Script to inform about new updates in OpenSuSE

Some time ago I wrote a script that informs me via e-mail, when zypper finds new updates. Now I'd like to share the script (actually there are two scripts: a main Perl script and a Shell script as wrapper).

An advantage of my script is that it informs you only once, if there are new updates and not every time you start it. It is achieved due to the storing the last result in the file system. The next time you'll get an e-mail is, when the script finds a newer update as found before.