Comments for Software Tasting --by Geordie Keitt

Comment on Playing the dice game with developers by Dawn

Dawn — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 22:14:50 +0000

Hi Geordie,

I found your blog entry while searching for the rules for Jame’s dice game. I played it at PNSQC last fall and can’t fully remember the rules. I had such a great time playing it and wanted to share it with my team next week. Could you drop me a line with help/advice on how to present the game to my team? Thanks in advance!

Geordie’s reply – I’ll catch you on email, Dawn. Thanks for stopping by.

Comment on Testaphor Improv by Marlena Compton

Marlena Compton — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 03:50:01 +0000

The church across the street from my apartment has had a sign up for weeks that says, no joke, “U2charist.” I’m guessing that the U2 song, “I will follow” is included. Wondering how they’ll work in “Sunday, Bloody Sunday.”

So if testing is mayonnaise, how would miracle whip compare?

Geordie’s Reply – I suppose it depends on your testing denomination. Some of us are more skeptical of miracles than others.

Comment on Playing the dice game with developers by Niresh

Niresh — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 06:16:06 +0000

Hey Geordie,
I had fun playing Dice game at James Tutorial with you @ CAST 2009. I was planning to have my team the game and i currently learning the dice game. I might need you help leaning the game. Rest is fine with me.

Geordie’s reply: If you need help remembering how to play or how to be the overseer, then drop me a line.

Comment on Testing is … raking leaves by Lanette C

Lanette C — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:10:34 +0000

Yet another reason why measuring the tester performance on “number of leaves raked” is a terrible thing.

Also, how useful is measuring the percentage of solid ground compared to last fall? What if the wind is less, the summer later, or the leave growth from the previous summer less? Also, other factors besides leaves could make the ground problematic for children, such as if it were flooded.

This comparison works for me except testing is also estimating how long it will take to rake leaves in the future without a weather report or a count on the number of children on swings to push.

Comment on Playing the dice game with developers by Anne-Marie

Anne-Marie — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:39:34 +0000

Hi Geordie,
He was a great tester! Just liked working by himself, he was doing so well, it seemed a shame to interrupt him, so maybe it says something about me too!

Comment on Playing the dice game with developers by Geordie Keitt

Geordie Keitt — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 13:58:51 +0000

Hi Anne-Marie – What an interesting story of a pair of testers with very different styles. Was he a good tester? I wonder if the concept of a “tester mindset” is flawed, that there is an equal amount variation between any given testers as between a tester and a developer.

Comment on Playing the dice game with developers by Anne-Marie

Anne-Marie — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 12:34:38 +0000

Hi Geordie,

Your post brought me right back to Jame’s class a couple of years ago. I remember this ‘game’ as the person I was paired with refused to let me near the dice, or let me know what he was thinking.

He was one of those testers who liked to work independently. I busied myself my taking notes and reporting….

It was a great class though.

Comment on WREST 2: Regulation Disrupts Sapience by John McConda

John McConda — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:28:48 +0000

Cool, I like the new diagram. I don’t see the link to the higer-res png anymore though.

[Geordie: Thanks, and the PDF is back up.]

Comment on WREST 2: Regulation Disrupts Sapience by John McConda

John McConda — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:06:41 +0000

Okay, I think I'm getting the picture now. My first instinct with these type of diagrams is to assume it is a Venn type, so I'm looking for the overlapping circles, and didn't see a circle for the External Accreditation process. The gray color of realtime/free was so light on my monitor I didn't notice until you pointed it out, so I see that it is the sapient part of the diagram. [Geordie: thanks for the feedback John. The diagram is meant to be interpreted as a Weinberg-style systems diagram. I'm not sure how to make that clear, but I'm updating the post to that effect. I'll post here again when I've updated the image with darker shading and some more figure-ground definition.] [Geordie again: new diagram is up.]

Comment on WREST 2: Regulation Disrupts Sapience by John McConda

John McConda — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:55:12 +0000

Great summary Geordie. I think the interview format of yours and Jim's experience report was a microcosm of the dialog that needs to happen between the regulated and non-regulated testing world. I like how the diagram turned out. I have a question though. Is the circle meant to show a "fence" around the sapient testing processes within, or is it meant delineate between activities that support existence vs. those that support the Accreditation process? [Geordie: Let's get our figures straight from our ground. The big circle represents the boundaries of the test lab corporation, our first big "figure". The activities that take place outside the circle are external to the corporation, and are "ground" in this diagram. Part of the "ground" is the External Accreditation Process which enables the corporation to exist. The label "External Accreditation Process" should apply strictly to the upper-left-most processes of test method validation and accreditation. It appears as though it applies to the entire "ground", which isn't true. There is another "ground" segment on the right of the circle, which could be labeled "Vendor Contracting Process". Do you have a suggestion on how to better delineate this? Inside the test lab circle there is a smaller shaded circle which represents the shadow realm where testing gets done in a flowing, sapient fashion. I'm not sure what you mean by "activities that support existence." It seems to me that most activities put existence at risk!]