- Image via CrunchBase
While I’m reluctant to recommend any tool by Yahoo! [this includes Flickr, etc.] due to their uncertain future, I found a need for Yahoo! Pipes today. What is Pipes?
The tool consists of two major components: an interface, called an editor, where a Pipe is put together; and an execution engine that runs the Pipe instructions. Once a project is saved in the editor, the instructions are saved as a special kind of document on the engine. To run the Pipe, the engine reads the document and then accesses anywhere from dozens to hundreds of Web services–from feeds supplied by Craigslist to geography data on Yahoo Maps. To optimize the response time, says Sadri, the engine parallelizes as much of the execution as possible, breaking up the instructions into chunks that run simultaneously.
Almost immediately after its release, Pipes garnered a lot of attention from bloggers, software developers, and experts on Web-based applications. Perhaps the most glowing endorsement it received was from Tim O’Reilly, founder of O’Reilly Media, a computer-book, magazine, and online publisher. On his blog O’Reilly wrote that the tool is a “milestone in the history of the Internet.” He added that while it’s still a bit “rough around the edges,” Pipes has “enormous potential to turn the Web into a programmable environment for everyone.” Source: Technology Review: A More Personalized Internet?
Already, I’m sick of the hype around the iPad so I wanted to find a way to scan my favorite news feeds and edit out any mention of the word iPad. Enter Yahoo! Pipes…
Todd Lohenry 