October 29, 2010

Test Plan


Bob was almost done with his Test Plan, when he heard a knock...














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://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

October 20, 2010

Our Kayaking Destinations (so far)

A few months ago, my wife and I took up kayaking. (http://strazzere.blogspot.com/2010/08/new-hobby-kayaks.html)  It's been a lot of fun.

We were able to get out most weekends, and ended up enjoying four different ponds/lakes.

Spot Pond, Stoneham, MA

This was our first time.  We were brought there by instructors, using their kayaks, so we couldn't explore on our own.

Spot Pond is a beautiful lake, but unfortunately, it's not open to the public.



Silver Lake, Wilmington, MA

Silver Lake is the body of water closest to home.  It's very small, and not overly scenic.  But for a quick, easy paddle, it's nice to have a place so close.

We went together once, and I went once alone.  When the water is clear, you can see some fish and turtles, along with the geese and other birds.



Lake Quannapowitt, Wakefield, MA

We had been walking around Lake Quannapowitt many times before, so it was fun to be able to get on the lake itself and paddle around.  

The parking can be difficult if you don't get there early enough, but Quannapowitt is big enough that you can explore a bit without being bored, so it's worth the effort.



Winnisquam Lake, Sanbornton, NH

My wife's friend has a home on Winnisquam.  We visited and spent several hours on the lake in their power boat, before ending the day with a quick paddle in the kayaks.

Beautiful, big, yet fairly quiet (at least when we were there).  Lots to see, including some beautiful lakeside homes, and a loon sanctuary.  I wish it were closer to home so we could get there more often.


We hope to get out a few times more before the weather becomes too prohibitive.  Unfortunately, we tend to get busier this time of year, so we'll see if that works out or not.

Next year - kayaking on some local rivers?


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://strazzere.blogspot.com/.




October 16, 2010

Periodicals for my Kindle using Calibre

I purchased a Kindle a few weeks ago, and I've really enjoyed it.  Recently, I learned how to use Calibre to enjoy my Kindle even more.


Calibre is a free, open-source tool for managing libraries of e-books.  But it also has some features that work particularly well for me.
  • Calibre can download news from almost any website
  • Calibre can convert content to many e-book formats
  • Calibre can email e-books to any address
  • All of this can be scheduled

Using these features, I can now have almost anything from the web delivered to my Kindle as a Periodical.

For example, I currently have Calibre set up to send me my daily fix of New England Patriots news:
  • I have Calibre "recipes" set up to fetch Patriots news from The Boston Globe and The Boston Herald
  • Each are scheduled to run at 5:30 AM every day
  • The downloaded content is converted to an e-book in .MOBI format
  • The e-books are automatically emailed to my Amazon free.kindle.com email account
  • Amazon converts the .MOBI file to .AZW (native Kindle) format, and sends it out to my Kindle via Wi-Fi
  • Once I turn my Kindle on in the morning, it automatically syncs up and downloads these e-books as Kindle Periodicals, for reading later during the day

It's like having my favorite part of the sports sections tucked into my bag for me, as I leave for work.  And it's all free (I'm a big fan of free).  When I'm away on vacation, I'll get to read about the Patriots every day, without having to hunt down the out-of-town newspaper stand.

The same process will work for almost any online news source (newspapers, magazines, blogs).  I'll certainly be adding a few of them over time.

Customized periodicals delivered to my Kindle automatically.  Nice!

Resources:

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://strazzere.blogspot.com/.