Author Archive for Brent Strange

Starwest 2012 Discount code!

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StarWest 2012If you’re interested in attending Starwest 2012 (September 30-October 5) this year but haven’t pulled the trigger yet, you are in luck! On type of early bird pricing (which ends on 08/03/2012) you can now use the discount code of “SPWS” to get an extra $200 off. That’s a grand total of $600 off! I hope to see you there… I’ve put a lot of time and effort into my cloud testing talk. Come check it out on Wednesday 10/03 : Beyond the Silver Lining: Testing Go Daddy’s CloudC.

Converted from DasBlog to WordPress

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WordPress Logo Well, I’ve gone and done it. I’ve moved from DasBlog to WordPress, which means moving QAInsight.net from the server in my office closet to being hosted at GoDaddy.com. Conversion was pretty straight forward:

  1. Converted DasBlog content to BlogML using the DasBlog to BlogML Converter
  2. Did miscelaneous link cleanup in the BlogML file (removed port 8080 internal references, etc)
  3. Imported the BlogML file into WordPress using BlogML Importer WordPress plug-in
  4. Ran Web Link Validator to find broken URLs, and then fixed them
  5. Reviewed Google’s impression of my site through Google Webmaster Tools, and fixed it’s complaints

The whole port 8080 thing I had going on… those links aren’t going to resolve anymore since I’m doing shared hosting and have no control over the ports (in order to forward). Lesson learned, it is what it is.

Now it’s time to create a new QA Insight WordPress theme! HTML5 & CSS3 here I come.

Top 5 Reasons QA Insight Has Gone Dark

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Hey there! I’m still part of your feed? It’s been a while my friend.

As I prepare to speak at StarWest this year, I’m reminded by my bio that “Brent enjoys blogging and cartooning about his QA, testing, and development experiences on QAInsight.net“. Though I haven’t blogged in quite some time, I truly still do love writing here, but things change & priorities change. I have 5 good reason why this blog has “gone dry”. Alright some are reasons, some are excuses. Here goes:

  1. Go Daddy: It’s where I work, and it consumes me (in a good way). It’s a great place to work, with never ending challenges, and the sky is the limit. You can be involved and successful as you want/dare to be. I’ve chosen to write  2 of my own tickets. One says “software automation” and the other says “agile process via Kanban“. Those 2 tickets consume quite a bit of time for me. On top of that, my required day job involves working on the “Nebula” team which builds and supports the internal Go Daddy Cloud Storage (JBOD), which is used by many public facing Go Daddy products. I can write hundreds of posts on this stuff. Lets see what happens after the blog revamp.
  2. Blog Revamp: If you haven’t noticed, this blog has been hosted out of the closet of my home. The port 8080 forwarding thing messes all sorts of stuff up (stats, search, etc.). I need to port this content from dasblog to WordPress and get it out of my closet (hmmm. wonder where I should host? Yes, I’ll be dog fooding-it at Go Daddy). This mountain of work has been a huge blog writing demotivater for me. As I type now, the CPU fan in the little pizza box that this site is hosted on is squealing. It’s doomed, the site could go down today, next month, or next year. All I know is that I’ve got to get this project moving. Hosting and conversion first, theming later. Taking the time to do so, means sacrificing the family.
  3. Family: The wife and kids, boy do I love them. Writing about QA and testing usually happens at night when they are in bed, so I don’t sacrifice my time with them. Seems simple enough, until I realized that my lack of physical fitness has a huge impact on my life (insomnia, back and neck pain, mild depression).
  4. Physical Fitness: Write about QA at night, then get up at 4:50 AM to workout. Boy-oh-boy, that equals tired. Family, work, health, then blogging, can you guess which one suffers?
  5. Religion/Faith: I’ve had a spiritual reawakening in the last few years. I sincerely have a REAL commitment to God now. It honestly has changed my life, my perspective, my parenting skills, and my marriage. Though this is last on the list, its actually the most important time consumer on the list. On top of the bullets above, attending, serving (teaching 1st grade), bible studies, and a Guatemala mission trip are also taking up my time (through Mission Community Church).

So, that with said, rest in comfort knowing that I’m still alive, doing better than ever, and still fighting the good fight (Testing & Quality). Please look forward to a summary post talking about what I’ve been doing at Go Daddy in the last 2 years. Hopefully there will be more to follow once this blog is converted to a hosted WordPress account. Until then.

Screencast: Automate with VS 2010 Express, WebAii, MbUnit, & C#

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Overview
In this screencast I walk you through doing basic browser setup and automation using a free technology stack: Visual Studio 2010 Express, the WebAii Testing Framework from Telerik, C#, and MbUnit/Gallio. Why this stack you ask? Well, what I’m showing you is a FREE, non-trial, stepping stone to help you do a proof a concept with some leading edge tools in .NET without forking out the money.

One thing that we struggle with in our department is helping those who are interested in doing automation explore the possibility while aligning with technologies the development team is using. The problem is the initial cost of Microsoft’s Visual Studio and Telerik’s WebUi Test Studio (which uses the WebAii API) is far to much for somebody that is just tinkering (greater than $5000). This technology stack enables you to tinker, but keep in mind you will be missing out on a LOT of features and productivity enablers that come with the product that you pay for. For example with WebUi Test Studio Developer Edition you can get Visual Studio integration which gives recording functionality (a huge productivity enabler) and with Visual Studio Pro the ability to use WebUI project templates, advanced debugging, etc. Ideally, once you’ve proven out your POC for management you would be able to solicit for the funds for the full product, which in turn would open up another world of collaboration and productivity.

Download

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The Testing Planet Newspaper is Here!

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The Software Testing Club has done it again! Their quarterly “print”, has been redone and now we have “The Testing Planet” as a newspaper! I just got mine in the mail the other day, and I have to say it’s pretty dang unique, informative and fun. You too can buy your own Printed Copy, but if you can’t find it within yourself to go old school and read the printed paper, you can download it for free here. You should probably buy a copy for safe keeping though, because it contains two of the worlds best QA comics: Cartoon Tester and Do Loop Until 0. Which makes the paper INVALUABLE!thetesingplanet

I’m Looking for an Automation Engineer (SDET)

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Go Daddy’s Hosting R&D department is looking to hire a Software Automation Engineer/SDET. Check out the job posting here. This is an awesome opportunity my QA friend. Let me tell you why:

  1. You’ll be working with me! Uhmm, why so quiet?. not impressed? Never mind I said that then. How about you’ll be working at the same company as Danica Patrick then?
  2. You’ll be working with cutting edge technology.
  3. Our process is agile (we practice Kanban).
  4. We work on “cloud computing” products.
  5. The opportunity to expand your test and development skills is huge.
  6. The team is tight knit, super smart, we work hard, and yet have fun.
  7. The team is passionate about our products.
  8. As an Automation Engineer you aren’t trapped into using one set of test tools or a language. We use what works best and makes sense for the situation.
  9. You’ll be in the position to mentor other engineers in the art of automation.
  10. You’ll be surrounded by other Automation Engineers which gives you the opportunity to collaborate with equally minded people.
  11. Oh yeah, and Go Daddy in general is awesome place to work, check out the Go Daddy careers page for more info.

You know you want to! Apply here.

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