False Failures: Worse Than Real Failures

Better to fail for real than fail to really fail. Huh? We know you've experienced this. Let's say you just added some new functionality into your software, and you run a new build. And let's say that 50% of your test cases fail. What is the first thing you assume? We've asked this same question as our "teaser pitch" last winter to 100 developers and QA professionals who walked up to our booth at a recent conference, and 95 of them had the same answer! The tests must be broken! This creates a cascading set of bad assumptions that will make your manager recite the adage about "ASS out of U and ME" on the whiteboard at the next project meeting. Here's why. * You assume that the problem is not with your application, it is with the test cases themselves being broken or no longer valid. * So you spend time comparing the test cases with whatever changed in your new build. * Then you dig into the test scripts to try to figure out why the test case is no longer passing, and rework them until they pass. * Or you just give up and try validating by clicking through your old Word document test cases. Fun busy work. How can you possibly call this testing? Rather than using the test to validate the application, you are using the application to test the test case - which is a program you coded! Yes, unit tests are important for finding structural bugs in your code. But once a unit test tries to get beyond that granular level of testing, it becomes another fragile program in your development environment. It is outrageous to assume that relying on coded unit test cases alone offers you any value in functional testing. In fact, the whole process is so manual and highly inefficient, that you wonder if you are doing anything more than making busy work for your own team. Unit testing has its limits. There are methods people have tried to get beyond these limits, but it is like challenging the theory of gravity. * Attempting to code for reuse - may seem possible but can only get you to the edge of Unit testing's limits. * Attempting to test the UI with your QA group, doesn't really work if you can't see those middle and back-end layers. What makes false failures so dangerous? Besides the fact that they are a morale vampire that will make the team give up on testing, false failures impact the overall effectiveness of testing. If you don't know if a failing test case is even valid, what do you really learn from testing? It is like a detective that never gathers evidence. Time to declare war on false failures.

External Hard Disk Drive: The Best Backup Medium

Want to backup quickly and easily? Backup to external hard disk drives. Backup to external hard disk drives easily, securely and efficiently. As a hard disk is the fastest and largest backup medium you can get, you may want to backup all your important files to an external hard drive. You can backup literally everything: your Outlook and Outlook Express files, your bookmarks, your favourite save games, and of course, your important work documents, photos, images and maybe even videos. As an external HDD is detatched from your system and, combined with a strong encryption algorithm, like blowfish or 3DES, you can get maximum security. Just make sure you actually remember the encryption password. You can also store your external hard disk offsite (at a friend's house, a paid locker or specialized fire-proof storage place) in case your information is very important (well, generally, anyone can do that and it can't hurt for sure). As external hard disk drives have the cheapest storage volume (about 200Gb for $150?) and you can reuse them for several years, you may as well get the cheapest backup medium at your disposal. When using a backup schedule, you can simply backup the backup program run when you are absent (or maybe even at night) to backup everything without supervision. If you need two or more backup disks, you may as well get another external HDD. Also, now there are quite large mobile hard drives, which can admit all the necessary data: work documents, e-mail files, etc. You can also carry your data anywhere you want and feel safe, because some external hard disks are now hard to break by dropping. So, go with external HDD and backup as fast as you want, as much as you want, secure your important data, get the cheapest backups and even be able to carry your backups anywhere you want.

Extend The Life Of Your Laptop Battery

If you are the owner of a laptop computer, you know how frustrating it can be when you are working on the laptop and your battery is low. If you are constantly on the go, it is sometimes difficult to find a place to plug in your computer to let it recharge. There are a few things that you can do to help you take care and extend the life of your laptop battery. General caution should be observed when running the battery of your laptop. A laptop should be plugged in to the AC adaptor whenever possible. This will ensure that your laptop battery is always charged and ready to go when it is needed. Another tip is to not expose your laptop to extreme weather conditions, especially very cold temperatures. A cold battery will run much slower than one that is warm. Also, try not to use your laptop for long periods of time without recharging the battery. This can cause information to be lost if the battery sudden stops working. When using your battery on your laptop, remember use as little power as you can by adjusting the settings on the laptop. This will make your computer go inactive when not in use for a certain amount of time. Adjusting the power setting is easy if you go into the control panel and set the display time. It is also possible to adjust the brightness of the screen display to help the life of the laptop battery. Remember to turn programs off that you are not using. This will waste battery usage quicker. Also, running movies and videos will quickly drain the battery charge. When using your laptop battery you will want to make sure you check the battery charge frequently. Charge your laptop as soon as you see the battery getting low. Whenever you can, plug in your computer. It is a good idea to always plug in your computer so that it is ready to go. Also, take care of your battery. It is important to clean the laptop battery and keep it free of dust and debris. Using canned air or a cotton swab on a regular basis can do this. The battery will run longer if it is cleaned frequently. Another tip is to have an extra battery on hand. These are easily purchased. Have at least one fully charged at all times for a quick battery change. Some laptops can run with two batteries. Most laptops are also compatible with external batteries that can easily be added and changed when necessary. Battery charges that work in the car are also good options for anyone taking their laptops on trips. Also, if you are purchasing a new laptop computer, consider buying a smaller, lightweight version. These are more efficient and are able to run longer on a battery charge than the larger laptop versions. Following these basic tips can help extend the amount of time your computer can run with a battery.

Express Yourself To The Max With Hot Myspace Layouts

Being a member of MySpace, you should not be laid back when it comes to the look of the profile. There are millions of users out there, and you should definitely try to be as different as possible. If you are not different, it is highly unlikely that anyone would want to look at any information about you. This is not something that you would want. Thus you can begin to use the power of images through MySpace layouts to express yourself. By expressing yourself, you will make it known to others that you are looking to make new friends. You can express yourself in many ways. There would be a lot of themes that you could choose from. You can choose any good image that would speak about your interests. There are plenty of categories to choose from, so what exactly should be stopping you? There would be a lot of creativity to the profile once you begin to choose the right layouts. MySpace layouts can be changed often, because you do not even need to be a technical expert to do this. All you have to do is copy paste a code on to your profile. Since the process is so easy, there would be no need for you to panic about making the profile look different. Making the profile unique is also a good idea, and it is very easy to do so as well. If you have some particular interest that you are trying to showcase, then it must be done accordingly. This will speak volumes about you. You need not even write much. You can of course look at various other profiles before customizing your own. Taking time to pick the right layout is also very important. If you express yourself the right way, then it would make sense when others begin looking at your profile. They would know instantly whether they could be friends or not. You can use text and graphics besides plain images. This will be even more exciting, but just ensure that they load quickly on to the profile. This would be important as no one will want to wait for a long time when it comes to accessing someone’s profile. You can also say so many things about yourself with MySpace layouts. A lot of mileage will be given to the profile if the MySpace layouts are used well. Choosing at random will also not help in any way. It will be about choosing the right ones so that there will be a different look and feel to the entire profile. There would be possibilities to even create the layouts of your choice. This can be done if you have some unique concept with your profile. This is also easy to do and will create a lot of buzz around the profile.

Electronic Discovery: As an Attorney, Are You Prepared For It?

You’re sitting in your office when your secretary buzzes you and says you have a letter in from the mail. Upon opening it you realize it’s a request for electronic discovery. The opposing attorney is asking for your client’s hard drives, emails, phone records, tape backups, and other legacy media. Do you know how to respond to their request? Do you know what is relevant or not to the litigation? How do you review and do productions on electronic discovery? What kind of software exists out there to help? And can’t you just give them paper and let them be happy with that? So many questions, and not surprisingly, so many answers. To begin, you need to know what electronic discovery is before undertaking any kind of response. Electronic discovery is the term coined to indicate any information in electronic format that is passed between two parties for the sake of discovery during or before litigation commences. Such information can be electronic files on a hard drive, emails on a pda, server, laptop, or desktop, and voice and video recordings among other things. Generally, most electronic discovery is centered on anything that could be paper, but is usually electronic. Emails, word documents, and excel spreadsheets seem to be the most highly sought after items in discovery. Whereas an attorney could get away in the past with printing out an email and handing it over the other side, these days that is generally not good enough. Email files contain what is called meta data which shows who sent the email, what time, who was cc’d and who was even bcc’d. It may even show what email servers sent the data out originally. Because emails are kept in electronic format during the ordinary course of business, it seems only right to ask for it in the same format. There are many vendors out there that can assist with processing emails and electronic files for the sake of discovery and productions. Doing a price comparison won’t always give you the best solution for a service provider. Ask around. See who is doing a good job among other firms and who isn’t. Vendors will take the electronic data, process it by taking out the metadata and create what is called a tiff image and a corresponding data record linked to that image that you can search on. These vendors will even OCR the image so that you can search on the words actually on the image. Computer forensic experts also exist and would be happy to provide consultation to the attorney who needs help in deciding how to handle this new realm of discovery. Such consultants are usually well versed in discovery requests and can assist in making your own discovery request as well. Once you have received the electronic data from the opposing attorneys, you now need to review it. The same vendors who assisted you with your own processing can now process the opposing attorneys files as well. They will either process and give you back searchable data files for various popular litigation support software (Concordance, Summation, etc) or some vendors have hosted solutions available that are web based and allow you to do online reviews for relevancy, confidential, and other hot coding issues that you would normally do in your own office with paper. Now that I’ve given a little primer on what electronic discovery is, don’t be alarmed if you are not up to date on everything. There is more than enough information on the web that will allow you to sink your teeth in and absorb this ever growing field of electronic discovery. A good source of reading about this field is http://www.electronicdiscoverycenter.com

E-Banks that Accept US Players

Recently, the US Federal government banned online casinos from operating in America by making it illegal to transfer money to them through any US bank or payment system. As a result of this law, most of the popular online casino networks such as Party Gaming and PlayTech left the United States. Overnight, online casino players found themselves being chased by the Federal government. But, after a fortnight, the online casino industry came up with a solution and new online casinos started taking root. These began to operate under a different business umbrella, and by doing that, rendered the transfer of money to and from them legal. A major part of this was enlisting electronic banking systems that would accept this new clarification and start doing business with me. Listed in this article are the electronic banking systems that accept players from the United States that wish to play in online casinos. The Payment Systems You Can Use: 1, 2) MasterCard and Visa: The most popular credit cards in the world, you can use these for depositing money into your casino account. But, please note that the casinos do not deposit your winning through your credit card. They use one of the other electronic payment systems. This is also the biggest reason why you should refrain from using your personal credit cards today for gambling. 3, 4) Visa Delta, Visa Electron: These are debit cards that one can use to deposit cash into their casino account. By debit card, it means that the money you pay through the card, is immediately withdrawn from your bank account. This is a comfortable option, but here too, you cannot receive money into it. 5) Neteller: Based in the UK and traded on the London AIM Stock Exchange, this e-bank company is one of the major independent electronic banking entities in the world, and it allows players to transfer money to and from an online casino. 6) Neteller Instacash This is Neteller's version of the Debit Card, and, in fact, it is just like any other debit card with one difference. To use, InstaCash, you have to pay a small amount. But, most casinos will offer to pay this for you, so read their regulations. 7) EcoCard Based in the European Union, EcoCard offers a wider range of electronic banking solutions than the other e-banks. Other than the regular card and debit system, you can decide beforehand how to create a flexible financial account. Because they use a wide network of banks in Europe, transactions made through EcoCard are quick and efficient. 8) FirePay This e-banking system is solely web-based and carries out its transactions just like a debit card. You place cash into your FirePay account, and then, you can use that money to pay or deposit into your casino account. While it will not cost you a dime to open an account, you will be charged a minimal amount each time you transfer money from your bank account to FirePay. 9) Moneybookers All you need to open an account is an email address! This e-banking system uses transactions from your credit or debit card or your bank account to whichever company you wish to move your money to. Regulated in the UK and run by Gatcombe Park Ventures Limited, this is one of the relatively new e-finance companies that allow transferring money to online casinos. 10) eWalletXpress: Owned and run by Navaho Networks Inc, eWalletXpress is a new electronic payment system that has been created to answer the need for US players to transfer funds to online casinos. 11) 900Pay: This is a completely different e-banking system. Instead of charging your bank account or your credit card, 900Pay charges your telephone bill for all your financial transactions. This is one of the fastest methods of electronic payment because you do not have to go through a long and detailed sign up process. And, if you were wondering, this does work to fund your casino account.

Easy Ways To Secure Your Computer

Just follow these simple tips; your computer will be free from virus and spyware. 1. Stop and think before opening any attachment you receive. If you don't know the sender, don't open the attachment - just delete it. It doesn't matter if the subject promises you'll see Britney Spears dancing nude on the kitchen table, just delete it. Most of the devastating worms and viruses of recent times were distributed via email. These viruses feed on the curiosity and also the ignorance of a huge number of email users. People will get an email from fakename@weirdsuspiciousdomain and they'll just open whatever file is attached to it. If the email is from someone you know, always scan any attachments first before downloading or opening them. If every email user in the world followed these simple guidelines the distribution of viruses via email will grind to a halt. 2. Protect yourself Good protection on the Internet these days consists of 3 components: anti-virus software, anti-spyware software and a firewall. Anti-Virus Software: Good virus protection doesn't need to cost you a fortune. You can get excellent free anti-virus software on the Internet. Even the professional version of their software is very affordable. Anti-Spyware Software: For spyware protection, you can get it for free on the Internet as well. A Firewall: As for a firewall, Windows XP ships with a decent enough firewall. Just make sure it is always enabled. Alternatively you can visit a site like http://www.download.com and search for Zone Alarm, which has an excellent free version. The most important thing to keep in mind is that you need to keep your anti-virus software up to date. It is recommended that you update your anti-virus and anti-spyware software at least once a week. An anti-virus program that uses definitions that are months old is just about useless. 3. Watch out what you download Spyware is embedded in a lot of software on the Internet - especially those related to ripping, converting and playing music and videos. That free MP3 player or DVD Ripper you just downloaded may have installed a bunch of harmful spyware without you even knowing about it. 4. Keep yourself informed Major anti-virus software developers like Symantec and Grisoft updates their sites regularly with the latest virus alerts. Visit these sites frequently to keep yourself aware of what threats are doing the rounds and how to avoid them. Using these simple and software I have kept my computer virus-free for the past 3 years. It's not rocket science. Just stay alert, use some common sense and you too can stay bug free while still enjoying your Internet experience. 5. Stay clear of pornographic and illegal software sites If you want to pick up viruses and spyware quickly, visit some pornographic web sites. One wrong click on a subtle little pop-up or security warning window (which you'll run into often on these type of sites) and you'll have infested yourself with trojan horses, spyware, dialers and other unfavorable software that could leave your computer wide open to further attacks. Follow all these useful tips and your computer will be kept secure and virus free.