As we previously reported in December 2008, the Apps for America contest was created to encourage the development of open source applications that help constituents monitor and communicate with their members of Congress. Contest entries have to use at least one of the required APIs, which included the Sunlight Labs API , OpenSecrets.org API, FollowTheMoney.org API, and Capitol Words API.
PollDaddy, one of the most popular online poll and survey creation services, recently opened their new API to the public. The basic PollDaddy service provides free accounts for creating polls and surveys, or a Pro upgrade that eliminates sponsored links and allows higher numbers of survey responses than the free version. Now with the API, the core poll creation and reporting services are available to developers (details at our PollDaddy API profile).
With dozens of new mashups added each week that in turn use dozens of different APIs, it can be hard to choose which gets chosen as Mashup of the Day here on PW (see this weekend’s API roundup and mashup roundup for examples). One trend we’re seeing is a decrease in mapping mashups and an increase in the sheer diversity of subjects, APIs and other types of apps developed. Here’s a sampling of three of the more interesting new mashups:
This week’s new API entries, like last week’s, are a diverse bunch. They range from the DreamHost API which lets you managed details of hosted accounts, to the r.im API, the latest of a seeming infinite number of URL shorteners, all with APIs. But sometimes who will offer an API is not always predictable, like with the ThemeForest API which gives you access to their marketplace for buying and selling website templates and CMS themes. For more, the list below has the latest APIs:
For the second week in a row, over 30 different APIs were used to build new apps in our mashup directory. Those 20 mashups used 31 different APIs. And once again not all of those APIs are the usual suspects. Less common ones used include Formula 1 Racing data API Ergast, the new Etsy API and Twilio API, the ecommerce pay-per-action LinkShare API, the Sunlight Labs API, and short URL expander LongURL. And in what’s clearly the new number one, the Twitter API was used in 4 of this week’s mashups. The list below shows which APIs were used by which mashups:
Spatial data provider Maponics has released a new API that provides developers with access to several boundary data sets. Previously available as a beta release in February, the Maponics Spatial API (our Maponics API profile) provides access to carrier route, ZIP Code and neighborhood data for the United States.
In big news on the government data and transparency front, the premier provider of federal campaign finance information, Center for Responsive Politics (CRP), have announced they are opening for bulk download 20 years worth of data used to power their web site OpenSecrets.org. More than 200 million records are being made available of itemized contributions, campaign spending, lobbying, personal finance, and sponsored travel. CRP began tracking campaign contributions in the late 1980s. Their stats and staff are trusted and quoted by the Media as the gold standard reference.
Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it. Except when they’re building mashups. Or so it seems, given how often the 5 weather APIs in our directory get used by developers. While perhaps not as sexy as the latest social networking API, here at ProgrammableWeb we have evidence that developers value a good API for weather, having built over 70 weather mashups to date.
Microsoft has released a new version of its Virtual Earth API (our Virtual Earth API Profile) that includes several performance improvements and some new features, including a new 3D Control.
It’s often said that in New York City everything comes down to real estate. The tenth API to emerge from the New York Times developer network addresses this topic with pricing data for the five borough’s residential properties.
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