his time has come

Yesterday was our baby's due date, and it came and went without incident. We decided to try and induce the labor, so we're going back tonight to do that. With any luck, we'll have the little guy here by week's end, but there is a chance that the process won't start the labor and we'll be forced to just wait it out or look into other alternatives. It oughtta be real fun tonight, because my wife will be forced to lay on her back for about twelve hours or so. I also don't have the first clue what I'm going to do for those twelve hours either, especially without an internet connection. Guess I'll get to catch up on my reading.....

lament for a tester

Why does it have to be impossible to sell management on the concept of dedicated software testers? Testing is a vital part of the software development process, yet too many organizations (mine included) only pay lip service to the idea.

Around here, I feel that many hold the belief that software bugs are the programmer's fault and that they are to blame for producing faulty code. If you're of this mindset, here's a little excercise for you. Take 30 minutes and write a 2-5 page essay. Check and proofread it all you want. After that, hand it off to someone of equal or greater literary competence (no fair having your two-year-old appraise your work), and see if they can find any mistakes. Any at all; even a small one. Chances are quite high that they were able to find at least one mistake.

Even the best authors make mistakes in grammar, spelling, or punctuation; it's inevitable. That's why authors have editors and various other proofreaders. These people exist as a check to make sure the author (and the publisher!) doesn't embarass himself by publishing a novel rife with grammatical errors. Why then should writing code be any different?

Programmers make mistakes. As is the case with authors, this fact is inevitable. Don't ever believe that a programmer wants to produce shoddy code. That just doesn't make any sense. To a programmer, code is just like that novel is to the author. It's an achievement. Something to be proud of. But sometimes, the user behaves in ways that the programmer would never in his wildest dreams expect. They double click the mouse when a single click would suffice. They type passwords in with the caps lock key on. Users are all different and see things differently than programmers. Without a second set of eyes on our work, there will be bugs, and should be expected.

This is where testers come in. Testers should work closely with the programmers, helping to greatly reduce the chances that a bug will find it's way out into the open. Without a dedicated QA team, can you really hope to release anything that isn't of beta quality at best? Remember the old adage about a million monkeys on a million keyboards? That's what we need. We need testers to turn the caps lock key on; to type in 3,721 characters into a text box; to stand on their heads and recite the national anthem while drinking orange juice and clicking the mouse. Most of the time, it won't take that much effort to find a bug, but many times, the really interesting and elusive bugs take just this amount of dedication to find.

I could go on for pages more about the need for good software testers, but instead, I'm going to link to an article Joel wrote, that I find particularly fitting.

The Top Five (Wrong) Reasons You Don't Have Testers

a friend takes his leave

My colleague and friend had his last day with the company yesterday; moving on to bigger and better things. We've been working pretty closely together for a little over a year on our current project, so it's sad to see him go. We've had both successes and failures, all the while helping to refine and better the other in our craft. I've learned a lot from him over the last year or so, and can only hope that I've been as influential to him as he has been to me. It will be different here without him around, but at least he hasn't gone too far, so it's a good bet that we'll still see him around from time to time.

Thanks, Jay, for all that you've done. For helping me to become a better coder, for pushing me when I needed it, for all the support you've given, for putting up with all my "what if?"s throughout the months, and for being more than just a co-worker. It's been a wild year, but a great one. I wish you all the best in your new position!

exodus of the ladybugs

It's that time of year again. Every year around February, the thousands of ladybugs that hibernate in the walls come out in droves to try and find an exit to the outside. Sadly, probably about 85% of them never see the light of day and instead spend their time buzzing about my office. I've already got 78 dead ladybugs in the overhead fluorescent light in my ceiling. Clean it out? Why bother? Tomorrow there will just be 78 more....

[Listening to: Brighter Day (flashrider remix) (D I G I T A L L Y - I M P O R T E D - Vocal Trance - a fusion of trance, dance, and chilling vocals together!) - Treesh - ]

light tricks

Thought this was pretty cool. I'm gonna have to get some of those lights and learn how to do this!

timesink

Well, because of a last minute change of holiday plans, I was forced to travel and pick up my copy of World of Warcraft yesterday. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. Far from it. I was finally able to get back into the game last night and level my primary character up to level 7 in a few hours.

This game is incredible. I've been hooked ever since I was fortunate enough to get into the open beta a few weeks ago. If I were to sum the game up, I'd have to say that it's very much like Everquest, except with all of the major flaws fixed. Leveling up doesn't take ages, which is incredibly nice for players like myself who don't have time to spend eight hours a day in-game. I can play for a few hours and still feel satisfied that I've accomplished something. The quest system is incredible, because it gives you something to do aside from hacking and slashing monsters. Many of the quests may be trite, and considered "gopher" quests, but they add a lot of value in terms of gameplay simply because it breaks the monotony of killing things for experience. I also love that there is no experience loss on death! This has driven me insane in other games because I'd log on to play for an hour or two, end up dying, and then be worse off than I was before! Bravo, Blizzard, for not forcing me to waste hours upon hours of my life for getting my character killed. And that's another thing, dying in WoW is actually somewhat entertaining because you get to become a ghost in order to retrieve your corpse. The screen even goes grayscale and your character takes on a ghostly appearance.

I got the Collector's Edition as well, as I mentioned a little earlier, and I highly reccommend that. The art book is wonderful and the soundtrack is quite good as well. I'm even impressed with the cloth map which everyone else seems to not like so well for some reason. I've gotten cloth maps as omake in other game packages, and this one is by far the best.

[Listening to: Duskwood (Ambient) - Jason Hayes - ]

wow:ce

At last! I will have a copy of the World of Warcraft Collector's Edition. It occurred to me that Best Buy allows you to purchase things online and pick them up in the store. Their questionable business ethics aside, I decided to place my order, and lo and behold, I have a copy waiting for me that I should be able to pick up on the way to visit family tomorrow for Thanksgiving.

The thing I hate most is that I was a part of the beta, so I already have the software installed on my machine. I've also already purchased the game. But I don't have the stinking authentication key that would have me in the game tonight. And because I'm visiting family, it means that I won't even get to play the game tomorrow, but will have to wait until the day after Thanksgiving. Ah well, at least I'll have the art book to look at and the soundtrack to drive my wife crazy with on the car ride up there. I suppose I'll even bring a laptop along so that I can watch the behind the scenes DVD. Now I just have to hope that there's still a server or two out there on which my character names will not be taken...

denied

I went to Wal-Mart early this morning to pick up my copy of World of Warcraft Truth be told, I went in with the expectation of disappointment. Wal-Mart, especially the local one here, does not seem entirely keen on catering to special-interest gamers like myself. I went with the intention of getting the Collector's Edition, because I'm that much of a geek. I nearly caved and bought one of the two remaining standard versions that they had, simply to get back into the game and start playing again, but I restrained myself. I want the Collector's Edition. My only hope is that the stores will not be completely sold out tomorrow night, which will be the first chance I will have to shop outside this silly little small town that has no other place to buy games.

ronald never looked so good

My guess is, we won't be seeing this commercial in the states anytime soon.

pen of the gods

The little things in life are often the things that bring up the most joy. I bought this pen last week on my way to a user group meeting. It is far and away the smoothest writing instrument I've used in recent memory. It is a Uniball Jetstream for any interested parties out there.

new setup

I'm trying out a few things with this post. First, it's my first time moblogging from my new camera phone. It's also my first use of Flickr for image hosting. Hopefully I've got everything set up correctly. Pictured is my new office setup at home. I was forced to move things a little sooner than I anticipated so the place is still a bit of a wreck.

super mario bros on ice

Scary stuff here. Super Mario Bros. On Ice hosted by Jason Bateman and Alyssa Milano. I was really into Nintendo around this time, but I think I still would've found this the most ridiculous thing ever to be put on television. This makes the movie seem Oscar-worthy by comparison.

one step closer to skynet

I don't know about you, but this is downright frightening. A group of scientists in Florida have cultured the brain cells from lab rats and created their own brain-in-a-jar. This "brain" is essentially a living computer that could "someday be used to fly small unmanned airplanes or handle tasks that are dangerous for humans". Great. Only one problem...isn't this a setup to some Hollywood blockbuster? My geek nature is both amazed and horrified by this technology.

One part of the article really got me, too. "Though the 'brain' can successfully control a flight simulation program, more elaborate applications are a long way off." Come on, I can hardly successfully control a flight simulation program. And we're moving this thing up to "more elaborate applications"? Get ready, the machines are about to take over the world.

revenge of the ladybugs

The little red demons have returned. They are swarming around the office and seeking entry as I speak. If you ever need a reason to truly be unscrupuously evil to someone, just subject them to a ladybug infestation. Gonna have to order myself a button, I think.

[Listening to: Sunday Bed-Curl.mp3 - 01 - ]

new toy

Just placed my order for the parts to build my new computer. I'm extremely excited about this one because I should finally have enough of a system to keep up with the games that are coming out, at least for the next few years. Here are the parts I've ordered.

Jetmaster Jr. Case
Asus K8N-E Mobo
AMD-64 3400+ CPU (yeah, I splurged a bit here)
512 MB DDR RAM (2 sticks)
250 GB Hard disk (ooh...SATA!)
CPU Fan
GeForce FX 5700 LE
16x DVD-ROM drive
DVD+-RW Drive (I wanted dual layer, but didn't want to pay for dual layer. Maybe that'll be a later upgrade.)
500 Watt Power Supply
UV-Reactive EIDE Cable
Blue Cold Cathode Light Kit
SATA power connection adapter
Translucent blue SATA drive cable
Creative Inspire 5200 speakers

No additional sound card on this one since the motherboard ships with 8 channel sound. If I find I have enough money left over from my birthday, I may splurge on the Audigy 2ZS with a Live Drive a little later. Another accessory I think I'm going to go for right away is the Beyond TV/Firefly PC Remote bundle I found last night while surfing around looking for cool stuff. I can't wait to have a PC that can act like a PVR, especially one that doesn't require a monthly fee like TiVo does.

Now, hopefully I haven't left anything essential out that will delay my building this monster! ^_^

it's a boy!

Monday, we went to the doctor's office to have our first ultrasound of the baby. It was a completely entrhalling experience for both of us. We spent about a half an hour watching the screen in amazement. We got to see, for the very first time, our new baby. We also found out that we're expecting a boy. It amazed me that we have the technology to do something like that. We were watching our little baby, not more than 5 inches or so long, kicking and moving around. He is evidentally as stubborn as his father because he was upside down and pretty well refused to move from that position; the technician had to poke and prod at my wife's abdomen to try and get the baby to move where he needed him.

After the ultrasound and the following doctor's visit, we ran a few errands and then got to returning things. My wife had already bought lots of baby stuff (boy and girl items). So we had to go return all the pink things. We ended up spending everything we got back from the return and then some on more boy stuff though. This baby is probably going to have enough clothes to get through kindergarten at this point.

new views

A couple of days ago, one of the bosses came up here and gave us all brand new chairs! Though I can't understand the logic, considering we just had our old chairs reupholstered, I was thankful to have a new chair that hadn't been broken in by anyone else. It's actually quite comfy, and more like the one I have at home, which is also nice.

In addition, I decided to rearrange my office from the way it had been for over a year now. This also gave me the chance to go through a year's worth of junk and get rid of stuff I didn't need anymore. Plus, the way my office was, the door was to my back. That, coupled with the fact that I usually code with headphones on and the volume turned way up, meant that someone could walk into my office, stand directly behind me, and watch over my shoulder without me realizing it. I hate when that happens, and it was starting to happen far too often.

My new arrangement has me facing the door (or rather the same wall as the door), so that I can see outside my office in my perhipheral vision. It has noticeably cut down on my paranoia. Plus, it just feels more cozy in here for some reason. I've definitely created a bit more space in here too, so I can actually fit another person in here comfortably if they need to work with me on something. Of course, now that I've switched everything around, I've still got to get used to everything being essentially in the opposite location of where I expect it. ^_^

old new chair

Well, I got my chair back finally, only it's not really my chair. I knew this would happen. Turns out they sent all the chairs of that type off to be reupholstered, whether they needed it or not (go figure). So now, we get the chairs back and nobody knows who each chair belongs to. The people in the other office got to choose first, and then we basically got the last three that weren't chosen over here in my office. I was here early enough that I got to pick my preference out of the three, but none of them was my old chair. Of course, nobody would probably notice or care except for me, I guess. Makes me wish I'd labelled my chair or something. Maybe if I'd known it were going to be stolen, I would have.

potty humor

Here's an example of what passes for humor in my office. I found these posters taped to the wall in the restroom a few weeks ago. I figured they were humorous enough to share with the world. A coworker evidentally picked them up while he was out visiting one of our clients and saw fit to share them with everyone else by posting them in only the most obvious place. For the curious, I believe that these are the posters they use in the fields to remind the workers of sanitation regulations.

Always remember, when working on a farm, it is inappropriate to drop trou and squat in the field. ^_^

the chair thief

So I come in this morning to find my desk chair missing. Someone has stolen my chair. It sucks too, because it was a really comfy chair. Plus, you know how you just kinda get used to a particular chair? I've been sitting in that chair for over a year now; it's my chair! The culprit must be found and brought to justice!

The only clue I have is from someone who was here when it happened. He said that someone came in and took them so they could be "redone", whatever the heck that means. There was nothing to "re-do" about the chairs anyway. The only chairs that were taken were mine and another just like it in my coworker's office. They were the last two in the batch of really nice chairs that we got a year or so ago (everyone else has since broken theirs). Are we being punished for keeping our nicer chairs than the others? Has management come to the conclusion that chairs with armrests confer too high a status for us to sit in any longer? Help, I'm trapped in Office Space!

So now I'm stuck sitting in this piece of crap chair that I stole from another office. Stupid chair with no armrests and no back support. I sit and wait, hoping for the return of my chair, but I can't say that I'm overly optimistic about it. May it collapse under the weight of it's new owner!!! (If I can't use it, nobody should.)