Rick Scott

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13 years 10 months

Rick Scott is a Canadian philosopher-geek who's profoundly interested in how we can collaborate to make technology work better for everyone. He's an incorrigible idealist, an open source contributor, and a staunch believer in testing, universal access, and the hacker ethic. When he's not in front of a computer, you'll find him out on the hiking trails, in the kitchen turning out cupcakes, or cleaning up his viola technique in the basement.

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Canada

Rick Scott

Rick Scott is a Canadian philosopher-geek who's profoundly interested in how we can collaborate to make technology work better for everyone. Rick's an incorrigible idealist, an open source contributor, and a staunch believer in testing, universal access, and the hacker ethic. When he's not in front of a computer, you'll find Rick hiking, making cupcakes, or honing his viola technique.

All Articles by Rick Scott

All Stories by Rick Scott

	The Perl Programming Language Turns Twenty-Five Arguably the first general purpose scripting language, the first version of the Perl programming language was publicly released on December 18, 1987, by its creator, Larry Wall. Rick Scott details the programming language's historical significance, strengths, culture, and relevance today.
	How Software Testers Can Benefit from Keeping a NotebookSoftware testing is an intellectually challenging activity. Our effectiveness as testers depends on the clarity, creativity, and organization of our thinking. However, teaching yourself to think better is an interesting challenge. Many people find keeping a notebook is helpful.
	When Does Choosing a Mediocre Technology Make Sense?The technology world is obsessed with the latest and greatest. This doesn't come as a surprise. After all, we're all about innovation and building something better today than we built yesterday. Are there times when choosing a mediocre option—or even the worst option—makes sense?
	Testing and the Maker Mindset Many bugs arise not because of a failure of effort, but because of a failure of imagination—nobody thought of the combination of events that makes them occur. Rick Scott looks at testing and what differentiates people who are creative problem solvers, inventors, and engineers—the makers.
	What Is Bug Chaining?Dealing with groups of bugs is one of the places where conventional bug-tracking systems often fall down. Enter bug chaining, an idea originating in the security testing community, that combines different bugs of low severity to create a defect of high severity.
	Is Silicon Valley Morally Bankrupt?The technological progress engendered by the tech industry seems to be accepted as an unmitigated good—one that excuses a fairly broad swath of potential shortcomings. Should the pursuit of innovation excuse you from complying with the laws of the land? Is this moral bankruptcy or just business?
	Cultivating a Great WorkplaceThe prevailing way of justifying workplace benefits is to paint them as a vital tool to attract and retain staff in a competitive marketplace. If we look at things more holistically though, we can view these benefits as one component of building a company where people actually like to work.
	The Importance of Diverse, Inclusive Software ConferencesBy making a software conference inclusive, you avoid perpetuating the stereotypes that only certain people are good at technology. You're also helping to grow the pool of people who see a career in the computer industry as a possibility. Rick Scott looks at why diversity is beneficial for everyone.
	Be Careful: The Internet Is Real Life, TooIt's undeniable that we experience the offline and the online worlds in drastically different ways. Perhaps this difference is what leads us to feel as though the online and offline worlds are two separate things. This digital dualism leads many to think that anything that happens online is trivial.
	Reduce Your Attack Surface to Reduce Security ThreatsThe unfortunate truth is that the find-and-patch approach to security is inherently problematic—the attacker is always one step ahead. Reducing your attack surface is a strategy that will help you minimize the number of security threats you are exposed to, whether they are promptly fixed or not.
	Reviewing Specifications: Focus on What's Not SaidReviewing a specification or a user story as it's being created is probably the most crucial way testers can contribute early in the software development process. Rick Scott explains three steps for reviewing requirements specifications that focus on what is not said and what should be answered.
	Making Choices about Privacy and Online TrackingMuch of the data collected via online tracking is said to be anonymous, but because third-party cookies used by tracking sites uniquely identify you as a user, it's easy to link together all the information gathered about you. Rick Scott looks at the privacy implications of the choices we make.
	The Perils of Closed EcosystemsA closed ecosystem, where a single entity controls both the hardware platform and what content can go onto it, has far-reaching ramifications for corporate and individual consumers. It's also a risk that needs to be given serious consideration when a business decides to develop for the platform.
	Use and Abuse of the Bug Tracker Although there seems to be an increasing number of teams who opt not to use bug trackers, bug trackers are still used in the vast majority of information technology shops. If you are going to use a bug tracker, it's important to be aware of what it is—and is not—good at.
	Making Room for Constructive QAIn the software world, QA is often treated as a synonym for testing, but its scope is far broader than that. Rick Scott explores his view of QA—figuring out what's interfering with the team's ability to deliver good software then finding ways to address it—and how others typically view QA.
	The Top Five UX Pet Peeves We Love to HateThe common themes underlying many user experience problems boil down to forcing users to do work that the software should have done for them or assuming that software developers know better than users what they want or need. Rick Scott details his top five user experience pet peeves.
	We Are Not Superhuman: Why Work-Life Balance Is Good for EveryoneThe subject of work-life balance seems to be a popular one, and there is increasing acknowledgement of what seems like an obvious fact: everyone's "work life" and "personal life" are interconnected.
	Your Tools Are Not Your TestsTesting tools are a mixed blessing. The downside is that testing tools tend to constrain test thinking to the kind of testing they perform. Rick Scott makes the case that testers should fit the tools to the testing—not the other way around.
	There’s More to User Experience Than Pretty PixelsUser experience (UX) is not solely about layout, colour themes, and pretty pixels. User experience is about making your product work well for your users. UX designers attempt to narrow the gap between what people expect your product to do and what it actually does.
	Creating an Engaging PresentationWhen it comes to giving an engaging presentation, remember that you really do not need a groundbreaking discovery to craft a conference proposal. What you do need is a presentation that will help people learn something or see a topic from a new angle.
	Explore Task Automation Now, Save Time LaterTest automation is a hot topic in the testing community and a perennial topic of debate. What doesn't seem to receive the same attention, though, is task automation: automating the repetitive, non-testing processes that testers have to waste their time on.
	Bug Management: Don't Confuse the Tools with the StrategyIt's important to have good tools, including bug trackers, but do we overrate the significance of the bug tracker and overlook where it actually sits in the larger picture of defect management? Tools should be just one part of your bug-management strategy.
	When Unencrypted USB Keys Go MissingElections Ontario recently lost two USB keys containing the personal information of as many as four million electors. Surprisingly, the data on the keys was not encrypted. Even worse, the agency resumed using unencrypted keys within days. What went wrong, and what can we learn from their errors?
	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.
	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.
	Hero Culture or Crisis Culture?Organizations should avoid developing a "hero culture," but keep in mind that the heroes themselves aren't the villains. It's the organization's inability to handle difficult situations on a regular basis that leads to trouble.
	Who Are Our Users—Actually?Dr. Genevieve Bell is an anthropologist working at Intel. Her keynote at the 2012 Commonwealth Broadcasting Association Conference touched on where she thinks technology is going, who our users actually are, and in what context they use our products.
	The Independent Double-check When someone gives us a piece of code to test, they are telling us, "This code works correctly." If we accept this assertion without verifying it, we have failed as testers. While it seems unlikely that we would ever let such an assertion go unchallenged, it is easier than one might think.
	Leaked Passwords and Better Security PracticesLinkedIn, eHarmony, and Last.fm all had their password databases leaked in June. Many commentators opined—some more lucidly than others—on what was wrong and right with their password-handling practices. As testers, how do we assess whether or not our software is handling passwords securely?