January 2009
Quality Assurance: automated QA software testing... →
This week, I answered a question about automated QA tools. This topic comes up frequently – my base answer is “use the simplest tool that will get the job done”. There are a lot of open-source…
Google Gets Honest - Then Changes Mind →
In one of the most honest moves in Google’s history, Google admitted to their own customers that their own site is bad and can be used to harm your computer. Don’t believe me?
Click here…
Software Testing: Writing a Test Plan →
This week, I answered a question about writing a test plan, on my “Ask the Experts” column on searchsoftwarequality.com. You can read the answer at …
Defect of the Day: Every site on the Internet may... →
I noticed this on Google this morning at 7:50 AM (GMT 7:00 Arizona):
No matter what I searched for, all results returned returned “This site may harm your
computer”. Attempting…
Testing With Spec(ulation)s →
There is no doubt that we can test without specs. We did it for over a year with a particular integrated product, but now we have reached a pretty large impasse where the powers that be need to make…
Time is on My Watch: The Oft-Forgotten Role of QA... →
Most of the effort of a QA manager is not to manage time, but to manage within time. The effort is spent on process. Streamlining. Documenting. Tracking. Measuring.
The Minefield Myth (Part 2) – The value of... →
Last week I discussed the fallacy of the minefield analogy misrepresented by some people to suggest regression testing as uninteresting or unlikely to reveal new or important information. Their…
Buggy Software - A Strategic Choice →
Buggy products can be a real customer turn-off. Witness the recent release of the BlackBerry Storm, Research In Motion’s response to Apple’s iPhone. The Storm had tremendous promise as a great new…
Don’t let your ads get habituated →
I’ve been putting significant effort working with my advertisers on testingfaqs.org, and it’s time to add an advertising category to my blog.
One bit of advice I give frequently, but usually…
Size Shouldn't Matter →
Over on the Software Testing Club, the old chestnut of the ideal dev/test ratio came up ( I really should add this topic to my list of testing cliches ) The person asking the question mentioned…
You’re On My List, Buddy →
Added to the blogroll: Scary Tester.
Someone else who understands that QA should not be Meek Tester or Happy Not To Be Working As An Insurance Salesman So I’ll Go Along To Get Along Tester.
BECOMING MOBILE →
Walking that fine line between ambulatory and agile… Many articles and posts I read involve decisions that can only be made by managers or PMs. It is unusual, to say to the least, for a testing…
Pylot Testimonial - Easy Setup for Web Load... →
(Pylot is a an open source web performance/load testing tool I developed)
I just saw this post from Mark (f4nt) about load/performance testing Confluence (enterprise Wiki software). He…
Open Source Test Automation Tools Love-In... →
Are you an open source test automation tool aficionado? I am. That’s why I’m organizing OSTATLI, a small, non-commercial, invitation-only gathering next Thursday in my office in Pleasanton to…
BodyBinary - LoadRunner or Other Script →
Have you ever looked at body binary in a performance test tool script and wished you:
1. Had a mullet hairdo so you could pull every last hair out, or
2. Saw…
What shall I call this testing? →
In a recent assignment I was asked to test an application which downloads and displays pictures off the web with minimal features support like slide show, rotate, minimize, maximize etc. (I cannot…
Open plan offices →
As far as I can tell, here are the top 3 reasons for having open plan offices:
1. Cheap.
2. Increases team communication.
3. Makes employees work harder because they’re being watched.
Here’s…
Selenium - first impressions →
I’ve recently been trialling Selenium to see if it would be suitable replacement for our current, very expensive tool, Rational Functional Tester. For those not in the know, Selenium is an…
Employee recognition →
I was a little shocked yesterday at this article by Joel on Software. I have to say, my respect for Joel has gone down significantly after reading this article. QA Hates You had a similar…
How to Ask For Help with Software Testing/Quality... →
Back in October 2008, I answered the question “What’s the Best Software Testing/QA Tool”. In my answer, I included a few steps for ensuring you get an answer when asking questions. Due to popular…
Remote File Include Voodoo →
While traveling through Sweden, I had the opportunity to hang out with a friend of mine, David Jacoby from TrueSec. As we were walking around he told me about a new technique he is working on to…
Artificial Stupidity →
I just tried to use the automated support system at Paypal…
Sarah - PayPal :
Hello, I’m Sarah and I’m here to answer your questions about PayPal. Even though I’d like to be a real person, I’m…
Server Move →
Kevin Rogers of Infotech convinced me that I should migrate my server to a managed service. He handled the whole thing for an amazingly low price, too.
Now, I will be a bit harder to hack. But…
Sanity, Regression, Smoke etc... Do we need all... →
This topic may seem simple, but I’ve been asked about it a couple of times in the last month, and I also saw it in multiple questions on QA Forums, SoftwareTestingClub, and other places where I go…
Application Egos Are Bad →
Testers are weird. When they find a bug in their AUT they feel good. But when it comes to integration testing, testers feel a sense of defeat when a bug is found to be in the AUT they are responsible…
Artificial Stupidity →
I just tried to use the automated support system at Paypal…
Sarah - PayPal :
Hello, I’m Sarah and I’m here to answer your questions about PayPal. Even though I’d like to be a real person, I’m…
IE8.0 and Clickjacking →
I’m sure you’ve heard about the new IE8.0 Clickjacking protection here, here and probably most importantly here on the IE blog. It’s probably time I explain exactly what the pros and cons are…
The Baker & The Tester →
I’ve recently become addicted to baking bread. I don’t know why, but it has…
The Benefit of Network (IP) Zoning in Executing... →
One of the benefits of a virtual lab automation and management solution is the ability to execute a configuration (a multi-machine setup) multiple times in parallel, without making any changes…
Server Move →
Kevin Rogers of Infotech convinced me that I should migrate my server to a managed service. He handled the whole thing for an amazingly low price, too.
Now, I will be a bit harder to hack. But…
ASP.net MVC RC1 - ViewData.Model becomes Model →
With RC1, the team has added a top-level property to access the Model for the page. As such: Becomes: Both work the same, however the second is just a little bit…
ASP.net MVC RC1 – Removing Code Behind files →
With ASP.net MVC, one thing I always wondered is why we still had to have the code behind files. Looking at the FubuMVC samples, everything looks much cleaner without the additional files – with…
Upgrading a project from ASP.net MVC Beta to... →
As I’m sure you are well aware, the ASP.net team have released ASP.net MVC RC1 tonight. Eager to find out how much additional work I had, I downloaded and upgraded my solution – I was…
IT Contractor faux pas →
Having been greatly amused and educated by Linda Wilkinson’s article on How to get yourself rolled off assignment, and Evil Tester’s How not to behave as a test contractor, I have decided to add…
Sorry about the Spam →
I would like to apologize for the RSS Spam that everyone has been getting lately. I have moved my Feedburner account to Google. It appears that Google did not test the migration process. I…
ANN: TestComplete 6.52 is now available! →
AutomatedQA is happy to announce that a maintenance release is now available for TestComplete: TestComplete 6.52.
For a complete list of changes made to TestComplete ver. 6.52, please visit our web…
“Testers from Another Planet” podcast →
My interview about the “Testers from Another Planet” column is included in the January 2009 StickyMinds SoundByte podcast.
Annotating Code with .NET Reflector and Review... →
My latest article for Simple Talk has just been published. In the article, I cover how you can use the reflector addin ‘Peli’s Review’ from CodePlex that allows you to add annotations about your…
Unable to access or ping Windows 2008 server →
After being bitten by this for the second time, I thought I should write a post for future reference. I had setup a brand new virtual machine and I wanted to access the SQL Server 2008 instance….
Identify the location of your SQL Server databases... →
While creating a series of test databases, I was required to hardcode a location to store the files. This caused me a problem as I wanted the script to be reusable on different machines \ platforms…
Tadalist -- simple but powerful task management →
I’ve been using the free Tadalist service lately to keep track of my TODO lists. It has a deceivingly simple user interface, but for me at least it turned out to be a powerful ally in keeping on…
Peek inside my new book online →
Amazon.com activated “search inside” for my new book, so you can peek into it online: click on Search Inside on the cover picture on this page
Back to school →
Recently I blogged about sharpening the saw where I mentioned that I wanted to start learning to code in VB as it was an area I’d identified as a weakness in my skillset (not the only weakness, I…
Alan Kay on User Interface Design →
As part of the Berkeley Webcast project, a pair of presentations by Alan Kay (of Smalltalk fame) is available. The presentation is from the early 1980s and discusses the development of user…
VMLogix LabManager Beats VMware at the Awards →
We have consistently believed in the best-in-class virtual lab management offering from VMLogix (we got the ServerWatch.com 2008 Product Excellence Award mid last year) - we’re thrilled that…
Coworker Case Study - Electrons →
I call them “Electrons” because they take the path of least resistance (A little nerd humour there. Laugh, dammit). When faced with multiple options, Electrons will take the option that will result…
Coworker case study - The Combatant →
This species is quite easy to spot, due to its fiercely argumentative nature. It is almost impossible to have a meeting with The Combatant without The Combatant attempting to prove at least one…
Extreme Testing (XT) →
I find that most test methodologies today don’t fit very well with agile development methodologies. Whenever requirements change, the developers adapt fairly easily but the testers are still…
BarCamp Zagreb 2009 →
BarCamp Zagreb 2009
I few days ago I was at BarCamp Zagreb 2009. I wanted to talk about Taza, “an opinionated browser-based test framework”. I heard about it at AWTA 2009…
Proxy Server Cookie Stuffing →
The 100 embassy passwords that were compromised in the middle of 2007 through compromised Tor exit nodes has always stuck with me. Simply sniffing passwords is a great way to gain a ton of intel…