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- Getting around issues when setting up Apptix through Outlook: http://t.co/uyQIlLeT Updated the commentsJan 23, 12 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Book Review: Exploratory Software Testing - Tips, tricks, tours and techniques to guide test… http://t.co/SvCMeqZf
- Tell Congress: Don’t censor the web! http://t.co/LnbdIbvYJan 18, 12 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- How to Setup Transactional Replication on SQL Server 2008 http://t.co/7DS0DU7i
- How about a MacBook Air for you and me? http://t.co/Oqhah4f9 via @appsumo
- I just unlocked the "Getting Started with Programming" badge on @codecademy! http://t.co/sJGasvEx via @codecademy
- Go #Broncos. Hope they can sustain for the second half.
- My Tester's Commitments http://t.co/Oi2sga99
- Just signed up for @Codecademy. Like the idea of providing free #Kindle and monthly reading allowance as a benefit: http://t.co/TQqi6XsxJan 03, 12 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- About the Author http://t.co/ImW3h7V8
- Watch Videos (YouTube, Hulu, Amazon) on your Xbox 360 http://t.co/wdOez5b7
- Becoming a Software Testing Expert http://t.co/EpXr6lOu
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Posts
- Jan 19, 12
Some of the first testing books I read were written by James Whittaker. His books are laid out in a practical manner making them easy to read and easy to apply. Perfect for someone starting to learn about testing (regardless of their job experience) or wanting to plan individual attacks. I read this book a few years ago after it came out, when I started questioning the way I was testing. The material was new to me and made me ask what is Exploratory Testing and what does touring have to do with it?
According to Whittaker (pg. 16) Exploratory Testing (E.T.) is testing where scripts or rigidity have been removed (paraphrasing). Whittaker then explains his terms "E.T. in the small", decisions made where the scope of the testing is small and "E.T. in the large", decisions made when the scope of testing is large (small might be a screen in an application while large is the whole application). At the end of chapter 3 he mentions E.T. can be done in a way that allows test planning and execution to be completed simultaneously which I believe is one of E.T.s most important aspects. Touring (as in a tour guide or sight-seeing) becomes a metaphor for and a way to structure E.T.
There are 8 chapters in the book plus a number of appendices. In the first several chapters Whittaker discusses what he sees as the case for software quality (possibly redundant in a book for testers), introduces E.T. and explains how he uses it, in the small and the large. The next 4 or so chapters cover tours he and others have come up with. The last chapter is about how Whittaker sees the future of testing or at least how he did at the time of publishing.
The first appendix, A, is one of the most important parts of the book: building a successful career in software testing. Whittaker talks about how he got into testing and gives some advice on "getting over the hump" to be a better tester. Its short but worth reading. The rest of the appendices are old blog posts from his Microsoft days.
As a beginner (at the time I first read it) I found this book much more valuable than I do now several years later. I know more about E.T. and how it is an approach to testing that can but doesn't necessarily include tours or scripts. It isn't just manual testing either. For reference Michael Bolton (the testing expert) has some good posts in what E.T. is not:- What Exploratory Testing is Not (Part 1): Touring
- What Exploratory Testing is Not (Part 2): After-Everything-Else Testing
- What Exploratory Testing is Not (Part 3): Tool-Free Testing
- What Exploratory Testing is Not (Part 4): Quick Tests
- What Exploratory Testing is Not (Part 5): Undocumented Testing
Years after reading Exploratory Software Testing I found out Exploratory Testing wasn't an original Whittaker concept rather it was conceived by James Bach. Bach has a different and more expansive idea of what constitutes Exploratory Testing. I could be wrong on this but I believe Bach coined the term but it was first published by Cem Kaner. Regardless I find it a little odd that Whittaker uses a limited definition without reference to either Bach or Kaner and their work.
This book offers a very limited understanding of Exploratory Testing. It isn't as practical as Whittaker's previous because you can't apply the teachings very well without fully understanding what E.T. is and how tours fit in. However if you only want ideas on how Microsoft’s testers used the touring metaphor to “perform” exploratory testing then you’ll get four chapters of information otherwise Exploratory Software Testing is worth skipping. - Jan 16, 12
Recently I've been testing server-side, mainly database stuff and have become familiar with replication on SQL Server 2008.
In the process I created a Google spreadsheet on how to setup Transactional Replication that I wanted to share. Here's the document: Transactional DB Replication Setup (Public)
As I state in the beginning: Instructions can only tell you how to set something up, not why to set it up. Explanations as to why I set something up a certain way are outside the scope of this document. Therefore this probably won't help those just starting out. Perhaps it will serve as a reference for those who want to learn more.
Comments are allowed in the document. You can also post comments here. - Jan 11, 12Dear Development Team,
My job is to help you look good. My job is to support you as you create quality; to ease that burden instead of adding to it. In that spirit, I make the following commitments to you.
Sincerely,
Chris- I provide a service. You are an important client of that service. I am not satisfied unless you are satisfied.
- I am not the gatekeeper of quality. I don’t “own” quality. Shipping a good product is a goal shared by all of us.
- I will test your code as soon as I can after you deliver it to me. I know that you need my test results quickly (especially for fixes and new features).
- I will strive to test in a way that allows you to be fully productive
- I’ll make every reasonable effort to test, even if I have only partial information about the product.
- I will learn the product quickly, and make use of that knowledge to test more cleverly.
- I will test important things first, and try to find important problems. (I will also report things you might consider unimportant, just in case they turn out to be important after all, but I will strive to spend less time on those.)
- I will strive to test in the interests of everyone whose opinions matter, including you, so that you can make better decisions about the product.
- I will write clear, concise, thoughtful, and respectful problem reports. (I may make suggestions about design, but I will never presume to be the designer.)
- I will let you know how I’m testing, and invite your comments. And I will confer with you about little things you can do to make the product much easier to test.
- I invite your special requests, such as if you need me to spot check something for you, help you document something, or run a special kind of test.
- I will not carelessly waste your time.
- Jan 19, 12
Hi my name is Chris Kenst; I'm a software tester, scuba diver and blogger. Cool, huh?
I started blogging for fun years ago and its since turned into a way to express myself and coalesce my thoughts. Only recently have I felt the confidence to step up and blog about testing. A majority of my blogging occurs at My Technology Fetish and at Search N Recovery. My hope is to write thoughtful enough that in the future I have the privilege to do some guest posts / blogging elsewhere. I understand that blogging <> journalism. =) Occasionally I do reviews of books including those provided to me for free by O'Reilly's Blogging Program. Of those books I review that I get for free I make note of it so readers can tell if I have reason to be biased.
I'm a soon to be Scuba Instructor for PADI and have been teaching / helping teach for over 4 years. A big believer in teaching from experience, from things you know and learn, I try to dive on a weekly basis - outside of classes. I'm always looking for a good diving adventure and hope sometime soon to dive outside the U.S. and Mexico.
I'm a technophile. That means I love (new) technology, always have. I started as a Quality Assurance (QA) Analyst outside of college but only in the last few years have I begun to challenge the conventional wisdom on testing - testers don't belong doing QA. It just doesn't work. A follower of the context-driven school of software testing, I enjoy learning rapidly and applying that knowledge to investigate new systems and technologies. I'm interested in becoming an "expert" software tester and contributing what I can to the community. Someday soon I hope to start a local weekend testers / test dojo to meet other like-minded individuals.
So that's me, your author. I hope you take something of value from this blog. If you do, please share your story here in a comment. - Dec 29, 11
For years Xbox 360 users with a Gold Xbox Live membership and a subscription to Netflix could stream movies to their TV. But what about streaming from Amazon, Hulu and YouTube? If you just want Amazon they have a work around that will allow you to stream from your PC to your Xbox here.
What if you want to watch YouTube videos and free movies? How about Hulu, not Hulu Plus, which has many of your favorite shows?
The workaround I have in place requires the purchase of a software program called PlayOn (available for a monthly or flat charge) and a machine dedicated to streaming (I use my Windows Home Server). If you are going to do this I'd recommend purchasing the one-time PlayOn price for $79.99 (or at the time of this posting on sale for $49.99).
Simply download and install PlayOn on a separate machine, launch the software, sign into all of your accounts like Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and YouTube and then set the server software online. On your Xbox 360 browse the available Media Players (streaming) and you'll find the PlayOn server. The Xbox can make it a little hard to navigate since everything is organized by folders. So you'll have to browse to the YouTube or Hulu folders, select the genre, or type of video, etc. and drill down until you find exactly what you're looking for. For this reason I create specific playlists on YouTube.
The best part of PlayOn is that you don't have to sign up for Hulu Plus to watch Hulu episodes and movies on the TV. Even if you sign up for Hulu Plus when you want to watch most episodes on a TV you can't due to licensing restrictions. PlayOn streams from your PC so all those free episodes are now on the big screen! Hope this helps. - Dec 28, 11
From a software tester's point of view a lecture entitled Becoming a Software Testing Expert is a bit enticing. A lecture by James Bach is even more so. Bach, widely considered an expert in Software Testing, is a passionate advocate of software testing. As an expert he's in a good position to help others.
He makes the case that testers need to be professional skeptics. If testers are constantly skeptical about what they are supposed to test, ask lots of questions and can backup their reasoning for the tests being performed then they should do very well. A software tester's best assets are their ability to rapidly learn about new systems and apply that learning to find gaps in the system. Some gaps will be based on written requirements and some on unwritten requirements.
The lecture presented at Google is worth a watch:
If you want more information about the lecture check out the slides on Bach's site: http://www.satisfice.com/presentations/bste.pdf
It's a rude awakening when you realize you can become an expert at your craft you just need to know it's possible, set a goal and then overcome the hubris gained over time from working on an application for so long. When you start on the path towards becoming an expert it stops becoming a day job and becomes more of an adventure.
I'm happy to say I'm skeptical of my skepticism towards my current testing approach. =) - Dec 14, 11
Reading My Technology Fetish or any blog just got a little more fun with Google Currents, the new "reader" appl from Google that works on any iPhone, iPad or Android device. Simply
subscribe to My Technology Fetish through Google Reader, then click the Add More button on your Current Library and within a few minutes you've got us or any blog displayed in a nice newspaper-like format.
I've already Search N Recovery as well as a few other news sources into my library:
Google is stepping up their content game this time coming out with a full blown iPad application instead of linking directly to the web. (Makes me wonder if this is a full blown native app or an HTML5 product?) The layout of the articles through Currents is done automatically (randomly?) and arranged in a newspaper-like format for easy viewing with paging left to right.The app isn't bug-free yet. I added My Technology Fetish to the library but it never appeared and then wouldn't let me remove it to add it again. Big improvement over the current RSS / reader applications for the iPhone and iPad. Bravo Google. - Nov 29, 11
My scuba website Search N Recovery is down for some unknown reason thanks to my hosting company 1&1. I've already contacted their support team and have been waiting for a resolution for over 12 hours. It's certain I will not be going back to them for hosting in the future.
On the brighter side looks like Computer Cabal has a new look. I like Blogger's new dynamic look except I'd much prefer it if they would let the designer lock in one specific look instead of letting the user change it. How else can you control the quality of the experience? - Nov 16, 11
Simple and free (or cheap) Network Monitoring Tools for Microsoft Windows - sounds simple enough, right?
(I evaluated many more applications than these but found these to be the best of the group.)
Why would someone want simple and free (or cheap) monitoring tools for Windows? Remotely monitoring CPU, Memory and Hard Drive usage for a test lab of 6+ servers (or for any size network) is important for detecting resource constraints, either before the happen or as an explanation for why something fails.
Some may want flexibility in the resources they monitor. Personally I wanted a tool that is web based, has low (or real-time) refresh, could send alerts, relatively easy to install, is free and works for Windows Server. Nagios, which is one of the most popular (supposedly) network monitoring tools, is overly complex and takes far too much time to setup, however it also provides great flexibility.
Instead I searched the web and evaluated a few tools:
Spiceworks and to some degree PRTG offer the features I described above: web based, low refresh times, email alerts, easy to install and they work for Windows. They both install quickly and on a regular basis scan the network for changes to individual devices as well as additions / removal of devices. Spiceworks is free, although it has some annoying ads and PRTG is free for up to 10 monitors after which it can get pretty expensive.Screen Shot of Spiceworks Dashboard
Both products would work well for production monitoring but for a test lab these seem a little overkill. PRTG is more powerful than Spiceworks since it allows WMI plugins but it also costs money for over 10 monitors.)
Free Windows Health Monitor by ManageEngine isn't web based, doesn't send alerts but is easy to install, has 5 minute refresh times (not horrible) and is free if you monitor less than 10 machines. You can see from the image I've got the "Dashboard" up - although it only provides summary on the top 3 machines in each category.Screen Shot of Windows Health Monitor Dashboard
It's a little sad how few options there are for simple and free (or cheap) Network Monitoring Tools for Microsoft Windows. Looks like I'll be using Free Windows Health Monitor until I find something better.
Comments? Did I miss any programs that you found to work well? - Nov 09, 11
Changes are coming to mTF.
The first is an updated About This Blog page, which previously was just a trivial About page. The second change is a link at the top for Software Testing (looks like a page). This link will become more relevant over time as the number of articles I write focusing on Software Testing increases. In the meantime you can see the few things I've written about.
Lastly we are now using Disqus for our commenting system which is a huge addition. Be sure to leave comments! On everything! - Nov 01, 11Scott Berkun's (writer of Myths of Innovation, etc.) new book Mindfire is free to download on his blog for the next 1 day and 22 hours in PDF, ePub and Mobi formats. All you have to do is sign up for his email list and you can download it immediately.
I already pre-ordered his book through Kickstarter and while I wait for my Kindle version to arrive I'll sign up and a copy in ePub format to read on my iPad. I will be mentioned in the book in the Acknowledgments section so take a look!
http://www.scottberkun.com/mindfiredownload/ - Nov 09, 11
In preparation for his new biography entitled Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson, Isaacson went on 60 minutes to discuss Steve Jobs and his life leading up to his death.
The interview is broken into 2 parts and I highly recommend watching (may take some time to load):
Part 1:
Part 2:There are also some good follow up videos on Steve Jobs talking about various competitors and successful tech companies:
I'm interested in reading the Isaacson book because it personalizes the man whom we know very little about. If you're like me you use his products every day: I have an iPhone 4 and am typing this blog post on my iPad 2 with the Apple bluetooth keyboard. I'm also a former owner of a MacBook Air.
In the interview Jobs comes off as someone who is a visionary but also had a distorted view of reality. He's described as being a terrible (micro) manager, cold to his employees, a rebel and surprisingly not very technical. Yet he had the drive and an eye for designs that combined technical aspects with the human touch, something the follow up video talks more about. The interview describes his distortion of reality as being his greatest success and his greatest failure in that Jobs thought he could overcome his cancer the way he overcame other barriers: by ignoring or find alternate solutions. This time it didn't work.
For me Steve's biography is more than just a peek into his past, present and possibly a hint at what he would have done in the future, it's about his drive. Often times I feel like I should be that rebel who doesn't want to work for someone else, who wants to build a real product and try and sell it. Maybe it's real or fantasy, I don't know but when I see Jobs life it becomes inspiration. Then again that's the point, I mean who sells books to depress people?
The 60 minutes interview is good. Hopefully the book will be great. - Oct 20, 11
I've uploaded two Keynote Presentation's from this years (2011) StarWest conference.
The first is James Whittaker's Keynote entitled All That Testing is Getting in the Way of Quality:
The second is the Lightning round Keynote featuring a number of testing luminaries like Michael Bolton, Lee Copeland, Bob Galen, Dorothy Graham, Hans Buwalde, Dale Emery, Julie Gardiner, Jeff Payne and Martin Pol:
I hope no one (who matters) cares I posted these online. Enjoy! - Oct 10, 11
Expandable post summaries are the method by which each blog post consists of a short intro paragraph followed by a "Read More" link. They make for faster viewing and loading of web pages while still giving readers access to the information they want.Turns out blogger makes it very easy to do this.
Using a feature called jump breaks or "after the jump" summaries, edit a post and in the "Compose" mode there is a icon that looks like this:
Insert the jump break after the paragraph or line where you want the introduction to end and everything below that line will appear once the user clicks the "Read More" link. That's all there is to it!
http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=154172 - Oct 10, 11
I got to talk to James Bach last week at StarWest 2011 in Anaheim. I joined his Critical Thinking class for its final 2 hours on Tuesday after walking out on my boring afternoon half-day tutorial on Open Source tools.
I was surprised when I was able to catch up to and chat with him after the class. I asked about the books he recommended that were on sale at the convention at which point he gave me his copy of Captivating Lateral Thinking Puzzles he'd shown in class. (Thank you, although my girlfriend finds it amusing to open the book and quiz me randomly.) In our chat I told him I enjoyed this Open Lecture:
Some point during our conversation I asked when he would be doing another open lecture and where it would be (hoping it would be somewhere near SoCal). After detailing his itinerary he came to the realization everywhere else in the world except in the US he does open lectures. Sad. (In this instance an open lecture is where someone hires James to speak and then anyone who's interested can join by purchasing a ticket.)
In this video James is doing an open lecture at a Estonia IT College. He uses some new and familiar terminology that I've listed below. I need to work on becoming a professional skeptic!
A quick summary of the testing terminology used:- Decision coverage
- Predicate coverage
- All-Path coverage
- Click frenzy
- Rumble strip heuristic
- Error message hangover
- Shoe test
- Brancing and backtesting
- Follow up testing
- Oct 10, 11
Working for a startup company you go through a lot of problems, potential solutions and more problems. I was reminded of my company in the article by Startup Lessons Learned entitled Validated learning about customers.Eric Ries, who writes the Startup Lessons Learned blog, describes two scenarios with two fictional companies.
My company is like the first company in his post: the metrics of success change constantly and our product definition fluctuates regularly. Our development team is always busy but those efforts don't exactly lead to added value to the product. We are pretty good at selling the one-time product but we have to put a lot of effort into each sale and so the sales process isn't scalable. Worse it's frustrating that management doesn't see this.
At the end of the article Eric lists some solutions to companies with this "stuck in the mud" situation and I think the third solution is something my company should try: build tools to help the sales team reduce the time on each sale and try building parts of our product that make the sales process faster or the investment afterwards less. (I added that last bit). How good is your product if it requires customers spend large amounts of time, energy and money in order to make it usable? Shouldn't the company make the use of your product as frictionless and automated as possible so it's easy for customers?
After reading this article I'm interested in reading his full book: The Lean Startup. (But only if they drop the eBook price to a more reasonable amount - $12.99 is expensive!). - Oct 10, 11
Here are a couple of screen shots of my Windows 8 Developer Preview running on VirtualBox. For information on how to install Windows 8 Dev on a virtual machine go here.
When I first logged into Windows 8:The new version of the OS (at least the preview) uses a lot of solid color backgrounds which looks pretty good.The new desktop looks like the Windows 7 desktop:When you click the Start Menu it appears as this:I logged into my Windows Live account when I signed onto Windows and it automatically populated some Apps with whatever information was stored in that account. I like the idea of using a Windows Live account if it means all my stocks, apps, settings can be transferred from one PC to another when I log in. You can see the scroll bar at the bottom so there are a ton more Apps available. Unfortunately there is no way to use the original Start Menu. I hope that feature is just disabled in the Preview.The Control Panel has both a new interface as well as access to the old interface. Here's the new interface:Explorer has the Office Ribbon look to it:Internet Explorer 10 has two looks. The first is from the new Start Menu:The address bar appears and disappears. If you touch or click at the top it brings up your tabs. Then you have the version of IE10 that runs on normal windows interface. It looks just like IE9:Other things:There is no direct access to any applications other than what's on the new Start Menu / tiles. Microsoft is clearly blending Windows Phone 7 tiles with Windows 7. I was able to get the run menu and the command prompt by pressing Windows Key + R. I also created a new toolbar of Program Files which gives you access to IE, Windows Defender, Windows Mail, Media Player, Photo Viewer and Sidebar. - Oct 10, 11
Microsoft released Windows 8 Developer Preview a few days ago to give developers and whoever else a sneak peak into the new Windows version. They released it in ISO format which can be burnt to a DVD and installed on a computer. How old school. The best way for most people to experiment with it is installing and running it on a virtual machine. The problem is both VMware and Microsoft Windows Virtual PC can't run it.
It's a little odd that Microsoft would release Windows 8 Developer and not give people the ability to download the Virtual PC based version in addition to the ISO files. Note to Microsoft, if you want to push Windows Virtual PC market share up, release your downloads in the format for quick running.
To install Windows 8 Developer Preview you need to use VirtualBox.
PCWorld has a good write-up on installing Windows 8 Developer Preview on Virtualbox: http://www.pcworld.com/article/240117/how_to_download_and_install_windows_8_into_a_virtual_machine.html - Sep 14, 11
I just saw this but frankly it's about time Google put out an iOS app for Blogger: http://buzz.blogger.com/2011/09/announcing-blogger-app-for-ios.html
To download the iOS Blogger app directly go here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/blogger/id459407288
It's funny and sad that Google and Microsoft don't have more full blown mobile application's (think iOS, Android) for some of their biggest products. Not being there doesn't invalidate the market, so why not make some money and maintain some market share? - Oct 10, 11
Recently I was getting the error "Access to the registry key 'Global' is denied" in a software program running on server with Windows 2008 R2 SP1.
A quick Google search revealed this article on Stack Overflow describing a problem in IIS with users not having the correct user permissions in the associated application pools of the running application which lead to a similar error. Further searching turned up this article on IIS.net describing Microsoft's changes to IIS 7.5 (running on Windows 2008) where they created a new, less powerful user to run application pools called "ApplicationPoolIdentity".
What's important to note is the previous Application Pool identity user was set to "NetworkService" which had greater permissions than the new user "ApplicationPoolIdentity" which caused the problem "Access to the registry key 'Global' is denied". This problem hasn't occurred to my other Windows 2008 SP2 servers, so maybe it's only a problem for newly installed SP2 or R2 machines.To fix the problem just switch the Identity of your Application Pool back to NetworkService for the needed applications and that's it. - Oct 10, 11
This is an good post from Lifehacker for those of us with Solid State Drives (SSD).
Turns out if your SSD's partition isn't aligned correctly it will under-perform. Luckily there is a very easy way to check if it's aligned properly for Windows:
In Windows' search bar (or command prompt) typemsinfo32which will bring up the System Information window.
Then go to Components > Storage > Disks > find "Partition Starting Offset" and using a calculator divide it by 4096. (Look for your main disk and main partition and not the small 100MB boot recovery partition).
If the result comes out as a whole number your SSD partition is aligned correctly. For example my drive is 105,906,176 bytes which when divided by 4096 is 25856 so my drive is properly aligned. If the result comes out with a decimal you need to realign your partition.
To realign your SSD's partition check out the Lifehacker article for details. - Sep 07, 11
This is completely random and funny but I guess that's the point. I found myself on Google Correlate's Draw page where you can draw a search curve and Google will match whatever keywords followed that search pattern.
Here's what I drew and what Google correlated with it on my first try (not joking, click the image for a larger view):For those who can't see it Google correlated "throat jobs" to line I drew. Pretty funny. Apparently it was big from 2004 to mid 2006 before it starting tailing off fast.What interesting things has Google correlated for you? - Sep 04, 11
This is my new testing book to devour: Testing Applications on the Web: Test Planning for Mobile and Internet-Based Systems.
It's a big book but I'm hoping there is a ton of useful information. I just finished James Bach's Secrets of a Buccaneer-Scholar which I hope to do a write up on soon. Before that I was reading James Whittaker's How to Break Software Security, which I also need to write up.
Eventually I'll get all the reviews posted here! - Oct 10, 11Note: I am an active uTester.
The last few months I've completed a number of rounds of testing for uTest's clients, mostly in dealing with web applications for my iPhone. In fact a majority of work I've done since joining has been for functional testing of mobile applications. It's been fun because mobile testing isn't in my area of expertise but is a nice break from my normal routine and I like learning new things.
uTest's Business Model:
A few months ago I was talking with my boss about new options for helping me test our software. I work for a small company where I'm the only tester. Often the backlog for getting our releases out is me. My boss was talking about adding an offshore resource and I brought up the idea of uTest and their crowdsource model. He thought it was an interesting idea and so he contacted uTest to get more information.
A few weeks later we had a quote from uTest and a chat with one of the sales reps which gave me a interesting perspective into their business model. uTest prefers to sell their services in packages which generally include several rounds of testing (the time between rounds is up to you). The sales engineer's try to get an understanding of your testing needs and then give you a flat price per round with a minimum number of rounds plus a monthly Software as a Service (SaaS) charge for access to uTest's application - a must have for the tester's to submit bugs, test cases, etc. I think our application was considered pretty big / complex so for 3 rounds it was just north of $7,000.
That means we'd pay uTest $7k upfront plus the SaaS access charge each month. From there we'd work with a project manager and tell them how many tester's we need, what type of backgrounds \ tools they need, etc. Then the project manager builds the test process and plan with you. Essentially you are hoping you get a good project manager otherwise the money you drop and the test outcomes may not be worth it. The actual payments the tester's receive (for test plans and bugs) comes from uTest out of that flat fee.
Makes me wonder what the average payout to tester's are per round of testing? Probably less than $1k depending on the size. That means a majority of the money is going to pay for your project manager and to uTest's wallet. - Oct 10, 11
Needle Free Injections are the type of medical technology that the U.S. should be developing. It may sound a little reminiscent of Star Trek and their hypospray but it's real:
"Injection by J-Tip disperses medication in a spray like pattern into the sub-Q tissue. Rate of absorption is relatively faster due to increased fluid surface area."
I've heard various rumors about needle-free syringes being around for years but haven't seen any substantial proof. Talking with a few nurse friends didn't help either as they'd never heard of the invention. Looks like there are a few companies working on the technology.
Another company called J-Tip explains how needle-free injections work:
Looks like there is a similar product called a Jet Injector that has been around for years, although it looks more like a gun than a needle.
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Posts
- Jan 13, 12The Dive Guru posted in September last year 16, actually 15, reasons Go Pro or to become a professional scuba diver. In PADI terms this means Divemaster or higher.
While I agree with a number of the 15 statements (the 16th reason is a fill in the blank) I responded with:Additional income shouldn't be a reason to GoPro. You won't get much additional income, in fact you'll more than likely loose money by becoming a pro. (Hence the tax write-off portion, although depending on your local laws this may or may not work.) Essentially you'll be disappointed if you join for the money.
My favorite things are meeting new dive buddies and learning to become a Scuba Guru. The free boat rides are nice and the deals on equipment can be killer but still don't justify it [I should add doesn't justify the time commitment].
The time you spend in the water as a Pro isn't the same as by yourself / with your own buddies learning the sites since you are worried about compeleting skills, the safety of students, etc. Professional divers should always set aside fun diving from "work" diving otherwise they run the risk of burning out.
[Besides] I like to think of Scuba Diving as the closest thing I'll ever come to experiencing Space Exploration. =)
PADI might approve the comment but regardless I think it's best to be realistic with becoming a professional scuba diver. Don't promise the world and not deliver. =) - Dec 29, 11
Back up and running again. Our domain issues should now be resolved as we've officially dumped 1&1 internet services!
- Dec 28, 11
SearchNrecovery.com will be offline for a few hours as we attempt to switch our hosting provider.
- Dec 20, 11
For 2012 PADI is going to change the materials found in the IDC Crewpack by adding the Prescriptive Lesson Guides as stated on the PADI Instructor News blog.
I start my IDC in January (wahoo!) but I know from experience trying to find an accurate and up to date PADI IDC crewpack was difficult. (I'm having that problem now with the EFR crewpack). I don't know from past experience how often the crewpacks are updated but it seems like a single store could easily accumulate several versions and sell someone out of date items - especially slates!
Regardless I posted a comment which might be approved that said something like:
I'd like to see a mostly / all digital version of the IDC Crewpack at at reduced price or with more materials. The lesson guides, instructor manuals, exams, DVDs, etc. can all be put on a flash drive - no binder required. You'd still need the physical cue cards but even the application forms could be digital. $500 for a Crewpack seems a bit expensive for the amount of materials you get. Essentially we are paying $350 for a sticker.
I'd like to add digital products are easier / less costly to update. If you had a flash drive in the IDC Crewpack and it became out of date, PADI could recall the packs and simply update the flash drive (along with the slates). PADI could also throw in some other value like the Recreational Encyclopedia of Diving or something to that affect. - Dec 14, 11
Two weeks ago Sports Chalet did their Discover Scuba Diving with Santa Claus. Did you get your picture taken with Scuba Santa?
Turns out almost as many certified diver's got in the pool with Scuba Santa as did new potential students! See below as Steven and Santa (Tony) smile for the camera.
The entire thing was free - including the prints of the photos. Marry Christmas! - Dec 12, 11
A few weeks ago the dive club I belong to (Pacific Explorer's) had their annual Holiday Party at BJs which involves food, a raffle with lots of prizes and a photo and video contest. I submitted this jellyfish photo in the macro category:
(You can also find this image on my flickr stream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ckenst)
You can never be sure what will turn up for competition - not at least until it's time to vote. There were a lot of good photos in the category but I took home the prize!
The Explorer's framed my photo on a gloss print and added a little plaque at the bottom that says "Best Macro Photo 2011, Chris Kenst, Pacific Explorers Dive Club". My first photography award! - Dec 08, 11
We're planning to move our domain name to a different service (our blog platform will still remain Blogger) in a few days and there is no telling what types of outages we will suffer from. Hopefully it won't be too long. We apologize in advance!
- Dec 01, 11
We are back up and running after almost 3 days of being offline. Not sure what happened with our hosting service 1&1 but we're a little upset and hopefully we won't be dealing with them much longer. Our plan is to migrate to a different service so we have have a bit of downtime again in the future - hopefully for a shorter period of time.
Regardless we'd like to say thanks for reading. We hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving and we'll see you diving! - Dec 12, 11
This is a video from MSNBC on the "Dying and Disabled in Honduras, in pursuit of lobster to sell to U.S." Hondurans have taken advantage of the U.S.'s large appetite for lobster and given the poor wages in Honduras the people can make a decent living off of capturing and selling them.
Unfortunately many of the divers don't have proper equipment or training and end up getting the Bends while working. Most who get the Bends (or decompression sickness) end up dead or permanently disabled.
I don't entirely agree with the video, they make it sound like American's who provide the demand for the lobster are a larger part of the problem - calling it Economic Genocide. It's true we are a small part of the problem but the larger problem stems from the lack of regulation or lack of care of the people involved. It wouldn't take but a week to teach all the divers about the risks of decompression sickness and how to prevent it. The cost of the proper equipment is also small from a business standpoint - you don't need brand new gear, just something that works. You can also reuse gear for multiple people.
Instead of working with the Honduran people to educate them, the government is going to put an end to the lobster diving within 2 years. How about a little education and safety enforcement? Then you can keep the jobs and the economic activity it creates. - Nov 19, 11
This is a promo video for diving in the Philippines; regardless it looks like a fun place to dive:
My girlfriend and I have been talking about going since she's from the Philippines. I'd be interested in diving their Apo Reef, encountering a shark or two and seeing a whale shark! - Nov 11, 11
I was just notified by PADI that it's time to renew my membership. One of the privileges of renewal will be to unlock this revolutionary certification card called an eCard. Here's the PADI Surface Interval (aka press release) on the eCard.
I just need to download the PADI iPhone app and if I renew, I'll get access to a free "eCard" section. Ooooo. Looks like this:
The good news is you don't have to be a Divemaster or Assistant Instructor or pay PADI anything to create your own eCard. I mean how revolutionary is this idea? Not revolutionary at all, in fact its just a logical extension of today's digital age coming to the scuba industry (and as I've said before the scuba industry is always behind). Here's how you can create your own PADI eCard:- Find your highest level Certification Card (C-Card)
- Take a Picture of the Front and Back with your camera on your phone
- Done!
- You can even create a separate pictures folder for your cert cards if you prefer
The purpose of the card (or in this case eCard) is proof you're certified so you can rent tanks, dry suits, equipment, etc. Welcome to 2008 PADI (that's the year the Apple App Store launched)! - Oct 31, 11
A few months ago I was on board the Humboldt dive boat out of Mission Beach (San Diego) for a wreck dive out to the Yukon.
I got some video that I feel like sharing:
This video covers the gun turret and mid-section of the wreck.
This video covers the bridge of the wreck.
This final video covers more of the mid-section of the wreck.I'm still experimenting with taking video on my SeaLife DC1200 underwater digital camera. I should probably edit out the sound since the breathing doesn't add anything to video. Enjoy! - Oct 31, 11
I picture my next dry-land camera as a Canon T2i. Therefore it makes sense that I'd want to also use it for underwater or wet-land photography and in that case I'd need to purchase a housing (in addition to the other items like strobes, lights, etc.)
I've found a couple of reviews online for Canon T2i Housings:- Backscatter does a really great in-depth look at all of the housings out there: http://www.backscatter.com/learn/article/article.php?ID=96
- A few divers on ScubaBoard also have some interesting opinions: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/underwater-photography/343589-canon-t2i-housing.html
Check out this time lapsed video / slideshow:
I haven't fully out-grown my SeaLife DC1200 but it already has me wanting more. I like the idea of full HD video and better control over my shots. - Oct 27, 11
If you've taken a few classes or gone up the ranks in any scuba organization you start to rack up a serious number of certification cards. Each specialty gives you a scuba cert card as does each advancement along the scuba hierarchy.
I've got over 14 certification cards including Open Water, Adventure, Advanced, Rescue, Master, DiveMaster, plus a bunch of specialties. I used to carry them around in my log book in sleeves but at $20 each (remember that's what you pay PADI for each PIC card) if your log book ever get's stolen it can be pretty expensive to replace them. Of course that assumes you would.A trip to Aaron Brothers or Michaels and you can get a frame and frame board for less than $40 (or the price of 2 PIC cards). Then just begin gluing the cert cards to the frame board. Leave some room for your future certifications!Why frame certification cards? Since you get them by completing classes and showing off "skills" underwater you might as well be proud and show them to people who come over! Cert cards don't do much good after you receive them; the only card worth carrying is your highest earned level. If you rent a dry suit they aren't going to check your dry suit card. Same goes with Nitrox and Wreck Diving. They just assume you have the training.That's my suggestion. What does everyone else do? - Oct 18, 11
Just saw this picture of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin scuba diving in Taman Bay in the Wall Street Journal:
This photo is kind of interesting as he looks to be diving in an Aqualung wet suit and has an Oceanic snorkel. It's hard to tell if he's wearing a full face mask like the guy behind him and the back-inflated BCD looks familiar.
Regardless of the equipment he uses, is Vladimir Putin the highest profile scuba diver right now? - Oct 03, 11
It's somewhat official (I haven't paid for my class yet) but I'm going to become a PADI Open Water Instructor. The IDC or Instructor Development Course begins in January of 2012 at the Sports Chalet in West Hills, Ca and runs for over a month at which point, assuming I pass all my exams I will be qualified to teach new, incoming students how to dive.
This diagram is a little weird in that it shows the Open Water Scuba Instructor and Assistant Instructor to be at the same level but in reality an Assistant Instructor (or AI) can't do much more than sign off on students skills (something a Divemaster can't do).
Here's the breakdown of the PADI certification levels:
I've been a Divemaster for about 4 years now and I think it's time to step up and teach students on my own and with other instructors. Hopefully Ryan will be joining me! - Oct 10, 11
This past weekend I dove two wrecks in San Diego: the Ruby-E (a former Coast Guard Cutter) and the Yukon (a former Canadian Destroyer). Both wrecks are located in the San Diego harbor just a mile or two from Mission Beach. We went out on two boats, the Humboldt on Saturday and the Louis Ann on Sunday. The Humboldt offered nitrox (32% I believe) for both dives for an extra $8/tank, I chose not to partake, while the Louis Ann only offered regular air.
My first nitrox dive was a beach dive and it was rather uneventful. I didn't notice a difference on a single dive between air and nitrox. However in reflecting on my experience this weekend doing multiple deep dives over consecutive days I recognized I should have been using it. Here are my dive profiles for the weekend:
Saturday:
Dive 1: 97' max for 31 minutes
Dive 2: 96' max for 28 minutes
Sunday:
Dive 1: 78' max for 25 minutes
Dive 2: 77' max for 34 minutes
When I was filling out my log book and checking my residual nitrogen (manually with my tables) I realized using the conservative (and somewhat outdated) methods it presribes I had exceed my no decompression (deco) times. The max time I should have gotten from my first 2 dives without exceeding the no deco time should have been 20 minutes each. According to my tables when I exceeded my no deco limit for more than 5 minutes I'd have a safety stop of 18 minutes and should have exited the water for 24 hours. Well I wasn't at ~97' for the full time which is why my computer is more accurate in this case.
If I was diving on Nitrox O2 32% I would have had 35 minutes before I exceeded my no decompression time and who knows I might have been less tired after the second dive. As I said before my computer is far more accurate than any manual table but it's always good to play it safe. A teacher's number one priority is to make sure our students are safe but our number two should be our safety. Next time I do wreck dive's I'm diving nitrox! - Sep 29, 11
In case you hadn't heard Lobster Season 2011 starts Saturday October 1st, 2011. Up for grabs are up to 7 California Spiny Lobsters per day (the legal limit). Try to wait until you get to the surface to eat yours:
(David Carlson couldn't wait to eat)This year there are a few changes:- Fishing licenses have gone digital so there's nothing for a diver to carry.
- Lobster cards are still required but they look more like a very very long printed receipt using the same system as your fishing license. Keep it with you at all times and remember to fill it out before you get ni the water.
Lastly, remember diver's get a 1 week advantage before the commercial fishermen come in and grab everything. Make sure you get your share! - Sep 07, 11
Randomly came across this video on YouTube about a Frilled Shark caught on camera in Japan.
The Frilled Shark is a pre-historic shark that lives deep in the ocean and resembles the combination of a shark and a eel. Learn more about it on Wikipedia here. - Aug 28, 11
I wish I had seen this before I went to Orlando Florida months ago but apparently you can dive in Epcot's 5.7 million gallon salt water tank if you are a certified scuba diver. For only $175, "Scuba-certified Guests can swim with over 6,000 sea creatures—including sea turtles, angelfish, dolphins, eagle rays and sharks."
Check it out here: http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/tours-and-experiences/epcot-dive-quest/ - Oct 12, 11
I saw this on the PADI Instructor news blog. It has to be the largest (longest) Infographic I've ever seen. Nevertheless it is very interesting. Can you spot the recreational scuba divers?
Click the read more link to see it all.
Source OurAmazingPlanet.com, Exploring the wonder and beauty of planet Earth through exclusive news, features and images.
It's amazing that the Mariana Trench is 1,100 atmospheres (ATM) of pressure. - Aug 21, 11
I saw this video on the Wall Street Journal and thought it was pretty cool:
If you go to Innepsace's website you can check out the various Seabreacher watercraft they offer. They can't go very far underwater - only around 5ft but they can move quickly. Each Seabreacher is completely custom but prices range, on average, from $65,000 to $90,000. - Aug 17, 11
Even before last week's dive where I came across a large Jellyfish in Redondo I'd wanted a Jellyfish as a pet. They just seem so simple, minimalistic and unique as far as pets go. My coworker turned me on to a project on Kickstarter where someone has invented this Jellyfish tank:
You can order the Jellyfish Tank through Kickstarter for $350 which includes the tank, salt, pump, etc. - everything to get the tank up and running. It also includes a $50 voucher towards Jellyfish Art's "Beginner Package" which includes 3 live Jellyfish and 6 months worth of food which one could assume means for a complete working set you'll drop about $450. Not bad for a supposedly easy to setup salt water tank for Jellyfish. (Looks like Jellyfish Art is the company behind the tank. They did custom tank work before inventing this out of the box tank.) - Oct 10, 11
- Aug 11, 11The very top photo was taken with the Eye of Mine flat lens I just got, and the bottom photo was taken with the stock housing that comes with the GoPro when you buy it. There is a huge difference in the quality of photo (and video) as you can see. I highly recommend getting the flat lens housing if you are going to be shooting under water video and photos. I will be posting more interesting videos and photos from the dives Chris and I will be doing so you can see the quality in different settings. If you are interested in the flat lens housing from Eye of Mine, visit their website at www.eyeofmine.com.
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Posts
- Jan 23, 12
DC is booked. Maybe Chicago next? I see some great deals for under $300/person including flight and hotels!
My IDC is halfway done and things are going pretty well. I need more practice with my skills in the pool, I need to study for my tests a bit more and the in classroom presentations are just coming up which will be a bit of a challenge. Nothing I can’t handle.
- Jan 19, 12
I want.. err.. need to write more. I have a lot of ideas for test blogs for My Technology Fetish and scuba logs for Search N Recovery. Yet I don’t seem to have the time to get these thoughts down completely so that I can get them into an acceptable form for publishing. This time debt won’t change for another month until I complete my Instructor Development Course (scuba) but I’m hoping it comes sooner than later.
The 49ers are in the NFC Championship Game this weekend against the NY Giants. As a 49ers fan I couldn’t be more happy. If they win against the Giants again and make it to the Super Bowl I will cry if they lose. =) At least it was great when I got to see the 49ers at the Giants for the first time this year at Candlestick in South San Francisco!
- Jan 17, 12
2012 is my year of travel or something like that. Most of the traveling I do is regional. I hop from beach to beach on the weekends for scuba diving. This year I want to go farther, go further, go harder (in the words of Jay Z). First up will be Washington D.C. a few weeks after my IDC is over-with. Mai and I will be able to hit D.C., the Washington Monument, the White House, Georgetown, and even the Smithsonian Institute.
Sooner rather than later this year we will also take a road trip out to Sedona, AZ and hit the Grand Canyon and Meteor Crater. Maybe we'll even stop off at the London Bridge in Lake Havasu. Also on the list are:- Seattle, WA.
- Chicago, IL.
- Hawaii
- Cozumel, Mexico.
I realized a few things while looking over my vacation time for 2012. 1. I don't take enough time off. 2. If I don't take more time I'm going to loose it! 3. I probably deserve it. =)My plan is to watch Groupon and Living Social to find cool getaways - preferably those with Diving options! - Dec 29, 11
I picked up my new desk yesterday from Crate and Barrel. The desk I’ve been using now has been with me in one form or another for at least 10 maybe 15 years. My old desk was a hand-me down. It was my mother’s desk from when she was a kid that was eventually repainted and improved upon. Needless to say it was time for a change.
I picked up a Drake Desk yesterday from Crate and Barrel and tonight I get to set it up!
- Dec 12, 11
A few new dell servers arrived for the test lab on Friday. Time to get them running!
- Dec 07, 11
I found the first Mighty Morphin Power Rangers episode entitled Day of the Dumpster on VHS at my parents. It's now on YouTube!
Take a look!
- Nov 29, 11
Another jewel from my childhood. The Green Ranger’s Dragon Dagger from the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers TV Show.
For other information:
http://www.bandai.com/powerrangers/mmpr/products/role-play/dragon-dagger - This looks like a newer, smaller version. Weird.
http://powerrangers.wikia.com/wiki/Dragon_Dagger#Dragon_Dagger
- Nov 29, 11
While at my parents’ house for Thanksgiving I found this toy from my childhood. A sealed in the box Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Red Dragon Thunderzord. Looks to be in pretty good shape!
- Nov 14, 11
This is the first game I've been to in almost 10 years (I think). For reference the last 49ers game I went to was Jerry Rice's last game!
Pretty good seating, we were in the endzone which means we were covered from the elements. Fortunately / unfortunately it was really nice out! 49ers beat the Giants 27-20 and the game came down to the last few seconds!
- Oct 31, 11
Clearly I've been planning my future purchases because this is the second post about big purchase I intend to make.
My future road bike is a Fuji Newest 3.0 or greater:The difference about this purchase is I can get it directly from the manufacturer at a substantial discount compared to the retail price. Mai's really into road cycling so I'm gonna have to step it up as well! In fact she is going to order a Fuji Finest 3.0 or greater.
- Oct 31, 11
I have a 2001 Chevy Tahoe 4x4 that is running fine except for what I consider a battery problem.
If I don't start the Tahoe at least once a day or once every 2 days I can't start it at all without a jump.When I do give the Tahoe a jump its fine. It's almost as if the battery doesn't have enough cranking amps to do a cold start but once it's started everything is good and the battery gauge shows the battery as fully charged.
The video above occurred the last time I went out of town and I came back to start the Tahoe. The meter / gauge is going haywire! Any suggestions? - Oct 31, 11
I've seen variations of this computer desk online but this particular one is from Crate & Barrel, is called the Drake and features a glass top.
I've been wanting a new desk that is smaller in length but larger in depth. I've had my current desk since I was in high school (actually earlier). I don't like the desk costs $400 but hopefully it will go on sale or I'll find a coupon or something.
- Oct 25, 115 ways to keep your rockstar employees happy — Online Collaboration
http://gigaom.com/collaboration/5-ways-to-keep-your-rockstar-employees-happy/
The Googleplex, Google’s corporate headquarters in Mountain View California, is legendary for its perks. Employees have access to unlimited free meals, haircuts, dry cleaning, massages, and even onsite medical care.
Yet earlier this year, when Google interviewed its employees about what they valued most at work, none of these extravagant benefits made the top of the list. Neither did salary. Instead, employees cited access to “even-keeled bosses who made time for one-on-one meetings, who helped people puzzle through problems by asking questions, not dictating answers, and who took an interest in employees’ lives and careers.”
Tangibles like salary and benefits aren’t enough to guarantee that your best and brightest creatives will remain engaged. Indeed, a recent landmark study by Arnold Worldwide of 3,000 employees and 500 executive leaders across a range of communication and advertising firms found that 30 percent of the advertising workforce say they’ll be gone from their job within 12 months.
Take Jill, an outstanding, experienced copy editor whom Agency X recently recruited at considerable expense from one of its chief rivals. Despite her outward success, she’s unsure how she’s performing, where she stands in the company, and how she fits into the overall goals of the agency. Her pay is great, she loves the Friday office happy hour, but over time, she finds herself feeling demotivated by the lack of communication, and checks out.
The loss of star performers like Jill doesn’t just leave a talent vacuum to fill; it also leaves a gaping hole in the bottom line. Indeed, a recent article in the Wall Street Journal calculated that it typically costs a company about half a position’s annual salary to recruit for that job ¾ and several times that if the position requires rare skills.
So how can your company keep its stars engaged? It comes down to creating a culture of communication — one in which employees know where the organization is headed, how they fit into these plans, and what’s expected of them. Here are a few key strategies your agency can employ to make this happen.
1. Create a culture of education
The average Starbucks barista gets more training in a year than the average employee in a communications company, according to the Arnold Worldwide study.
For employees, the single most important motivational factor was the ability to learn. Yet the study found a huge disconnect when it comes to perceptions about company training. While 90 percent of employees say they learn by figuring things out on their own, only 25 percent of executives think that employees learn independently.
To keep employees motivated, agencies need to build a culture of learning, where employees leave more enriched at the end of each day.
2. Provide regular, consistent feedback
Employee feedback is a critical part of the education process, and shouldn’t just be relegated to the annual review. To be effective, feedback needs to be specific and actionable. But that’s not always how it works.
In a study by Leadership IQ, 53 percent of employees said that when their boss praises excellent performance, the feedback does not provide enough useful information to help them repeat it. And 65 percent responded that when their boss criticizes poor performance, it doesn’t provide enough useful information to help them correct the issue.
Feedback, both positive and constructive, is most effective when given right away. Negative feedback given a month after the fact can lead to a passive-aggressive environment in which an employee feels powerless to act on the advice.
Think of it this way: no one wants to go a full day knowing their price tag was hanging from the back of their shirt, or the remnants of the salad they had for lunch were still stuck in their teeth. If an employee does something well, that activity should be encouraged. And if there’s room for improvement, they should be given the opportunity to learn for their next task.
3. Set time aside for weekly 1:1 meetings
At first, most employees and managers will cringe at the idea of yet another meeting. But instituting weekly 1:1 meetings can be the most important step you take to retaining your top performers.
In its quest to build a better boss, Google discovered that its worst managers weren’t consistent in their 1:1 meetings; some focused on meeting with people who were underperforming, while others met primarily with the top performers.
Consequently, Google implemented the best practice of 1:1 meetings with all team members.
These meetings can cover anything and everything ¾ from upcoming projects to the latest client news. With each week, discussions about goals, feedback, and concerns become a lot more natural ¾ unlike the awkward, starchy conversations during annual reviews. Over time, it becomes easier for both sides to raise potential problems and deal with them early on, before they fester into something destructive.
4. Manage the grunt work properly
Not every project is going to be awesome. That’s just the way business works. And chances are your employees understand this.
However, managers need to handle such projects responsibly and that means a few things. Boring projects should always be balanced with more stimulating work. Employees should always be told how any grunt works fits into the overall needs of the company (“If we do a good job on x, we’re hoping the client will give us their cool launch next year”). And specific parameters should always be set for the boring stuff ¾ meaning employees should always see light at the end of the tunnel.
5. Publicly acknowledge good work
All too often, managers see motivation in terms of financial compensation, but money is far from the only way to effectively reward talented employees. A 2009 survey by McKinsey Quarterly asked which incentives were the most effective in motivating employees. The top two responses were: “Praise and commendation from immediate manager” (67 percent), and “Attention from leaders” (62 percent).
Praise and commendation go a long way in making employees feel noticed and valued. And the impact of a pat on the back is multiplied when it’s done publicly. Through public commendations, employees not only feel the support and respect of their manager, but the entire organization as well (including top-level executives). Creating a framework for “social recognition” will encourage a culture of appreciation throughout your firm.
Keeping your rockstar employees on board has always been important, and don’t think that economic uncertainty will keep your employees around. Your company has worked hard to recruit some bright people and great talent; make sure an opaque work environment doesn’t drive them into the arms of your competition.
Daniel Debow is co-founder and co-CEO of Rypple, a social performance management platform.
Image courtesy of Flickr user Esparta.
- Oct 22, 11
This picture represents 3 generations of the Amazon Kindle side by side. The white Kindle is a 1st generation, the middle is the 3rd gen, and on the right is the latest non-touch generation.
Each time they've gotten smaller / more compact but the screen has stayed the same!
- Oct 21, 11
Saw these Lego sets at the Lego Store at Downtown Disney. Here is Darth Vader's Super Stardestroyer:
The Deathstar:
And of course Darth Vader himself. Although this one you can't actually purchase:
If only I had the time!
- Oct 16, 11
Saturday was Matt and Tammy's wedding at the Natural History Museum in Santa Barbara. So on Sunday Mai and I decided to go horseback riding:
We went to a ranch called Circle B Bar (I think that's the name) in Goleta. It's off of Refugio road, just north of Refugio beach. This was the first time I've been riding since I was a kid and it was awesome!
- Oct 16, 11
Flight Suit:
I got this Top Gun costume for Halloween this year, finally planning what I would wear in advance. It doesn't hurt that Mai pushed me.
Party City had an additional 25% off and the quality of the jumpsuit is a lot better than I would have imagined. - Oct 12, 11
I've enjoyed my Vibram 5 Finger Shoes since I ordered them a few months ago. They work more muscles in my legs when I run with them which is great (although I also use them when I workout at the gym).
After a number of runs outside and a few hikes they began to smell pretty bad so I dropped them in the washing machine and now... A little bit better!
- Sep 16, 11The motorcycle is called tha Heist and it is built by Cleveland CycleWerks. http://www.clevelandcyclewerks.com/bikes/It has been called the budget badass because it is produced in China (e.g. low production costs) and sold here for $3,195. It's only 250cc but that means it gets 70 MPG.As well as this one:They've got a dealership in Canoga Park that could be worth checking out this weekend. When I get my motorcycle license this might be a better option than a used Harley Superlow. Plus at a retail price of $3200 the insurance has got to be super cheap!
- Sep 15, 11
If you're a gadget person like me your Amazon Wish List can get pretty large and expensive. So how do you manage it? Simple, by creating your own Technology Fund.
How do you do that?- Open a web savings account (example ING Direct)
- Setup an automated savings plan (say $100/month)
- Only make gadget purchases from the money in the account
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