dave astels

I’m pleased to say that we are opensourcing our C++ xUnit-style framework. See the official announcement.

In my first foray into the world of online Tshirts, I placed orders with StylinOnline and MakeUSmile Tees. Both orders were processed smoothly and arrived quickly.  I’m very happy with them and thought I’d mention it.  Go check out their wares. 

George Carlin passed away last week.

The world is suddenly a less funny and more politically correct place. He will be missed.

Check the weather on Mars courtesy of the Canadian Space Agency.

A friend of mine, Misko Hevery, has written a very cool opensource tool for analyzing Java projects and scoring them in terms of how testable they are. His plans are to have it point out what’s wrong, and make suggestions as to what you can do to improve the situation.

Check it out: Testability Explorer

Well worth looking at.

I thought I should let everyone know that, although things will never be”back to normal”, I’m feeling great.

I’ve been back to work for almost 2 weeks. The diabetes is under control and my blood glucose level is where they should be. Getting used to the new routine of finger pricks and injections hasn’t been an issue, which was a very pleasant surprise. Dietary changes weren’t overly onerous… just the portion management being the biggest change.So, all in all, things are going well. I’ve even started learning Mac/iPhone development and Spanish.

Dave

I came close to death last week. Such a thing gives one pause to think…

Life is too fragile to waste on bland food, bad music, cheap wine, weak coffee, unpleasant women, undue rushing about, and poorly written software.

… I’m just sayin’, is all.

Carpe Diem

I was reading a food related email thread in gmail and it suggested this link.  I was intrigued so I checked it out.  It just got me mad.  And so I blog.

How totally lame… look at the poor cute piggy… gimme a break.  That tactic doesn’t open my wallet for poor 3rd world kids… and it isn’t going to close my wallet at the butcher section.

I was a vegetarian for close to 14 years… almost 14 years of no meat.  A good chunk of that with no eggs or cheese.  You know all I have to say about that? (listen up because I don’t say this lightly) I WAS WRONG.

My culinary world is simply exploding these days… I’m discovering a lot that I’ve been missing in the wide world of food.  I think Anthony Bourdain sums it up nicely: 

“If it’s slower than me, dumber than me, and tastes reasonably good… pass the salt!”

In response to Peta, I offer you this link: The Bacon Show

Go forth and enjoy that smokey, salty, piggy goodness.

Now, don’t get me wrong.. I have nothing against folks that abstain from meat (or just pigs) for religious or cultural reasons.  Personally, I don’t understand the idea of putting meat in Indian food.  There are plenty of examples of simply excellent indigenous vegetarian cuisines.It’s the peta style vegetarians that I have issues with.

Hmm.. I’m hungry now… a sandwich would be good… I think I have some ham in the fridge.  Yum! 

Arthur C. Clarke passed away yesterday in Sri Lanka.  He is one of a handful of authors I remember vividly and fondly from my childhood & teen years of reading one scifi novel after another. See An appreciation of Arthur C. Clarke on the Official Google Blog.

Several people have asked me for the source from my last book “TDD: A Practical Guide”. A lot has happened since that book, and the files from it that were once posted on the Saorsa & Adaption sites were lost. Unfortunately I’ve had to tell people that the source was now longer in existence.

Well, today I was doing some routine housekeeping and… Huzah!!! I found a zip of those very source files. For anyone who has been looking for them… I’m pleased to say that I’m making them available at long last. You can download it here