a (very ugly) lua script that utilizes notify-send and other stuff to get the fp-ticker to GNU/Linux

fp-ticker.lua

#!/usr/bin/env lua
require "socket"
http = require "socket.http"
require "ltn12"
require "json"
require "state"

conf = state.load "fp-notify"

if not conf or arg[1] == "--reconfigure" then
	if not conf then
		print("Seems like this is your first time launching fp-notify!")
	end
	conf = {}
	print("Let's set things up!")
	print("List the threads you want to follow! One ID per line. When you are done, press Ctrl+D")
	conf.following = {}
	while true do
		local id = io.read("*l")
		if not id then --[[ ctrl+d pressed ]] break end
		conf.following[id] = true
	end
	io.write("Do you want to get alerts when mentioned? [Y/n] ") io.flush()
	if (io.read("*l") or ""):lower() == "n" then
		conf.mentionalerts = false
	else
		conf.mentionalerts = true
	end
	print("That's it! Let's get this party started!")
	conf.lastpost = 0
end

function genTickerUrl(post)
	return "http://www.facepunch.com/fp_ticker.php?aj=1&json=1&startpost=" .. post
end
function genAvatarUrl(id)
	return "http://75.101.147.23/image.php?u=" .. id
end
function alert(title, message, picture)
	return os.execute(("notify-send -i %q %q %q"):format(picture, title, message))
end

repeat
	local body, code, headers = http.request(genTickerUrl(conf.lastpost))
	if code == 200 then
		body = json.decode(body)
		for _, post in ipairs(body) do
			if post.username then -- this is only nil if the post isn't avilable to you. like gmf posts.
				if conf.following[post.threadid] or
					(conf.mentionalerts and post.mentioned) then -- alert tiem!
					-- first, let's download the user avatar.
					if not io.open("/tmp/fp-notify-avatar-"..post.userid) then
						http.request{
							url = genAvatarUrl(post.userid),
							sink = ltn12.sink.file(io.open("/tmp/fp-notify-avatar-"..post.userid, "w"))
						}
					end
					-- now, let's alert
					local title
					if conf.following[post.threadid] then
						title = "A thread you're following got a new post!"
					elseif post.mentioned then
						title = "You were mentioned in a thread!"
					end
					alert(title, ("Post #%s by %s in %s"):format(post.postid, post.username, post.threadname or post.postid), "/tmp/fp-notify-avatar-"..post.userid) -- sometimes the ticker makes post.threadname null. oh joy!
				end
			end
			conf.lastpost = post.postid
		end
	else
		print(body)
		break
	end
until os.execute("sleep 5") ~= 0 -- the os sleep is used because when it's cancelled, the while loop exits instead of the whole script. sure it's ugly, but so is your face.

print "\nExiting..."
state.store("fp-notify", conf)