The Accessibility Mindset: The Latest Episode of The Testing Show is Up

 Another episode of The Testing Show is now live. As it looks like the embed function works I am going to keep on with this methodology :).

This episode is focusing on "The Accessibility Mindset?" and yes, the question mark is intentional, as in this episode we are specifically asking what it is and how to go about using it. 

As I mentioned in the intro to the show, I think too often Accessibility is limited to making sure a screen reader can navigate a site and to make sure alt tags for images are in place. I think we should be ashamed of ourselves if that is the extent of our involvement, focus, and interest. This is why I was interested in hearing what Aditya Bangari and Riya Sharma had to say about approaching projects not just with Accessibility as a goal in mind, but to do so with a literal "Accessibility Mindset". Along with Accessibility is the complementary ideal of Inclusive Design, where we work towards making sites and services more usable and effective for everyone.

If I have piqued your interest, click play and have a listen. If you like what you hear, please feel free to leave a comment about the show below. If you don't like what you hear, then definitely leave a comment ;). If you really like what you hear, consider subscribing via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Spotify Podcasts.

 

Is It Testable? A New Episode of The Testing Show is Now Available

 

It's that time again. Another episode of The Testing Show is now available. Last week we posted "Is This Testable?" This was a fun interview that Matt and I had with Gil Zilberfeld and as an added bonus, I was able to add some input as a co-quest this go around (as Testability is one of my talking points :).

I'm trying an experiment, so I'm hoping this works. I'm embedding the show in these posts and seeing if they appear when I post them. If not, here's the link to the episode page.

As a follow-up, it was interesting to hear where Gil and I shared ideas and where we differed. Well, saying we "differ" isn't correct. More accurately it was interesting to see what we tended to prioritize of where we focused our respective attentions :).

Anyway, the show can tell you lots more than I can/should, so go have a listen, or a read if a transcript is more up your alley ;).

Listen to the QA Summit 2021 After Party (The Testing Show, Episode 106)

 The latest episode of The Testing Show dropped early this morning. 

I realized today that I hadn't shared some interesting news about the distribution of the podcast lately. We've expanded our reach. 

In addition to having the show on Apple Podcasts, you can now listen on Google Podcasts and on Spotify.

The Testing Show on Apple Podcasts

The Testing Show on Google Podcasts 

The Testing Show on Spotify

This show was recorded at the XPansion QASummit, an event I was added to late in the process as a speaker. As I was speaking and saw there were a number of additional participants I knew and worked with on the Podcast, I decided to pack my microphone along and record two episodes of the podcast live at the event. 

Our previous episode, with was billed as the "Pre Game show", featured myself and Matt Heusser interviewing our friends Gwen Iarussi and Rachel Kibler about talk, expectations, and areas of interest.

This latest episode is about our experiences just after the conference ended. Since this was recorded live, there is a fair amount of background noise but that gives you a bit of a feel of the event itself. 

Both Gwen and Rachel joined us for the after-party episode and we had the pleasure of meeting Pax Noyes, who joined us to talk about the conference and initiatives she is active with, notably "QA at the Point".

Please go have a listen and let us know what you think. Drop a comment and let us know what you'd like to hear us talk about next.

Inclusive Meta Paradox Frameworks: A Little Shameless Self Promotion

I realize I'm terrible at promoting myself and the things that I'm doing. Having said that, I do want to encourage everyone to see what I'm up to and with that, I'm sharing a podcast I recorded with Mark Tomlinson for STPRadio.

Listen to "STPCON Spring 2019 Michael Larsen on Inclusive Meta Paradox Frameworks" on Spreaker.

You know the old saying "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro?" Well, if you don't you do now :). Seriously, I love this title. Thank you, Mark, this is great.

Also, for those of you who are intimately familiar with my editing style on "The Testing Show", you may think that I am always smooth and flawless in my delivery, without any wasted breaths. Yep, it's true, no one on The Testing Show breathes... kidding, but now that I've planted that little seed in your head, I'll be the next time you listen to an episode you'll be subconsciously dwelling on that ;). My point is, Mark keeps it real and whatever was said as it was said is there in real time, so if you are curious as to how I really sound when I'm interviewed, here's your chance.

In this podcast, I talk about my workshop around "building a framework from scratch" (and yes after I finish this presentation I am going to start unpacking it and posting it here) as well as my talk on Accessibility and Inclusive Design and how they can be used to help Future Proof software.

If you will be at STPCon and you will be in my presentations, here's a taste of what to expect. If not, well, you get that anyway just by listening. Have fun and if you like the podcast, tell a friend about it, please.

The Testing Show - Conferences and Conferring with Anna Royzman, Claire Moss and Mike Lyles

I have been terrible with my shameless self-promotion as of late, but I think it's time I switch that up a bit. Remember my comment about that "grind" earlier in the week? Here's the end result and yes, I always feel better about it after it's all said and done because I enjoy seeing the end product and most importantly sharing it with everyone out there.



I have a little favor to ask as well if you are so inclined. Do you enjoy listening to The Testing Show? If you do, could I ask you to go to Apple Podcasts and write us a review? Reviews help people find the podcast and make it more likely to appear in the feed listings. Seriously, we all would really appreciate it. We work hard to bring these out and I'd love nothing better than to have more people be able to find it.



In any event, we hope you enjoy this month's episode. To set things up, here's the lead in for the show:

August is a busy time of year for software testing conferences (not to mention conferences in other industries). This month, we decided that, with everyone heading off to conferences hither and yon that we would dedicate a show to the topic, and we have done exactly that. Anna Royzman (Test Masters Academy), Claire Moss (DevOpsDays) and Mike Lyles (Software Test Professionals) join us as guests in their capacity as conference organizers, speakers and attendees (not necessarily in that order) to riff on Conferences and Conferring with Matthew Heusser, Michael Larsen, and Perez Ababa. Want to know where to go, what format to take part in or if you want to try your hand at speaking/presenting? We’ve got something for all those bases!

The Testing Show - Conferences and Conferring with Anna Royzman, Claire Moss and Mike Lyles: The Testing Show team discusses the QA conference season with Anna Royzman, Claire Moss and Mike Lyles. Tune in to learn more!

The Testing Show: CodeNewbie With Saron Yitbarek, Part 1

Happy New Year everyone!

I'd like to present the newly retooled The Testing Show. New theme music (courtesy of my band Ensign Red) and what I hope will be a new streamlined format for the show. I've learned a thing or two about doing audio the past few years and I'm hoping to see us transition a little bit to a broader storytelling approach along with the regular interviews that we do.

To that end, that special guest I was talking about a few weeks back is Saron Yitbarek, the mastermind behind the CodeNewbie website, podcast, Twitter chats and recently the producer of the BaseCS podcast as well as running the Codeland development conference.

I joke during the intro in this show that I feel like a bit of a fanboy here, but seriously, I have wanted to interview Saron for a long time. I was a little nervous asking if she'd be on our show with her level of visibility, so I was overjoyed when she said "yes" and even more so at the natural conversation that we had. She's not just a great interviewee, she's an excellent interviewer as well, so there was a really fun give and take on this show. To that end, I likewise decided that my traditional heavy grammatical editing style wasn't suited for this conversation. Some of the audio may sound a little less slick by TESTHEAD standards, but I feel it adds to the immediacy and excitement of the conversation. I'm not kidding when I say I was a bit giddy at a few spots in this episode.

All right, fanboy gushing aside, this episode covers what I think is interesting ground. Saron is perhaps one of the few guests who has never identified as a software tester, but she totally gets testing. What's more, she totally gets the frustration of getting up the courage to commit to learning how to write code (and yes, it takes courage to do it). It takes courage to be continuously frustrated. She also shares a lot of her ups and downs and frustrations that she has had during her own journey, and how she uses that as fuel to help support others on their coding journeys.

We recorded for almost two hours, and it has been a struggle to decide what to keep the focus on for these interviews. I'm hoping I've captured the best of the conversation, but I'll leave that to you all to decide.

If you enjoy listening to The Testing Show, I'd like to ask you a favor. Please go to Apple Podcasts and give us a rating. If you feel we deserve five stars, please give it to us :). If you feel we deserve less, that's fine too, but please leave a review and tell us why you feel that way. Give us a review as to why you think we deserve five stars while you are at it :). We aim to make The Testing Show the best podcast we can and if you have thoughts about how we can make it better, as the producer, I'm definitely interested.



The Testing Show: CodeNewbie With Saron Yitbarek, Part 1: The Testing shows talks about the process of learning how to code, so we talk with Saron Yitbarek about where and how to start. Tune in to learn more!

The Testing Show: Hiring and Getting Hired

It's been a big year for The Testing Show and this is the last episode of the year that is 2017. We were happy to have Gwen Dobson join Jessica Ingrassellino, Matt Heusser and me to talk about the changes that have taken place in the testing market over the past few years.

We riffed on a number of topics including the laws that prohibit asking about salary histories, having that discussion about money and making the best case for your worth, marketing your skill set and leveraging the variety of platforms at our disposal to help sell ourselves and our personal brands.

It's been a great deal of fun to produce and participate in this podcast and I'm looking forward to the new topics and guests we will have in 2018. I am actively working on a two-parter for January with a special guest that you are just going to have to wait and see/hear who it is, but I can say I've wanted to interview this person for a long time and I'm excited about presenting these episodes, along with some other changes for the show in 2018.

With that, please jump in and have a listen to
The Testing Show: Episode 50: Hiring and Getting Hired:

Machine Learning Part 2 With Peter Varhol: The Testing Show

As has become abundantly clear to me over the last several weeks, I could be a lot more prolific with my blog posts if I were just a little bit better and more consistent with self-promotion. Truth be told, a lot of time goes into editing The Testing Show. I volunteered a long time ago to do the heavy lifting for the show editing because of my background in audio editing and audio production from a couple decades back. Hey, why let those chops go to waste ;)? Well, it means I don’t publish as often since, by the time I’ve finished editing a podcast, I have precious little time or energy to blog. That is unless I blog about the podcast itself… hey, why not?


So this most recent episode of The Testing Show is “Machine Learning, Part 2” and features Peter Varhol. Peter has had an extensive career and has also done a prodigious amount of writing. In addition, he has a strong mathematical background which makes him an ideal person to talk about the proliferation of AI and Machine Learning. Peter has a broad and generous take on the current challenges and opportunities that both AI and Machine Learning provide. He gives an upbeat but realistic view of what the technologies can and cannot do, as well as ways in which the tester can both leverage and thrive in this environment.

Anyway, I’d love for you to listen to the show, so please either go to the Qualitest Group podcast page or subscribe via Apple Podcasts. While you’re at it, we’d love it if you could leave us a review, as reviews help bubble our group higher in the search listings and help people find the show. Regardless, I’d love to know what you think and comments via this page are also fine.

Getting Ready to CAST a Wide Net in Nashville

It’s time to get back in the saddle and start doing some live blogging and somewhat real-time podcasting. Now that CAST is this week in Nashville, I’m doing my last bit of planning and logistics to get me to Nashville and get ready for CAST. For the past couple of months, Claire Moss and I have done some teaser podcasts for the conference (dubbed the AST CASTcast). If you haven’t been following along, here’s the whole series we've produced thus far (we have 18 episodes you can listen to :) ):


I will be Live Blogging this conference, but in a change from the past, I will not be doing it here on Testhead. AST has asked me to do my Live Blogging directly with the conference materials, so I encourage everyone to follow along over at the AST site.

With that in mind, I’d like to do an experiment. There are many sessions I would like to attend, but since I’m live blogging the event, I thought I would throw out to the readers of Testhead… what talks would you like to have me attend? What topics interest you? What do you think I might benefit from tuning into that may not currently be on my radar?

Also, I will be packing my microphone, so if you would like to have us record a podcast or two while we are there, let me know who you would like to interview and we can see if they would be game to participate.

It’s going to be an active week. I hope you all will follow along with me, and yes, I will also post some here as well :).

A New "Limited Time" Project: The AST CASTCast

For several years, I've been actively engaged in making and producing podcasts. There's a certain amount of commitment and resources needed to make a podcast work, and there are ways to share and communicate it that are considered fairly standard. In short, if your podcast isn't in iTunes (or more correctly now, Apple podcasts) then it doesn't exist. That's not entirely true, but it does make podcast discovery a little more challenging.

Still, there are periods where you want to do something that's a little more focused, to get information out to a target group quickly, and that may not require having a long shelf life. I've started an initiative that does exactly that, and in the process, we made some choices that I think you all may find interesting. At the very least, they may be a cautionary tale or a model that you may wish to try yourselves.

Claire Moss and I are recording a series of short, targeted podcasts that are meant to help focus on the upcoming AST CAST Conference in Nashville, Tennessee this year. This podcast is called The AST CASTcast, and in many ways, it's like many other podcasts, and in a few ways, it's different. As a way to quickly get content out to people, rather than produce a podcast that would be pushed to podcast syndication systems, we decided to go with an approach that used YouTube. YouTube is an interesting platform choice, in that it's ubiquitous, and it's easy to access and upload to. It does have a few challenges, in that it's not an audio-only medium. Every file has to be a video file. If we were to record a show with video, then that would be easy, but we are not able to guarantee all of our guests can record with video, and rather than leave them out, we decided to make an audio podcast.

That's great, you may say, but YouTube is a video platform. How do you make an audio-only recording available as a video file? We opted to use a service called TunesToTube. The service lets you upload an audio file, and then an image file (in our case, we chose to make a show card with show info and pictures of participants). These then get combined into a video file and uploaded to YouTube. If you use the free version, you will have a watermark appear that says the TunesToTube service was used to encode the video.

The process is pretty straightforward:

• Go to the TunesToTube.com website
• Log into your YouTube account
• Upload the audio file you wish to use for your podcast.
• Upload the picture(s) you would like to use to represent your video (you can also type in text and make some selections so that you have a video title, etc. if you don't want to load an image)
• Put in the title, description, and tags as you want them to appear.
• Upload the file to YouTube

As stated, this would be a great way to give a test drive to a podcast or to make it available as an alternative to a regularly published podcast feed. The advantages are that going from finished audio to available to listen is fast. Another plus to using YouTube is that it makes the content embeddable, as I'm doing in this post here. The source video is on YouTube, but anyone who wants to include it on a blog post or a share can do so easily, and it's immediately accessible via desktop, phone or tablet, as long as the device in question can play YouTube videos. The downside to this approach is that it does require the user to use YouTube and stream video files. Granted, they are not tremendously larger than the audio file, but there is an overhead, and thus, it deserves to be mentioned. Also, it's not as easily downloaded as a regular podcast, but there are methods to do that.

In any event, we hope you enjoy the AST CASTCast while we are posting them in the upcoming weeks and months. As always, I appreciate feedback and comments about what we are doing :).

The Testing Show Is YOUR Show

Edited: Date changed, see below.

TL;DNR: We have a new podcast at The Testing Show. We need show ideas, questions, your involvement! We are having a Tweetup using hashtag #TestingShowChat on Wednesday, June 22, 2016 from 11:00 a.m. - noon Eastern USA timezone. Join us!!!

And now on to more of the show... so to speak.

For the past several months, a fairly large percentage of my time has been spent on an endeavor that I enjoy. That endeavor has been producing and editing "The Testing Show". Put simply, the Testing Show is a podcast hosted and paid for by Qualitest Group. A few years ago, Matt Heusser and I partnered on a podcast hosted by Software Test Professionals called "This Week in Software Testing" (TWiST). It ran for two and a half years, we produced over 130 episodes, and at the time, we felt like we had said all we really wanted to say, or could say. We took a hiatus from podcast production that lasted longer than either of us thought it would.

Towards the end of 2015, Matt and I, along with Justin Rohrman and Perze Ababa, discussed the idea of creating another software testing podcast, reminiscent of the old TWiST, but updated and focusing on newer topics and changes that have happened in the testing word since we stopped producing TWiST. The net result of those efforts is The Testing Show.

Twice a month, we bring you news on an issue happening in the world of testing, or something we think is interesting going on in the broader world and how software testing effects the stories we talk about. In previous episodes, we've covered software systems that erroneously released felons, automated trucking, the challenges of accurate Super Bowl predictions, and software updates causing a satellite to fall out of orbit and burn up in earth's atmosphere... hey, who said testing wasn't fun :)?

We've had a great group of guests come and join us on the show to talk about topics related to their areas of expertise, ranging from Test Management (both process and people), being a Trusted Resource, Testing in Scrum, visits to QA or the Highway and the Reinventing Testers workshop, Automation & Tooling, and Measurement & Metrics.

At the end of each episode, I ask listeners to send us their feedback about the shows they have heard, what they would like to hear, and topics we could cover. It's in this aspect that I want to reach out to our listeners, both current and potential, and see if we can do more.

In our minds, we discuss topics that we think would be interesting to our listeners. Comments on Twitter and other social media sites have been positive, and we thank you all for that. We'd like to see if we can do better, both in the way of helping make a show that you would love to listen to, and also make a show that you would love to share.

As producer of the show, I do my best to make each fortnightly episode the best quality it can be. We often talk for an hour plus, but we edit the show to be roughly thirty minutes, give or take a few. We create show notes with complete transcripts of all the conversation presented, as well as references to what we cover and jumping off points where our listeners can learn more. As we do this, we realize that, amongst ourselves and each other, that we have a limited view as to what's most important to you, our listeners. We can make guesses, but we don't know everything you know, we haven't walked everywhere you have walked, and you have ideas and questions we may never think to ask. We'd like to engage with you directly, and get some opportunities to know what you would like to hear on the show, who you would like to hear from... and if one of the people you would like to hear from happens to be "you", hey, we can talk :).

On Wednesday, June 22, 2016 from 11:00 a.m. - noon Eastern, the cast of The Testing Show will be hosting a live event on Twitter. We will answer questions about the show, discuss things we've talked about in previous shows, but more to the point, we want to know things that you would like to hear us discuss in future podcasts. If that interests you, and you'd like to give us some feedback on what we are talking about, or what we could be talking about, we hope you'll join us. Use the hashtag #TestingShowChat to play along with us. If you can't participate at that time, you can always send email to us at thetestingshow@qualitestgroup.com, and we will do follow up in future shows.

Another way that you can help us get the word out is to leave reviews of The Testing Show on iTunes. If you like what you hear, leave us a review. More reviews means better placement in search engines, and more chances of people discovering the show. Share the show with your friends and encourage them to listen as well. We aim to make The Testing Show the best podcast we possibly can, but ultimately, the show belongs to you, our listeners, and our success resides with you. We'd love if you would join us, and help us make your show the best we can make it.

Introducing... The Testing Show!!!

For the past few months, along with a bit of back and forth, negotiations, discussions, conversation, and a few trial runs, I am back in the podcasting saddle once again!

Qualitest Group has agreed to do a run of podcasts with Matt Heusser, Justin Rohrman and me as regualr attendees, along with Brian Van Stone from Qualitest and a revolving cast of what we hope will be many people in the software testing world to interact with us and talk testing topics, news of the day, and have a slight propensity for silliness at times.

We have posted the first three episodes at "The Testing Show" page. The first three episodes cover "Skill on the Test Team", "Testing as a Trusted Advisor" and "Testing When You Don't Have Enough Testers". We have a couple more episodes that will be posted within the next week, and then we aim to keep up to date with a new post every two weeks.

So what do we want you all to do? Well, we want you to listen. We want you to comment. We want you to suggest topics for us to talk about. Most of all, if you like what you hear, we want to have you share it with others. The more people listen, like, and respond to the podcast, the more likely that Qualitest will book us to do more shows in the future. We should also mention that while Qualitest is sponsoring the show, The Testing Show is not being used to market Qualitest, at least not directly. Of course they want to encourage people to consider them, but Qualitest does not tell us what to say or tell us what topics we cover. We do that ourselves.

Anyway, it's been a long time. Come join us, and if you genuinely enjoy what you hear, considering getting in on the action with us. We are always interested in topics and guest speakers, so if you want to participate, let us know :)!

Podcast Review: CodeNewbie

Yes, I am late to the game on this, but this really deserves to be a destination for people learning to code, who want to learn how to code, or may even just have an itch in their brain that they might want to code in the future. On any given day, I match all three of those ;). That's why my discovery of CodeNewbie has been fun and informative.

First, some background. CodeNewbie describes themselves as "the most supportive community of programmers and people learning to code". There is a lot of great content on their site, such as Ruby Monday where each week they get together to work on a project, and yes, all are welcome to participate if they want to. Each Wednesday at 9 p.m. EST they host a Twitter chat, using the #CodeNewbie hash tag. I've followed along with a few of these, and they are quite informative and, while primarily focused on the new programmer, don't be surprised if you don't learn a thing or two even if you are experienced in programming.

All this is great, but it's the podcast that I want to focus on. The CodeNewbie Podcast has been around since September of 2014, and it is hosted by Saron Yitbarek. I first heard Saron on the Ruby Rogues podcast, and some time back I made a note to check out the CodeNewbies project she had announced at the time. Like many things, it fell to the back of my list, but as I kept seeing CodeNewbies pop up in my listings, I decided I had to give it another look, and specifically, yes, the podcast. Since they now have 49 episodes, I'm approaching them in alternating order, meaning I am listening to the earliest episodes, followed by the latest episodes, and simultaneously working my way forwards and backwards. What that has done is let me see just how dramatically the show has improved in delivery (this is to be expected with any regular podcast) but also how consistent it has been in staying on message and in a format that is both accessible and readily relatable. Saron gets a lot of credit for that, in that each show is structured in a similar manner (yes, comparisons to Ruby Rogues abound, but since that is one of my all time favorite technical podcasts, that's meant to serve as praise). Saron also has a voice designed for radio, and considering she spent some time at NPR interviewing people, that should surprise no one. It adds a polish and an ease to the episodes that makes each interview feel smooth and well presented. That's not a requirement for podcasts, since I generally prefer practitioners over over-coached pros, but when you can get both, hey, run with it!

If you were to listen to any one episode, I would encourage starting at the beginning, with Saron's interview with Carlos Lazo titled "Bootcamps, Water Coolers, and Hiring Devs". Carlos talks about his time in the "Flatiron School", which is a programming bootcamp. The interview covers a lot of ground, such as the difference between studying computer science and actually being an engineer, why he chose to attend a three-month bootcamp to become a web developer, and several interview related questions and strategies for would be developers to consider. One piece of advice I really liked was to "own your ignorance". Don't be intimidated by the fact that you don't know something. In fact, embrace the idea that, if you are asked about something you don't know, you will not fake your way through an answer. Instead, reply with "I'm not familiar with that particular area. Could you tell me a bit more about it? How do you use it?" Seriously, this interaction alone is worth the time to listen to this episode, but there is so much more to glean from it, so I encourage you to do so.

If you are new to code, have dabbled in code, or have made a decision to get more involved with code, then CodeNewbies is a great destination site. Saron's podcast is a great way to plug in, get inspired, and learn about many aspects of the world of coding you might not think relate to it, but are as essential as the syntax you learn.

TESTHEAD gives the CodeNewbie podcast two thumbs way up :).

For Your Listening Pleasure: TESTHEAD’s Podcasts

It’s the end of the year, and it seems that people are going to be getting all sorts of new devices for the holidays. Smartphones, tablets, computers, etc. will likely be purchased by many, and with those purchases will be a need to fill them. In my personal opinion, while video tutorials and such are cool and all, nothing is as portable, engaging and good for short bursts of calm time, semi-active physical exertion or long road/air trips than podcasts. 

Thus, in the spirit of giving, I would like to give everyone a taste of my current listening habits, my podcasts of choice. Some of these have been with me for years, some are relatively new, all of them are informative and engaging (well, at least I think so). 

Additionally, I have also included websites with background info and storage for previous episodes. All are free for newer episodes, some sites charge for back catalog items. Most of course appreciate donations to help them keep the shows going, so by all means, if you can offer them support to keep producing stuff you like, hey, show a little love :)!

And now, without further ado…

AB Testing

Alan Page and Brent Jenson (AB testing, get it ;)?) talk about a variety of software testing topics and their combined four decades of experience, as well as their own meandering thoughts and topics that happen to come into their heads. Both Alan and Brent are long time Microsoft veterans, so there is, of course, a Microsoft flavor to the podcast, but don’t think that just because you don’t live and work in a Microsoft shop that this isn’t for you. There’s plenty to keep a tester (or anyone interested in software quality, regardless of role) interested. What I love about this is that it’s done in a very casual tone, as though they are just kicking back with a couple of beers and ranting about the topics that come up (please note: I have no idea if they are kicking back with beers as they do their podcast, it’s just the vibe it gives me, and I love it :) ). 

http://www.angryweasel.com/ABTesting/

Back to Work

Two hundred episodes in, this is still one of my favorite guilty pleasures. Dan Benjamin and Merlin Mann generate a lot of banter in their podcasts, and for those who want the business end of the podcast each week, I’ll help you now with this tip, just fast forward twenty minutes and you’ll be much happier. However, if you’ve been with the show since the beginning, you’ll know that some of the most fun parts of the show actually take place in these twenty minutes, as well as the banter that carries over every show. It’s goofy, messy, often unfocused, but filled with gems if your goal is to really get into the things that make for creative work. Oh, and don’t be surprised if, after a few weeks of listening, you start to look forward to the rambling intros, because you feel like you are getting a glimpse at two of your friends just kicking it and getting caught up on what matters to them, only part of which is the actual podcast.

http://5by5.tv/b2w

Common Sense with Dan Carlin

This is the first of two “indispensable” podcasts for me, ones I have listened to for several years, and that I consider the “gold standard” of what the podcast medium can deliver. Dan Carlin is a cantankerous, fast talking, highly caffeinated and animated commenter who bills himself as being “political by way of Mars”. Dan is based in the U.S., and many of the topics he covers are from a U.S.perspective, but what makes Dan different is he refuses to approach problems or issues from a partisan position. For tester looking to exercise their critical thinking skills when it comes to political topics, this podcast is a jewel. 

http://www.dancarlin.com/common-sense-home-landing-page/

Freakonomics Radio

The subtitle of this podcast is “The Hidden Side of Everything”, and it tends to remain true to that tagline. Stephen Dubner and Steven Leavitt are the hosts of this eclectic show that mostly looks at economics, but is wonderful for testers because it looks at teasing out what the data tells us about a variety of topics. We think we understand how things work, and why the world looks the way it does, but very often, the hidden realities go counter to the agreed to narrative. Often controversial, always fascinating.

http://freakonomics.com/radio/

Grammar Girl: Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing

This is the first of the “Quick and Dirty Tips” podcasts that I follow, and the fact that I fancy myself a bit of a writer on the side of being a software tester, it should come as no surprise that I would appreciate a regular infusion of grammar and interesting ways to improve my game as a writer. Grammar Girl is hosted by Mignon Fogarty, and is full of interesting tips and tidbits about language, grammar construction, writing tropes, and etymology. There are as of this writing 446 episodes. That’s a lot of potential grammar tips, and while you may not want to listen to every one of them, you will not surprise me in the slightest if you come back and tell me you have heard them all ;).

http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/grammar-girl

Hardcore History with Dan Carlin

Of all the podcasts I listen to, most of the episodes are listened to once or twice, and then I delete the ones I listened to already. I do not delete episodes of Hardcore History! I have saved every one of them since the beginning, and I have listened to each episodes multiple times (and that’s no small feat, considering several of the Hardcore History podcast episodes are multiple hours long). Dan Carlin uses the same “Martian” approach to thinking as used in the Common Sense podcast and applies it to historical events. Earlier podcasts were brief entries, while the most recent podcasts would count as full audio books. Dan has a style of delivery that is dramatic, intense, and for me personally, enthralling. Many of the podcasts are continuous series. He’s currently doing a multi part series on the causes and effects of the First World War. The combined total time for this series (titled 'Countdown to Armageddon") is currently almost fourteen hours, with more episodes still to come. Do not be surprised if you find yourself listening for hours at a time. In my opinion, Hardcore History is the perfect long drive or long flight companion, and is still, to me, the gold standard of podcasting.

http://www.dancarlin.com/hardcore-history-series/

Philosophize This!

Stephen West hosts this podcast that endeavors to be a chronological exploration of philosophy and epistemology, and if listened to in order, does a very good job of being exactly that. Stephen goes to great lengths to keep a consistent narrative between episodes, and flashes back to what previous philosophers have said to help develop the context for current episodes. He mixes in modern metaphors to help make some of the esoteric bits make sense, and it makes for an overall very enjoyable and interesting series.

http://www.philosophizethis.org/

Planet Money

Hosted by NPR, and born from the wreckage of the 2008 Financial Crisis, Planet Money has a similar feel and approach to Freakonomics. It’s a very economics based program, with a smattering of finance and a lot of current events, and much like Freakonomics, ventures into territory that is unexpected and open to interpretation. If you think you know that’s going on, you may be surprised to realize how different things look when you “follow the money”.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/

Ruby Rogues

Ruby Rogues is a revolving cast of commenters, many of which are well known in the Ruby world, and frequently feature guests that talk about a variety of programming topics. I started listening to Ruby Rogues when I worked at a primarily Ruby and Rails shop, and while I have moved on to a work environment that uses different languages, I still listen regularly to this well done and well presented podcast. You do not have to be a Rubyist to reap benefits from listening to the show, but if you are familiar with Ruby, it makes each episode that much more interesting.

http://devchat.tv/ruby-rogues/

Savvy Psychologist: Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Mental Health

This is another Quick and Dirty Tips podcast I enjoy following, and I became interested in it due to some of the challenges I’ve dealt with around my own diagnosis and repeated wrestling with issues related to ADHD. Dr. Ellen Hendrickson tackles a variety of psychological challenges, puts it in terms that every day people can understand and relate to, covering topics such as procrastination, anxiety, depression, motivation, mood and creativity. Understanding the challenges we all face helps us relate better to those we interact with, as well as ourselves. 

http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/savvy-psychologist

Still Untitled: The Adam Savage Project 

You may know Adam Savage from his ten year plus run on the Discover Channel’s “Mythbusters”, but this series goes beyond his most well known career choice and talks about his involvement with special effects, the maker movement, and tests and explorations related to oddball interests. If you enjoy the Mythbusters approach and delivery, you’ll probably enjoy this podcast, too.

http://www.tested.com/still-untitled-the-adam-savage-project/

Stuff You Missed in History Class

As my interest in Hardcore History will likely tell you, I am a fan of history. I love the obscure and interesting bits and the connection to us today. However, Dan Carlin puts such time and attention to each episode, it can be months between episodes. This podcast (which is part of the “How Stuff Works” series of podcasts) is a twice a week history snack fest. Shows cover a wide variety of topics, often focusing on the weird or unusual. It’s great fun and a must listen for the avid history buff.

http://www.missedinhistory.com/podcasts/

Stuff You Should Know

How did leper colonies come into being? What is terraforming? What did the enlightenment actually “enlighten”? If you’ve ever found yourself wondering about these things, and literally hundred more areas, then this podcast is right up your alley. Twice a week, the podcast covers interesting and unique topics that, when taken together, cover all sorts of areas that I may know a little bit about, but I always learn just a little bit more. If the idea of learning more about rogue waves, X-rays, and stem cells interests you, then this is a great destination.

http://www.stuffyoushouldknow.com/podcasts/

TED Radio Hour

If you’ve ever seen or heard a TED talk, you know the format and approach. TED Stands for “Technology, Entertainment and Design”, and each hour long episode is based around a theme, with a talk from one or several presenters to build each themed episode. Programs range from games and gaming and how it relates to psychological development, to self determined education in Africa, to working with perceptions, to our relationship with animals. Guy Raz hosts this weekly podcast, and each week is a unique exploration into the unexpected.

http://www.npr.org/programs/ted-radio-hour/

Again, these are my favorites for this year and as of today. Next year, this list may be entirely different (though some will probably be perennial favorites). Here’s hoping some of these will be interesting to you, and hey, if you have some favorites you’d like to share, please post them in the comments below.

Discover as Much as You Can Outside of Testing: 99 Ways Workshop #48

The Software Testing Club recently put out an eBook called "99 Things You Can Do to Become a Better Tester". Some of them are really general and vague. Some of them are remarkably specific.

My goal for the next few weeks is to take the "99 Things" book and see if I can put my own personal spin on each of them, and make a personal workshop out of each of the suggestions.

Suggestion #48: Read as much as you can about testing. Then read as much as you can about things outside of testing; product design, software development, psychology, anthropology etc - Amy Phillips

While there is a lot of information we can learn about specific testing techniques, much of what informs us about our world and the way that we see it happens outside of the testing specific disciplines that we learn. For many of us, these may be foreign topics, or areas we have not spent much time pursuing. The great news is, in this modern, interconnected world, there's no reason to not find out about or study up on any number of disciplines you may have miss from your time in school.

Workshop #48: Choose a variety of books, online courses, or podcasts to specifically learn about additional aspects of the world, and then turn it around and apply it to your work as a tester.

There are so many different aspects to education and learning, many of which would be difficult to put in one place. Fortunately, with a little bit of time, patience and a YouTube or Khan Academy search, we can find lots of interesting talks, screencasts, lectures and podcasts about a variety of topics.

This is not an exhaustive list, but off the top of my head, these are a few "podcasts" and presentations of subjects that I have found interesting, worth spending some time with, and genuinely helpful to my testing efforts:

Philosophy: "Philosophize This" Podcast. This is a relatively new podcast produced by Stephen West. It has done a good job of summarizing Western philosophy from pre-Socratic times through Aristotle, and has started discussing Eastern Philosophy recently with its most recent podcast focused on Daoism).

History: Dan Carlin's "Hardcore History". These shows are deeply researched and many of the episodes are long, as in three to four hours long, but they do not feel like it as you listen to them. Many of them feel like you are listening to audio books, and Dan's podcasts absolutely have the quality of some of the best audio books. Well worth the time.

Economics: "Planet Money" and "Freakonomics". Both come from NPR, and both deal with interesting aspects of economics and monetary issue. From a testers perspective, I would lean more towards Freakonomics if you felt you had to choose just once, if for not other reason than I think the focus on being "the hidden side of everything" tends to be a good avenue to explore from a tester's perspective.

Programming: Ruby Rogues. OK, granted, if you do not program in Ruby this may be less interesting, but I find it to be a well done podcast on a variety of topics and I like the round table of guests that frequently pop in and out.

Productivity: Back 2 Work (with Dan Benjamin and Merlin Mann). I have to say up front, this is a bit of an acquired taste, and if you are not familiar with the banter between Merlin and Dan, this may seem extremely random, and hard to listen to. I say, hang out for a few minutes and your patience will be rewarded, because if you genuinely want to think about some things that will help make you more focused and perhaps a bit more aware of what people really think of their computers, their mobile devices and the purposes of using them, this is a gem.

Beyond this short list, I recommend just going in and searching for stuff that interests you, but again, try to see how you can tie it into your testing wherever possible. 

Bottom Line:

The reason that it helps to look outside of software testing for learning and inspiration is that it helps us all develop a solid, inductive pool of knowledge that we can draw from at various times. It will likely not cover all the bases, but I'll dare say that spending a little time in unfamiliar territory will be rewarding. It may give you some interesting ideas that you may not have considered, but also, I think it just plain feels good to learn from a variety of disciplines, many of which I know a little bit about, but would likes to learn more. See how spending time in these disciplines helps give you some additional perspectives.

Podcast Review: Philosophize This!

It's been said by a number of people I listen to and admire that software testers are, in their heart of hearts, armchair epistemologists. The ideas of what we know, why we think we know it, and the ramifications of what we know is a topic that I personally find endlessly fascinating. Thus, it should come as no surprise that Philosophy, in general, rates high as a topic I enjoy learning about.

One pet peeve... I tend to dislike reading about Philosophy. I much prefer hearing people discuss it, out loud. Perhaps it's a love for the idea of the Agora, or a true symposium where people would gather, openly discuss ideas, critique and criticize what they hear, and watch the speaker(s) adjust based on what they learned/discovered through the process. Ahhh, if only there were a way that I could listen to ideas concerning philosophy easily, interestingly, in a way and in language that everyday people can understand... oh, and it would be sweet if it was available freely.


Thus, it is with these aspects in mind that I've discovered a recent podcast called "Philosophize This!". Philosophize This is the brainchild of Stephen West, and it is available on iTunes as well as a number of other podcast outlets.


From the description paragraph on iTunes:


Beginner friendly if listened to in order! For anyone interested in an educational podcast about philosophy where you don't need to be a graduate-level philosopher to understand it. In chronological order, the thinkers and ideas that forged the world we live in are broken down and explained. If you're religious, this podcast is probably not for you.

I think the description is apt, but I'm scratching my head at the last line. I consider myself religious, but I have no problem whatsoever with the way that the material is presented, and I enjoy this podcast greatly. It isn't antagonistic towards religion, it just shows that much of philosophy throughout history sought explanations that went beyond "an almighty God was angry" or "we can't explain it, therefore some unspeakable force in the universe must be doing this". Anyone interested in the discovery of knowledge and how it works/how we understand what we know should not feel threatened, religious or not.


All right, with that out of the way...


To date, four podcasts have been recorded. They range from the beginning of humanity, and work up to the dawn of Western Philosophy and the Pre-Socratics, up to and through Socrates, and then following on from Socrates to Plato. As it stands right now, the four podcasts focus on the Greek/Ionian/Anatolian/Italian philosophical traditions. If that's going to be the thread that's followed, leading up through such notable figures such as Aristotle, Ptolemy, Hypatia, etc. there's going to be some great stuff to talk about, and keep me interested. If this show branches off and starts looking at Philosophy from an Eastern perspective as well (China, Japan, Indus, etc.), then this will definitely be an eagerly anticipated treat.


What I like about Stephen's delivery is that he makes the material very accessible (I really never thought I'd hear "The Walking Dead" and Thales, Heraclitus & Democritus in the same podcast). The key is, Stephen takes some pretty esoteric ideas and topics, and presents it in a way that even neophytes  will be able to grasp and consider. In short, Stephen knows how to "speak dude".

Bottom Line:

"Philosophize This!" has an attitude, it's mildly irreverent, it rambles a little and meanders, and that's what makes it fun. If you have an interest in philosophy, or wish you had a better understanding of it, here's a great place to start.

An STP-Con Bonus: Speed Geeking

This would otherwise be buried in the mix of everything going on today, so rather than having everyone backtrack for it, I'm posting it on its own.

The lunch time session is being made a little more interesting by the fact that several tables have what is called a "Speed Geeking" session. These are lightning talk style presentations, and they are held at individual tables, and when the session ends, the participants moved to different tables.

Using an iPhone app called "Voice Recorder HD" I wanted to see if I could capture the essence of the discussions. It's up to you to determine if I succeeded:

Why Executives Often See Testing as an #EpicFail (Scott Barber)

The Top Ten Performance Testing Types ( Mark Tomlinson, James Pulley)

The Death Star Was An Inside Job (Matt Heusser)

Note: there were three time slots, and several more sessions were being held, but these were the three I actually attended.

Podcast Review: How to Program with Java

During the process of working through the issues and question related to the PRACTICUM series I'm going through with Selenium 2 Testing Tools, I found that a refresher on my Java would be a good place to spend some time.

There are a lot of resources out there for those who want to learn about Java, and for some of us, there are different things that resonate. Personally, I like hearing a human voice, one that can coach you through areas that might not make obvious sense when you are working with them. Many podcasts start from the premise that you are already experienced, and that you are looking to hear special topics or more of a conversational podcast about the state of your chosen language. As an example, I enjoy listening to Ruby Rogues for this very reason.

For a choice to listen to and contemplate topics related to working with Java, I found "How to Program with Java" in iTunes. This podcast started in September of 2012, and roughly each week, Trevor Page puts together a podcast talking the details and the nuts and bolts about what Java is, what it does, and how to use it. The content is focused, it's easy to follow, and the coaching style helps a lot. Trevor takes the time to explain both simple things and those areas that are a little less simple to grasp. There is also a companion web site you can visit at howtoprogramwithjava.com that gives you access to other materials, as well as video tutorials and an E-book with exercises (those you pay for, but the podcast and other posts are free).

For those of you out there who want to learn a new language, and if Java is something you might see being part of your future, or you need to come back to Java after a long time away, Trevor's podcast would be a worthwhile listen.

The Best Podcast We Are Going To Put Out This Week (By Some Definition Of Best)

Today marks a milestone. This morning, Episode 131 of This Week in Software Testing has been posted. In it, we conclude the series of Matt Heusser's keynote adress at the Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference (Part 1 and Part 2 can be obtained here).

This also represents 125 episodes that I have personally produced (I came onto this project back in July of 2010, and my first show, Episode 6, was posted on Aug. 6, 2010).

It's been a lot of fun, I've learned a lot along the way... and you can probably tell with this buildup that there's a change in the air.

There is.

Matt and I have decided that, for now, we are going to put the TWiST podcast on hiatus. No, there's no bad blood between Matt and me (as a musician, I am very familiar with the first question asked whenever a project goes on hiatus; it's assumed that there must have been a fight of some kind). We decided to take stock of what we have covered, who we have talked to and areas that may yet to be covered, and decided that now was a good time to take a breather after two and a half years of weekly production work.

We both love producing this podcast, so for those thinking it's going to go away forever, rest assured, that is not our plan. We both, however, want to take the time to focus on some other opportunities for a bit, and give those projects a chance to get some atmosphere to breathe (there are, after all, only so many hours in a given week that we can devote to those opportunities).

To those who have helped make this a fantastic journey, my thanks. To Matt, first and foremost, for being willing to be in the hot seat week after week, in one way or another, either in interviewing, gathering talent for discussions, or recording "on location" events along with me.

Thanks to our recurring "panel guests" over the past year plus, who helped us make for some great conversations, with special thanks to Benjamin Yaroch and Wade Wachs for their frequent contributions and going above and beyond the call so many times.

Thanks to everyone we have interviewed over the past two and a half years. It's your stories and your experiences that make the show what it is.

Thanks to the people behind the scenes these past two and a half years who have helped with show production, editing, and distribution (Rick Baucom, Rich Hand, Thomas Ponnet, Justin Rohrman, Janette Rovansek, Mark Tomlinson and Farid Vaswani).

Most of all though, thanks go out to YOU, our listeners. You are the reason that we were able to put out "the best software podcast we were going to put out this week (by some definition of best)", week after week. We hope that you have enjoyed these presentations, and will continue to enjoy them well into the future. We look forward to coming back and following the pulse of the software testing world in the not too distant future.

Until then, thanks for listening, and keep discovering :).

Regards,
Michael and Matt

TWiST turns 100!!!

It's been an interesting ride. Over true past two years, I've had the opportunity to produce, sequence, edit, and format Software Test Professional's 'This Week in Software Testing" podcast. We've changed up the format a few times, explored a number of different avenues, and seen our collective fortunes change considerably from when the idea was first proposed back in 2010, and when I signed on to actually produce the show.

Some things I've discovered along the way:

1. Perfection is asymptotic and impossible to achieve, but just a little bit of clean-up can reap tremendous benefits. The problem comes when we try to go beyond the basics. Stray "ums" and long spots of dead air are easy to achieve, and make a big difference when they are removed, but doing more advanced editing (re-sequencing, cutting phrases to make a more coherent flow, etc.) is really hard to get right. Voice inflection has a rhythm and a flow, and when that rhythm is broken, it's noticeable, possibly even more noticeable than the stray ums or stutters would be. Thus I've learned that, unless it's necessary (audio drop-outs or other actual "damage" or "distraction in the recording), "leave well enough alone" is a good rule of thumb.

2. Remote podcasts are the biggest headache. On one hand, it's great to get recordings of live environs that would be lost to time otherwise, but in some ways, it's tricky because it's hard to get a room balance unless you can plug into a sound board to record. Sometimes that's easy, sometimes not. Usually, Matt or I bring a portable MP3 recorder and we place it in a spot where it can pick up the audio. Sometimes we can extend them from a tripod or a stalk to get a live room feed, but more times than not, the answer is to place the recorder on the podium or table. Positive, it gets the center of the room and when the speaker is lined up, it's crisp and clear. If they pace the room (common with live speakers), we lose them when they are off-axis. Most frustrating is when they "palm the table" or place their hands on the podium. Yep, the recorder picks all that stuff up. If I'm lucky, they are between breaths or at pauses, meaning I can filter them out. If they are during their speaking, and it's an important point, there's nothing I can do but leave it in there and let the bumps and noises be.

3. We do our group meeting calls on Skype, and most of the time, everyone comes in at a slightly different volume. That means that I have to do separation and mixing (really time consuming), or I do track segment amplification, trimming, leveling and normalization. While I haven't gotten to the point where I can do a totally automated "clean and level" with one take, it's gotten to the point where, after I do a course re-leveling of the audio and get most of the audio into a rough volume range, then I can run a number of scripted actions on the file and get the sound as level as possible. This used to take me 30 minutes on a given podcast. I've shortened this down to about ten minutes now.

4. I've experimented with five microphones since this process started, and I've concluded that the Blue Snowball and the Blue Yeti make for the best podcast microphones. They sound warm, they allow for different configurations, and the Snowball in the "Ringer" just plain looks cool. It reminds me of doing a radio show in the 1950s. Also, along with using the Blue Snowball mic, I have decided that 4:00 a.m. really is the best time to record my voice. It sounds way deeper and more sultry (like a real announcer) at that time of day, so it's become a habit to just record my vocal part then when possible. Later in the day, I'm a lot more high pitched and reedier.

So what do we have in store for the next 100 shows? I'm guessing a lot of topics that you all will find interesting, a mix of presentation styles, and hopefully an evolving and cleaner presentation, one that you will enjoy listening to for the next 100 episodes, or more :).