Show-Nowcast

This command creates a NotifyIcon which displays the current nowcast from Nate Silver/ESPN's fivethirtyeight.com

By default, the NotifyIcon will poll fivethirtyeight.com every 10 minutes and displays a popup if (and only if) there is a change in percentage.

You can change the default polling by specifying -Interval (in minutes).

If you click on the icon, it will bring you directly to the fivethirtyeight nowcast page.

I also compiled the script into an .exe if you're interested. Check the .bin directory.

Screenshots

When you start the command from PowerShell, you get a lil splash screenshots/executable

Then, the PowerShell window will disappear and you'll see a toast popup telling you the current nowcast.

If you hoover over at any time, you can be reminded of the nowcast.

Was there a change in percentage in the last 10 minutes? The popup will let you know!

Examples

This is a script so just run it like a script (.\Show-NowCast or .\Show-NowCast.ps1). Note that the PowerShell window will disappear but the PowerShell process will still be running.

.\Show-NowCast

The above example creates a popup to which displays the current election nowcast for the President of the United States. Note that the PowerShell window will disappear.

Checks fivethirtyeight.com every 10 minutes and displays a popup if (and only if) there is a change in percentage.

.\Show-NowCast -Interval 60

The above example creates a popup to which displays the current election nowcast for the President of the United States. Note that the PowerShell window will disappear.

Checks fivethirtyeight.com every 60 minutes and displays a popup if (and only if) there is a change in percentage.

.\Show-NowCast -Verbose -ShowWindow

The above example keeps the PowerShell window open and shows what is happening in the background

To Quit

Right click, Exit

Bonus

Don't want to execute PowerShell? Whatever, here's an exe compiled directly from the ps1 using PowerShell Studio.