F5stuck RSS Client - Save Your F5 Key

[Eco-Mono]

So after getting truly addicted to MSPA, I ended up writing a little program to avoid having to check the site for updates at all hours. It's a Pesterchum icon that sits in the corner of your screen all , but quickly changes to once it notices that an UPDATE has come in. The whole thing is written in Python (so it's theoretically compatible with any OS, whether Linux, Mac, or Windows), and is designed to put as little strain as possible on Andrew's servers. And I figure since I have this thing, I may as well share it with the class.

Instructions
1) Install Python (you can download it here; choose one of the Python 2.something options that fits your OS)
2) Install WXPython (you can download it here; choose the "binary" that matches both your OS and the python version you downloaded in step 1 (it will probably be Python 2.7))
3) Unzip http://swansong.determinismsucks.net/f5stuckw.zip to any directory you want.
4) Open/run the file f5stuck.pyw in that directory. If that doesn't work, try running f5stuck.py instead.

When you run it, the pesterchum face should appear in the corner of your screen. Double-clicking it will take you to the website to view whatever the latest update might be, or to the most recent page if there isn't any update it hasn't already reported. A face means that it can't access the server - that might be MSPA going to a Fedora Test Page, a problem with your internet connection, or a bug on my part.

Let me know if you have any trouble with this, or if it was useful to you!

[Varinn]

dang, now everyone can be almost as fast as me, but you havent got a clue how lucky i am on that f5 key.


lucky....or fated??

[gingerale]

Haha, nice work. Although I prefer being alerted on IRC. xD

[HawterThan]

I had some trouble running it until I renamed it .pyw
Seems to be fine now.

Running win7 64bit w/ python 2.6

[Eco-Mono]

I had some trouble running it until I renamed it .pyw
Seems to be fine now.

Running win7 64bit w/ python 2.6

I have updated the zip file with a pyw version as well as a py version.
Thanks for figuring it out.

[Nocturne]

nifty! now if only it could text my phone... or directly input updates into my brain.

[HellaBro]

There was a thread for a homestuck twitter feed and you can get it to your phone. It's usually late though

[julianjames7]

Aw man, now I won't be the only one to be notified within a minute of an update.
But hey this is a pretty cool thing, and probably way better than my quickly-hacked-together shell script.

[HellaBro]

You never were the only one!

[julianjames7]

You never were the only one!

Really? I wasn't aware of any other update scripts.
Unless you're talking about people who just do nothing but refresh the home page constantly?

[HellaBro]

There's others, most prominent is John Egbot in IRC

[orngjce223]

Egbot checks every five minutes or when someone says "update". If this client checks more often, you could theoretically outrun said 'bot - but in practice, people tend to call "update" quite a bit.

[HawterThan]

You can set it to check with an interval that is anything inbetween 30 to 300 seconds.
Default is 60 seconds.

[Lord Bob Bree]

I'm guessing this won't pick up when the temporary page is replaced?

[HawterThan]

If the RSS feed gets updated, it'll work.

[Klown]

I'll try this when I get home. I'll have a little problem since Pesterchum App Icon is the same as the updated icon, but I guess it'll work.

[NOVA]

I use GoogleRSS's client and the built in RSS feed, and descend did NOT update for me.

So it's likely [?] ??????? won't update for me or anyone else.

[Miff]

Although I'm 0kay with Google Reader for myself, may I suggest changing the icon to something that won't conflict with PesterChum?

[min]

I don't use Pesterchum, so I'm using this right now. Obviously haven't seen it in action yet, but it's really dang cute sitting there on my screen.

[dky.tehkingd.u]

Okay... everything works EXCEPT the obnoxious pop-up..... ehh

[Klown]

Yeah, I setted it to pop-up when the site updates, but it don't.

[Varkarrus]

I want this, but not enough to install python. I think I'll wait, but nice idea anyways. :P

[SquirrelPants]

I want this, but not enough to install python. I think I'll wait, but nice idea anyways. :P

I agree. I'll continue destroying my F5 button. I've already killed five or six keyboards that way. (just kidding)

[Drillgorg]

Thanks a bundle! I can't use my F5 button because I have a laptop, so F5 just ups the screen's brightness. This is great!

[Miff]

Thanks a bundle! I can't use my F5 button because I have a laptop, so F5 just ups the screen's brightness. This is great!

You're using a Mac? I think the command there would be [that key with the weird loopy thing that you people use instead of ctrl]+R.