This post is from one of several previous incarnations of this site and probably doesn’t quite fit the current format. In a former life this was a group blog and a tumblelog before it became a static jekyll site. If anything looks broken or is worded oddly that could be why. Pardon the dust.
Further to yesterday’s post, it seems that Google’s Web Service is now officially open. Or at least ready for testing and tinkering. Oreillynet is punctual as ever with Rael Dornfest’s comprehensive tutorial on how to get started. There’s a devkit available for download from Google with sample SOAP requests/responses and Java and .NET bits and pieces to set you off on the right path. You’ll also need to sign up for an account since they’re sensibly limiting developers to 1000 requests per day, and 10 results per response while still in beta.
Speaking of mr. Dornfest, I’d heard his name bandied around before, but hadn’t quite linked all his achievments together. He’s the man behind the small and perfectly formed Blosxom weblog app. He’s also behind Oreilly’s Meerkat RSS newsfeed portal. And last but not least there’s his excellent Raelity Bites blog (See the “Googling for Rael” sidebar for an early-adopter application of the API).
Oh and by the way, the post before this was number 300. Hooray for us! Have a browse through our archives for a taste of our not-so-long and prestigious history of cutting edge reportage.