Ok, it seems like Monday is going to be the regular posting day for my weekly API.Report. No matter how hard I try to get done over the weekend, something always seems to get in the way. Regardless, I'm still going to do, as the process is more than worth it.
The Weekly API.Report represents the best of what I've read throughout the week, and is only what I personally felt should be showcased. Each news item comes with a link, and some thoughts I had after curating the piece of API related news. I'm trying to break down stories into as coherent buckets as I can, but it remains something that is ever changing for me, but ultimately I will settle on a clear definition for each of the research areas.
A couple of 3D printing footnotes for the week:
- 3D Printed Twitter Mood Lamp Assesses the Emotional State of Denver Residents - Not sure this is a realistic implementation, but I think the combo of 3D printing and social APIs, is an interesting crossover.
- Adding Recycling Codes To 3D Prints - Another potential interesting cross section of APIs and 3D printing. Seems like you could really go to down making 3D printed items that have a barcode, that is linked to online resources.
Accessibility is a critical aspect of the API space that needs more discussion:
- Accessibility APIs: A Key To Web Accessibility - This is an important aspect of the API conversation that isn't discussed, let alone APIs delivering a solution. I'm going to break this down, and try to incorporate accessibly into my research more.
Only one acquisitions I wanted to showcase this week:
- LinkedIn acquires HR startup Careerify - Just keeping tabs on who buys who when it comes to API providers.
Interesting usage of analytics in an acronym, and some money rais'n:
- Example of architecture for AaaS (Analytics as a Service) - I thought the title was a joke at first, but actually provides an interesting blueprint to use for API driven analytics. I'd ditch the acronym though. ;-)
- Dataminr raises $130 million to expand enterprise verticals for Twitter analytics - Lots of money in API driven analytics. We've seen this market stabilize with the world of social, but with the number of APIs out there, the Dataminr, Datasift, and other models will become relevant in other areas of data.
I will be tracking on more annotation related discussions in the future:
- YouTube introduces interactive cards to complement annotations – and they work on mobile too - I think normally I'd consider this an embeddable story, I'm going to be looking for annotation specific elements that are API driven. I am working on thoughts for an annotation layer for the API discovery layer, so I am beginning gather my thoughts.
Some API aggregation action, mostly from Google:
- Peach Payments Launches Smart Payments Platform - Aggregation happens in the most mature spaces, and payment is definitely one of the older space web APIs have been influencing.
- An Open Google Now Is About to Make Android Super Smart - I am still wrapping my head around what Google Now is all about, but I'm gathering several perspectives to help me understand.
- Google Now Will Now Show All Information From Installed Apps - I am still wrapping my head around what Google Now is all about, but I'm gathering several perspectives to help me understand.
- Google to Open Now API to Android Developers - I am still wrapping my head around what Google Now is all about, but I'm gathering several perspectives to help me understand.
Interesting API analysis piece, that was guest post on Twitter:
- Guest post: Analyzing an NHL game through the Twitter APIs - An interesting API analysis story, and also curious that it is a guest post on Twitter blog.
Handful of worthy API deployment things I was checking out this week:
- Netty: Home - A new event-driven, real-time platform that I added to my list of tooling. I'll spend more time learning about what they are up to as I can.
- API 101: The Fast Path to Legacy Modernization - I am intrigued by OpenLegacy's pitch to upgrade legacy infrastructure. I'll be keeping any eye on what they are up to.
- Middleware for Slim Framework v3.x · slimphp/Slim Wiki · GitHub - I use slim for my own APIs, so I'm keeping track of any tooling around the platform.
- Connecting SOA to the Cloud: Funneling access to your API - The role of the API Gateway together with session management and IAM - A little gateway love for you enterprise folks. Ok, I am intrigued by the IAM element.
- WaveMaker Releases Rapid API Development Suite for Enterprise - Always keep an eye on services that make a play, specifically for the enterprise.
Lots of API design opinions this week:
- HTML6 & APIs as Natural Friends - Ok, this is a new area for me to consider. I have to imagine HTML and APIs are going to have to play nicely together, but I haven't put much thought into it. This is how I learn...
- I have my opinions on API design - I love hearing opinions on API Design! ;-)
- The API Field of Dreams: Build It [Correctly] and They Will Come - ehhhh...not necessarily, but I like including API design advice I find regarless.
- 20 API Design Tips to Stop Annoying Developers - Some more advice, cause yeah, you don't want to annoy developers. Well sometimes. Occasionally. ;-)
- Designing a Web API - A pretty thorough design guide from the folks who know, over at Restlet.
- Why Your APIs Need Design Help - Some great design advice coming out of government. So important as part of the overall evolution of open data and APIs in government.
API discovery roundup, and more APIs.json love:
- 8 API Discovery Tools That Will Make You Want More - APIrise - Nice round-up of the API discovery space from APIrise.
- Google API discovery possible within Google Apps Script? - An interesting other platform window into the world of API discovery. I will have to think more about platform specific API discovery.
- APIs.json As A Distributed Transport Layer For The API Economy · - I was getting out some big thoughts on how APIs.json can be used to drive almost every step along the API lifecycle.
- How M2M will Make the Move to Mass Market - Some words of wisdom the head honcho, big bossman at 3Scale - Steve Willmott.
Couple of things falling in the API evangelism bucket:
- Announcing the Splunk Developer Guidance - An interesting approach to developer guidance.
- Taking off the developer goggles - Always good to take off your developer goggles when looking at bigger picture. Some interesting tidbits from Basecamp experience.
- What We Do In The API Community Influences How The Rest of The World Is Making Change · - Just a reminder of how important the work we all do is. Let's keep it up, and help lead other country API efforts.
API events news (ok, its almost @APIStrat time!):
- API Design Session At @APIDays / @APIStrat in Berlin This April With @orliesaurus, @davidgarry6, and @jharmn
- Introducing the APX Conference: How the Fastest-Growing Startups Scale via APIs - Another API event to add to the stack.
- Introducing Keynote: Building APIs and Backends for Mobile Apps by Mandy Waite - Some mobile wisdom at APIStrat and API Days in Berlin. See you there.
- Introducing Keynote: Why APIs at Coca-Cola? by Pascal Morgan - Coca Cola coming to API Days / APIStrat Berlin -- see you there.
Lots of interesting API integration nuggets:
- Overcoming API Rate Limits Like They Did With WebhookDB · - An interesting story I heard on Traffic & Weather -- providing a creative look at API consumption with webhooks.
- Ned Batchelder: REST API gotcha, and webhookdb - Here is the origin story for that WebhookDB story I did.
- Healthy APIs for Integrations Are Key at DocuSign Momentum - A nice showcase of how Runscope can help your API platform.
- Developer Tricks for the Marketo API Integration - An interesting API integration story.
- Introducing Healthjibe: A New Balance Rewards API Integration - I always like showcasing the integrations out of Walgreens -- usually very practical apps.
- Creating Applications to Access the Runscope API - Of course, your favorite API integration service provider has an API, allowing you deeper integration of their tools and services into apps.
- Introducing Mobile Health Library: A Plethora of Prescription API Integrations - More integrations from Walgreens, specifically serving the healthcare space--important integrations.
- Introducing: Compete PRO Search Share Add-On - I'm guessing this is a browser add-on? So I'm including as a potential PDK story.
- Salesforce API integration with ASP.Net application - Some Salesforce love on Code Project this week.
A number of interesting posts, and additions to the world of API management:
- Ned Batchelder: REST API gotcha, and webhookdb - Here is the origin story for that WebhookDB story I did.
- Dev site + Sandbox down Saturday, March 21 - Always communicate your maintenance!
- Self-service is anything but boring. Introducing our #BestHelpCenters - I agree, self-service is good -- some interesting implementations.
- The API Journey: We Do Not Always Get Our API Strategy 100% Perfect, But We Can Communicate, Learn and Evolve · - I thought the response to problems in the GSA API ecosystem were interesting.
- Dell Adds API LifeCycle Management to Boomi - You are either going to need to bake your API management or partner with one of the existing API providers to get anything done in the future. ;-)
- Dell Boomi Launches API Management Cloud Service - Another take on Dell Boomi. Just making sure I always have a couple takes on the release.
- Register now for the AdWords API Workshops around the globe! - Think about it. API Workshops. Should your platform be doing these, for your API consumers?
My API monetization exploration:
- An API Has No Value Until It Is Actually Used - Deep thoughts on the value of an API call by Kin Lane.
Some other API News roundups:
- This week in API land - I am starting to see some pretty good API news roundups, worthy of sharing.
The latest in API podcasts (cause there are so many):
- Episode 28: Everybody likes to listen to people searching for things on Twitter - Yes! They did another episode!
The single API reciprocity story from the week:
- Zapier Integration - Zapier is something every API should have, an dwhen you successful integrate, make sure and tell the story about it, and showcase on your website.
An potential API simulation related story:
- Traffic gridlock simulation - A common example of simulation everyone will relate to.
Some API visualizations gems from the week, do not miss the architecture of a data visualization post:
- Epoch – A General Purpose Real-Time Charting Library - A charting library I add to my system this week.
- Traffic gridlock simulation - A common example of simulation everyone will relate to.
- Equality for women and girls, 20-year report - Keeping for a design guide on visualizations.
- The Architecture of a Data Visualization - Holy Shit! The holy grail of data visualization stories. I'm keeping this tab open for weeks, and read, re-read, until it sinks in.
- NCAA tournament bracket predictions - Another seemingly relevant data visualization story for the design guide.
Some tips on application management from the big players:
- Google Play Adds App Review and App Rating Processes - Maybe some blueprints to extract and apply to your application submission process?
- Publishing on QuickBooks Apps.com Now Easier - Intuit making it even easier to submit your apps in their app store.
- Google introduces app-approval process for Android developers - Another take on Google's process for Android developers.
Was going to put this under SDN, but I'm going to call it architecture:
- F5 hammers out a virtual load balancer - Keep an eye on F5, they have some interesting products coming out. I've heard cool things from behind the curtains.
My single art story:
- Advertiser.ie - An exhibition inspired by Twitter - Always love interactive exhibits and art that employ APIs.
An artificial intelligence piece that stuck around this week:
- Artificial Intelligence Powered by Crowdsourcing: The Future of Big Data and Humanitarian - Ok, seems like one of the big AI promises that it will save the world, and make life better. Regardless I track on, for historical purposes! ;-)
Interesting parody in the automobiles section this week:
- Tesla promises next Model S update will warn you when you’re out of charging range, auto-steering in 3 months - Ok, you have to admit the software defined approach of Tesla is a pretty interesting look at the future of transportation.
- Ford teams with Microsoft on cloud-based platform for over-the-air updates to connected cars - Not to be outdone, Ford has to get in on the connected car, update conversation.
Some banking thoughts:
- Time to switch your bank account? - Banking fascinates me, and how to store your money is an interesting question that is in serious flux.
- Finextra: Finextra news: UK govt pushes ahead with plan for open banking API standard - This is pretty huge. I have to dive into this report, and better understand what is being proposed. I'm sure there are several stories here, as well as precedent for other countries to consider.
I am going to begin putting blockchain stories in weekly roundup:
- The Age of Cryptocurrency, by Paul Vigna and Michael J. Casey - The age of cryptocurrency -- sounds pretty definitive to me! Must be!
- How Bitcoin Tech Could Make It Easier to Switch Emails - Usually I leave off Bitcoin and Blockchain stories off my roundup, but I'm diving deeper because there are so many stories and buzz.
- Intel’s skunkworks group begins experimenting with the blockchain - Interesting move from Intel, worth keeping eye on.
- Can the blockchain replace SSL? - Can it? I just do not know enough, so I'm tracking on blockchain more, and getting educated.
Random business stories this week:
- Operators, everyone: think arenas not industries - I thought this was an interesting point, and feel it applies to how I track industries, or business sectors in the API world.
- How will the NZBN work? - Got the scoop that they are working on API to release. Will be curious to see it work as a model for business APIs.
Big, big week for the business of APIs:
- Apigee Files Registration Statement for Proposed Initial Public Offering - This is a pretty big milestone for Apigee, and the overall API industry. Gathering my thoughts for a story.
- Accel Bets Big On Startup-To-Startup APIs - Welcome to the game Accel. Let me know how I can help!
- Dell Boomi And The Increasing Importance Of APIs - Another take on the Dell Boomi launch, but also the wider implications of a big player like Dell making the move into space.
- Open Innovation, a collaborative and open approach to innovation - Orange selling it. If you believe, it will be true. Seriously, this type of API and innovation rhetoric is a necessary part of the enterprise transformation.
From the careers section:
- Digital jobs in Washington Dc at Capital One - An interesting API design job over at Capital One.
When it comes to city government and smart cities:
- Case Study: On the Go - Insights into Food Truck Regulation in US Cities - Another interesting case study to analyze city operation and food truck regulation.
- Launch Event: City of Portland Early Adopter Program- Eventbrite - Check this out! An early adopter program for city tech. This needs to be made into a model and applied around the country.
- Open Standards for Civic Tech APIs Edge Closer to Reality - REminds me of the XKCD cartoon on standards. I'm hopeful though, that a standard could be implemented across the board!
- Case Study: Chicago Licensing and Permitting Reform - A case study for the archives. Showing how APIs and data can change city operation.
- How-To Build Civic Engagement in Civic Tech #2: Use Existing Tech Structures - Some wisdom out of Chicago on how to not reinvent the wheel in civic tech.
- Chicago Decoded - Ok, this is interesting. Will have to spend some time playing.
- Smart: not just for cities. But most councils 'lack skills to implement smart services' - Sounds like an opportunity for someone to step up and make sure our government leaders are better educated.
I like that cloud computing is much shorter this week:
- Deploy Puppet on Google Compute Engine with a click - Google fast competing in the cloud orchestration game.
- Amazon is hiring so many people that interviews take up more than 30% of many engineers' time (AMZN) - As an engineer at a big company, this has to be hard, but an essential evil to make sure you are invested in your company going in right direction.
Two Command Line Interface (CLI) pieces I felt like sharing:
- How to Use PowerShell to Call Apprenda’s REST API - I am seeing more CLI to API discussion from the platforms I monitor.
- Making CLI Plug-ins Better with a New Architecture - CLI seems to be an important aspect of Heroku operation.
Slwo containerization news week too:
- Scaling MySQL in the cloud with Vitess and Kubernetes - Google keeping up on the container storytelling front, with details on MySQL & Kubernetes
- Updates Available to Popular Repos – Update Your Images - I still don't fully understand the whole world of docker image discovery, still processing, and fitting in with my overall microservice and API discovery thoughts.
- The New IronWorker Development Workflow Called Docker Worker - Keep an eye on the microservices discussion coming out of Iron.io, they know their stuff.
One content delivery network story:
- Announcing Azure Media Services integration with Azure CDN (Content Delivery Network) - Azure pushing forward on its content and media centric cloud offerings to compete with AWS.
A very diverse data category this week:
- Bill Would Limit Use of Student Data - more interesting moves on this front. I still haven't processed the impact, but I'm sure I'll get familiar here shortly.
- Profile with Permission: The 360 Degree Customer View in the Era of Big Data - I am enjoying the data storytelling coming out of DataSift lately, they have an interesting vantage point, as well as perspective.
- Oxford Economics marks north European companies down on digital data - An interesting ranking of EU companies. This smells suspiciously like shaming of EU companies, in comparison to US practices.
- Actionable Insight from More Data Sources - More data wisdom from DataSift.
- Splunk at Constant Contact: operational and security insights to ensure great customer experience - A real world study on Splunk.
- Fuel prices in Italy released as Open Data - A real world example of using open data to make sense of industry.
- Splunk MINT – Enhance Operational Intelligence with Mobile Data - Some mobile thoughts out of the splunk platform.
- Get Things Started with Human Data - One of the things I like most about the recent storytelling out of DataSift, is they keep talking about content and data in the context of the people who generated it, or it matters to -- important conversations.
- Oil and Gas Case Study: Providing Client Mapping Data Online - An interesting view of sharing your data resources, in an industry not know for sharing anything.
- User Profile Data: Marketing Gold at the End of the Rainbow - And going to the dark side of data storytelling. Not sure I like this one much, but felt it needed showcasing. I'd say LoginRadius has the opposite vibe company out of the company as DataSift does -- it makes me worry more.
One data center story to rule them all this week:
- One API to rule them all: The great network switch silicon heist - Lots of interesting data center, API, and SDN conversations lately.
Lone deprecation remidner this week:
- Google Shutting Down Old Webmaster Tools API on April 20 - Just a deprecation reminder. Always good to communicate these with your audience.
You don't find me referencing desktop implmentations often:
- Slack launches desktop app for Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10 - The desktop is not dead! Cool new API driven startups need to cater to desktop too!
Diversity from the government:
- Does 18F Pass the Bechdel Test for Tech? - Does your company or government agency pass the Bechdel Test?
Document API movement this week:
- Box hires former CIO of the GSA to lead push into federal government - How to you start selling to government? You are someone who used to work there. #RevolvingDoor
- PandaDoc Seeks to Replace PDFs with New API - I sure hope they can!!
Some valuable education blips:
- Bill Would Limit Use of Student Data - more interesting moves on this front. I still haven't processed the impact, but I'm sure I'll get familiar here shortly.
- Should Text to Speech Be Used for Students Other Than Struggling Readers? - An interesting question. Not sure of answer.
- The Beginner’s Guide To LMS Integrations - I will have to learn more about LMS integrations! ;-)
- Open Sourcing our Policies - Important move by Clever. Story to come...
Two embeddable stories to highlight:
- The API Briefing: Introduction to Web Components - Some great content coming out of digitalgov. These are important lessons for folks building sites in government.
- Real estate websites will soon be hosting ‘virtual open houses’ - This is really an embed story, but shows an interesting motion in real estate as well.
Energy stories are important:
- U.S. Energy Information Agency Enhances APIs Accessiblility - Energy APIs is important space, so I'll showcase anything from sector.
So are environmental related news:
- AWS makes climate data collection available as part of White House initiative - I'd like to see more of these types of large data collections available on AWS. They can afford it!! Between Github and AWS, all data for government and science should be covered.
- Iteris ClearAg Soil Condition - Just figured I'd throw in this soil condition API to fluff up the environment section!
Beyond just API events, and movement with event mangement APIs:
- Eventbrite Exposes RESTful APIs to Improve Attendee Experience - Good to see Eventbrite investing more in their API infrastructure. It is an important platform, and I'd like to see the API stack be comparable to the features in core platform.
The always active federal government sector:
- White House hires Facebook engineering director as its new director of information technology - Not sure how I feel about this. Congrats I reckon.
- Box hires former CIO of the GSA to lead push into federal government - How to you start selling to government? You are someone who used to work there. #RevolvingDoor
- Bringing Box to the Federal Government
- Federal Tax System Seen in Need of Overhaul - Yeah, I'd say it needs some modernization. I use the API as a reference point quite often, but there is so more to taxes than just filing.
- Obama names top Facebook engineer director of White House IT, creates Presidential IT Committee - Gotta have Alex's view on the issue.
- U.S. government launches online traffic analytics dashboard for federal websites - And his take on the new analytics dashboard for federal government.
- 18F by the Numbers - 18F makes me happy. I'm impressed what they have become in a year.
- Budget 2015: First look at the policies for technology - An interesting walk through the UK tech budget priorities for this year.
- How we built analytics.usa.gov - The story behind the analytics in the federal government from 18F.
- White House hosts “Open Government Workshop” during Sunshine Week - More action from sunshine week.
- 18F | MBIE - Research out of New Zealand, into what we are doing in the US with APIs and government.
- Meet the Digital Service Guru Who’s Helping New Recruits Navigate the Federal Bureaucracy - Erie is my hero!! No really, she is. She is critical to APIs in the federal government.
Some very important movement in the financial space this week:
- UK – a hub for digital currencies? - One of the reasons I'm paying attention to Bitcoin more, wider conversation going on.
- Finextra: Finextra news: UK govt pushes ahead with plan for open banking API standard - This is pretty huge. I have to dive into this report, and better understand what is being proposed. I'm sure there are several stories here, as well as precedent for other countries to consider.
- Bankers across the globe expect major tech companies to cut into their retail banking business - Not sure if this is truth or FUD, either way I'm tracking on it.
- Government action on open banking data could transform industry, says expert - Another take on the banking API standardization out of UK, with a lot of detail and perspective in context of our market as well.
- RobinHood Freemium could enable many new ‘Low Cost Active Alpha’ services - Interesting monetization discussion in the trading space.
- Bank Innovation, Open Bank Project Form API Research Partnership - The Open Bank Project is on the slow steady path I feel, and will continue to cement the needed partnerships they will need to get industry attention.
- The Hive Employs APIs to Transform Role of Venture Capital in API Economy - Not sure what APIs can do in VC space, but I will track on.
Just some regular government stories, that apply across teh board:
- Open Government Progress — The Untold Story - An optimistic view of all that has been going on with open data and APIs in government -- we are making progress. Change never looks like we think it will.
- DataSift CEO Comments on the UK Budget
- Structured Content in Government: How HHS and NCI Are Getting Started - More valuable resources out of digitalgov, at the intersection of government and healthcare, regarding structured content.
- Why Benchmarking Matters for Open Data - We have t have goals, and we have to measure.
- 18F and the Movement to Show Your Stats - An outside view of the federal data analytics from 18F, by the Smart Chicago Collective.
- Good Jobs First identifies government's favorite corporations - An interesting look at the coziness of corporate america, and government.
- Startup Offers Free Access to API Creator for Governments, Civic Hackers - Interesting move from InstantAPI, before they even move on public scene, they go for government.
- Any data will do: a review of Michael Barber’s “How to run a government” - Some more insight into how government works, and its relationship to "open" data. I'm thinking the UK is going to kick our ass on this front.
- Government action on open banking data could transform industry, says expert - Another take on the banking API standardization out of UK, with a lot of detail and perspective in context of our market as well.
- A Promising Future for Government-Driven Innovation - Some interesting thoughts on government, not sure I agree with everything, but interesting views.
Three hackathon stories pass inspection this week:
- Dartmouth Hosts High-powered Student Hackathon - Hackathons on campus...always good.
- QuickBooks Hackathon winner goes live on Apps.com - The benefits of winning a QuickBooks hackathon.
- Environmental Data Hack Weekend - Environmental data hacking...yes please. More of this...
- Internet of Things Hackathon Proposals - Get your IoT hack on, submit now.
Lots to consider in the healthcare sector:
- Wireless Sensors Help Scientists Map Staph Spread Inside Hospital - Ok, now we are talking about real problems. Adding to the list of interesting IoT use cases.
- YC -Backed Akido Labs Provides A Standardized API Layer For Hospital App Developers - An interesting YC backed startup I'm tracking on.
- What the IoT can learn from the health care industry - Ok. I like it. I like applying lessons already learned to the IoT that is unfolding, and definitely could see some important lessons to be had from healthcare.
- Introducing Healthjibe: A New Balance Rewards API Integration - I always like showcasing the integrations out of Walgreens -- usually very practical apps.
- Introducing Mobile Health Library: A Plethora of Prescription API Integrations - More integrations from Walgreens, specifically serving the healthcare space--important integrations.
- Premera Blue Cross Says Data Breach Exposed Medical Data - More data breaches to track on, this one in healthcare.
- TriageLogic Announces Clinical Answering Service API - An interesting implementation to showcase in healthcare space.
- EHRs and wearables - their time has come? - Sell it, make the connection. Eventually, maybe it will be a thing.
- WEDI survey shows no growth in Blue Button adoption, only some uptake of PHRs - The platform needs an independent champion, just like green button.
- Healthcare Security/Privacy: What is MHD beyond XDS-on-FHIR? - I'm looking at FHIR some more, after learning about it at HHS, so you'll see more info on FHIR, security, privacy, etc.
- Senate looks at interoperability for electronic health records - More of that government regulation stuff I keep talking about coming down the pipes. You will see this in healthcare, education, IoT, and more.
Interesting home discussions, and companies:
- When fridges talk: the digital budget - The front of the IoT expansion often looks like my fictional writing on alternate kin lane.
- Haier showcased smart home soluitons for European Market - A look at what is being sold to EU, in the home IoT space.
- Can Your Home Be Hacked? - Yes it can. Yes it can
- Building a Model Smart Home with Raspberry Pi - So many interesting projects coming out of PubNub. Tracking on all the, and will do roundup at some point.
- Tado Launches API, IFTTT Integration for Smart Thermostats - Nest competition, IFTTT integration out of gate. Interesting.
Google leading with HTTP:
- Google adds full HTTP/2 support to latest Chrome build - Not missing a beat with HTTP/2, I need to get up to speed on the benefits.
I smell huge opportunity for change in the insurance space:
- Insurance: Risk and reward - Interesting peek into the potential of APIs in the insurance industry. This is an area I'd like to do a proper white paper, but lacking the bandwidth at moment.
Yay! We made it to the Internet of Things section again:
- Internet of Things rules by US and UK authorities - More of that regulation I'm talking about that we will see more of in IoT and many other industries.
- Next frontier for 'Internet of Things': Babies - Yes babies! Babies! connect our babies to the Internet!!!
- Wireless Sensors Help Scientists Map Staph Spread Inside Hospital - Ok, now we are talking about real problems. Adding to the list of interesting IoT use cases.
- Internet of Things Policies Required By @Vormetric - A look into policies that are emerging.
- MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com: IoT Sensors Extend Our Physical Senses Beyond Our Physical Reach - Selling of the enterprise on sensors. I'm tracking on all the ways the enterprise are being courted, not just IoT.
- What the IoT can learn from the health care industry - Ok. I like it. I like applying lessons already learned to the IoT that is unfolding, and definitely could see some important lessons to be had from healthcare.
- The top 20 Internet of Things companies right now - Keep track of all IoT lists, so I can process as I have time.
- Diebold, Eagle Eye Networks Team Up To Advance Cloud-based Video Services - Just keeping track on the players, who is doing what, and who is partnering to dominate.
- How Brands and Publishers Are Thinking About Beacons - Some stories about beacons on the retail front.
- Now, use your eye as a key - Ummm...sure. Just keeping track of the interesting and scary tech.
- Smart cities will house 9.7 billion IoT devices by 2020: Gartner - I do not buy into all the numbers, and analysts, but I do track on them to use as a barometer for where things might possibly be going.
- Deconstructing IoT Mode Conditions - Good IoT stories lately out of Temboo. They have pivoted, and are doing pretty well with an IoT focus.
- 10 Internet of Things start-ups to watch for the future - Another IoT list to process.
- Adding Intelligence to IIoT in Factories and Utilities - I am thinking that I will have to slice of an industrial research area, off the main IoT trunk.
- The Intelligent Forklift in the Age of the Industrial Internet of Things - More industrial IoT being peddled.
- Samsung Business launched to tap into IoT, enterprise market - Everyone doing IoT. Just keeping track of the commitments.
One investment story that floated up on radar:
- Chargebee Raises $5 Million - Some investment in a payment startup I track on.
Two JavaScript nuggets from the week:
- Mozilla's JavaScript Fetch API Aims to Supplant XHR - Something I will have to learn ore about.
- What JavaScript Programmers Can Learn from Game Devs - I keep having this nagging feeling that there is a lot we can learn from game developers, when it comes to crafting more meaningful apps.
Two interesting legal stories I found this week:
- What is the “PACER Problem”? | Free Law Project - The FreeLaw Project is doing some important work for the legal system, using APis.
- Open Sourcing our Policies - Important move by Clever. Story to come...
Important story about libraries:
- Public Libraries and Hispanics - Something to consider on the library front. An important resource for an entire community.
A single location story:
- Google Extends Places API to Android, iOS - More location resources focused on mobile developers.
Had to highlight Google's move into logging:
- Leverage the power of log data to drive operational and business decisions through Google Cloud Logging - I'm guessing you are going to see the entire cloud stack be replicated by Google, and Microsoft in coming months.
I don't always bite on the machine learning stories, but device centric seems valuable:
- Machine Learning: Design Gains Importance as Devices Get More Personal - What roles does this play in the future of IoT? I can see device awareness is pretty interesting and lucrative.
Soe mapping stories:
- MapmyIndia Launches Map API Platform - Mapping solutions in India.
- Start Using Landsat on AWS - Digging on these types of resources. Like I said before, AWS has the resources and should be doing much more of this kind of stuff.
- Maps in your language using Mapbox Studio and OpenStreetMap - Some internationalization tools from the leaders of the mapping space.
- Mapbox Vector Tile Specification adopted by Esri - Growth in the adoption of a Mapbox specification for Vector Tiles.
Media stories from the cloud:
- Amazon Elastic Transcoder Update – New Formats & Conversion Controls - Some enhancements on the media front from AWS -- still leading the pack.
- Gumroad now lets you rent movies directly from content creators - Gumroad keeps rocking it with well done feature additions, when you bundle this with their API, you can do a lot of cool stuff.
- Media Services in Azure Government Datacenters! - And Microsoft adds some media services to its cloud stack, turning up heat with Amazon, and Google.
A basic messaging story:
- Send and Receive Tweets using SMS with Twilio: Part 1 - I like simple how-to guides from APIs.
The microservices stories keep getting better in my opinion:
- Best Practices for Developing Cloud-Native Applications and Microservice Architectures - Lots of great advice in this article.
- Micro-Services for Dysfunctional Teams - This was a great post! The microservices conversation is pretty interesting.
- More Pondering On My Own Microservice Definition · - Some ramblings from me on the topic this week.
- Jay Fields' Thoughts: My Answers for Microservices Awkward Questions - Another microservice story.
- Online Store Application using Microservices and Bluemix - An actual implementation from IBM.
- The Venn of Microservices - I like pictures.
Three mobile stories to keep you happy:
- Bitly blog — Introducing Mobile Deep Linking by Bitly - Working to make sure the web works on mobile. I will spend time evaluating the Bitly approach.
- Salesforce OAuth2 Made Easy For Native iOS Apps - I support any resources that make oAuth easy!
- Why You Should Build Apps With An API Backend – BaaS - Some good advice from the Nordic API folks.
Some OAuth tales:
- Reminder to migrate to OAuth 2.0 or OpenID Connect - Friendly reminders are important. An important look at where the Google architecture train is headed.
- Salesforce OAuth2 Made Easy For Native iOS Apps - I support any resources that make oAuth easy!
Beyond just data and into the realm of open data:
- Big fees to view public documents discourage public access - I suspect as more government data opens, we will see more of this, people exploiting open resources, and screwing people over.
- Wikimedia Foundation adopts Open Access Policy to support free knowledge - I can get being this.
- The State of Open Data in Pakistan - Keeping track of what goes on in other places.
- We need open data to become the new open source - Ok, I guess you can make that argument. I'm not sure it works perfectly, but I think it can help onboard some of the normals to the concept.
Open Source discussions:
- Introducing Countly Community Edition 15.03 with push notifications, plug-in support, improved performance and additional enhancements - An interesting open source project for analytics. With a containerized approach it could be an interesting addition to any mobile API stack.
- Our Open Source Marketing Stack - Not really an open source stack, but still interesting to hear what people are using.
Lone patents story:
- zvelo is Awarded New Managed Services Platform Patent - A patent story I stumbled across. Haven't dug into the details, but had a lot of services references.
Payments discussions:
- Chargebee Raises $5 Million - Some investment in a payment startup I track on.
- MasterCard Open API Team Charged to Change Credit Card Perception - I believe in you MasterCard. You can do it.
- Peach Payments Launches Smart Payments Platform - Aggregation happens in the most mature spaces, and payment is definitely one of the older space web APIs have been influencing.
- South Korea’s national carrier, Korean Air, creates new customer experience with CyberSource payment services - Speaking of the maturity of payment space, grandfather CyberSource still has it going on.
- Why are turn-key payment solutions better than using an API? - An interesting sell. Also an embeddable story I guess. Sounds like the SDK sell I hear from hardware and other folks. Guess its ttrue to a certain degree.
My new bucket for tracking what I consider to be Platform Development Kits (PDK):
- Flickr’s new Chrome extension serves up a fresh photo with each new tab you open - Based upon what Google did last week, and something I'd like to see more of for image based API collections.
- FullContact for Gmail 1.1 – Favorites, Google Calendar Support and More - Full Contact is doing well on building out the next generation of tools io the Google App platform. Interesting model for other APIs to look at.
Interesting policing, surveillance, and data story:
- Virginia limits how long cops can hang on to automated license plate reader data: 7 days - Boing Boing - Interesting precedent. Data and policing implications.
Some of the darker areas around the politics of APIs:
- Bringing My IT Infrastructure Out Of The Shadows With An API-First Approach · - Some of the hidden benefits of bringing your APIs out of the shadows. Just mapping out what you have can help so much.
- With APIs Replacing Middle Management, How is Their Performance Measured? - Interesting argument.
- Google v. Oracle: The Curse of Being Popular? - Some valuable detail on I found on Google v Oracle. Archiving it so I can recall when I need to.
Lots of privacy discussions:
- The new definition of privacy - Cataloging all of these away to do a diff on, and compare with reality.
- Understanding Digital Intelligence and the Norms That Might Govern It
- Privacy Advocates Warn the New Cybersecurity Bill Compromises User Data - I wish I had more time to dig into the nuances of these bills.
- UR seeks identities of Yik Yak users - Adding to the potential ist of privacy threats.
- Americans’ Privacy Strategies Post-Snowden - I wish people care more. ;-(
- Healthcare Security/Privacy: What is MHD beyond XDS-on-FHIR? - I'm looking at FHIR some more, after learning about it at HHS, so you'll see more info on FHIR, security, privacy, etc.
- User Profile Data: Marketing Gold at the End of the Rainbow - And going to the dark side of data storytelling. Not sure I like this one much, but felt it needed showcasing. I'd say LoginRadius has the opposite vibe company out of the company as DataSift does -- it makes me worry more.
I'm calling this area protection for now:
- Making it easier to report threats to law enforcement - Twitters view on their new approach to harassment on Twitter.
- Twitter simplifies filing police reports on threatening users - And an outside view on it.
A single quantified self thought:
- A decade in, the “Quantified Self” is still more hope than reality - Yeah, it just seems like it is more of a market, than an actual necessity for end-users.
One interesting rate limits story from the week:
- Overcoming API Rate Limits Like They Did With WebhookDB · - An interesting story I heard on Traffic & Weather -- providing a creative look at API consumption with webhooks.
Don't get many real estate API stories:
- Real estate websites will soon be hosting ‘virtual open houses’ - This is really an embed story, but shows an interesting motion in real estate as well.
A new real-time addition:
- Netty: Home - A new event-driven, real-time platform I added to my list of tooling. I'll spend more time learning about what they are up to as I can.
The ever growing regulation bucket:
- Government action on open banking data could transform industry, says expert - Another take on the banking API standardization out of UK, with a lot of detail and perspective in context of our market as well.
- Regulatory Reform for the 21st Century City - White Papers and Case Studies - Tracking on to give me a wider view on potential changes to the regulatory process.
- Senate looks at interoperability for electronic health records - More of that government regulation stuff I keep talking about coming down the pipes. You will see this in healthcare, education, IoT, and more.
Case studies in the restaurant space:
- Case Study: On the Go - Insights into Food Truck Regulation in US Cities - Another interesting case study to analyze city operation and food truck regulation.
- Case Study: Chicago Licensing and Permitting Reform - A case study for the archives. Showing how APIs and data can change city operation.
The somewhat interesting retail front:
- Souq.com Opens Up To Retailers With API - A new iplementation I thought was just worthy enough to show.
- How Brands and Publishers Are Thinking About Beacons - Some stories about beacons on the retail front.
The scraping goings on:
- Open March Madness API - Kimono Labs is always up to cool and useful scrapes.
- The History of Scrapinghub - I like orign stories. Shows me that there is a something there, and people truly believe in what they are doing.
Three SDK entries to consider:
- Top SDKs for Creating and Maintaining a Great App - Some interesting suggestions for things to include in your app stack.
- Introducing SuPPort | PayPal Engineering Blog - Paypal sharing some of their own Python code with the community.
- Salesforce API integration with ASP.Net application - Some Salesforce love on Code Project this week.
Security. Security. Security.
- Schneier on Security: New Paper on Digital Intelligence - A new security paper that I'm reviewing.
- Push notifications get end-to-end encryption with Kwikdesk’s CryptoShift - Tracking on mostly because its end to end encryption for push notifications, which is something that doesn't get as much love as email, sms and other messaging formats.
- Reminder to migrate to OAuth 2.0 or OpenID Connect - Friendly reminders are important. An important look at where the Google architecture train is headed.
- New Security Mindset: Focus On The Interior - This is how we are going to deal with security in future, by thinking out of box -- not saying this is it, but definitely gotta think big as we discuss.
- 1 billion pieces of Personally Identifiable Information leaked in 2014 - I kind of suspect it is going to get larger year by year.
- Can Your Home Be Hacked? - Yes it can. Yes it can
- How to harden your enterprise APIs - Hard talk on security, and how to tighten down the enterprise hatches.
- Mandrill warns attack may have exposed some data about email - Another security breach to track on.
- Migrating APIs to HTTPS - An important move by the federal government, with guidance for other federal agencies.
- The HTTPS-Only Standard - Some background on the HTTPS-Only stance.
- Premera Blue Cross Says Data Breach Exposed Medical Data - More data breaches to track on, this one in healthcare.
- For Public Comment: the HTTPS-Only Standard
- Healthcare Security/Privacy: What is MHD beyond XDS-on-FHIR? - I'm looking at FHIR some more, after learning about it at HHS, so you'll see more info on FHIR, security, privacy, etc.
- Increasing application security with mobile phone authentication - Just tracking on as part of the different approaches to secure apps, so I can do roundups from time to time.
- Iron.io Releases Enhanced Security Package – IP Whitelisting, VPN, and VPC Support - Nice addition to an already robust stack.
Sensors are everywhere:
- MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com: IoT Sensors Extend Our Physical Senses Beyond Our Physical Reach - Selling of the enterprise on sensors. I'm tracking on all the ways the enterprise are being courted, not just IoT.
Single Page Applications related talk:
- Broadcast Publish/Subscribe Messaging with Ember.js Tutorial - Adding to the SPA knowledgebase.
Some patterns from the world of smart watches:
- Apple Watch Apps Limited to 10 Second Interactions - I thought this was an interest constraint to be handed down to developers. Makes sense though.
AI and the social good:
- Artificial Intelligence Powered by Crowdsourcing: The Future of Big Data and Humanitarian - Ok, seems like one of the big AI promises that it will save the world, and make life better. Regardless I track on, for historical purposes! ;-)
Growing number of of Software Defined Networking (SDN) news:
- Cohesive Blog: How to customize VNS3 with our API: Clientpack - Tracking on all the interesting SDN stories. Will make sense of later.
- Kodiak Announces Version 7.10 of Its Broadband PTT Solution - Tracking on all the interesting SDN stories. Will make sense of later.
- Pacnet enables 100G on-demand network services provisioning
- Pacnet First to Increase SDN & NFV Abilities within the Optical Layer - Tracking on all the interesting SDN stories. Will make sense of later.
Also some software defined storage news as well:
- Qumulo Embeds Real-time Analytics into NAS File System - Also increasing tracking in the area of software defined storage.
- Qumulo Releases Data-aware Scale-out Network-attached Storage Solution - Also increasing tracking in the area of software defined storage.
Oh yeah, sports:
- Open March Madness API - Kimono Labs is always up to cool and useful scrapes.
More spreadsheets services:
- SpreadCloud - An interesting addition to my spreadsheet stack. They found me after I wrote a story last week.
State government can rock it too:
- A.G. Schneiderman Announces New Open Data Web Tool To Increase Transparency In State Government - Some transparency at the state level in the New York attorney generals office.
More telephony from Twilio:
- Introducing the General Availability of Twilio Elastic SIP Trunking - Twilio is looking more telco all the time. I guess they have to dominate further and further up the stack to compete.
A single translation post:
- Cloudwords Enhances Industry-Leading Developer Support For Automating Translation Of Content In Any System - An interesting translation story, will dive into further to see what is being offered.
Essential transparency:
- 18F and the Movement to Show Your Stats - An outside view of the federal data analytics from 18F, by the Smart Chicago Collective.
- Sunshine Week, Day Four: Corporate Disclosure of Political Spending - I love sushine week!
- Obama administration sets record for censoring and denying transparency requests - A bummer decision coming out of the White House.
- Obama Just Officially Decided White House Emails Aren't Subject to the Freedom of Information Act - Some more analysis on their decision. Seems troubling to me.
- State legislatures taking aim at dark money, disclosure - This is the level change will have to happen at.
- Sunshine Week, Day Two: Senate E-Filing - More sunshine! More sunshine!
- Sunshine Week: Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative Event - Some important energy and environment work out of DOI and 18F.
- Happy Sunshine Week: Introducing The Foilies, Round 1 - Chuckle. I"m glad EFF Is paying attention.
Two transportation stories:
- Case Study: Hailing the Future - Equal Access to Taxis across New York’s Neighborhoods - I'm finding some really good, relevant case studies that apply to API thinking lately.
- Uber gives outside vendors ability to request rides - I'm going to have to do another go through the Uber stack to see how things are shaping up, and make sure I record all the changes along the way.
Wearables keep dominating the conversation:
- From Quantified Self to Wearables — Why? · - My thoughts on wearable space, which I really don't fully jive with.
- A decade in, the “Quantified Self” is still more hope than reality - Yeah, it just seems like it is more of a market, than an actual necessity for end-users.
- Will This Wearable Device Kill the Computer Mouse? - Probably not, but then again I'm not sure what will. It seems voice or eye will, but maybe its all Minority Report style, because that is what we can envision.
- EHRs and wearables - their time has come? - Sell it, make the connection. Eventually, maybe it will be a thing.
- Wearable data objects that represent air pollution - Ok, now we are talking a little more interesting application, something that might make me think wearables is not all dumb.
A single weather cell:
- Twitter data + weather data = better customer insights, IBM finds - IBM is all loving on the Twitter firehose lately.
More container, but also a worker entry:
- The New IronWorker Development Workflow Called Docker Worker - Keep an eye on the microservices discussion coming out of Iron.io, they know their stuff.
That concludes my report on what I read last week across the API space. I'm still working on pulling together a summary e-newsletter version, allowing people to get an executive summary of what I thought was important from the week--I am hoping it will be available next week. I'm also going to auto-generate some visualizations, and summary counts for each week. I'd like to see a tag cloud, and overall counts to help me understand the scope of news I cover each week.
If you know of something I missed, feel free to email or tweet at me, and make sure I know about your company, and have a link to your blog RSS. If you don't tell the story and share, the world will never know it happened.
It is a good time to be tracking on the API space--lots going on!
