A PowerShell script to spit out a random Marvel Superhero when called. This is great for random server naming and automation.

Get-Hero.ps1

#Hat Tip http://www.virtuallyghetto.com/2014/02/having-some-fun-with-marvel-comics-api.html

#Instructions: Aquire a Marvel API key from https://developer.marvel.com and place them in lines 63 & 64. Import this module into a VM build script and call Get-Hero to grab a random Marvel super hero.

#Imported Get-Hash function (credits http://dbadailystuff.com/2013/03/11/get-hash-a-powershell-hash-function/)

function Get-Hash
                                                                                                                                                                                                    {
    Param
    (
        [parameter(Mandatory=$true, ValueFromPipeline=$true, ParameterSetName="set1")]
        [String]
        $text,
        [parameter(Position=0, Mandatory=$true, ValueFromPipeline=$false, ParameterSetName="set2")]
        [String]
        $file = "",
        [parameter(Mandatory=$false, ValueFromPipeline=$false)]
        [ValidateSet("MD5", "SHA", "SHA1", "SHA-256", "SHA-384", "SHA-512")]
        [String]
        $algorithm = "SHA1"
    )
    Begin
    {
        $hashAlgorithm = [System.Security.Cryptography.HashAlgorithm]::Create($algorithm)
    }
    Process
    {
        $md5StringBuilder = New-Object System.Text.StringBuilder 50
        $ue = New-Object System.Text.UTF8Encoding
 
        if ($file){
            try {
                if (!(Test-Path -literalpath $file)){
                        throw "Test-Path returned false."
                }
            }
            catch {
                throw "Get-Hash - File not found or without permisions: [$file]. $_"
            }
            try {
                [System.IO.FileStream]$fileStream = [System.IO.File]::Open($file, [System.IO.FileMode]::Open);
                $hashAlgorithm.ComputeHash($fileStream) | % { [void] $md5StringBuilder.Append($_.ToString("x2")) }
            }
            catch {
                throw "Get-Hash - Error reading or hashing the file: [$file]"
            }
            finally {
                $fileStream.Close()
                $fileStream.Dispose()
            }
        }
        else {
            $hashAlgorithm.ComputeHash($ue.GetBytes($text)) | % { [void] $md5StringBuilder.Append($_.ToString("x2")) }
        }
 
        return $md5StringBuilder.ToString()
    }
}

function Get-Hero 
{
    #You can obtain a Marvel API key from https://developer.marvel.com
    $MarvelPublic = "your public key"
    $MarvelPrivate = "your private key"
    $MarvelRandom = Get-Random
    $MarvelOffset = Get-Random -Maximum 1484

    #Form the hash as Marvel requires 
    $tohash = $MarvelRandom.ToString() + $MarvelPrivate.ToString() + $MarvelPublic.ToString()
    $md5 = Get-Hash -text $tohash -algorithm MD5 

    #Call the API gatway
    $url = "https://gateway.marvel.com:443/v1/public/characters?&offset=$MarvelOffset&limit=1&apikey=$MarvelPublic&hash=$md5&ts=$MarvelRandom"

    $results = Invoke-WebRequest $url 

    $superheros = $results.Content

    $output = ConvertFrom-Json $superheros

    #Remove spaces from the results
    ($output.data.results.name).Split(" ") | ForEach {
        $SemiCleanHero += $_  
    }

    #Remove periods from the results
    ($SemiCleanHero).Split(".") | ForEach {
        $CleanHero += $_  
    }

    #Only include anything to the left of a parenthesis 
    $CleanHero = $CleanHero.Split("(")[0]

    return $CleanHero
}