[TXT] Match Results via Text Message and E-Mail

[Greg Marra]

The Blue Alliance
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Match Results via Text Message and E-Mail
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You may have recently seen that The Blue Alliance will be posting live match updates to Twitter from now on. The same change to the code base also enables another feature - live match updates via e-mail. And guess what? A phone has an e-mail address at which it can receieve text messages. If you can't make it to the Championship and want to follow along with your team, or want to stay up-to-date on another team, this service will text message you after each match that that team plays in.

It's in beta (there have been no events to test it with yet), so I am not sure how it is going to work out. Sending an e-mail takes a fairly long amount of time once you have to send a few hundred or thousand at once. For this reason, I am going to slowly phase in people as they register. When you sign up, the system will tell you you are verified, but I am going to leave all subscriptions disabled, then turn them on a few at a time during the Championship as I see the system can handle it. I'll do this first-come-first-serve, but if things aren't working out you might not get any text messages at all. Thanks to your help testing though, we ought to be able to roll this out fully-fledged for next year's competitions!

Also, since it's in beta, if receiving text messages cost you money, you may want to be wary. While I have tested everything and it seems to be behaving properly, I wouldn't want something to break and you to get 100 text messages (there are a couple hundred matches played during the Championship...) that you have to pay for.

If you want to sign up for e-mail or text message notifications, go to http://www.thebluealliance.net/tbatv/notifications/ and fill out the form. You may find e-mail formats for various carriers on Wikipedia. The final interface will make this easier, but it's beta, so I haven't written it yet.

If you sign up, just give a shout in this thread so I can keep approximate tabs on interest from Chief Delphi. Please provide any feedback, issues, or suggestions in this thread.

Thanks!

[JohnBoucher]

Cool!!!!!! You guys rock

But the yellow box for the address is impossible to read

[Racer26]

I just signed up to watch 1114 and 2056, since I wont be in ATL myself. 2008 may just be the year CMP is won by an alliance with TWO canadian teams...

[Greg Marra]

Originally Posted by JohnBoucher

But the yellow box for the address is impossible to read

Can someone please post a screencap of this? It isn't displaying yellow for me in Internet Explorer or Firefox. If it's displaying difficultly to read, please post your system specs (browser and operating system) and a screencap so I can figure out why.

Thanks! I am glad you guys are excited about this feature - I am too

[JohnBoucher]

Originally Posted by Greg Marra

Can someone please post a screencap of this? It isn't displaying yellow for me in Internet Explorer or Firefox. If it's displaying difficultly to read, please post your system specs (browser and operating system) and a screencap so I can figure out why.

Thanks! I am glad you guys are excited about this feature - I am too

It's the Auto Fill from the Google toolbar. I uninstalled it and it's no longer yellow. Can you change the name of the input box so the tool bar does not assume what it is?

[Elgin Clock]

I just signed up, can't wait to get some results sent to my phone!
wooo!! Another valuable service by TBA!

[Greg Marra]

Originally Posted by JohnBoucher

It's the Auto Fill from the Google toolbar. I uninstalled it and it's no longer yellow. Can you change the name of the input box so the tool bar does not assume what it is?

Excellent detective work!

I have changed "address" to "emailaddress". Hopefully this resolves it.

Thanks!

[Barry Bonzack]

I just signed up for a couple teams. I'll sign up for a few more after I know who my Fantasy FIRST picks are.

This is one very cool service, I will be judging FTC teams all Friday, and won't be able to cheer on my teams or know how they are doing. A few weeks ago I was at the Philly regional, an I had Doug Leopard on 1902 send me texts after every match so I could keep up with them as well. Mr. Leopard, your job has just been outsourced to technology! (I have a feeling he doesn't mind)

[BBnum3]

This is awesome! I'll be at class almost all of Friday and won't be able to check the matches. Thanks a lot guys!

[Herodotus]

I've signed up for 217, 27, and 1114. I'd sign up for more but I figure I don't want to get totally swamped with messages.

This is a really awesome idea, Thank you to the guys at TBA.

[Alivia]

Can I just say how AWESOME this is?!
Unfortunately, I won't be able to attend the Championships, and I have class on Friday, so this will definitely help me keep up with all that's going on when I'm not by my computer!!

=]

[Battering_Ram]

i am most likey technologically declined and the answer is prolly really simple but my adress isn't working. help!

1. do i want mms or sms
2. is the one before all necessary? 10 or 11 digit number
3. phone is us cellular

thanks in advance

[BandChick]

I have a question about this..
I understand the "every phone has an email address," but my question actually wraps around the "text message" status. Is it really a TEXT or is it a DATA message. The difference in pricing on a cell phone are EXTREMELY different. It's something between 50 and 70 cents per data message, where most people have a standard text plan.

I really want to sign up for this since I'll be stuck at FTC all day, and I'd like to know how my kids are doing. But, I don't want to incur 10 dollars worth of data fees because I assumed text message, and that's not what they were.

[JBotAlan]

Originally Posted by BandChick

Is it really a TEXT or is it a DATA message.

I am pretty sure this depends on what gateway you use. For instance, with Verizon, using the (number)@vzwpix.com address would send it as a pix message every time--if plan-less, this costs much more than txts do. But if you use (number)@vtext.com, it appears to send as a text (and does so VERY quickly, I might add... cool!)

Neato!
JBot

[zachjo]

Originally Posted by JBotAlan

I am pretty sure this depends on what gateway you use. For instance, with Verizon, using the (number)@vzwpix.com address would send it as a pix message every time--if plan-less, this costs much more than txts do. But if you use (number)@vtext.com, it appears to send as a text (and does so VERY quickly, I might add... cool!)

Neato!
JBot

US cellular is free for all incoming texts but I am not so sure if that is true if you are in a roaming area.

PS: your avatar is awsome. Did this really happen or is it a demo only?