notes and rants
My new blog is at https://www.angryweasel.com/blog
My blog is dead – long live my blog
I started blogging about five years ago while I was working on Windows CE. I started the blog as a...
Date: 11/02/2009
PNSQC Slides
Thanks to everyone who attended my talk today. Feel free to fire more questions here if you have...
Date: 10/27/2009
I’m overflowing
…literally, I suppose. It’s been a hectic few weeks for me, but some big announcements may be on the...
Date: 10/21/2009
HWTSAM in China
I’m excited to see that the Chinese version of HWTSAM is out (and soon to be followed by a Korean...
Date: 10/19/2009
One last virtualization post
We (Microsoft, M$ or however you’d like to refer to us) are trying to gather some data on how...
Date: 10/17/2009
My STAR talk
My talk’s over – I’ve received a lot of positive feedback (although the people who hate my talks...
Date: 10/08/2009
Plane Thoughts and Plain Books
I’m somewhere over California on my way to Orange County, home of movie stars, beaches, Disneyland,...
Date: 10/05/2009
7 Influential Books
Phil Kirkham recently posted a list of 7 Influential Books and encouraged some of his fellow...
Date: 09/24/2009
Niche Professions
I have been thinking about “niche” professions – those that only appeal to a relatively small number...
Date: 09/22/2009
Fun with Code and TestApi
I took an opportunity to write some code last week. I’ll spare you the full background – short story...
Date: 09/21/2009
Who Owns Quality?
On request from Adam Goucher – another excerpt from How We Test Software at Microsoft. BTW –...
Date: 09/18/2009
Looking for the “L” word
Although my anniversary is coming up, this post is about another “L” word: Leadership. “Senior”...
Date: 09/14/2009
Flashback
I had a bit of a surreal experience this week. One of the groups I work with sent some mail asking...
Date: 09/11/2009
Organizing my Life
aka – The secrets of my so called success, part 23. It’s Tuesday after a long weekend, and my todo...
Date: 09/08/2009
Good Test Writing
Heusser is sad because his heroes haven’t been blogging lately (two of those have only blogged 2-3...
Date: 09/04/2009
Improvement through practice
In music, the better you are at the basics, the better you are on the bandstand. Even the pro...
Date: 09/03/2009
Learning and Thinking
I’ve been meaning to write a few more posts about The Passionate Programmer. So, before I forget,...
Date: 08/30/2009
Planning the next 10 months
It’s “commitment” time at Microsoft – which means that employees across the company are plotting out...
Date: 08/27/2009
Look past the bug
I have a couple of stories based on a bug I was passively investigating the last few days...
Date: 08/20/2009
Meeting Types
Those of you who follow me on twitter may have noticed I’ve been in a lot of meetings lately...
Date: 08/12/2009
More stuff that bugs me
I had a late morning meeting today in a MS building nowhere near the one where I normally work. To...
Date: 08/11/2009
Patterns on the MSPress blog
I guest-posted on the MSPress blog today. Check it out for an article on test patterns.
Date: 08/04/2009
Growing your career as a tester
Every month, I send a newsletter to all testers at Microsoft. About six months ago, I started asking...
Date: 08/02/2009
HWTSAM Video Podcast – Chapter 3
Ken and Bj and I are back with another video recap of a chapter from hwtsam. Take a look and let us...
Date: 07/30/2009
Careful with that hammer
There’s a saying that goes “If all you have is a hammer, then everything looks like a nail.” I see a...
Date: 07/28/2009
Give ‘em what they want
Last night, I was sitting in bed reading the latest issue of TapeOp (music recording magazine). I...
Date: 07/21/2009
Working on the Duc
Although it’s Saturday and I’m currently doing a bit of work, I’m happy to say that I have had a bit...
Date: 07/18/2009
What's the REAL question?
I’ve been in a lot of meetings recently, and I’ve been observing the way people ask questions. There...
Date: 07/17/2009
Another HWTSAM Video Podcast
This one is a recap of chapter 2. We’ve filmed though chapter 8, but we’re a little behind on...
Date: 07/16/2009
Papers, Presentations and People
I finished another draft of my pnsqc paper today. I still have a few tweaks I know I need to make,...
Date: 07/14/2009
Cat Herding Tips
For better or worse, part of my current role requires me to get really busy people to answer my...
Date: 06/29/2009
Earn it or Demand it?
I was recently talking with a colleague about someone he knows who is currently in a “senior”...
Date: 06/27/2009
More HWTSAM reviews
Been incredibly busy lately, but wanted to share a few other HWTSAM reviews. There’s a review on...
Date: 06/24/2009
Interruptable?
I was thinking about my last post – as well as the “stuff on my plate”, and thought it may be...
Date: 06/12/2009
Productivity
In the world of twitter, facebook, email, cell phones and IM, I sometimes wonder how anybody gets...
Date: 06/11/2009
Quality isn’t always free
I went to the dentist this morning for a routine teeth cleaning and to get my yearly x-rays. My...
Date: 06/09/2009
Want to say something nice?
Work on the Korean version of HWTSAM is wrapping up, and we’re looking for a few more of what the...
Date: 06/04/2009
Another review of HWTSAM
So far, the blogosphere in general has had a better experience with the book than the amazon...
Date: 06/02/2009
PNSQC 2009
It looks like (pending paper composition and acceptance) that I’ll be heading three hours south this...
Date: 06/01/2009
Odds and Ends
It’s been busier than normal for me at Microville recently. My friend (and frequent soccer match...
Date: 05/27/2009
Words and Status (and rants!)
Words are funny things. We use them to convey meaning - but there's more to words than that. We also...
Date: 05/19/2009
Metrics common sense
I still owe you some posts covering my recent metrics presentation, but wanted to pass this along in...
Date: 05/17/2009
STAR East metrics presentation
Been a busy week, but wanted to send a link to my materials from STAR. My presentation style is...
Date: 05/15/2009
iTWire review of HWTSAM
Another review of HWTSAM is here. My favorite quote: All in all, this is an impressive work with a...
Date: 05/11/2009
STAR epilogue
I’m on a plane returning from Orlando / STAR east. As expected, it was a fun week, but by...
Date: 05/09/2009