New API Servers

We've been working hard at deploying our new cluster of API servers and the good news is we are almost complete.

Stay tuned for updates shortly!

Checking In

It's been quiet here for a bit too long imho and thats about to change :). The entire team has returned from a very a "team building session" in Las Vegas. With our batteries (sorta) recharged expect some new and interesting stuff between now and the new year.

About the TRYNT Wiktionary Related Web Service

The TRYNT Wiktionary Related Web Service extracts related words from Wiktionary.

Here are a few examples of the web service in action:

• Wiktionary Related > Cat
• Wiktionary Related > Kitten
• Wiktionary Related > Horse

About the TRYNT Wiktionary Translate Web Service

The TRYNT Wiktionary Translate Web Service extracts word translations from Wiktionary. Pretty self explanatory.

Here are a few examples of the web service in action:

• Wiktionary Translate > Cat
• Wiktionary Translate > Kitten
• Wiktionary Translate > Horse
  

Congrats Open Stock Photography

Open Stock Photography, a mash-up partially powered by TRYNT, has made it's way into del.icio.us/popular and subsequently popurls.com. Great work!

About the TRYNT Torrent Details Web Service

The TRYNT Torrent Details Web Service parses BitTorrent files for the included metadata.

Here is an example of this web service in action:

• Torrent Details > BBC Artscene Documentary
  

Everyone loves torrents!

Sometimes I'm amazed at how ubiquitous torrents have become. Even the Amazon S3 platform offers torrent support. Since TRYNT doesn't want to be left out of all the fun we've got a torrent web service that should come out of beta today or tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Over 250K CAPTCHAs Served

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to develop using TRYNT APIs and Web Services. Watching our traffic (and web service usage) grow over time has really been motivational for the entire team. Thanks again.

Ask TRYNT: Why can't I get your web services to "validate?"

Q: I can't use your movie comment feed with Magpie. It doesn't display anything. I also tried using other online rss readers but they won't show your feed. Then I tried validating your feed, but it says not valid? Is this a bug or is it me?

• Feed Validator
  

A: The reason our movie comment "web service" doesn't "validate" is because it's not a "feed" but rather a "web service." The feed validation tool you are using validates Atom, RDF and RSS feeds. Our web service returns an XML data structure (which may appear visually similar at first glance) but it is not in valid Atom, RDF or RSS format. You may have better luck visualizing our XML using a more generic XML parser like the one found at FeedMeme.

Stay tuned for our 2.0 version of this web service which will support Serialized-PHP output. If you take advantage of this output format you can skip the XML parsing all together.

Hope this helps!

Meta-APIs

So what is a "Meta-API?" Recently at TRYNT HQ we found ourselves discussing this very concept.

I found myself thinking of web services like the TRYNT Flickr Suggest Web Service which uses the Flickr API to return tag suggestions (something not accomplished by the original API). At the same time other team members felt the title implied something along the lines of a "meta-search engine" (ie search engine aggregator). Mapstraction was used as an example because it offers a unified API for multiple mapping APIs.

Let us know what you think! What does "Meta-API" mean to you?

About the TRYNT Chinese Zodiac Web Service (v2)

The TRYNT Chinese Zodiac Web Service calculates the zodiac animal, number and description for birthdates between January 1st, 1901 to January 1st, 2021.

Like all other v2 web services offered by TRYNT you can take advantage of XML, Serialized PHP and JSON responses.

About the TRYNT Astrology Horoscope Web Service (v2)

The TRYNT Astrology Horoscope Web Service provides daily horoscope information for any sign of the Zodiac as well as complimentary data about the sign in question. While the Month, Day and Sign are all "optional" arguments you must pass at least a Month/Day set or Sign for this web service to functional properly.

Here are a few examples of this web service in action:

• Astrology Horoscope > Birthdate May 1st
• Astrology Horoscope > Taurus
• Astrology Horoscope > Pisces
• Astrology Horoscope > Pisces (Long)

Like all other v2 web services offered by TRYNT you can take advantage of XML, Serialized PHP and JSON responses.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from the TRYNT team!

Thirteen TRYNT Mash-ups at ProgrammableWeb

The thing we love most is seeing real people using our APIs and thanks to the folks at ProgrammableWeb you can track TRYNT API usage. At the time of this entry we've got thirteen mash-ups being powered by TRYNT. Let's see if we can get that number up even higher!

API Innovation and Mashup Networks

There is a bit of very interesting reading at the Programmable Web blog titled API Innovation and Mashup Networks. In this entry you'll find links to some cool visualizations of the API/Mashup Ecosystem done by Bala Iyer and Venkat Venkatraman.

I really need to figure out why ProgrammableWeb is only listing one TRYNT API when we have fifty eight!

About the TRYNT Wiktionary Web Service

The TRYNT Wiktionary Web Service extracts word definitions, synonyms, related words and more from Wiktionary.

Here are a few examples of this web service in action:

• Wiktionary > maunder
• Wiktionary > ramble
• Wiktionary > wander

About the TRYNT Wikiquote Web Service

The TRYNT Wikiquote Web Service extracts attributed, sourced and unsourced quotations from Wikiquote.

Here are a few examples of this web service in action:

• Wikiquote > Dana Carvey
• Wikiquote > Rodney Dangerfield
  
• Wikiquote > Timothy Leary
  

Wiki Web Service Madness Returns

Wikipedia is an amazingly robust resource with numerous side projects covering individual niches. After reviewing a few more we've decided to implement APIs for Wiktionary and Wikiquote.

(Interested in historical Wikipedia Web Service Madness?)

About the TRYNT TV IMDB Web Service

The TRYNT TV IMDB Web Service provides limited access to the television data at IMDB. Since IMDB does not offer an API, this API is made available to bridge the gap.

About the TRYNT Movie Movieweb Web Service

The TRYNT Movie MovieWeb Web Service provides programatic access to a sub-set of MovieWeb data. Similar to IMDB, MovieWeb does not provide an API, this API is made available to bridge the gap. If you plan to use this API please note that the data structure for theatrical release movies is different then videos already on DVD.

Here are some examples of this web service in action:

• MovieWeb > Dazed and Confusd
• MovieWeb > The Prestige