Chris Struble Writes

Today I took the big step today of creating a Patreon page to get support for writing my novel. Check it out. https://www.patreon.com/chrisstrublewrites I don't need financial support for my writing right now, but who knows what the future will bring. This is laying one brick in a foundation I may need if I become a full time writer. UPDATE: I am no longer using the Patreon platform. Please check out my Ko-fi page at: https://ko-fi.com/chrisstrublewrites

Yesterday I released Ruby Test Generator, a model-based testing (MBT) tool written in Ruby, to open source. It is available here: https://github.com/testdruid/ruby-test-generator This is the tool I mentioned in the  paper I presented at the Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference last October. I am grateful my employer, Meteorcomm LLC, for giving me permission to release this tool to open source. I created this tool last year when I could not find another MBT tool for Ruby. So I wrote my own. It uses an open source MBT tool called GraphWalker  to generate tests, and can execute code in a Ruby class to drive test inputs to software.

The collapse of the 305-meter Arecibo radio telescope this week was a great loss to science and to the world. The telescope was built the year after I was born. I first learned about it when I was a boy.  The telescope made many great discoveries. One of its first was to prove that Mercury rotated one every 59 Earth days, when scientists at the time thought it rotated once every 88 days. It made the first maps of Venus, detected the first binary pulsar, and the first extrasolar planet. It was used multiple times in the ongoing  Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence . I remember reading that it could have detected a signal sent from a radio telescope of equal size and power to itself transmitting from clear across the galaxy. It sent the first powerful signal into deep space. I will never forget the scenes in the movie Contact that were filmed there.  The Arecibo telescope was a wonder of American science and an inspiration to millions. I sincerely hope that is re...

My paper and presentation from the PNSQC 2020 conference are now available for download from my author page at the conference web site. Links follow. Author Page Paper Presentation The video isn't posted yet. I will post a link to that when it is available.

I hope this Thanksgiving morning finds you well wherever you are. I will start by acknowledging that I am living on the unceded lands of the Duwamish people. For many native Americans, Thanksgiving is a day of remembrance. The UUA has shared a family story called The Story of Tisquantum  in that spirit. As I write I am watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade with my wife and daughter. This is one of our family traditions, even though we have never been to New York City and don't usually shop at Macy's. I will spend a few moments reflecting on just a few of the things I am grateful for this year. I am grateful that the peaceful transition of power to the Biden-Harris administration has started, and that competent people are being named to deal with the challenges facing our country. I am grateful for all my family members at this time of family gatherings. I am grateful for doctors, nurses, and other health workers who continue to work hard to save lives during this pand...

I have started a new blog for an issue I have been thinking about for a long time: how to end Daylight Savings Time and what we should replace it with. Take a look:  https://permanentstandardtime.blogspot.com/

Today, news media all over the world called the presidential election for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. I am grateful to all the voters who turned out to participate in this election, and to all the election workers who continued to count votes under enormous scrutiny, long hours, and in some cases, threats of physical violence against them. There were moments during this campaign when I sometimes wondered if our democracy would survive. It not only survived, it came back roaring. I am especially grateful to Black Americans who supported the Biden-Harris ticket in such huge numbers. Kamala Harris' election to Vice President is historic. She will be not only the first woman, but the first African-American and Asian-American to hold that office. I am proud of my country for supporting her. It is time to heal this country. It is time to do the hard work to repair the damage that the outgoing President has done to our country. It is time to tackle the challenges before us: coronavirus, ...