Recently in Potpourri Category

Or at least, starting something new.  Today is my last day at Gorilla Nation / SheKnows.com.  I also noticed that I haven’t written on this blog since January.  I definitely need to remedy that.  So if you don’t see anything here in the near future, call me on it!!  :)

We all hear about the Hubble Telescope.  Many of us will remember the snafu upon its launch.  The main mirror had been ground incorrectly and we weren't able to fully utilize it until the first service mission in 1993.  But ever since then, the Hubble Space Telescope has been raining down data like digital manna from heaven.  I think we've become jaded to the wonder of it.  We've grown complacent with its abilities. 

Well, I'm here to bring your attention to this wonderful piece of technology.  Go take a look at some of its beautiful photos in the gallery.  I promise you, you'll be amazed at the stunning beauty that makes up our night time sky.

One mind blowing thing about this:  We are actually looking back in time whenever we look at stars and galaxies.  The closest star to us is 4.37 light years away from us.  That means, when we look at see that star system through a telescope, we are seeing the light that left the binary star system 4.37 years ago.  We are, in effect, looking 4.37 years into the past.  Now take that thought and apply it some of the most distant galaxies that the Hubble is able to peer at.  Billions of light years away...  We are literally looking at images of the universe from billions of years ago.  Creeping our perception ever closer to the beginning of it all.  That's about 700 million years since the Big Bang, or almost 95% of the way back to the beginning. Staggering to think about.  Read from the related articles below to learn more about this.

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No matter what you are using to keep track of defects that you find in your software, there are certain things that you should keep in mind when you are documenting a defect.

1. A CLEAR AND CONCISE SUBJECT LINE / TITLE
   This might be the most important part of creating a good defect report.  With this, the people responsible for fixing the bug/defect and quickly group several similar or identical problems into one investigation.  A good description will have at least 2 elements:  An action taken and a result
   
   EXAMPLES:
   Bad:  The website isn't working.
   Good: Clicking on 'Home' link takes me to a "missing page" error page
   
   
2. CLEAR AND CONCISE STEPS TO REPRODUCE THE ISSUE
   More often than not, a majority of the time it takes to fix a defect or bug occurs in the "trying to reproduce it" phase.  Even if we track you down to have you give us a demo of the problem and that demo only takes 2 minutes, the time it takes to actually catch up with you and get that 2 minute demo stacks up quickly.  So, in the body of your defect, you should give developers more information than you think they could ever use.
   
   EXAMPLES: (We'll continue with the bug started in step 1)
   Bad:  I clicked home and was taken to a blank page.
   Good:
   1. I opened up a browser and navigated to our live site ( http://www.ourdomain.com )
   2. I logged into the site using the "Login" link
   3. I clicked on the "Message Boards" Link
   4. From Message Boards, I opened up the article "Summertime fun spots"
   5. I clicked on the "Add Comment" button
   6. I typed in a comment, but didn't hit [submit]
   7. I clicked on the "Home" button in the menu bar of the site
   8. I saw a blank page that stated the page was not found
   9. In the address bar, there was this URL:  http://joedeveolper.dev.ourdomain.com/home.html
   10. I'm using Firefox for my browser on Windows 7.
3. A RECORD OF REPRODUCTIONS
   There is an old and sometimes joked about adage that states "It's not a problem if was can't reproduce it." While this may seem rather flippant and careless, there's also a huge grain of truth in it.  Sure there may have be an actual problem, but in the terms of prioritization, I'm sure it's easy to see that a defect that is either un-reproducible or difficult to reproduce is less important to fix than something that happens all the time.  Of course, this is an over-simplification as a bug that wipes out all of your data, even if it is almost impossible to reproduce is pretty damn important.
   
   EXAMPLES:
   Bad: I think I heard someone else had this problem
   Good: I was able to reproduce this on Internet Explorer, too.
   Best: I was able to reproduce this on Internet Explorer too.  I also got Sally and Jim to reproduce it on their computers, as well
   
4. SCREENSHOTS OF THE PROBLEM
   If the problem is visual in nature, it's always a good thing to include a screen capture of the problem.
   
   EXAMPLE:
   "The background color for the Name and Description columns do not match on the albums listing page."
   
   
5. ADVANCED TECHNIQUES: Recording a macro to reproduce the problem automatically
   There are many tools out there that will allow you to record all the clicks and typing you do on your computer.  Recording these actions could prove to be very helpful to the people trying to fix your defect.  Even if you list all of your steps as accurately as you believe is possible, there might be something that you do, thinking it's insignificant, that the developer will catch on and realize exactly what the problem is.  Perhaps you clicked on the graphic of a button rather than its, text.  Perhaps you submitted a form by hitting the [Enter] key on your computer rather than clicking the [submit] button on the web page.  Another major benefit of recording your actions is that your recorded actions are now documented, and it might be possible to create an automated test from them.  With an automated test, your defect might be caught next time before it ever gets to a production environment.  Keep in mind, these tools record your actions ( move mouse here, click here, type this ).  It does not record a video of what you see.
   
   SUGGESTED SOFTWARE:
   
   Bad Boy a very nicely done tool that is, unfortunately, a windows and Internet Explorer only tool.
   
   Selenium IDE:  This tool is also a very good program.  It sits on your system as a Firefox Plugin.  So initial recording of a defect will be done in Firefox only, but it can be played back using several different browsers.
   

These techniques and suggestions are not the be all and end all of 'best practices' for reporting a bug or defect, but they will certainly get you further down the road in being a productive partner when it comes to making sure your company produces the highest quality software.

The first punch landed with a splat against my cheek.  I barely felt it.  I think I was grinning so maniacally at that point that my cheeks were already tensed up, absorbing the blow without much damage.  It caught me off guard and staggered me back a step or two.  I didn't take my eyes off of the object of my fixation though.  Well, at least not until the second blow landed.  This time in the gut.  My breath left me in a gush and I bent over, nearly double, cradling my stomach. 

For a moment, I lost sight of my prize.  I saw only the rocks and grass at my feet.  Struggling to catch my breath I stood up straight again and smiled as my vision locked again just over the shoulder of this behemoth that was pummeling me.  This time the punch to the face hurt.  I'm pretty sure I heard the loud crunch of my nose breaking as his fist connected.  I know I tasted blood. 

This blow actually knocked me off of my feet.  I sprawled backward into the bushes that lined the side of the house.  Groaning with the fire that seemed to be consuming my face.  WOW!!! That hurt like hell!!  The behemoth was yelling something at me now, but I couldn't make out what he was saying.  Having rebounded off of the bushes, I was lying on my stomach inches from his feet.  Lord, please don't let him be pissed off enough that he's going to kick me...

As the ringing in my head began to taper off, I'm was able to make out what he was shouting, "Get up you little bastard!!" or something to that effect.  He moved to the side of me and kicked me hard in the upper thigh. "Get up!!"

With a Herculean effort, I pushed myself up, unsteadily rising to my feet.  I glanced back at what had been holding my rapt attention in disappointment.  The moment was gone, time to retreat.  I tried to find my way around this bruiser,  tried to find my way to the street so I could get home and nurse my broken face.  He shoved me, roughly.  I hit the side of the house with a sickening thud. My head slammed against the paneling with a sickening crack.  I prayed that it was the wood and not my skull that split.  The sasquatch grabbed the front of my shirt, holding me upright so he could deliver another punch to my face.  "I'll show you!!" he bellowed, "You fuckin' pervert!!"

We were both startled by a scream from above us.  "STOP IT!!!"  The shrill voice came from directly over our heads, from the bathroom window.  Cyndi was leaning out of it, her face filled with horror and a bit of fear.  "What the hell is wrong with you??"  The light behind her shimmered on her wet golden hair, creating a nimbus of light around her. Her robe was pulled tightly around her now, I guess she'd finished drying after her shower before sticking her head out the window to see what the commotion was about.  Despite my blood spattered face and probably already swollen nose, despite the pain in my gut, and the pounding in my head, I managed a weak smile. 

Jared, her older brother still held me, his fist ready for that final blow. "This little perv was watching you!!"  he yelled, much too loudly for my throbbing head.

She looked down at me then, perhaps a slight flicker of recognition in her eyes.  I could see that she was torn, emotionally.  Angry at having been spied on.  Embarrassed she had just stepped out of the shower, and I'd probably seen her drying off and putting on her lotion before the pummeling began.  Concerned, because I'm sure I looked a mess.  Hopefully I didn't look as bad as I felt.  After an appraising second, she said, "Let him go Jared, he's just a kid."

"But.." Jared began, obviously wanting to pummel me a bit more.

"Let him go, you've beat him up enough.  He'll never do it again."  With a pointed look at me she asked, "Will you?"

I was a bit miffed at being called "just a kid." She was only a few years older than me after all.  She's a senior though, and I guess we're all kids to her.  I shook my head in a silent promise that I'll never peep on her again.

"Let him go," she repeated with finality.

With reluctant glare, Jared gave me a hard shove in the direction of the street. "If I ever see you around here again, you'll get worse!" he promised.

I made my way toward the street, toward home.  Jared was making his way back into the house through the side door and was quickly out of sight.  Cyndi was still leaning out the window, watching me leave, a curious expression on her face.  If you asked me today, I would still swear there was a slight smile on those lips as I walked away.

So was it worth it?

Yeah..  It was worth it...

-E Steven Jones

Inspired by the Grass Roots Song:  Midnight Confessions

She saunters to the table, wearing that little black dress that she knows I love to see on her.  Her smile tells me that the drink in her hand isn't her first.  It's comfortable, relaxed, happy, and not just a little flirtatious.  The music in the background is soft, but evident and her hips sway unconsciously to it's rhythm.

"Are you just going to sit there all night? Or are you going to get up and join the rest of us?" She asks me.  I wonder if she has any idea of the effect that she has on me?  I almost groan aloud, but catch myself in time as I watch her put the straw from her drink to her lips.

I manage to keep my voice friendly and nonchalant. "Oh, I dunno. I'm having plenty of fun watching all you drunks making fools of yourself out there dancing," I joke.

"Drunk?!?!" she asks, her smile tells me I must have just unknowingly challenged her. "You haven't seen anything yet." My heart aches as she reaches for my arm to drag me away from the safety of the table.  A jolt of electricity jumps through me as her skin contacts mine. "C'mon," she tells me, dragging me to my feet, "You've been the playing the recluse long enough."

I'm hoping that she doesn't notice the melancholy smile on my face as I reluctantly rise.  I can't help but stare at the little gold ring around her finger, wishing I was the one who put it there.

For the rest of the night I have to watch her dancing with the rest of our group.  We're all out here tonight after finally closing the deal with our biggest client to date.  Too many hours we'd all spent at our tables, making little changes requested to the facade, the landscaping, the lighting of the office building for a 'to be named later' law firm.  But the deal was done, and now we're all out at this "intimate" little jazz club she'd gone to a while back.  I know that I'll be having the same dream tonight that I've had almost every night since all these late work nights started.

It's a simple dream, really.  I'm walking down the street with her on my arm.  Sometimes it's just the two of us, sometimes we're with a group of friends.  Sometimes I'm quiet when I tell her, sometimes I'm shouting it out to the world.  But the words are always the same.  And as I watch her on the dance floor now, they still are the same and I want to tell her, "I love you."

I stagger into work the next day, having slept very little.  And of course she's there.  With a ready smile and a cheerful "Good morning." My heart flutters at what I think is a one of those "meaningful stares" that I hear so much about.  But I fall back again from my reverie, almost immediately.  She reaches up her hand to brush a gorgeous strand of hair that has fallen over her eyes.  Her left hand.  The hand with that blasted little gold ring.

I resign myself to the rest of the day I have ahead of me. I try to bury the thoughts rushing through my mind, the electricity coursing through my body.  I know that she'll never be mine and that all of my "I love yous" are going to have to remain my secret, and all of my dreams and desires are going to have to remain my hidden midnight confessions.