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Working random fact generator

Terminal - Working random fact generator
lynx -dump randomfunfacts.com | grep -A 3 U | sed 1D
2009-05-05 07:52:10
User: xizdaqrian
Functions: grep sed
0
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Working random fact generator

This is a working version, though probably clumsy, of the script submitted by felix001. This works on ubuntu and CygWin. This would be great as a bash function, defined in .bashrc. Additionally it would work as a script put in the path.

Show sample output | Add to favourites | Report as malicious

Alternatives

There are 2 alternatives - vote for the best!

Terminal - Alternatives
wget randomfunfacts.com -O - 2>/dev/null | grep \<strong\> | sed "s;^.*<i>\(.*\)</i>.*$;\1;"
2010-03-30 23:49:30
User: tali713
Functions: grep sed wget
Tags: Shell programming bash Linux sed wget grep unix shell redirection pipes cygwin bsd
13
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Working random fact generator

Though without infinite time and knowledge of how the site will be designed in the future this may stop working, it still will serve as a simple straight forward starting point.

This uses the observation that the only item marked as strong on the page is the single logical line that includes the italicized fact.

If future revisions of the page show failure, or intermittent failure, one may simply alter the above to read.

wget randomfunfacts.com -O - 2>/dev/null | tee lastfact | grep \<strong\> | sed "s;^.*<i>\(.*\)</i>.*$;\1;"

The file lastfact, can then be examined whenever the command fails.

Comments (1) | Add to favourites | Report as malicious
wget randomfunfacts.com -O - 2>/dev/null | grep \<strong\> | sed "s;^.*<i>\(.*\)</i>.*$;\1;" | while read FUNFACT; do notify-send -t $((1000+300*`echo -n $FUNFACT | wc -w`)) -i gtk-dialog-info "RandomFunFact" "$FUNFACT"; done
2010-04-02 09:43:32
User: mtron
Functions: grep read sed wc wget
Tags: Shell programming bash Linux sed wget grep unix shell redirection pipes cygwin bsd
1
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Working random fact generator

extension to tali713's random fact generator. It takes the output & sends it to notify-osd. Display time is proportional to the lengh of the fact.

Comments (1) | Add to favourites | Report as malicious

Know a better way?

If you can do better, submit your command here.

What others think

how come the original command didnt work in ubuntu is it because of the egrep ????

I have the other synatax running great in my RHEL5 server...

Comment by felix001 211 weeks ago

I'm not sure. I couldn't get it to work at all with the egrep command. Thx for the vote.

Comment by xizdaqrian 211 weeks ago
links -dump randomfunfacts.com | sed '/+-/,/+-/!d'

a better version, since some funfacts may contain over one line.

Comment by talkiwalki 210 weeks and 3 days ago

i like that ;9

Comment by xptonix 207 weeks and 3 days ago

-1 Fails to work on a Mac with macports lynx.

Comment by Rabbit67890 189 weeks and 2 days ago

right after I try talkiwalki's version...

Comment by Rabbit67890 189 weeks and 2 days ago

Only talkiwalki's version works on a mac with the macports links.

Comment by Rabbit67890 189 weeks and 2 days ago

This is a little bit more straight forward and may due to site design stop working but is less finicky by far than relying on a text renderer or positional reference.

wget randomfunfacts.com -O - 2>/dev/null | grep \<strong\> | sed -e "s;^.*<i>\(.*\)</i>.*$;\1;g"
Comment by tali713 164 weeks ago

Your point of view

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