gistfile1.rbx

#!/usr/bin/env ruby

require 'rexml/document'
require 'open-uri'

def load_results(url = "http://d.yimg.com/b/data/us/news/xml/elections/2008a/pres.xml")
  doc = REXML::Document.new(open(url))
  nodes = doc.elements.collect("//state") { |node| [node.attributes["name"].downcase, node.elements.collect("cand") { |cand| [cand.attributes["name"].downcase, cand.attributes["PopPct"].to_f, cand.attributes["PopVote"].to_i] }] }

  votes = {}
  nodes.each do |state, results|
    votes[state] = {}
    results.each do |cand, pct, vote|
      votes[state][cand] = [pct, vote]
    end
  end

  votes
end

old_votes = load_results("pres.xml")

while(true) do
  # load the results feed
  votes = load_results

  # loop through and compare it to the old results
  votes.each do |state, cand|
    cand.each do |c, val|
      # puts "c: #{c}"
      # puts "val: #{val}"
      # puts "old c: #{old_votes[state].inspect}"
      # puts "old c: #{old_votes[state][c].inspect}"
      unless old_votes[state][c] == val
        puts "Results changed: #{state} - #{c}: #{old_votes[state][c].inspect} => #{val.inspect}"
      end
    end
  end

  # set this as old_votes
  old_votes = votes

  # wait 5 minutes
  puts "-----"
  sleep 300
end