Feeling Particularly Autumnal This Morning

And looky at the date...

Crouching Test, Hidden Defect

QA gets better all the time because you can turn your methods against your own processes. At the core it is database, and the use of database to track bugs, through their life cycle.

Then, when you decide to build tools to help you do your job better, you won't get overwhelmed, because the role of the computer is to remember for you. You don't have to remember all those bugs. The wisdom of it is straightforward and can be summarized in the words of Joel Spolsky,

It's pretty easy to remember the rule for a good bug report. Every good bug report needs exactly three things.

1. Steps to reproduce,


2. What you expected to see, and


3. What you saw instead.

Continuing specifically in regard to the steps one takes to do bug reports, we find a blanket statement from Simon Tatham, that, "More information is almost always better than less." which today I also discovered to be the testimony of a professional. Today, I had trouble at home with iPassConnect -- a service that I had 'supported' at Connexion by Boeing, but never really used first hand. The request for help was filed via a web-based request service. Not only did I get to describe the problem, I could even provide an attachment. But only one. So I zipped all the screen shots I had made. Before the end of day it actually became very important that I be able to use that VPN, so I called tech support, and the tech that opened my ticket looked at my description and attachments and said, "I have never seen a ticket that had all the information in it." I said, "Well, they're training me." By they, I surely meant the very organization on who's phones we were speaking. So for a number of reasons, I can say in all honesty that it has been a good two weeks.

I can't type or spell, but that's a different story.

Our Lives Are Being Controlled By Megalomaniacs On The West Coast

Neither is the East Coast acceptable. it is time for control from the Great Lakes. Those Great and Pure and Perfect Lakes. Reading the Apple license, they promise you nothing. Not merchantability, not even 'quiet enjoyment'. In the short time we have left, I wonder if we could change the world, by guaranteeing, even warranting, a computer experience. It is an idea so insane, it just might work. Let's hope we get to find out.





In the mean time, its ROCK AND ROLL IN 3D! As is. No warranties. It may crash, but until then, it should be fun enough to bring you back for more. Notice the Google ads. Where is Google located, anyway? I should find out before I give those megalomaniacs another inch of control. I know: I'll google it.

Mountain View. West Coast. Oh well.

An Objective Measurement of Quality

Today I began work as an IT QA tester for Glaxo SmithKline. It is an information technology quality assurance culture informed by nearly one hundred fifty years of pharmaceutical quality assurance. The development environment is Siebel, the testing tool is Mercury Quality Center, and the document of choice is the Excel spreadsheet.



I am happy to say that things ended at Visual Sports on a fairly good note. They still have a pressing need for interactive content to drive system sales, and I still have a pressing need to produce commercially successful video games. For my part, the primary organizational vehicle for doing so will be the Toronto chapter of the Independent Game Developers Association. (When doing a web search, be sure and get the order of the letters igda right, or you will end up with defense contractors with the acronym igda.)

Games for Georgians

The flow of new games from the Unity sector is approaching a steady clip. One new example of physics based fun is "Open Fire" by BlueTorch Studios and BlueGill Flame Game Studios. This game has actually been on the market for a while, as it was deployed c. Unity 1.1. Yet, this little game has that thing games so desperately need: fun in playing it.

I just discovered this game recently, and in light of current political events, I thought I would send one up for those willing to defend their homeland against foreign incursion, yet again.

Disunderstanding

Today I coin a new word: disunderstanding.

Cite disunderstanding when the other party not only does not understand the subject, but also the logic of it scares them, so that they are always forgetting even after you explain it to them.

Example sentence: Most Californians disunderstand the Spanish language. They know Spanish words, but the living language is like a cifer to them.

Our New Anthem