Pipes, Pipes, and More Pipes

It looks like the people at Yahoo! are starting to create some interesting technology for all of us to play with. They have now introduced a beta service called "Pipes".

This service not only provides a fantastic way to aggregate data of all types, it is a nice introduction to Programming 101.

If you always wanted to create your own program, but were afraid to learn how, this is a nice little introduction to simple and logical programming. Beyond that, it is a very valuable tool that anyone can use for business or pleasure. For Webmasters, it can help create content. For the average person, it can help find content.

One way I use Pipes is to create a "pipe" of my own (or borrow someone else's). Once this is done I subscribe to the RSS feed (or JSON) of that particular "pipe". For personal use, I highly recommend Google's RSS feed reader, aptly named "Google Reader". This is the program that I use to subscribe to all feeds of interest (not just my pipes). Think of "Google Reader" as an "inbox" for the Internet.

Now, go play!

JK