Banging the pipes

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My first pipe…, originally uploaded by MrGluSniffer.

Many have noted the arrival of the Yahoo Pipes service, which may well herald the arrival of the data mashup to a place somewhere closer to the mainstream.

At the very least, it certainly promises a set of functionalities that I’ve trying to establish for creating filtered, meaningful, courseblog aggregation… And of course it can do way, way more. The screenshot above represents my first attempt, which as yet really only functions as a concept… the number of items returned was much lower than it should have been.

This prototype pipe has gotten a few bangs from the Mash-Ups for Non-Programmers gang and they’ve identified a few problems, but we still have a ways to go. It’s hard to know if there might be an intrinsic problem due to diverse feed types, or maybe a bug in the application itself.

But I’ve seen enough to get damn excited by this concept. I think I see an emerging set of skills for Instructional Designer 2.0. BUT… though this interface really is a marvel, what’s holding me back is a clear understanding of the underlying technologies being mashed up. It would be ironic indeed if a groovy drag-and-drop screen was what finally led me into reading technical content-type documentation, after years of steadfast resistance.

We will be returning to this wholly unscheduled but fervently anticipated irregular programming shortly…

About Brian

I am a Strategist and Discoordinator with UBC's Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology. My main blogging space is Abject Learning, and I sporadically update a short bio with publications and presentations over there as well...
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4 Responses to Banging the pipes

  1. Jim says:

    I like what you’re doing there with Spanish 365, Brian. To quote Bruce Campbell, “Groovy!” Looks like I have to pipe down and play a whole lot more -just when you think you have something almost figured out. They bang you ovcer the head with a…well, with a pipe.

  2. Brian says:

    Judging from your blog, you’re chasing similar objectives using WordPress MU. I suspect glu-ing blogs together will again be a topic of much hashing at NV this year.

  3. Gardner says:

    I’d say something about a lead-pipe cinch, but it’d probably go over like a led zeppelin….

    I think this is pretty exciting stuff, too, as you can tell. It may drive me to those manuals, too.

  4. Brian says:

    Gardner, I listened to Physical Graffiti during my vinyl organizing binge and think it’s their best album.

    I grooved on your Pipes post. Today was both exciting and terribly frustrating, and I also had some experiences that brought home the limits of depending on external services.

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