Calais Yahoo! Pipes Web Service - Overview and Operation

Introduction

The OpenCalais Web service can analyze text and provide rich semantic data for submitted text. With Yahoo! Pipes users can easily create custom RSS feeds. The Calais Pipes Service allows Yahoo! Pipes users to enrich their custom RSS feeds with semantic metadata.

Users have two options for using the Calais Pipes Service:

1. Install and configure the Pipes Service on your own server.
2. Select the "Web Service" Pipe template from Yahoo! Pipes and paste the link below. Replace "[Your Calais API Key]" with a valid Calais API key and be sure to remove the square brackets).

http://pipes.opencalais.com/CalaisPipes/CalaisPipes?licenseID=[Your Calais API Key]&richLinks=true

This document describes the Calais Pipes Service and offers guidance on its operation and optimization, regardless of the option you select. Companion documentation provides instruction if you choose to install and run it on your own server.

About Calais

The OpenCalais Web service analyzes text and provides semantic data such as:

• Names of persons mentioned in the text
• Names of companies mentioned in the text
• Events described in the text such as bankruptcies and mergers

The results of the analysis can later be used to evaluate the text, by humans or machines. For example, a person interested in news stories relating to a specific merger, might find the Open Calais semantic analysis useful in determining the relevance of a specific article. More information about Calais can be found at http://www.opencalais.com.

About Yahoo! Pipes

Yahoo! Pipes allow users to create custom RSS feeds by combining information from various sources. For example, a user can combine two different RSS feeds into a single feed, or filter out specific items from an existing feed.

The customized feeds are created using the Yahoo! Pipes editor and are free to use for anyone with a Yahoo! ID. It is possible to extend Yahoo! Pipes functionality by providing Web services that introduce functionality not available in the editor.

For more on Yahoo! Pipes visit http://pipes.yahoo.com.

Calais Yahoo! Pipes

Calais Yahoo! Pipes Web Service extends Yahoo! Pipes' functionality by allowing the following:

• Add brief semantic data to feed items' descriptions in human readable form
• Redirect feed items' links to the Calais Semantic Proxy, where the original item text will be presented with full semantic data information

For example, consider the following RSS feed item from CNN as it is presented in Google Reader:

Using Calais Pipes Service the item will be changed to the following:

Clicking on the item will lead either to the original story on CNN.com or to an enriched version of it on the Calais Semantic Proxy. This depends on the pipe creator.