Silk Road forums
Discussion => Security => Topic started by: NeutronMan on June 14, 2012, 07:29 pm
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I been noticing these API things in all these bitcoin websites, it says stuff like, you can use our API, here it is. Is that for like using it to accpet bitcoins for legitimate uses like if you have a website where you sell stuff? Stuff that wouldn't be seen dead in a place like this!
Neutron Man
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API = Application programming interface.
It's a way of allowing applications to communicate to eachother.
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Would depend on the API, for example in SR how it automatically shows you the real-time conversion rate between BTC and USD. Is there a specific API your referring to?
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I been noticing these API things in all these bitcoin websites, it says stuff like, you can use our API, here it is. Is that for like using it to accpet bitcoins for legitimate uses like if you have a website where you sell stuff? Stuff that wouldn't be seen dead in a place like this!
Neutron Man
Sorry, I should of payed more attention to your question. Yes, for legitimate or illigitamate uses. For example, MTGOX has an API you can use to fetch all kinds of information. So let's say you wanted to set up an online store and tie prices to the USD. Simple calls to MTGOX api for the weighted average ( or whatever metric you choose to use ) allows you to dynamicly list items in BTC for the going rate as opposed to a static amount.
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Would depend on the API, for example in SR how it automatically shows you the real-time conversion rate between BTC and USD. Is there a specific API your referring to?
Yeah, like you said, showing the real-time conversion rate between BTC and USD. How can I write the code that will allow me to do this on a website> Like say I want to sell all these widgets and I want to accept bitcoins, but I don't feel like fucking with going to mt cocks, seeing the rate and doing calculations, then emailing the sucker (I mean customer) telling him how many coins to send, before the rate changes and I have to start all over again?
Is this even possible?
Meister, I think I responded to another one of you rposts about how to apply vpn and tor together, so if you getta chance, if its not askin too much, can you tell me about that too? I feel like pickin brains today.
NM
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I been noticing these API things in all these bitcoin websites, it says stuff like, you can use our API, here it is. Is that for like using it to accpet bitcoins for legitimate uses like if you have a website where you sell stuff? Stuff that wouldn't be seen dead in a place like this!
Neutron Man
Sorry, I should of payed more attention to your question. Yes, for legitimate or illigitamate uses. For example, MTGOX has an API you can use to fetch all kinds of information. So let's say you wanted to set up an online store and tie prices to the USD. Simple calls to MTGOX api for the weighted average ( or whatever metric you choose to use ) allows you to dynamicly list items in BTC for the going rate as opposed to a static amount.
ManaFromHeaven, you responded while I was wriitin to meister. Thank you. Is it hard to do? I'm no computer geek, but I have been known to write some intersting javascripts in teh past. Is it as gard as that? Do I just have to go to Mt gox and see the api thing for myself?
NM
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Sorry for my spelling, I write too fast and miss all the keys!!!
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Depending on what ecommerce solution your using it might already be available. I prefer Magento, and there are several extensions to do this for Magento, but this one linked below supports all the major ecommerce solutions from Magento, Zen Cart, osCommerce, Open Cart, Yahoo Cart. There are some for Wordpress so I would imagine Joomla would have the same as well.
http://paysius.com/plugins
As to your VPN question, this is what I replied with in the other thread:
I don't want to give too many details for my VPN, but I use VMware on a Ubuntu VM. For Windows you would most likely use VirtualBox. There are plenty of guides on there that will go far more in depth than I would be able to here, but you can make your own VPN from an older PC which is safer and much less expensive.
If you're interested in doing this, I would recommend going to http://www.wilderssecurity.com and browsing over the many topics on setting up a VPN with Tor.
If you want to pay for a VPN provider, I'd look for reviews as there are many out there, here's a few popular choices:
https://www.vpntunnel.se/
http://secure.cryptohippie.com/
https://xerobank.com/
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Is it hard to do? I'm no computer geek, but I have been known to write some intersting javascripts in teh past. Is it as gard as that? Do I just have to go to Mt gox and see the api thing for myself?
It depends on the API. Some of them are very easy to use, and some are not. A good way to think of an API is it makes a difficult programming task easier. And they often enable you to do something that would otherwise be impossible because you don't have the infrastructure or resources.
For example, I use (and pay for) and API that allows me to send SMS messages from my program. I use it to send alerts to my users based on their preferences. If I wanted that functionality from scratch, it would take tons of programming, as well as setting up a lot of advanced telecommunications equipment that I neither have the skill or money to set up. So, I pay for an API that allows me to easily send SMS messages from my program with just a few lines of code, instead of weeks or months of work.
If you have some experience with Javascript (It's actually my favorite programming language), check out Node.js. It allows you to write very powerful applications (that don't need to run in a browser) and getting it set up is pretty easy, especially if you use Linux.
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Depending on what ecommerce solution your using it might already be available. I prefer Magento, and there are several extensions to do this for Magento, but this one linked below supports all the major ecommerce solutions from Magento, Zen Cart, osCommerce, Open Cart, Yahoo Cart. There are some for Wordpress so I would imagine Joomla would have the same as well.
http://paysius.com/plugins
As to your VPN question, this is what I replied with in the other thread:
I don't want to give too many details for my VPN, but I use VMware on a Ubuntu VM. For Windows you would most likely use VirtualBox. There are plenty of guides on there that will go far more in depth than I would be able to here, but you can make your own VPN from an older PC which is safer and much less expensive.
If you're interested in doing this, I would recommend going to http://www.wilderssecurity.com and browsing over the many topics on setting up a VPN with Tor.
If you want to pay for a VPN provider, I'd look for reviews as there are many out there, here's a few popular choices:
https://www.vpntunnel.se/
http://secure.cryptohippie.com/
https://xerobank.com/
Hey thanks a lot meister, sorry I didn't see your response in the other thread first.
NM
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Is it hard to do? I'm no computer geek, but I have been known to write some intersting javascripts in teh past. Is it as gard as that? Do I just have to go to Mt gox and see the api thing for myself?
It depends on the API. Some of them are very easy to use, and some are not. A good way to think of an API is it makes a difficult programming task easier. And they often enable you to do something that would otherwise be impossible because you don't have the infrastructure or resources.
For example, I use (and pay for) and API that allows me to send SMS messages from my program. I use it to send alerts to my users based on their preferences. If I wanted that functionality from scratch, it would take tons of programming, as well as setting up a lot of advanced telecommunications equipment that I neither have the skill or money to set up. So, I pay for an API that allows me to easily send SMS messages from my program with just a few lines of code, instead of weeks or months of work.
If you have some experience with Javascript (It's actually my favorite programming language), check out Node.js. It allows you to write very powerful applications (that don't need to run in a browser) and getting it set up is pretty easy, especially if you use Linux.
Hey thanks a lot, Banjo.
NM
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Sorry for the late response but it looks like your in good hands.
As far as difficulty goes it depends on the API and your skill level with the implementing language.
Looking over the MtGox API, it looks relativly straight forward. You can even implement it JS. The best thing to do would be to read over the API and dive in. Diving into a language is the best way to learn it, in my humble opinion. Good luck!