api

Cloud openness, and what "open" means exactly in the context of cloud computing -- whether on-premise or in a public cloud--are hot topics at the CloudOpen conference, which is being held by the Linux Foundation in San Diego this week. CloudOpen is a new event being run in parallel with LinuxCon.

That those on stage and in the audience at this event favor openness is hardly news. Nor is the fact that an open cloud is a challenge that goes beyond open source. During a panel moderated by Red Hat's John Mark Walker, Greg DeKoenigsberg of Eucalyptus … Read more

As the dog days of summer come to a close, Facebook today introduced several developer updates that the company touted as among some of its most significant to date.

The changes to Facebook's Graph application programing interface (API) are meant to foster "easier and faster to access data from the social graph," software engineer Harshdeep Singh wrote in his post. The upshot: to allow web and mobile developers to access the exact data they need with less work. This means less time sending requests to Facebook for access and -- theoretically -- more time left over for … Read more

Twitter is serious about making its own interface the focus of a user's experience, as evidenced by the company's removal of the names of apps used to send tweets from the tweets themselves.

This essentially hides the branding of apps consumers use to tweets to the Twitter stream. For example, if you send the tweet using Hootsuite or Seesmic, the name of those apps used to appear in the expanded Twitter information.

It may be a small change, but it seems like a message to developers that Twitter wants its space to be its own; no free advertising … Read more

Tumblr has removed Twitter as a source in its friend-finder feature due to Twitter's recently announced restrictions for developers.

The change was first spotted today by Matt Buchanan, who saw the Twitter option removed overnight.

The blogging site said it was "truly disappointed" in Twitter's decision.

"To our dismay, Twitter has restricted our users' ability to 'Find Twitter Friends' on Tumblr. Given our history of embracing their platform, this is especially upsetting," Tumblr said in a statement. "Our syndication feature is responsible for hundreds of millions of tweets, and we eagerly enabled Twitter … Read more

Twitter's decision to slap new restrictions on developers is a little like a marriage splintering asunder. It's not that things were always this bad, but, well, our needs have changed, and we want different things than we did six years ago.

The divorce papers arrived Thursday afternoon in the form of an announcement saying that certain app developers -- some of the folks who contributed to Twitter's rapid ascent in the first place -- should no longer feel welcome in the Twitterverse. Tweetbot and Echofon were singled out by name, prompting other programmers in Silicon Valley's … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Instagram 3.0 adds infinite scrolling, lets you plot on a Photo map.

- How to control which Instagram pics show up on your Photo Map.

- Hipstamatic lays off all but six employees.

- Hipstamatic becomes the first third-party app to officially post photos to Instagram.

- Buzzfeed invites you to rub Ryan Gosling. Learn the Moonwalk from MJ too, while you're at it.

- From a visual perspective, RubGifs still don't compare to cinemagraphs.

- Google US map shows regional stereotypes by autocompleting "Why is ____ so..."… Read more

If Twitter wanted to alienate the developers who helped to make it such a success, today's new restrictions are a good way to do it.

Twitter revealed the specifics today on stricter API rules for developers, which means it's going to get tougher for third-party apps to grow their app's user base.

The new restrictions, which the company plans to roll out in the coming weeks, will include several changes, including a cap on the number of users an app can have and required authentication to access the application programming interface. This means Twitter is limiting the … Read more

Though now eclipsed by Apple v. Samsung, there is still digital paperwork floating around for Oracle v. Google.

Judge William Alsup issued a brief but specific order on Tuesday afternoon from the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, demanding both parties to basically fess up if they have kept any journalists and/or commentators on the payroll during the duration of the case.

Here's the order, which much like Alsup's style in the courtroom, cuts right to the point:

The Court is concerned that the parties and/or counsel herein may have retained or paid print or … Read more

LinkedIn is updating its developer platform with several new changes revolving around discussing and sharing professional content.

Over the last year, LinkedIn asserts it has been working closely with more than 75,000 developers to build innovative developer tools that leverage the LinkedIn platform across the web. Some of the developer partners getting involved and might have a heavier presence on LinkedIn soon include WordPress, Evernote, and Flipboard, among others.

The primary way more sharing is going to be done is with LinkedIn's upgraded share API, which is essentially designed to be a win-win for developers and users … Read more