The Toma.hk API is a music lovers dream. The open source, cross-platform music player allows users to play music from multiple sources. This functionality is all possible due to their search APIs, which search for streaming services that best cater to a specific users audio search. Furthermore, if this streaming service isn’t compatible, Toma.hk provides content resolvers that fix those pesky issues. To learn more about the Toma.hk API visit the Toma.hk site as well as the Toma.hk API blog post.

Planspot gives developers access to its marketing tools via the Planspot API. The Planspot platform acts as an all in one event promotion and marketing tool. Functionality includes web pages, mailing campaigns, social media marketing, and help and support the entire way. Planspot even allows for ticketing companies to forward clients over to the intended event website for marketing purposes. To learn more about the Planspot API visit the Planspot site as well as the Planspot API blog post.

The Weather Source API provides data on weather conditions, but with a twist. The data caters towards businesses, providing them with weather data that could affect foot traffic, event attendance, product viewership, sales, and etc. This data can be integrated with other applications through the use of the Weather Source API. It even allows for interactive reports, spreadsheets, and PDFs to be highly customized for differing businesses. To learn more about the Weather Source API visit the Weather Source site as well as the Weather Source API blog post.

If you are looking for a simple way to quote  those who say it better, look no further, the They Said So API does just that. The They Said So website holds an extensive database with over a million quotes from a hundred thousand different authors. Developers can access all these quotes through the API, which also categorizes the quotes to find them easier. To learn more about the They Said So API visit the They Said So site as well as the They Said So API blog post.

Boxfish is an up and coming television discovery company specializing in the ability for users to search and discover the exact area of television they want to. Meaning users can use basic language searches to identify topics currently discussed on TV. The Boxfish API simply makes this functionality accessible for developers who wish to integrate it into their third party apps. To learn more about the Boxfish API visit the Boxfish site as well as the Boxfish API blog post.

Glympse is a service that allows users of GPS-enabled mobile phones to share their location temporarily, in real time. The Glympse API allows developers to integrate real time sharing of GPS locations to their third party applications and websites. Users can specify how long they want to share their location as well. To learn more about the Glympse API visit the Glympse site as well as the Glympse API blog post.

The USDA Farmers Market Directory API provides developers access to the directory database. This database consists of over 7,800 farmers market listings, as well as information about locations, operating times, accepted forms of payment, and product offerings. Data can be accessed by calling to the API and developers are encouraged to create apps that spread the knowledge. To learn more about the USDA Farmers Market Directory API visit the USDA site as well as the Farmers Market API blog post.

BIPS is a payment system surrounding the growing digital currency called, Bitcoins. The BIPS API gives developers access to transaction based, e-wallet functionality that is offered on the BIPS site. Common methods of the API use are to buy, sell, trade, withdraw, and accept Bitcoins as payment. To learn more about the BIPS API visit the BIPS site as well as the BIPS API blog post.

Popyoular review-based recommendation platform. It takes a websites content and matches it with reviews and opinions, basically furthering the word of mouth marketing tool into the digital world. The Popyoular API allows developer to integrate this functionality into their apps or websites. The best thing about Popyoular, negative reviews are overlooked. To learn more abotut he Popyoular API visit the Popyoular site as well as the Popyoular API blog post.

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 Baidu used in H7N9 avian flu distribution and updates

 Billboard used in uKoel Social Jukebox

 Bing used in PropertyWala.com

 Bit.ly used in PropertyWala.com

 dlvr.it used in PropertyWala.com

 Echo Nest used in WoMEn index

 ESRI ArcGIS JavaScript used in H7N9 avian flu distribution and updates

 FeedBurner used in H7N9 avian flu distribution and updates, PropertyWala.com

 Google Analytics used in PropertyWala.com

 Google Base used in PropertyWala.com

 Google Closure Compiler used in PropertyWala.com

 Google Earth used in PropertyWala.com

 Google Geocoding used in PropertyWala.com

 Google Maps used in H7N9 avian flu distribution and updates, JobKaster, PropertyWala.com

 Google Plus used in PropertyWala.com

 Last.fm used in WoMEn index

 PayPal used in PropertyWala.com

 Sina Weibo used in H7N9 avian flu distribution and updates

 Twitter used in H7N9 avian flu distribution and updates, PropertyWala.com, uKoel Social Jukebox

 YouTube used in PropertyWala.com, SOUNDRENALIN, uKoel Social Jukebox

Mashups of the day:
And each day there is one mashup selected to be Mashup of the Day. Here are last week’s winners:

 H7N9 avian flu distribution and updates

 JobKaster

 PropertyWala.com

 SOUNDRENALIN

 uKoel Social Jukebox

 WoMEn index

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Fed {API} aims to Collect, Corelate and Catalog Government Data

The Data sets that are being released by Government agencies presents a challenge to developers due to their sheer numbers. It would be great if the data was aggregated from multiple resources and cataloged for consumption via APIs, so that developers could focus on their applications and surface up important visualizations and reports. Fed {API} is a project to do just that for the developer community. As per their site “Fed {API} is an experiment, a proof of concept to begin to intersect the many public government data sources to give developers the ability to use this data to use in their applications, reports and analytics to showcase Government operations.” Access to Fed {API} is available only via a private invite and interested developers can send an email at jobrieniii@540.co and also join Fed {API} Google Group.

Stremor releases API to shorten Content

Given our busy lifestyles, the trend towards summarizing content in small snippets that are easy to digest is picking up. Recently, Summly, the app that provides pocket sized news was acquired for more than $30 million by Yahoo. Stremor Corp, has made available its Liquid Helium Search and Summarization APIs that help create short versions of long content. The Liquid Helium Platform is the engine that converts written content into mathematical values and algorithms for predictable analysis, extraction, and manipulation. One of those applications is towards summarization of content. The API is available on the Mashape Cloud Platform and the Summary API converts text or HTML of any length to a single paragraph of approximately 75 words.

API News You Shouldn’t Miss

• Apigee Institute Launches, Research Points to Apps, APIs and Data as Key to Competitive Success
• Google announces new payments API for Chrome browsers
• Crosswa.lk Aims to Let You Download iOS Apps Directly from Websites

2 New APIs

Today we had 2 new APIs added to our API directory including a cambridge university press collections service and a u.s. farmers market information service. Below are more details on each of these new APIs.

Cambridge Journals Online API: Cambridge University Press publishes over 300 peer-reviewed academic journals covering research across a range of subject areas. In addition to journals, Cambridge Journals Online also keeps their metadata and supplementary materials like video, images and datasets. The RESTful API gives developers access to all of the data for use in third party applications.

USDA National Farmers Market Directory API: The USDA National Farmers Market Directory provides the public with self-reported information on U.S. farmers markets. This includes the locations, travel directions, operating times, product offerings, and accepted payment methods for the listed farmers markets. The accuracy of this information cannot be guaranteed and, for listings that have not been recently updated, prospective market-goers are advised to contact the listed market representative or check the market's website (if available) before visiting.

The USDA National Farmers Market Directory is maintained by AMS Marketing Services. The directory's contents can be accessed programmatically using SOAP calls issued in XML format.

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World Statistics – Powered by the Google Fusion Tables API, this service visually displays world statistics on a map. Statistics include: Population, GDP, and currency unit. APIs used include: GoogleFusionTables. More at our World Statistics profile.

Noodler Car Comparison – Noodler makes vehicle comparison easier for car buyers. See similarities and differences at a glance. Data from Edmunds.com, the highly reputable research site. APIs used include: Edmunds.com Vehicle. More at our Noodler Car Comparison profile.

Energy Usage Analytics – View and compare Monthly, Daily and Hourly Electricity usage using interactive charts. APIs used include: GoogleChart. More at our Energy Usage Analytics profile.

WoMEn index – Measuring world’s musical energy average emission intersecting user data from last.fm and song energy data from echonest. APIs used include: LastFM, EchoNest. More at our WoMEn index profile.

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At the time of this writing, the National Day of Civic Hacking features over 85 locally organized events, 19 government partners, 37 data sets/resources and 5,000 participants are expected. There are three main types of events that cities participating in the National Day of Civic Hacking can choose to organize and host; block party, hackathon and brigade meetup. The type of event will vary from city to city and will depend on the needs of the local community.

There are currently over 20 challenges submitted by federal government departments and agencies. The White House has even submitted a challenge to the event (registration now closed), that involves the recently released We the People API. Here are just a few of the challenges that will take place at the National Day of Civic Hacking:

• Hacking the Digital Public Library of America – Use the DPLA’s dataset of over 2.4 million records of digitized cultural heritage from our nation’s libraries, archives, and museums to create visualizations, mapping applications and data enhancement tools.
• The Location Affordability Data Challenge – Create an API that helps consumers, planners, policymakers, and researchers to leverage a new database (currently in development) of neighborhood-scale housing and transportation costs.
• Farmers Market Directory – Creation of mobile applications to enhance the Farmers Market experience and make trips easier by using USDA’s Farmers Market Directory.
• We Love Data – How can we encourage people to interact with space data in new and meaningful ways, in effect promoting space enthusiasm, education, and a stronger human community?
• The Census American Community Challenge – Leverage statistics about every neighborhood in the nation to create useful tools that look at everything from commute times to median income to poverty rates.

The organizing partners for the National Day of Civic Hacking are Code for America, Random Hacks of Kindness and Innovation Endeavors. Government agencies participating include White House Office of Digital Strategy, Census Bureau, NASA, Department of Labor, USDA and many others.

Are you a civic hacker? According to the National Day of Civic Hacking website FAQ, “Civic Hackers” are defined as:

“Civic hackers” as we think about it for the National Day of Civic Hacking are engineers, technologists, civil servants, scientists, designers, artists, educators, students, entrepreneurs, community members – anybody – who is willing to collaborate with others to create, build, and invent open source solutions using publicly-released data, code and technology to solve challenges relevant to our neighborhoods, our cities, our states and our country.

To find National Day of Civic Hacking events near you or to view the complete lists of challenges and events, visit hackforchange.org.

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Now-a-days every single CIO, CTO, or business executive that I speak to is captivated by these three new technologies: Big Data, API management and IoTs (Internet of Things). Every single organizational executive that I speak with confirms that they either have current projects that are actively using these technologies, or they are in the planning stages and are about to embark on the mission soon.

Though the underlying need and purpose served are unique to each of these technologies, they all have one thing common. They all necessitate newer security models and security tools to serve any organization well. I will explain that in a bit, but let us see what is the value added by these technologies to any organization:

IoT – is specific data collection points that employ sensors placed anywhere and everywhere. Most often times the information collected by these devices are sensitive data and contain specific identifiable targeted data. IoT allows organizations to analyze behaviors and patterns as needed but also poses an interesting problem. Gone is TB (Terabytes) of data; now we are talking about PB (petabytes) of data which continue to grow exponentially. IoTs use M2M communication, which are a newer channel and create a newer set of threat vectors.

Big Data – store massive amounts of data (some of these data are from the aforementioned IoTs) and having the necessary software and infrastructure that allow you to access them faster which promises to cost you a fraction of what it is costs today, further enabling you to capture as many data points as possible.

API – interface, enabler and interconnector between systems by providing a uniform and portable interface (whether it is to the big data or the platform that enables big data).

While each of technologies at first glance appears to be serving different constituencies within an Enterprise, there is an undeniable interconnectedness that exists. The IoT collects data from everywhere. Hence, it is pouring tons of data that need to be not only stored somewhere, but also analyzed properly so that the dots can be connected, to ultimately form meaningful patterns that people can make use of.

[In the graphic above assume all communications to the central neural system is via APIs.]

With the evolution of these technologies, there is a very raw, basic, and yet incontrovertible need being expressed. Every business yearns to be better than its competitors in catering to the needs of its consumers. I mean the “consumer” in a loose sense here – be that an individual or for that matter, an organization that is consuming your offerings. Ipso facto, this means you need to capture as much information as you possibly can about the target consumer behavior, so that it can be analyzed, protected, stored, shared selectively, and most importantly, so that it can serve your consumer better (or perhaps to be used when strategically monetizing an area of your business).

None of these technologies is in a trial phase any more. If anything, the social media explosion provided ample evidence that these technologies are being used quite effectively already (real life POCs). Of late, all of these technologies have been gaining adoption in the sacred technology worlds, such as the healthcare and financial sectors. However, when you employ these technologies with your production applications, you need an enterprise grade security that is built from the ground up to provide a necessary level of protection.

In the social world, the model had always been, “build [it] first and secure later based on the need” (or never in some cases). With healthcare, federal and financial sectors, that model is no longer tenable. You need to secure data at any cost, question anybody who wants access, and be hyper-vigilant without compromise.

What is particularly troublesome is that these organizations seem to be of the thought that they can extend existing security measures to protect all of these newer technologies. While your SSL, Identity systems and other existing controls can serve as the baseline for these technologies, you need a newer set of security controls and tools in place. Your security model needs to make the necessary accommodations, instead of trying to force fit everything to make the older set of tools to fit. That would be like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. I have seen customers trying to bend RACF to fit the newer SOA, API, Big data paradigm. While it can be done, it would end up costing you more, will be very inflexible, and defeats the fundamental purpose of security. Don’t get me wrong — everything has a place in this universe.

Remember I wrote recently about the disappearing perimeter defenses and moving lines of thin defense. This is due to shared data centers, cloud adoption, multiple shared tenants, deeper integration and wider exposure to multiple partners, etc. Regardless of the scenario, you need to protect your own data and be accountable for it. Cyber attackers are very sophisticated and are funded by organizations (or even countries), which means they need to get to the proverbial data goldmine. Without adequate protection, this can prove to be that goldmine. The thing that scares me the most is the underlying threat to all of the above technologies when you try to fit them into the older security model. Most of the above technologies, from what I have observed, are either under protected or unprotected. While it is great for organizations to maximize monetization and satisfaction of a consumer and have a competitive edge over others, that shouldn’t come at the cost of security or by increasing their risk. Especially when it comes to security, Murphy’s Law is always right; it is not a question of if a security loophole will be exploited; it is a question of when.

You not only need to identify the users, authenticate them, and authorize them but also make sure they are allowed access during that time window that they are requesting the info (throw in a location based and device based identification on top).

In addition, you also need to worry about protecting the big data store itself, including strong encryption of storage, transmission, and in process data.

But then, most important of all, you need to mitigate the threat vectors that are created by these new technologies. I will write in the next few articles about how you can protect all of these areas with minimal effort while keeping your TCO very low. I will also talk about specific usecases and usage models that will make sense.

Blake recently wrote a great blog on “touchless” Big Data security. I urge you to check it out here. Demo version is here.

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Google Launches Instant Buy API, and Sending Money via Gmail

The search engine giant announced at the  Google I/O this week that it is now offering its Instant Buy API with faster check out, secure payments and easy integration without any fees from Google. As Emil Protalinski at The Next Web notes, an instant app registration can be created through Google+ sign in. The API is

“…for merchants and developers who already have a payment processor but want to “simplify the checkout experience for their customers.” While Google already has Google Wallet API that works for mobile sites as well as Google Play In-app Billing for in-app purchases, now Google is inviting US developers to sign up for its Instant Buy Android API, which brings its payment service to native Android apps as well.”

Devices using the Apps must have the latest version of Android, rolling out now. Over the next few months, Google will roll out the capability to send money directly via gmail–for those over 18.

Openmind Creates Mobile Communications Platform API

Openmind, which provides communication solutions to the telecom industry, has opened up its mobile platform for third-party apps. Complementing the developer Apps are native apps including the Tablet and Web Messaging App; Dinamotxt, a family-locator App; FamFinder and an enterprise focused communication App; Bugle.

As CEO Alex Duncan commented,

“At its core, Openmind’s platform enables adaptability to a variety of users. The addition of the API offers software developers the ability to tap into telecoms functionality in a way that was impossible before, for example, creating a central cloud storage of messages for corporate users, or harnessing Text Messaging interactions between a sales force and its customers for a more complete view of outreach to customers. We offer VoIP capabilities, RCS, WebRTC, location sharing, billing etc allowing App developers to think and create new apps that before were only dreamt about. These Apps can be built on a solid, proven, telco-grade platform, allowing them to launch and scale Apps fast.”

Powering over 1 billion messages a day, Openmind’s platform is already used by mobile operators, inter-Carrier operators and IP telecom businesses. Openmind’s API gives developers access to a Telco-grade, scalable, robust platform for the development of corporate and enterprise Apps.

API News You Shouldn’t Miss

• Pebble releases updated Pebblekit SDK & Sports API with full support for iOS & Android apps
• Intuit Unveils Revamped Developer Portal as One-Stop Shop for Docs, Tools and SDKs
• Open API Now Available for Openmind’s Mobile Communications Platform
• Google Wallet now lets you send money via Gmail, gets an Android API for goods and services
• Google Maps API Gets A Visual Refresh, Available For Opt-In Today, Coming To Most Sites In August
• Google App Engine Adds PHP, Cloud Compute in Open Beta

6 New APIs

Today we had 6 new APIs added to our API directory including an anime information database, a congressional word-use frequency and context reference service, a u.s. political contributions database, a state politics information service and a japanese image tweeting service. Below are more details on each of these new APIs.

AniDB API: AniDB (Anime DataBase) is an extensive database of information on Japanese animation that includes shows, movies, episodes, characters, and more. This database is freely available to the public, and all AniDB users are able to add or edit information. Users can also create and maintain a “MyList” to keep track of which anime they have and haven’t seen before.

The AniDB API allows users to retrieve information from the database programmatically using REST, TCP, and UDP protocols.

Sunlight Foundation Capitol Words API: The Sunlight Foundation is a non-partisan, non-profit group that uses technology to make the U.S. government more transparent and accountable.

Capitol Words is a tool for determining the frequency with which a given word is used in Congressional sessions over time. It provides relative frequency charts as well as the specific contexts in which the word was used. This provides a quick glimpse into what issues Congress is addressing on a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis. The transcripts referenced by Capitol Words come from the website of the Government Printing Office and cover Congressional sessions from 1996 to the present.

Sunlight Foundation Influence Explorer API: The Sunlight Foundation is a non-partisan, non-profit group that uses technology to make the U.S. government more transparent and accountable.

Influence Explorer provides site visitors with extensive and detailed information on campaign contributions, lobbying reports, grants, and more. This data is available raw or in the form of charts, graphs, and Top 10 lists. The Influence Explorer API allows users to retrieve this information programmatically using REST calls.

Sunlight Foundation Open States API: The Sunlight Foundation is a non-partisan, non-profit group that uses technology to make the U.S. government more transparent and accountable.

Open States provides public access to information on state-level politics for every state in the U.S. It helps users find their legislators, review their votes, search upcoming legislation, and track bill progress. This data can be accessed directly through the website or programmatically via REST API.

Twipple API: Twipple is a Japanese application for posting and collecting cute images on Twitter. Users can log on to the Twipple website using their Twitter accounts. Twipple provides a RESTful API that can be used to get a thumbnail of a posted image or to upload images for posting.

Although the Twipple API documentation is given in both Japanese and English, the website is given entirely in Japanese. Most of the website’s text is incorporated into images, making it difficult to translate using software like Google Translate, so Japanese-language proficiency is recommended for potential users.

WhateverWeb API: WhateverWeb is a mobile application development service that provides users with a toolkit for developing mobile centered applications. The service provides image processing, CSS processing, device detection, Git publishing, and other services. The WhateverWeb API is a component of the device detection service and allows users to fix server side issues or access device information. An account is required with service, and the basic sandboxed version is free.

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Popyoular’s selling point is that it brings the right reviews to the most relevant place, at the most relevant time, thereby improving content discovery on a website, improving a user’s experience, retaining their attention and ultimately boosting conversion rates. With its structured review data, Popyoular makes it possible to do things like create top lists and playlists to specifications, build dynamic categories for user exploration, highlight certain products, filter product selections and more.

The Popyoular RESTful API is designed to be easy to use with as much flexibility as possible, and returns data in XML, JSON or JSONP formats. For API documentation and access to an API key, developers can head to Popyoular’s website.

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“We hope to provide the best checkout experience for customers using bitcoin to pay,…and the best experience for merchant as a merchant bitcoin gateway.”

BIPS represents the next generation of Bitcoin services, as its founders originally started the popular Bitcoin payment processing platform: WalletBit. The BIPS API opens up Bitcoin related services to new users and platforms as Bitcoin continues to grow as an accepted currency. Although BIPS officially launched in 2013, BIPS already serves more than 10,000 customers.

The Bitcoin Internet Payment System (BIPS) API uses REST protocol and returns calls in a JSON data format. Common methods include buy, sell, trade, withdraw, and accept Bitcoins as payment. Additionally, the API allows users to generate invoices, check balances, and execute other common merchant transactions. Those interested should refer to the API documentation.

Bitcoin remains a controversial form of currency, and its future viability has sparked pointed debate. However, with a USD value of over $1 billion now in supply, the immediate opportunity for Bitcoin related services prevails. While traditional ecommerce platforms compete in common currency exchanges, BIPS has emerged as a leader in its lesser understood space.

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The USDA Farmers Market Directory API makes it possible for developers to access market directory data using search and data retrieval functionality. The data can then be used in websites and third-party applications. The API is REST based and can be accessed by using C#, Visual Basic, or AJAX JavaScript. API responses are provided in JSON data format.

AMS Administrator Anne Alonzo, states for the USDA press release that:

“AMS continues to refine and improve the directory data, adding fields and honing our collection methods to yield clearer and more useful results. The API is the next step in our efforts to improve this resource, and we will continue to listen to the consumers and developers who use it daily to keep improving it.”

To help encourage developers to use and support the new USDA Farmers Market Directory API, the USDA is also participating in the National Day of Civic Hacking taking place June 1-2, 2013.

The Farmers Market Directory Challenge asks developers to create mobile applications (Android, iPhone, Windows) that will help promote farmers markets and provide users innovative and unique farmers market experiences through mobile technology. Applications should also include visualizations and mapping features.

To find out more about the Farmers Market Directory Challenge visit the National Day of Civic Hacking website.

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