Metal Toad's Exceptional Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) of 86
Here at Metal Toad, we are thrilled to share that our forward-thinking tech company has achieved an extraordinary Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS)...
Blog
Capturing Moments: A Tale of Personalization in Adobe Firefly
In the realm of digital artistry, Adobe Firefly stands as a beacon of creativity, offering a canvas where imagination dances with pixels.
Revolutionizing Recruitment and Selection: Advances in the Use of Artificial Intelligence
Discover how Artificial Intelligence is revolutionizing the recruitment and selection process. AI is transforming hiring practices from automation to...
machine learning
The robots are painting
A lot has been said in the media about AI generated art, but how does it actually work (from a human perspective)?
artificial intelligence
Crafting Avatars with AI: The Future of Personalized Digital Identities
In an era where digital interactions play an ever-increasing role in our lives, our online identities have become more important than ever.
AWS
Cognito and SES setup
Setting up Cognito with SES is required if you are going to send more than 50 emails a day. here are the steps to have SES and Cognito avoid spam.
machine learning
Metal Toad Prompt Engineering Hackathon
In this latest event, in the last week of September we embarked on a journey to learn how to work with prompt engineering, unleashing the power of...
machine learning
Hackathon Autumn 2023: Machine Learning Assisted Development (or Prompt Engineering)
'Freedom to Fail' is occasionally touted as a key way to learn, but actual freedom to fail in the workplace is rare, so it's a treat to be able to...
AWS
Biggest Pitfalls When Building a SaaS Application
Building a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) application can be a rewarding endeavor, but it's important to be aware of potential pitfalls that can hinder...
artificial intelligence
Prompt Engineering Hackathon Learnings
As Large Language Models have risen to the everyday usage, Metal Toad took a few days to have a hackathon and see how much they could accomplish in 2...
Amazon Redshift
Implementing RedShift
Implementing Amazon Redshift, a popular data warehousing solution provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS), requires careful planning to ensure optimal...
Amazon Quicksight
Metal Toad’s Approach to Implementing Quicksight
Amazon QuickSight is a business intelligence (BI) tool provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS) that enables you to create interactive and visually...
AWS
Metal Toad’s Step by Step Approach in Implementing RedShift: One Sheet
Amazon Redshift is a powerful data warehousing solution provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS) that allows you to analyze large datasets with high...
My Summer Journey at Metal Toad: An Internship Reflection
My Summer Journey at Metal Toad: An Internship Reflection
Use AWS to secure tenant data at every level
Use AWS to secure tenant data at every level
SaaS Application
Safeguarding SaaS Products: A Comprehensive Guide to Securing Your Offering with AWS
Safeguarding SaaS Products: A Comprehensive Guide to Securing Your Offering with AWS
SaaS Application
Building Scalable and Cost-Efficient SaaS Products with AWS: A Deep Dive into Metal Toad's Approach
Building Scalable and Cost-Efficient SaaS Products with AWS: A Deep Dive into Metal Toad's Approach
How does facial recognition work?
Last week, Forbes quoted me in their article 12 Things You Need To Know About Facial Recognition Technology. I am a member of the Forbes Technology...
AWS
Top 10 things IT departments miss when setting up AWS
Getting started in AWS is easy. Anyone can do it! That said, when IT departments set up their own AWS cloud environments, they almost always miss...
RPGMatch User Avatars
For modern user applications having an avatar to represent you is important.
Starting my journey with a technology company
Onboarding During my few weeks, I went through an onboarding process wher
AWS
How is authentication and identity managed in AWS applications?
Authentication and authorization is a critical aspect of building modern applications.
What does a QA engineer at Metal Toad do?
Working in HR, it is possible to do recruitment, retention, or both activities.
AWS
AWS Partner Proof of Concept Funding
Discover how to test workloads and reduce IT costs with AWS Partner Proof of Concept funding. Explore the possibilities of AWS Cloud today!
What is AWS Control Tower?
You are up and running in the AWS cloud. You've done multiple PoCs, and you have a number of workloads using S3, EC2 and multiple RDS databases. So...
What is AWS Migration Evaluator?
Migrating to the cloud can be a complex and challenging process for businesses.
How to earn an AWS Machine Learning Competency
Since it's inception, AWS (Amazon Web Services) has been a leading provider of cloud computing services and in recent years has established itself as...
How can Machine Learning improve sales teams?
There are many ways that machine learning can help people in all different kinds of roles.
What is AWS CloudTrail
AWS CloudTrail provides a record of all API calls made within an AWS account.
AWS CodeWhisperer - ML Augmented Development (3 of 3)
In the previous blog we talked about ChatGPT and went through some examples on how to use it to help develop solutions.
ReactJS Amplify App Part I - Overview and Auth
This is a three part post about our experience using AWS Amplify to develop a food logging app for the Metal Toad hackathon. Here in part one we...
5 Signs You Need AWS Cloud Migration Consulting
At some point in the last decade, you’ve probably bought a new computer. And at first, it’s great: performance is zippy, but after a few years,...
Why Caution is Key When Using Chatbots for Writing Tasks
As technology continues to evolve, the use of AI-powered chatbots for writing tasks has become more prevalent.
Simplifying Your Cloud Migration Journey using AWS Migration Hub
Migrating to the cloud has become a common practice for businesses looking to achieve scalability, flexibility, and cost-efficiency in their IT...
Leveraging AWS Machine Learning to Transform HR
AWS Machine Learning can revolutionize the efficiency of Human Resource departments.
ChatGPT - ML Augmented Development (2 of 3)
In the previous blog we talked about how ML Augmented Development
Amazon Quicksight
What is Amazon Quicksight?
If you're looking for a powerful, cloud-based business intelligence service, Amazon QuickSight deserves serious consideration.
Tell a Story
User story mapping is an effective technique for product development that helps teams understand the context of the full application and how...
ML Augmented Development (1 of 3)
In the last few months, the world has come to know ChatGPT as a source for ML generated writing.
Performance enhancements with Amazon Neptune
Querying performance enhancements with Neptune versus DynamoDB with OpenSearch.
How to use ChatGPT
You may have already heard about this artificial intelligence writing readable text. This will have a profound effect on the need for knowledge...
Use AI for marketing content instead of using Lorem Ipsum
Writing compelling content for marketing purposes can be a daunting task.
Over the Air (OTA) Updates for IoT Devices using AWS
Over-the-air (OTA) updates are a critical feature for Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
What does Metal Toad do?
Welcome to Metal Toad! So you’ve been hired at this cool tech company cal
Serverless Best Practice Resources
My last Session for re:Invent was on optimizing Lambda.
Image & Natural Language Processing (NLP) using AWS Machine Learning
Machine learning has revolutionized the way we think about technology and its capabilities.
Lambda SnapStart
AWS re:Invent is in full swing and with it come new services that people have been asking for.
Cloud Readiness Assessment
If you are being asked to assess whether you company is ready to migrate to the Cloud, you're not alone. As of 2022, 94% of companies use cloud...
What is Amazon S3?
Amazon S3 is short for Amazon Simple Storage Service, and it is the storage in the cloud.
Managed Services for AWS
One ‘gotcha’ I’ve experienced when discussing cloud ecosystems is that the term ‘managed services’ has drastically different meanings depending on...
What is Deep Learning?
Deep learning is a category of artificial intelligence (AI) used to find patterns within various types of complex datasets which can include textual,...
The importance of teamwork in the workplace
We live in a world full of technology, new applications, new functions, different types of entertainment...
How to choose the right cloud provider
The promise of cloud technology has spawned tremendous innovation by some of the biggest, most powerful companies in the world.
Top 5 things to know about machine learning content moderation
If you are in charge of moderating user generated content, whether video, image or text based, you may be wondering how you can take advantage of...
My Promotion to UX Designer
As a new UX Designer, Laura Chaves shares the story of her new role, how she got started, and what she's excited about. Click to read the full story.
Automated Content Moderation with AWS Machine Learning
The AWS Rekognition POC enables companies the ability to moderate user-generated videos using machine learning. Designed by Metal Toad and Mux. Learn...
The Cybersecurity threat from Russia
On Thursday, February 24, 2022, Russia invaded the sovereign nation of Ukraine. Immediately after, in a speech, President Biden said the following:
NAB Show 2022: A Quick Guide
NAB Show is back in-person and better than ever! View our quick guide to learn about the event and the answers to some of the most common questions.
The top 5 things to know about facial recognition
When Forbes quoted me in their article 12 Things You Need To Know About Facial Recognition Technology, I made the following contribution...
What is AWS EC2?
AWS EC2 is short for Amazon Web Services Elastic Compute Cloud.
Agile
SAFe POPM vs. CSPO - Which Product Owner Certification is The Best?
Comparing SAFe POPM and CSPO certifications for Product Owners. Discover which certification is best for your career and the benefits they offer.
3 Ways To Use Machine Learning: December 2021 Hackathon Overview
With a new emphasis on machine learning, our December 2021 Hackathon focused on building your own machine learning model. Learn about what our Toads...
Amazon SageMaker
What is Amazon SageMaker? If you are new to the machine learning development world you not know what you need to know about Amazon SageMaker
Is the AWS Machine Learning Certification worth it?
How does AWS Machine Learning Certification Compare to the Competition? Machine Learning is hot, and AWS machine learning is at the very top of the...
Big Takeaways from AWS re:Invent 2021
While normally I consider myself a consistent writer, since this summer it's been difficult for me to muster to will to research and share the...
CES 2022: A Quick Guide
With CES 2022 just around the corner, we've compiled the most essential information, so you're up-to-date on all things CES.
Q4 2021 Online Hackathon: Identifying Downed Power Lines
From our online hackathon, read Team Brazuca's journey on using machine learning to create a model that can identify downed power lines.
Announcing The Metal Toad Q4 2021 Online Hackathon: Building Your Own Machine Learning Model
It's that magical time of the year - our hackathon is back! Twice a year, we set aside the day-to-day and dive into an exciting 48-hour innovation...
Where is AWS going? 3 Trends From AWS re:Invent 2021
Curious about what topics were talked about at AWS re:Invent 2021? Read about the three trends here.
AWS re:Invent 2021 Day 1 Recap
Wondering how the first day of AWS re:Invent 2021 went? Find out in this blog article from our Front-End Thermer Laura Boemo.
What is AWS Lambda?
AWS Lambda, for those not familiar with it, is an event driven serverless (what is serverless?) platform for compute resources
Brazil’s Best: Metal Toad Wins 2021 Clutch Award for Top IT Outsourcing Company
From Los Angeles to Brazil Headquartered in sunny Los Angeles, California, Metal Toad is an award-winning
Planning for Uncertainty: 7 Key Principles for Creating an Excellent Roadmap
Roadmaps are important. My summer plans often involve traveling with my f
AWS reInvent: what to expect 2021
As an award-winning AWS Advanced Consulting Partner and AWS managed services provider, we are pumped about the
Metal Toad Recognized as Key Partner For New AWS Media & Entertainment Initiative
Metal Toad is proud to be recognized as a key partner for the recently launched AWS for Media & Entertainment initiative. Metal Toad received special...
Workplace Dress Code
As I was deciding what to write about in a blog for a software company, I didn’t recall anyone writing one here about fashion or dress code at the...
THE NEW HOME OFFICE MODEL
Technology has brougth great benefits to society and organizations such as:
5 Time Management Tips That Work
Time management is a decision-making process with the intention of planning and organizing how you divide the time to be spent on specific activities...
AGILE METHODOLOGY
WHAT WOULD IT BE?
5 Reasons Why You Should Write Every Day
When you hear the word “writing,” what image comes to mind?
The Power of a Personal Retrospective
Metal Toad first introduced the concept of a retrospective to me in 2014. As an agile software company, our teams undertake retrospectives (retros)...
Thoughts on 2021 StackOverflow Developer Survey
The StackOverflow Annual Developer Survey measures the developer community
Fostering Genuine Connections in a Virtual World
In a pandemic year, everyone is scrambling to keep afloat.
Artificial Intelligence and the Cyberpunk dream
I was always amazed at the way the media convinced me that Artificial Intelligences would think, behave and act like human beings. That made me look...
Understanding the Cloud Media Workload: Content Distribution
The HPA Tech Retreat is the pre-eminent gathering of industry-leading thinkers and innovation-focused companies engaged in the creation, management,...
Understanding Cloud Media Workloads: Content Creation, Media Supply Chain & Content Distribution
The impact of the Cloud on Media & Entertainment is profound. Gain a holistic executive viewpoint of key insights into the M&E industry, end-to-end...
Understanding the Cloud Media Workload: Media Supply Chain
The HPA Tech Retreat is the pre-eminent gathering of industry-leading thinkers and innovation-focused companies engaged in the creation, management,...
Digital Rights Management and the Cloud
As the CEO of BuyDRM, Christopher provides key insight and management to staff based around the world, as part of BuyDRM’s mission to deliver the...
Kubeless: Role your own FaaS
All major cloud offerings have a Function as a Service (FaaS) tool. AWS offers Lambda, Azure offers Functions, GCP offers Cloud Functions.
Running FaaS on Linux Mint 19.3 with Kubeless
FaaS, the acronym for Function as a Service, is a cloud computing service that allows developers to build, run, and manage applications as functions...
Ecommerce trends 2021
I recently bought a t-shirt online. Printed on the shirt is a hilarious mash-up of a cartoon from the 80s (He-Man) and a modern-day meme ("do you...
Media Orchestration + Cloud
With over 23 years in the industry, Art Raymond has been involved in media and advertising for the totality of his career. From the very beginning,...
The Future of Cloud Security
1) What is the state of cloud security today? Cloud security today is
Back to work
For the first time in 12 months, I am exploring options for an actual office space outside of my home. As many of you know, Metal Toad went...
Understanding the Cloud Media Workload: Content Creation
The HPA Tech Retreat is the pre-eminent gathering of industry-leading thinkers and innovation-focused companies engaged in the creation, management,...
Tips to manage stress
In this pandemic`s time we are all living, stress can be really part of our lives. We all have stress sometimes in our life, at work, at home, and on...
How to host a virtual conference
This article first appeared in the Metal Toad newsletter.
How to make a website
22 years ago, I worked at a company called LACityWeb.com. The company failed in the year 2000, but back in 1999 we were selling websites. The sales...
How to work remotely
Get our top 5 tips to doing remote work right. We've been working remotely since 2019 and learned a number of things the hard way.
What is wallstreetbets Reddit?
It's likely been impossible for you to miss all the talk about GameStop stock. This upside is due to a corner of the internet called Reddit. More...
What is Clubhouse?
By now you've probably heard about Clubhouse, the hot new social app. While I'm sure many of you are already on the inside, perhaps even hosting your...
Top 3 takeaways from AWS re:Invent 2020
Talk about going big—AWS re:Inv
How to Host a Website on AWS in 5 Minutes
For most casual website owners, it’s often easy to simply use a hosting provider with built in support for their CMS and integrating analytics....
What is Machine Learning?
Machine learning is a field of computer science where mathematical systems “learn” from massive data to adjust their internal models using linear...
Setup a NAS on AWS
As part of Metal Toad’s Managed Services Team, I have worked extensively in custom cloud based solutions.
Work from home forever
In March of 2020, as a joke on my Instagram I posted a photo of my dog saying he hoped nobody ever went back to work. Now almost 11 months later, it...
Difference between Defect, Error and Bug
In the testing world it is very common that Quality Engineers talk about defects, bugs and errors, during the software development life cycle.
The Year is 2031
This article first appeared in the Metal Toad newsletter.
When should you use AWS Lambda?
Faster than the wing flap of a bee Bees flap their wings ridiculously fast, at around 230 beats per second (fruit flies are 80 times smaller than...
Adaptability, Reinvention, and Media Security
Our CTO, Tony Rost, sat down with Senior Product Manager, Julie Scott, to talk about her key takeaways from this year’s re:Invent: organizational...
5 Things New Managers Should Know
You're a boss! Now what?
Consumer Electronics Show — CES 2021
We recently wrapped up the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2021, and I wanted to share my thoughts with you. This was the first year we went all...
Chaos Engineering & AWS CloudShell
Our CTO, Tony Rost, sat down with engineering manager Nathan Wilkerson to talk about his key takeaways from this year’s re:Invent: Chaos Engineering...
What is Quality Assurance?
If you have ever had a bad experience with a product, such as a new cell phone application or a bad food delivery, would you use that product or...
Amazon Quicksight
How to get started with AWS Quicksight
Our CTO, Tony Rost, sat down with product leader Dave Bellous to talk about his key takeaways from this year’s re:Invent: AWS Quicksight
CES 2021: Razer launches the smart mask — Project Hazel
If you're like me, you may be tired of wearing a mask. It's essential, it's important, and it's becoming part of everyday life.
How to pick the best Headless CMS
In the past few years, Metal Toad has increasingly migrated clients to headless CMS providers to reduce costs, improve the conten
What are the different types of cloud service providers?
Back in 2014 when we first launched the Emmys on AWS, the service had been publicly available since 2006. While eight years might not seem that long,...
No one ever got fired for buying IBM
Technology consulting firms are everywhere. Many have familiar names like IBM, Accenture and McKinsey. Some may be vendors you're working with. But...
How to avoid malware
The SUNBURST malware, likely of Russian origin, was a remarkable and devastating breach of cybersecurity. The data gathered will likely advantage the...
A CES Quick Guide
As an AWS Advanced Consulting Partner, we’re thrilled to kick off 2021 with several Toads attending the first all-digital CES 2021!
You’re on mute…
When it comes to summing up 2020 it’s the ubiquitous phrase “you’re on mute” that is both perfect and a little painful.
A UX perspective on AWS re:Invent 2020
In 2020, a majority of events moved online, making them more accessible than ever before, and an outcome of this change has created new opportunities...
Farewell 2020
On New Years Eve, from the comfort of my couch, I watched the “Good Riddance 2020” Pink Martini streaming event on OPB.
AWS re:Invent announcements 2020
Things are a little different this year at AWS re:Invent, but one thing remained un
Takeaways from 2020
This was a bizarre year that delivered a mix of stress and opportunities. I found new hobbies, new tricks for remote working, and new ways of...
To Blog or Not to Blog
For someone who does not consider himself much of a writer, “To Blog or Not to Blog?” is a ques
I Suppose 2020 Wasn't All Bad
Oh, 2020. How glad I will be to see it end.
Metal Toad’s Remote Work 2020 AWS Hackathon: Outcomes & Innovations
The dust has settled at the Toads’ biannual hackathon, and what a ride it was!
Top Five Lessons I Learned in 2020
Saying this has been an incredibly difficult year is an understatement. Both personally and professionally, we were all stretched, challenged, and...
Remote Work 2020 Hackathon: Branded Video Chat Software
What was the challenge/problem your team wanted to solve? Santa Claus was
Top 3 AWS re:Invent 2020 announcements
Last week AWS wrapped up their latest AWS re:Invent Conference.
AWS Chime: Lessons learned
A lot has changed during 2020. One is the number of people working remotely. That’s the Q4 hackathon theme was “Remote Work in 2020”.
Video Streaming + Cloud
Executive Interview with Joachim Bergman, CEO/COO at 24i. Joachim Bergman has been leading tech innovation for over two decades, with a focus on...
Metadata in the Cloud
Executive Interview with Rob Tucker, Founder of META. With over 15 years innovating tech solutions in media and entertainment, Rob Tucker leverages...
Metal Toad’s 2020 Hackathon: AWS Remote Work Innovations
It’s hackathon time again at Metal Toad! Twice a year, we set aside the day-to-day and dive into an exciting 48-hour innovation whirlwind of rapid...
Digital Asset Management + Cloud
Executive Interview with Gary Ballabio, Head of Technology Partnerships at Cloudinary. Gary Ballabio has been innovating in the technology space for...
Performance Monitoring + Cloud
Executive Interview with Brenton Ough, CEO and Cofounder, Touchstream. Brenton Ough has been innovating in the technology field for over 20 years,...
How Fast Can You Pivot?
This year was the year of being nimble, and it’s not been easy.
Video Monetization + Cloud
Executive Interview with George Meek, CEO at InPlayer. George Meek has been in the technology field for decades and has focused on media and...
AWS re:Invent Quick Guide for Media & Entertainment
In a year of radical change, one of the biggest transformations has been the massive shift to online entertainment and engagement—powered by the...
Monetization in the Cloud
Executive Interview with Srinivasan KA, Co-founder, Amagi. Srinivasan KA has been a leader in the tech industry for over two decades. He began his...
Digital Watermarking & Security in the Cloud
Executive Interview with Ken Gerstein, VP of Sales at NAGRA. Ken Gerstein has been a sales and business development leader in the media and...
re:Invent 2020: Not your average conference
I love going to conferences. I love the mix of travel and new ideas.
Cloud technology in Los Angeles
Los Angeles' Scope Los Angeles is a massive metropolis. While only #18 by population - with a mere 18.7 million people - Los Angeles is
What is AWS Cloud?
How AWS Cloud works, how AWS got started and how much of the cloud market AWS controls in 2020.
Awards Also Recognize Great Clients
We recently had some success I wanted to share. A product we built with WARN won a serious award at this year’s SEMA (Specialty Equipment...
Video Content as a Service + Cloud
Executive Interview with Philippe Brodeur, CEO and Founder of Overcast HQ. Philippe Brodeur got his start in the M&E space as a BBC producer and...
Linear Television + Cloud
Executive Interview with Igor Krol, CEO of Veset. Igor Krol has well over a decade of experience as a high-level executive in the investment banking...
Metadata + Cloud
Executive Interview with Shaun McCarthy, General Manager of Meta. Shaun McCarthy has decades of experience as a senior executive in the tech field,...
Streaming Video Infrastructure + Cloud
Executive Interview with Stefan Lederer, CEO & Founder of Bitmovin. Stefan Lederer is an internationally recognized expert in video and streaming...
Unstructured File Data at Scale + Cloud
Executive Interview with Barry Russell, SVP of Business Development & GM of Cloud for Qumulo. Barry Russell has been at the forefront of the cloud...
Data Optimization in the Cloud
Executive Interview with Jerónimo Macanás Candilejo, CEO & Co-Founder of Jump. Jerónimo is a digital entrepreneur with almost 20 years of experience...
Low-Latency Streaming + Cloud
Executive Interview with Per Lindgren, CTO and Co-Founder at Net Insight. Per has been a leader in the digital M&E world for over 20 years. He...
Artificial Intelligence + Cloud
Executive Interview with Greg Loose, Head of Media & Entertainment at Veritone. Greg is a long-time leader in the technology space, including SaaS...
Quality Control Solutions + Cloud
Executive Interview with Fereidoon Khosravi, SVP and Chief Business Development Officer at Venera Technologies. Fereidoon has been a leader in the US...
What is cloud computing, and how has it impacted the internet?
Nobody understands the ultimate impact that the Cloud will have on human beings. Not me, not anyone at AWS or Google, no one.
Agile Media Workflows + Cloud
Executive Interview with Lincoln Spiteri, VP of Engineering at Dalet. Lincoln has been in the telecommunications, media, and software industry for...
Media & Entertainment Cloud Ecosystem
Executive Interview with Ian McPherson, AWS, Head of North American Partnerships and Alliances Media and Entertainment. Ian is a longtime marketing...
The Media & Entertainment Cloud Ecosystem
For the Media & Entertainment industry, COVID-19 has had an unimaginable impact: Disney saw its profits fall 91% during the first three months of...
What's an AWS ISV?
In the world of AWS acronyms abound. The term ISV gets thrown around a lot but it's relatively easy to unpack. First, ISV stands for Independent...
But what is Phase 2??
I've been spending more time talking to clients about data engineering.
The Future of College is Virtually Unknown
Last month my family and I received an email we had been dreading.
Data Lakes in Hollywood
Most people don't know that my experience in Hollywood goes back almost 20 years. My first real job was working at HOME BOX OFFICE (HBO) in the...
Media Content Distribution + Cloud
Executive Interview with Fredrik Andersson, Founder and SVP of Products of Accedo. In his role, Fredrik is helping the world’s leading video service...
Metal Toad Brazil
As we round the bend into Fall (which officially starts September 22), we are reminded of the changing season by things that are familiar to us:...
Cloud risk reduction
The morning sun from my home in Los Angeles is blood red as it shines through the smoke.
Why Core Values Transform a Tech Company
We’re all familiar with the basic corporate American experience. You clock into work, perform your required tasks, and leave at the end of the day.
How often should I update my website?
The short answer the the question: how often should I update my website? is every 3 to 5 years. The much longer answer starts with: it depends.
The Impact of the Cloud on Universities
An Executive Interview with Chris Manriquez, Vice President for Information Technology/CIO at California State University, Dominguez Hills I’ve been...
AWS Rekognition, Comprehend, and Transcribe
Babu Frik, an Anzellan droidsmith with a talent for bypassing droid security systems, erased C3PO's memory. He felt very sad about it. He decided to...
Digital Rights Management (DRM) + Cloud
Executive Interview with Olga Kornienko, COO and co-founder of EZDRM, a cloud DRM-as-a-Service company. EZDRM’s innovative services provide a full...
Machine Learning - it's easier than you think!
10 years ago, a younger me interviewed a brilliant young man named Tony for a position as a programmer at Metal Toad.
Live Stream From Drone To AWS With S3 Backup
Drones are awesome, and a lot of fun. But what happens if your drone gets lost along with all its footage?
How to Close an Office
On March 1, 2020, I handed in the keys to the Metal Toad office in Portland, Oregon — our corporate headquarters for the past five years — back to...
Media Supply Chain + Cloud
In this interview, I chat with Erik Åhlin, CEO and co-founder of Vidispine about media supply chains, how M&E companies can leverage the power of the...
The 5 Core Elements of Technical Advising
I recently had a conversation with someone who was looking for some advice on selecting a technical advisor for their team, and she had some great...
The Impact of the Cloud on Higher Education
Carmen Lidz is the Vice Chancellor and Chief Information Officer at Los Angeles Community College District, where she shapes the technology vision...
Remote live streaming to AWS Media Services from a DJI Spark drone
I’m Vaughn Hawk, a Cloud Engineer for Metal Toad for over 3 years.
COVID19 and the Impact on Business
Well, it's been an interesting 9 weeks. Right?
Hackathon Collaboration with Live Share on Visual Studio
One of the challenges of participating remotely in a Hackathon is the ability to cooperate with your team in anything like being there in person. No...
AWS MediaLive + Drones = Hackathon Fun
Hackathons! Weeeeeee!!!!! Am I right? I work in tech and I love it! I do not come from a technical background. Nope. I have decades of business...
Metal Toad & AWS Media Services: What We Hacked
Wednesday, May 6th at 9:00 am: Toads are poised at the starting line. Metal Toad’s AWS Media Services hackathon is about to begin!
AWS Media Services + AWS Amplify
YouToad For the first Metal Toad hackathon of 2020, our goal was to build a web based social media platform for on demand video using AWS Media...
Metal Toad Office in Beverly Hills
After several years of operating in Los Angeles, in the nearby Century City neighborhood, Metal Toad has moved its central
How Cloud became the most important buzzword in business
Cloud is not the first (and probably not the last) disruptor to business via software. Over the past 50 years or so there have been four major epochs...
Metal Toad Hackathon - A unique (non-technical) experience
Have you ever felt happy, nervous, motivated and excited in just 48 hours? If your answer is no you have never participated in a hackathon before!
Lambda: javascript vs python
For this hackathon we created a product, YouToad, using Amplify
Metal Toad’s AWS Media Services Hackathon
This is an exciting week at Metal Toad—it’s hackathon time! Twice a year, the Toads devote two full days to rapid innovation, and it’s always a blast.
Cloud + Live Events
As CIO at sports and music entertainment giant AEG, Bill Martin drives the convergence of business and technology to deliver innovative success. Bill...
The Value of Values
Given the times it seems appropriate to lean back into some of the unique aspects of Metal Toad's work culture that I've had time to observe.
How to do machine learning in AWS
After being immersed in hundreds of announcements and innovations and inspiring presentations at AWS re:Invent, the key insight I came away with was...
AWS Personalize - AWS reInvent Insights
AWS Personalize, part of Amazon's suite of machine learning services, allows for creating highly curated experiences is a major differentiator for...
Cloud + Healthcare
Bridget Barnes has spent over 15 years leading strategic information system architecture at Oregon Health Science University (OHSU)—one of the...
Cloud + Utilities
Charles Eckstrom is the CIO of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. He’s been leading teams that successfully deliver large...
The Cloud May Be ITs Antidote for COVID-19
These are unprecedented times where it's hard to get anyone to pay attention to anything other than the COVID-19 epidemic sweeping the globe. But...
Cloud + Manufacturing
In this interview, Jim gives his take on the future of cloud, the building blocks of evaluating enterprise tech solutions, and his advice for other...
The Battle for Cloud Marketshare in Oregon
Oregon has always been well known for its timber industry. Indeed at one point in the 1970s fully 12% of the States GDP was produced by timber. While