For those who celebrate - Merry Christmas!

my beautiful granddaughter

For those who celebrate - Merry Christmas!

May your days and nights be full of all things quality.

---

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/.

What's the State of Testing? Take this Survey.

What is the State of Testing?

My friend Joel Montvelisky has asked me to pass the word about a survey he is running in association with the magazine Tea Time with Testers. They are trying to discover the state of testing in the world today.

As Joel says:

Some weeks ago I was looking for information to write a post about the advances in the testing world in the last 5-10 years and I realized that there is no centralized set of information that provides visibility into what is happening and what are the trends in the world of testing today.  In principle I was looking for something similar to the State of Agile survey that I review each year when it goes out, and I was not able to find something that provided this information. 

So I contacted some friends at TeaTime with Testers and we decided to make this into a project.  To release a State of Testing Survey that will provide a snapshot of our testing reality and help us to capture some of the trends as they shift year by year.

Joel knows a lot about testing, is a terrific writer, and an all-around nice guy.

I'm going to be taking this survey, and I'm very interested to see the results.

Can you help out, too?

Go to http://qablog.practitest.com/state-of-testing/

---

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/.

It's Casual December

We are gradually becoming all top-center folks

except when someone important shows up

then we revert to being bottom-lefters

The year is flying by, and yet another Dress Code shift at my company was announced recently. copyrightjoestrazzere

Every week we have Casual Fridays

Occasionally we have had Dress Down for Charity Weeks

During the past few summers, we had Casual Summers

Now we have Casual December

If I fork over 10 bucks for local charities, H.R. tells me that I'll be permitted to wear sneakers and jeans for the month of December. (Unless someone "important" makes an appearance in the office, in which case I'll need to revert to Smart temporarily.)

We are gradually approaching the day where, for $10 per month, every day will be casual, except for the two days per year when the top brass visit.

What's taking so long? And what can we do about those two days?

---

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 - Honda

Perhaps Honda Should Have Tested More

We continue to see a never-ending stream of software problems turning up in automobiles.

This time, Honda is recalling over 344,000 minivans to correct a problem with the software controlling the vehicle's stability control system.

• Honda Motor Co. is recalling over 344,000 Odyssey minivans
• Corrects a problem in the stability control software
• The vehicle may suddenly and unexpectedly brake hard
• Worse - the brake lights won't go on when this happens
• Honda cannot replace the software
• The fix itself won't actually be available until Spring of 2014
• Requires a new part to fix the software problem

copyrightjoestrazzere

Good news! There is a workaround:

• After starting, don't move the car for a while
• Before shifting out of park, make sure the wheels point straight ahead
• Keep the wheels straight for the first few feet as you move
• If you must start your car with the wheels turned, drive slowly to a place where you can stop the car and start it with the wheels straight

It's nice to have a workaround when the bug can't be fixed for many months. The workaround seems rather convoluted in some cases though. Do I need to rub my stomach while patting my head, too?

Perhaps they should have tested more.

Also see:

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/consumer/recalls&id=9311399

http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-honda-odyssey-recall-20131104,0,3097543.story#axzz2jo0fvPfJ

http://www.autonews.com/article/20130629/OEM11/306299995/nhtsa-investigating-brake-problem-with-some-2007-08-honda-odyssey#axzz2jUGxrXcB

http://www.thepiedmontjournal.com/view/full_story/23979241/article-Latest-Honda-recall-unlikely-to-impact-sales?instance=news_secondary

http://www.tflcar.com/2013/11/honda-odyssey-recall/
http://www.cruxialcio.com/honda-software-bug-put-drivers-risk-2584

http://owners.honda.com/Documentum/Recall_Press/Recall_Press_Release_0000113.pdf

---

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/.

The Testers Of The Bugs

Sung to the children's tune of "The Wheels on the Bus"

The testers of the bugs go

found one more

found one more

found one more

the testers of the bugs go

found one more

all through the code.

copyrightjoestrazzere

The counts of the bugs go 

up, up, up

up, up, up

up, up, up

the counts of the bugs go

up, up, up

all through the code.

The developers of the bugs go 

works for me

works for me

works for me

the developers of the bugs go 

works for me

all through the code.

The verifiers of the bugs go

that's not fixed

that's not fixed

that's not fixed

the verifiers of the bugs go

that's not fixed

all through the code.

The managers of the bugs go

let's just ship

let's just ship

let's just ship

the managers of the bugs go

let's just ship

all through the code.

---

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/.

Want to be a part of All Things Quality?

To Do: Connect with Joe at All Things Quality

Here at All Things Quality, I have two places where I list blogs I like.

The People in Testing tab above lists people by name, along with links to their blogs/websites.

I've limited this particular list to blogs that: copyrightjoestrazzere

• Are exclusively, or at least mostly, about QA or Testing, or have significant QA/Testing content
• Have had some activity recently
• Aren't just commercial sites
• Contain articles I find of interest

The What People Are Writing tab above dynamically displays a small excerpt from the most-recent article in blogs related to QA/Testing that I read fairly regularly. And it provides a link to the full article.

This list has a limit on the number of items it supports, so I tend to weed out blogs that haven't had any updates in a while, and I usually don't include a blog until it has a history of good articles.

If you'd like to be on one or both of these lists, and you think your blog would be of interest to others in the Testing/QA field, send me a note and I'll take a look at it.

And if you would like to return the favor, please consider adding a link to All Things Quality on your blog as well!

---

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/.

Requirements That Miss The Mark

 

Should we aim for the center of the target? Or something else?

For your reading pleasure today, here is a short rant quiz.

Question: Which of these are a good foundation upon which to craft the Requirements for a new software product/release? copyrightjoestrazzere

1. What will allow us to use the latest and greatest technology?
2. What we can draw a pretty UI for?
3. What will be the most fun?
4. What we already happen to have data for?
5. What we think the customer needs?
6. What the customer thinks he needs?
7. What we can build, as long as we don't ever need to actually complete it?
8. What we can accomplish with the current staff?
9. What we can get accomplish in a short period of time?
10. What the customer/market is actually willing to pay for?

Answer: In almost all cases, the only correct answer is "10. What the customer/market is actually willing to pay for".

In a for-profit company, you need to figure out what can make money. Pretty much everything else is missing the point, don't you think?

Any other "off-target" themes you have seen in Requirements recently?

---

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 - Apple iOS 7

Hmm, was that Down, Down, Left, A, Up, Right? Or Left, Left, Down, B, Right, Up?

A new method for bypassing the passcode on an iOS7 lock screen has been discovered. This allows an unauthorized intruder access to all photos, and the ability to post them to channels such as Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, or even to email them. copyrightjoestrazzere

• The iOS 7 lock screen can be bypassed with a series of gesture techniques
• Up - Hold - Cancel - Doubleclick - Hold
• Affects iPhones, iPod Touch, and iPads
• Grants unintended access to Mail, Photos, Twitter and more
• Found by Canary Islands-based soldier Jose Rodriguez
• Rodriguez also found lock screen flaws in earlier versions of iOS

It's probably not a big deal. After all, I'm sure nobody ever has photos on their i-Devices that they wouldn't want everyone in the world to see, right?

Still, this isn't the first time that someone has found low-tech ways to bypass the lock screen.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times - perhaps they should have tested more.

Also see:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/09/19/ios-7-bug-lets-anyone-bypass-iphones-lockscreen-to-hijack-photos-email-or-twitter/
http://www.zdnet.com/how-to-fix-the-ios-7-lock-screen-bypass-flaw-7000020913/
http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/09/19/apples-control-center-used-to-bypass-ios-7-passcode-lock
http://lifehacker.com/ios-7-bug-allows-thieves-to-bypass-your-lock-screen-1350894097
http://allthingsd.com/20130919/yes-apple-is-working-on-a-fix-for-the-ios-7-lock-screen-hack/
http://techcrunch.com/2013/09/19/ios-7-lock-screen-vulnerability-discovered-gives-access-to-photos-and-social-sharing/
http://www.macrumors.com/2013/09/19/ios-7-lock-screen-vulnerability-gives-access-to-photos-email/

---

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/.

Book: Explore It! Reduce Risk and Increase Confidence with Exploratory Testing

Explore It!: Reduce Risk and Increase Confidence with Exploratory Testing

Elisabeth Hendrickson

I've been a fan of Elizabeth Hendrickson for a long time - from her Quality Tree Software days, to her Test Obsessed blog. I've had a copy of her famous "Test Heuristic Cheat Sheet" (included in the book) pretty much forever. And on my bookshelf, I even have a copy of her Bug Hunter's Journal that she sent me many years ago.

So I was thrilled when Elizabeth asked me to review a pre-publication version of her upcoming book on Exploratory Testing titled "Explore It!" I had read other books on the subject, and was less than thrilled with what I had read, so I was eager to see Elizabeth's treatment of the subject.

I wasn't surprised with the results. In her usual informal writing style, Hendrickson has packed the book with real-world, easy to understand examples sprinkled in. I found it both interesting and fun.  copyrightjoestrazzere

The chapter titles will give you an idea of the topics covered in Explore It!:

1. On Testing and Exploration
2. Charter Your Explorations
3. Observe the Details
4. Find Interesting Variations
5. Evaluate Results
6. Vary Sequences and Interactions
7. Explore Entities and Their Relationships
8. Discover States and Transitions
9. Explore the Ecosystem
10. Explore When There Is No User Interface
11. Explore an Existing System
12. Explore Requirements
13. Integrate Exploration Throughout
14. Interviewing for Exploratory Testing Skills
15. Test Heuristics Cheat Sheet

In each chapter, Ms. Hendrickson encourages you to think, to experiment, and to explore the various aspects of your system-under-test. Then, she provides real-world, practical ideas for how to do just that.

Unless you are the kind of unfortunate tester forced to do nothing but follow a pre-written script, you already perform some exploratory testing. 

In "Explore It!", Elisabeth Hendrickson teaches you how to think about Exploratory Testing, and how to make it a regular, planned, and effective part of your testing practice.

This is the kind of book I purchase for everyone on my Test Team. Maybe you should get it for your team, too?

---

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/.

Remembering September 11, 2001

Anna Williams Allison

Twelve 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/.

Estimating the NFL 2013 Season

Are you ready for some football? The spirits say "Yes"!

Predicting the NFL Season outcomes is like estimating a software test project - not enough information, too many variables, too much that could happen to radically change the outcome.

But here are some "estimates" anyway. This is a predication of the 12 teams who will make the playoffs. I've even included my guesstimates, along with those of the professionals. 

We'll circle back after the season and see how everyone did.

		East	North	South	West	Wildcard	Wildcard
All Things Quality
Joe Strazzere		Patriots	Ravens	Texans	Broncos	Bengals	Colts
		Giants	Packers	Falcons	Seahawks	49ers	Saints
Boston Herald
http://bostonherald.com/sports/patriots_nfl/new_england_patriots/2013/09/herald_staff_predictions
Jeff Howe		Patriots	Bengals	Colts	Broncos	Ravens	Texans
		Redskins	Packers	Falcons	Seahawks	49ers	Saints
Karen Guregian		Patriots	Ravens	Colts	Broncos	Bengals	Texans
		Giants	Packers	Falcons	Seahawks	49ers	Saints
Ron Borges		Patriots	Bengals	Texans	Broncos	Ravens	Colts
		Redskins	Packers	Saints	49ers	Seahawks	Falcons
Steve Buckley		Patriots	Bengals	Colts	Broncos	Ravens	Texans
		Giants	Packers	Falcons	Seahawks	49ers	Saints
Mark Daniels		Patriots	Bengals	Colts	Broncos	Steelers	Texans
		Redskins	Packers	Falcons	Seahawks	49ers	Saints
ESPN.com
http://espn.go.com/nfl/preview13/story/_/id/9605608/experts-nfl-predictions-2013
Bill Barnwell		Patriots	Steelers	Texans	Chiefs	Broncos	Bengals
		Giants	Packers	Bucs	Seahawks	49ers	Lions
Jeff Chadiha		Patriots	Bengals	Texans	Broncos	Ravens	Chiefs
		Redskins	Packers	Falcons	49ers	Seahawks	Bears
John Clayton		Patriots	Bengals	Texans	Broncos	Ravens	Chiefs
		Redskins	Packers	Falcons	Seahawks	49ers	Saints
David Fleming		Patriots	Bengals	Texans	Broncos	Colts	Chiefs
		Redskins	Packers	Falcons	Seahawks	49ers	Eagles
Ashley Fox		Patriots	Ravens	Texans	Broncos	Colts	Chiefs
		Redskins	Packers	Falcons	Seahawks	49ers	Saints
KC Joyner		Patriots	Bengals	Texans	Broncos	Ravens	Dolphins
		Cowboys	Packers	Falcons	Seahawks	49ers	Redskins
Rick Reilly		Patriots	Bengals	Texans	Broncos	Ravens	Colts
		Giants	Packers	Falcons	49ers	Seahawks	Redskins
Mike Sando		Patriots	Ravens	Texans	Broncos	Steelers	Bengals
		Giants	Packers	Falcons	Seahawks	49ers	Bears
Adam Shefter		Patriots	Bengals	Texans	Broncos	Colts	Steelers
		Cowboys	Packers	Falcons	Seahawks	49ers	Saints
Kevin Seifert		Patriots	Ravens	Texans	Broncos	Bengals	Colts
		Giants	Packers	Falcons	49ers	Seahawks	Saints
Seth Wickersham		Patriots	Ravens	Texans	Broncos	Bengals	Colts
		Giants	Packers	Falcons	49ers	Seahawks	Saints
Matt Williamson		Patriots	Ravens	Texans	Broncos	Bengals	Steelers
		Redskins	Packers	Saints	Seahawks	49ers	Bears
Sports Illustrated
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nfl/news/20130904/nfl-season-predictions-2013-super-bowl-xlviii/?sct=nfl_t1t_a4
Don Banks		Patriots	Bengals	Texans	Broncos	Ravens	Chiefs
		Cowboys	Packers	Falcons	Seahawks	49ers	Saints
Chris Burke		Patriots	Ravens	Texans	Broncos	Steelers	Bengals
		Giants	Packers	Falcons	Seahawks	49ers	Cowboys
Ben Eagle		Patriots	Bengals	Texans	Broncos	Ravens	Chiefs
		Cowboys	Packers	Falcons	Seahawks	49ers	Bears
Doug Farrar		Patriots	Bengals	Texans	Broncos	Ravens	Colts
		Redskins	Packers	Saints	Seahawks	49ers	Falcons
Tom Mantzouranis		Patriots	Bengals	Texans	Broncos	Ravens	Chiefs
		Cowboys	Packers	Falcons	Seahawks	49ers	Saints
Austin Murphy		Patriots	Bengals	Texans	Broncos	Steelers	Chiefs
		Cowboys	Bears	Falcons	Seahawks	49ers	Saints
Jim Trotter		Patriots	Bengals	Texans	Broncos	Steelers	Colts
		Redskins	Packers	Bucs	Seahawks	49ers	Falcons
MMQB
http://mmqb.si.com/2013/09/03/the-mmqbs-2013-predictions-and-preview-spectacular/
Peter King		Patriots	Bengals	Colts	Broncos	Ravens	Texans
		Giants	Packers	Falcons	49ers	Seahawks	Saints
Greg Bedard		Patriots	Steelers	Texans	Chiefs	Broncos	Ravens
		Giants	Packers	Bucs	Seahawks	49ers	Falcons
Jenny Vrentas		Patriots	Ravens	Texans	Broncos	Chiefs	Steelers
		Giants	Packers	Saints	49ers	Seahawks	Falcons
Robert Klemko		Patriots	Ravens	Texans	Broncos	Bengals	Colts
		Giants	Lions	Falcons	Seahawks	49ers	Redskins
Pro Football Talk
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/09/04/pfts-2013-season-predictions/
Josh Alper		Patriots	Ravens	Colts	Broncos	Bengals	Chiefs
		Cowboys	Packers	Falcons	Seahawks	49ers	Saints
Curtis Crabtree		Patriots	Bengals	Texans	Brocos	Ravens	Chiefs
		Redskins	Packers	Falcons	Seahawks	49ers	Rams
Darin Gantt		Patriots	Ravens	Texans	Broncos	Bengals	Colts
		Giants	Packers	Falcons	Seahawks	49ers	Redskins
Mike Wilkening		Patriots	Ravens	Colts	Broncos	Texans	Steelers
		Eagles	Packers	Falcons	49ers	Seahawks	Saints
Michael David Smith		Patriots	Steelers	Texans	Broncos	Bengals	Ravens
		Giants	Packers	Saints	49ers	Seahawks	Falcons
Mike Florio		Patriots	Ravens	Colts	Broncos	Texans	Bengals
		Redskins	Packers	Falcons	49ers	Seahawks	Lions
Yahoo
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/nfl-preview-week-shutdown-corner-2013-nfl-predictions-131141669--nfl.html
Frank Schwab		Patriots	Bengals	Texans	Broncos	Ravens	Chiefs
		Giants	Bears	Panthers	Seahawks	49ers	Packers
Jay Busbee		Patriots	Bengals	Colts	Broncos	Texans	Steelers
		Redskins	Packers	Falcons	Seahawks	49ers	Giants
Eric Edholm		Patriots	Bengals	Texans	Broncos	Steelers	Colts
		Cowboys	Packers	Falcons	49ers	Seahawks	Lions
Anwar Richardson		Patriots	Ravens	Texans	Broncos	Bengals	Chiefs
		Cowboys	Packers	Saints	49ers	Seahawks	Falcons
USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2013/09/04/2013-staff-picks-season-predictions/2768317/
Jarrett Bell		Patriots	Ravens	Colts	Broncos	Texans	Steelers
		Cowboys	Lions	Falcons	49ers	Seahawks	Saints
Jim Corbett		Patriots	Bengals	Texans	Broncos	Ravens	Colts
		Redskins	Packers	Falcons	Seahawks	49ers	Saints
Nate Davis		Patriots	Bengals	Texans	Broncos	Steelers	Chiefs
		Giants	Packers	Falcons	Seahawks	49ers	Saints
Lindsay H. Jones		Patriots	Ravens	Texans	Broncos	Bengals	Chiefs
		Giants	Packers	Falcons	Seahawks	49ers	Redskins
Pete O'Brien		Patriots	Ravens	Texans	Broncos	Dolphins	Chiefs
		Cowboys	Packers	Bucs	49ers	Seahawks	Falcons
Tom Pelissero		Patriots	Bengals	Colts	Broncos	Texans	Chiefs
		Cowboys	Packers	Falcons	49ers	Seahawks	Rams
CSNNE
http://www.csnne.com/blog/standing-room-only/levines-nfl-preview-part-1
Rich Levine		Patriots	Ravens	Texans	Broncos	Bengals	Steelers
		Cowboys	Packers	Falcons	Seahawks	49ers	Bears

---

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/.

Free Trial Versions of Commercial Test Automation Tools

Trial Versions of Test Automation Tools

Many vendors of commercial test automation tools offer trial versions. In many cases, you are free to download them, and try to them out for a short period of time to learn if they meet your needs before purchasing. In other cases, you can contact the company, speak to a sales person, and get a free trial.

Here are links to some trials. If you know of others, send me a note and I'll add them:

Automated Test and ReTest (ATRT) Test Manager (TM)
http://idtus.com/contact/

Automation Anywhere

http://www.automationanywhere.com/download/freeTrial.htm copyrightjoestrazzere

Badboy

http://www.badboy.com.au/download/index

EggPlant

http://www.testplant.com/eggplant/free-trial/

eValid
http://www.e-valid.com/index.html

Fake (for Mac OS X)
http://fakeapp.com/

HP Unified Functional Testing (formerly QuickTest Pro)

http://www8.hp.com/us/en/software/enterprise-software.html

JTest

http://www.parasoft.com/jsp/trial_request.jsp?product=Jtest 

Oracle Application Testing Suite

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/oem/app-test/index-084446.html

PesterCat

http://www.pestercat.com/download.html

PureTest
http://www.pureload.com/products-puretest

QA Wizard Pro

http://www.seapine.com/qawizardpro_eval.php

QFS Test

http://www.qfs.de/en/qftest/download.html

Ranorex

http://www.ranorex.com/download.html

Rational Functional Tester

http://www-03.ibm.com/software/products/us/en/functional

Rational Robot

http://www-03.ibm.com/software/products/us/en/robot/

RoutineBot

http://www.routinebot.com/download

Sahi Pro
https://crm.sahi.co.in/pay/index.php/registration/register

SeeTestAutomation
http://experitest.com/support/getting-started/download-2-2/

SilkTest

http://www.borland.com/products/silktest/

SmarteScript

http://www.smartesoft.com/downloads.php

SpiraTest

http://www.inflectra.com/SpiraTest/Demo.aspx

Squish

http://www.froglogic.com/squish/evaluate.php

TestCafé
http://testcafe.devexpress.com/

TestComplete

http://smartbear.com/products/qa-tools/automated-testing-tools/free-testcomplete-trial

Testomato
http://www.testomato.com/

TestPartner

http://www.borland.com/products/silktestpartner/

Test Studio

http://www.telerik.com/automated-testing-tools/

Tricentis Testsuite

http://www.tricentis.com/en/tosca/trial/

Verifaya

http://www.verifaya.com/pricing#freetrial

Visual Studio Test Professional

http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/eng/downloads#d-2012-editions

vTask Studio

http://www.vtaskstudio.com/index.php

vTest

http://www.verisium.com/products/evaluation.html

WebTest

http://www.appperfect.com/download/index.html

WinTask

http://www.wintask.com/download-wintask.php

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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/.

Could Your Business Benefit From Beta Testing?

Can your company benefit from some Beta Testing by professional testers?

I'd like to try a little experiment, and you can help.

For the past few years, I've posted information about Beta Testing opportunities I have found while searching the internet: copyrightjoestrazzere

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

http://www.allthingsquality.com/2010/06/be-better-tester-by-being-beta-tester.html

http://www.allthingsquality.com/2011/01/beta-tester-opportunities-for-better.html

http://www.allthingsquality.com/2012/03/beta-tester-opportunities-for-better.html

I think Beta Testing can offer testers a great way to improve their skills, while at the same time offering a nice service to companies in need of some professional testing. I'd like to see if I can help facilitate this process.

Can your company benefit from having some Beta Testing performed by knowledgeable, professional testers?

If so, let me know. Send me a note describing:

• What needs to be tested? (A website? A downloadable tool? Something else?)
• What kind of feedback you are looking for? (Just bugs? Usability? Performance?)
• How potential Beta Testers should contact you?
• Any other specifics you feel are applicable.

I'll post your information here, and see if I can get you some help. If time allows, I'll also participate in the Beta Test myself (I enjoy this sort of thing).

I don't want any money for this. All I'll ask in return is a recap that I can post here once the Beta is complete. I'll want to know how well it worked for your company, if you got helpful feedback during the Beta period, if any particular Beta testers' feedback was particularly helpful, and what you would do differently if you were to run a public Beta again.

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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/.

Bing Says...

Bing Says...

Previously, I've used Google to tell me about some testing-related words. Google knows everything! So now, I thought it might be interesting to see what Bing says about some of these same words.

According to Bing (and Bing knows a thing or two about a thing or two): copyrightjoestrazzere

• Mistakes are proof that you are trying
• Mistakes are great teachers
• Mistakes are okay
• Mistakes are the portals of discovery
• Mistakes are good
• Mistakes are inevitable
• Mistakes are made

• Quality is free
• Quality is not an act it is a habit
• Quality is job one

• Errors are also called residuals
• Errors are detected by a compiler

• Testing is easy
• Testing is not teaching
• Testing is the future
• Testing is dead

• Requirements are net
• Requirements are clear
• Requirements are not fulfilled

• Metrics are not available
• Metrics are the justification
• Metrics are fun
• Metrics are based on
• Metrics are used in marketing
• Metrics are quantities assigned to attributes

• Failure is not an option
• Failure is not fatal
• Failure is the mother of success

• Test Automation is an investment

• Agile is dead
• Agile is crap
• Agile is micromanagement
• Agile is a form of roundworm
• Agile is a scam
• Agile is not scrum
• Agile is not about the process

Agile is a form of roundworm? Uhm, okay. Maybe I'll stick with Waterfall.

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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 - Lixil's Satis Toilet

Not actually the Satis toilet

(But probably not subject to being hacked, either)

Retailing for over $4,000, the Satis toilet manufactured by Japanese firm Lixil is state-of-the-art in every way. Features include: copyrightjoestrazzere

• automatic flushing
• music
• deodorizing fragrance release
• a heated seat
• a massage feature (hmm, I'm not sure I want to know more about this)
• soft lighting
• a bidet function
• the ability to be hacked from any android phone with bluetooth capability

Call me a Luddite, but to me, controlling my toilet via an Android app doesn't seem like the smartest idea anyway. Do people really want to track their poop? Then, to use a hard-coded Bluetooth PIN of "0000" means that clearly someone wasn't thinking this one through to its logical conclusion.

According to Trustwave's Spiderlabs information security experts:

The "My Satis" Android application has a hard-coded Bluetooth PIN of "0000"
as can be seen in the following line of decompiled code from the
application: 

BluetoothDevice localBluetoothDevice =
BluetoothManager.getInstance().execPairing(paramString, "0000")

I can just see it now. Toilets gone wild! Unexpected bidet action... overpowering fragrance... constant flushing... overheating... overly aggressive massage (hmm)... poop counts through the roof... the mind boggles!

The message is clear folks: If you are going to open up your device to external control (via Bluetooth, or via the Internet, whatever), you need to take security seriously.

Before they get too flushed with success, piss away their profits, or start to see any corporate goodwill go down the drain, perhaps Lixil needs to invest in some Google-style "Testing on the toilet" here?

I shudder to think what the onrushing "internet of things" will bring!

See also:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23575249

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2422755,00.asp

https://www.trustwave.com/spiderlabs/advisories/TWSL2013-020.txt

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/08/05/smart-toilet-security-flaw/
http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2013/08/05/209208453/the-hackable-japanese-toilet-comes-with-an-app-to-track-poop
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-06/so-someone-hacked-your-6-000-toilet.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/.