Newsletters
January 2007
Newsletter #21
Greetings AWS Developers,
We hope you and your families rang in the new year with fun and festivity. Some AWS updates: Amazon EC2 is still in limited public beta; we’re working very hard to enable new users as soon as possible. In the meantime, Amazon EC2 users can check out the recently launched AMI sharing feature. If you’re currently using the Alexa services, we’ve got an important migration reminder in this newsletter, so please be sure to read on. As usual, we have some exciting new AWS applications to share with you, care of your peers, and a variety of opportunities to meet up with our evangelist team. Enjoy!
Kathrin Jackson
Amazon Web Services
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Amazon EC2: Share Your Amazon Machine Images (AMIs)
If you’re currently in the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) beta community, you and your peers can now benefit from a larger pool of pre-built Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) by sharing your AMIs with others. An AMI is a packaged environment that includes all the necessary bits to set up and boot Amazon EC2 instances. The more AMIs are shared, the faster the community can innovate. After you’ve shared your image, advertise it to other developers in the Resource Center. We hope you’ll contribute yours!
Read the tutorial to help you share your image.
Browse existing public AMIs in the Resource Center.
Alexa Web Services: AWIS and Alexa Top Sites Migration Reminder
As announced on October 4th, 2006, we’ve made some improvements to the Alexa web services to include additional data. We’ve also launched a new web service, Alexa Web Search, into which the AWIS WebSearch operation was moved. The previous versions of the AWIS and Alexa Top Sites APIs, in addition to the WebSearch operation (as a part of AWIS), will be retired on January 15th, 2007.
The new APIs use an ‘Action’ parameter instead of ‘Operation’. If you are still making calls with ‘Operation’, you will need to update your software. The technical documentation and code samples for each of the Alexa services have been updated to demonstrate how to use the new APIs.
In general, converting to the API involves 4 simple steps:
1. Change the service endpoint to its new value (http://awis.amazonaws.com, or http://ats.amazonaws.com)
2. Rename the ‘Operation’ parameter to ‘Action’
3. Remove the ‘Service’ parameter
4. Change your Signature to be based only on Action value and Timestamp
Alexa Top Sites Technical Documentation
Solutions Catalog Highlights – What Your Peers Are Building
Browse through some of this month’s additions to the Solutions Catalog – everything from digital marketplaces to innovative new communication technologies and Amazon seller integration support, all built using AWS.
Chinswing (beta)
A global message board where anyone can add voice messages to ongoing topical discussions. Share your personal interests or hobbies, debate hot issues or find answers to questions. Chinswing combines features of podcasting, text forums and live voice chat to create a whole new way to talk. Built using Amazon S3.
A digital marketplace for independent media creators. Musicians, filmmakers, and more can upload, promote, and sell their digital works. Built using Amazon S3 and Amazon EC2.
Ixtens’ Item Content Manager for Amazon
A complete middleware solution that seamlessly integrates a seller’s backend infrastructure with the Amazon platform. As a proven Amazon integration solution in the US and UK, ICM provides an extensive range of functionality such as automating processes, scheduling of tasks and a comprehensive product and order management feature set. Built using Amazon ECS.
Not listed in the Solutions Catalog yet? Start with our community co-marketing. Check out the AWS blog for more news about AWS developers and their applications.
Got PR?
We’re proud to openly support the AWS community’s achievements. Two voices of excitement for your businesses are more powerful than one, and our PR group is happy to be the second voice. To assist you with your PR, tell us about your AWS-powered business or application, and that you’d like some help. Read more about PR and other co-marketing opportunities, and if you’re already doing your own PR, please consider mentioning that you’ve built your business using our services.
Upcoming Events
Mashup University and Camp – Cambridge, MA
January 15-18, 2007
Jeff Barr and Jinesh Varia
Pacific Northwest Access Developers Group – Redmond, WA
January 16, 2007
Mike Culver
Vancouver BC .NET User Group – Burnaby, BC
January 17, 2007
Mike Culver
“Web Services in a Post Web 2.0 World”
SoCal Code Camp – Fullerton, CA
January 26-27, 2007
Jinesh Varia
Victoria .NET Code Camp – Victoria, BC
January 27, 2007
Mike Culver
USC Upsilon Pi Epsilon – Los Angeles, CA
January 30, 2007
Jinesh Varia
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