Failure Is ...

pollice verso

According to Google (and Google knows everything), failure is: copyrightjoestrazzere

• Failure is a stepping stone to success
• Failure is not an option
• Failure is the mother of success
• Failure is impossible
• Failure is a pillar to success
• Failure is not an option - it's a requirement
• Failure is always an option
• Failure is not an option - it's a necessity
• Failure is the key to success
• Failure is not fatal
• Failure is absolutely crucial
• Failure is part of learning
• Failure is in not trying
• Failure is an option
• Failure is a gateway to success
• Failure is a four-letter word
• Failure is only the opportunity to begin again
• Failure is inevitable
• Failure is success if we learn from it
• Failure is not final
• Failure is not a factory-installed option

Can you add more to the list?


Image: Ambro / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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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/.

March Madness - My Brackets

Folks in the office here are posting their March Madness Brackets.

Here are mine:

I think I've got some real winners in this bunch!

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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/.

Why It's Not Smart To Fake Test Results

Of course the six years I blow off my test results, this happens

Hundreds, or even thousands, of drunk driving convictions could be overturned because the San Francisco Police Department had not properly tested its breathalyzers recently: copyrightjoestrazzere

• hundreds of drunk-driving convictions in San Francisco could be tossed out
• did not properly maintain and calibrate their 20 breath analyzer machines
• sensors have not been properly maintained since at least 2006
• supposed to test these devices every 10 days
• didn’t bother to test or calibrate the equipment, instead simply entering the suggested control values into the test results
• logs show page after page of columns with the same result when there should have been a difference
• the coordinators were apparently just too lazy to perform the test required every 10 days

This reminds me of an episode in the television series The Office. Dunder Mifflin Scranton's Director of Quality Assurance Creed Bratton is shown to have neglected his duties.

Reams of paper containing an obscene watermark depicting "the image of a beloved cartoon duck performing unspeakable acts upon a certain cartoon mouse that a lot of people like" are shipped to customers.

Creed's reply: "Every week I’m supposed to take four hours and do a quality spot check at the paper mill. And of course the one year I blow it off, this happens."

See also:

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2012/03/05/sfpd-breathalyzer-error-puts-hundreds-of-dui-convictions-in-doubt/ 

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505263_162-57392278/hundreds-of-people-in-sf-could-get-dui-do-over/

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2012/03/driving-drunk-in-san-francisco-maybe-youre-werent/

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/san_francisco&id=8569871

http://www.newstalk1010.com/News/localnews/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10356468

http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2012/03/no_city_for_drunk-driving_yet.php

http://www.allthingsquality.com/2010/04/you-might-be-in-quabbity-assurance-if.html

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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/.

Beta Tester Opportunities For Better Testers

Be better - be a Beta!

A while back I posted about being a Beta Tester

http://strazzere.blogspot.com/2010/05/so-you-want-to-be-beta-tester.html

Beta testing can be a nice way to enhance your skills as a tester, and perhaps add to your resume.

Here are a few more opportunities.  As always, be careful out there in Beta land.

copyrightjoestrazzere

Movieggs

http://www.movieggs.com/beta.html

Currently we are running a closed beta of Movieggs. This means that there are a limited number of people who can register at this time. We are looking for people who would like the opportunity to help us shape Movieggs into a natural complement to your online experience and future media consumption.

ModDB

http://www.moddb.com/games/tanktical/news/tanktical-beta-testers-wanted

Tanktical is a pass n' play multiplayer game for the iPad 2. 

After rounds of internal testing, we have now decided Tanktical our TBS game is ready to dominate the world. Well not really ... but  beta testing is a good start. As you can probably tell, we need a dose of reality in the form of feedback from you guys! 

There are EMPs, missiles, mines and sheep - what more can you ask for? Well actually that's what we want to know.  

If you are interested in jumping on board to help us test - please sign up at Test Flight.

Opera

http://my.opera.com/chooseopera/blog/

Ever wanted to Beta test Opera Mini? Well Opera Mini Next is just that - a preview version of what's next for Opera Mini. 

To download the Opera Mini Next browser to your phone right now, visit this link with your mobile phone: m.opera.com/next.

Stack Exchange

http://stackapps.com/questions/3099/beta-testers-wanted-stacktrace-for-ipad

We've just entered private beta for our new StackTrace iPad app. We'd like to add some additional testers and get more feedback. 

Our signup page, including additional information is available at http://stacktraceapp.com. Please sign up if you're interested in the app or for joining the beta. You'll need an iPad 1 or 2 running at least iOS 4.3. If you also add a comment here it will help us get in immediate contact. 

Thanks! We're really excited about this.

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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/.

Perhaps They Should Have Tested More - Windows Azure

So we know it's Leap Day, but what time is it?

On Wednesday, February 29th, Windows Azure experienced about 8 hours of downtime for some of its critical services. The cause? Leap Day. copyrightjoestrazzere

• a component of Windows Azure experienced a worldwide outage for eight hours
• a series of outages that affected multiple aspects of the system 
• prevented customers from carrying out management operations for technology that uses the cloud management service
• issue appears to be due to a time calculation that was incorrect for the leap year
• outage apparently was triggered by a key server in Ireland housing a certificate that expired at midnight on Feb. 28
• Azure users posted a stream of critical comments about the outages to the service's official forums
• a customer described the problem as an "admin nightmare" and said they couldn't understand how such an important system could go down.
• Microsoft blamed the Azure management problems on a "cert issue triggered on 2/29/12"
• the service has not been around for four years yet, and on its first leap year day, it collapsed
• initial problems propagated to different territories, and live customer-facing sites became unavailable
• in some markets, Microsoft had promoted its Azure cloud service using the slogan “I laugh in the face of unpredictability”.
• "Microsoft will have to start its cloud marketing from scratch, to rebuild a level of trust that has now crumbled"

Perhaps Leap Day wasn't predictable for Microsoft (although experts tell me that it has been known to occur almost every 4 years), and those time calculations can indeed be tricky.

But perhaps Microsoft should have tested more.

See also:
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Enterprise-Applications/Microsoft-Windows-Azure-Downtime-Blamed-on-Leap-Year-Bug-707169/
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Cloud-Computing/Microsoft-Azure-LeapYear-Glitch-Key-Lessons-Learned-280164/
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9224792/Microsoft_Azure_stabilizes_after_leap_year_glitch
http://www.tgdaily.com/software-brief/61798-azure-leap-day-bug-causes-chaos
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/02/29/windows_azure_outage/
http://www.informationweek.com/news/cloud-computing/infrastructure/232601812
http://www.zdnet.com/news/windows-azure-suffers-worldwide-outage/6348160
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/251043/microsofts_azure_cloud_suffers_serious_outage.html

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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/.