Calling Latest X Threads into Ticker

[Morsolo]

Hey guys,

I recently set up a nice 'snazzy' news ticker on the bottom of my sites forumhome page.

The problem is, the best I could do, was have it all manual. The code in my forumhome template is as follows:

<div id="ft_ticker">
	<ul id="ticker01">  
		<li><span>DATE</span><a href="">LINK TO THREAD</a></li>
		<li><span>DATE</span><a href="">LINK TO THREAD</a></li>
		<li><span>DATE</span><a href="">LINK TO THREAD</a></li>
	</ul> 
</div>

Is there a way to code it so that it will automatically call the latest "X" number of threads from the "Y" forum; and preferably with a "post date" that goes where the "DATE" is.

I've spent the past few hours trying to do it myself via searches and trial & error to no avail, am I just missing something easy, or is there some 'serious business' involved?

Thanks
- Morsolo