AnandTech FS/FT Thread Notifier
It occurred to me recently that there are lots of threads deals in the AnandTech For Sale / For Trade forum. Some of these are great deals, some of these are not so great. One thing I’ve found is that the great deals usually go VERY fast, and usually to the members that peruse that forum often.
So I looked for a way to be notified of new threads somehow from their software. There is a somewhat functional RSS feed of the posts in that forum, but that does little to help notify of new deals or threads. Moreover, that feed doesn’t even list how many views or replies any given thread has.
So, I developed a simple web application with PHP that reads the main page of the FS/FT forum, parses out the threads, along with links, views and replies for each, then stores them in a MySQL database. It checks the forum once every five minutes, and updates as necessary. I built a frontend for easy viewing, and made an RSS feed for automating the retrieval process. I consider it “finished” for a 1.0 release, all of my original goals were met. A “1.5″ release might include e-mail notifications, time intervals spanning 1/2 hour, 1 hour, 3 hours, 6 hours, 12 hours, 24 hours. We’ll see if it takes off before I spend more time developing it.
So without further adeiu, I present the unofficial AnandTech FS/FT Thread Notifier.

Phil Said,
November 2, 2006 @ 11:16 pm
Yo dude, you need to put some ads on that, you might make your bandwidth back! BTW please fix your feed, it does not parse well with Google Reader, like it freaks out and does nothing. I think it’s a standard thing.
Phil Said,
November 2, 2006 @ 11:21 pm
Erm nevermind about the Google Reader thing, it works now
Peas
Raybdbomb Said,
November 2, 2006 @ 11:24 pm
I think before I could put ads on there, I’d probably have to clear it with AnandTech, as it’s their content.
Plus, I’m not in it to make money. I have plenty of unused cycles and bandwidth
Pastore Said,
November 3, 2006 @ 6:15 am
FS/T: Cingular 8125 Smart Phone *Mint Condition*
> Also: Games; 10/100 NICs; ATI 9600 Pro; 1GB CF Card; Round Floppy Cables; iPAQ Car Charger
1 reply, 15 views
Cached a minute ago
Just noticed this… This is my thread, but the “Also” part doesn’t appear anywhere in what I wrote. I think It’s a bug. Just an FYI.
Brandon Said,
November 3, 2006 @ 9:21 am
Nice tool Ray.
Raybdbomb Said,
November 3, 2006 @ 10:01 am
haha
Phil Said,
November 4, 2006 @ 9:31 pm
Yes, Ray, you do have a nice, tool ….
btw, eusef.com is back up and happy, and hosted not by me!
Raybdbomb Said,
November 5, 2006 @ 12:40 pm
Ah, good deal.
Teh Blarg » Relative Date vs Absolute Date, Relative Date with PHP Said,
December 6, 2006 @ 1:43 pm
[...] So, I would argue that more often than not, relative is better than absolute. Awhile back, I created a thread notifier script which utilizes a relative date difference function in PHP. I honestly don’t remember where I found it, but if it’s YOURS, let me know and I can give you credit. [...]
Teh Blarg » Forum FS/FT Thread Notifier Said,
January 11, 2007 @ 5:21 pm
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