Implementing Automated Software Testing
This was one of three books I read recently on test automation. The focus of this book is on how to make a case that test automation is a worthwhile initiative to pursue, how to build the business case for automation and assuming you are able to build that case, how to take the necessary initial steps to get an automation regime in place. What I liked most about this book was how it emphasized the need to separate the automation needs of a given project or projects from the need to get an...
Read MoreFault Lines
A great read, although the author is an academic in the dismal science so it’s a bit dry. With all the bluster in the popular press documenting the finger pointing from the political right and financial types that it was bad policy and regulatory lapses that caused the meltdown, and finger pointing from the political left and socialist types that it was capitalistic greed (led by the dark cabal that is big finance) that caused the crisis, this was a really well grounded essay explaining...
Read MoreThe Mask
Most of my working life, I have found that people in the workplace come in two flavours: those that wear a mask and those that don’t. Those that don’t wear a mask are the classic “what you see is what you get”. I believe these are in the small minority. I believe most of us do wear some form of mask. I’m certainly in this latter camp. We put on our work mask before we enter our place of work because there are elements of our personalities that we either...
Read MoreThe Street-Fighter Element of Leadership
I had an interesting conversation with a good friend yesterday on the US political situation. We are both fans of Obama (though this doesn’t suggest my political ties are necessarily to the right or left) and we had high hopes for him to make a big, positive difference in the world. However, my friend is very disillusioned at this point based on Obama’s performance as a negotiator during the recent debt talks. While we both agree he got taken to the cleaners by the Republicans,...
Read MoreArchitecture – A Definition I Like
My father was a draftsman by trade. His old school skills were beautiful to behold. “Lettering” was the name given to the printing of labels on drawings done on those old drafting boards with sliding arms that allowed lines to be drawn anywhere. He could letter clearer than a typewriter could type. He took his trade to the classroom in later years and I would often practice drawing stuff out of books that he provided – funny shapes, blocks, etc. It was this stuff that...
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