What are you favorite testing games? I learned Headline News from Elisabeth Hendrickson many years ago, and it has since become one of my favorite games. The idea is to dream up headlines involving your application or feature which you really do not want to ever see, the more dramatic the better. For example: Chief Executive Impeached After Faulty Security Allows Millions To Read Her Snarky Comments About World Leaders. I find playing this game to be a fun way to identify the risks and issues about

I have another Tester Spotlight posted! Pop over to Tester Center - via Channel 9 - to see my interview with Ivo Manolov , Test Manager for the Windows Presentation Foundation team.

When I started writing this blog I had no idea what I was going to write about. I don't remember that ever happening before - usually I know exactly what I want to talk about and more-or-less how I want to say it. When I test, however, I find myself in a similar situation all the time: I sit down for a bout of testing and discover that I haven't a clue what to test or how to test it. For example, I currently own the entire Macintosh client for Live Mesh . How do I get started testing that? If I don't

If you want to learn more about the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, personality types, neuro-linguistic programming, and representational systems, I suggest you start with the following. (Full disclosure: I have no affiliation with any of these websites, companies, and authors.) Personality Types TypeFocus Careers has a free personality survey. AdvisorTeam has several free and not-free personality surveys. I find What Type Am I? , by Renee Baron, an accessible introduction to and explanation of the

So that is MBTI, and that is NLP. Which still leaves the puzzling, mysterious A&P. I know some about "A" and much less about "P"; Your doctor knows much more, that I guarantee! "A" is for "anatomy", where you learn to see How to tell your elbow from your hand and knee. "P" describes your insides, your "physiology" How it works and functions, why you smell and see. If this introduction leaves you wanting more; If these words, you feel, have opened a big door; I urge you these topics to go and

Visual people learn with their eyes. They peek and they look and their world clarifies. "I see what you're saying!" they exclaim with a cry; Use picture words back else you'll be in disguise. Auditory people learn with their ears; Tho some choose to read rather than hear. "Sounds good to me" lets you into their mind peer; Use hearing words back and your meaning is clear. Kinesthetics are the third group you'll find; They touch and they feel life into their minds. "You hit a sore spot" says one of

NLP is a science (tho some say it's not) Which claims to explain how people come to a thought. Neuro Linguistic Programming can help you avoid being caught In the communication perils with which life is fraught. This science holds that people think, say, and learn In characteristic ways, and that you can in turn Identify their style and go on to discern Words to use with them that won't make them burn. Listen to people's words as they speak. Watch their responses when you open your beak. Do they

"J" is for "Judging", though not the critical kind. It simply describes the way we unwind. Or don't, for we often put our play far behind Our work which we want to be completed on time. "P" stands for "Perceiving"; however I call it "Play"! For us Ps care for naught but having fun all the day. "Structure"'s a word we'd rather not say! We don't mind it, you know, yet we keep it at bay. Decisions! Decisions! We Js want them made now! While delaying decisions is us Ps' solemn vow. By working together

"T" is for "Thinking", so called because we Decide with our brains, not our feelings. We use our logic to decide and to see Exactly how we want our world to be. "F", on the other hand, logic deplores At least when it means pushing people down to the floor. While "Feeler"s do use logic, it leaves them quite sore For emotions and values are what form their core. Ts, it would behoove us to come down from our tower And come to know those feelings from which we so cower. Fs, use your logic, and you'll

"N" means "iNtuitive", and people like us Think in abstractions, big pictures we suss. Ideas and theories are where our minds thrust; Ask us for details and our minds go bust. "S" is the other side, and this I have too; We "Senser"s sense everything; we live in a zoo Of details and feelings and smellings and hues. If we can't experience it we don't believe it's true! We Ns would like Ss this one thing to learn: Stop with the details - they are not our concern! We Ss ask Ns to remember in turn To