All Things Quality

Glitches Are...

2012-01-23T04:00:00.000-05:00

Glitches are...

According to Google (and Google knows everything), glitches are:

Glitches are now your fault
Glitches are really getting old
Glitches are great for video games
Glitches are a bigger problem than most people realize
Glitches are magic
Glitches are starting to piss me off
Glitches are back
Glitches are awesome
Glitches are getting very annoying
Glitches are dumb
Glitches are a barrel of laughs
Glitches are just as common as base hits
Glitches are cool
Glitches are not ok
Glitches are hilarious
Glitches are fatal
Glitches are always cool
Glitches are driving up costs
Glitches are said to hurt antiterror effort
Glitches are not fixed
Glitches are driving me nuts
Glitches are something we need to work on

Can you add more to the list?

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.

Perhaps They Should Have Tested More - Fisker Automotive

2012-01-20T04:00:00.000-05:00

Fisker Karma needs Fixing?

Fisker Automotive is recalling their electric "Karma" sedan due to bugs in the software controls.

The second time Fisker has recalled its cars for a defect in the two months since they went on sale
Random check-engine lights copyrightjoestrazzere
Navigation and entertainment controls that wouldn't work
At least one Karma owner filed a formal complaint with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Company founder Henrik Fisker will call each one and apologize personally
Temporarily stopping sales of the Karma
Fisker spokesman Roger Ormisher says "... the most important issue is quality of service."

As more and more cars become dependent on increasingly complex software, are we going to see more and more software-related recalls? I hope not, but I fear that it is inevitable. Maybe we'll end up with a "Patch Tuesday" once each month, where everyone walks to work.

It's terrific that the company founder will personally apologize to each owner. Perhaps during the call he'll also promise to test more?

See also:
http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic/fisker-founder-apologize-owners-software-bug-halts-sales-191634844.html
http://www.hybridcars.com/news/fisker-again-recalls-karma-time-software-glitch-35411.html
http://blogs.delawareonline.com/delawareinc/?p=2578
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1071730_fisker-issues-recall-and-personal-apology-for-software-glitch

http://gigaom.com/cleantech/fisker-recalls-electric-cars-again-due-to-software-glitch/
http://green.autoblog.com/2012/01/19/fisker-karma-gets-recalled-again-to-fix-software-malfunction/

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.

Add Quality To Your Blogroll

2012-01-18T04:00:00.000-05:00

Quality Blogroll Links!

Have you added All Things Quality to your Blogroll yet?

Yes? Thank you!

No? Why not? What are you waiting for, a special invitation? Well, here it is!

Ten reasons you should add All Things Quality to your Blogroll:

I'm asking nicely
You obviously enjoy All Things Quality and want to share it with your friends
I'm a good guy copyrightjoestrazzere
It's important to promote the community of professional Software Testers
You like Quality links
Everyone else is here, why not you?
You want your Blogroll to have more quality
If you link to me, I'd be happy to link to you
Links are good for you
You'll feel better that you did

Check out my Blogroll at People In Testing. If your blog isn't represented there, send me a note and I'll add you in. I'll also add your feed to my What People Are Writing aggregation page.

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.

Interview Questions You Should Ask

2012-01-17T05:00:00.000-05:00

Interview questions that YOU should ask

For most of the time during interviews, you are answering questions. But at some point during most interviews, you will be asked "Do you have any questions?" This is a critical time, since the interviewer will use your questions to find out what is important to you, and to see if it matches what is important to them.

But equally important is to make sure you understand enough about this company, position and hiring manager to see if it meets your career needs. copyrightjoestrazzere

So go into the interview with a mental list of questions that you would like to get answered - either during the main portion of the interview itself, of when it's your turn to ask the questions.

Questions for the hiring manager:

What is your most important expectation of the new hire?
What is the first thing you expect the new hire to accomplish?
What is quality like at this company?

Questions for interviews with your potential peers on the QA Team:

What is it like to work here?
What is it like to work in this QA Team?
What is it like to work for the hiring manager?
Tell me about your role here?
How much control do you have over your own work?

Questions for HR:

Why is the hiring manager filling this role from outside, rather than promoting from within?

Questions for interviewers outside the QA Team:

What do you think of the hiring manger?
What do you think of this QA Team?
What is quality like at this company?

Don't get too pushy with your questions, and don't ask too many. But be ready to ask some, and get the answers you need to make the right decision for you.

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.

Bugs Are...

2012-01-11T05:00:00.000-05:00

Bugs are

According to Google (and Google knows everything), bugs are:

Bugs are changing
Bugs are a regular part of smartphone life for Windows
Bugs are my business copyrightjoestrazzere
Bugs are coming
Bugs are not all bad
Bugs are not all worth fixing
Bugs are not all created equal
Bugs are easy
Bugs are shallow
Bugs are in the eye of the beholder
Bugs are controlling your mind
Bugs are us
Bugs are back
Bugs are gross and weird
Bugs are not all exploitable
Bugs are a curious fellow
Bugs are awesome

Can you add to the list?

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.

Kindle Special Offers

2012-01-09T05:00:00.000-05:00

Does this picture look crooked to you too?

Special Offers are advertisements displayed on your Kindle. You can purchase a subsidized version of a Kindle at a discount if you are willing to accept these Special Offers. But at first you couldn't view these offers on a non-subsidized version (like my Kindle Keyboard 3G). Now you can.

From Amazon:

Kindle with Special Offers gives you the same great Kindle experience, plus Special Offers and Sponsored Screensavers that display on your Kindle's home screen and screensaver--they don't interrupt reading.

Special Offers are available on Kindle Keyboard, Kindle Keyboard 3G, Kindle, Kindle Touch, and Kindle Touch 3G.

Turning on Special Offers: copyrightjoestrazzere

Go to http://www.amazon.com/manageyourkindle
Click Manage Your Devices
In the Special Offers column for your device, click Edit
In the popup which appears click Subscribe to Special Offers

(The same process allows you to turn off your subscription to Special Offers.)

Some people don't like the thought of ads on their reading device. I understand this. But I suspect these same folks watch television, read lots of blogs and websites, and attend movies that have ads. Even many books have ads for other books in the last few pages.

The Special Offers presented on Kindles seem pretty unobtrusive to me. There's a small ad on the bottom of the Home page, and the standard screen-savers (showing dead authors) are replaced by ads. Pretty easy to ignore, in my opinion.

And of course the best part is that you can turn off the Special Offers if you choose.

Some of the Offers I've seen:

Half off hair salon services (hmm, I think this offer is a bit late for me!)
84% off dental services (my wife works at a local dental office - I don't think she would appreciate it if I switched)
88% off Gold's Gym membership (that's probably something I should consider)
Get an award-winning eBook title for only $1 (now there's an offer that's really special!)

I'm going to check these out for a while.

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.

Top Ten Search Terms in 2011

2012-01-06T05:00:00.000-05:00

Top Ten Terms

As part of my review of All Things Quality for 2011, here were the top ten search terms folks used when they ended up on this blog:

quality copyrightjoestrazzere
free kindle games
all things quality
requirements
juggle
starbuck
hello my name is
software testing for dummies
asq
status report template

Ok, so "juggle" is a little bit off the beaten path, but why are lots of people searching for "hello my name is"? What are they expecting to find?

Oh well. If you were looking for hello my name is, and ended up here - welcome! Look around, enjoy the sights, stay awhile.

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.

Top Ten Blog Pages for 2011

2012-01-04T05:00:00.000-05:00

All Things Quality's Top 10 for 2011

Aside from my home page, these were the top ten content pages for 2011. They received the most visits according to Google Analytics:

People in Testing / What People are Writing

http://AllThingsQuality.com/p/people-in-testing.html

My page of links to other testing-related blogs of interest. This year, I also added an aggregation of people's most recent posts here: http://strazzerej.blogspot.com/

Please continue to send me links for sites that you think should be added - your site, or sites that you read. Thanks! copyrightjoestrazzere

Testing Terms Glossary

http://AllThingsQuality.com/p/testing-terms-glossary.html

A list of terms in QA and Testing. I originally started this years ago so that I could copy and paste the definitions when people asked "What is...?" I'm so happy that you find it useful.

QA and Testing Interview Questions (And Some Answers)

http://AllThingsQuality.com/p/people-in-testing.html

Another list I created to help people asking similar questions.

It's hard to be prepared for an interview. I'm really happy if this list helps you.

25 Things About Me

http://AllThingsQuality.com/p/25-things-about-me.html

You like to read about me? Ok!

Quality Is...

http://AllThingsQuality.com/2011/03/quality-is.html
This is a list of what people seem to think about Quality (at least according to Google).

Free Kindle Games

http://AllThingsQuality.com/2011/05/free-kindle-games.html

I purchased a Kindle last year. I love it! There are a few free games for it - some are pretty good, some not so much. Apparently others like Kindles and games, too. Nice!

Issue Tracking Template

http://AllThingsQuality.com/2010/04/issue-tracking-template.html

People clearly like templates. I'm glad. I posted a Test Manager's Status Report template this year that you might like, too. Check it out at: http://www.allthingsquality.com/2011/10/my-status-report-template.html

Things I Like to Have in my Test Automation Suites

http://AllThingsQuality.com/2010/04/things-i-like-to-have-in-my-test.html

The funny thing is that I wrote this article when I started working for a test automation vendor years ago.

There are ALWAYS Requirements

http://AllThingsQuality.com/2010/04/there-are-always-requirements.html

This is where I send people when they ask "But I don't have any written Requirements. How can I test?"

My QA Bookshelf

http://AllThingsQuality.com/2010/04/my-qa-bookshelf.html

A list of the QA and Testing books I own. I posted a newer version recently. Check it out here: http://www.allthingsquality.com/2011/11/my-testers-bookshelf.html

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.

Perhaps They Should Have Tested More in 2011

2012-01-03T05:00:00.000-05:00

Perhaps They Should Have Tested More in 2011

2011 saw more "interesting" bugs show up in the news. Perhaps these companies should have tested more?

Jaguar's cruise control sometimes wants to stay in control
http://www.allthingsquality.com/2011/10/perhaps-they-should-have-tested-more.html

Bright House customers couldn't use their phone, cable and high-speed Internet services. Hey - that means they couldn't get to All Things Quality either! Tsk, tsk.
http://www.allthingsquality.com/2011/09/perhaps-they-should-have-tested-more.html

Dropbox customers found their files were completely unprotected for a while
http://www.allthingsquality.com/2011/06/perhaps-they-should-have-tested-more.html

Apple again had a tough time with that whole Daylight Saving Time thing, and made some people late for work
http://www.allthingsquality.com/2011/03/perhaps-they-should-have-tested-more.html

Microsoft had a problem in the Mango version of Windows Phone that could cause the phone to stop working until reset and wiped
http://www.allthingsquality.com/2011/12/perhaps-they-should-have-tested-more.html

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.

Get Some SQAForums Swag in 2012!

2011-12-15T05:00:00.000-05:00

Join me and my 190,000 good friends at SQAForums.com

The good people over at SQAForums.com are giving stuff away! Yes, stuff for free!

All you have to do is actively participate. copyrightjoestrazzere

If you post 100 times in 2012, you get a Pen or Stress Ball!
If you post 200 times in 2012, you get a Mug or Tumbler!
If you post 300 times in 2012, you get a T-Shirt!
If you post 400 times in 2012, you get a Polo Shirt!
If you post 500 times in 2012, you get a Pullover or Sweatshirt!
If you post 1000 times in 2012, you get a Jacket!

Each of these is an official "SQAForums Limited Edition" item.

But even more than these rewards, you'll get to be part of a thriving community of professional testers from all over the world that is currently over 190,000 strong and growing! And of course, you'll find me there, helping to Moderate a few forums, answering a few questions, and asking a few of my own.

You'll also find Webinars, free blogs, job postings, and lots more.

Check out http://www.sqaforums.com/showflat.php?Number=693404 for this and other exciting SQAForums.com news.

Won't you join me at SQAForums.com in 2012?

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.

Perhaps They Should Have Tested More - Windows Phone

2011-12-14T05:00:00.000-05:00

Mang... oh, no!

A recent flaw in Microsoft Windows Phone 7.5 allows certain SMS messages to cause the phone to reboot and come back up with the messaging hub disabled. It's kind of one better than the Google Android flaw which rebooted a phone in response to a simple texted message. In the case of Windows Phones, you get a reboot and a disabled service - a twofer! And the only way to cure the now-disabled messaging service is to reset the phone, and clear out all of its data. copyrightjoestrazzere

Perhaps Microsoft should have tested more?

It does lead one to wonder - what messages might do that to a Windows Phone? Here are a few guesses:

Reboot
SJobsRulz
URJustAZune
Mangle
QualityIsJob1
WhoNeedsSMS
IE9
PutPeopleFirst
wINrUMORS
Droid
Windows95

Sharing Lessons Learned

2011-12-13T05:00:00.000-05:00

Good Lessons Are Meant To Be Shared

Yesterday, I posted a long-overdue report on my favorite book on QA and Testing: Lessons Learned in Software Testing.

I mentioned that I use it in group discussions with my Team. When I handed out copies of the book, I wrote up a few notes and put them inside the cover of each book. I talked about them during our first group discussion. I thought I'd share them with you.

Lessons Learned in Software Testing

The book is a gift to you. Put your name on it and keep it for yourself. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

My thoughts on whatwe can do with this book.

1. Of all the testing books I have ever read, Ithink this one is

a. The most useful

b. The most practical

c. One of the easiest to read and understand

d. Has a great Bibliography at the back copyrightjoestrazzere

2. The authors are all smart, practical, thoughtful people. They also write a lotof other things you might want to read.

3. On the Dedication page, Anna Allison was afriend and co-worker who died in the first AA plane to crash into the worldtrade tower on 9/11

4. Lots of lessons here

a. You already know most of them! (But you might not know that you know)

b. Not all of them apply to us

c. None of them are “gospel”, just ideas to talkabout

5. I thought we might go through a chapter at atime

a. Spend 2 weeks reading a chapter and writing up afew notes

b. Discuss what we see in our next bi-weeklymeeting

c. We don’t have to cover the chapters in order

d. We don’t have to cover all chapters

6. I hope this is

a. Fun first

b. Educational second

c. Not too boring for anyone

7. Please let me know what you think

a. I’m considering blogging about our process if itworks out well

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.

Book: Lessons Learned in Software Testing

2011-12-12T05:00:00.000-05:00

Lessons Learned in Software Testing

by Cem Kaner, James Bach and Bret Pettichord

I'm often asked to recommend a good book about software testing. Sometimes I'm even asked what I think is the best book about software testing. I usually hesitate to ever say "best", since I believe the best for me may not necessarily be the best for you. But if I had to pick just one book that I think would prove to be the most valuable across the widest range of readers, it would be Lessons Learned in Software Testing by Cem Kaner, James Bach, and Bret Pettichord.

Lessons Learned is a terrific compilation of 293 "lessons" - short, real-world, easily-readable treatments of a range of topics relevant to new and seasoned testers, developers, managers, and executives. These lessons, culled from the experiences of the authors, are arranged in chapters addressing everyday topics you might face: copyrightjoestrazzere

The Role of the Tester
Thinking Like a Tester
Testing Techniques
Bug Advocacy
Automating Testing
Documenting Testing
Interacting with Programmers
Managing the Testing Project
Managing the Testing Group
Your Career in Software Testing
Planning the Testing Strategy

Of all the testing books I have on my bookshelf, this is the one I find myself coming back to time after time.

I've even gone as far as purchasing a copy of this book for each member of my Test Team, and using it in group discussions. We find ourselves disagreeing about some of the points made in the book (as you will too), but we have found that virtually all of the lessons lead to a lively discussion about software, testing, and our profession. Books that are this thought-provoking are rare.

I'm convinced that every software tester who reads this book will find at least a few gems that are particularly relevant for their individual situation. And I believe that most folks will find most of the book extremely valuable.

If you get a chance to read Lessons Learned in Software Testing, do so, then let me know what you think. And if you've already read it, do you agree with my assessment?

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.

Requirements Are...

2011-12-05T05:00:00.000-05:00

Requirements are

According to Google (and Google knows everything), requirements are ...

Requirements are your friends
Requirements are surprisingly reasonable
Requirements are bullsh!t copyrightjoestrazzere
Requirements are not enough
Requirements are changing
Requirements are approved
Requirements are fittingly barren
Requirements are the test
Requirements are the foundation of knowledge
Requirements are changing continuously
Requirements are absurd
Requirements are cumulative
Requirements are your true north compass
Requirements are rules
Requirements are met
Requirements are reasonable
Requirements are helpful, but
Requirements are needed
Requirements are driving significant technology purchases
Requirements are getting tougher
Requirements are wasting your money
Requirements are coming
Requirements are a joke

Can you add to the list?

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.

Top 5 Books About Testing and Quality Assurance

2011-11-30T05:00:00.000-05:00

Just a few books from my bookshelf

A while back, I posted a list of Testing and QA books I have on my bookshelf. http://www.allthingsquality.com/2011/11/my-testers-bookshelf.html

A few folks commented that the list was good, but too long. They wanted to know a short list of books I would recommend. It's tough, because there are so many good ones worth reading. But for those who want to start with just a few, here goes. In no particular order:

Lessons Learned in Software Testing by Cem Kaner, James Bach, and Bret Pettichord

In this book, the authors present almost 300 "lessons" covering a wide variety of testing topics that should be of interest to any testing professional. In addition to reading and enjoying it personally, I also use it in group discussions with my test team to help us explore what we do, why we do it, and how we might do it better. copyrightjoestrazzere

How We Test Software at Microsoft by Alan Page, Ken Johnston, and Bj Rollison

This book provides a terrific mix of insight into testing at Microsoft, along with in-depth explanations of practical test processes. While not all of the solutions will apply to everyone (unless you happen to work at a company with over 9,000 testers), everyone will learn something.

Perfect Software: And Other Illusions about Testing by Gerald M. Weinberg

Perfect Software is a high-level look at some of the "big picture questions" about testing, such as: Why do we have to bother testing? Do we have to test everything? What makes testing so hard? Is perfect software possible? Why can't we just accept a few bugs?

It's a small book (under 200 pages), and a quick read.

If you are looking for a "how to" book, you should look elsewhere. If you are looking for a "why" (and sometimes "why not") book, this might be for you.

The Art of Software Testing by Glenford J. Myers

This was the first book on software testing I ever read. Some of it is outdated, but much of it still stands up. You may find it hard to get hold of a copy at a reasonable price, but if you do - it will be worth a read.

High Performance Web Sites: Essential Knowledge for Front-End Engineers by Steve Souders

In High Performance Web Sites: Essential Knowledge for Front-End Engineers Steve Souders explains that at least 80 percent of the time it takes to display a web page happens after the HTML document has been downloaded, and describes the importance of the techniques in this book.

The book is a quick read containing some good hints and tips. Many are fairly easily investigated and implemented in most companies.

Overall, an interesting book, particularly for those tasked with testing websites that could benefit from a performance improvement.

So there you have it. Have you read any of these? Agree or disagree with the list? Can you recommend a book that should have been here, but isn't?

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.

My Sports Bookshelf

2011-11-29T05:00:00.000-05:00

Sports! Read all about it!

I enjoy sports, particularly NFL Football, and most particularly the New England Patriots. Here are a few sports books I have on my bookshelf:

100 Things Patriots Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die - Donald Hubbard copyrightjoestrazzere
The Blueprint: How the New England Patriots Beat the System to Create the Last Great NFL Superpower - Christopher Price copyrightjoestrazzere
The Education of a Coach - David Halberstam
Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the Historic 2004 Season - Stewart O'Nan, Stephen King
The Great Book of Boston Sports Lists - Andy Gresh and Michael Connelly
The Impossible Team: The Worst to First Patriot's Super Bowl Season - Nick Cafardo
Joe DiMaggio: The Hero's Life - Richard Ben Cramer
Management Secrets of the New England Patriots Volume I: From Patsies to Triple Super Bowl Champs - James Lavin
Management Secrets of the New England Patriots Volume II - James Lavin
Moving the Chains: Tom Brady and the Pursuit of Everything - Charles P. Pierce
Patriots Day: The New England Patriots' March to the Super Bowl Championship - The Boston Herald
Patriots Reign: Bill Belichick, the Coaches, and the Players Who Built a Champion - Michael Holley
Red and Me: My Coach, My Lifelong Friend - Bill Russell
Red Zone - Mike Lupica
Romo: My Life on the Edge Living Dreams and Slaying Dragons - Bill Romanowski, Adam Schefter, Phil Towle
Sunday Morning Quarterback: Going Deep on the Strategies, Myths and Mayhem of Football - Phil Simms, Vic Carucci
When The Game Was Ours - Larry Bird, Earvin Magic Johnson, Jackie MacMullan
Wicked Good Year: How the Red Sox, Patriots, and Celtics Turned the Hub of the Universe Into the Capital of Sports - Steve Buckey
War Room: The Legacy of Bill Belichick and the Art of Building the Perfect Team - Michael Holley
Won For All: The Inside Story of the New England Patriots' Improbable Run to the Super Bowl - Pepper Johnson, Bill Gutman

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.

Book Recommendations for Testing Circus Magazine

2011-11-28T05:00:00.000-05:00

Testing Circus Magazine - November 2011

Last month, I received an email from the good folks at Testing Circus Magazine. They recently started a monthly feature on "Testing book recommendations by testing celebrities", and asked if I would help.

Specifically, they wanted: copyrightjoestrazzere

A list of 2 books that you would recommend for other testers
2 lines on why you'd recommend that book

While I'm certainly not a celebrity, I'm always happy to help. So I wrote back with my recommendations and reasoning. The results are in the November 2011 Issue of Testing Circus in the Book Worm's Corner on page 11. Check it out at http://testingcircus.com/default.aspx. Enjoy!

And yes, they spelled my last name incorrectly. No worries - with a name like Strazzere, I've seen lots worse!

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.

A New Kindle Game - Pirate Stash

2011-11-23T05:00:00.000-05:00

http://www.amazon.com/Jigsaw-Words/dp/B00501DMFY/

Amazon released yet another new (free) game for the Kindle - Pirate Stash.

Pirate Stash is a logic puzzle game that challenges you to hide all of your treasure chests on a deserted island.

X marks the spot as you push one or more treasure chests to be buried in designated hiding places. Maneuver your loot through a maze of obstacles, but be careful not to make the wrong move. You can only move one chest at a time and the chests cannot be pulled. When the treasure chests are all in place, you have solved the puzzle.

Your score for a puzzle is the number of times each chest is pushed, with a lower number of pushes being better. Achieve up to three stars on a puzzle. Gain one star for solving the puzzle, two stars for matching par for the puzzle, and three stars for a perfect score. Over 100 puzzles of increasing difficulty allow anyone, from beginners to experts, to challenge their minds. Can you beat them all?

If you like puzzle games, you'll love Pirate Stash!

It's an interesting game, requires a small bit of thought, and is reasonably well implemented within the e-ink limitations of the device. Not my favorite, but it can be amusing. copyrightjoestrazzere

Note: This game was free at the time I downloaded it from Amazon. As with all free items, you must check before you download, since it may no longer be free.

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.

Sites For Practicing Your Web Testing

2011-11-22T05:00:00.000-05:00

If you miss a note, I'll whack you with this stick!

As the old joke goes: "How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, Practice, Practice."

And how do you get to be a good Web Tester? Practice, Practice, Practice.

Here are some web sites that might help.

ParkCalc Widget

http://adam.goucher.ca/parkcalc/

copyrightjoestrazzere

A copy of the parking fee calculation widget from the Gerald R. Ford International Airport.

This "application" has some serious flaws, and has been the subject of lots of exploratory testing. Often the goal is to try and attain the highest parking fee you can, and discover the features/bugs in the widget along the way.

All Things Quality Is Now AllThingsQuality.com!

2011-11-21T05:00:00.001-05:00

~~strazzere.blogspot.com~~

is now

AllThingsQuality.com

After six years of posting, I've decided that this little blog might actually have a chance to stick around a bit. So I purchased the domain AllThingsQuality.com. copyrightjoestrazzere

So, when you have a chance, change your bookmarks to http://AllThingsQuality.com.

Same great blog you know and love... in a beautiful new blog domain!

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.

My Tester's Bookshelf

2011-11-16T05:00:00.000-05:00

Books!

While I've been reading a lot using my Kindle in the past year, most of my technical books are still of the paper variety.

Here are some of the books I currently have in my bookcase that are either directly related to Testing, QA, or Technical Management, or have influenced my life as a Software Professional:

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen R. Covey
A Standard for Testing Application Software - William E. Perry
Advanced Visual Basic 6: Power Techniques for Everyday Programs - Matthew J. Curland
American Samurai - William Lareau
An Introduction to General Systems Thinking - Gerald M. Weinberg copyrightjoestrazzere
The Art of Software Testing - Glenford J. Myers
Automated Software Testing: Introduction, Management, and Performance- Elfriede Dustin, et al
Best Kept Secrets of Peer Code Review - Jason Cohen
Black-Box Testing: Techniques for Functional Testing of Software and Systems - Boris Beizer
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable - Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking - Malcolm Gladwell
The Bug - Ellen Ullman
Business at the Speed of Thought : Using a Digital Nervous System" - Bill Gates
C: A Reference Manual - Samuel P. Harbison, Guy L. Steele
Client Server Software Testing on the Desktop and the Web - Daniel J. Mosely
Code Complete - Steve McConnell
Compensating New Sales Roles: How to Design Rewards That Work in Today's Selling Environment - Jerome A. Colletti,et al
Complete Guide to Sales Force Compensation: How to Plan Salaries, Commissions, Bonuses, Quotas...Everything Needed to Achieve Top Sales Results - James F. Carey
The Complete Guide to Software Testing" - Bill Hetzel
Computer Essays for Management - Jerome Kanter
Computer Ethics - Deborah G. Johnson
Cryptography Decrypted" - H. X. Mel, et al
Customer Intimacy: Pick Your Partners, Shape Your Culture, Win Together" - Fred Wiersema
Dan Appleman's Visual Basic 5.0 programmer's guide to the Win32 API" - Daniel Appleman
De Bono's Thinking Course" - Edward De Bono
Debugging the Development Process - Steve Maguire
Developing International Software for Windows 95 and Windows NT - Nadine Kano
Distributed Databases, Cooperative Processing, and Networking - Shaku Atre
Dynamics of Software Development" - Jim McCarthy
Effective Software Testing: 50 Specific Ways to Improve Your Testing - Elfriede Dustin
Even Faster Web Sites: Performance Best Practices for Web Developers - Steve Souders
Exploratory Software Testing: Tips, Tricks, Tours, and Techniques to Guide Test Design - James A. Whittaker
Extreme Programming Explained: Embrace Change - Kent Beck
Find the Bug : A Book of Incorrect Programs - Adam Barr
Getting it right the second time: How American ingenuity transformed forty-nine marketing failures into some of our most successful products - Michael Gershman
Glitch: The Hidden Impact of Faulty Software - Jeff Papows
Growth Partnering: How to Build Your Company's Profits by Building Customer Profits - Mack Hanan
High Performance Web Sites: Essential Knowledge for Front-End Engineers - Steve Souders
High Stakes, No Prisoners : A Winner's Tale of Greed and Glory in the Internet Wars - Charles Ferguson
How to Break Software: A Practical Guide to Testing - James A. Whittaker
How to Break Software Security - James A. Whittaker, Herbert H. Thompson
How to Break Web Software: Functional and Security Testing of Web Applications and Web Services - Mike Andrews, James A. Whittaker
How We Test Software at Microsoft - Alan Page, Ken Johnston, Bj Rollison
HTML Goodies - Joe Burns
Html Quick Reference" - Robert Mullen
Hunting Security Bugs - Jeff Gallagher, Bryan Jeffries, Lawrence Landauer
I.M.Wright's Hard Code - Eric Brechner
Implementing Automated Software Testing: How to Save Time and Lower Costs While Raising Quality - Elfriede Dustin, Thom Garrett, Bernie Gauf
Innovation: The Attacker's Advantage - Richard N. Foster
International Programming for Microsoft Windows - David A. Schmitt
Interviewing: More Than a Gut Feeling - Rishcard S. Deems
It's About Time: A Fable About the Next Dimension of Quality - John Guaspari
Leading Product Development : The Senior Manager's Guide to Creating and Shaping the Enterprise - Steven C. Wheelwright
Learn Visual Basic 6.0 Now - Michael Halvorson
Lessons Learned in Software Testing - Cem Kaner, James Bach, Bret Pettichord
The Logic of Failure - Dietrich Dorner
Lotus Notes & Domino Essential Reference - Tim Bankes, Dave Hatter
Made to Stick : Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die - Chip Heath, Dan Heath
Managing High-Technology Programs and Projects - Russell D. Archibald
Managing The Testing Process - Rex Black
Mastering Active Directory - Robert King
Measuring and Managing Performance in Organizations - Robert D. Austin
Merriam-Webster's Guide to International Business Communications/How to Communicate Effectively Around the World by Mail,Fax, and Phone - Toby D. Atkinson
Microsoft Log Parser Toolkit: A complete toolkit for Microsoft's undocumented log analysis tool - Gabriele Giuseppini
MICROSOFT SECRETS : How the World's Most Powerful Software Company Creates Technology, Shapes Markets, and Manages People - Michael A. Cusumano
Microsoft Windows 98 Resource Kit - Microsoft Corporation
Microsoft Windows NT Workstation Resource Kit - Microsoft Corporation
Microsoft Windows User Experience - Microsoft Corporation
Peopleware : Productive Projects and Teams, 2nd Ed. - Tom Demarco, Timothy Lister
Perfect Software and other illusions about testing - Gerald M. Weinberg
The Practical Guide to Defect Prevention - Marc McDonald
Professional Application Lifecycle Management with Visual Studio 2010 - Mickey Gousse
The Programmer's Introduction to Visual Basic. NET - Craig Utley
Programming in the Key of C#: A Primer for Aspiring Programmers - Charles Petzold
Quality Is Free - Philip B. Crosby
Rapid System Development: Using Structured Techniques and Relational Technology - Chris Gane
Re-inventing the corporation: Transforming your job and your company for the new information society - John Naisbitt
Rethinking Business-To-Business Marketing - Paul Sherlock
Revolutionizing Product Development : Quantum Leaps in Speed, Efficiency, and Quality - Steven C. Wheelwright
Rewards That Drive High Performance: Success Stories from Leading Organizations - Thomas B. Wilson
SAA CUA Advanced Interface Design Guide - IBM
Scaling for E-Business: Technologies, Models, Performance, and Capacity Planning - Daniel A. Menasce, Virgilio A.F. Almeida
Software Engineering - Randall W. Jensen
Software Test Automation - Mark Fewster, Dorothy Graham
Software Testing and Evaluation - Richard A. Demillo, et al
Software Testing with Visual Test 4.0 - Thomas R. Arnold II
Special Edition Using Visual Basic 6 - Brian Siler
Strategic data-planning methodologies - James Martin
Surviving the Top Ten Challenges of Software Testing: A People-Oriented Approach - William E. Perry and Randall W. Rice
Testing Applications on the Web: Test Planning for Internet-Based Systems - Hung Q. Nguyen
Testing Client/Server Applications - Patricia A. Goglia
Testing Computer Software, 2nd Edition - Cem Kaner, Jack Falk, Hung Quoc Nguyen
Testing Computer Telephony Systems and Networks - Steve Gladstone
Unix in a Nutshell - Arnold Robbins
The Web Testing Handbook - Steven Splaine, et al
VBScript Programmer's Reference - Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, et al
Vedic Maths. Vedic Formulae (Sutras) Explained in Simple Methods - H. K. Gupta
Visual Basic for Testers - Mary Romero Sweeney
Who Says Elephants Can't Dance? Inside IBM's Historic Turnaround - Louis V. Gerstner Jr.
The Windows Interface Guidelines for Software Design: An Application Design Guide - Microsoft Corporation
The World is Flat - Thomas L. Friedman
Writing Secure Code, Second Edition - Michael Howard, David C. LeBlanc
XML by Example - Benoit Marchal
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values - Robert Pirsig

All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

How Do You Keep In Synch With Your Test Team?

2011-11-15T05:00:00.000-05:00

How are things?

One of the challenges for a busy manager with a team of busy testers working on multiple projects is keeping in touch, knowing what's going on, where help is needed, how to unblock obstacles. It's difficult (for me at least), and takes some work, but it's well worth it.

Here are some of the things that I do:

Weekly Team Meetings - On Mondays, I have a meeting with the entire QA Team - associates and contractors alike. I remind them of upcoming company events, make sure we all know if any of us is going to be out of the office during the week, celebrate last week's releases, give everyone a turn to talk about what they did last week and will be doing this week, and discuss any problems or issues which might be affecting the group. The primary goal here is to try and ensure that everyone hears a bit about what everyone else is doing and how it might affect them. copyrightjoestrazzere

Weekly One-on-One Meetings - Once each week, for at least 1/2 hour, I meet individually with each QA Team member. This is our scheduled chance to talk privately. We talk about current and upcoming projects, about any problems needing attention, and anything that might be getting in the way of success. I keep a Word document for each individual and add reminders to myself into it during the week. Then I use that document during our One-on-One so that I can remember to bring up the important topics.

Bi-Weekly Team Discussions - Every other week, we get together to talk about "QA stuff" for an hour. This meeting is led by one of the team members rather than me. Often we talk about testing tips, about how to do something more effectively, and anything else that might help us grow as QA Professionals. Recently, we've been discussing the book "Lessons Learned in Software Testing" - kind of a book club discussion. It's informal, and fun.

Status Reports - I try not to burden my team with a lot of formalities. I want them to test, not fill out forms. But one I do require is a brief weekly Status Report. I only ask for five things: What I worked on this week, What I plan to work on next week, Unplanned activities, Time away next week, and Issues and concerns. Reading these helps me help them, and gives me a way to look back at a later date.

Project Meetings - At my company, for all major projects, the entire project team usually meets once per week. The appropriate member(s) of the QA Team attend those meetings, and I do too. This means that I attend a lot of project meetings, but for me it's generally time well spent. I get to hear what might be impacting my team in real time.

Read ALL of the Bug Reports - Our bug tracking system (currently Bugzilla) allows me to automatically receive bug reports via email when they are filed by someone I am "watching". I look at all of these bug reports at some point during the week. It gives me a lot of insight into the issues testers are finding, what patterns might be emerging, what they aren't finding, and what I might need to do in order to help them and the projects.

Read and write emails - Obviously, I get a lot of emails from my team. I read them all, respond to some and file some away. If I read something that demonstrates particularly good work, I try to reply with a "Thank You". If I read something that needs correction, I may reply by email, but more often I'll put it on my list of things to be discussed in the next One-on-One weekly meeting.

Read all the test assets (plans, checklists, etc) - The written output my team produces is a valuable source of information for me. It helps me understand who might be struggling and needs help and who might need more of my attention. Particularly good output might also serve as w terrific model for others on the team.

Informal talks - Lots of discussion is informal: in the halls, between meetings, etc. There is often a lot of value in these discussions, too. Sometimes people will tell you more in an informal setting, than they would in your office. Plus, it's fun!

Work together on some projects - For some projects, I like to get personally involved. Sometimes I'll help test, sometimes I'll help plan. This is a good way for me to see how things are going, particularly on some of the bigger projects.

Formal reviews (quarterly, annual) - My company requires several formal reviews. I'm not a big fan of formal performance reviews, but if they have to be done anyway, I at least try to get something useful out of them. It's one more chance to talk, to reflect over the past time period, and to discuss the future.

Greetings in the morning - Since I tend to be the first one in the office each morning, I can't say hello as I walk in. But I do try to make a point of greeting everyone at some point in the morning - as I walk to get some coffee or on my way to a morning meeting.

Goodbyes in the evening - On my way home, I say goodnight to anyone who is still around.

These things all help me feel connected and hopefully provide some value to my team as well.

As a busy Test Manager, how do you keep up with all that is going on with your test team?
And if you are a busy Tester, how does your Manager keep up with you?

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Where Were You on 11/11/11 at 11:11:11?

2011-11-14T05:00:00.000-05:00

Where were you on 11/11/11 when the clock struck 11:11:11?

Have you ever entered 1111111111 as test data into a numeric field or 11/11/11 into a date field and 11:11:11 into a time field? I know I have.

So it was kind of fun to see 11/11/11 approaching.

At my company, we have a lot of meetings pretty much every day, and of course on Friday, November 11, 2011 we had an 11:00 meeting. We thought it might be fun to take a brief pause at the appropriate time to watch the clock count down to 11:11:11. And so we did. copyrightjoestrazzere

So now I can always remember exactly where I was, and exactly what I was doing on 11/11/11 at 11:11:11.

Working for a company I'll call B..
In the North Conference Room
At a weekly project meeting
For a product I'll call V...
With Gail, Mark, Phil, Bob, Kesav, Cathy, and Dan (on the phone)
Laughing

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

I Like Big Bugs!

2011-11-10T19:37:00.000-05:00

Sir Test-A-Lot

I like big bugs, and I can not lie

You other testers can't deny

That when the code's checked in with a frantic pace

And a bug's right in your face copyrightjoestrazzere

You get happy

Wanna pull up tough

Cuz you notice that bug was stuffed

Deep in the code you're checking

You're hooked and you can't stop testing

Oh, big bug I wanna get with ya

And take your picture

My test team tried to warn me

But that bug I found

Make me so happy

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Different Views On (All Things) Quality

2011-11-03T05:00:00.000-04:00

It's Dynamic!

Recently, Google introduced a new feature to their blogger platform - Dynamic Views. As described in Blogger Buzz: copyrightjoestrazzere

Dynamic Views: seven new ways to share your blog with the world
Classic: A modern twist on a traditional template, with infinite scrolling and images that load as you go
Flipcard: Your photos are tiled across the page and flip to reveal the post title
Magazine: A clean, elegant editorial style layout
Mosaic: A mosaic mix of different sized images and text
Sidebar: An email inbox-like view with a reading page for quick scrolling and browsing
Snapshot: An interactive pinboard of your posts
Timeslide: A horizontal view of your posts by time period

I've chosen to leave the lovingly hand crafted, tastefully styled and obviously elegant user interface for All Things Quality as it is for now.

But, if you want to explore or bookmark other views, try these:

http://strazzere.blogspot.com/view/classic

http://strazzere.blogspot.com/view/flipcard

http://strazzere.blogspot.com/view/magazine

http://strazzere.blogspot.com/view/mosaic

http://strazzere.blogspot.com/view/sidebar

http://strazzere.blogspot.com/view/snapshot

http://strazzere.blogspot.com/view/timeslide

And if you particularly like one of these new views, please let me know!

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

All Things Quality in Hebrew!

2011-11-02T05:00:00.000-04:00

An article about All Things Quality - in Hebrew!

In August of 2010, I was asked by Joel Montvelisky of PractiTest, if he could write about All Things Quality in a new magazine - ThinkTesting.

He explained that ThinkTesting was going to be published in Israel, would be in Hebrew, and was intended for local testers. In each edition, Joel wanted to write a column recommending a blog, and he wanted my blog to be the first. Of course I was honored, and quickly agreed. copyrightjoestrazzere

I hadn't heard back from Joel since then, so I figured it was just one of those many plans that seem like a good idea, but never get off the ground.

Recently, I was reviewing the analytics from my blog (something I do periodically) and saw a few visits from a referring site I hadn't seen before. It was from thinktesting.co.il, and when I followed the referral, I saw All Things Quality mentioned. It took me a while to realize that this was the magazine that Joel had mentioned.

When I contacted Joel by email, he told me that the initial edition of the magazine had indeed been published in October 2010, had included this article, and that they were working on the 5th edition now.

Joel translated the relevant portion for me:

The World is full of blogs, each of them with its own type of content and interest. Today we want to start by pointing to a blog I've been following for a number of years, Joe Strazzere's blog (written ג’ו סטרזרה ), All Things Quality, located on http://strazzere.blogspot.com

I got to learn about Joe's teaching from QAForums, where he is one of the forum's moderators, and also one of the people answering the largest number of questions. One of his main traits is his ability to take complex questions and answer them in simple and very specific answers, providing some refreshing insights and solutions even to complex issues.

In his blog, Joe provides some professional answers and examples for issues around the world of testing.

I choose 3 examples out of his blog that show the simple way with which he can review complex professional topics...

Nice! I can't wait to see the print version that Joel is sending me, so that I can show it off to my Jewish friends.

You can see the magazine issue yourself at: http://thinktesting.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/cover1.pdf

And you can visit the web site at: http://www.thinktesting.co.il/

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Perhaps They Should Have Tested More - Jaguar

2011-10-26T05:00:00.000-04:00

Meow?

Jaguar is recalling certain X-Type cars, due to a software glitch affecting the cruise control system.

17,678 cars recalled due to a software glitch
affects cars made between 2006 and 2010
error with certain interfacing systems copyrightjoestrazzere
cruise control cannot be disengaged in a normal manner
must turn off the ignition to disengage the cruise control function

What's that up there? Is that a police car? Yup, better disengage the cruise control and slow down a bit. Doesn't seem to be working! Hmm...

Perhaps they should have tested more.

Newest People In Testing - Jeff Nyman

2011-10-24T05:00:00.000-04:00

Jeff Nyman is a People in Testing

I'm happy to include Jeff Nyman on my People in Testing page, and to include his "Stories from a Software Tester" blog as part of my What People Are Writing aggregation.

I recently re-discovered Jeff's new site. Jeff was a terrific contributor over at SQAForums.com a long time ago, and seeing his site made me remember how much I enjoyed his writing. He's clearly a smart guy, knows testing really well, and seems to have a lot of teacher/mentor in him. copyrightjoestrazzere

Reading "Stories from a Software Tester" is like reading pages from a well-written book on testing. Perhaps that's what he has in mind?

Check it out for yourself and let me know if you agree.

And if you know any other people who have a blog and should be included here, send me a note!

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

I'm Bill Belichick?

2011-10-21T19:00:00.000-04:00

I prioritize substance and preparation over style and glibness. Plus, I like wearing hoodies.

Since it's the bye week for the New England Patriots, local writers are scrambling for material to fill the sports pages. The Boston Globe's Boston.com website posted a little quiz today (http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/extras/which_patriot_are_you/).

You answer 10 multiple-choice questions like "What's your favorite way to express yourself? a. Facebook b. Twitter c. Dress/Physical appearance d. I let my actions speak for themselves". copyrightjoestrazzere

Then the answers are tallied, and the "member of the New England Patriots you are on the same wavelength with" is revealed.

Apparently, I'm most similar to Bill Belichick. Go figure! Now, where is my whistle, anyway?

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Are You A Lark?

2011-10-17T03:00:00.000-04:00

A lark. (Not actually me)

I am a morning person. I like getting up reasonably early, and find that I am most productive before noon. According to "Brain Rules" by John Medina, this apparently makes me a "lark".

In general larks report being most alert around noon and feel most productive at work a few hours before they eat lunch. They don't need an alarm clock, because they invariably get up before the alarm rings - often before 6 a.m. Larks cheerfully report their favorite mealtime as breakfast and generally consume less coffee than non-larks. Getting increasingly drowsy in the early evening, most larks go to bed (or want to go to bed) around 9 p.m.

In recent years, my morning tasks look pretty much the same during the work week. I find that I can get a lot done before the flood of meetings and other tasks begin each day.

My morning workday routine looks like this:

Wake by about 5 a.m. without the benefit of an alarm clock
Shower, shave, and get dressed
Make coffee for myself and my wife
Make my lunch
Have breakfast (sometimes) and drink coffee while watching the local television news
Leave for work around 6 a.m.
Drive to work copyrightjoestrazzere
Turn on the lights, since I'm usually the first one in
Arrive at my desk about 6:30 a.m.
Read and respond to overnight emails, cleaning out my inbox
Read bug reports that have been filed or updated since the previous day
Check on the status of monitors and logs for some key Production and QA systems
Check the results of any overnight test automation
A quick chat with the India QA team as needed
Review the schedule of meetings planned for the remainder of the day
Plan the day and reserve blocks of time in my Outlook calendar as needed
Address anything that needs my immediate attention
Have another cup of coffee around 9 a.m.
Deal with any corporate administrivia needing my attention
Get on with the rest of the day

This works out really well for me. It makes me feel good to get these things out of the way early, and have a good, quick start to my lark day.

How about you - are you a lark, too? What does your morning routine look like?

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Vegetable Garden Results 2011

2011-10-12T03:00:00.000-04:00

Cucumbers - yum!

Over the (unseasonably warm) weekend, I harvested the last of my cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and herbs from my vegetable garden, and cleaned up the beds.

This year I had narrowed down the varieties of plantings, and was a bit more careful with their location. I was striving to produce veggies that really made a big difference when grow fresh, rather than those that were almost as good when purchased in a supermarket.

Just like last year, some of the plantings worked out really well - others, not so well. But the specifics were almost completely different from last year. Once again, all of the herbs flourished. But this year, the cucumbers were the big winner - both regular and pickling varieties were bountiful and delicious. And this year, in spite of my high hopes, the peppers yielded almost exactly nothing. A huge disappointment - I was really looking forward to a nice selection of hot peppers. copyrightjoestrazzere

Still, the garden was fun again and looked nice in the back yard.

That's it for this fall - we'll try again next Spring!

Successes

Cucumbers
Pickling Cucumbers
Curled Parsley
Basil
Rosemary
Lavender
Cherry Tomatoes

Mixed Results

Zucchini
Big Boy Tomatoes

Utter, Pathetic, Dismal Failures

Several varieties of hot peppers

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Business Casual Confusion

2011-10-11T03:00:00.000-04:00

That's me on the bottom-left, but not on Fridays.

Ok, I get that companies like to have dress codes. My company has a "business casual" dress code. Except...

We have "Casual Fridays" where folks can wear sneakers and jeans. copyrightjoestrazzere
For one week per year we have "Dress Down for Charity" where you can buy the privilege of wearing sneakers and jeans in return for a donation to charity.

So it's important to have this dress code, but it's not important on Friday, nor when you cough up a few bucks?

Sometimes I just don't understand the thinking behind these things.

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

My Status Report Template

2011-10-10T03:00:00.000-04:00

My Status Report

When reporting status to my boss, we have worked out a format that works well for both of us. It conveys an entire year's worth of information, yet lets us focus on just the past few weeks as we discuss it in our weekly one-on-one meeting. I can also print just the currently-relevant portion easily, and bring it with me.

This excel-based report shows all the projects currently in process, along with projects that have recently been completed. The Status column is green if the project is doing well, yellow if it is in danger, and red if it has already gone beyond the expected completion date. This column also shows the initials of the currently assigned tester(s). copyrightjoestrazzere

The Dates column typically shows the expected release date for the project. Sometimes the next milestone date is used instead.

The Comments column is where I put important information about the then-current state of the project. If something significant has changed in the past week, it is bolded.

Each week, I hide the oldest visible Status-Date-Comments columns (note how columns B,C,D are hidden) and insert a new group to the right. Then I update the status of each project row.

If a project has been released to Production, I move it into the "Completed Projects" group. After two weeks, that row will be hidden (note how row 15 is hidden).

The bottom portion of the report lists vacations and important scheduling issues, such as new hires arriving, contractors leaving, etc.

I update this report throughout the week as events occur. I finish it up on Friday, then email it to my boss before I leave for the weekend. We use it during our Monday discussion.

I also use this report to help me prepare quarter-end and year-end reviews.

Check it out at:
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B1X3i44SoVGlODdkODdlNTAtNTQyMy00N2NkLTk2ZTUtMjBkOGRmZjY3OTg1&hl=en_US

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Errors Are...

2011-10-05T05:00:00.000-04:00

Er, an error?

According to Google (and Google knows everything), errors are ...

Errors are magic

Errors are normally distributed

Errors are not in the art but in the artificers

Errors are independent

Errors are the portals of discovery

Errors are correlated

Errors are not normally distributed

Errors are corrected in dna

Errors are human copyrightjoestrazzere

Errors are common and under-reported

Errors are mistakes

Errors are my own

Errors are offensive

Errors are more common than suspected

Errors are intentional

Errors are more than an "oops"

Errors are costing $17 billion a year

Errors are entertaining

Errors are essential for survival

Errors are going to occur

Can you add to the list?

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

What People Are Writing

2011-10-04T05:00:00.000-04:00

People Are Writing!

For a while now, I've been looking to find a way to aggregate blog posts from tester friends and present them here on All Things Quality.

The Blogger service hosting my blog provides a Blog List "widget" that gives me something close to what I was looking for. The problem is that widgets are restricted to a few particular portions of each page. I have a long list of testers I wanted to aggregate, and I didn't want to make every page extremely long.

After some experimentation, I hit upon a solution. I was able to create a second blog that basically contains nothing but this one widget. That way, I could make the widget area cover the width of the page, be as long as needed, yet not impact every single post on the primary blog. I used the same overall colors and formatting as my original blog, and included links to make it look as seamless as I could manage.

If you click on the tab for What People Are Writing above, you'll see the result. I like the way it came out. This aggregation shows snippets from the most recent article of each per blog, ordered by the date of the post. I think this will be an easy way to keep up with all the excellent blog posts that people in test are writing. copyrightjoestrazzere

Please let me know what you think.

And in particular, let me know if there are any other really good testers' blogs that I've missed.

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

A New Browser To Test - Amazon Silk

2011-09-29T08:29:00.002-04:00

Amazon Silk

As part of their big press conference for the new Kindle versions yesterday, Amazon announced that the Kindle Fire tablet would come with a new browser - Amazon Silk.

The concept is to provide the ability to dynamically offload some of the work a browser must perform off of the device, and on to Amazon's powerful cloud services. copyrightjoestrazzere

Split functionality between the device (for now, just the Kindle Fire) and the Cloud (Amazon's EC2)
Predictive pre-fetching and pre-caching
Some pre-rendered images
Based on Webkit
Uses Google's SPDY (optimized http)
Might become available on other devices

If your system will be accessed from a Kindle Fire, it will make sense to add the new Amazon Silk browser to your list of test platforms. You may very well find that your site behaves differently on Silk than it does on other browsers - perhaps better, perhaps worse.

We'll have to keep an eye on this browser once it makes its way into the hands of testers, to see how it stacks up against other Webkit-based browsers.

This will be interesting to see....

See also:
http://amazonsilk.wordpress.com/2011/09/28/introducing-amazon-silk/
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2011/09/amazons-silk-web-browser-adds-new-twist-to-old-idea.ars
http://9to5google.com/2011/09/29/the-secret-to-amazon-silk-browsers-speediness-webkit-and-spdy/
http://9to5google.com/2011/06/13/googles-spdy-protocol-rolls-out-commercially-expected-in-android/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2011/sep/29/amazon-silk-kindle-fire
http://www.infoworld.com/d/applications/amazons-silk-browser-one-ups-operas-approach-the-web-174387

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

3 Characters Missing From A Resume

2011-09-22T05:00:00.000-04:00

Hi there. I'm a resume, and I represent a candidate for the open position. Filter me.

I had been trying to fill an open position for quite some time.

Now that we are part of a big corporation, the hiring process involved the creation of a job description and inputting it into the system, and a discussion with the (remote) internal recruiter. We talked about the needs of the position, the characteristics of a good candidate, and the technical skills that would help a person succeed in this role.

I conducted phone interviews with a number of candidates, and face-to-face interviews with some, but hadn't yet found the right person.

One of the QAers on my team mentioned that he was going to refer a friend. This is always a good thing - good for me, since I get access to people that my terrific team members think would fit, and good for my team member, since he can earn a significant referral bonus. The process requires that the referred candidate's information and resume get entered into the system, that it go through the internal recruiter, and then eventually come to me.

But after a week, I hadn't seen this particular candidate's resume come through! So I contacted our internal recruiter and asked about him.

The recruiter indicated that since XML was one of the technologies I mentioned as being important, and since the candidate didn't mention XML on his resume, the recruiter hadn't considered this candidate as qualified. I asked that the candidate be moved forward anyway. copyrightjoestrazzere

When conducting a phone interview with this candidate, I quickly learned that he was clearly well-versed in XML, and just hadn't considered it important enough to mention on his resume. In the end, we hired him, so all's well that ends well, I suppose.

But I almost missed out on a really good candidate due to 3 missing characters.

In thinking back, I have been trying to determine what I should have done differently. I have to let the recruiter do his job, and I have to let him filter out unqualified versus qualified candidates - otherwise I'd be forced to read through thousands of applicants' resumes. Perhaps I was too strict in my qualification, but XML was really important for this particular role. Perhaps I should have asked to see some of the rejected resumes early in the process to make sure the recruiter's filter was appropriate for the open position.

Anyway, when I re-write my resume, I might consider somehow squeezing in keywords representing every single technology I've ever touched, so that I don't miss out on great opportunities for which I'm clearly qualified. I don't want to be omitted by an over-zealous recruitment filter!

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Collecting Friends

2011-09-19T05:00:00.000-04:00

Hugh J McDonald

Last Monday, my brother-in-law Hugh passed away. He was buried last Friday.

In between, we got to see the many, many family members, friends and acquaintances who knew him all come to pay their respects and say goodbye to Hugh.

Hugh was an interesting man. With his flat-top haircut, suspenders to hold up his pants over his big belly, and his love of black and white cowboy westerns on television, he was what you would call a "character". But in particular, Hugh was the kind of guy who would go into a coffee shop and come out knowing the name of the new waitress, where she lived, who her neighbors were, where she had gone to school, and the five friends they both had in common. copyrightjoestrazzere

So it wasn't much of a surprise to see the hundreds of people come to the funeral home. His family, sure. But also so many friends.
His school friends from way back.
His friends from the Big Dig and from lots of snowplowing.
His friend the mailman, who would drop off all the stamps Hugh received.
His friends who owned the local farms, and with whom Hugh would ride every week to check on the fields up North, or pick up a new pig.
His friends from the junk yard out back, where he would go to pick up a truck part, but stay for hours to chat with everyone there.
His friends from the hospital where he went every Friday to receive his medical treatments and always to talk with the nurses.
His friends from the sandwich shop just up the road where they knew Hugh by name.

My brother-in-law Hugh was a collector.

He collected model trucks and cars.

He collected stamps, particularly stamps with pictures of ships on them.

He collected coins from all over the world.

But most of all, Hugh collected friends.

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Mistakes Are...

2011-09-13T02:00:00.000-04:00

Let's make better mistakes tomorrow

According to Google (and Google knows everything), mistakes are ...

Mistakes are an important part of learning
Mistakes are what make our fate
Mistakes are gods rainbows
Mistakes are the portals of discovery
Mistakes are okay
Mistakes are a fact of life
Mistakes are lessons
Mistakes are fixable
Mistakes are beautiful
Mistakes are all too common copyrightjoestrazzere
Mistakes are forever
Mistakes are inevitable
Mistakes are the best teaching tool
Mistakes are more fun than tips
Mistakes are good
Mistakes are only funny when no one gets hurt
Mistakes are in the past
Mistakes are a warning sign
Mistakes are more tolerated if you're the right gender for the job
Mistakes are too much fun to make only once
Mistakes are rare
Mistakes are gifts
Mistakes are an important part of life

Really Google - "gods rainbows"?

Can you add to the list?

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Perhaps They Should Have Tested More - Bright House Networks

2011-09-12T05:00:00.000-04:00

Perhaps Bright House Networks Should Have Tested More

Last Tuesday, Bright House Networks customers throughout Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando, Hillsborough and Manatee counties in Florida were without phone, cable and high-speed Internet services.

Bright House engineers ultimately isolated the problem to a line of software that ended up cutting off service to much of the company's Tampa and Orlando service areas.

Normally, redundant systems should prevent a service breakdown, but this breakdown overwhelmed the network. "This was a software bug that caused a cascading effect," said Bright House spokesman Joe Durkin.

a software glitch was to blame for the outage
a widespread disruption caused by a software bug that affected the companies' high-speed Internet, phone and cable services
its worst outage in history
a substantial outage copyrightjoestrazzere
businesses couldn't run credit card machines
local government and police agencies lost service
public safety officials spent the day warning the public to use cell phones to call 911 in an emergency
Bright House's support website was inaccessible for much of that time, displaying only a "server too busy" message.

Do you have your television, internet and telephone all serviced by the same network? I don't.

One bad line of software overwhelmed the network and redundant services. Perhaps they should have tested more.

Also see:

http://www.fiercecable.com/story/software-glitch-sparks-outage-among-1m-bright-house-subscribers/2011-09-07

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/09/06/2392994/bright-house-internet-cable-down.html

http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/bright-house-experiencing-widespread-service-outages/1189986

http://www2.tbo.com/news/business/2011/sep/06/5/bright-house-customers-report-service-down-ar-255659/

http://www.theledger.com/article/20110906/NEWS/110909633/1134

http://www.tampabay.com/features/media/bright-house-networks-subscribers-vent-over-service-after-outage/1190267

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F8swVqndb0

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/local/bright-house-outage-090611

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Remembering September 11, 2001

2011-09-11T00:01:00.005-04:00

Anna Williams Allison

Ten years later, I remember September 11, 2001.

I remember being in a morning meeting and one of the staff members was late. When he came in, he asked if we had heard the news about a plane crashing into the World Trade Center. We hadn't. We finished our meeting, then went upstairs to the lunch room (with its huge projection television) and saw that the news channels still weren't sure if this was an accident or some sort of attack.

Shortly after that, we watched in horror as another plan crashed into the second tower. Then it was clear that this was no accident.

A very sad, unsettling day.
copyrightjoestrazzere
The next day, I got a phone call from a friend. He told me some more sad news. A former co-worker was on America Airlines flight #11 - the first plane to crash into a tower.

Anna Williams Allison was a colleague at Bachman Information Systems. She and I both worked in the Quality Assurance department. She was very smart, very energetic, and a terrific QAer. I learned a lot from her, and I like to think she learned something from me.

When we both left Bachman, we remained friends, and occasionally spoke, emailed, shared ideas about QA and work, and had lunch. She eventually formed her own company - doing QA training and presentations. She was very good for the QA field.

Anna was on flight 11, on her way to a customer engagement.

I miss her, both professionally, and as a friend. Each September 11th, as the country shares remembrances of a sad day in our history, I think of her again. We in the QA community are poorer without her.

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

New From Amazon - The Kindle Daily Deal

2011-09-08T02:00:00.000-04:00

Kindle Daily Deal

Recently, Amazon began a pricing experiment they call the "Kindle Daily Deal", where they significantly discount one popular book for a period of 24 hours. From their website:

Each day we unveil a new Kindle book at a specially discounted price. Check back daily to see what's next. Deals go live at approximately 12:00 a.m., Pacific time.

Some recent deals priced between $0.99 and $2.99 include:

The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly
Food Inc.by Karl Weber
Elizabeth Street by Laurie Fabiano
Hidden in Plain View by Blair S. Walker
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Good books, good prices.

Check it out at:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/?docId=1000677541

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Free Music From Amazon

2011-09-07T02:00:00.000-04:00

Not actually my i-Pod

The Amazon MP3 Store now offers "Free Downloads from Artists on the Rise".

From their website:

Artists on the Rise

Each month, we'll shine the spotlight on new artists we think you'll love and give you a free track from each. If you like what you hear, you can pick up each artist's latest release next month for a great price.

Amazon also provides mini-reviews of the artists they select, telling you why they were selected and comparing them to a few other artists. For example:

Natalia Kills

Why We Like It: Natalia Kills marries heavy dance floor-friendly beats with anthemic melodies that caught our ears on first listen. These well-produced pop jams wouldn’t feel out of place on the radio, in a club, blasting out of car speakers, or at a sweet summer BBQ.

Recommended if you like: Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Robyn

A pretty nice feature if you ask me!

The selections span a wide variety of genres, so you'll almost certainly discover some you like, some you don't like, and some you would never even consider purchasing. But they are free - so you have nothing to lose but a minute or two of your time.

I've found some pretty catchy tunes. You might, too.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/?docId=1000655511

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Smart Monkey Testing

2011-09-06T02:00:00.000-04:00

Rise of the Sequel of the Remake of the Movie Based on the Book as Translated from the Original of the Planet of the Smart Monkey Testing

copyrightjoestrazzere

Be careful when creating Smart Monkey tests.

Because you could go too far...

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Kayaking The Concord

2011-09-05T02:00:00.000-04:00

The Concord River

Yesterday was hot, humid and overcast. We decided to take the kayaks out to the Concord River.

We packed up the kayaks and some lunch, drove to Bedford, put in, and headed toward Concord. This was our first time paddling against the current, and there was a breeze in our face, so it was a bit more work than we anticipated. Still, we paddled for about an hour and a half before stopping for lunch. After eating we paddled a bit more before deciding we had enough and turning around for the more leisurely paddle back.

This part of the Concord River is very slow moving (which is good), but it's mostly conservation land so there's not much to see (which is not as good). We saw a few ducks, geese and a few other birds, but that was pretty much it for the wildlife.

It was fun, quiet, and good exercise, even if not much in the way of sightseeing. Overall, a nice way to spend part of a Sunday.

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Imitation, Flattery and Copy Cats

2011-09-01T05:00:00.002-04:00

Not exactly a Copy "Cat", but you get the idea

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

- Charles Caleb Colton

Everything on this blog is meant to be shared. Read it, use it, quote from it, link to it, print it and pass it around - that's all good.

If you want to re-post it on your website, that's fine too! All I ask is that you include my name as the original author and a link to this blog. That's only fair, right? It certainly can't be too much to ask?

So when I see my words show up on someone else's site without my name or a link to my blog and passed off as someone else's work, I'm not thrilled.

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, should I be flattered?

Are these folks Flatterers? Rip-off artists? Copy Cats?

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

A New Version of WinTask - 3.8

2011-08-31T05:00:00.021-04:00

WinTask 3.8 - now supports Firefox

The good folks at TaskWare have released a new version of the favorite tool in my toolbox - WinTask.

The big news here is that WinTask has now added support for Firefox 5 and above as well as for Internet Explorer 9!

A few new functions were also added:

EnabledHTMLElement, returns 1 if the specified HTML element is enabled, returns 0 if it is disabled
PreviousPage() simulates a Go previous page in the browser window which has the focus.

Here is the vendor's version history of WinTask: http://www.wintask.com/version-history.php

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

You can see some of my WinTask utility scripts here, using the WinTask tag.

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

A New Kindle Game - Jigsaw Words

2011-08-30T05:00:00.005-04:00

http://www.amazon.com/Jigsaw-Words/dp/B005IQHS7E/

Amazon released yet another new (free) game for the Kindle - Jigsaw Words.

Jigsaw Words is a word game that challenges you to combine groups of letters into words that match the clues given.

In each Jigsaw Words puzzle, you start with a set of 10 clues. You also have a set of randomly arranged puzzle pieces with letters on them. Your goal is to solve the clues in the puzzle by arranging the puzzle pieces so that the letters form the word that matches each clue. Start with the easiest clues first. As you use each puzzle piece, it is removed from play, making it easier to find the more difficult matches. You can also shuffle the grid of puzzle pieces at any time for a different perspective.

Jigsaw Words has 100 puzzles and each puzzle has 10 clues to solve. The puzzles are organized into 10 themed categories like Holidays and Animals, and you can use the theme to help you solve the clues.

If you enjoy working with words and patterns, try Jigsaw Words and test your ability to build words today!

I don't care for this game as much as some of the other Kindle word games. For example, I like Thread Words a lot more.

Note: This game was free at the time I downloaded it from Amazon. As with all free items, you must check before you download, since it may no longer be free.

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

How To Sell Testing - You Should Read This!

2011-08-29T05:00:00.028-04:00

How to Sell Testing by Jim Hazen

Jim Hazen has written an excellent article "The secret skill – How to sell testing" in the August 2011 issue of Software Test & Quality Assurance Magazine. You can get it at http://www.softwaretestpro.com/Publication/p/STPM (free registration required).

I particularly liked how he listed some of the constituents being served

Project Management
Development
Marketing/Sales
Technical Support/IT & Customer Services
End User
C-Level and Senior Management

what they need from QA/Testing, and the kind of language that should be used to convey that information.

According to the bio in the article:

"Jim Hazen is a veteran of the software testing trenches. He has over twenty years of experience testing applications on the PC and Web platforms. Mr. Hazen has been involved with the startup of testing groups at multiple companies and has done consulting work for the last 10 years. He has helped clients implement tools for functional automation, performance testing and test management. And worked with clientele management to achieve efficiency gains and the financial benefits associated to testing. Mr. Hazen has been a speaker at QA and test conferences."

Jim is a really smart guy, and a long-time friend. When it comes to QA, Testing, Test Automation, and Diving - he knows his stuff.

Check it out!

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Metrics Are...

2011-08-25T05:00:00.005-04:00

Metrics are

According to Google (and Google knows everything), metrics are ...

Metrics are bunk
Metrics are not available
Metrics are used in marketing
Metrics are important
Metrics are the message
Metrics are worthless
Metrics are crap
Metrics are horrible
Metrics are changing
Metrics are killing creativity
Metrics are wrong
Metrics are dangerous
Metrics are king!
Metrics are just candy for the boss
Metrics are not enough
Metrics are critical for startups
Metrics are a false idol
Metrics are in 'Crisis'
Metrics are hard to kill
Metrics are outdated
Metrics are too simple
Metrics are coming!
Metrics are spreading
Metrics are essential
Metrics are needed
Metrics are awesome

Can you add to the list?

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Dancing Out Of Our Comfort Zone

2011-08-24T05:00:00.000-04:00

Not actually us

I've been seeing a number of articles recently about how you should step outside your comfort zone on occasion, how you should do something different, something less routine, something that makes you stretch a bit. A few months ago, my wife and I did just that.

When our son got engaged last year, my wife told me "It's our son's wedding. I don't want to just sway back and forth on the dance floor like we usually do." She was right. This was important. We needed to learn how to dance.

Now my wife is never uncomfortable just going out and trying something. She doesn't care what others think of her or how she looks doing something new - she'll jump right in and give it a shot. Me - not so much. I tend to be very self-conscious, and very concerned that I'll look foolish. As much as I'd like it to be otherwise, that's just my nature.

I searched around the internet for some self-help dancing instruction. I looked at online video, checked out some websites, even purchased a "Dancing for Dummies" style book. None of that seemed to make any sense to me. I couldn't see how it all fit together.

So we decided more drastic measures were in order. I found a local dance studio that offered ballroom dancing instruction. I called and explained what we were looking for and the instructor suggested that their Beginner Ballroom Dancing would be appropriate. It was a six-week session teaching the basics of Foxtrot, Waltz, Rumba, and Swing.

While we were both a bit nervous the first night, we quickly learned that everyone was at the same beginner stage and that concentrating on learning meant that nobody cared how the others looked, nobody looked foolish, nobody would be judgmental. We were all just learners.

The first few weeks, we weren't sure we'd get it. It was hard to remember what we had learned last week, even though we practiced at home. And it was hard to believe it would ever feel comfortable. But the instructors were terrific. They took us through the beginning steps, started each lesson off with a review of the past week, and introduced new steps very gradually. They showed us what it would look like when we were doing it correctly, and what it might look like when done incorrectly.

Around the third week, we began to feel like "we can do this". While it was still hard work, we started to relax and have fun with it. We even attended a few extra dances that were offered, where we could try out what we had learned.

By the time the wedding rolled around, we were able to get out on the floor and dance many of the dances. We didn't always know what we were doing, since the wedding wasn't limited to the four dances we had practiced, but we were more confident, and more willing to just give it a shot. It was a lot of fun. Several people even asked if we had taken dance lessons.

I learned a little bit about my personal learning style. While I am able to learn a lot by reading and watching, for me that doesn't translate well into physical activity. For something like dancing, I needed someone to show me how to do it, tell me what I was doing wrong, and help me learn.

And I added another "out of my comfort zone" activity to my life. (Writing this blog was another "out of my comfort zone" stretch for me as well.)

Will all of this translate to my work life? Perhaps, I don't really know. But I do know that my wife and I have gone dancing a few times even after my son's wedding, and have had a fun time with it - and that's not half bad!

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Did You Feel That?

2011-08-23T19:06:00.002-04:00

Earthquake (not quite drawn to scale)

Earlier today I was in a meeting, and felt something unusual. It felt like the room was moving a bit side-to-side - nothing really bad, but noticeable. I looked around and didn't see anyone react, so I thought it was just me. (I had forgotten to take my high blood pressure medication this morning, and I thought it was some sort of side-effect.) I was wondering if I should get up and get a drink of water or something.

Then I thought maybe it was the train track repairs going on just outside our building. They had been rolling trains through for a few hours - I thought maybe a particularly big train was on the repaired tracks.

Finally, the head of our division came into the meeting room and asked "Did anyone else feel that? My vertical blinds are swaying."

It was an earthquake.

Apparently, an earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale occurred in Virginia just before 2:00 PM local time, and it shook the Eastern Seaboard, including the Boston area. We are on the fifth floor of an older building, which might have made the shaking a bit more pronounced.

At the time, I couldn't tell what was going on. But now I know what a mild earthquake feels like. As far as I can recall, I haven't experienced one before. Then again, I might have felt it before, but just thought I was getting sick.

Some news:
http://www.boston.com/Boston/metrodesk/2011/08/earthquake-shakes-boston/RZHvF2otUThzuvOfM3DrKO/index.html
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/23/quake-hits-near-washington-d-c/
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2011-08-23/Earthquake-rocks-East-Coast/50107542/1
http://news.yahoo.com/magnitude-6-0-quake-hits-u-east-coast-180027828.html

And a funny one:
http://jmckinley.posterous.com/dc-earthquake-devastation

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Kayaking on Field Pond, Andover MA

2011-08-23T05:00:00.007-04:00

Field Pond, Andover MA

Sunday afternoon was hot and sticky. So my wife and I packed a picnic lunch, put the kayaks on the car, and went to Field Pond in Andover.

Field Pond is in the Harold Parker State Forest, so there are plenty of folks in the area hiking, trail biking, fishing, swimming, canoeing, and kayaking. The pond itself was very quiet (about a dozen people and a few dogs in the water), and there was a bit of a breeze.

Not too much in the way of wildlife - some birds, a few geese, some turtles, and a few small fish that the younger children were catching.

We paddled around to check out the pond, ate our lunch, and paddled some more. It was a nice, relaxing way to spend a hot afternoon.

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

I'm Voting For SQAForums!

2011-08-22T05:00:00.000-04:00

Once again the Automated Testing Institute is conducting their annual "Automation Honors" voting. From their website:

The ATI Automation Honors celebrate the best in the discipline of software test automation. With these awards, automation practitioners determine who the nominees are and who takes home the prize.

In the category of "Best Automated Testing Forum" my vote goes to SQAForums.com.

With over 190,000 registered members and numerous tool-specific and tool-agnostic forums, SQAForums is the best place I've found to ask questions and get answers about all facets of test automation, as well as general test and QA issues. And, I'm lucky enough to be one of the Moderators!

If you like SQAForums, as much as I do, you can go here to vote:

http://www.automatedtestinginstitute.com/home/index.php?option=com_jforms&view=form&id=17&Itemid=183

And if you haven't visited SQAForums yet, why not come and pay a visit at:

http://www.sqaforums.com

Tell them your friend Joe sent you!

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

QA Is Not A Verb

2011-08-19T06:56:00.000-04:00

qual·i·ty as·sur·ance

Noun: The maintenance of a desired level of quality in a service or product, especially by means of attention to every stage of the process of delivery or production.

QA is not a verb. QA stands for Quality Assurance.

So when you say "can you please QA this build", you are asking "can you please Quality Assurance this build?" That's probably not what you meant.

Perhaps you mean:

Can you please check this build?
Can you please test this build? copyrightjoestrazzere
Can you please use your vast Quality Assurance skills to help ensure this build is of sufficient quality for our important stakeholders?

You wouldn't say:

Can you please IT this computer?
Can you please Development this code?
Can you please Engineering this system?
Can you please Product Management this requirement?

So please, don't use QA as a verb?

(Thank you for taking the time to Reader this article.)

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Patriots Training Camp 2011

2011-08-18T05:00:00.003-04:00

New England Patriots Training Camp 2011

Last Saturday, my wife and I went down to Foxboro to see the New England Patriots Training Camp.

These sessions are open to the public, and free. I've been going for years now and really enjoy them. Not only do you get to see a taste of football from a different, up-close angle, but you get to see lots of behind-the-scenes work. It's fascinating to see how the Patriots structure their practices, how some of their time is spent in small groups with positional coaches, while some time is spent in team drills.

One really interesting part is the one-on-one sessions, where receivers work one-on-one against defensive backs, or running backs work one-on-one against linebackers. From repetition to repetition, you can see the players try to adjust their moves to improve.

It's also interesting to see Bill Belichick and watch what he decides to do during each drill. During some of the full-team and seven-on-seven drills, he would pick up a blocking pad and throw it at the quarterback as he was preparing to throw. Presumably, this prepares the player to be better able to deal with bodies coming at him during real games. It's also interesting to see Belichick and the other coaches correct players who make mistakes and congratulate players after making a good play. At one point, Belichick instructed the team to run the next play from the right hash. When the team started to shift over, he said "No, the other right hash", and everyone laughed.

A few player observations:

Tom Brady was very sharp. He dropped some passes just inches over the fingertips of the defenders.
Rob Gronkowski continues to be unstoppable so far. He catches everything.
Wes Welker looked really fast, and really sharp making cuts.
Chad Ochocinco seems to still have a lot to learn about the Pats offense. When not actively practicing, he often stands right beside Brady and discusses what they are seeing - smart.
Ryan Mallet has a gun for an arm, but holds the ball for a long, long time.

Once again, I'm really looking forward to the football year.

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Kindle Cloud Reader

2011-08-17T05:00:00.005-04:00

Amazon recently released a new Kindle "feature", the Kindle Cloud Reader.

Read your e-books in your browser
You can access all of your Amazon-hosted e-books, or you can download them locally for offline reading
Currently works only in Chrome and Safari
Simple, clean interface
Can view your entire e-book library at a glance
Allows you to keep your last-page-read indication "in the Cloud" so you can start reading on one device, and pick up right where you left off on another device

I've tried it in Chrome, and it works quite nicely. Fast, responsive, looks good, and makes it trivially easy to synch across devices. It doesn't do a lot, but what it does, it seems to do quite well. I expect enhancements to be implemented quickly.

I hear that this feature is targeted at Apple. The Kindle Cloud Reader is a replacement for their Kindle App on the iPad. Apple wanted to control the purchasing experience on all iPad apps, so this browser-based approach bypasses Apple's control. Amazon can have their convenient Kindle Store button go directly to Amazon without Apple being involved, thank you very much.

Now, if the lawsuit against Apple and Publishers over the agency concept can only make some progress, we might see more competition (and reduced prices) for e-books.

To be honest, I'm not completely sure when I'll use the Cloud Reader, other than when I forget my Kindle and want/need to read something at lunchtime. Still, it's nice to know it exists.

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

People Are Not Fungible

2011-08-16T05:00:00.001-04:00

adjective Law.(especially of goods) being of such nature or kind as to be freely exchangeable or replaceable, in whole or in part, for another of like nature or kind.

Origin:

1755–65; Medieval Latin fungibilis, equivalent to Latin fung ( ī )to perform the office of + -ibilis

Money is fungible. One bill can be freely exchanged for another. Gasoline is basically fungible. You can fill your car up at one station or another without worrying that you are putting something different in your gas tank.

But people are not fungible. Bob is not the same as Bill. Patty is not the same as Paula. Keith is not the same as Carla.

And, while I like for everyone on my small QA Team to be well-rounded, knowledgeable, and flexible, they aren't all the same. Some of them have more experience than others. Some of them are better at testing back-end systems than others, some of them are better at front-end systems. Some are terrific at deeply analyzing systems having no written Requirements, while others need more guidance. Some are particularly good at test automation, while others tend to focus on manual testing. They are people, and people are not fungible. copyrightjoestrazzere

So, I get particularly annoyed when I am asked to "throw some QA" at a project and the implication is that I can just pick whoever happens to have 2 weeks available at that particular time and assign him or her for some testing. And if nobody happens to be available in that slot, I'm annoyed at the suggestion that I can just bring in someone new and have them be productive on day one, hour one.

We don't roll people from one random project to another without any thought and without any preparation. We can do better! We put more thought into it - thought about what is the best for the project, best for the company, best for the individual tester. We match up the skill set and the availability with the project needs, in order to achieve the best work we can do. We owe that to the business.

If all testing were the same, and my test team consisted of a hoard of mindless, faceless robots - then it wouldn't matter. Two weeks of testing needed? No problem, clone number 336 is scheduled to be available then. We don't have any clones available for that project in December? No problem, we'll rent two from uClone.

But all testing is not the same. And in particular all people are not the same. Testers (and people in general) are not fungible!

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Summer Vacation 2011

2011-08-15T05:00:00.070-04:00

Nubble Light - York, Maine

My wife and I took our annual vacation in York Beach, Maine last week. We had a great time.

As usual, we spent a lot of time on the beach, did some swimming, did a lot of walking and sightseeing, and had some great food. This year, we also took a drive to Perkins Cove in Ogunquit, saw some of the sights, and took a boat ride. The weather was terrific pretty much of the week, and we had lots of fun! Spending time with my wife in a warm climate is one of the things I love the most.

While I enjoy the ocean, the outdoors, and the company of my wife immensely, a few bits of technology helped me enjoy the week even more.

3G Kindle

I love to read. And vacations give me enough down time that I can read a lot.

In past years, I'd scour the bookstores, and particularly the discount racks, pick up three or four books, and bring them along. This year, I didn't bring any books, just my Kindle.

I've enjoyed my Kindle even more that I thought I would when I bought it last year. For me, I can open up one of the 200 or so books I have downloaded, and lose myself in the reading experience without caring about the platform. The interface is easy to use, and the e-ink screen makes it a pleasure to read indoors, or outside in the sun. I knocked off several enjoyable books.

When I researched the Kindle, I debated about which version I should purchase - the Wifi-only version, or the 3G+Wifi version. I think I made the right decision for me by opting for the slightly more expensive 3G+Wifi. This model provides both internet access as well the ability to download books via Wifi when it is available, and via 3G when it isn't. I don't even need to buy a data plan - the 3G access is free forever (and I always like free).

The 3G access was particularly useful on this vacation. The condo where we stay in Maine doesn't provide Wifi. But I was able to get a good enough 3G signal so that I could browse the internet, and stay up on the news. In particular, I was able to follow the New England Patriots training camp news - that makes me happy.

Since the Kindle isn't the fastest platform for browsing the internet, it's good if there's a mobile version of the websites you like to visit. So prior to vacation, I quickly whipped up a reasonably mobile-friendly website of my own (http://mobilestrazz.blogspot.com) and used it to house links to mobile-friendly versions of some of my favorite websites. Quick access, via free 3G, from the condo and the beach - very nice!

Bifocal Sunglasses

In past years, I had to bring along sunglasses and reading glasses wherever I went. I'm still not used to this whole glasses-wearing thing, so invariably I'd forget one or the other, and suffer for it.

This year, one of my wife's patients mentioned that they owned a pair of bifocal sunglasses. So we went to our local L.L. Bean store and found some. What a difference they make! I was able to bring just one pair of good glasses, and still could see in the sun without squinting as well as while driving or reading. Having a way to avoid tiring out my eyes made the days all that much more comfortable and enjoyable.

iPod

I brought along my iPod. And as I've done in the past, I loaded it up with some of my favorite podcasts.

PFW in Progress is a two-hour podcast with the writers of Patriots Football Weekly. This is what I listen to in the summer when I want to hear about what's going on with the New England Patriots.
APM: Marketplace Tech Report is a series of daily, short, lighthearted podcasts from American Public Media dealing with technology, and hosted by John Moe.
Science Friday is a weekly podcast from NPR. Some really good discussions of science and technology, hosted by Ira Flatow.
Science Talk is a weekly podcast from Scientific American. Host Steve Mirsky interviews leading scientists and journalists about the latest developments in the world of science.

When I want to close my eyes and relax, or when I take a long walk alone, I turn on the iPod and listen. Sometimes I listen to good music, and other times I listen to great discussions.

All in all, it was a great week of not thinking about work, having a wonderful time with my wife, and relaxing.

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Kim and Matt's Wedding

2011-07-26T05:00:00.011-04:00

My older son got married recently.

Matt and Kim at Nubble Light, Maine

My older son Matt got married a few weeks ago. It was one of the happiest weekends of my life.

Matt and his new bride Kim love the beach and the ocean, so they wanted a site with both for their wedding. They chose York Beach, Maine and were married outdoors. It was wonderful.

From the rehearsal dinner, to the wedding and reception, and the ending brunch - everything was spectacular. Matt and Kim wanted a more casual event, spent a lot of time in the preparations, and it all worked out exactly as planned.

With an entire weekend filled with great times for friends and family, outstanding weather, lots of terrific food, lots of dancing, and lots of joy, it was a great way for two wonderful people to start their new life together.

We have two great sons, and now we have a beautiful daughter. My wife and I are very lucky people.

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Kayaking on Nutting Lake, Billerica

2011-07-14T05:08:00.000-04:00

Nutting Lake, Billerica

A few weeks ago we were able to kayak in a new location - Nutting Lake in Billerica. It was a beautiful, sunny Sunday morning. The lake was calm, and just a few folks were out fishing or paddling their canoes.

Nutting Lake is split in two by a road, and unfortunately the water level was too high to fit under the bridge between the two halves. Still, the half we did get on was really nice. Perhaps we'll go back and put in on the other side.

When I was growing up, Nutting Lake was shallow, weed-choked, and somewhat polluted. Thankfully, the character of the area has changed dramatically. Town sewage cured the pollution problem, the lake was dredged, and people fish and swim here. Very nice!

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Annoying Office Issues

2011-07-13T05:21:00.000-04:00

shhh!

My office shares a common wall with a small conference room.

Until recently, this wasn't a big problem, as the conference room was used only sparingly and often by me. But lately, we've had a flurry of hiring activity that left us with lots more people, and contractors permanently occupying one of our other conference rooms. And so there are many more meetings next door, and unfortunately, many which involve conference calls - some of which are very loud.

The worst part of it is that when these offices were constructed, they apparently neglected to insulate the walls between the offices, so I can hear pretty much everything that is said in a loud voice.

I've spoken with the people in charge of office maintenance, asking that they put up some sort of sound insulation, but they indicate that "there's nothing we can do". Translated, that means that they don't consider it worth spending money to fix the problem. Oh well.

Although I try not to listen, I've already overheard a few embarrassing phone calls. And the conference calls with customers can be particularly annoying.

So I printed the picture above and posted it on the conference room wall. Perhaps that will help.

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Five Years

2011-07-05T05:30:00.001-04:00

Today marks my five-year anniversary at my current company.

It's hard for me to believe that I've been here five years already. Yet when I look back at all we've accomplished, it sometimes seems like more:

When I started, there was no real Quality Assurance Team. Whatever small bit of testing occurred was being performed by Product Management folks in their spare time. Since then, we've created a terrific team in the US, augmented by some good contractors, and a small team in India as well.
Bugs were not being tracked in any central system. There were a few emails floating around, and an occasional spreadsheet, but no place where people could go to find the status of bugs. Now, we use Bugzilla, and people have grown tired of me asking "Do we have a bug report for that?"
Lots of people have come and gone over the past five years. Initially, the biggest change was the prior CTO being replaced by my boss. Since then, many other folks have left.
We've changed a significant portion of the infrastructure behind most of our applications. It's far more scalable and sustainable now.
We've formalized many of our development and testing processes, and created the necessary processes where none existed before.
We've gone from fighting fires every day, to a much more stable, dependable set of systems. Where before many of our systems needed manual, hands-on attention every day, they now run in a much more automated fashion.
Our product lines have changed over time. We have weeded out some products that were single-customer, poorly funded products. We've created some new products, and retired others.
And last year, the company was purchased by a much larger corporation. We're still adjusting to that change.

Lots of work, lots of changes, lots more to come. All in all, a good five years.

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

When You A Need Bunch Of Test Email Addresses

2011-06-23T08:29:00.001-04:00

Sometimes, you need a bunch of email addresses for testing purposes. Perhaps you need to test a login or registration page, or perhaps your application sends emails to many different people.

You could create many real email accounts for your tests. But sometimes there's an easier way. Sometimes you can use a single email account instead, and just use variants of a single email address.

In many email systems, anything after the plus sign in the local part of the email address is ignored. So, all of these are delivered to the same mailbox:

foo.bar@gmail.com
foo.bar+123@gmail.com
foo.bar+234@gmail.com
foo.bar+test1@gmail.com
foo.bar+regression.test.11.29.2011@gmail.com

In gmail, periods within your gmail address are ignored. So, all of these are delivered to the same mailbox:

foobar@gmail.com
foo.bar@gmail.com
f.o.o.b.a.r@gmail.com

Note that consecutive periods like foo..bar@gmail.com are fine for gmail, but are generally considered invalid and hence undeliverable by most email sending systems. copyrightjoestrazzere

Only in gmail, both of these are delivered to the same address:

foo.bar@gmail.com
foo.bar@googlemail.com

These methods will usually allow you to register many times on your system-under-test with emails that will be considered different, but will actually deliver to the same account. And you can usually filter these incoming emails to keep them separate from your other emails if needed.

see also:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Email_address

http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=12096

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Perhaps They Should Have Tested More - Dropbox

2011-06-21T19:04:00.000-04:00

During a recent code push, web-based file storage firm Dropbox introduced a bug in their authentication mechanism - allowing unprotected access to accounts for four hours.

Reaction to this particular bug was widespread:

"allowed users to log into accounts using any password"
"gaping security holes"
"a significant embarrassment for Dropbox"
"Too bad I no longer trust them"
"Even as a free service they're not worth the trouble"

From the Dropbox web site's Help section:

How secure is Dropbox?
Your files are actually safer while stored in your Dropbox than on your computer in some cases. We use the same secure methods as banks and the military.
Dropbox takes the security of your files and of our software very seriously. We use the best tools and engineering practices available to build our software, and we have smart people making sure that Dropbox remains secure. Your files are backed-up, stored securely, and password-protected.

I'm sure they are usually password-protected. Unless there is a bug in the authentication mechanism. In which case they are not actually password-protected at all.

Perhaps they should have tested more.

See also:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20072755-281/dropbox-confirms-security-glitch-no-password-required/

http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/20/dropbox-security-bug-made-passwords-optional-for-four-hours/

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2387343,00.asp

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/06/dropbox.html

http://blog.dropbox.com/?p=821
https://www.dropbox.com/help/27

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Own a Kindle? Visit These Sites!

2011-05-27T05:33:00.006-04:00

If you own a Kindle (or even if you just use the Kindle app on some other device), you owe it to yourself to check out the following.

http://www.ereaderiq.com/

The easiest way to keep track of new book offerings for your Kindle.
I subscribe to their service that emails me all the new free books as soon as they become available on Amazon

http://kindleworld.blogspot.com/

A terrific blog with news and information about the Kindle, and other e-readers.

http://mrswizard.blogspot.com/

Another good Kindle blog, particularly for those with limited computer experience.

http://www.kindleboards.com/

A very active Kindle community.

http://calibre-ebook.com/

A terrific e-book management system. Very handy for anyone using a Kindle, or other e-reader.

http://www.klip.me/sendtokindle/

The Send to Kindle browser extension makes it easy to read web content off-line on your Kindle.

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Testing Terms Have Their Own Page

2011-05-26T04:58:00.004-04:00

Recently, I moved my Glossary of Testing Terms to its own page:

http://strazzere.blogspot.com/p/testing-terms-glossary.html

It has pretty consistently been the most-used page on this blog, so I felt that it deserved a prominent place of its own.

If you have any terms I should add or change, or any thoughts about this Glossary, send me a note. Thanks!

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Code Freeze

2011-05-25T04:53:00.004-04:00

Yet I'm still waiting for Code Freeze...

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

A new Kindle Game - Thread Words

2011-05-24T04:52:00.003-04:00

http://www.amazon.com/Thread-Words/dp/B004Y51PW4/

Amazon released yet another new (free) game for the Kindle - Thread Words.

Thread Words is a word search game for Kindle.

Your goal is to find words in a 5 high grid of letters. Find words by selecting one letter from each column. On each level there are ten pairs of shapes. Make words matching each shape on the left with the same shape on the right to unlock the next level. After matching all shapes you can continue to find the rest of the words for a higher score or immediately move on to the next level.

The game progresses through 4 levels of difficulty, with grids that increase from 4 to 7 letters across. Each word you find is worth 20 points per letter, and if you find all of the qualifying words you get an 800 point bonus! Try to beat the clock or take your time in relaxed mode. The game tracks separate high scores for each mode.

I really enjoyed this one. I seem to like pretty much all the Kindle games in the "word puzzle game" category. I haven't yet been able to complete the 7-letter-word level, but I'm still trying.

If I were a believer in puzzle-style interview tests, this would be one that I'd use. Instead, it might be a good vocabulary builder, or it might just be fun.

Note: This game was free at the time I downloaded it from Amazon. As with all free items, you must check before you download, since it may no longer be free.

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Songs about Testing, QA

2011-05-23T05:12:00.006-04:00

I was looking for some music related to Testing or QA to use in a presentation. The pickings are slim, but I found these.

Works on My Box
- Art Leonard
http://artleonard.com
http://artleonard.com/audio/ART_LEONARD-Works_on_My_Box.mp3

Art Leonard is a Seattle-based Christian, radio and novelty songwriter / performer. His software engineering anthem, "Works on My Box", made a big splash at a major software development company and is now played to new employees at orientation.

Feature Creep

- Geordie Keitt

http://tester.geordiekeitt.com
http://tester.geordiekeitt.com/2009/08/cast2009-feature-creep-song-video/

I performed this a month or so ago at CAST2009 in Colorado Springs, where Becky Fiedler recorded it. The intro to this song went, “This song is written from the perspective of a piece of bloatware that used to be sleek and clean.” I did this during a Lightning Talks session, meaning I had to bring it in under 4 minutes. That’s why there’s little time for dramatic pauses…

Black Box

- Geordie Keitt

http://tester.geordiekeitt.com

http://tester.geordiekeitt.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/black-box.mp3

Cem Kaner and James Bach presented a course on Black Box Software Testing that I took circa 2003. I performed this song, Black Box, to wrap up the training.

Rapid Tester

- Geordie Keitt

http://tester.geordiekeitt.com

http://tester.geordiekeitt.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/rapid_tester.mp3

I this wrote on the occasion of attending my first RST class at James Bach’s Satisfice world headquarters in Front Royal, VA. I’ve edited it slightly since then as my understanding of the material has grown, but the essence remains the same. It borrows pretty much everything from Steve Earle’s beautiful song “Someday”.

Not on The Test
- Tom Chapin and John Forster
http://www.notonthetest.com/
http://www.notonthetest.com/NotOnTheTest.mp3

Ok, so this one isn't really about QA or software testing. It still made me laugh and has a few poignant lessons about metrics and relying solely on a script, rather than on rational thinking: ".. Don't think about thinking, it's not on the test!"

Bugs
- Ron Brown
http://www.songsforteaching.com/intellitunes/bugs.htm
http://www.songsforteaching.com/intellitunes/clips/bbbbugs.mp3

Another one that isn't really about software. But it's a cute song, and how can you not like a song that starts off "B-b-b-bugs, bugs, bugs"?

I was particularly looking for a music video that James Whittaker and some of his students performed a while back (I think it was called "Piece of Crap" or something similar). I tried all the searches I could think of, but no luck. If you know where I might find it, please send me a note!

Know of any others I could add to this list?

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

WinTask DbSelect(), DbGetFieldString(), DbGetFieldNumeric()

2011-05-20T11:57:00.000-04:00

WinTask uses the DbSelect() function to query the database and create a result set, and the DbGetFieldString() to retrieve values from that result set.

DbSelect

The DbSelect function creates the dataset by selecting the desired records in the ODBC database.

Syntax

Ret=DbSelect({SQL_selection}[,DYNASET|SNAPSHOT])

DbGetFieldString

The DbGetFieldString function retrieves the contents of any non-numeric field within the current record for the dataset in use.

Syntax

Ret=DbGetFieldString({field_name},{string})

DbGetFieldNumeric

The DbGetFieldNumeric function retrieves the value of a numeric field (integer) within the current record for the dataset in use.

Syntax

Ret=DbGetFieldNumeric({field_name},{value})

The {SQL selection} argument of DbSelect() is not case-sensitive, but the {field name} of DbGetFieldString() and DbGetFieldNumeric() is.

Thus:

DbSelect(“select cusip from fund_desc”, SNAPSHOT)
DbGetFieldString(“CUSIP”,Var$)

You can visualize this using PL/SQL Developer. DbSelect() accepts the same SQL statement that the SQL Window accepts. DbGetFieldString() requires the column name that PL/SQL Developer produces as output.

Similarly, when using Cast() as in :

DbSelect(“select CAST(CIK as VARCHAR2(10)) from fund_desc where CIK > 10000”, SNAPSHOT)
DbGetFieldString(“CAST(CIKASVARCHAR2(10))”,Var$)

You can see the field name created as output :

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Amazon AdMash - Crowdsourced A/B Testing on the Kindle

2011-05-20T05:02:00.014-04:00

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004WFYIMA/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title

Yesterday, Amazon released a new Kindle Game/Thing with Active Content called AdMash:

Step into the driver's seat and tell us which sponsored screensavers you'd like to see on Kindle with Special Offers. Anyone can vote; it's fun and easy.

Here's how it works. AdMash will show you two different screensavers and then ask you to vote for the one you like best. Scrutinize them or go with your gut, it's up to you. Once you've made your choice, it's on to the next round. The ones that get the most votes can become Kindle Sponsored Screensavers. It's up to you and the rest of the community to pick your favorites.

Download AdMash and start voting now. Play as often as you like and we'll keep adding new screensavers for you to vote on.

This is an interesting way to get A/B Testing done on some potential advertisements.

Easy? Yes, quite easy.
Fun? Meh, pretty boring if you ask me!
Play? Not really my idea of play.

Pretty clever - enlisting the hoards of Kindle users in tuning up ads - crowdsourcing.

I'm a bit surprised that Amazon isn't offering something in return for folks using this "app" and providing valuable feedback. It wouldn't need to be much to keep people working on it - a free download, a gift coupon, etc.

Perhaps they are already getting enough responses such that rewards aren't even needed?

See:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A/B_testing

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Free Kindle Games

2011-05-19T05:10:00.001-04:00

The Kindle, with its e-ink black-and-white display and limited processing power, isn't ideally suited to be a gaming platform. But that's fine, since I'm not much of a gamer.

Still, simple games can be a nice diversion on occasion. And if they are free, why not? So when a free Kindle game becomes available, I download it. And occasionally I play it.

Here are the games I have so far:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003P3BCVA/?tag=allthingsqual-20

This is pretty much the classic PC game of mine sweeper, just using the Kindle's 5-way controller rather than a mouse.

The objective of Mine Sweeper is to find all of the mines that are hidden on the game grid. When you uncover a location on the grid, the number of mines adjacent to that location is revealed. The game ends when you have successfully identified all the mines and uncovered all the unoccupied locations - or, when you inadvertently uncover a location that contains a mine. The clock is ticking, so challenge yourself to go faster and faster with each game.

For me, it quickly gets pretty boring.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004DWLGGS/?tag=allthingsqual-20

Blackjack is the one gambling game that I actually enjoy. And the Kindle implementation is pretty well done.

The Kindle version features all of the most common aspects of the game including splits, double down, surrender and insurance, as well as multiple options for customization that allow you to play the style of Blackjack that you want to play. For example, you can configure the game to match specific structures like 'Dealer must hit soft 17' - a common rule variation in many Las Vegas casinos.

The built-in advice feature, which you can turn on and off at any time, applies basic strategy and will recommend the best course of action to maximize your chances of winning.

If I have a few minutes to spare and I'm not reading, a few hands of Blackjack can fit in quite nicely. And next time I plan to play for money, I'll spend some time practicing on my Kindle.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004C6S25I/?tag=allthingsqual-20

I'm not a big fan of Video Poker. But the Kindle implementation is well done, so I would imagine it works well for those who do like the game itself.

Video Poker accurately simulates the Vegas-style video poker machine known as Jacks or Better. After making a bet, you will be dealt five cards. You select which of these five cards to hold, and redraw the rest to try to make the best poker hand possible. A hand with a pair of Jacks or better wins.

The built-in Strategy feature, which you can turn on and off at any time, will provide recommendations for how to play given the hand you were dealt, and will give you hints on how to improve if you fail to make the best move. This guidance will help you learn how to play the game, and how to maximize your payouts.

For me, there's very little strategy, and doesn't hold my interest.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004TCSMQY/?tag=allthingsqual-20

This is the classic kids game.

In Dots and Boxes, you are presented with a set of dots in a 5x5 grid. One by one, each player must fill in a horizontal or vertical line between two dots. The player that completes a box by filling in the fourth side captures that box. Completing a box allows a player to immediately make another move. When all 16 boxes are claimed, the player with the most boxes wins.

Play against Kindle at Easy, Medium or Hard difficulty levels. You can also play against another person in Pass 'n' Play mode and select whether a match requires 2, 3 or 4 wins to complete. Dots and Boxes comes with tips and instructions to help you if you get stuck, and also tracks your best scores, wins, and ties for each difficulty level.

It didn't hold my interest, but might be fun to hand over to one of your children for a while.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004OTWKNS/?tag=allthingsqual-20

Another classic puzzle game.

In Number Slide, you are presented with a set of numbered tiles on a grid. One tile is removed and the remaining tiles are scrambled. The objective is to get all the tiles into proper numeric order by moving the tiles into the one open space and sliding them around until they are back where they belong.

Number Slide features hundreds of randomly generated game grids for you to enjoy. You can choose between a small (3x3), medium (4x4) or large (5x5) puzzle grid with larger grids being more difficult. You can also challenge yourself by trying to beat your best time on each puzzle.

Again, I'm not a big fan of the game itself.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003P37FW0/?tag=allthingsqual-20

I do like word games. And Every Word is pretty well done on the Kindle.

If you like word scrambles then Every Word is the game for you. Test your vocabulary as you try to find as many words from the scrambled letters in this fun and fast-paced word game.

You are given six or seven scrambled letters with the goal of finding as many words as you can. You score points by filling out the words in each empty spot on the board using only the letters that appear at the top of the game board. Keep at it until time runs out or until you fill up the board. The more words you make, the higher your score!

Your score is comprised of two components: first make a lot of words, second try to make the longest word possible. The best way to increase your score is to do both. Why? Because when you do, you earn the right to play a new level with a brand new set of letters. As long as you keep finding the longest word, you can move on to a new level and push your score higher and higher.

Not a bad way to spend a few free minutes.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003P38AAG/?tag=allthingsqual-20

Another good word game. Again, the Kindle platform works well for this sort of game.

The tiles are added to your row one at a time so you'll constantly be working with a new set of letters. After you submit a word, the letters you used will be removed and new ones will be added. Increase your score by using less common letters. Create longer words and increase your score even more.

If you don't use the letters fast enough, they'll disappear and new ones will take their place, so you'll have to decide if you want to play it safe and use short words or try to wait for more letters to form longer words.

Pretty good for using your vocabulary skills.

Note: These games were free at the time I downloaded them from Amazon. As with all free items, you must check before you download, since they may no longer be free.

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Exploratory Testing

2011-05-18T05:10:00.002-04:00

Hmm. So will the world actually end in 2012?

Let's do a little exploratory testing...

Whoa...

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Testing Is...

2011-05-17T05:22:00.000-04:00

According to Google (and Google knows everything), testing is...

Testing is easy
Testing is boring
Testing is fun
Testing is not teaching
Testing is overrated
Testing is not entertainment
Testing is under way
Testing is useless
Testing is qualitative only if you can't count
Testing is back in style
Testing is not snake oil
Testing is a waste of time
Testing is our competence
Testing is expensive
Testing is more than code; it's a philosophy
Testing is changing
Testing is not a substitute for thinking
Testing is context dependent
Testing is an example of prevention costs
Testing is static execution of code
Testing is in progress
Testing is a box of many colors
Testing is a must
Testing is an excellent investment
Testing is not checking

Can you add to the list?

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Vacation in San Francisco

2011-05-16T05:30:00.019-04:00

The Golden Gate Bridge

as seen from Ghirardelli Square

For our Spring vacation this year, we decided to go visit my son in San Francisco. He moved out there last summer after landing a job as a Software Engineer at a startup in the mobile security field.

We had a wonderful time visiting Tim and his girlfriend Sara. They live in a really nice apartment complex, and have very nice roommates and neighbors. We stayed with them for the first part of our vacation, had Easter dinner with them and their friends, then moved to a hotel in Fisherman's Wharf.

We got to do a lot of "touristy" things, but a lot of other things as well.

We walked over the Golden Gate Bridge. A beautiful view of the Pacific, the Bay, Angel Island and Alcatraz. We saw some surfers, and some sea lions, too.
We walked the steep climb up Telegraph Hill, then I went to the top of the Coit Tower. Terrific view up there!
Tim showed us around the SOMA area, and took us to his office. We got to meet the CEO and CTO. Although they both look like kids (it's a very young startup), they were very polite and said nice things about Tim. I can see why he likes working there so much - lots of energy.
We drove through Sausalito. Lovely town.
We spent a night and day in Napa Valley. It was interesting to see all the vineyards and the hills covered with grass, rather than covered with trees as they would be in New England. We went to a wine tasting. I liked them all, but my wife didn't - she prefers sweeter wines.
San Francisco has some terrific Food Trucks, so we had lunch at one parked near City Hall Plaza. They all have their own web sites, and Twitter accounts, and seem to have very loyal followings. Not something I've seen before, but very good.
We walked over to Ghirardelli Square. You get a free piece of chocolate just for entering a shop there - delicious! We had a nice lunch there one day, and a terrific Ice Cream Sundae one evening.
We walked everywhere in Fisherman's Wharf. Ate at the Boudin Bakery. Saw the Sea Lions at Pier 39. Saw the street performer painted gold. It's a fun place.
We drove to the Cliff House Restaurant to see the Pacific.
We saw the playground where Joe DiMaggio played baseball as a boy. We saw the playground where O.J. Simpson played football as a boy.
We took a few bus tours and saw lots of points of interest, including the building at which they filmed The Towering Inferno, the streets they used for the car chase scenes in the movie Bullit, the TransAmerica building, and many more.
We ate at a bunch of terrific restaurants. San Francisco seems to have a restaurant every three feet! One was a tiny Italian seafood restaurant. No chicken, no beef, and no dessert - just really good seafood.
We drove down Lombard Street ("the crookedest street in the world")
And a bunch of other fun things.

We had a great time, and will definitely go back.

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Google Blogger (and All Things Quality) Goes Dark

2011-05-15T11:56:00.000-04:00

Last week, Google's Blogger service experienced a multi-day outage. For the first part of the outage, blogs (including this one) were completely inaccessible. Later, most blogs were back up, but recent content changes were missing. Eventually, Google was able to restore most of the missing content.

From Google:

Here’s what happened: during scheduled maintenance work Wednesday night, we experienced some data corruption that impacted Blogger’s behavior. Since then, bloggers and readers may have experienced a variety of anomalies including intermittent outages, disappearing posts, and arriving at unintended blogs or error pages. A small subset of Blogger users (we estimate 0.16%) may have encountered additional problems specific to their accounts

This leads some to rightly question what it would have been like if this had happened to other Google services like GMail or Google Docs? And what if you had moved your business "to the cloud" and entrusted its online presence to the availability of these services? That's a pretty scary thought.

Now I use lots of Google sites and services. I think they are terrific, well thought out, and priced right (mostly free). But would I bet my business on their availability? Probably not.

See also:
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/blogger/thread?tid=7b6d0384a4f5fa00&hl=en

http://thenextweb.com/google/2011/05/13/google-maintenance-update-brings-down-blogger/

http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2011/05/13/blogger-maintenance-causes-extended-outage.html

https://twitter.com/#!/Blogger/status/68823593877913602

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20062428-93.html

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/220524/technology/google-bloggers-unlucky-friday-the-13th-shutdown

http://techland.time.com/2011/05/13/outage-silences-blogger-blogs/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/12/blogger-down-maintenance_n_861400.html

http://news.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474979322070

http://www.thedrum.co.uk/news/2011/05/13/21486-blogger-forced-offline-by-major-technical-glitches/

And:

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/googles-blogger-outage-makes-the-case-against-a-cloud-only-strategy/3300

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Unusual Search Term?

2011-05-15T08:42:00.000-04:00

While reviewing some site analytics for this blog, I looked through the search terms used to find us. I saw one that I hadn't seen before:

швейцарский нож

Using Google Translate, I found that this is Russian for "Swiss Army Knife". Interesting!

Welcome, friends from Russia! I hope you found something interesting?

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

You Should Check Out sqa.stackexchange.com

2011-05-14T08:45:00.000-04:00

For a different spin on an SQA forum, check out Software Quality Assurance and Testing - Stack Exchange at http://sqa.stackexchange.com/

From their FAQ:

Software Quality Assurance and Testing - Stack Exchange is for software quality control experts, automation engineers, and software testers.

Based on the Stack Exchange platform, the site is currently in the Public Beta phase. If this site gets a critical mass of activity, it becomes a full member of the Stack Exchange Network. If not, it may be deleted.

It seems to be gathering some momentum, and already has some very smart people answering very good questions. Check it out. If you like what you see, join in!

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

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Glitches Are...

Perhaps They Should Have Tested More - Fisker Automotive

Add Quality To Your Blogroll

Interview Questions You Should Ask

Bugs Are...

Kindle Special Offers

Top Ten Search Terms in 2011

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Top Ten Blog Pages for 2011

Perhaps They Should Have Tested More in 2011

Get Some SQAForums Swag in 2012!

Perhaps They Should Have Tested More - Windows Phone

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My Sports Bookshelf

Book Recommendations for Testing Circus Magazine

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I Like Big Bugs!

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Did You Feel That?

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Kindle Cloud Reader

People Are Not Fungible

fun·gi·ble

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Kim and Matt's Wedding

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Five Years

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Perhaps They Should Have Tested More - Dropbox

How secure is Dropbox?

Own a Kindle? Visit These Sites!

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Testing Is...