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blurry photo The Blurred Lines between the Open Source and Closed Source Worlds

The open source and closed sourced worlds need each other—not only for healthy competition, but more importantly, for healthy collaboration, too. Mukesh Sharma looks at recent collaborative efforts between the open source and closed source communities and what is driving these changes.

A person's legs dangling off the edge of a building, photo by Alex Wong The Risk of Overemphasizing RisksWe are trained to identify and evaluate risks. This prevents teams from making decisions that are unlikely to work, saving time and money and helping the team move forward. However, a risk-avoidance mindset can also stop progress. Successful agile teams see risks as ways of starting a conversation, not stopping it.
Question mark drawn on a blackboard The Power of a Single Question in Understanding Customer NeedsPeople tend to see their circumstances as more unusual, difficult, or troublesome than anyone else’s. As a result, by asking about their problem, priorities, or responsibilities, you can gain important information about their situation and how they perceive it. Here's one question to learn a lot about your customers.
Person standing on a scale 3 Ways to Keep Your Test Suite LeanTest automation is useful, but as your tests grow, they require maintenance. Without curation, your test suite can turn messy and uncontrollable. Keeping a lean test suite will ensure your tests remain useful. You can whip your test suite into shape by focusing on always making your tests valuable, reliable, and fast.
A group of people participating in a mob programming session Mob Programming: Working Well TogetherMob programming is a whole-team approach to creating software where everyone works together on the same thing at the same computer. It's not a bunch of people watching one person write code, but rather everyone thinking, discussing, designing, and collaborating. Sound crazy? Here's how it improves the quality of code.
Several people fist bumping over a busy workspace with computers Automation for the PeopleWe tend to contrast automated and manual testing, but really, they should support each other. The key is to define what our testing objectives are, then build the solution needed to achieve them—probably a combination of manual and automated testing. We should not let the method become more important than the results.
supercomputer America’s New Supercomputer Summit Is Built for AI and Advanced Research

Built for artificial intelligence and high performance computing, the new supercomputer Summit will provide researchers and others with the incredible computing power to solve problems in human health, high-energy physics, climate science, advanced materials discovery, and other areas.

Smiling woman holding a large box, photo by bruce mars Thinking Inside the Box before Venturing Outside ItIn their rush to solve a problem, teams often overlook conventional methods in favor of out-of-the-box ideas. But sometimes, the old standbys—thinking first, reviewing criteria, and asking questions—work the best. Before jumping to creative tactics, start by examining the possibilities readily available inside the box.