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Yahoo Pipes

Posted by kdawson on from the let-the-tubes-jokes-begin dept.

ahab_2001 writes "Yahoo has introduced a new product called Pipes. It seems to be a GUI-based interface for building applications that aggregate RSS feeds and other services, creating Web-based apps from various sources, and publishing those apps. Sounds very cool. TechCrunch has a decent write-up, and Tim O'Reilly is all over it. The site was down for a few hours and is just back up. Has anybody tried this?" From the TechCrunch article: "Pipes is... akin to a shell scripting environment for the web rather than just a simple conduit between applications."

94 comments

  1. Priceless... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Our Pipes are clogged! We've called the plumbers!"

    Though I thought we all knew that the Internet was a series of tubes...

    1. Re:Priceless... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As a private consultant, I will be offering my services in the creation of an aptly-named "DRAIN-O" scalable content distribution system for HTTP, so that these problems won't occur again.

    2. Re:Priceless... by shokk · · Score: 0, Redundant

      Sen Ted Stevens got a preview of the product last week, where he exclaimed
            - "It's a series of pipes!"

      --
      "Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart, he dreams himself your master."
    3. Re:Priceless... by pipingguy · · Score: 1

      For the current level of internet pipe clogging you need piping designers and engineers, not plumbers.

      Y'see, we have these things called intelligent pigs...

  2. Would've been more hilarious... by mikecardii · · Score: 1, Funny

    If the service were called "tubes"

    1. Re:Would've been more hilarious... by I+don't+want+to+spen · · Score: 1

      Or - more esoterically - uStation ...

      --
      Don't go to a brothel if you want to buy broth
  3. Tubes? by CastrTroy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Is this anything like Tubes?

    --

    Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    1. Re:Tubes? by Rude+Turnip · · Score: 2, Funny

      Very similar...if you go to pipes.yahoo.com, you get "Our pipes are clogged. We've called the plumbers!"

      --
      Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
    2. Re:Tubes? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't know but it reminds me of what my dad would say - "Pipes is pipes." I wonder if Yahoo! would support the idea behind that saying.

    3. Re:Tubes? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Nope, Tubes http://www.tubesnow.com/ is different: replicates/controls content via your own defined social nets

  4. Pipes are clogged by flu1d · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Our Pipes are clogged! We've called the plumbers! Don't they mean tubes?
  5. What's googles version going to be called?? by yecrom2 · · Score: 5, Funny

    BONG. Bigger than a pipe. And it holds more too. Just don't drink the water.

    1. Re:What's googles version going to be called?? by zappepcs · · Score: 2, Funny

      I'm hoping that soon Google will name some new service "G-Whiz"

      --
      Support NYCountryLawyer RIAA vs People
    2. Re:What's googles version going to be called?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wait.... you *don't* drink the water?

      That explains *so* much.

    3. Re:What's googles version going to be called?? by gEvil+(beta) · · Score: 1

      I believe that's our upcoming Google Piss (beta) product.

      --
      This guy's the limit!
    4. Re:What's googles version going to be called?? by stratjakt · · Score: 3, Funny

      Google is working on a big truck you can just dump stuff on.

      Sorry, I thought that quote was funnier than the "series of tubes" ones - or well, both in context.

      --
      I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
    5. Re:What's googles version going to be called?? by jb.hl.com · · Score: 1

      There was, for a short spell, a British ISP called G-Wizz.

      So if that ever happens...cue more GoogleMail vs GMail fun :)

      --
      By summer it was all gone...now shesmovedon. --
    6. Re:What's googles version going to be called?? by bibendum59 · · Score: 1

      But how will it compare with the Wii?

    7. Re:What's googles version going to be called?? by mscdex · · Score: 1

      They could call it GooTube... er wait..

    8. Re:What's googles version going to be called?? by Blue+Stone · · Score: 1
      >I'm hoping that soon Google will name some new service "G-Whiz"

      I think it's their new IP distribution service.

      --
      Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility. - Ambrose Bierce
  6. damn right. by User+956 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Though I thought we all knew that the Internet was a series of tubes...

    Well, it's certainly not a big truck, that you can just dump something on.

    --
    The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
    1. Re:damn right. by maxwell+demon · · Score: 1

      That may turn out as a pipe dream ...

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
  7. Looks like yahoo by PB_TPU_40 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Needs a to run a lottery, so some lottery balls can clean out those stacked poker chips clogging the pipes.

    --
    -PB_TPU_40 The trick to flying is to throw yourself at the ground and miss.
    1. Re:Looks like yahoo by wolfemi1 · · Score: 1

      Or let some racehorses loose, so they can just gallop on through

  8. Broken Pipe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Cannot write to STDOUT. Errno = 32: Broken pipe

  9. YubNub? by johnseq · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I spent some time looking at it, but I couldn't figure what the advantage was over Yubnub ? ( except maybe the GUI+ the name brand/network effects )

    1. Re:YubNub? by gEvil+(beta) · · Score: 2, Funny

      The biggest one I could see is that it's not named after some damned Ewok song.

      --
      This guy's the limit!
    2. Re:YubNub? by maxume · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It doesn't really even resemble yubnub. The point of pipes is that you can pull in say 10 different rss feeds and push out a new feed containing the entries from those feeds that match a search or whatever. It isn't really anything that couldn't be done already, but it does(theoretically at this point...) offer an easy to use web based interface for putting it together, so it significantly lowers the bar.

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    3. Re:YubNub? by kirun · · Score: 1

      How does it compare to Planet?

      --
      I'm scared of numbers that can't be written as a fraction. It's an irrational fear.
    4. Re:YubNub? by maxume · · Score: 1

      I don't really have much experience with either, but I would say the biggest differences are that it runs on someone else's server(Yahoo!), and that it is targeted more at mucking with feeds and consuming them elsewhere than it is at displaying them.

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    5. Re:YubNub? by Kris_J · · Score: 2, Informative

      Sounds like blastfeed.

    6. Re:YubNub? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Does it use XML? Because if it doesn't, it can totally fuck off.

  10. WTF is it? here's O'Reilly's description by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Using the Pipes editor, you can fetch any data source via its RSS, Atom or other XML feed, extract the data you want, combine it with data from another source, apply various built-in filters (sort, unique (with the "ue" this time:-), count, truncate, union, join, as well as user-defined filters), and apply simple programming tools like for loops. In short, it's a good start on the Unix shell for mashups.

    preview screenshot

    It democratizes web programming, making it easier for people to have more control over the internet information services they consume, and providing a general-purpose platform for interacting with sites that is more powerful than the browser or feed-reader alone, but without requiring full programming skills.
  11. Senator Stevens (NT) by Groo+Wanderer · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    (NT)

  12. Finally by MrYotsuya · · Score: 5, Funny

    Finally, an internet service even a member of Congress can understand.

  13. The site was Dugg last night by popo · · Score: 4, Funny


    How does something make it to the front of Slashdot when it the server was down *before* the story was posted here. The site went down after it was posted to Digg "upcoming" last night.

    Apparently /. editors never clicked the link to see if it actually worked.

    Editors? Editors? A Perl script could do your job better,

    --
    ------ The best brain training is now totally free : )
    1. Re:The site was Dugg last night by Cheapy · · Score: 1

      Because it'll be back up eventually today.

      --
      Would you kindly mod me +1 insightful?
    2. Re:The site was Dugg last night by DigitalReverend · · Score: 4, Funny

      Editors? Editors? I didn't know /. had editors, I thought it WAS a Perl script doing the job!

      --
      I read Slashdot for the headlines, because the headlines, unlike the articles, are usually original and never duplicated
    3. Re:The site was Dugg last night by evil_Tak · · Score: 1

      Editors! Editors! Editors!

    4. Re:The site was Dugg last night by metlin · · Score: 2, Informative

      Well, you forget the fact that a lot of folks come here for the news.

      While the site maybe down, I would not have known about it had Slashdot not posted the story.

      Sure, the link is down now, but that does not mean that you can't check it out later. When the site is back up, a lot of folks will have a look at it.

    5. Re:The site was Dugg last night by solevita · · Score: 2, Funny

      I think you're being a little unkind. Script is such a strong word...

    6. Re:The site was Dugg last night by lachlan76 · · Score: 1

      A perl script would find the dupes and be able to check the link with WWW::Mechanize. The job must have been outsourced.

      To a country that doesn't have access to the internet.

    7. Re:The site was Dugg last night by tygerstripes · · Score: 2, Funny

      Don't be silly. With a little effort, anyone can understand what's going on in a Perl script...

      --
      Meta will eat itself
    8. Re:The site was Dugg last night by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A perl script would check the links.

  14. I'm working on a similar service by stratjakt · · Score: 5, Funny

    Except mine is called "A big truck you can just dump stuff on"

    --
    I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
  15. Pies, no problem by rimugu · · Score: 3, Funny

    I will just call Super Mario Bros.

  16. Well, I guess that proved ME wrong... by NerveGas · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... about a week ago, one of my friends called me, and said "I have a tech question for you. What are pipes?"

    I sat there for a few seconds, trying to figure out what in the world they were talking about, and finally answered "Round hollow things, like tubes."

    --
    Oh, you're not stuck, you're just unable to let go of the onion rings.
    1. Re:Well, I guess that proved ME wrong... by SpectreHiro · · Score: 1, Insightful

      I take it you're not a Unix user.

      | is a pipe.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertical_bar

      --
      You can't win, Darth. If you mod me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.
    2. Re:Well, I guess that proved ME wrong... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is a pipe: |

      These are pipes: | | | | |

    3. Re:Well, I guess that proved ME wrong... by NerveGas · · Score: 1

      I am, but the person in question is doing well to be able to read email. I knew that they weren't talking about |-pipes, nor were they talking about t3 pipes, or anything else that I could come up with.

      It turned out that they had some trouble accessing a web site, and someone else said "They're having trouble with their pipes."

      --
      Oh, you're not stuck, you're just unable to let go of the onion rings.
    4. Re:Well, I guess that proved ME wrong... by lachlan76 · · Score: 1

      And so are named pipes, and file descriptors generated by the pipe(2), and a million other things. Or someone could simply be talking about "pipes" in reference to network links.

    5. Re:Well, I guess that proved ME wrong... by ComaVN · · Score: 1

      |
      Ceci n'est pas une pipe

      --
      Be wary of any facts that confirm your opinion.
  17. Similar to QEDWiki by uss_valiant · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The concept sounds very similar to QEDWiki demo video (demo video requires Flash).
    QEDWiki is an IBM product based on the Zend Framework. You can create mash-ups and other things much like by drag and drop of components, all in your browser.

    1. Re:Similar to QEDWiki by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The concept sounds very similar to marklar demo video (demo video requires Flash).
      marklar is an IBM product based on the marklar marklar. You can create marklar and other things much like (marklar) by drag and drop of components, all in your browser.

  18. Slashdotted! by dmuth · · Score: 4, Funny

    When I went to http://pipes.yahoo.com/, I saw this message:

    Our Pipes are clogged! We've called the plumbers!

    Well, at least the folks at Yahoo have a sense of humor. :-)

  19. JDA (Javascript Device Architecture) by higgins · · Score: 3, Informative

    I haven't been able to try pipes yet, because the site is down. But I have a colleague who built something that sounds quite similar. It's called the Javascript Device Architecture. At the link, you can find demos and downloadable code. So, if you can't get to pipes, you could always try JDA out ;-)

  20. Site is *'ed. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I see that Slashdot is claiming that Pipes has been "slashdotted", Digg is claiming that Pipes has been "dugg to death", and TechCrunch is claiming that Pipes has been "techcrunched". All three of you are wrong; the correct term is that Pipes is screwed.

  21. slashdotted? by valeurnutritive · · Score: 1

    Site is showing: Our Pipes are clogged! We've called the plumbers!
    One would assume that atleast Yahoo won't get Slashdotted...

    1. Re:slashdotted? by carlivar · · Score: 1

      Yahoo's primary stuff should not get slashdotted, but the little niche apps like this I'm sure are more vulnerable, especially if their popularity is underestimated.

      --
      Vote Libertarian
  22. Who's more foolish... by google · · Score: 1

    ... the blog or the service that aggregates it?

    --
    "Thank you. Please spellcheck your genitalia references though. :) - Mike D."
  23. Tinfoil hat ON! by hal2814 · · Score: 2, Funny

    So Yahoo has this great new service and has talked O'Reilly into covering it. Unfortunately, the Yahoo site promoting that technology was down before Slashdotters even got a chance to check it out. Supposedly, this is because the site was already Dug, but you and I know that Digg is really a front for the Federal government to collect all the weirdos in one online community. I think Yahoo doesn't really have a pipe system is place at all and they're just trying to build hype about it by paying off O'Reilly to write a favorable but not over-the-top review of the non-existant program. I think Pipes only exists as a screenshot right now. It's probably just another attempt to get Google to spend money on a project Yahoo has no real interest in. That way Google will never notice President Bush wiretapping Google monitoring China.

    1. Re:Tinfoil hat ON! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      that's OARSOME!

  24. Fix Yahoo TV by imaginaryelf · · Score: 1

    Maybe someone can use this new technology to fix Yahoo TV so that it can be useful once again.

    1. Re:Fix Yahoo TV by maxume · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Route around the damage:

      http://www.meevee.com/myguide.aspx

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
  25. MOAR pipes by suddenlyawake · · Score: 1

    I hope yahoo's Pipes are a bit better than Portland's

  26. Pwah! by msimm · · Score: 1

    If you're going to do it do it right. Python all the way!

    --
    Quack, quack.
  27. Tell Me..... by IHC+Navistar · · Score: 1

    So when does the evil Bowser and the Koopa Troopers start regulating the wole thing?

    I'm assuming the whole project was written by two little Italian plumber brothers, and tha they forsaw the threats posed by Bowser.

    --
    Knowing Google's lust for data collection, the Soviet Union is still alive and well inside the psyche of Sergey Brin....
  28. still down by krayyy · · Score: 1

    This thing has been on and off for me all day. If Google launched a product of this magnitude only to experience this type of outage on the first day everyone would be chiding them up and down. I demand reprimand!

    1. Re:still down by mmkkbb · · Score: 1

      I believe Google Analytics did just that.

      --
      -mkb
  29. netvibes anyone by sideswipe76 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Doesn't anyone else think this is way similar to netvibes

    1. Re:netvibes anyone by RoadWarriorX · · Score: 1

      Since this is the first time that I seen both services, I think the answer is no. From what I can tell, netvibes is more similar to Google personal pages than Yahoo Pipes.

      I tried using Pipes tonight and I think that this may be the best thing Yahoo has really done in a long time. Forget the fact that they had down time because it was "whatever"-dotted. I kinda expected it. But when I got to see it and try it, I think it was the relatively simple and straight-forward to use.

      It just makes me what to smack my grandma and say "why the f*ck did I not think of that?"

      --

      Coderz 4 Life
  30. Once again... by ImaLamer · · Score: 1

    The internet is a highway. You put the info the dump truck and you drive it along the highway. If a road is out, you take another section of the Interstate. If it's backed up, take a different section of road.

    It's almost a super highway.

    --
    Get your Unix fortune now!
    1. Re:Once again... by thatnerdguy · · Score: 1

      You mean like some sort of Information Superhighway?

      I remember having a Popular Mechanics magazine from sometime in the 90s that had a cover article about this new-fangled Information Superhighway and how it was going to make out lives easier or something.

      --
      I saw the Sign, and it opened up my eyes
  31. AWESOME by Ffakr · · Score: 1

    This was soo cool when I was writing 3d screen savers with it last year. Way to go Apple!! I love Quartz Composer.

    Oh wait, Nevermind.

    http://developer.apple.com/graphicsimaging/quartz/ quartzcomposer.html

    --

    I'm not feeling witty so bite me

    1. Re:AWESOME by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      its somewhat of a validation for Y! to use a UI for feed aggregation that Apple (pretty good at UI development, last I checked) is using for graphics creation. Also: Quartz Composer looks fun. Will have to check that out.

    2. Re:AWESOME by Alt_Cognito · · Score: 0

      I suppose it would be way to go if it worked on something other than a Mac? I went to the examples which are viewable in a browser! Great work.

      If I could make it through just one thread without Apple evangelists crying "me too!", it would be nice.

      It's like Godwin's rule all over again. The thread is dead when the Apple evangelists show up.

      I understand the desire to post prior art, but this product is not like pipes (not that you could tell earlier today anyway)

  32. Great by MarkusQ · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Great. Just what we need--yet another way to shuffle content around.

    Am I the only one that things the real bottle neck is finding the time to read and think about all this information--and that yet another layer of goo, no matter how scriptastic, isn't really going to address the fundamental problem of information overload?

    --MarkusQ

    1. Re:Great by inline_four · · Score: 1

      I totally agree. This concept seems really neat, but all we're gonna get is a bunch of clip shows from people who think they're being creative. And then we're gonna get clip shows of clip shows. And clip shows of clip shows of clip shows. And then... the Hasselhofian recursion!

      --
      Alexey
    2. Re:Great by Z0mb1eman · · Score: 1

      Ow... don't post that link without warning... it's just as bad as goatse!

      --
      ClutterMe.com - easiest site creation on the Net. Just click and type.
    3. Re:Great by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

      Am I the only one that things the real bottle neck is finding the time to read and think about all this information--and that yet another layer of goo, no matter how scriptastic, isn't really going to address the fundamental problem of information overload?

      Yahoo Pipes probably isn't designed to solve that problem, though it's going to have to be technology (AI's most likely) that do. Maybe Pipes gets us an inch closer. Maybe it's stupid and useless - in that case it will go away. But something about organizing information is going to be needed, even if it doesn't look like Pipes. See Apple's Knowledge Navigator study for an example of how AI's can help organize information.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  33. Infinite loops by Chris+Shannon · · Score: 1

    I can pipe it further, as an RSS feed in its own right

    You have be careful whenever your output can be used as another's input, that you don't wind up with an infinite loop.
    That would explain why yahoo's pipes are clogged.
    --
    "Follow me" the wise man said, but he walked behind.
  34. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  35. while they're clogged... by PW2 · · Score: 1

    here's another one to try: kitchi -- it's mostly build to drive some LED signs but web objects are being added as time allows

  36. How do they do the connector graphics? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The site is back up. Very slick.

    Anyone know how they swing the rubber banding connector graphics in DHTML?

    1. Re:How do they do the connector graphics? by rapid_snail · · Score: 2, Informative

      Probably using the Canvas tag - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canvas_(HTML_element)

  37. New pipe: slashdot run through flickr by websensei · · Score: 1

    I created this simple pipe in just a couple minutes, now that the site is up again.
    Check out

    http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/LM5nwfu32xGj_1LrZoQMO Q/ ... it's not as powerful as rssbus but w/ the friendly(/ier) GUI and visibility from yahoo, this really is pretty cool.

    --

    La via sola al paradiso incommincia nel inferno
  38. I have been known.. by n3v · · Score: 0


    to lay some good pipe :) Maybe now I can electronically aggregate it using Yahoo!

  39. If it's anything like YUI by Guanine · · Score: 1

    If this is anything like the phenomenal YUI javascript library, then I would be very confident in its usefulness. The documentation for the YUI is just so unbelievably easy to use, it makes developing using those tools very pleasant. I would imagine the experience with Pipes would be the same.

  40. Good Name For Script Correction..... by IHC+Navistar · · Score: 1

    They should come out with an add-on program that corrects errors called Yahoo! Pipe-Cleaners.

    --
    Knowing Google's lust for data collection, the Soviet Union is still alive and well inside the psyche of Sergey Brin....