March 6, 2010 - Podcasts I Like

Over the past year or so, I've been experimenting with my iPod.  I have found that, while I enjoy some music, I tend to enjoy talk and good discussion even more.  So I have loaded my iPod with podcasts.

Here are some podcast sources that I particularly like.

FORA.tv - Audio Program of the Week
http://fora.tv/media/rss/podcasts/featured_audio.xml

FORA.tv's Program of the Week podcast delivers full-length weekly downloads of some of our most popular programming, available in either video or audio-only format.

 

Sample episode: Mythbuster Adam Savage's Colossal Failures

The 4th annual Maker Faire Bay Area hosts MythBusters co-host Adam Savage. Savage talks about failure - unmitigated, colossal failures he's experienced during his career. This program was recorded on May 30, 2009.

 

Following on President Obama's call to "begin again the work of remaking America," Maker Faire 2009 was organized around the theme of Re-Make America. Held in the San Francisco Bay Area, Maker Faire celebrates what President Obama called "the risk takers, the doers, and the makers of things." - Maker Faire 2009

 

Adam Savage has spent his life gathering skills that allow him to take what's in his brain and make it real. He's built everything from ancient Buddhas to futuristic weapons, from spaceships to dancing vegetables, from fine art sculptures to animated chocolate and just about anything else you can think of.

 

Since 1993, Adam has concentrated on the special-effects industry, honing his skills through more than 100 television commercials and a dozen feature films, including Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace and Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Galaxy Quest, Terminator 3, A.I. and the Matrix sequels. He's also designed props and sets for Coca-Cola, Hershey's, Lexus and a host of New York and San Francisco theater companies. Not only has he worked and consulted in the research and development division for toy companies and made several short films, but Adam has also acted in several films and commercials -- including a Charmin ad, in which he played Mr. Whipple's stock boy, and a Billy Joel music video, "Second Wind," in which he drowns.

 

Today, in addition to co-hosting Discovery Channel's MythBusters, Adam teaches advanced model making, most recently in the industrial design department at the San Francisco Academy of Art. Somehow he also finds time to devote to his own art. His sculptures have been showcased in over 40 shows in San Francisco, New York and Charleston, W.Va.

FRONTLINE: Audiocast | PBS
http://feeds.feedburner.com/FrontlineAudiocastPbs

You asked; we listened. FRONTLINE presents audio versions of select full-length episodes for listening on the go. Want more full-length FRONTLINE Audiocasts?

 

Please leave a review and let us know what you think. (For behind-the-scenes interviews with FRONTLINE producers, please see the FRONTLINE Extras podcast with host Arun Rath.)

 

Sample episode: Digital Nation - Audiocast

FRONTLINE Audiocast. "Digital Nation": How is technology changing us, and what are the implications of living in a world consumed by technology? (Orig. PBS airdate: Feb. 2, 2010)

Los Angeles Public Library Podcasts: ALOUD @ Central Library
http://events.lapl.org/podcasts/rss/itunes/aloudrss.aspx

The following podcasts were recorded live in the Los Angeles Central Library's Mark Taper Auditorium as part of the award-winning ALOUD at Central Library speaker series presented by the Library Foundation of Los Angeles. ALOUD podcasts are updated on a monthly basis. Initial funding for ALOUD podcasts was made possible by Arent Fox LLP.

 

Sample episode: The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right BY Atul Gawande

Gawande, a bestselling author and surgeon, takes us on an intellectual adventure in which lives are lost and saved and one simple idea makes a tremendous difference.

New England Patriots Podcasts
http://www.patriots.com/rss/public/index.cfm?ac=podcast

Browse, download, and subscribe to official podcasts produced by and about the New England Patriots.  Patriots podcasts include all the interviews, feature segments, and shows that keep you in touch with the team. For more information about Patriots official podcasts, visit Patriots.com.

 

Sample episode: PFW in Progress

Listen to this edition of PFW in Progress as we discuss a wide variety of offseason topics. Send in your questions for next show to webradio@patriots.com

NOVA scienceNOW
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/rss/nsn-podcast-pb.xml

Our podcast offers irreverent stories and introduces intriguing personalities from the world of science. For more content from the producers of NOVA scienceNOW -- and to watch our broadcast series online -- visit us at http://www.pbs.org/nova/sciencenow

 

Sample episode: The Littlest Planet

In 2006, the International Astronomical Union decided on new definition of a planet--and Pluto didn’t make the grade. It was bumped down to “dwarf planet” status.  But it’s not alone. It’s now one of five known dwarf planets in the solar system. One of them, called Ceres, may hold clues to how life formed on Earth. In this podcast, we talked to planetary scientist Mark Sykes about this tiny world.

 

Podcast produced by David Levin. Original interview by Susan K. Lewis. NOVA is produced by WGBH in Boston. Funding for NOVA is provided by ExxonMobil, David H. Koch, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and public television viewers.

 

To learn more, go to pbs.org/nova/pluto

NPR: Science Friday Podcast
http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast.php?id=510221

Science Friday, as heard on NPR, is a weekly discussion of the latest news in science, technology, health, and the environment hosted by Ira Flatow.  Ira interviews scientists, authors, and policymakers, and listeners can call in and ask questions as well. Hear it each week on NPR stations nationwide -- or online here!

 

Sample episode: Harnessing Thoughts To Control A Computer

Researchers decoded electrical brain signals without implanting electrodes, according to a new study. Instead, Jose L. Contreras-Vidal and colleagues monitored brain activity with EEG sensors placed on the scalp, using those signals to reconstruct hand movement and drive a robot.

Point of Inquiry
http://pointofinquiry.libsyn.com/rss

Point of Inquiry is the premiere radio show and podcast of the Center for Inquiry, drawing on CFI's relationship with the leading minds of the day including Nobel Prize-winning scientists, public intellectuals, social critics and thinkers, and renowned entertainers. Each episode combines incisive interviews, features and commentary focusing on the intersection of science and belief: religion, human values and the limits of knowledge. Point of Inquiry generally explores three research areas:

1. Pseudoscience and the paranormal (Bigfoot, UFOs, psychics, communication with the dead, cryptozoology, etc.)
2. Alternative medicine (faith healing, homeopathy, belief in "healing touch," the efficacy of prayer, etc.)
3. Religion and secularism (church-state separation, the effects and proper role of religion in society, the future of secularism and nonbelief, etc.)

Point of Inquiry is hosted by D.J. Grothe and produced by the Center for Inquiry in Amherst, NY. The Center for Inquiry is a think-tank collaborating with the State University of New York on the Science and the Public Masters Program, and is devoted to promoting science, reason, and secular values in public affairs and at the grassroots. CFI maintains additional branches in Manhattan, Tampa, Hollywood, Washington D.C., Toronto, Indianapolis, Grand Rapids, and in fifteen other cities around the world.

 

Sample episode: Chris Mooney - Unscientific America

Chris Mooney is a 2009-2010 Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT and author of three books, including the New York Times bestselling The Republican War on Science, Storm World, and Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future, co-authored by Sheril Kirshenbaum.

 

In this conversation with D.J. Grothe, Chris Mooney talks about the growing divide between science and society. He contrasts the issues addressed in The Republican War on Science with the current problems facing society as outlined in Unscientific America. He argues for the unique public policy significance of science for society, and why scientific literacy matters more than other kinds of cultural or historical literacy. He discusses the policy relevance of scientific illiteracy in terms of global warming and biotechnology. He talks about the need for scientists to become better communicators to the public. He shares his criticisms of the New Atheists and explains why their attacks against religious moderates works counter to the goal of scientific literacy. He recounts his experiences as an atheist activist while in college, and how his views have changed about campus forethought activism since that time. He explores other underlying causes of scientific illiteracy, including our educational system, the media's dysfunctional treatment of science, and growing anti-science movements such as the climate deniers and vaccine skeptics. And he details concrete actions that science advocates can take in order to increase scientific literacy.

Science Times
http://www.nytimes.com/services/xml/rss/nyt/podcasts/scienceupdate.xml

David Corcoran, a science editor, explores the topics addressed in this week's Science Times.

 

Sample episode: NYT: Science Times for 03/02/2010

This Week: How the Internet is like an elephant, tapping the body for electricity, and trying to lose weight one cookie at a time.

Scientific American Podcast
http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/sciam_podcast_i.xml

The Scientific American Podcast is a weekly science audio show covering the latest in the world of science and technology. Join Steve Mirsky each week as he explores cutting-edge breakthroughs and controversial issues with leading scientists and journalists. He is also an articles editor and columnist at Scientific American magazine and his column, "Antigravity", is one of science writing's rate venues for humor. Check our the new daily podcast from Scientific American: "60-Second Science." To view all of our archived podcasts please go to www.scientificamerican.com/podcast

 

Sample episode: Ice, Ice, Baby: The Physics of Curling

Mark Shegelski of the University of Northern British Columbia talks with podcast host Steve Mirsky about the physics of curling, currently taking its turn on the world stage at the Vancouver Olympics. (Shegelski is also the author of the new sci-fi collection "Remembering the Future.") Plus, we test your knowledge of some recent science in the news

The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe
http://www.theskepticsguide.org/feed/rss.aspx?feed=sgu

The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe is a weekly Podcast talkshow discussing the latest news and topics from the world of the paranormal, fringe science, and controversial claims from a scientific point of view. -The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe: Your escape to reality -Produced by the New England Skeptical Society in association with the James Randi Educational Foundation(JREF) : http://www.theness.com

 

Sample episode: Skeptics Guide #241 - Feb 24 2010

Interview with Daniel Wilson; News Items: Homeopathy Smackdown in UK, What Darwin Got Wrong, The Bloom Box, Geller Aids Cops; Who's That Noisy; Science or Fiction

Star Talk
http://rss.sonibyte.com/rssfeed/56.xml

StarTalk bridges the intersection between pop culture and pop science, covering subjects like space travel, extra-terrestrial life, the Big Bang, the future of our Earth and the environment, and other breaking news from the universe. The podcast is hosted by Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedienne Lynne Koplitz, and it airs as a radio show in select markets. For more info, visit: http://startalkradio.net/

 

Sample episode: StarTalk: Time Travel

Time marches on - except in astrophysics. Einstein taught us that time is a coordinate in space, and it's all relative. Learn about the weird physics of our universe that could make time travel possible. Standing in for Lynne Koplitz this week is J. Richard Gott, author of "Time Travel in Einstein's Universe".

February 8, 2010 - I'm In A New Magazine!

My popular Blog article "Optimistic Developers, Pessimistic Testers" was included in the inaugural edition of The Software Testing Club Magazine.

http://wiki.softwaretestingclub.com/The+Software+Testing+Club+Magazine+-+No+1

Check it out, and let me know what you think:

• Do you like the style and tone of the magazine?
• Do you like the graphics?
• Do you like "magazines" that are online, PDF-only, rather than print?
• Should I contribute to upcoming issues?

STC Magazine is a new venture from the folks who produce the online Software Testing Club site.  From their website:

The Software Testing Club was founded in 2007 by Rosie Sherry after a clear need for a community for software testers with a *quality approach*.

 

It started out as an experiment without high expectations. It is now a leading and thriving community for software testers.

The founders are into "social" websites as much as QA and Testing.  In addition to the main STC website, they also have blogs, forums, newsletters, a StacExchange-based forum, lots of cutesy graphics, and now an online "magazine".

You can find them at http://www.softwaretestingclub.com/

February 5, 2010 - Postcard from Namibia

For years, I've been using StatCounter on this blog.  (see: http://www.sqablogs.com/jstrazzere/832/A+New+Tool+for+Your+Website+or+Blog+-+StatCounter.html)

Over time, I had seen hits from many, many different countries.  In the past year or so, I had not gotten a hit from a new country.  I thought perhaps the list was complete, and there would be no more.

Until yesterday. 

Yesterday, I got my first hit from Windhoek, Namibia.

I knew Namibia was in Africa, but I knew little else.  So I did a bit of research:

• It is officially known as The Republic of Namibia
• It's in Southern Africa, bordered by the country of South Africa to the south and east
• It gained independence from South Africa in 1990
• The official language is English
• Windhoek is the capital, and largest city
• It has a population of about 2.1 million people

And, apparently one person from Namibia wanted to read something about "formal testing".

Welcome, new friend from Namibia!  I hope you were able to find the information you were seeking.

February 3, 2010 - Shorten All Month Names to 3 Letters

One thing that I believe strongly is that QAers should strive to avoid bugs whenever they can, rather than just finding them later on.  Every bug that can be avoided saves time all around.

Now, lots of people make mistakes when typing out month names.  So I have a solution!

All month names should be shortened to just three letters to save time, assist in txting, and avoid spelling mistakes.

• January becomes Jan
• February becomes Feb
• March becomes Mar
• and so on

Except for May.  May should be lengthened to Maytober.  May has had it good for too long now, and consequently must pay.

(inspired by JakeBrake's discussion at SQAForums.com http://www.sqaforums.com/showflat.php?Number=612098 )

January 31, 2010 - Testers and Developers at Fog Creek Software

Joel Spolsky is hiring a Tester.  See: http://www.fogcreek.com/Jobs/QA.html 

As he often does, he expounds a bit on his ideas behind the role on his terrific "Joel on Software" site (http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2010/01/26.html), before he leads the reader to the ad for that particular job.

Joel seems to believe that one part of a tester's role is to boost the morale of developers.  He says "Believe it or not, one of the most valuable features of a tester is providing positive reinforcement."  I have to say that I've never heard that expressed before, and I can't say that I agree.  While I do want my testers to be professional, and enthusiastic about the company and their job, I really don't want my testers concerned with programmer morale.  What if programmer morale starts to dip?  Should we blame the testers?

Joel also seems to see some sort of connection between liking puzzles and testing.  I hear this from lots of folks, mostly from those who aren't testers but also from some who are, and I remain skeptical.  I've never seen any real correlation between puzzle-playing affinity and testing.  I've seen great testers who dislike puzzles.  And I've seen fanatic puzzlers who make terrible testers.  I wonder if he asks Microsoft-style puzzles during interviews?

I also noticed that he is hiring a Software Developer as well.  See: http://www.fogcreek.com/Jobs/Dev.html

The two job ads make for an interesting contrast.

For the tester role

• no experience is necessary
• they require intelligence and curiosity
• they require a track record of success.  By that they mean "a bachelor's degree with top grades"
• they require a scientific approach and unusual attention to detail
• the applicant must love a good puzzle
• the applicant must like to think about things methodically
• the applicant must generally like working with software and computers

While for the developer role

• the applicant must be able to "master any technology, language, or development environment"
• they require incredible coding skills
• the applicant must be described by friends and coworkers as an "animal"
• the applicant must have a continuous string of successful projects

So testers don't need any experience, but they must love good puzzles?  And developers must have experience, but apparently don't need to love puzzles (good or bad)?  Seems odd to me.

Oh, and presumably Fog Creek Software wants to attract the kind of no-experience tester that likes to point out flaws in their corporate website.  The ad for the Tester is sprinkled with typos like

• no necessary, rather than not necessary
• you`ve
• and and
• moral, rather than morale
• ıt, instead of it
• va1uable
• etc.

Clearly this was intentional, since similar flaws are not present in the ad for the Developer.  While I suspect it would be rather off-putting for a professional QAer or Developer, perhaps this tactic is actually exciting to someone with no experience?
 
So, if you want to apply for this job - go solve some puzzles, proofread their website carefully, and study up on the best ways to improve someone else's morale.  I hear that a good backrub, a nice cup of hot tea and a pep talk can work wonders!  Experience is no necessary.

And if Fog Creek really wants to raise the morale of their programmers, perhaps they should just hire a consultant?

http://www.dilbert.com/fast/2010-02-01/

January 24, 2010 - QA Q and A - Bug Triage

QA

Q&A

Question:  What is a Bug Triage?

 

Answer:  A meeting or discussion focused on an item-by-item review of every active bug reported against the system under test.  During this review, fix dates can be assigned, insignificant bugs can be deferred, and project management can assess the progress of the development process.  [R. Black]

In medicine, Triage is the process of prioritizing patients based on the severity of their condition, rationing patient treatment efficiently when there are insufficient resources for everyone to be treated immediately. 

The term dates back to World War I where French doctors treated battlefield wounded at stations near the front.  At its basic, triage aims to divide the wounded into three categories:

• Those who are likely to live, no matter what care they receive
• Those who are likely to die, no matter what care they receive
• Those for whom immediate care might make a positive difference in outcome

In software, Bug Triage is a way to allocate your scarce debugging, development, and testing resources among all open bugs so that your time is spent in ways that can most positively benefit the project.

During a Bug Triage Meeting, representatives from Project Management, Development, Testing, Support, and other areas gather and discuss the remaining open bugs.  Usually, the team attempts to:

• Note which bugs do not need to be fixed at all, perhaps because there will be no end-user impact
• Note which bugs can be fixed in at a later release (deferred)
• Note which bugs must be fixed immediately, perhaps because they are blocking further testing or demos
• Note which bugs must be fixed for this release, but not immediately

One of the key questions I like to ask about a bug during triage is "Would you be willing to delay the release until this bug is fixed?"

To make a Bug Triage Meeting run effectively, the team should either come to the discussion with an understanding of the bugs which will be discussed, or a discussion about the bugs, their context, and associated risks should occur duing the meeting itself.

Often Bug Triage Meetings will only commence during that latter stages of a release, when all features have been delivered, and only bugs remain.  Depending on the nature of the release, the schedule, and the people involved, these meetings might take place weekly, or even daily.

Usually, the only topics open for discussion during a Bug Triage are:

• Should this bug be fixed at all?
• Should this bug be fixed now, or can it wait until later?
• If later, must the bug be fixed during this release, or can it wait until some future release?
• What is the relative priority of this bug versus other bugs?

Topics that should not be open for discussion during Bug Triage usually include:

• Blame for how the bug occurred, or why it wasn't discovered sooner
• Discussion of the overall architecture
• Debugging or redesigning
• Rescheduling of the release

Some teams consider it necessary to estimate in the Bug Triage Meeting how long it will take to fix a particular bug.  But some teams don't consider this estimate a valid discussion topic during the meeting itself.  I personally favor leaving this estimation out of the meeting.

Many teams will update the bug reports themselves either during the Bug Triage meeting, or immediately afterwards - adding the outcome of the Bug Triage decisions into the bug report, and chaning the bug's Status and Priority accordingly.

For other QA and Testing Terms, see: http://www.sqablogs.com/jstrazzere/46/A+Glossary+of+Testing+Terms.html

December 30, 2009 - WinTask - Using ODBC Functions with an Oracle Database

Some Oracle datatypes are not directly supported by WinTask.

For example you cannot use DbGetFieldNumeric() with Oracle Number fields.  When you try, you will get an execution error that indicates the field is not a numeric field:

Error at line 13 : XXX is not a numeric field

WinTask Tech Support indicates that they don't support this type of numeric field.

Here are some Oracle datatypes and how to deal with them:

Char(x)

DbGetFieldString()

Date

DbGetFieldString()

Float

DbGetFieldString()

Then, use ToInteger() or ToNumber() below to convert to a number

Integer

DbSelect("select CAST(MyCol as VARCHAR2(x)) from MyTable t",SNAPSHOT)

DbGetFieldString("CAST(MYCOLASVARCHAR2(x))",val$)
Then, use ToInteger() or ToNumber() below to convert to a number

Number

DbGetFieldString()
Then, use ToInteger() or ToNumber() below to convert to a number

Number(x)

DbSelect("select CAST(MyCol as VARCHAR2(x)) from MyTable t",SNAPSHOT)
DbGetFieldString("CAST(MYCOLASVARCHAR2(x))",val$)
Then, use ToInteger() or ToNumber() below to convert to a number

Number(x,y)

DbSelect("select CAST(MyCol as VARCHAR2(x)) from MyTable t",SNAPSHOT)
DbGetFieldString("CAST(MYCOLASVARCHAR2(x))",val$)
Then, use ToInteger() or ToNumber() below to convert to a number
Note: Will lose trailing zeros (e.g. 1.000 -> "1" and 2.220 -> "2.22")

NVarChar2(x)

DbGetFieldString()

RAW(x)

DbSelect("select CAST(MyCol as VARCHAR2(y)) from MyTable t",SNAPSHOT)  'where y = x*2
DbGetFieldString("CAST(MYCOLASVARCHAR2(y))",val$)

TimeStamp()

DbGetFieldString()

VarChar2(x)

DbGetFieldString()

Some helper functions:

Function ToNumber(test$)
    Local i
    Local new$
    Local work$
    work$=""
    i=1
    While i<= len(test$)
        Select Case Mid$(test$,i,1)
            Case "0", "1", "2", "3", "4", "5", "6", "7", "8", "9"
                new$=Mid$(test$,i,1)
            Case Else
                new$=""
        EndSelect
        work$=work$+new$
        i=i+1
    Wend
    ToNumber=Val(work$)
EndFunction

Function ToInteger(test$)
    Local i
    Local new$
    Local work$
    work$=""
    i=1
    While i<= len(test$)
        Select Case Mid$(test$,i,1)
            Case "0", "1", "2", "3", "4", "5", "6", "7", "8", "9"
                new$=Mid$(test$,i,1)
            Case "."
                new$=""
                i=len(test$) 
            Case Else
                new$=""
        EndSelect
        work$=work$+new$
        i=i+1
    Wend
    ToInteger=Val(work$)
EndFunction 

December 30, 2009 - QA Q and A - Release Tests

QA

Q&A

Question:  What are Release Tests?

 

Answer:  Tests designed to ensure that the code (which has already been thoroughly tested and approved for release) is correctly installed and configured in Production.  This is often a fairly quick test, but may involve some migration tests as well.

In my company, we develop applications that we host on the web.  When the development and testing cycle is complete, we must release the new version to Production.  Part of that release involves a different kind of testing that we call "Release Testing".

Because of our Service Level Agreements with our customers, we often have to perform these releases after hours - when most users would not be using the system.  For some of our systems, that means any time outside of weekday business hours.  For other systems, that means Sunday evenings.  For still other systems, they are required to stay up essentially 24 x 7.  Those systems require special architectures that let us make most changes while the system stays running.

Our developers create a "build package" containing all the code, scripts, etc that must be moved to Production, along with the instructions for doing so.  The IT team actually make the changes.  And QA performs the Release Tests to make sure everything went as planned.

It wouldn't make sense to test all the features of these applications in Production - they have already been tested extensively in the QA Environment (and sometimes in a Staging Environment), and approved for release.

Instead, we test with a specific goal in mind - to check that the new release arrives safely in Production, and that the application is up and running correctly again.

When designing a Release Test, the QAer must consider how she/he will know that the new code is now running in Production, and hasn't been missed.  Often, this means quickly checking whatever changed in this release - perhaps new features, perhaps modifications to existing features.  In addition, we want to ensure that things that shouldn't have changed remain running as before.

When problems are found during a Release Test, it sometimes means the abandonment of the release, and a roll-back to the previous state.

Some of the attributes of our Release Tests:

• planned
• quick
• often after-hours
• often under time pressure
• sometimes coordinated with customers
• designed solely to check that the code we have been testing all along is safely in Production, without adverse side-effects
• we don't re-run all our prior tests
• sometimes, must test each server in a load-balanced group individually
• check that configurations are correct
• sometimes, check migrations from the prior version
• sometimes, must check that all active users are first drained from the system
• sometimes, must check that the "Under Maintenance" page and process are working correctly first
• pretty much any new bug is a showstopper bug, requiring roll-back

For other QA and Testing Terms, see: http://www.sqablogs.com/jstrazzere/46/A+Glossary+of+Testing+Terms.html

Periodically, I'll pick a QA or Testing term and try to explain it in a bit more detail.  If you have a term that you'd like explained - Email Me

December 29, 2009 - Technorati Claim Code

8FP6UF4WBYNU

Just testing to see if Technorati picks up this claim code.

2009-Dec-21 - They Need To Test More...

... before doing this: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091220/ap_on_re_us/us_cell_phone_warnings

What exactly does Maine hope to achieve?

1. Panic?  I doubt it.
2. A reduction in cellular phone usage and sales? I doubt it.
3. Driving the cost of cellular phone manufacturing up? I am sure of it.

How about if the (US) Fed (FCC) simply passes a law requiring all cellular phones to be equipped with GPS, such that if a vehicle is in motion:

1. texting is blocked and cannot be hacked, and
2. phone calls are permitted only when speed is less than 10 miles per hour - unless a 911 call?
3. block web browsing and email while in motion
4. Enforce this beginning in 2011 such that any phone without the above cannot get onto a network.

I am more than willing to bear the additional expense. I am tired of:

1. Braking hard and risking an accident, or - accelerating rapidly to above posted speed limits to accommodate cellular idiots,
2. Missing a green traffic light because of the same idiots.
3. I could go on.

Maine, here is the real danger: http://www.livescience.com/technology/050201_cell_danger.html

Certainly there are some people in your legislature who might be more interested in legislation designed to counter real and proven dangers???

If my suggestions are not feasible then at least consider adding the following to the legistlation:

1. Paint wavy stripes on the highways - wavy such that the stripes are patterned after the normal range of weaving associated will cellular idiocy on the highways. This will at least improve the odds of lane conformity.
2. Station a bull-dozer at each stop sign and traffic light in order to move the cellular idiot along when appropriate.
3. Limit the use of roads and highways. Allow road and highway use by only those who exhibit the cellular idiocy discussed here.
4. Require all vehicle manufacturers to place your warning about brain cancer on the dashboard.
5. Change existing traffic laws such that they are cellular-use friendly. Example: People operating a cell phone may blow through red traffic lights and stop signs. If they happen to maim or wipe out some people, hold the surviving family members accountable.

The above would be more progressive as in California-progressive, correct? Maine, if you are thinking the brains of cellular operators might suffer damage because of cellular usage, get out on the highways more often. Brain damage is bountiful.

Mon 21 Dec 2009 - It is only a one line fix

We had a problem report outstanding for a long time, simple little problem. When a user gets a message in their inbox, a yellow marker shows up on their screen to indicate they have a message waiting. Some messages are important messages that the user has to action and then they get a red marker on their screen. Some users get the important messages as a FYI, but were still getting the red marker when they can't action the message and in this circumstance they should receive neither a red or yellow marker. Low severity and low priority bug.

Fix comes in from Development. The fix is to remove the marker for these users, which is a simple one line fix.

We test it. It is a low severity/low priority bug amongst all the other bug fixes we have to retest, to do a lot of testing in this area requires a lot of data set-up, so we just do a quick check. All is well.

The release goes to Live.

Everyone reading this knows what is going to happen next, otherwise there would be no point to this post! Yes, something was broken. True the users who were supposed not get their marker didn't get their marker, however, no other users were getting any marker either and this marker is relied on for important messages, as the users need to take action - no action means the user is prevented from using the system. Not getting the marker meant some users were not actioning and getting locked out of the system.

Big “oops”.

OK, so all test groups make this type of error sooner or later and we learn from them (sort of, sometimes we don't). But the whole episode made me think about Michael Bolton's distinction between “checking” and “testing”. What we tend to do on low severity bug retests are “checks”. Heck, we have already tested this area once, lets just check the fix. We might do some regression testing, maybe through running an automated suite, but we rarely test a bug fix that is low severity.. Maybe other test groups do more testing on this type of bug fix, but mostly my group doesn't.

So, I asked myself, SHOULD we have done more testing? In order to answer that, I looked back at all the low severity bugs we had found, over 3000 of them. I looked at how many of these fixes had either failed retest and/or caused a problem in Live. Few had failed retest, less than 1 percent. I could only find one other low severity problem that had caused a problem in Live and that was also low severity. I also estimated what would it have taken to test these fixes rather than check them? A lot was the answer. The rate of return for putting testing effort into these bug fixes would have been incredibly low.

So, my conclusion was that, yes it was bad that the bug got through, but I don't want to start testing low severity bugs, it will cost too much effort that would be better targeted at more important areas finding more important bugs. I will just have to take the risk that another low severity bug fix will cause a problem in Live.

Testing is all about assessing risks and acting accordingly.

November 23, 2009 - A New Version of WinTask - 3.7

The good folks at TaskWare have released a new version of the favorite tool in my toolbox - WinTask.
 
There are two major new features in this release.

WinTask 3.7 supports Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008.

 

And WinTask 3.7 includes the following FTP functions:

• #FTPTimeout - Specifies the number of seconds which WinTask should wait before reporting a runtime error when it tries to execute a FTP function
• FTPChDir - Specifies the new FTP current folder
• FTPConnect - Makes a connection to the specified FTP server
• FTPCurrentDir - Returns the FTP current folder
• FTPDisconnect - Terminates the connection to a FTP server
• FTPExistDir - Checks if the specified FTP folder exists or not
• FTPExistFile - Checks if the specified FTP file exists or not
• FTPGetFile - Downloads one or several files to the local PC from the FTP server
• FTPKill - Deletes one or several files from the FTP server
• FTPMkDir - Creates a folder on the FTP server
• FTPName - Renames one or several files in the FTP server
• FTPPutFile - Uploads one or several files from the local PC to a FTP folder
• FTPRmDir - Deletes a folder and its contents on the FTP server

I'm particularly pleased with the new FTP functions.  Our systems use FTP a lot - these new features will make it much easier to set up test conditions, and verify output.

Here are the release notes for version 3.7: http://www.wintask.com/hottest_new_version.php

Check this tool out at http://www.wintask.com

You can see some of my WinTask utility scripts starting here: http://www.sqablogs.com/jstrazzere/WinTask/

November 20, 2009 - WinTask - DayOfDate$()

'
' DayOfDate$ - Return the day of the week for a given date
'
' Author - Joe Strazzere
'

Function DayOfDate$(TargetDate$)
    Local DayOfDate
 
    DayOfDate =((Weekday() + DateBetween("d",Date$(),TargetDate$)) mod 7)
    If DayOfDate < 1 then
        DayOfDate = DayOfDate + 7
    EndIf
    Select Case DayOfDate
        Case 1
            DayOfDate$ = "Sunday"
        Case 2
            DayOfDate$ = "Monday"
        Case 3
            DayOfDate$ = "Tuesday"
        Case 4
            DayOfDate$ = "Wednesday"
        Case 5
            DayOfDate$ = "Thursday"
        Case 6
            DayOfDate$ = "Friday"
        Case 7
            DayOfDate$ = "Saturday"
        Case Else
            DayOfDate$ = "I'm lost. I don't know what day "+Str$(DayOfDate)+" is."
        EndSelect
EndFunction

TargetDate$="11/21/2009"
TargetDay$=DayOfDate$(TargetDate$)

MsgBox(TargetDate$+" was a "+TargetDay$)

November 20, 2009 - WinTask - DayOfDate()

'
' DayOfDate - Return the day number for a given date
'
' Author - Joe Strazzere
'

Function DayOfDate(TargetDate$)
    Local DayNumber
    DayNumber =((Weekday() + DateBetween("d",Date$(),TargetDate$)) mod 7)
    If DayNumber < 1 then
        DayOfDate = DayNumber + 7
    Else
        DayOfDate = DayNumber
    EndIf
EndFunction

TargetDate$="11/21/2009"
TargetDay=DayOfDate(TargetDate$)

MsgBox(TargetDate$+" was a "+Str$(TargetDay))

November 14, 2009 - WinTask - ToDollarAndCent()

'
' ToDollarAndCent()
'
' Author: Joe Strazzere
'
' Removes all non-numerics from a string
' Returns two numbers
'    - the dollars portion
'    - the cents portion
'

Function ToDollarAndCent(test$,Dollars,Cents)
    Local i
    Local new$
    Local work$
    work$=""
    Dollars=-1
    Cents=0
    i=1
    While i<= len(test$)
        Select Case Mid$(test$,i,1)
            Case "0", "1", "2", "3", "4", "5", "6", "7", "8", "9"
                new$=Mid$(test$,i,1)
            Case "."
                new$=""
                Dollars=Val(work$)
                work$=""
            Case Else
                new$=""
        EndSelect
        work$=work$+new$
        i=i+1
    Wend
    If Dollars=-1 Then
        Dollars=Val(work$)
    Else
        Cents=Val(Left$(work$,2))
    EndIf
EndFunction

ToDollarAndCent(" $123,456.789 ",D,C)
MsgBox(D)
MsgBox(C)
 

November 13, 2009 - WinTask - ToDollar()

'
' ToDollar()
'
' Author: Joe Strazzere
'
' Removes all non-numerics from a string and returns a number,
' stopping at the first decimal point.
'

Function ToDollar(test$)
    Local i
    Local new$
    Local work$
    work$=""
    i=1

    While i<= len(test$)
        Select Case Mid$(test$,i,1)
            Case "0", "1", "2", "3", "4", "5", "6", "7", "8", "9"
                new$=Mid$(test$,i,1)
            Case "."
                new$=""
                i=len(test$)  
            Case Else
                new$=""
        EndSelect
        work$=work$+new$
        i=i+1
    Wend
    ToDollar=Val(work$)
EndFunction

MsgBox(ToDollar("$123,456.78"))

November 13, 2009 - WinTask - ToNumber()

'
' ToNumber()
'
' Author: Joe Strazzere
'
' Removes all non-numerics from a string and returns a number
'

Function ToNumber(test$)
    Local i
    Local new$
    Local work$
    work$=""
    i=1

    While i<= len(test$)
        Select Case Mid$(test$,i,1)
            Case "0", "1", "2", "3", "4", "5", "6", "7", "8", "9"
                new$=Mid$(test$,i,1)
            Case Else
                new$=""
        EndSelect
        work$=work$+new$
        i=i+1
    Wend
    ToNumber=Val(work$)
EndFunction

MsgBox(ToNumber("$123,456.78"))

Any comments on this article?
Email Me

November 6, 2009 - Test Data Graduates Into Production - WBZ

My good friend Dan Bourret recently heard that his son's school was being closed due to a high rate of illness among the teachers and students.  Just to be sure, he checked the local television station's website and saw this:

http://wbztv.com/schoolclosings

Now, Dan also happens to be a terrific QAer, so he immediately recognized what happened - some test data had made its way into production.  Oops!

We've all heard horror stories of test data gone astray, and this one seems rather benign.

Still, I'm wondering if there's actually a School Name A (Test) Elementary somewhere in Massachusetts that had an unanticipated day off?

Have you seen test data escape into the wild?
Email Me

October 31, 2009 - It's a Shame - Original Software's Software Testing Hall of Shame

My good friend Jim Hazen has been involved in Software Quality Assurance for a long time. 

So noticing mistakes in websites comes naturally to him.  And when he recently visited Original Software's corporate blog, he found a good one.

If you go to Original Software's Blog, you'll see that they periodically post about public software failures that they call the "Software Testing Hall of Fame". 

Here's one:

http://www.origsoft.com/blog/archives/software-testing-hall-of-shame-survey-reveals-hidden-price-of-software-failures

These are good articles, and worth reading.

However, if you click the Original Software logo in the upper left corner, you see that they have improperly linked this logo, so you are presented with their 404 page:

When I visited, it said:

Sorry!, No Page Was Found
The page you where looking could not be found

So not only do they have a bad link, but bad grammar, bad spelling, and dicey punctuation as well. 

Such a shame!
 

October 29, 2009 - Do You Like to Read? Can You Write? Contribute to a New Testing Magazine!

If you are interested in writing about software testing then why not contribute an article to the Software Testing Club's (STC) new magazine due to be published in January 2010.

The STC are inviting anyone in the software testing community to submit articles for review on any testing subject you want to write about. The STC are accepting articles from anyone working in the testing industry with a testing story to tell. Experienced writers are welcome just as junior testers are. So if you have something to say, post it to the following address: rob@softwaretestingclub.com.

Visit http://www.softwaretestingclub.com/forum/topics/do-you-want-to-help-with-the for more detailed information regarding your submission.

11/03/09

Update: The STC folks have sweetened the pot by offering a chance to win a book for those who submit an article.  See: http://www.softwaretestingclub.com/forum/topics/tester-pocketbook-giveaway