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Who I am and where I am June 2016



From time to time I find it helpful to mention where I am and how I got here. I have been pretty quiet since 2010 but I used to say a lot of stuff in public.

For the past year I have worked for Salesforce.org, formerly the Salesforce Foundation, the independent entity that administers the philanthropic programs of Salesforce.com. My team creates free open source software for the benefit of non-profit organizations.  I create and maintain automated browser tests in Ruby, using Jeff "Cheezy" Morgan's page_object gem.  I'm a big fan.

My job title is "Senior Member of the Technical Staff, Quality Assurance".  I have no objection to the term "Quality Assurance", that term accurately describes the work I do. I am known for having said "QA Is Not Evil".

Before Salesforce.org I spent three years with the Wikimedia Foundation , working with Ċ½eljko Filipin  mostly, on a similar browser test automation project , but much larger.

I worked for Socialtext, well known in some circles for excellent software testing. I worked for the well known agile consultancy Thoughtworks for a year, just when the first version of Selenium was being released. I started my career testing life-critical software in the US 911 telecom systems, both wired/landline and wireless/mobile.

I have been 100% remote/telecommuting since 2007. Currently I live in Arizona, USA.

I used to give talks at conferences, including talks at Agile2006, Agile2009, and Agile2013. I've been part of the agile movement since before the Manifesto existed.  I attended most of the Google Test Automation Conferences  held in the US. I have no plans to present at any open conferences in the future.

I wrote a lot about software test and dev mostly around 2006-2010. You can read most of it at stickyminds  and TechTarget , and a bit at PragProg

I hosted two peer conferences in 2009 and 2010 in Durango Colorado called "Writing About Testing". They had some influence on the practice of software testing at the time, and still resonate from time to time today.

I create UI test automation that finds bugs. Before Selenium existed I was user #1 for WATIR, Web Application Testing In Ruby. I am quoted in both volumes of Crispin/Gregory Agile Testing , and I am a character in Marick's Everyday Scripting.