This is a time capsule for your text messages. Send a text to (650) 830-0777 and, after some amount of time, you'll get the same message back. No todo lists or otherwise mundane texts allowed - send your future self those curious, strange and fascinating moments you would otherwise forget.

Tell the time capsule when to resend the message by adding a special sequence at the end. For example, send a message like and the sun sank red through the hills and clouds %5d 8h 20m 7s and your words will return in five days, eight hours, twenty minutes and seven seconds.

Not all of those parameters are required - you could just add %7d at the end to see your note-to-self again in a week's time. But take care - the spaces between the parameters after the % sign are required.

This is a Flask app built with Twilio and Mongo. It was partially built at the tail end of Disrupt 2011 as 'never forget this text.' Read more at http://yosemitebandit.com/projects

setup

Here's how to setup your own server to receive and then resend texts:

• you will need a twilio account with a verified phone number

• point the incoming SMS callback to this app's twilio endpoint

  • expound..

• make a virtualenv and install some dependencies

  $ virtualenv --no-site-packages /path/to/virtualenvs/never-lib
  $ pip install -E /path/to/virtualenvs/never-lib mongoengine
  $ pip install -E /path/to/virtualenvs/never-lib apscheduler
  $ pip install -E /path/to/virtualenvs/never-lib flask
  $ pip install -E /path/to/virtualenvs/never-lib requests
  

• copy the sample never settings config file out of the repo and edit it with your settings

• point an env var to your config file with:

  $ set NEVER_SETTINGS=/path/to/config.py

• copy the sample supervisord config file out of the repo and edit it as well

go-time

• start mongo:

  $ mongod --fork --logpath /path/to/mongodb.log --logappend --port 12345 --bind_ip 127.0.0.1

• use supervisord to start the flask server and supervisorctl to control it

  $ supervisord -c /path/to/supervisord.conf

should-fix

• mongo jobstore so jobs persist - test this separately; things are fishy..
• flesh out the twilio setup section above
• better error-handling..it's always better error-handling
• test s,m,h,d
• test messages over 140 chars
• fabfile

would-be-nice

• get a random text from your past
• tack on when the message was sent originally?
• twilio takes a few seconds to send the text - account for this with an offset?