Software Test Podcast

Episode 28

2012-06-04T03:45:20Z

Special guest Larry Whitford of Beckman-Coulter joins Michael and Emily discussing software processes. Larry talks about PSP or the Personal Software Process. He tells us what it is, where it came from, and why it's being used at Beckman-Coulter.

Music for this episode is from the Free Music Archive. The artist is Northbound and the song is Forward.

Episode 27

2012-05-27T05:21:16Z

Episode 27 features a special guest, Shaun Bradshaw. Shaun primarily discusses metrics. What are metrics? Why use them? Michael can't seem to understand the good of metrics even though Shaun brings up several examples. Shaun discusses the Bug Bounce and Rayleigh's Curve. We talk about some of the dangers of metrics but also the good. Shaun shares his knowledge about metrics in the Agile process versus the waterfall process. Shaun even get's a moniker thanks to Emily.
Music for this podcast is from the Free Music Archive.
The artist is Damscray and the song is Rural Metric Seven.

Episode 26

2012-05-21T02:34:58Z

Episode 26 is the social network. Special guest Todd Nilson speaks about social media. Is it important for software testers? Todd makes the case. Emily discusses her personal use of social media and how it benefitted her. Michael sticks up for the printing press.

-Music for this episode provided by Ultracat. The song is "One nice thing once a day"

Episode 25 repost

2012-05-06T14:15:01Z

Interview with James Bach. He talks about software testing. We get him to talk about his website satisfice.com, why software testers don't seem to take software testing seriously, and philosophy. Emily gets James to discuss 'the next big thing' but the answer probably wasn't what either of us expected.
Had to repost the podcast because of technical issues.

Music for this episode was provided by the Free Music Archive. The performer is Trash80 and the song is Missing You.

Episode 24

2012-04-30T03:57:07Z

Episode 24. Is software testing an art or a science? Emily and Michael discuss this question. And they seem to agree on the answer.

Music for this episode is Chris Zabriskie with the song John Stockton Slow Drag. Music is provided by the Free Music Archive.

Episode 23

2012-04-16T00:53:20Z

Episode 23 is about taxes. Well it relates to taxes. Okay it only slightly relates to taxes. April 15th is traditionally the tax day. In recognition of that, the show starts by talking about bug taxonomy. What is it? Emily and Michael discuss that but then leap into the main theme for the show, accessibility. They talk about what it means for software or websites to be accessible and how to test for it. User acceptance testing is discussed. Michael and Emily discuss whether testers can be 'users'. Michael talks about the Therac-25.
The episode ends with an invitation to join us on the show, simply email admin@softwaretestpodcast.com and you can be a part of a future podcast.
Music for this episode was by Chris Zabriskie and the song is called Prelude 18. Music is provided by the Free Music Archive.
Happy tax day everyone.

Episode 22

2012-04-09T07:30:28Z

Who tests the testers? What's a review? Emily and Michael discuss reviews including personal reviews and independent reviews. Michael does a long discussion on the difference between verification and validation. Are they different? Emily discusses who's the best person to do a review. Michael has a bet. Is it a good thing?
Happy Easter everyone from the staff of www.softwaretestpodcast.com
Music for this episode is by 8-bit Ninjas and the song is Shiny Spaceship. Music is provided by the Free Music Archive.

Episode 21

2012-04-01T04:12:59Z

Episode 21 is on TCQAA, the Twin Cities Quality Assurance Association. Joining us are the President of TCQAA, Melissa Stone and the previous president, Stephan Kieu. They talk about what TCQAA is and what it does. Emily's secret TCQAA ties are revealed. Emily discusses TCQAA from time to time on previous podcasts so we wanted to provide some insight into it. We discuss some general software testing topics and talk again about the Agile process.
Music for this podcast is from Free Music Archive.
The artist is Yacht and the song is "I'm in love with a ripper (party mix) (instrumental)"

Episode 20

2012-03-25T07:31:57Z

Episode 20 is here. Due to production delays and faulty equipment, Episode 20 took much longer to deliver than anticipated. But the long delay was worth it. Emily and Michael are joined by a special guest, Bob Crews from Checkpoint Technologies, Inc out of Tampa, Florida. Bob discusses a gamut of software testing topics from automation testing to favorite books to being a good tester all the way to software project management. He shares some experiences that shaped his views on software testing.
Emily says there's one moment in every podcast where she says something she regrets. See if you can find that moment.
Michael just seems to ask the same questions over and over.
Emily finally tells a software test joke.
Music for this episode was provided by Bogdan and the song is Phase Transition. As always, music is provided by the Free Music Archive, freemusicarchive.org/

Episode 19

2012-03-05T05:23:04Z

Episode 19 is our 'show errors' episode. We discuss the many, many errors that Emily and Michael have committed during the 18 previous episodes. Michael discusses how he thinks his description of the difference between software testing and software quality assurance was in error. Emily discusses her distinction between Sweden and Switzerland. After discussing the many show errors, the duo discuss software testing axioms. Michael defines what an axiom is and then they discuss the axioms that all software testers should know. The show finishes with a testing tip from Michael about using the benefits of the information age.
Music for this episode is provided by Evgeny Grinko and the song is Sunset. Music is provided by Free Music Archive.

Episode 18

2012-02-26T00:53:55Z

Episode 18. This episode is all about contracting. We have a special guest Mike Faulise of TAP|QA. He discusses the perceptions of software test contractors and why someone would enjoy being a contractor. He discusses the challenges he has encountered in his work. Mike talks about stress testing and some of the tools he has used or encountered in his work. He talks about how he goes about hiring a software tester and the qualities he looks for.

Music for this podcast is by Black Math with the song Instrumental 2. Music is provided by the Free Music Archive.

Episode 17

2012-02-19T06:46:39Z

Episode 17 is here. In this episode a special guest joins Emily and Michael. It is Karl Espe, the architect of Pearson Vue's web team. He discusses many different topics related to software testing from a software development perspective. Topics include testing refactored code, the relationship between software developers and QA, defects, web testing, mobile testing, and we even finish with a software testing joke. Karl provides his unique views on testers and what he really thinks of them.
Music for this episode is provided by Bluebrain and the song is 'The Pull'. The song is available from the Free Music Archive at www.freemusicarchive.org.

Karl invites anyone with comments or questions to contact him at the following email address: karl.espe@gmail.com

Episode 16

2012-02-05T21:03:52Z

Episode 16 is our Tools episode. Before we get started talking about tools Emily and Michael discuss our first-ever awards winner. We discuss whether Quality Assurance really means something different than software testing. Michael asks Emily if she thinks software testing is harder than hardware testing. And then Michael and Emily wade into the waters of tools. But Michael seems to dislike tools and tries to offer some warnings about them. Emily discusses some of her favorite tools. Michael discusses some of the tools he used in the past. Michael asks Emily if she had one software testing tool on a desert island, which one would it be?
This week the podcast was recorded using Skype. If you notice any sound problems, please communicate that to us.
Please email with episode suggestions or questions, comments.
We try to post new episodes every week so check back for new podcasts regularly.
Music for this episode was by Pierlo and the song is Barbarian from the album Olivetti Prodest. Music is provided by www.freemusicarchive.org.

Episode 15 Part 2

2012-02-04T05:50:41Z

Episode 15 Part 2 continues the lively discussion of How to Be A Better Tester. Emily offers one suggestion about being aware of the project timelines and schedule. Michael disagrees and once again they seem to argue while really seeming to agree. They talk about communication and how necessary it is. We discuss SOPA. Michael discusses hist theory of the evolution of testers. We finish with Michael doing a song about software testing. This last part may be the reason this episode almost never saw the light of day. Be warned.

Music for this episode was Night Owl by the artist Broke For Free available on the Free Music Archive.
As always, the views expressed on the show are only those of the speakers and imply no involvement or endorsement by any company or organization.

Episode 15 Part 1

2012-01-29T03:50:46Z

Episode 15 is here! It's so big that it had to be split into another two-parter podcast. The topic for this episode is: How to be a better software tester. In this episode, Emily and Michael share several suggestions with examples of what they mean. Emily and Michael discuss 'natural' testers. They talk about reading books. The importance of enjoying work. Is it important to ask questions. They discuss a variety of points and what they mean to them. Michael recommends Lessons Learned In Software Testing again. Emily discusses Wired magazine.
Stay tuned for part 2 coming soon.
As always, your feedback and questions are welcome, and this time Emily is going to be giving a special prize. Stay tuned to part 2 to see what that is.

Music for this episode is provided by Lee Rosevere and the song is Up All Night from the album Colorless Green Ideas Sleep Furiously. Music is provided by the Free Music Archive.

Episode 14

2012-01-14T07:47:43Z

Episode 14 features a special guest, Michael Johnson. The podcast starts out by discussing Michael's background. He is a Quality Assurance analyst working primarily in test automation. We discuss whether QA is a stepping stone to other careers. The thought horrifies Emily. Michael Johnson tells us some of his favorite QA stories. We discuss regression testing and what it is. Michael and Emily argue over how much regression testing is enough regression testing. Michael Johnson has the testing tips section this week. We finish with a QA joke of the week which Michael forgot to do in Episode 13.
Music for Episode 14 is the song Rogue by Raw Stiles. This song is available on Free Music Archive or freemusicarchive.org/

Episode 13

2012-01-08T08:09:57Z

Episode 13 is here. We have a special guest host with Karyn Crouse filling in for Emily Shebesta this week. Also we have a special format for this episode as a special guest is joining us. He is Bryan Friess Sr. Project Manager at Pearson Vue. He is working on a project using the Agile process for software development. He gives insight into the interaction of software testers with project managers. Karyn and I grill Bryan about his views on software quality. We get to hear Bryan's insights into what he looks for in a team member, how he approaches quality, and what his views are on the 'Quality Police' attitude. As leader of a project using Agile processes, he gives some insights into his approach as well.
Music for this episode was Night Owl by the artist Broke For Free available on the Free Music Archive.
As always, the views expressed on the show are only those of the speakers and imply no involvement or endorsement by any company or organization.

Happy New Year

2011-12-30T23:46:01Z

Happy New Year from Emily Shebesta and Michael Raveling. This Friday, Emily and Michael are taking a break but they will be back for Episode 13 next week.
In the meantime, don't be shy about giving feedback or asking questions. We love feedback.
Stay tuned.

-Staff of www.softwaretestpodcast.com

Episode 12

2011-12-24T19:15:29Z

Episode 12 is another Holiday Special. Emily and Michael continue with more holiday spirit and talk about some of their favorite holiday memories while being a member of the IT industry. Michael somehow links his holiday memories back to the waterfall process versus the agile process. We answer the question, why does software have bugs? Michael thinks he's won an argument but Emily still wins. We finish with another high-quality software quality assurance joke.
Music for this episode is provided by The 8bitpeoples with the song The First Blip Blop Noel.
The song is available on the Free Music Archive freemusicarchive.org/music/The_8bitpeoples/The_8bits_of_Christmas

-Michael Raveling

Episode 11 Part 2

2011-12-23T01:23:31Z

It's finally here, the lost part of Episode 11. This is our most controversial episode ever. Emily and I discuss whether software testers get it right and our answer may surprise you. Emily shares some of her favorite internationalization horror stories. Michael shares his worst defect ever. We get started hinting at 'risk' which will probably come up in a future episode, hint hint. Emily has a holiday gift idea with a software testing theme. We finish with a fantastic software quality assurance joke.
Music for this episode was once again provided by Reed Blue and the song is Dance After Christmas (95 still lives) which is available at the Free Music Archive.

Happy Holidays to everyone from the staff of www.softwaretestpodcast.com