I believe that phaxmohdem originally was using some script to do something similar to what your are doing. There was a link in his sig but in recent months it was no longer valid.
As for why he stopped....it's anybody's guess. I always thought lack of activity in the threads was the culprit and I'm as guilty as anyone else is. I could be wrong but I always felt that both he and GLeeM sort of got the feeling their efforts weren't appreciated so why bother. I could be wrong thinking that and I certainly don't think it's the case that they weren't appreciated by everyone here. Usually I checked the threads daily but for some reason or another didn't log in all the time to post in them.
This forum has changed a lot over the years. Since I've returned to TA F@H this place is completely different from when I left. Some members are very active but as a whole activity in the DC forums is way off.