Thanks, Vince.

Marcus - Linking to the forum from the API documentation was a good idea - I’ve done so. The HMAC and SHA-256 are standards that can be applied in various languages. I posted a PHP example, but it can be done in other languages as well.

I’d be interested in seeing the commercial Google APIs you’ve been able to use with Yahoo Pipes - can you post/email a link to their API documentation?

Can Yahoo pipes construct JSON objects?

Google seems to have 2 levels of API access: “Authorized API Access” (OAuth 2.0) & “Simple API Access” (Use API keys to identify your project when you do not need to access user data.)  I use the Simple API Access via API key in Yahoo! Pipes. 

I’ve tried using the Yahoo! Pipes “String Builder” module to construct a JSON object, but doesn’t seem to show all the fields….

Marcus, I just completed and launched the “Simple API” for The Personality Forge. I think it’ll integrate easily with Yahoo Pipes. Let me know if you have any questions.

Benji, I’m getting partial success with your Simple API in Yahoo! Pipes.  The problem I’m still having is with rolling IP addresses, which there seem to be a lot of for Yahoo! Pipes, and the wildcard does not seem to be recognized at the end, rather than the beginning….

Thanks, I’ve fixed the issue. Does Yahoo Pipes use a domain name that doesn’t change? If so, that would cover their changing IPs.

Benji, I did try *.yahoo.com but it didn’t seem to work.

Okay, I’ve just learned that Benji’s PersonalityForge “AI language” is officially called “AI Script”.  (I might humbly suggest that it could be nicknamed “PFAI”....)  And, there are no known converters to/from AIML or CSV.

> http://twitter.com/VagaBot

Thanks to Benji’s kind attention, I’ve now resurrected my @VagaBot on Twitter using the PersonalityForge Simple API.  (You may recall that @VagaBot was stalled some months ago due to VerbotsOnline.com going out of business.)  @VagaBot is parsing (travel) questions off the Twitter public timeline, and running them through the PersonalityForge Simple API using Yahoo! Pipes with Twitterfeed.com.  Note, I have not yet populated the knowledgebase at PersonalityForge; first, I will finish making @VagaBot fully interactive on Twitter.

> http://twitter.com/TwavelAdvisor

BTW, I’ve got more or less the same setup on my @TwavelAdvisor Twitter bot, only using the Pandorabots XML-RPC API in place of the PersonalityForge Simple API.

Come to think of it, seems like “Personality Script” might make a better nickname for “Personality Forge AI Script” than “PFAI”....

Very nice Marcus
VLG

Snag #2:

So I left @VagaBot running overnight and used up my monthly allotment of 500 free messages, which has stopped any development until next month.  :-(

I sure miss VerbotsOnline.com, which cost only $30 per *year* for unlimited traffic, and included an animated, talking avatar widget; but of course, they went out of business, after like 6 years….  VerbotsOnline was an even way better deal than Pandorabots. 

Pandorabots Shared Hosting Service costs $75 per month for unlimited traffic, and requires the additional $39.95 per month SitePal Gold package for the animated, talking avatar widget, which comes to $1379.40 per *year*.  (I’d be more enthusiastic about the SitePal avatar if it worked voice-interactively on major mobile platforms, which it doesn’t….)  Pandorabots CallMom mobile app is *great* for what it is; but, I still want a voice-interactive avatar!

Marcus, I’ve just increased the number of messages for the free account from 500 to 5,000 per month. I’ve increased the other plan capacities by about 750% and added an unlimited option as well. None are as cheap as what you mentioned, but that’s what I can provide at this point in time.