Hackathon - Coffeebot with Raspberry Pi

July 10, 2017, 9:07 am
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IoT Hackathon - Coffeebot with Raspberry Pi
Coffeebot with Raspberry Pi
Toby CraigMon, 07/10/2017 - 16:07

For our latest Hackathon, with the theme being the Internet of things (IoT), my team and I wanted to create a device that would encourage people in the office to keep the coffee pots full of life-giving nectar. Often the pots don't get refilled when someone takes the last cup of coffee, so we decided to gamify the process.

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Initial Impressions of Kotlin

July 11, 2017, 3:42 pm
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Initial Impressions of Kotlin
Kotlin code
James SimshawTue, 07/11/2017 - 22:42

As almost every Android developer has heard of by now, Kotlin is being included as a first class language in Android Studio. Kotlin is a language created by JetBrains, the same company that is responsible for IntelliJ Idea, the core of Android Studio. Originally, a plugin was required to use Kotlin from within Android Studio.

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History of Computer Girls, Part 3: Dorothy!

July 12, 2017, 1:30 pm
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History of Computer Girls, Part 3: Dorothy!
An IBM 7094 control panel
Morgan SenkalWed, 07/12/2017 - 20:30

I've been going around town giving a talk on the history of women in computers. During my research, I came across so very many women I’d never heard of before, but who had made indelible marks on the history of computing. I decided to write a blog series about these amazing software pioneers who just happen to be women. But I didn’t just want the blogs to be boring old history lessons. Instead, I wanted to give examples and do research on the actual code these pioneers made.

Memo, dated January 1951, National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics:

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Save You a Search - Protractor Tips

July 13, 2017, 12:32 pm
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Save You a Search - Protractor Tips
protractor code
Jordan LamanThu, 07/13/2017 - 19:32

I had trouble with two problems recently: Disabling some features that pop up when test automation is running on Chrome and writing a test that could pass Google reCAPTCHA using Protractor. Here are some tips to save you a search.

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The Value of a ScrumMaster

July 17, 2017, 10:35 am
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The Value of a ScrumMaster
ScrumMaster Rules - No Interruptions
Tami GeigerMon, 07/17/2017 - 17:35

I went to ScrumMaster training a few weeks into my first job in an Agile project management environment. I was brand new to the methodology, and throughout the training and after, I didn't really understand the value of the ScrumMaster. “What an easy gig,” I thought. Even a year into practicing the methodology (as a member of the team, not the ScrumMaster) this was my understanding of the responsibilities:

  • Calendar: Schedule and start the Scrum ceremonies, and make sure everyone is attending and participating.

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Introducing Our L.A. Office

July 20, 2017, 1:01 pm
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Introducing Our L.A. Office
New LA Metal Toad office
Metal ToadThu, 07/20/2017 - 20:01

We are thrilled to formally announce the opening of a new Metal Toad office in Los Angeles! The expansion reflects our rapid rise in the software, mobile app and tech solutions fields, and growing demand from clients in the entertainment and media industries in Southern California.

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Importance Of Software Testing

August 1, 2017, 11:03 am
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Importance Of Software Testing
Software QA testing
Shivani ThakarTue, 08/01/2017 - 18:03

Testing is the first step in determining the quality of software.

Testing = Checking + Exploring

Despite the fact that the role of software testing may seem insignificant and few of us ever even think about it, this is especially true for people who are new to software development. The testing process is an equally integral part of development and planning. Sooner or later, many organizations that develop software have come to the realization that they need to organize a quality assurance management system.

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DevOpsDays PDX

August 10, 2017, 1:46 pm
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DevOpsDays PDX
Logo for DevOpsDays PDX 2017. A mountain range and fir trees are placed in the shape of a shield, and a banner overlays it with the words
Angela RiggsThu, 08/10/2017 - 20:46

Last week, I attended my first DevOpsDays PDX! I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but it seemed like a cool conference - DevOps obviously intersects with QA work, and my interest has been peaked by articles I’ve read from the likes of New Relic, Julia Evans, and Etsy.

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Is your company going to be digital or not?

August 17, 2017, 10:06 am
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Using Serverless Config to Deploy an AWS CloudWatch Dashboard

August 25, 2017, 5:39 pm
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Using Serverless Config to Deploy an AWS CloudWatch Dashboard
Women Engineer Kicking Ass
Angela RiggsSat, 08/26/2017 - 00:39

My team’s most recent project has been really interesting - it’s a JavaScript project that includes using the Serverless Framework to deploy a variety of AWS Lambda Functions (e.g. uploading to S3 buckets and making requests to the API that we built). Part of my responsibility as QA Engineer was to set up a CloudWatch dashboard in AWS. Dashboards can be created manually in the CloudWatch service, but I wanted to create the dashboards through code deploys.

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Comparing Drupal, Symfony, and Craft CMS Frameworks

August 28, 2017, 3:46 pm
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Comparing Drupal, Symfony, and Craft CMS Frameworks
one hand holding an apple, the other hand holding an orange
Hayli HayMon, 08/28/2017 - 22:46

With so many options available out there, it can be confusing to choose the right CMS for your business. When a client came to us with a recommendation from their design partner to build their solution in CraftCMS, we had to pause for a moment. Would CraftCMS be robust enough for their needs? Would it allow for growth and future proofing that they wanted? We took it upon ourselves to assess the strengths and capabilities of three notable CMS frameworks to help our client in their decision making.

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Open Source HR, because we need this.

September 7, 2017, 11:28 am
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BackstopJS Part Deux: Javascript Config and Makefile

September 11, 2017, 4:15 pm
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BackstopJS Part Deux: Javascript Config and Makefile
Image of a developer's computer screen.
Angela RiggsMon, 09/11/2017 - 23:15

I’ve written previously about my setup for BackstopJS (which I’m still excited to say is the creator-recommended tutorial for V2 of the package!). Since that article, I’ve switched from JSON to Javascript configuration, and added a Makefile as the main method of running visual regression tests with BackstopJS.

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The Case for Unbundling: How Dedicated Apps Empower Users

September 25, 2017, 2:51 pm
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The Case for Unbundling: How Dedicated Apps Empower Users
Mobile Apps
Tyler WildeckMon, 09/25/2017 - 21:51

Since Apple began its takeover of the mobile world, apps have basically become the new pocket change. It seems there really is an app for everything. Need a place to keep your grocery list? There’s an app for that. Need to be able to play music according to the weather outside? There’s an app for that, too. Need a place to virtually raise a family of colorful alpacas? There’s even an app for that.

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Maximizing the Value of a Small Team by Maturing Processes and Technology

September 28, 2017, 5:27 am
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Maximizing the Value of a Small Team by Maturing Processes and Technology
embossed graphic on paper of people, a cog, and a computer screen
Hayli HayThu, 09/28/2017 - 12:27

One of the things that I do is help companies and business people implement a people, process, and technology golden triangle so that there is a solid foundation for growth, maturation and scalability in their organization. Though this is a complicated process, my role in this is to maximize the efficiency of these three things. You could be using the wrong technology, have too much technology, or not have enough. You could have a heavy process that burdens people or not enough process that causes rework, churn, and low quality.

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Drupal 8: Migrating data from JSON files

October 8, 2017, 8:19 pm
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Drupal 8: Migrating data from JSON files Keith DechantMon, 10/09/2017 - 03:19

The beauty of Drupal 8's built-in Migrate module is its flexibility. Lots of people will likely use it to migrate their Drupal 6 or 7 sites, but that's not all it can do. In fact, it's capable of migrating data from just about any data source PHP can read.

The first few times I used Migrate in Drupal 8, I was migrating data from a MySQL database into Drupal. See my previous posts about the topic here.

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Origin Protection with AWS WAF & Shield

October 12, 2017, 2:40 pm
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Origin Protection with AWS WAF & ShieldDylan TackThu, 10/12/2017 - 21:40
Amazon has been steadily improving their CloudFront CDN offering with WAF (Web Application Firewall) capabilities. This is a great feature, however it's ineffective if origin servers can be attacked directly, bypassing CloudFront. With a little extra work, access to the origin can be restricted. The solution is to add a secret header value at the edge, and configure the load balancer to block requests that are missing this secret. This is necessary because CloudFront distributions are not associated with security groups, nor are fixed IPs available (unlike higher-priced competitors like Kona Site Shield).
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