Month: May 2006

Development

Smart Testing

Scott Sehlhorst ()has written a concise article on how to do smart software testing. While I have worked with non-technical people who wanted “full-coverage” testing of all builds, and have also worked with non-technical people who wanted to skip testing and just go live and “fix it in the field,” I have not previously had the numbers to say “yes, this has been tested and we are 99% confident that the application is 99% bug free.” Without having the numbers and formulae at hand the best I could previously say was “I am pretty confident that it is mostly bug-free.” Well, I know that the 99/99 numbers sound a lot more confident than that, and I am less likely to spend a week running tests to get as close to full coverage as possible now that I have this bit in my tool-belt.

Alaska

Weekend in Seward

We spent a beautiful weekend in Seward where we lucked out on the best weather of the year so far, and calm seas, and we got to go before tourist season really gets rolling.

I would highly recommend that anyone planning on visiting Alaska go to Seward, or Whittier, or Homer, or well, you get it – anywhere that they can find a boat tour. It doesn’t matter whether it is a wildlife or glacier tour – you are going to see both anyway.

We went on the whale-watching tour. Although we were late in the season for the migration we did see one humpback, even if it was only briefly. We had Dall porpoises playing in the boat’s wake and saw tons of birds and (of course) Stellar sea lions hauled out on the rocks.

Perhaps the best bit, though, was that as we were on our way back in, we ended up right in the middle of an Orca pod.

The low point of the trip: the “lunch” – airline style – with a bagel, single-serving cream cheese, a single-serving (.5 oz) piece of cheddar, and a cookie. You don’t always get the best meals on the boats, and so far, Renown Tours seems to be on the low end of that.

Major Marine Tours, however, does a great 6 hour tour later in the season that includes all-you-can-eat baked salmon and prime rib. I believe we had halibut on the Prince William Sound tour we took last year, but I’m not sure.