What Do Our Customers Really Want?Agile teams can create software quickly, but how quickly can they gather and process feedback from customers? Here is one team's experience, with some tips and resources to help you introduce a community of practice in your own organization.
Capture/Playback: The Vampire That Will Not DieYears after industry articles by reputable experts proclaimed the death of capture/playback as a viable test automation approach, it has apparently arisen from the dead to suck the life out of another generation of hapless, would-be automators.
Curiosity—and Its Software—on Tour of MarsThe Mars rover Curiosity reached its destination earlier this month after years of planning, months of travel through space, and some very careful landing maneuvers. At the heart of Curiosity is some very complex software. If you think testing in production is hard, try testing all the way to Mars.
Malware "Gauss" Aimed at Online Banking in Middle EastRussian security company Kaspersky Labs recently announced the discovery of a new cyber threat called “Gauss” that targets online banking in the Middle East. Likely activated in September 2011, Gauss infections have been recorded more than 2,500 times by Kaspersky's cloud-based security system.
Test Automation Gone WildThe stock market has a messy relationship with software. It operates on automation software, but that same software recently made the news for triggering stock plunges. If financial firms aren't scrimping on testing, then what or who gets the blame? Is there a place for testing in production?
Learning by OsmosisWe've got access to more information than at any time in history, but all that information can be a benefit or a burden. Don't squander your attention. Spend it intelligently, and make sure you get something of value in return for your time by adjusting your information intake.
Thanks, But No Thanks to Southwest's Giveaway GlitchSouthwest Airlines, a company known for its fun-loving ways, recently tried to thank its 3 million Facebook friends with half-price fares for flights booked last Friday. But their plan backfired when a “technical glitch” caused customers to be billed as many as twenty times for a single ticket.
Upgrade Your Wetware for Better TestingGood software testing is a challenging intellectual process. What you find when testing a piece of software depends on your thinking, your perceptions, how you organize your observations, and what connections you draw between them.
