Wanted: Tester

This night when reading some newsletters that had accumulated in my mailbox, I was triggered by an article about an intelligent pill (sorry, the article is in Dutch). This pill had a built in processor which is able to determine where it is located in the body and where to drop certain medication. I found it a very beautiful innovation. But I couldn’t stop wondering: Who has
done the testing? And what test cases where designed. What were the quality characteristics?
More so, because I attended a lecture by James Whittaker where a movie was shown about future appliances (also in the medical sector), and he was apparently sitting beside a group of testers widely grinning and when asked, they said ‘There’s no way this is going to work man!’ (believe me if I say it was funny when he said it). I immediately connected this movie and the given reactions to the article. Not that it will not work, it probably will, since the article states that Philips has got a prototype which is ready for mass production. But on the testing area I started to imagine the following user acceptance test, yes: in this case taken literally.

- insert pill
And this immediately is THE issue, isn’t it? How and where is this pill to be inserted exactly? Not that it matters: A good tester always tests the wrong and the right way and I don’t mean try the ear or nose. Get the picture? Still keeps me wondering who the test team is; if you see people walking funny in or near the Philips labs, please let me know, I would like to ask them about their testing infrastructural appliance and how they managed.


Philips komt met 'intelligente pil'
12 november 2008 door: Freek Blankena
Philips heeft een prototype ontwikkeld van een 'elektronische pil' met ingebouwde microprocessor. De iPill moet medicijnen kunnen afleveren op een specifieke locatie in het lichaam. Naast de processor bevat de 'intelligente pil' een batterijtje, een radiozender/ontvanger en een klein medicatiereservoir met een minipompje. Ook heeft de pil een sensor die de zuurgraad en de temperatuur van zijn omgeving meet en waarmee de pil kan 'zien' waar
hij zich in het spijsverteringskanaal bevindt. Met de iPill wordt het volgens Philips mogelijk
aandoeningen in met name het spijsverteringskanaal, zoals de ziekte van Crohn, meer lokaal te behandelen. Zo kan de hoeveelheid toegediende medicijnen beperkt blijven. Volgens Philips is het prototype klaar voor massaproductie.

Brainwave

I'm starting a new business: it's called IsShoes and it makes shoes.
Those IsShoes can be made in India at a cheap price or in EasternEurope.
Hughe IsShoes from the States and the latest IsShoes from that special designer.
Then a new hype will start and everybody will have IsShoes!
and then a magazine that is called 'D-Facts' will have a special issue on IsShoes!

Do you allready have your IsShoes?

My Testersheart is violated

My testerheart was violated today! I feel like nothing has meaning, nothing I ever accomplished, ever thought of, ever published, spoke about and learned others: nothing has meaning, seems pale.
I don't trust anybody anymore; for everything I confide somebody in, they will rip it from me, make sure I won't get the credits for work done, won't have any real say in it... Is this my punishment for the earlier mistake I made on the talk on TestNet fallevent?

What happenend?
Two years ago I joined a certain project, it was very rudimentary back then but very much fun. I participated by mail, discussed and followed all updates and progress. This year the group had something more substantial and asked participants. A certain somebody within my company send a question in our test community and a certain other colleague responded, at first not even that enthusiastic. So did I, because I wanted an official participation so much!, and I told the asking colleague that I was allready in the loop of the project. How I longed for this chance! But, today, alas I found out the true nature of my colleague! And I even did some extra work (how naive!) and got a (I'm sure really sincere, yeah right!) compliment on the action. I'm not to participate as member of the official delegation within this project...

And I am heartbroken.
Not only because I feel passed by but - more important- because of stupid reasons! The other person has 'a network' or has 'more years in the business'...what about 'personality?' what about professional enthusiasm? what about 'wanting it soooooo badly?', what about 'feel strong about it'?

I feel sick with anger, sick of grief.
I don't have the energy and enthusiasm to develop anything right now....why should I? somebody else will probably steal it from me, use it for their own use, use me, my ideas or would 'write a book quickly' because 'they are experienced' and quickly put their names on it (how about; youngster have to learn? how about: people who worked for it would also like a chance?).

I know I'm overreacting, but I'm so passionate about my work, my ideas. I feel like my little baby has been ripped out of my arms and is now to be raised by another parent and I'm allowed to debate in a group within my company to deliver ideas so this delegate can present them in the official group.... Like hell I will!

Did you hear about the Phenomenon?

http://5x5m.com/lp/285/us.html

The Phenomenon on the yearlyJournal (US)

Testing and Ethics

Last month I've been particularly busy with the subject 'Testing and Ethics'. Not that I'm involved in an issue with regards to 'Ethics', but because I'm curious - and I also would like to write an article or whitepaper on the subject.

So I've posted two discussions on two of the Groups in LinkedIn where I'm member of and I started organising a so called 'Lager Huys' discussion session(debating program in the Netherlands, lager not translated as 'beer' but as 'lower')(to be held in January/February).

At first I got answers like 'I'm always honest' etc. But these where not the answers I was looking for, they are (mostly) not true anyway for if it were true the whole world would be a much better and absolutely coruptless place. I started the discussion to get to the edge of things and preferably to that part of the edge that was the most shady. Luckily some colleagues from the testing community are prepared to think along the subject and answered more extensively and went with me into the hypothecial (!) cases c.q. situations.

For now it seems that I will get enough information to write something and publish in March or April 2009. So stay tuned in if you are just as curious as I'm on the matter.

De flossende Azijnzeiker

The column I wrote in the last newsletter of our COP is not translatable in English, so - alas- only the people who can read dutch are able to enjoy this one. Try not to translate this column with word or another program; you might end up shocked!

Tester zijn is onderworpen worden aan allerlei creatieve analogieën , uitgemaakt worden voor van alles en nog wat of verwijten krijgen voor zaken die gewoon je werk zijn. Tijd voor een ode *ahem* aan de ‘wat testers allemaal zijn’in ‘klare’ taal.

Azijnzeiker, Mierenneuker, Kommaprutser, Puntenpeller, Codezieker, Pretbederver, Partypooper, Saaie muts (of was die voor mijzelf bedoeld ;-) ), Geinvenijn, spelbederver, spelbreker, haarklover, pietlut, zemelkont, zeur, zeikerd,“Jezus” (veel gehoord vooral vanaf ontwikkelaars hoek), bridger en muggenzifter.

Ik vraag me af waarom deze benamingen ons allemaal gegeven worden, we doen immers gewoon ons werk en achteraf is men maar wat blij als we de organisatie voor (grote?) rampspoed hebben behoed. In tegenstelling tot de belastingdienst die dezelfde bewoordingen worden toegedicht, ook gewoon hun werk doen, maar over het algemeen wel grote rampspoed veroorzaken in plaats van voorkomen. Dat laatste is natuurlijk mijn eigen perceptie al denk ik zelf dat ik niet de enige ben die deze perceptie heeft.

De gemiddelde tester gaat gebukt onder vooroordelen. We zijn de brengers van – over het algemeen een slechte – boodschap (de goede worden vaak genegeerd) en worden toch neergeschoten, hoe vaak je ook zegt ‘don’t shoot the messenger’. We lijken het slechte imago maar slecht te kunnen lozen. Hoe goed we ook poetsen; de gaatjes die er nu eenmaal zitten krijg je niet weg. Wat we dus wel kunnen doen is voorkomen dat er nieuwe bij komen, dus toch blijven poetsen en misschien zelfs wat flossen, met het tonen van een specialisme kunnen we laten zien dat testen een net zo volwaardig vak is als alle andere IT professies.

Krijgt mijn mondhygiëniste me toch nog aan het flossen…

The aftermath

Yesterday was a very hectic day, with lots of discussions.
The collegue who started the whole fuss, did so because seemingly one of the attendees to my presentation had called me "an embarrassment" for the whole company.
I found this what 'stern'language, more so because I value this persons opinion with high egards.
But come on: one presentation embarrasses a whole company of thousands of employees? I find this very hard to believe!
Because of this choice of words other people within my company found it necessary to perform 'damage control' and to set strict rules for presenting at events (even the consultants who have allready got a trackrecord must now submit to a pre-screening), but not only that; the whole external communication policy was now a discussion (what one presentation can cause;
N’est-ce pas?)

There was also an evaluation of my presentation; what it was, what I intended and what it could have been. After some discussion I found out that some parts that I found logical and common knowledge where not in there so that the subject didn't land. Some other parts where also pointed out, like setting the definitions on the usage of jargon. For example: I used the word (test)Strategy which was then perceived as the high-level document on (test)policy within an organisation; I ment the chapter within the testplan on which your 'plan of attack' (strategy) is described).

I've allready made a visual lay-out with help of the V-model to explain the principle. I have even set a couple of new (re-worked) definitions and decided to write a paper on this (which will off course have to be evaluated by a lot of collegues, since this is new policy).
It is to be continued!

I would like to remarkt that I also got a compliment: the presentation technique was OK as was 'the guts' to present on such a controversery / innovative subject.