diff --git a/frontend/src/Metamaps/Util.js b/frontend/src/Metamaps/Util.js
index 23fbac7f..749dc32e 100644
--- a/frontend/src/Metamaps/Util.js
+++ b/frontend/src/Metamaps/Util.js
@@ -88,10 +88,13 @@ const Util = {
     }
     return coords
   },
-  getPastelColor: function () {
-    var r = (Math.round(Math.random() * 127) + 127).toString(16)
-    var g = (Math.round(Math.random() * 127) + 127).toString(16)
-    var b = (Math.round(Math.random() * 127) + 127).toString(16)
+  getPastelColor: function ({ rseed, gseed, bseed }) {
+    if (rseed === undefined) rseed = Math.random()
+    if (gseed === undefined) gseed = Math.random()
+    if (bseed === undefined) bseed = Math.random()
+    var r = (Math.round(rseed * 127) + 127).toString(16)
+    var g = (Math.round(gseed * 127) + 127).toString(16)
+    var b = (Math.round(bseed * 127) + 127).toString(16)
     return Util.colorLuminance('#' + r + g + b, -0.4)
   },
   // darkens a hex value by 'lum' percentage
@@ -113,13 +116,6 @@ const Util = {
 
     return rgb
   },
-  generateOptionsList: function (data) {
-    var newlist = ''
-    for (var i = 0; i < data.length; i++) {
-      newlist = newlist + '<option value="' + data[i]['id'] + '">' + data[i]['1'][1] + '</option>'
-    }
-    return newlist
-  },
   checkURLisImage: function (url) {
     // when the page reloads the following regular expression will be screwed up
     // please replace it with this one before you save: /*backslashhere*.(jpeg|jpg|gif|png)$/
diff --git a/frontend/test/Metamaps.Util.spec.js b/frontend/test/Metamaps.Util.spec.js
index d6b78f3d..09e6711c 100644
--- a/frontend/test/Metamaps.Util.spec.js
+++ b/frontend/test/Metamaps.Util.spec.js
@@ -23,10 +23,10 @@ describe('Metamaps.Util.js', function () {
     })
   })
   describe('nowDateFormatted', function() {
-    // TODO need `Date`
+    it.skip('TODO need `Date`')
   })
   describe('decodeEntities', function() {
-    // TODO need `document`
+    it.skip('TODO need `document`')
   })
   describe('getDistance', function() {
     it('(0,0) -> (0,0) = 0', function() {
@@ -42,4 +42,87 @@ describe('Metamaps.Util.js', function () {
         .to.equal('8.6023')
     })
   })
+  describe('coordsToPixels', function() {
+    it('returns 0,0 for null canvas', function() {
+      expect(Util.coordsToPixels(null).x).to.equal(0)
+      expect(Util.coordsToPixels(null).y).to.equal(0)
+    })
+    it.skip('TODO need initialized mGraph to test further')
+  })
+  describe('pixelsToCoords', function() {
+    it('returns 0,0 for null canvas', function() {
+      expect(Util.pixelsToCoords(null).x).to.equal(0)
+      expect(Util.pixelsToCoords(null).y).to.equal(0)
+    })
+    it.skip('TODO need initialized mGraph to test further')
+  })
+  describe('getPastelColor', function() {
+    it('1 => fefefe', function() {
+      expect(Util.getPastelColor({ rseed: 1, gseed: 1, bseed: 1 }))
+        .to.equal(Util.colorLuminance('#fefefe', -0.4))
+    })
+    it('0 => 7f7f7f', function() {
+      expect(Util.getPastelColor({ rseed: 0, gseed: 0, bseed: 0 }))
+        .to.equal(Util.colorLuminance('#7f7f7f', -0.4))
+    })
+  })
+  describe('colorLuminance', function() {
+    describe('-0.4 lum', function() {
+      it('white => ?', function() {
+        expect(Util.colorLuminance('#ffffff', -0.4)).to.equal('#999999')
+      })
+      it('black => ?', function() {
+        expect(Util.colorLuminance('#000000', -0.4)).to.equal('#000000')
+      })
+      it('7f7f7f => ?', function() {
+        expect(Util.colorLuminance('#7f7f7f', -0.4)).to.equal('#4c4c4c')
+      })
+    })
+
+    describe('other lum values', function() {
+      it('-1', function() {
+        expect(Util.colorLuminance('#7f7f7f', -1)).to.equal('#000000')
+      })
+      it('-0.5', function() {
+        expect(Util.colorLuminance('#7f7f7f', -0.5)).to.equal('#404040')
+      })
+      it('0', function() {
+        expect(Util.colorLuminance('#7f7f7f', 0)).to.equal('#7f7f7f')
+      })
+      it('0.5', function() {
+        expect(Util.colorLuminance('#7f7f7f', 0.5)).to.equal('#bfbfbf')
+      })
+      it('1', function() {
+        expect(Util.colorLuminance('#7f7f7f', 1)).to.equal('#fefefe')
+      })
+    })
+  })
+  describe('openLink', function() {
+    it.skip('TODO need `window`')
+  })
+  describe('mdToHTML', function() {
+    it('filters xss', function() {
+      const md = '<script>alert("xss");</script>'
+      const html = '<!-- raw HTML omitted -->'
+      expect(Util.mdToHTML(md).trim()).to.equal(html)
+    })
+
+    it('bold and italics', function() {
+      const md = '**Bold** *Italics*'
+      const html = '<p><strong>Bold</strong> <em>Italics</em></p>'
+      expect(Util.mdToHTML(md).trim()).to.equal(html)
+    })
+
+    it('links and images', function() {
+      const md = '[Link](https://metamaps.cc) ![Image](https://example.org/image.png)'
+      const html = '<p><a href="https://metamaps.cc">Link</a> <img src="https://example.org/image.png" alt="Image" /></p>'
+      expect(Util.mdToHTML(md).trim()).to.equal(html)
+    })
+  })
+  describe('logCanvasAttributes', function() {
+    it.skip('TODO need a canvas')
+  })
+  describe('resizeCanvas', function() {
+    it.skip('TODO need a canvas')
+  })
 })
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 8dca7615..940f7c58 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
   "scripts": {
     "build": "webpack",
     "build:watch": "webpack --watch",
-    "test": "mocha --compilers js:babel-core/register frontend/test || (echo 'Run `npm install` to setup testing' && false)"
+    "test": "mocha --compilers js:babel-core/register frontend/test"
   },
   "repository": {
     "type": "git",