New Notifier: 'Tell Me When'

[Fantius]

Download here: http://fantius.com/TellMeWhen.exe
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I just created a general purpose notifier tool. CC players may find it useful. Here is how I have mine setup to tell me when it's my turn in a CC game:

Interval = 1 minute
URL = http://www.conquerclub.com/rss.php?user_id=30249
Search pattern = READY

The tray icon will change when the search pattern is found in the data received from the specified URL.

The program requires that you have the .NET runtime library installed. You will get an error when you run it if it is not installed. You can get the runtime library here:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/deta ... b15c5e04f5

And you can get 'Tell Me When' here:

http://fantius.com/TellMeWhen.exe

[tals]

Very nice - works well in conjunction with the firefox notify.

Tals

[gavin_sidhu]

So how does this differ from the other notifier?

[tals]

So how does this differ from the other notifier?

The other notifier doesn't sit in the tray and change icon when a game is ready. That's what this one does - one icon if no games and a different one if a game is available. Exactly what I wanted.

Tals

[RjBeals]

Can you make the icons more distinct? Like one just b/w & one color? Other than that - it rocks!

[tals]

This needs to be added to the utilities list

[lackattack]

Hey Fantius,

I installed .Net to try out your notifier. Since I've been trained not to trust any executables I download over the internet (except from reputable sites like adobe.com) I thought I should use my firewall to see what it does.

So why does 'Tell Me When' contact IP 65.182.102.23 - It belongs to neither my computer nor CC

[Fantius]

lackattack,

Obviously you are right to not trust any old exe that you download. The program does not talk to any host other than the one you tell it to check.

The IP that you cited is owned by the hosting company that is hosting the exe. Is it possible that you still had the browser opened that you downloaded though and it was still communicating? That's the only explanation that I can think of.

Actually, I did have another paranoid thought: What if the hosting company altered the exe on it's own? To test this, I donloaded the exe from paulcrowder.net, installed and started WireShark (packet sniffer), and then ran the exe. I only saw it communicate with conquerclub's IP and my router.

If there is some better way I can check this, please let me know. Or if anyone else has checked this, please let us know your results. I certainly don't want my program doing something that I didn't tell it to do and don't want it doing.

[Fantius]

RjBeals,

I agree about the icons. Can anyone point me to a decent, free icon editor?

[Fantius]

There's a new version out there now. It has a more distinct 'pattern found' tray icon plus a couple of other minor changes.

[tals]

Thanks Fantius - great utility. I no longer use the other notifier - just this and firefox notify.

Tals

[pjdonald]

If I'm getting an "Error, the remote server returned an error..." does that mean the program is not working, or just that no games are in a "ready" status?

[tals]

My tellmewhen keeps crashing when I start it - can't start it at all. I suspect either a temp file or a registry entry has got corrupted. Can you let me know what reg entries I need to clear out.

Many thanks

Tals

[Fantius]

pjdonald,
Although I've never seen that error, my guess is that it is a problem with the remote server. Is it still occuring?

tals,
I would like to fix the bug, does it give you any error message? If you want to try deleting the settings as a work-around, look in your version of:

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Application Data\TellMeWhen

Again, I'd really like to fix the bug, so any additional info you can give me would be appreciated.

[tals]

fant I can't get to my machine at the mo - when I do i'll pm you the error message, i'm quite happy to try and resolve the issue than clean it. Or I could send you the settings files?

tals

[Ender1984]

What should I use as the URL to check? The same thing Fantius put in the original post? Or does the id number specify the player? I can't find a player id number anywhere ...

[Fantius]

In the example I used, I am checking my Conquer Club RSS feed. It sounds like you want to do the same thing. You can see your user id by looking at the number in the URL while you are viewing your profile (yours is 21522).

[gator24]

Lack can you validate this claim before i try it? It would be a great help. i hate staring at my computer doing nothing when i could acomplish things around the house.

[tals]

Lack can you validate this claim before i try it? It would be a great help. i hate staring at my computer doing nothing when i could acomplish things around the house.

I don't think any of the add on products have been 'validated'. That said as Lack did make an accusation earlier in the thread he should reply to fantius's response. It's a very good add on IMHO.

Tals

[Fantius]

I made some changes to this notifier to allow me to easily check my game status from my cell phone while I was out of my normal routine over Christmas. It can now send you an email with the subject line containing how many times the pattern was found (how many games are waiting for you to take your turn).

Then I setup my gmail account to put a special label on those messages, and created a bookmark in my cell phone to take me straight to messages with that label on them. The result is that I can now see how many CC games require my attention within 40 seconds of opening my cell phone (the initial web connect takes most of that).

The new version is hosted here (different than where it was hosted before):

http://fantius.com/TellMeWhen.exe

[Fantius]

Oh, and it also tells you how many games are ready by the appearance of the tray icon. Digits 1-9 are superimposed over the icon to denote how many times the pattern was found ("9" means "nine or more").

And an unrelated note: While your SMTP password can be saved along with the other settings, it is not encrypted before is is saved. That's why I provided the option to allow you to choose to save it or not save it.

[Fantius]

In case anyone wants to do the same thing, here is the URL I used on my RAZR phone with Verizon service to get directly to my gmail messages that are labeled "TellMeWhen":

http://mail.google.com/mail/x/?s=l&l=tellmewhen

[gator24]

thanks Tals....... read what lack said. that is why i posted. if Lack says cool then cool if he has doubts then there are doubts.

[tals]

Oh, and it also tells you how many games are ready by the appearance of the tray icon. Digits 1-9 are superimposed over the icon to denote how many times the pattern was found ("9" means "nine or more").

And an unrelated note: While your SMTP password can be saved along with the other settings, it is not encrypted before is is saved. That's why I provided the option to allow you to choose to save it or not save it.

New update is great Fantius - I love the number superimposing over the tray icon. Nice work. Great add on.

Tals

[Fantius]

gator24,
I agree, it would be nice if Lack would respond to my defense of his allegation -- either drop the charge or tell me how others (including myself) can verify what he saw.