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View Full Version : Use Automator and AppleScript to get the New York Times for free



austinbond
Sep 5, 2007, 11:40 PM
Hey guys,
I found this site: http://www.nytimes.com/pages/todayspaper/index.html
where the NYT publishes ever article from that day's paper on the same page. If one could use some Automator and possible AppleScript, on could legally download all of the articles from the site, and skip out of paying the $600 a year. This is again legal because the NYT has "Print This" links on all of its articles.

I'll explain what I've done so far in hopes that someone can use it to finish this project. First I opened Automator and I used these actions:

Get Specified URLS...with the url supplies above >>> Get link URLs from Webpages >>> Get text from Webpages

I got an error that looked like this:
sh: -c: line 1: unexpected EOF while looking for matching `''
sh: -c: line 2: syntax error: unexpected end of file (2)

I asked a friend and he mentioned I would need AppleScript which I know nothing about. Please if anyone could help me build this workflow I would appreciate it very much.

My hope is to have the final product universal where I won't need to tweak at all everyday when I run it, and that all the pages are just the text of the articles to save on space and distractions. Then I hope to print, or read it directly off my new MacBook.


austinbond
Sep 7, 2007, 03:37 PM
Anyone think this is possible?
MongoTheGeek
Sep 7, 2007, 06:27 PM
Anyone think this is possible?

Possible and easy.

I've done essentially that in Obj-C before. I've done similar in AppleScript.

There are commercial products out there that scrape websites as well.
austinbond
Sep 7, 2007, 10:18 PM
Possible and easy.

I've done essentially that in Obj-C before. I've done similar in AppleScript.

There are commercial products out there that scrape websites as well.

Thanks for replying! I'm glad to hear my theatrical ideas aren't just that :)
If it is easy, could someone take it up a project...I don't have any money as I spent it all on this new toy, but it would be very helpful to me and I'm sure other geeks who can't spend $600 on newspapers. I love blogs, but I need some unbiased opinions every once in a while (as unbiased as the NYT gets) and I want to know what I am reading is free of libel. Also, the NYT has a history of revealing those things that some men want covered up and I think it is important for everyone to know when they are getting swindled. I understand that I could just read it everyday directly on the site, but I would like something that could take all the messiness and put it into a PDF, for me to print out or read it directly from the display.

If anyone is just looking to show off their abilities, please consider helping me, and possibly many others.
bluebomberman
Sep 9, 2007, 12:49 PM
It would just be easier to register with an .edu email address.
mkrishnan
Sep 9, 2007, 12:52 PM
It would just be easier to register with an .edu email address.

Do you get free access to premium content if you do that?

I just read the Times online daily. I save PDFs when I want them. But I don't subscribe to the select / premium content. Does that content run in physical print?
bluebomberman
Sep 9, 2007, 01:11 PM
Yep.

http://nytimes.com/gst/ts_university_email_verify.html?mkt=tsmmlink3
mkrishnan
Sep 9, 2007, 01:29 PM
Thanks! I just signed up. :)
austinbond
Sep 9, 2007, 02:57 PM
It would just be easier to register with an .edu email address.

Yup it's a great service they offer students; just wish I had in a portable offline version that didn't cost so much.
bluebomberman
Sep 9, 2007, 03:28 PM
Yup it's a great service they offer students; just wish I had in a portable offline version that didn't cost so much.

Hmm...I suppose an iPhone/iPod Touch is not what you're looking for?
SC68Cal
Sep 11, 2007, 11:16 PM
What about just using wget?