Testing & Movies & Stuff

"I'm here to help. If my help's not appreciated, lots of luck, gentlemen." - The Wolf I've had this concept in my head for a while. I feel like it fits the software industry as much as it fits the fictional mob world of Quentin Tarantino's classic "Pulp Fiction". Maybe it's a little far fetched, but stay with me here and let me tell a story. It's about makers and fixers. Makers make stuff, and fixers fix stuff. Simple concept, mostly. It's an idea that coders are basically guns for hire. They come in, they get an assignment, they make the code. They ride off into the sunset, or collect their pay, or wait around for another job; whatever analogy you want to apply there, but they do the thing that needs doing. They make stuff happen. Two guys, making things happen. But then, in the process of making things happen, something else happens that was an unintended consequence of doing the thing that they were told to do. ...

It's not how you do it, it's how you do it together.  Ah testing. It's a passion. It's a lifestyle. For some of us more than others. We can't help but think about testing, and think about how that fits in our lives and what we can do with it.  While watching "Top Five", in which a great story about being true to yourself and finding your passion after a lot of life happens to you, I got this idea, about what would be my top five in testing. In the movie it was music which I think could apply to my life as well. I have a hard time making a top five of music or musicians, but of testing, I think it would be much easier, and even more to the point. So here goes, my top five in testing, in no particular order: Usability - because seriously, it should be the top of every tester's list to make the internet a better place. And if not the internet, maybe just the app you are working on right now.  Data - I love me some serious queries. I love wr...

"I remember!" - Dory Being in a crowded cinema is sometimes a good and a bad thing. I've been spoiled by the recent trend to have cinema houses with hard limits on when children can be in the audiences, cell phone use and even talking to your neighbor. If you don't have one of these places where you can have a pint and watch a movie, I definitely recommend it. It does wonders for those moments where you are just in the movie and don't want the interruptions. SPOILERS POSSIBLY AHEAD, oh and TESTING STUFF First off, Dory's parents are freaking geniuses. Dory reminds me, often, in this case, of setting a user off in a world on their own, and figuring out very quickly you need to set some parameters for that user, or they could get lost or hurt or worse. Her parents immediately take steps to remedy many of the things about their environment that could pose problems for Dory. And they sorta work, but at the same time, they are seeing the small failures ...

I recently got a new laptop at work. Considering how often that happens, I was surprised I was one of the first people on the list to get a new machine. Granted, a lot of people in my office use Mac laptops. I myself have worked with a Mac laptop for a year or so at one job and eventually grew to like it for the most part. However, I have been in the PC camp for most of my career. Actually, most of my childhood too. My first computer was a Tandy SL 1000. I suspect it was cheaper than a Macintosh and my mom was able to get it with a line of credit. My mom was ever definition of the early adopter. She loves her tech and I think that passed down to me. Though I do tend to wait something out to see if it's a "fad" or something that will actually be usable. Our company has a contract with Dell, so out with the old Latitude circa 2010 and in with the Latitude E5470 (Interesting part of that article is saying it's great for Win 7 Pro users and it was from this year!) ...