I had that grandma moment. You know when your nan or mum looks at you when they want to tape a program and can't operate the VCR? I had that moment looking at the Yahoo Pipes interface. What is this fetch data? Fetch RSS? Fetch site feeds???
My first attempt was at 3am in the morning. I thought 'I can do this, I grew up in the era of Windows 3.1, I can program my HDTV, I'm fond of my PS3, I like shiny stuff, yeah Pipes, that doesn't seem too hard...'
EPIC FAIL. I couldn't do it. I couldn't make sense of it. So my second attempt is just a feeble design news feed, trickling through on the side there. It contains just the basics, because the rest is just beyond me. If I was more tech savvy, I could make it more interactive, give it a search function or something but it really is better understood by a programmer.
For a more easy on the eyes look at my Pipe, check it out here.
Given more time and help I think I could be awesome at it, because it could be really handy. You could custom-make any kind of mash up, mixing tools like Google and Amazon, to tweak a pipe for your subject of interest. You could have a information source solely dedicated to reporting items on Chuck Norris, for example, or have a pipe displaying all books ever written with the word 'ham' in the title and where to buy them, or borrow them.
Google Maps is a great mash up, combining its search results with location. You can get reviews of restaurants even as you search for where they are. Your own map is customisable, and you can search and look at other people's maps.
Alrighty then, I'm gonna try and be awesome now.
Steven Heller’s Font of the Month: Exentrica
1 week ago
Your posting gives me heart. I am sorry that your journey into pipes and mashups was not as successful as you would wish, but I know that you know your way around a computer from your previous postings so when you have difficulty then we mere mortals don't feel so bad that we couldn't understand it either. An awareness that these things exist was all that I achieved.
ReplyDeleteWell your pipe impressed me, I think it looks great! I hope that you have enjoyed this project, I have certainly enjoyed reading your blog each week (even if I have been hopeless with my comments, last time Experiment, now through Google, I am obviously still very confused). You have given me so much food for thought with this assignment, so thank you!
ReplyDeleteGemma/Experiment