Perhaps the best part of this project is the domain it’s hosted on: roastporkeggfooyoung.com. Aside from that, this project aimed to alleviate the burden of constantly checking CraigsList for new ticket postings of events users want to attend.  Users enter their mobile number, a keyword/keywords describing their chosen event, and the max price they are willing to spend. Our php script parses the CraigsList RSS feed every minute for listings that match those criteria. For a better user-experience, we decided to eliminate from the running those tickets listed for $1. When a match is found, the users is alerted via SMS. The SMS contains a link to matched post. From there it is up to them to coordinate with the seller.

The more technical side (reading from here down is optional):

Since we are using Textmarks for this service, we were a little concerned that the KEYWORD to 41411 plus the whole online form would be a little too much for users. The way the rules go with texting is that one cannot send a message to someone who has not asked for it or expressed their allowance of it. The work-around we came up with has been pretty successful even though MMA guidelines would not approve. It involves assigning numbers 1-3 to users in the database depending on “which state of signed-up” they are. The different possible states are as follows:

1: User has submitted on-line form

2: We have sent user a confirmation message

3: User has replied “Y” confirming that we can send them text messages

Even though that sounds a little complicated, it makes thing easier for the user since we are intiating contact.

Here is the initial web form.
If it is your first time, or you have never responded “Y”, you are considered a “1″ in the database.
Otherwise, you skip right to a “3″… yay!

This script runs every minute and looks for users who have not been sent the initial message (They are still a “1″), sends it, and then changes their sign-up status to “2″.

The initial CraigsList parser code looked like this. We are getting all new posts within the user’s price range for the previous one hour and sending them all at once.

This version, which Josh did a lot of finessing on, gives up to the minute updates… Even before they are posted to CraigsList!!