Programmatically make Amazon purchase? - amazon-web-services

Is anyone aware of an Amazon API that allows you to purchase items programmatically?
I looked at tons of their web services (Product Advertising, MWS, etc.), and none of them seemed to do this.
I found this thread that seemed to suggest there was no solution, but there was no definitive answer: https://forums.aws.amazon.com/thread.jspa?threadID=45127
Just to be clear, I want to make a purchase with MY payment details, not on behalf of any user. I figured if ANYONE supported this, it would be Amazon. But I realize there may be business (security?) reasons not to support this as well...

http://www.zinc.io/ shows that it is, in fact, possible to do this.
I've read around the net that you could do this by sending crafted _GET responses, although I, myself, am currently trying to figure out which ones to send.

UPDATE 2019/12/10 Even though my answer was accepted as the best answer it's outdated. Please see this answer: https://stackoverflow.com/a/17180929/799155
It's not possible – I guess for a bunch of security reasons. Read through the thread you posted in your question ;)
Lorraine#AWS, Aug 13, 2010 2:02 PM
Amazon does not offer APIs to place a customer order. Neither a
Corporate Account or the Associate Program will allow you to build the
type of solution you are describing.
Lorraine#AWS, May 13, 2011 4:17 PM
Amazon still does not offer this service, to the best of my knowledge,
and this isn't something I would ever expect to see included in the
Fulfillment Web Service which is specific to the FBA program.

Related

Group Chat Solutions With AWS

EDIT: The original question asked for a real-time solution. I am not sure this is necessary. It should be about as fast as sending a standard SMS text message.
I want to integrate group chat in my android / ios app. There is a similar question found here, but the answers are old and I would like to see if there are any new / better solutions.
I am currently using multiple AWS services in my app, and would like to keep my chat solution in the same ecosystem. However, if there is a solution outside of AWS that is much easier to implement with good results, I am open to the suggestion.
Based on my research I have come across a couple of possibilties:
This AWS blog lightly covers using ElastiCache for this purpose
This LinkedIn slideshow demonstrates the possibility of using AWS IoT
Requirements for my chat:
Would like to be able to support up to 500 people per chat group
Usable from the web via online portal that has the same general functionality as the mobile app
Needs to be scalable to handle thousands of groups
Needs to handle emojies (cross platform)
Needs to allow for file transfers. Images and GIFs at the very least.
Send push notifications to users who have elected to recieve them when they are not currently active in the group
Are either of my possiblities a good fit for my requirements? Which would be the easiest to implement? Are there other, easier solutions inside of AWS? Outside of AWS?
Take a look at https://github.com/tinode/chat
It's not a 100% what you want but close. There is a third-party DynamoDB adapter for it: https://github.com/riandyrn/chat
I am posting this answer to close the question. I ended up switching from AWS to Google Firebase in order to use the Real Time Database.
There is a chat example here that might help anyone that stumbles onto this question.

Email server on AWS EC2

High level, what I'm tying to do:
We want to create a specific email address for each of our customers on our domain name (example customer01#xyz.com). When an email is received at that address, our system will associate the attachment with that customer and process it a certain way. The email addresses will only be used for this purpose, so I don't really need a user interface or anything (although it might be nice to have for troubleshooting).
I've just started using AWS and have an overall understanding of the services. I'm planning on doing this on an EC2 instance.
I'm assuming it's possible to set up a mail server (incoming mail only) to constantly monitor all the customer specific email address and process any attachments that come in.
Where do I even start with researching this (I've Googled it but need more direction)? Here are some questions that come to mind:
1) What mail server software is best for this? Or is this even needed?
2) Is it possible to write code to monitor the incoming email for ALL email addresses simultaneously? I don't mind buying existing software if it fits our needs.
I'm a programmer myself but will not be coding this project. I'll be hiring someone from Elance but I want to at least have a general knowledge of what is needed before posting the job.
Thanks for any advice or links to helpful sites to get me in the right direction here.
Your requirement concentrates on processing the received Incoming Emails. AWS doesn't have any out of the box service / solution. Amazon Provides SES - Simple Email Service, which will help you deliver emails.
You need to build your solution on SMTP Servers like MS Exchange or Apache James etc.
This product: http://www.email2db.com/ should do what you want. You could install it on EC2 or even use their hosted edition. Not cheap, but I suspect a lot cheaper than hiring someone to write something with 1/10 the features.
There are some cloud services that provide such solution like Mailgun or Mandrill. Presonally I've only used Mailgun and it's awesome. You setup routing rules based on regexp on a domain and you can set them up to be redirected as a POST to your website. Both providers have a free tier of 10-12k mails per month wich is great.
Regards,
Marc

microsoft shared point like web site

My friend asked me if it is possible to build a web site like Microsoft shared point for his planning startup company. He want to share doc with his employees. I think the reason he asked is Microsoft is too expensive. I have no idea right now for this. Anybody knows anything about this? thanks,
EDIT:
Because docs shared are sensitive (contains SSN and other sensitive data), security should be good enough.
If he just wants to share file he could try Box.net or dropbox. Box.net also have simple workflows with tasks.
I use Google Docs quite often and it is very useful. You can also setup a wiki and attach docs as needed.
Microsoft SharePoint Foundation is free and comes with a host of features.
Tell your friend to sign up for Microsoft BizSpark. This is a free program from Microsoft specifically for startups and will give them access to a whole suite of software for free for 3 years (with a $100 charge at the end). This includes SharePoint.
I would recommend a combination of Google Sites and Google Docs. It's free, it's easy, and it eliminates the need to maintain the hardware and other infrastructure associated with a site, much less something as heavy-weight as Sharepoint.

Amazon Web Services: where to get help?

I'm working with Amazon's Product Advertising API and need some help on a few issues. The questions I have posted on SO and Amazon developer forums have gone unanswered. Where can I find help?
Looks like your best bet is going to be to pay amazon for support: http://aws.amazon.com/premiumsupport/
My guess is that there aren't many people using that API hence the problem getting regular programmers to help you. This is evidenced by a notice on the main AWS page (https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/advertising/api/detail/main.html) about a number of discontinued API operations and responses due to low usage.
"low usage" in this scenario is usually marketing speak meaning "no one except that one guy in Minnesota".

A website offering (R)DBMS as service?

Couple of days ago I came across a website that offered (R)DBMS as a service. I did not find it useful at that moment. Now I might have changed my mind and I just can't find that website anywhere in the browser history.
I recall that it only required an email address to send you the db/account info to. And there was the line "yes, that's it/all" or something like that.
Anyone knows that website?
P.S.: I'm sorry, I know this is not what people typically ask at SO, but I think other developers might know more likely than anyone else.
Are you thinking of Amazon RDS?
Could it be CloudBoost.io? You can even check this directory out, as ErikE suggested. :
Was it FathomDB, perhaps?
Perhaps the Database as a Service Product Directory could be helpful to you.