--- type: "article" title: "A Week of Being Kin Lane - July 22nd 2026" newsletter: "Kin Lane" newsletter_handle: "kinlane" newsletter_url: "https://usecommune.com/n/kinlane" author: "Kin Lane (@kinlane)" published: "2026-07-22T20:34:08.914Z" canonical_url: "https://usecommune.com/n/kinlane/a/9ZohcybD" markdown_url: "https://usecommune.com/n/kinlane/a/9ZohcybD.md" chat_url: "https://usecommune.com/n/kinlane/a/9ZohcybD/chat" body_source: "native" likes: 0 replies: 0 body_words: 1109 --- # A Week of Being Kin Lane - July 22nd 2026 I didn't write a newsletter last week, and I'm two days late this week. I've been focused on my work, and just haven't really felt like narrating the Kin Lane story. But I like having my world documented as a sort of journal, so I am pushing myself to make happen it happen this afernoon. It has been really, really, really smokey in NYC. The fires in Canada have pushed in smoke and combined with the heat and humidity, going outside has been brief. It triggers flashbacks from fires in Oregon, but with a unique humidity that makes me just want to stay inside with the AC. ![](https://fmxorstnlyoqpqdftivs.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/article-images/b5b20b52-814d-4df4-b9cd-8194e82ae3b2/bb57ba71-4e34-4f72-8824-3a81c2c9c895/1784751627547-loo6s4e4.jpeg) I came across the Juggler from Another World the other day in feeds. It spoke to me. It reminds me of what I juggle in my mind each day which often feels like it is out of this world and in a time and space that does not quite match with the year we live in. I love these random images and storie sfrom Atlas Obscura--they always make me think. ![](https://fmxorstnlyoqpqdftivs.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/article-images/b5b20b52-814d-4df4-b9cd-8194e82ae3b2/bb57ba71-4e34-4f72-8824-3a81c2c9c895/1784751665320-mr4vua9h.webp) There are always a number of side quests that occur throughout my week, but last week I feel down a rabbit hole around how you could make the City of New York programmable. Building on my existing open data and API experience, but considering how information can flow more freely to help meet the needs of your average New Yorker. [![NYC Data Liberation](https://fmxorstnlyoqpqdftivs.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/article-images/b5b20b52-814d-4df4-b9cd-8194e82ae3b2/bb57ba71-4e34-4f72-8824-3a81c2c9c895/1784751700776-8nxo04g0.png)](https://nyc.apievangelist.com/) I went to Munich, Germany the previous week for an APIDays conference. It was some of the usual suspects from the API community there, but there was also a bunch of locals. I spent my time MC'ing 5 separate tracks, while also giving a keynote, and participating in a panel. Munich is a lovely town, and the API energy is much more nourishing than it is here in the US right now. ![](https://fmxorstnlyoqpqdftivs.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/article-images/b5b20b52-814d-4df4-b9cd-8194e82ae3b2/bb57ba71-4e34-4f72-8824-3a81c2c9c895/1784751798331-dft2lyxg.jpg) On our regular farmers market excursion every Sunday we stop at a butcher's booth to acquire chicken feet and pig ears for Ms. Poppy R. Lane. She absolutely loves them, and I don't mind spending $25.00 each week on them for her. The look on her face when I am at the booth and the ways she dances for joy when I give her one just makes my heart swell. Sure do love her. (And Audrey too!) ![Look at That Smile While I Buy Pig Ears!](https://fmxorstnlyoqpqdftivs.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/article-images/b5b20b52-814d-4df4-b9cd-8194e82ae3b2/bb57ba71-4e34-4f72-8824-3a81c2c9c895/1784751837088-nfmtv652.jpeg) During the last week we've noticed two robots mowing the central park lawn. They are small and don't appear to be doing very much. They don't move very fast and seem very sedated to me. I am skeptical, as I was with the Roomba that they actually do very much. Most robots seem to just be theater and are there to appeal to us men who are in the procurement and decision making positions within the parks department. ![Mower Robots Coming For Us!](https://fmxorstnlyoqpqdftivs.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/article-images/b5b20b52-814d-4df4-b9cd-8194e82ae3b2/bb57ba71-4e34-4f72-8824-3a81c2c9c895/1784751869166-oq9zsjrf.jpeg) I just finished a sci-fi fantasy book from N. K. Jemisin called The Fifth Season. It is first in an award winning trilogy. I love her world. I love the way she plays with the timeline. The characters didn't speak to me like Rin in the Poppy Wars, but they are all very compelling. Audrey has bought me physical copies of the next two books in the series, and I'll be losing myself there this week. [![The Fifth Season](https://fmxorstnlyoqpqdftivs.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/article-images/b5b20b52-814d-4df4-b9cd-8194e82ae3b2/bb57ba71-4e34-4f72-8824-3a81c2c9c895/1784751904630-7roqvhcv.webp)](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0316229296?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback) After finishing The Fifth Season I came back to reality and began reading Enshittification, by Cory Doctorow. Back to the real world. Most of it I already know, but Cory has some new stories I hadn't hear yet. He has a well thought out argument that goes well beyond the word we've all begun throwing around. I haven't finished it yet, but I am looking forward to hearing what some of his suggestions are for how we change the direction of the tech space, because I've pretty much given up home that we can do anything but burn it down. [![Enshittification](https://fmxorstnlyoqpqdftivs.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/article-images/b5b20b52-814d-4df4-b9cd-8194e82ae3b2/bb57ba71-4e34-4f72-8824-3a81c2c9c895/1784751960011-zyfu5n90.jpg)](https://www.mcdbooks.com/books/enshittification) My work on API Evangelist is going really well right now. I am the happiest with my website as I have been in 16 years. It has all the sections and information I want. I have a wealth of research at my fingertips on what is happening across the API space. I am working on exactly what I want to be working on. I have a clear vision of how I am going to generate revenue. I just have to stay the course. I have a lot more work to be done over the summer, but I have an amazing foundation. [![API Evangelist](https://fmxorstnlyoqpqdftivs.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/article-images/b5b20b52-814d-4df4-b9cd-8194e82ae3b2/bb57ba71-4e34-4f72-8824-3a81c2c9c895/1784752038380-a7ievv8e.png)](https://apievangelist.com/) Similar to API Evangelist, my work on my API search engine [APIs.io](http://APIs.io) is leaving me pretty pleased. I have invested some serious time and money into the index of companies and the APIs they offer. I have roughly ~25K companies and ~75K APIs, as well as a number of other compelling artifacts to support semantics, pricing, and many other dimensions that people care about. It makes me happy to see the search engine come to life and I am releasing several times a week, improving the data, the website, API, and my approach to how I make sense of the API realm at scale. [![APIs.io, the API Search Engine](https://fmxorstnlyoqpqdftivs.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/article-images/b5b20b52-814d-4df4-b9cd-8194e82ae3b2/bb57ba71-4e34-4f72-8824-3a81c2c9c895/1784752051763-46yx8vne.png)](https://apis.io/) The focus of much of my work this week has been on what I am now calling the "Kin Score". It is a rating system for APIs I have been developing since 2014, but recently have found the approach, data, and narrative I need to do it right. I've been applying to companies and their APIs across API Evangelist, and using it to drive the search on [APIs.io](http://APIs.io). I am convinced I will be able to use it to shape many different "horse races" across different industries right now and force investors, and their startups to demonstrate they are able to deliver all of the agentic AI functionality they've been talking about. [![Kin Score!](https://fmxorstnlyoqpqdftivs.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/article-images/b5b20b52-814d-4df4-b9cd-8194e82ae3b2/bb57ba71-4e34-4f72-8824-3a81c2c9c895/1784752103810-xpgja3hs.png)](https://apievangelist.com/rating/) I am in a good place right now. Enjoying the summer in NYC. I did shave my beard off though. It has been unbearably itchy with the heat and humidity. I went and got a haircut today and came back without the beard. Audrey said, "I prefer bearded Kin". :-) \<3 Me too. I think I look goofy without a beard. But I don't care what I look like. I care about how I feel right now. And it feels so much better without a beard in this summer heat. I'll grow it back in September. "If the beard gave knowledge or if the white beard made the wise, the goats would all be doctors." - An Armenian Proverb *** ## Discussion No replies yet.