Free NFL Updates Service - Live!

NFL Updates service is live (officially over for the week)!

Instructions:
The SMS Service is just an AIM Bot, this is due to money constraints and ease of programming for me. The bot is written in Java, and there are two ways of contacting/communicating with it. The first, is signing onto AIM using your phone and talking to the screenname below, or you can also directly communicate with the bot without signging onto AIM. The two methods follow.

Method A:

• Sign onto AIM using your phone's built-in or 3rd pary application.
• Send the command (written below) to XxBeholdBotxX.

Method B:

• Send an SMS to 265010 with the format "xxbeholdbotxx:message".
• If asked to accept messages from XxBeholdBotxX, do so.
• You can now reply to this number (256***) to directly chat with the bot (see below for subscribing instructions).

HOW TO SUBSCRIBE TO NFL UPDATES:

Subscribing:
Send a message to XxBeholdBotxX with the following format: nfl -s team replacing team with the team you want to get updates for (i.e. bears, packers, vikings, lions).

Unsubscribing:
Send a message to XxBeholdBotxX saying: nfl -u

Get the score of any game at request:
Send a message to XxBeholdBotxX saying: nfl -g team

REMEMBER: This is free! It's still in BETA and if problems occur, please post them here! Also, if you don't get a message when you should, chances are I am restarting the bot due to errors I have found myself. Enjoy!

P.S. The update cycle iterates every two minutes and checks the nfl.com website for scores. Be patient if it's not instant.



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Improved Proxy/Bypass? TMobile SMS Bot? IRC2SMS Service? All this in the future?

How would you guys feel if I released something to the public: basically my website developed by myself (no forum) containing currently three (in the future - more) features that would benefit all of you for free?

Some of the features:

• Improved and enhanced T-Mobile proxy/bypass. It is currently my own, private proxy I use for surfing the web for free using the T-Mobile network. I've had it at wyndwarrior's current state for weeks before he did, making the option of much bigger future upgrades highly possible.
• A free automated SMS bot that will respond to your commands (currently only a few), something similar would be Google's SMS service. But instead, it would be more specifically aimed at T-Mobile users, and currently has a registration/database for devoted members setup (and other features; see below). Current ideas: searches, music hotlinks, video hotlinks, and best of all: FREE NFL UPDATES (because nfl.com charges you) during games.
• IRC2SMS! Basically, what it is would be connecting to an IRC network via SMS (the SMS bot being the gateway or bridge). This would mean no data plan required, just a mere texting plan (for texters everywhere). In the future, a Java application can be made to handle the incoming/outgoing IRC commands in a more user-friendly visual manner.
• Personal data gateways! As of current, this would be using the aforementioned SMS bot. What I have made thus far is a 'sc' command (screen-capture) that would capture the current screen on my monitor and send a URL of the image to my phone (the URL generated by the proxy). This allows me to see my computer's screen at anytime, anywhere! All that would be required is for the user to install a simple service on the computer granting me access to do tasks such as the above (simple, just like installing a game). Current ideas: screen-capture, shutdown/restart/hibernate, access filesystem; all from afar.

Well, that's all I have so far. All of the above ideas have been implemented to some extent, and I'm currently loving the IRC2SMS and PDW features I am privately using thanks to my personally-developed SMS bot.

Of course, I would need testers at some point. As of now, the 'bot/bridge' will be built using SMS. If I, or somebody else, could learn how Snaptu uses data transfer for free, that would be very much appreciated and a big help as I do not have a data plan to build a non-SMS bot.

So how would you feel? Would it be worth taking some of my time? Remember, this would all be free to you (donations are not required but would be generous) . Saying that, things like the bot would most likely not run 24/7 (or at least not at first).

Regarding the latter: Yes, I understand your viewpoint and have already taken this into consideration. Because I'm going to be creating the PDG system no matter what (for myself to use), I will simply allow it to be an option in which the user will choose to manually install rather than me forcing them to use it along with the other features. There can always be the argument of trust and security; but because the user will choose to install it themselves, I believe the option shouldn't be much of a problem.

Aight man i'll definitely take it, especially if its better than wyndwarrior's
Thanks xD

Sure, sounds good to me.

Thanks C411_911.  

First public release/test this week!

More information:
First public test will be on Sunday (almost all day - specific times TBA). It will be dedicated to testing my new NFL feature. What this is, is once you register with the service (free!), you can request to have constant updates on the score/state/other of ANY NFL GAME being played that day. How it works: the service will check the NFL scores on a consistent basis (probably every few minutes or so) and update a database containing the scores, then send anyone the updates they need by checking through a list of those who have signed up to use the service (remember - free!). A HUGE positive to this is that the NFL.com website charges $0.15 per update-text, while this service will be free!

Even more information (more technical) :
I have recently been rewriting the architecture of the bot. This includes rewriting the core request/command engine, allowing it to be much more flexible and efficient than it originally was. It will allow me to do MANY more things in the future, and even allow Java developers here to write up their own 'plugins', or commands!

That's all for now.

P.S. Remember, this service sends/receives information from you via SMS. A texting plan would help!

Yeah. I've been extremely busy lately. Sorry, but I won't be able to launch it publicly today.  No update on the first public launch, either.

Simply "test" it. Report any bugs or slow/bad performance or anything that is incorrect.

Although a great idea, it, unfortunately, cannot be done [with good results].

The NFL Updates service is fully functional and should be working at its fullest 100%. I will be privately testing it tonight during the last NFL game of week 5 (NY@MIA). It will be, for sure, publicly available next week along with (hopefully) a few other services/features as well.