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README.md

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+# Conference Check Script
+
+This Python script checks if the websites for future tech conferences are live.
+It is designed to be run from a cron job. If a conference website is live, the
+script sends an email notification.
+
+## Requirements
+
+- Python 3
+- Requests library (`pip install requests`)
+
+## Usage
+
+1. Clone the Git repository containing the script:
+
+   ```bash
+   git clone https://git.4angle.com/edward/conference-check.git conference-check
+   ```
+
+2. Modify the `conferences` list in the script to include the conferences you
+   want to monitor. Each entry should be a tuple containing the conference name
+   and its URL.
+
+3. Configure the email settings in the script:
+
+   - `MAIL_FROM`: The email address from which notifications will be sent.
+   - `MAIL_TO_NAME`: The recipient's name.
+   - `MAIL_TO_ADDRESS`: The recipient's email address.
+   - `SMTP_HOST`: The SMTP server hostname.
+
+4. Set up a cron job to run the script periodically. For example, to run it every hour:
+
+   ```bash
+   0 * * * * /usr/bin/python3 /path/to/conference-check/script.py
+   ```
+
+## Script Description
+
+- The script uses the `requests` library to make HTTP requests to the
+  conference websites.
+
+- It checks for specific messages in the website content to determine if the
+  website is not live (e.g., "404 Not Found" or "500 Internal Server Error").
+
+- If a conference website is live, the script extracts the web page title and
+  sends an email notification with the conference details.
+
+## Customization
+
+You can customize the script further by modifying the following:
+
+- `not_here_list`: Add or remove messages that indicate the website is not live.
+- `AGENT` and `headers`: Modify the user-agent and headers used for HTTP requests.
+
+## Example
+
+Here's an example of how to add a conference to the `conferences` list:
+
+```python
+("Example Conference", "https://example-conference.com/")
+```
+
+## License
+
+This script is provided under the MIT License. You can find the full license
+text in the `LICENSE` file.
+
+## Author
+
+Edward Betts (Contact: edward@4angle.com)