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So within the programming world, there are these things called APIs. APIs allow third-party programs to access a program through a set of given commands. On the web, these are incredibly useful because it allows interoperability between services. For example, Amazon has an API that allows me to send in search requests with given keywords; Amazon then spits back a bunch of data with the search results which I can then output and print on my page.

Out of curiosity, I decided to try to make Tabulas more API-friendly by implementing some blogging APIs; in essence, these APIs will allow you to use programs like W.Bloggar to post to your Tabulas instead of using the AWESOME NEW CONTROL PANEL.

Apparently the first real API was LiveJournal's API (which sucked, so I won't bother talking about it too much). The next evolution was Blogger's API, which allowed for very simple tasks: add an entry, delete an entry, view your last X entries, edit your entry, and set some templates.

This was later expanded with the metaWebLog API, which implemented categories and allowed you to upload media files with your entry.

Then came MT's API, which implementing trackbacks and some other useless features.

Let me just say as an independent developer, these APIs suck ASS. I could wrap my head around the Blogger API alright, but the metaWebLog API and MT API started making my head hurt. These things seem to be way more complex than they need to be. I looked at the Atom API for about 10 minutes before I threw my hands up.

These APIs are all built on-top of XML-RPC, which seems TOTALLY inefficient. You're generating tons of extra metadata just to send some basic information; I can see why people detest XML over HTTP now. It's slow and unwieldy. What's wrong with some simple POST methods?

I didn't think it'd be so friggin difficult ... but damn. I actually got parts of the API to work alright, but for now, I've deleted it all and given up. I wish I had money so I can sponsor the development of a private client so I could write my own (really simple) API that could take advantage of all the cool Tabulas features.

. . .

Another FedEx story: I sent in a shipment for a package on November 28th. Expected ship date Dec. 7th (not bad). It is now Dec. 6th, and it is still sitting in its original location. AWESOME! This would make FedEx 0/4 in terms of getting packages to me on time. Could there be a worse company?