Selenium News and Updates: A Smattering of Selenium 95
A retrospective on A Smattering of Selenium #95, the June 2012 roundup: its ten links, testing themes, and what “95” meant.
“A Smattering of Selenium #95” was the 95th installment of Adam Goucher’s Selenium link roundup, published June 26, 2012. It was not Selenium version 95. The post collected ten links spanning web testing, cloud execution, debugging, mobile, deployment, and general developer tools. Read it as a snapshot of what the Selenium community was sharing in 2012, not as current product news or a current recommendation list.
What was in A Smattering of Selenium #95?
Goucher opened the post: “Ok twitterverse. After 2 weeks of very few links a day you explode.” The ten links that followed were:
- Testing JSF with Arquillian and Selenium. A presentation about testing JavaServer Faces applications. Goucher joked that it “apparently will save the world.”
- GhostDriver: almost 50%. An update on GhostDriver, a project that had gained momentum at SeleniumConf 2012. “Almost 50%” is part of the linked item’s title, not a statistic established by the roundup.
- Building and profiling high performance systems with Iago. A Twitter Engineering link. Goucher called out that it was not browser-based, noting that the systems Iago served did not need browsers.
- Testing geolocation with Capybara + Selenium + Firefox. A technique for testing geolocation behavior through a Capybara, Selenium, and Firefox setup. Goucher said the approach had not occurred to him before.
- Run your Selenium tests in the cloud with TestingBot. A Java-oriented tutorial about running browser tests in a cloud service. This is a historical example, not evidence of the service’s current availability or terms.
- Taming the Mobile Beast. A presentation deck, which Goucher tentatively associated with Velocity.
- Netflix open sources Asgard cloud deployment smarts. A link about Netflix’s cloud deployment tooling.
- django-skel. A Django project scaffold offered as one way to start a new project.
- Debugging with Fiddler. A proxy-based debugging link. Goucher mentioned BrowserMob Proxy as then-common in Selenium work and Fiddler as becoming more common in manual testing.
- SQL Fiddle. A web tool for constructing SQL schemas. Goucher added a caution about letting a web app construct a schema.
The original roundup’s descriptions are brief. They do not establish the linked projects’ present-day maintenance, safety, feature support, or suitability. Its value now is historical: it captures how broadly a Selenium community link list could range, from browser automation to systems engineering.
Why is this a Selenium history post rather than current news?
The date matters. The roundup was published on June 26, 2012, and the specific links and observations belong to that period. Some items directly involve browser tests—JSF, geolocation, cloud execution, and proxy debugging. Others are adjacent developer interests, while Iago is explicitly described as outside browser automation.
That mix is useful context for understanding the post, but it should not be used to choose a current testing service or infer that any named tool still works the same way. Check the relevant project’s own current documentation and release history before adopting it.
Is Selenium 95 a version?
No. “95” is the roundup’s installment number: it was the 95th Smattering of Selenium post. It does not identify a Selenium browser driver, library release, or product version.
If you need a current Selenium release number, consult the project’s official downloads page and release history. Those pages change over time; the 2012 roundup is not a source for present-day release information.
What testing themes does the roundup show?
| Theme | Items in the roundup | What the post supports |
|---|---|---|
| Application testing | JSF with Arquillian and Selenium; geolocation with Capybara, Selenium, and Firefox | Examples of testing web application behavior and browser-related capabilities. |
| Test execution location | TestingBot cloud tutorial | A historical example of running Selenium tests through a cloud service. |
| Debugging | Fiddler; BrowserMob Proxy mention | Proxy-based debugging was part of the contemporary testing conversation. |
| Mobile and deployment | Taming the Mobile Beast; Asgard | Adjacent engineering topics that appeared alongside Selenium links. |
| General developer tooling | Iago; django-skel; SQL Fiddle | The roundup included material beyond browser automation itself. |
These are topic groupings, not a feature or product comparison. The post does not provide enough evidence to compare current capabilities, prices, reliability, or maintenance status.
How to use this roundup if you are working on browser tests today
- Use it as a historical index. Follow the links to understand what developers were discussing in 2012, if the linked material is still available.
- Separate the old idea from the current implementation. Geolocation, cloud execution, and proxy inspection remain recognizable testing concerns, but confirm current APIs and setup in maintained project documentation.
- Verify before depending on a link. Check whether a project is maintained, whether its instructions match your browser and language versions, and whether any service still offers the described workflow.
- Keep current release facts current. For Selenium versions and downloads, use Selenium’s official pages rather than a dated roundup.
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Common questions
Who wrote A Smattering of Selenium #95?
Adam Goucher wrote the roundup. It was published June 26, 2012.
Does the post establish that GhostDriver was nearly 50% complete?
No. “Almost 50%” appears in the linked item’s title. The roundup alone does not verify what was measured or whether the figure was accurate.
Was every link about Selenium?
No. The list included related testing material and broader engineering links. Goucher explicitly described the Iago item as non-browser-based.
Does the TestingBot link confirm the service is available now?
No. It records a cloud-testing tutorial linked in 2012. Check the provider’s current site for present availability, features, and terms.
Where should I check current Selenium releases?
Use the official Selenium downloads and releases pages.


