In a similar way, we use Kimono for tracking changes to a few sites, which don't have an RSS or an API. I am pleasantly surprised to see Kimono can deal with hairy forum html.
I think our team uses kimono with zapier to trigger an email alert (similar to the OP using twilio to alert himself).
I wonder how much of the human side of this process could be automated. Would be cool to see something like this where it automatically sends message to potential sellers, etc -- and you're only notified when there's actually a possible purchase to be made.
There is a question of at what point is this against the spirit of Burning Man, as the author mentions. Not really sure where to draw that line myself--maybe it's at the point of communicating with other burners?
how do you figure? I would ask the author the same question.
To me, building a robot to get yourself a Burning Man ticket is the definition of radical self-reliance.
I get the non-commoditification, gifting economy as a goal, but the demand for tickets outstripped the supply long ago. If you want to go, you have cleverness alone to get to the front of the pack. I'd feel building a robot to get the jump would be worlds better than allowing a scalper to profit from the purchase.
I think our team uses kimono with zapier to trigger an email alert (similar to the OP using twilio to alert himself).
I'm really happy with Kimono!