url.py

import re, urllib
def openurl(number):
    base_url = "http://www.pythonchallenge.com/pc/def/linkedlist.php?nothing="
    url = base_url + str(number)
    webpage = urllib.urlopen(url)
    body = webpage.read()
    if not re.search('^and the next nothing is', body):
        print body
    return re.search('\d+$', body).group()

counter = 0
number = 12345

while counter < 400:
    if number == 16044 or number == '16044':
        number = int(number) / 2
    number = openurl(number)