All Things Quality - Joe Strazzere http://strazzere.posterous.com A gathering place for information and ideas about Quality Assurance, Testing, and other useful topics. posterous.com Tue, 29 Jan 2013 01:00:14 -0800 [All Things Quality] Root Cause Analysis Template http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-root-cause-analysis-templa http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-root-cause-analysis-templa
Well there's your problem!

When something gets released to Production which adversely affects a customer, we sometimes write up a formal Root Cause Analysis to send to the customer. It basically explains what happened, and how we intend to prevent it from happening again.

Here's a template for what we send.

{Company Logo goes here}

Root Cause Analysis (INTERNAL)


Incident Date: {the date the incident occurred}
Root Cause Analysis Author: {the author of this RCA}
Client: {the client to whom this RCA is sent}
Product: {the product impacted by this incident}


Synopsis of events:
Include a summary paragraph describing what happened. copyrightjoestrazzere

Timeline:  
Describe the timeline of events – what happened, when. Note the time of the first action leading up to the incident, the time when it first impacted clients, the time when it was resolved, and the time of any other significant events.

Root cause:
Describe the root cause which led to the incident.

Resolution:
Describe the actions which resolved the incident.

Corrective Actions to Prevent Re-occurrence: 
Describe what is being done (or what will be done) to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.

And here's a doc file you can use:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1X3i44SoVGlR2xxWUtjUlY1aHc/edit


Image courtesy of Just2shutter / FreeDigitalPhotos.net


This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality
My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.

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Thu, 24 Jan 2013 01:00:16 -0800 [All Things Quality] New And Improved Bug Hunting! http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-new-and-improved-bug-hunti http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-new-and-improved-bug-hunti
Better Bug Hunting?

So you say there's nothing new in bug hunting?

Well then you haven't seen the new BUG-A-SALT salt-shooting shotgun. It's designed to take down flies, mosquitoes, and the occasional roach or wasp (if shot at point blank range) using ordinary table salt! This beauty fires about 50 shots before reloading and can be accurate up to 3 feet.

As the website proclaims:
These disease carrying gangs and their maggot counterparts must be exterminated at all costs. We the people must join forces to combat these $h*t breeding motherfu*ker$!
That's pretty much how I feel about software bugs, too.

http://bugasalt.com/


This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality
My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.

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Wed, 23 Jan 2013 01:00:34 -0800 [All Things Quality] Lessons Learned While Testing Loosely-Coupled Systems http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-lessons-learned-while-test http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-lessons-learned-while-test
Hang Loose!

In my company, many of the systems we build are loosely coupled with our customers' systems, systems from our division in India, or both.

Our loosely-coupled systems have some characteristics that can make them a challenge to develop and a challenge to test:
  • the interface is defined
  • but partly because these systems were written long ago with no current documentation, little or no knowledge exists about how the other end uses it, nor their dependencies

For some of our systems, the interface consists of one or more XML files that are passed between systems. You might think that it would be reasonable to assume that the other end is consuming and parsing the file as XML, but you would be wrong. In one case, they were consuming and parsing the file as a flat file. The program they used to ingest the XML file in this non-standard manner was written such that order and whitespace was critical! We had to revise our testing to take this into account.

In one of our systems, a flat file was delivered via a URL as the interface. While we originally thought the customers would be consuming the file as a browser would, we found that this wasn't actually the case. The customers had written a custom program which depended on fields in the HTTP header that often changed without affecting browsers. We had to add steps in our testing to specifically inspect the header fields to make sure they never changed.

Many of our systems pass flat files back and forth via FTP. When we test these systems, we must consider:

  • What if the file arrives early?
  • What if the file arrives late?
  • What if the file never arrives?
  • What if the file is corrupt?
  • What if the file is read-only?
  • What if the file is empty?
  • What if the file is much bigger than expected?
  • What if more than one file arrives?
  • What if you try to use the file while it is being written, but is not yet complete?
  • We often use a ".Done" file which is created only after the primary file is ready to be picked up, or indicate "done-ness" in some other way
  • What if the file contains a virus?

  • Lessons: copyrightjoestrazzere
    • Don't assume!
    • Document as many of the interface rules as you can
    • Define the interface as precisely as you can
    • There must be lots of defensive programming, which must be tested
    • You must plan to prepare and execute many negative cases
    • In future versions, prepare to detect ANY changes in the interface, not matter how trivial, no matter how seemingly-insignificant


    This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality
    My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
    I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
    Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.

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    Tue, 22 Jan 2013 01:00:13 -0800 [All Things Quality] What do I do? I meet! http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-what-do-i-do-i-meet http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-what-do-i-do-i-meet
    meetings - lots and lots of meetings!


    When people ask me what I do for a living, I tell them about computers, about software, about software bugs, about testing, and about management.

    But thinking about it recently, and looking at my Outlook Calendar, I could sum up the majority of what I do lately with two simple words:

    I MEET

    Just to give you an idea, here's a list of my current regularly-scheduled weekly meetings:
    Regularly Scheduled Weekly Meetings 
    Monday 
    1.0 Status Meeting with boss
    1.0 QA Team meeting
    1.0 Project Team Meeting - Project A 
    Tuesday 
    0.5 One-on-One Meeting with QAer 1
    1.0 Internal Client Opportunities Meeting
    1.0 QA Team Learning Session (bi-weekly)
    1.5 Senior Management Staff Meeting
    2.0 Project Team Meeting - Project B 
    Wednesday 
    0.5 One-on-One Meeting with QAer 2
    1.0 Production Control Board Meeting
    1.0 Project Team Meeting - Project C 
    Thursday 
    1.0 India Telephone Meeting
    0.5 One-on-One Meeting with QAer 3
    1.0 Project Team Meeting - Project D
    2.0 Project Team Meeting - Project B 
    Friday 
    0.5 One-on-One Meeting with QAer 4
    1.0 Project Team Meeting - Project E
    1.0 Project Team Meeting - Project F 
    Total = 18.5 hours

    And in addition to these weekly meetings there are many others that occur monthly, semi-annually, periodically, and sporadically. copyrightjoestrazzere

    Since I always like to be prepared, I also spend time before each of these meetings reviewing or preparing the agenda and background materials. I spend more time related to meeting than any other task.

    So next time someone asks "What do you do?", I'll probably arrange a meeting to tell them all about it.

    Image courtesy of sixninepixels / FreeDigitalPhotos.net


    This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality
    My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
    I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
    Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.

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    Fri, 18 Jan 2013 06:45:37 -0800 [All Things Quality] Is This Really "What we expect in 2013"? http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-is-this-really-what-we-exp http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-is-this-really-what-we-exp
    not actually me

    I was browsing through the January edition of SDTimes magazine (yes, the real dead-tree version), and found an article titled "What we expect in 2013". In it, the editors make a few predictions about what the new year will bring for the Software Development community. copyrightjoestrazzere

    Here's an excerpt that caught my eye:
    Development teams will focus on testing. Whether driven there by mobility or by the cloud, we will see decreased corporate and customer tolerance for buggy or insecure software. Developers will get more test training, more testers will be hired, and more outsourced testing services will be launched. It's about time.
    I've been reading similar predictions for years, and I've yet to see most of this happen.
    To me (except for the part about "more outsourced testing services will be launched" which has been happening for quite a long time), I think this is all wishful thinking.

    What about you? 

    Do you see actually any evidence that corporations or individuals are becoming less tolerant of bugs? 
    Are your Developers really getting more test training? 
    Are you hiring more testers?


    This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality
    My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
    I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
    Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.

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    Mon, 07 Jan 2013 19:51:08 -0800 [All Things Quality] Top Ten Search Terms in 2012 http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-top-ten-search-terms-in-20-68708 http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-top-ten-search-terms-in-20-68708
    Top Ten Terms

    As part of my review of All Things Quality for 2012, here were the top ten search terms folks used when they ended up on this blog: copyrightjoestrazzere
    • status report template
    • six
    • free kindle games
    • requirements
    • why software gets in trouble
    • nasdaq logo
    • quality interview questions
    • quality report template
    • all things quality
    • lark
    Ok, I'm pleased with "status report template", "requirements", and of course "all things quality".

    But, "six"? And "lark"? I'm guessing some folks didn't get what they were looking for.


    This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality
    My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
    I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
    Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.

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    Mon, 07 Jan 2013 19:32:25 -0800 [All Things Quality] Top Ten Countries Reading All Things Quality http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-top-ten-countries-reading-83630 http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-top-ten-countries-reading-83630
    Top Ten Countries Reading All Things Quality

    As part of my review of All Things Quality for 2012, here were the top ten countries with the most visits to All Things Quality, according to Google Analytics: copyrightjoestrazzere

    United States
    India
    United Kingdom
    Canada
    Australia
    Germany
    France
    Romania
    Poland
    Phillippines

    Welcome, friends from around the world!

    welcome
    में आपका स्वागत है
    welcome
    welcome and bienvenue
    welcome
    willkommen
    bienvenue
    bine ai venit
    powitanie
    maligayang pagdating

    (I hope Google Translate got these right...)


    This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality
    My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
    I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
    Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.

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    Mon, 07 Jan 2013 19:08:54 -0800 [All Things Quality] Top Ten Blog Pages for 2012 http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-top-ten-blog-pages-for-201-43899 http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-top-ten-blog-pages-for-201-43899
    All Things Quality's Top 10 for 2012

    Aside from my home page, these were the top ten content pages for 2012.  They received the most visits according to Google Analytics:

    People in Testing / What People are Writing

    My pages of links to other testing-related blogs of interest and aggregation of people's most recent posts.
    Please continue to send me links for sites that you think should be added - your site, or sites that you read. Thanks! copyrightjoestrazzere

    My Status Report Template

    This is a spreadsheet template I use to communicate my an entire year's worth of status to my boss. I see that people find templates useful, and will try to post more this year.

    Testing Terms Glossary

    A list of terms in QA and Testing.  I originally started this many years ago so that I could copy and paste the definitions when people asked "What is...?"  I'm so happy that you find it useful.

    QA and Testing Interview Questions (And Some Answers)

    An oldie, but goodie. It's hard to be prepared for an interview.  I'm really happy if this list helps you.

    25 Things About Me

    You still like to read about me? Ok!

    Interview Questions You Should Ask

    I've written in the past about how to be prepared for interview questions that will be asked of you. But this time, I wrote about interview questions that you might want to ask. People seemed to like them.

    Issue Tracking Template

    People clearly like templates. I'm glad. I promise to post more of them.

    About This Blog

    Lots of new visitors on 2012, apparently wondering "what is this blog all about?" I hope you all found what you were looking for!

    Perhaps They Should Have Tested More - Nasdaq

    This was a post about NASDAQ's "difficulties" when Facebook went public. It was an interesting, and very public, demonstration of software bugs.

    Six Years!

    I wrote about my six-year anniversary at my current company. While I think a few readers enjoyed it, I suspect many landed here after searching for the word "six". Perhaps they were searching for a different 3-letter word?


    This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality
    My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
    I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
    Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.

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    Mon, 07 Jan 2013 18:45:13 -0800 [All Things Quality] Perhaps They Should Have Tested More in 2012 http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-perhaps-they-should-have-t-44084 http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-perhaps-they-should-have-t-44084

    2012 saw more "interesting" bugs show up in the news.  Perhaps these companies should have tested more?


    A system designed to help Mitt Romney volunteers record who voted, and to identify those who hadn't for follow-up, apparently failed miserably. It probably didn't cost Romney the election.
    Perhaps They Should Have Tested More - Romney Project Orca
    http://www.allthingsquality.com/2012/11/perhaps-they-should-have-tested-more.html

    When Apple released its new iOS 6 software update, they chose to replace Google Maps with Apple Maps. Hilarity, unhappy users, and a VP firing, ensued. copyrightjoestrazzere
    Perhaps They Should Have Tested More - Apple iOS 6 Maps
    http://www.allthingsquality.com/2012/09/perhaps-they-should-have-tested-more.html

    Knight Capital rolled out a change to its trading software - and in the process lost $440 million. Knight's logo refers to them as "The Science of Trading. The Standard of trust."
    Perhaps They Should Have Tested More - Knight Capital
    http://www.allthingsquality.com/2012/08/perhaps-they-should-have-tested-more.html

    When accounts were transferred from LaSalle Bank to Bank of America, a software bug allowed a man to withdraw $1,543,104 more than he owned. He gambled the money away.
    Perhaps They Should Have Tested More - Bank Of America
    http://www.allthingsquality.com/2012/06/perhaps-they-should-have-tested-more.html

    In a precursor of bugs to come, the Mitt Romney campaign released a new iPhone app titled "A Better Amercia". Hey, it was only a minor typo, right?
    Perhaps They Should Have Tested More - Mitt Romney Campaign
    http://www.allthingsquality.com/2012/05/perhaps-they-should-have-tested-more_30.html

    When Facebook went public in May, NASDAQ's IPO system went loopy even after "thousands of hours" of testing. Maybe thousands and one would have done the trick.
    Perhaps They Should Have Tested More - Nasdaq
    http://www.allthingsquality.com/2012/05/perhaps-they-should-have-tested-more.html

    On February 29th, Windows Azure experienced about 8 hours of downtime, demonstrating that Microsoft still hasn't quite got the hang of this whole Leap Day thing. Maybe next time.
    Perhaps They Should Have Tested More - Windows Azure
    http://www.allthingsquality.com/2012/03/perhaps-they-should-have-tested-more.html

    The Russian Mars probe Phobos-Grunt crashed back to Earth in January, after a programming error forced it into "safe mode". Oh well - a paltry budget of $165 million apparently doesn't allow for much testing.
    Perhaps They Should Have Tested More - Russian Space Agency
    http://www.allthingsquality.com/2012/02/perhaps-they-should-have-tested-more.html

    The company founder of Fisker Automotive personally called every owner to apologize for bugs in the software controls of their electric "Karma" sedan. It was the second time in two months Fisker cars were recalled. "Hello? Yes, this is Henrick again..." 
    Perhaps They Should Have Tested More - Fisker Automotive
    http://www.allthingsquality.com/2012/01/perhaps-they-should-have-tested-more.html


    This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality
    My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
    I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
    Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.

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    Fri, 09 Nov 2012 09:21:27 -0800 [All Things Quality] Perhaps They Should Have Tested More - Romney Project Orca http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-perhaps-they-should-have-t-11401 http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-perhaps-they-should-have-t-11401
    Perhaps the Project Orca team should have tested more?

    Described as a "Killer What Project", a system designed to help volunteers record who voted, and to identify those who hadn’t for follow-up, apparently failed miserably. copyrightjoestrazzere
    • Designed to digitize and streamline the poll watchers' strike lists
    • Not only did Project Orca not improve the process, it may have actually hindered it. 
    • Checklist in instruction packet listed the same item twice, and missed a critically important step
    • Didn't auto-forward users who didn't know to add an S to the http:// protocol in the app's URL
    • PINs that were required to login and download the voter lists didn't work and couldn't be reset
    • In one area, the head of the Republican Party plus 10 volunteers were all locked out
    • All of Colorado had the wrong PINs
    • In North Carolina every pin was wrong and not fixed until 6PM
    • The system went down for a half hour during peak voting, but for hundreds or more, it never worked all day
    • The system projected every swing state as pink or red
    • As of 4 p.m., Orca still projected a Romney victory of somewhere between 290 and 300 electoral votes
    • An aide said Orca had pretty much crashed in the heat of the action
    • By pushing Orca into the most important swing states they drew 37,000 volunteers away from more battle-tested methods and left local campaign offices flying blind

    According to a Romney campaign release from just before the election:
    "Project ORCA is a massive undertaking – the Republican Party’s newest, unprecedented and most technologically advanced plan to win the 2012 presidential election.
    ...
    We have tweaked and improved Project ORCA throughout primary, so going into the general, we had several ideas and more time to incorporate those ideas into a system that would work nationally."

    Perhaps (with all those ideas and more time), they should have cast a vote or two for more testing?

    See also:

    This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality
    My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
    I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
    Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.

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    Fri, 02 Nov 2012 05:01:14 -0700 [All Things Quality] I'm In Better Software Magazine! http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-im-in-better-software-maga http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-im-in-better-software-maga

    From One Expert To Another

    I mentioned a while back that I would be in Better Software Magazine. copyrightjoestrazzere

    And here it is - the November/December 2012 issue http://www.stickyminds.com/BetterSoftware/magazine.asp. It's free to download as a PDF.

    Right there on page 17, are excerpts from the "From One Expert to Another" interview I had with Alan Page.

    You can read the full interview at the StickyMinds site: http://www.stickyminds.com/sitewide.asp?Function=edetail&ObjectType=ART&ObjectId=17707

    Enjoy!


    This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality
    My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
    I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
    Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.

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    Wed, 24 Oct 2012 01:00:22 -0700 [All Things Quality] Release Tracking Template http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-release-tracking-template http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-release-tracking-template
    Release Tracking Template

    In my shop, we each have official "Goals" which help form the basis of our annual bonuses.

    All of the folks on my QA Team, have one Goal related to successful releases. Here, "successful" basically equates to "Released to Production with no issues requiring an emergency fix". copyrightjoestrazzere

    In order to track these release events, I just use a simple spreadsheet. Nothing fancy here, but it allows me to quickly review a year's worth of releases when completing the annual Performance Appraisal forms.

    You can access the template I use here:


    This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality
    My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
    I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
    Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.

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    Wed, 17 Oct 2012 01:00:15 -0700 [All Things Quality] From One Expert to Another: Joe Strazzere http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-from-one-expert-to-another http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-from-one-expert-to-another
    From One Expert to Another: Joe Strazzere

    Stickyminds.com, the online companion to Better Software magazine, runs a series of articles titled "From One Expert to Another".

    These articles use an interview format where one QA/Testing expert questions another. copyrightjoestrazzere

    Past editions have interviewed such industry notables as Markus Gärtner, Alan Page, Paul Poutane, Dawn and Shannon Code, Meeta Prakash, Simon Baker, Catherine Powell, and James Bach.

    When Joey McAllister of Stickyminds and Alan Page approached me about being the subject, I was quite flattered! And here is the interview:

    From One Expert to Another: Joe Strazzere 
    http://www.stickyminds.com/sitewide.asp?Function=edetail&ObjectType=ART&ObjectId=17707

    Excerpts will also appear in the next printed version of Better Software magazine.

    Alan Page works at Microsoft, is a true expert, writes a terrific blog at http://angryweasel.com/blog/, and was the lead author for one of my favorite Testing books, How We Test Software at Microsoft.


     This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality
    My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
    I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
    Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.

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    Thu, 04 Oct 2012 01:00:22 -0700 [All Things Quality] Software Testing is NOT "Breaking Things" - Part Two http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-software-testing-is-not-br http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-software-testing-is-not-br

    Breaking Things, or is it Monkey Testing?

    For some odd reason, I really don't like it when software testers say "I enjoy breaking things". copyrightjoestrazzere

    When you test and find a bug, you haven't broken anything - it was already broken!  If anything, the developer who wrote the code broke it.

    see:

    This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality
    My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
    I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
    Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.

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    Thu, 27 Sep 2012 01:00:25 -0700 [All Things Quality] A New Version of WinTask - 3.9 http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-a-new-version-of-wintask-3-91801 http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-a-new-version-of-wintask-3-91801

    WinTask 3.9

    The good folks at TaskWare have released a new version of the favorite tool in my toolbox - WinTask.

    The big news here is that WinTask has added support for Chrome.  So now you can test Windows applications, and web applications in Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome! copyrightjoestrazzere

    Here is the vendor's version history of WinTask: http://www.wintask.com/version-history.php

    Check this tool out at http://www.wintask.com/

    You can see some of my WinTask utility scripts here, using the WinTask tag.


    This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality
    My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
    I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
    Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.

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    Wed, 26 Sep 2012 01:00:21 -0700 [All Things Quality] Test Automation Is ... http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-test-automation-is http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-test-automation-is

    Test Automation Is

    According to Google (and Google knows everything), test automation is: copyrightjoestrazzere
    • Test Automation is easy
    • Test Automation is complex
    • Test Automation is now
    • Test Automation is making you crazy
    • Test Automation is a good thing
    • Test Automation is important
    • Test Automation is required
    • Test Automation is bad
    • Test Automation is not the icing on the cake
    • Test Automation is preferred
    • Test Automation is a specialized career
    • Test Automation is sometimes complicated
    • Test Automation is a much talked about topic
    • Test Automation is in itself a software development activity
    • Test Automation is more difficult that people often realize
    • Test Automation is a full-time effort
    • Test Automation is more than a set of tests
    • Test Automation is becoming cross-discipline
    • Test Automation is the next logical step
    • Test Automation is largely a technical exercise
    • Test Automation is an investment
    • Test Automation is an agent of transformation
    • Test Automation is always viewed as the most desired approach for testing
    • Test Automation is obviously the right thing
    • Test Automation is no longer confined to programmers and scripters
    Can you add to the list?


    This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality
    My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
    I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
    Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.

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    Mon, 24 Sep 2012 01:00:29 -0700 [All Things Quality] Perhaps They Should Have Tested More - Apple iOS 6 Maps http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-perhaps-they-should-have-t-55014 http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-perhaps-they-should-have-t-55014

    Show me the way to go home
    I'm tired and I want to go to bed
    I had a little drink about one release ago
    And it's gone right to my head

    Apple's new iOS 6 software update replaces Google Maps with Apple Maps as expected, but so far, unhappy users are panning the change in websites and online forums. copyrightjoestrazzere

    Apple is receiving massive backlash from users around the globe, who report that Apple’s replacement maps, “Apple Maps,” are riddled with strange glitches, inaccurate direction and location data, and fall short of Google Maps.
    • Called "an unsightly blemish on what is otherwise a beautiful OS"
    • Train stations have gone missing
    • The Sears Tower in Chicago has been moved to a smaller tower
    • In Ireland, Dublin has been given a new airport where a farm called Airfield currently stands.
    • Searches for London mostly tend to redirect users to the small city of London in Ontario, Canada.
    • Stratford Upon Avon disappeared
    Perhaps Apple should have tested more.



    This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality
    My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
    I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
    Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.

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    Wed, 19 Sep 2012 01:00:18 -0700 [All Things Quality] It's Time To Vote - For SQAForums! http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-its-time-to-vote-for-sqafo http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-its-time-to-vote-for-sqafo
    Vote for SQAForums.com

    Once again the Automated Testing Institute is conducting their annual "Automation Honors" voting. From their website: copyrightjoestrazzere

    The industry's original set of awards dedicated to software test automation is again looking to crown industry leading tools, resources and practitioners with automation's top honor. That means it's time for all of you to get busy!
    The ATI Automation Honors awards rely on industry practitioners to identify which tools, resources and people are the best, which have the most significant upgrades and/or which are setting the trends that will help to take software test automation to the next level in the coming year. The 4th Annual Awards promise to be even bigger and better with more categories, more trend analysis, a live ceremony at the TestKIT 2012 Conference, video presentation ceremony, and much more.

    In the category of "Best Automated Testing Forum" my vote again goes to SQAForums.com.

    With almost 200,000 registered members and numerous tool-specific and tool-agnostic forums, SQAForums is the best place I've found to ask questions and get answers about all facets of test automation, as well as general Test and QA issues. And, I'm lucky enough to be one of the Moderators!

    If you like SQAForums, as much as I do, you can go here to vote:
    http://www.automatedtestinginstitute.com/home/index.php?option=com_jforms&view=form&id=22&Itemid=186

    And if you haven't visited SQAForums yet, why not come and pay a visit at:
    http://www.sqaforums.com

    Tell them your friend Joe sent you!




    This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality
    My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
    I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
    Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.

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    Wed, 12 Sep 2012 01:00:46 -0700 [All Things Quality] There's A Bug And It's Been Assigned To Me http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-theres-a-bug-and-its-been http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-theres-a-bug-and-its-been
    To the tune of "There's a hole in the bottom of the sea"

    There's a bug and it's been assigned to me
    There's a bug and it's been assigned to me
    There's a bug, there's a bug, there's a bug and it's been assigned to me copyrightjoestrazzere

    There's an issue in a bug and it's been assigned to me
    There's an issue in a bug and it's been assigned to me
    There's a bug, there's a bug, there's a bug and it's been assigned to me

    There's a defect in an issue in a bug and it's been assigned to me
    There's a defect in an issue in a bug and it's been assigned to me
    There's a bug, there's a bug, there's a bug and it's been assigned to me

    There's a glitch in a defect in an issue in a bug and it's been assigned to me
    There's a glitch in a defect in an issue in a bug and it's been assigned to me
    There's a bug, there's a bug, there's a bug and it's been assigned to me

    There's a fault in a glitch in a defect in an issue in a bug and it's been assigned to me
    There's a fault in a glitch in a defect in an issue in a bug and it's been assigned to me
    There's a bug, there's a bug, there's a bug and it's been assigned to me

    There a failing in a fault in a glitch in a defect in an issue in a bug and it's been assigned to me
    There a failing in a fault in a glitch in a defect in an issue in a bug and it's been assigned to me
    There's a bug, there's a bug, there's a bug and it's been assigned to me

    There an error in a failing in a fault in a glitch in a defect in an issue in a bug and it's been assigned to me
    There an error in a failing in a fault in a glitch in a defect in an issue in a bug and it's been assigned to me
    There's a bug, there's a bug, there's a bug and it's been assigned to me

    There a problem in an error in a failing in a fault in a glitch in a defect in an issue in a bug and it's been assigned to me
    There a problem in an error in a failing in a fault in a glitch in a defect in an issue in a bug and it's been assigned to me
    There's a bug, there's a bug, there's a bug and it's been assigned to me

    There a typo in a problem in an error in a failing in a fault in a glitch in a defect in an issue in a bug and it's been assigned to me
    There a typo in a problem in an error in a failing in a fault in a glitch in a defect in an issue in a bug and it's been assigned to me
    There's a bug, there's a bug, there's a bug and it's been assigned to me

    There's a feature in the code and it's been assigned to me
    There's a feature in the code and it's been assigned to me
    So there's a bug, there's a bug, there's a bug and it's been assigned to me


    This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality
    My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
    I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
    Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.

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    Tue, 11 Sep 2012 05:12:44 -0700 [All Things Quality] Remembering September 11, 2001 http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-remembering-september-11-2-51045 http://strazzere.posterous.com/all-things-quality-remembering-september-11-2-51045
    Anna Williams Allison

    Eleven years later, I remember September 11, 2001.

    I remember being in a morning meeting and one of the staff members was late. When he came in, he asked if we had heard the news about a plane crashing into the World Trade Center. We hadn't. We finished our meeting, then went upstairs to the lunch room (with its huge projection television) and saw that the news channels still weren't sure if this was an accident or some sort of attack.

    Shortly after that, we watched in horror as another plan crashed into the second tower. Then it was clear that this was no accident.

    A very sad, unsettling day.
    copyrightjoestrazzere
    The next day, I got a phone call from a friend. He told me some more sad news. A former co-worker was on American Airlines flight #11 - the first plane to crash into a tower.

    Anna Williams Allison was a colleague at Bachman Information Systems. She and I both worked in the Quality Assurance department.  She was very smart, very energetic, and a terrific QAer.  I learned a lot from her, and I like to think she learned something from me.

    When we both left Bachman, we remained friends, and occasionally spoke, emailed, shared ideas about QA and work, and had lunch. She eventually formed her own company - doing QA training and presentations. She was very good for the QA field.

    Anna was on flight 11, on her way to a customer engagement.

    I miss her, both professionally, and as a friend. Each September 11th, as the country shares remembrances of a sad day in our history, I think of her again. We in the QA community are poorer without her.


    This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality
    My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
    I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
    Find me at http://AllThingsQuality.com/.

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