Test Guide
Making the invisible visible since 1987
Banking Expectations
For weeks now I have been seeing ads for a local bank. These ads consist of a vast expanse of white...
Author: humbugreality Date: 03/11/2009
James W's Favorite Bug
I like the back and forth between QA and Dev with regards to whether or not a bug is worthy of their...
Author: humbugreality Date: 03/09/2009
Gerald M. Weinberg's Favorite Bug
My favorite bug is also my first bug. It's my favorite because it started me on the road to learning...
Author: humbugreality Date: 03/06/2009
Josh Poley's Favorite Bug
One of the interesting bugs I dealt with on the Xbox 360 wasn't very exciting from a "how found"...
Author: humbugreality Date: 03/02/2009
What Is Your Favorite Bug?
I mentioned in my last post that I love hearing testers (anyone, really) talk about the bugs they...
Author: humbugreality Date: 02/27/2009
Testing Curiosity
What drew you to testing? What keeps you here? What would cause you to leave?I fell into testing by...
Author: humbugreality Date: 02/25/2009
Falsely Responsible
Newbie testers often believe they can actually stop their product from shipping. Product teams often...
Author: humbugreality Date: 02/11/2009
Heuristical Madness
Recently I was thinking about the plethora of Test Heuristics floating about the blogosphere....
Author: humbugreality Date: 02/04/2009
Back In The Saddle Again
One reason I have not blogged these last two months is that my wife took ill and I haven't been at...
Author: humbugreality Date: 01/21/2009
Story Time
How many different stories do you know about your product? Do you know the stories your best...
Author: humbugreality Date: 11/12/2008
Testing Reality
A few years ago I began questioning everything I thought I knew: what I did, why I did it, how I did...
Author: humbugreality Date: 10/29/2008
So You Want To Work For Microsoft...
Several people have emailed me recently asking for tips on getting through their upcoming interviews...
Author: humbugreality Date: 10/15/2008
What I Will Do
Commitments - "This is what I plan to do the next year and how you will know whether I am doing it"...
Author: humbugreality Date: 10/08/2008
Eavesdropping On Testing
On the bus the other day I overheard a woman discussing her upcoming nuptials. She was quite the...
Author: humbugreality Date: 10/01/2008
A Medley Of Tools
[To the tunes of various winter holiday carols]Here I go a-wandering among ideas so brightHere I go...
Author: humbugreality Date: 09/17/2008
What Do You Do?
Do you know the unique value you add to your team? I used to think I did, until a series of...
Author: humbugreality Date: 09/10/2008
K-Based Testing
I was reading Keith Braithwaite's website recently in preparation for asking him Five Questions. One...
Author: humbugreality Date: 09/03/2008
Games Testers Play
What are you favorite testing games?I learned Headline News from Elisabeth Hendrickson many years...
Author: humbugreality Date: 08/19/2008
Tester Center Tester Spotlight: Ivo Manolov
I have another Tester Spotlight posted! Pop over to Tester Center - via Channel 9 - to see my...
Author: humbugreality Date: 08/13/2008
Nike Testing
When I started writing this blog I had no idea what I was going to write about. I don't remember...
Author: humbugreality Date: 08/06/2008
Rhymeless References
If you want to learn more about the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, personality types, neuro-linguistic...
Author: humbugreality Date: 07/21/2008
Finally! The Finish!
So that is MBTI, and that is NLP.Which still leaves the puzzling, mysterious A&P.I know some...
Author: humbugreality Date: 07/18/2008
Trio Of Tastes
Visual people learn with their eyes.They peek and they look and their world clarifies."I see what...
Author: humbugreality Date: 07/16/2008
New Lingo Please!
NLP is a science (tho some say it's not)Which claims to explain how people come to a thought.Neuro...
Author: humbugreality Date: 07/14/2008
Timely Play
"J" is for "Judging", though not the critical kind.It simply describes the way we unwind.Or don't,...
Author: humbugreality Date: 07/11/2008
Feeling Logical
"T" is for "Thinking", so called because weDecide with our brains, not our feelings.We use our logic...
Author: humbugreality Date: 07/09/2008
Concretely Abstract
"N" means "iNtuitive", and people like usThink in abstractions, big pictures we suss.Ideas and...
Author: humbugreality Date: 07/07/2008
Intro, Extra, Energy
"I" stands for "Introvert". We need time alone;Invite us to parties and we respond with a groan.All...
Author: humbugreality Date: 07/03/2008
The Gang Of Four
They developed four axes, with two letters each;One on the left side, quite out of reachTo those on...
Author: humbugreality Date: 07/02/2008
Tester Spotlight: Bryan Lipscy
I have another Tester Spotlight posted over on Tester Center! This time I talked with Bryan Lipscy,...
Author: humbugreality Date: 07/01/2008
Myers And Briggs And Their Guinea Pig
Some years ago a lady named Briggs,Her daughter Myers, and their guinea pigInto personalities...
Author: humbugreality Date: 06/30/2008
Types And Styles And Body Parts, Oh My
MBTI describes how I interact with the world.NLP explains why I write and do not make murals.A &...
Author: humbugreality Date: 06/27/2008
One Fish, Two Fish, Sensing Fish, Intuitive Fish
The more I learn about the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and Neuro-Linguistic Programming...
Author: humbugreality Date: 06/25/2008
Conversationally Communing
Maria writes:This is my first time as a tester...let me tell you I'm happy with this, but is really...
Author: humbugreality Date: 06/18/2008
Why Why Why Why Why?
"Why did you miss that?"I imagine you have heard that question more than once, regardless of whether...
Author: humbugreality Date: 06/04/2008
Tester Center Tester Spotlight: Rob Straavaldson
Check out my Tester Spotlight interview with Rob Straavaldson over on Tester Center!
Author: humbugreality Date: 06/02/2008
Mission Control
Do you know what your mission is?Some of you may be saying "To boundary test Feature X". Some may be...
Author: humbugreality Date: 05/28/2008
CASTing For Participants, Part 2
Some months ago I posted about CAST 2008, how it's not your typical conference, how gobs of Smart...
Author: humbugreality Date: 05/25/2008
It's A Live (Mesh)!
A year ago I joined a team building a top secret project. Today we threw off our invisibility cloak...
Author: humbugreality Date: 04/23/2008
Campy Conclusion
These, then, are the five parallels I see between drawing and testing: Work what you see, not what...
Author: humbugreality Date: 04/16/2008
Shifting Subjects
I mentioned earlier that I started learning to draw so that I could sketch houses I saw in my head....
Author: humbugreality Date: 04/09/2008
Timely Tempo
As I learned the vocabulary of drawing I realized that most of my drawings were detailed studies...
Author: humbugreality Date: 04/02/2008
A Base(ic) Vocabulary
As I copied and deconstructed art by different people I started to identify commonalities within and...
Author: humbugreality Date: 03/26/2008
CnD
One technique which has helped me learn to see is to copy and deconstruct the works of artists I...
Author: humbugreality Date: 03/19/2008
Know? No. See!
What I have had most difficulty learning about drawing is probably also the most important point for...
Author: humbugreality Date: 03/12/2008
Scripting Exploratory Smack Down
Vinayak writes: "I do feel Exploratory Testing has importance in SCRUM-like projects and also...
Author: humbugreality Date: 02/20/2008