My Personal API | Hacker News Reader

My Personal API

api.azer.io

18 pointsoakaz16 comments

At one point in the future we should really start differentiating between an API and just raw JSON on plain sight.

This is an interface that you can program. For example, you can make a JSONP request to it (e.g http://api.azer.io/?callback=foobar) and fetch display/process my personal info in your app easily.

Here is an example: http://requirebin.com/?gist=7985717

shameless self-plug

I've set up something similar on my personal domain, except that it outputs JSON only if it's a curl request (i.e. if the user agent begins with curl) while browsing to it using a regular browser serves the actual website:

$ curl kamal.io

nginx config: http://pastebin.com/VBuYPHbT

Technically it is an elegant and neat solution. But I hesitate about the social impact.

My first reaction is that I don't want to publish this kind of information about my self. It can be really dangerous when things like religion comes into the wrong hands.

Just getting JSON doesn't make it an API.

Why can't I POST you a message? Or myself as a new acquaintance? Once I'm your friend, why not POST a meetup for the two of us so I can PUT a new date in it or DELETE it later?

Assuming a RESTful vocabulary, is this only GET?

What if I want to POST something to you? Or DELETE that kimchi burrito thing from your favourite foods?

Wouldn't it be cooler to support more verbs?

In addition to humans, you can use personal-api for cats, as well: https://blackbear.api.azer.io

It should also work for other animals.

Only names like "favorite drinks" are not so nice to use within an App, better name it "favorite-drinks" / "favorite_drinks" / "favoriteDrinks"

...and if you'd like to create yours, this makes it really easy: http://github.com/azer/personal-api

why not just use a plain .json file?

it won't be an API server that you can have features like jsonp

male: true should be sex: "male"

Here you go: https://github.com/azer/personal-api/fork

Also if political view is "anarchism", then religious view should be "atheism" rather than "atheist".

Pretty nice actually, but can't understand why one would like to use this. I mean if someone wanted this info to implement the API on their app, wouldn't it be tiring to go through millions of websites to get user data?

This sounds interesting, and maybe something like Gravatar can built upon it.

I got thinking about almost exactly the same thing. But what value would such a service have over using a social login like Facebook, Twitter or Google, given that these are already well established?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com