Sustainable pace?

Always been one of my favourite practices. Too bad I fail to practice it more often than I'd like to... 7 extra hours in three days, up to 2 a.m. on Sunday morning and a holiday spent working. There's really a lot of space for improvement!

Target 500 reached and passed

As our CI server is approaching to the 300th build of the project I'm working on, I am proud and happy to announce that we have reached and passed the 500th test, as we now have 528. Maybe #500 was mine, maybe it was lm's... or maybe it belonged to someone else. What really matters is that now it belongs to everyone, and it adds up to the status of good health of the codebase.


The number of tests has constantly grown, and the bar is almost always green - even if I should say that, using Hudson, the ball is blue (or the bar is blue, if you delve into details). I'll never get tired of saying it, CI server are really a wonderful tool - obviously if you provide tests for what you build, but that goes without saying.... or does it?

The Rocky Horror Picture Show Revisited

Enjoy the Rocky Horror Picture Show in just 30 seconds!

Moving target

That's it, despite I'm back to work, despite my wife trying to slow me down, I've just finished reading my 60th book in 2009:


That moves the target for December 31st; I'd like to reach 30000 pages, but I'll never do it, so I'll try to reach book #69 (if I have to pick a number let me pick a good one!).

All Blacks not so ready for Italy

New Zealand defeated Italy 20-6 in the wonderful frame of a completely full San Siro Stadium, featuring more than 80.000 supporters. But the black pack was really disappointing, and Ellis surely doesn't have the fastest hands around: the Italian scrum really bashed them beyond any hope. The official website allblacks.com reports

However, in the last six minutes as 13 successive scrums were set five metres from the All Blacks line, and Neemia Tialata, having changed to the loosehead prop was sin-binned for taking a scrum down, the Italians were not able to get past a determined All Blacks pack.

What they forgot to mention is that those 13 scrums derived from as many penalties awarded by the referee due to a literally humiliated pack that could only but cheat to prevent Italy from rolling over them. Parisse after the match said to Dickinson that he should have taken a decision, awarding a well deserved technical try. Well, he simply didn't. It wouldn't have changed the outcome of the match, but it would mean a lot for Italians. Scoring a try against New Zealand is something you bring with you for a lifetime, and I know what I'm talking about. Today Italy have been stolen this achievement. Would Dickinson take the same decision if Italy collapsed the scrum for so many times? Surely in the Six Nations against England just a few years ago Italy was punished for much less. Anyway. My friend Pancho, who was just above that small plot of land ploughed and ploughed by the forwards, pretty much agrees with me, and he says that also all the other 80.000 supporters do. At last this was not just an opinion of mine, was it?

The Italian movement has surely grown, but it is not enough, like the last Six Nations has shown. Their growth also passes through matches like this: a lost opportunity, a good match with a bitter taste. Will the Federation be able to choose the right strategy to keep the movement growing? Let's put the matter off...


That said, the stadium was wonderful, the anthems were very exciting and the haka was thrilling, as always (as an aside: I'm talking about the Ka Mate, as I never liked the Kapa O Pango). Pity that today the All Blacks didn't have much more to offer.

All Blacks ready for Italy

Tomorrow is the long awaited day of the clash between Italy and the All Blacks in San Siro, Milan, where 80.000 supporters are ready to cheer for their favourite team but most of all to enjoy a good afternoon of rugby.


Statistics are awfully against Italy, who lost their last match 27-6 in June. Longing for a try!

How to test a very particular factory

@Test(expected=IllegalArgumentException.class)
public void makeBaby() {
  Family family = moz.getFamily();
  assertNotNull(family);
  assertEquals((2, family.getChildren().size());)
  BabyFactory factory = family.getWife();
  assertNotNull(factory);
  Baby babygirl = factory.makeBabyGirl("Mila");
  assertNotNull(babygirl);
  family.addChild(babygirl);
  assertEquals(3, family.getChildren().size());

  boss.askForRaise(moz);
}

Probably you should also set a timeout for the test, which should complete in about 40 weeks ;-)