Trying to get Craigslist updates via text message... help?: Off-topic discussion forum: Grassroots Motorsports Magazine

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Sept. 26, 2010 9:36 a.m. Taiden Reader

Yesterday I narrowly missed a good running 4 cyl 4x4 5 spd 91 yota with sticker for $1200. I missed it by an hour. This will not happen again.

So I got the evil idea of using Craigslist RSS feed function to somehow get updates on my phone via text message.

My plan was this:

RSS feed > RSS 2 email service > my tmobile email (###@tmomail.net)

Simple, right? Problem is every RSS 2 email service I have found either updates once a day, or sends the account confirmation in HTML which screws the pooch on the text message end.

Does anyone have any ideas? There used to be a few free RSS 2 SMS services but they all went belly up.
Sept. 26, 2010 9:59 a.m. pinchvalve SuperDork

I think that the Craigslist App for the iPhone will do that. Maybe. Not sure. Too lazy to check. Sorry.
Sept. 26, 2010 10:24 a.m. 3Door4G Reader

Do you have a smart phone? Most smart phones have some sort of CL app available.
Sept. 26, 2010 10:51 a.m. Taiden Reader

I actually don't have a smartphone, plus all of the CL apps I have seen don't have push notifications for new updates as far as I know. I had a smartphone once and it was awful, I used to check facebook like once every five minutes. Push via text would be better for my health.
Sept. 26, 2010 11:27 a.m. Osterkraut Dork

Will Google Reader work?

It's powered my Craigslist searches for years now.
Sept. 26, 2010 11:44 a.m. Tom_Spangler Reader

Taiden wrote:

I actually don't have a smartphone, plus all of the CL apps I have seen don't have push notifications for new updates as far as I know. I had a smartphone once and it was awful, I used to check facebook like once every five minutes. Push via text would be better for my health.

Craigsnotification for Android does. I get a little peace symbol up in my notification bar every time a new listing comes up that matches my saved searches.
Sept. 26, 2010 12:01 p.m. Taiden Reader

Osterkraut wrote:

Will Google Reader work?

It's powered my Craigslist searches for years now.

I've been toying with it, and I can't seem to get it to send updates via email (which I can easily go from email messages to SMS)

Tom_Spangler wrote: Craigsnotification for Android does. I get a little peace symbol up in my notification bar every time a new listing comes up that matches my saved searches.

Must... not... take... on... smartphone... monthly... fees...

Right now I"m trying to write a python script that will handle all this for me, but this is somewhat hilarious because I haven't written code since I was 12 and then it was Tic Tac Toe made up of over 100 if then statements.
Sept. 26, 2010 12:05 p.m. Taiden Reader

Hey Tom, how quick does it update?
Sept. 26, 2010 12:33 p.m. Tom_Spangler Reader

Taiden wrote:

Hey Tom, how quick does it update?

I seem to get a notification within an hour or so of an ad being posted.
Sept. 26, 2010 4:55 p.m. Taiden Reader

Tom_Spangler wrote: I seem to get a notification within an hour or so of an ad being posted.

Yeah. I just finished up mine and it's behind by about 15-20 minutes.

racinginc215 wrote:

An hour hell I'd bought the rx7 18 minutes after had been posted.

Yeah, exactly why I need the fastest guns in the west.

Anyway, for those who are curious. I can't program worth crap, but I wrote a Python script to check an RSS feed of a craigslist search every 2 minutes until it notices a change. When that change happens, it texts me the subject of the ad. I'm working out a way for it to strip the phone number out of the body and send it too, but that will likely be much later as this works very well.

It tends to be about 15 minutes behind the post, depending on when the post was made. Sometimes it's 3 minutes behind, but longest seems to be about 15 minutes.
Sept. 26, 2010 9:17 p.m. Osterkraut Dork

Jailbroken iPhone on TMobile? Well played, good sir!
Sept. 26, 2010 10:47 p.m. Taiden Reader

Osterkraut wrote:

Jailbroken iPhone on TMobile? Well played, good sir!

and also why I don't have a data plan or any of the typical iphone goodies