ping.py

#!/usr/bin/env python
# requires root

import subprocess
import shlex


command_line = "ping -c 3 www.altsci.com"
args = shlex.split(command_line)
try:
    subprocess.check_call(args,stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
    print "Alt Sci is up!"

except subprocess.CalledProcessError:
    print "Failed to get ping"