1. STPro Conference

    I’m attending the Software Test Professionals Fall Conference in Miami (http://www.stpcon.com/). I hope to learn awesome things. I may even blog about some things. Let me know if you’re here too!

  2. Not today

    Not today

  3. There’s a future in QA, it just may not be in the area you think

    I was recently sent this article from a fellow QA Analyst and it got me thinking. What if QA wasn’t dead? What if just wasn’t all about traditional software development? Making websites is fun but there’s software in nearly everything nowadays. Heck, even your refrigerator can have apps. 

    Maybe it’s ok if we are driven out of traditional software development. We don’t need to test websites to be relevant. The future is full of software that people use and where there is people and software eventually they realize they need us. Someone to make sure you can turn on the radio when your car no longer has a knob for it. To make sure your fridge knows when you are out of milk. To make sure you can get Netflix on your TV. 

    The public is not going to accept buggy beta untested software surrounding them in their daily lives. 

    We still got a future ready. We just need to figure out the best approach to test that toaster …

  4. My mind is blown.

    My mind is blown.

  5. Video: The Evil Tester’s Guide To Evil – Alan Richardson


    “Have you ever heard someone say that “System Testing is a necessary evil”? Well, what they don’t tell you is that “Evil Testing is a necessary system”.

    And will THEY ever tell you that? No!

    Why? Because THEY don’t want you to know.

    Only I will tell you. Because I want you to grow.

    I want you to be the best tester you can possibly be. Why should you settle for being a good little tester? You can be better than that. You can experience the freedom and possibility for growth that comes from adopting lessons from the Evil Tester System of Evil Testing.

    Too often people think they are advancing by following a well trodden standard path. It seems like the right path. Everyone else is walking it. I walked it too.

    And I want you to explore the other path. The left hand path. The path that THEY are too scared to walk.

    Yes, the information I’ll give you comes with danger. Be aware. These lessons do not offer an easy route to testing conformity. Instead they offer you the chance to build your own system.

    I’ve spent years reading and studying forbidden texts. All so that you don’t have to. And now, I am prepared to share some basic precepts derived from those studies, illustrating how I have used them to change my testing, and how you can use them to change too.

    Likely precepts include:

    No-one is born evil
    Benefits of a bad attitude
    As Simple As Sin
    Now, Now, Now – when to favour instant gratification
    Nothing is True, Everything is permitted
    One road to heaven, a thousand roads to hell
    Deceive, but be wary of self-deception
    What did you expect? The door wasn’t locked.

    (Source: ministryoftesting.com)

  6. QA Truthiness

    QA Truthiness

  7. What is QA? →

    Having a tough time describing just what it is you do? Skillcrush has a half way decent definition you can send to non-technical family and friends. 

  8. Forcing people to let go

    What browsers should we be supporting on a project?

    Soon it may not need to be as many. Something to keep in mind. 

    Mozilla is forcing users of FireFox 3.6 to upgrade to the current version (v12) in May.

    http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9226666/Mozilla_to_kill_Firefox_3.6_by_auto_upgrading_old_browser

    Microsoft is slowly, slowly forcing upgrades on Internet Explorer as well.

    http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9222690/Microsoft_gets_silent_upgrade_religion_will_push_IE_auto_updates

    Chrome was the leader in this and already updates itself in the background.

    http://support.google.com/chrome/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=95414

    Safari uses Apple’s Software Update tool so updating is manual unfortunately

    http://www.apple.com/safari/features.html#security

    Opera can auto update too. Nobody really cares though.

    http://help.opera.com/Linux/10.63/en/autoupdate.html

    However, if you really miss Netscape you can still get it.

    http://www.oldversion.com/Netscape.html

  9. Learning to Code

    You don’t need to know how to code to be a good QA analyst but it’s helpful to have a better understanding on how websites work.

    Here are some great places online where you can learn the basics for free or cheap.

  10. Software Product Development | Software Testing Tutorial | Software Process | Blog →

    Articles, comments, queries about the processes of Software Product Development, Software Testing Tutorial, Software Processes.

    Not the best looking blog but has some good information.