This won't maker any sense unless you have read the previous post.
Ok, the experiment is a bust. Yes it is true that I was able to create a profile that has got me zero hits. But what I was not expecting is that I feel like a complete liar and cheat...not cheat, a callous cheat.
Sure, Match picked out women I'd never consider and rated me as near matches. Really? Such a simplistic modeling. "I like movies, you like movies... aha a match..." But the gotcha was there were real matches and I felt badly that I went down this road.
Before you think I have lost my mind, yes, I realize that there is a big difference between being ONE of many returned results in a query AND NO FOLLOWUP and stringing some girl along and then rejecting her. I am just saying I liked a few of my matches and after a week have decided I don't like my Match.com game. I have a soul I guess after all.
One interesting side effect is that the diversity of women I got matches for was unexpected. I wonder what I would draw if I actually tried. Just not there yet.
For the record, the deal breaker was a 35 yr old gal that looked amazingly like a girl I dated 20 years ago. I am a total sucker for long hair and glasses: the "porn librarian" look. Sigh.
So I'll probably keep checking out the matches for a while, but my attitude is a lot more respectful. So I am now looking for new material again. This was way too easy.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Friday, June 10, 2011
Ross vs. Online Dating
Okay, let me start off with a preface: I am not looking for a woman on Match.Com. This is just an experiment to see what insane matches the cyber world would match me up with.
This idea came from an event several years ago where a friend of mine, his girlfriend and I invented the Match.Com game. Rules were simple: Invent any outrageous search criteria (say tallest lesbian over 75 years old) and the closest match won. We played our game for hours. It proved to me there is something for everyone up there. But I was curious about my luck.
Finally, I broke down when a female friend who had been looking on all the big sites threw out the notion that there were more women up on Match than men. A firm believer that the ratio of desperate men to women was about 100 to 1, I had to set up my own account to see if my theory held.
So Step 1, the Profile.
I wrote a profile that I was sure would completely decrease my odds of getting a hit. I described myself pretty much as I am and listed such high qualities in her as: not in prison currently and does not kill small animals (my Australian ex-boss would advocate a gal who DID kill small animals) but I digress. I was even bold enough to use a real photo of myself. But it was me holding a pink t-shirt that read “Are you tough enough?” A fitting profile picture. So the stage is set.
I confessed to my Match pal what I had done and she was all over me to share. I was reluctant at first, but finally I said “ok” and she went to search for me but I was not there. Odd, I had done all the stuff and it said that I was live. At this point I assumed my lack of being there was due to me being a cheap bastard and not paying for the service, so I could look but not “touch” as it were. But within minutes of her searching I propagated through the system.
Then sadly for me all my new searches took me to my friend. I felt this was some subtle Jedi mind trick. But after a rather frantic troubleshooting session I freed myself. I could search for whatever I wanted.
Now, I have to explain my pre-conceived notions about on-line dating. One on-line dates if one is desperate/lazy/crazy. I expected all three. Yes, intellectually, I knew there could be some edge cases where some sweet, normal chick was looking for love, but I highly doubted it.
Step 2, My First Trolling
She is: 25-35, tall, and athletic. Likes movies, long walks and playing cards. I am amusing myself now. My ideal is way more complex than that, but baby steps. Run the query… Ding, ding, ding! Let’s look at the winners. First gal is very hot. Looks like a model. I am starting to rethink my views on this dating thing. Haven’t tackled the problem of she’d never date me, but don’t care. She’s hot. So I look at all 6 posted pictures of her. Number 4 was the deal breaker. Crazy eyes. She was batshit nuts. I’ve seen this look before. I know this look. This look is the look of “I will make you beg for death by the time this is done…”
Gal #2 was less hot and less crazy, but very bland: romantic dinners, long walks, talking (oh good god) and her love of Jesus.
Gals #3, 4, 5 were frankly rat-women. Skinny, boney, and with big Ocelot eyes. Sort of Gollum-like if Gollum wore summer dresses and flip flops.
Gal #6 made me feel bad that I was not taking this seriously. She was nice enough looking and she clearly was being honest. Her profile read snarky and made me laugh. I almost thought about emailing her, but decided not to, because I felt she deserved a decent treatment… plus she lived in Everett, WA and I sure wasn’t going to date anybody that willingly lived in Everett. I might think about it if she was held captive by a crazed cult of ninjas and bears, but not willingly. I am a snob that way.
Just checked my email and Match has matched my profile up with twelve lucky winners.
Hmmn.
To be continued….
This idea came from an event several years ago where a friend of mine, his girlfriend and I invented the Match.Com game. Rules were simple: Invent any outrageous search criteria (say tallest lesbian over 75 years old) and the closest match won. We played our game for hours. It proved to me there is something for everyone up there. But I was curious about my luck.
Finally, I broke down when a female friend who had been looking on all the big sites threw out the notion that there were more women up on Match than men. A firm believer that the ratio of desperate men to women was about 100 to 1, I had to set up my own account to see if my theory held.
So Step 1, the Profile.
I wrote a profile that I was sure would completely decrease my odds of getting a hit. I described myself pretty much as I am and listed such high qualities in her as: not in prison currently and does not kill small animals (my Australian ex-boss would advocate a gal who DID kill small animals) but I digress. I was even bold enough to use a real photo of myself. But it was me holding a pink t-shirt that read “Are you tough enough?” A fitting profile picture. So the stage is set.
I confessed to my Match pal what I had done and she was all over me to share. I was reluctant at first, but finally I said “ok” and she went to search for me but I was not there. Odd, I had done all the stuff and it said that I was live. At this point I assumed my lack of being there was due to me being a cheap bastard and not paying for the service, so I could look but not “touch” as it were. But within minutes of her searching I propagated through the system.
Then sadly for me all my new searches took me to my friend. I felt this was some subtle Jedi mind trick. But after a rather frantic troubleshooting session I freed myself. I could search for whatever I wanted.
Now, I have to explain my pre-conceived notions about on-line dating. One on-line dates if one is desperate/lazy/crazy. I expected all three. Yes, intellectually, I knew there could be some edge cases where some sweet, normal chick was looking for love, but I highly doubted it.
Step 2, My First Trolling
She is: 25-35, tall, and athletic. Likes movies, long walks and playing cards. I am amusing myself now. My ideal is way more complex than that, but baby steps. Run the query… Ding, ding, ding! Let’s look at the winners. First gal is very hot. Looks like a model. I am starting to rethink my views on this dating thing. Haven’t tackled the problem of she’d never date me, but don’t care. She’s hot. So I look at all 6 posted pictures of her. Number 4 was the deal breaker. Crazy eyes. She was batshit nuts. I’ve seen this look before. I know this look. This look is the look of “I will make you beg for death by the time this is done…”
Gal #2 was less hot and less crazy, but very bland: romantic dinners, long walks, talking (oh good god) and her love of Jesus.
Gals #3, 4, 5 were frankly rat-women. Skinny, boney, and with big Ocelot eyes. Sort of Gollum-like if Gollum wore summer dresses and flip flops.
Gal #6 made me feel bad that I was not taking this seriously. She was nice enough looking and she clearly was being honest. Her profile read snarky and made me laugh. I almost thought about emailing her, but decided not to, because I felt she deserved a decent treatment… plus she lived in Everett, WA and I sure wasn’t going to date anybody that willingly lived in Everett. I might think about it if she was held captive by a crazed cult of ninjas and bears, but not willingly. I am a snob that way.
Just checked my email and Match has matched my profile up with twelve lucky winners.
Hmmn.
To be continued….
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Applied Chaotic Testing - Draft 1 work in progrss
To Joel as promised:
Applied Chaotic Testing:
How many times have you run a test pass for your product and bugs have slipped by that could have been caught if others had been testing as well? Big corporations can afford large teams or extended beta programs. The little guys are strapped for money and resources are stretched with no time.
How to get the maximum return on testing?
One way is to shake up the patterns we all fall into. Implement what I like to call "Applied Chaotic Testing". As much as one may feel they are being creative and representing their user base as domain experts, there are certain techniques that are ingrained in us that make our testing results measurable and predictable. We all know that is does not reflect real world usage. How many times has customer support reported issues that come from the field that when researched come from environments that could not be predicted? I remember my days in support taking a call from the field where the user was running an English version of our software in a Danish version of Windows 95 running from a Japanese version of Dr. DOS. Who does that? This was an excellent example of an "Applied Chaotic User". Another was from a heroic fellow that had no hands and was struggling to calibrate my company's touch screen with a pen in his teeth. Turned out to be the wrong version of the driver.
As a tester with 22 years in software testing, I have seen many unique testing methodologies introduced into the field: Unit testing, Systems testing, Exploratory Matrix testing, Moge-Warwick Centralized. Analysis, Certified Emulation testing, RGB testing, Lowest Common Denominator testing (LCDT), and Micro testing. But overall there is still a need to capture the majority of chaotic users.
Remember that an IQ of 100 is average, so this should be the goal when test planning. To increase the target zone, plan for 85 instead. Don't forget to factor in one-off anomalies like managers of companies in the Fortune 100 and the elderly.
Applying Applied Chaotic Testing:
At irregular intervals, an Applied Chaotic Tester will change his/her testing approach by doing the unexpected. A sample scenario might look something like this:
Test with the mouse in the left hand
Reconfigure your keyboard to be Chinese
Turn off the monitor and try using the software via a screen reader with the volume set low
Try testing on an operating system in a language you can't read. I find Arabic or Hebrew most effective given these languages are right to left.
Try testing under duress. Many users have deadlines that keep them awake extra longs hours. Try testing in sleep deprivation of 24 hour increments. Eating poorly also can create a source of duress. Try an entire build cycle eating nothing more than Hostess HoHos and drinking Red Bull.
Create a software configuration that is prone to random crashing. A great solution is to test on virus-ridden operating systems. A quick source of viruses is AOL or several shadier porn sites, but clear this with the IT department to ensure it does not conflict with company policies.
Get small children as beta testers. Be aware and sensitive to the fact that criticism on their performance can make them cry. Same guidline goes for ESL (English as a Second Language) students.
Ask (if possible) to sit in on your company's support center. Listen with a careful ear for customers with attention deficit disorder preferably from non-English speaking countries and/or the clinically diagnosed bi-polar because they will have the most challenging questions and having the most questionable scenarios. Ideally the tech will share these same qualities. Take many notes and as detailed steps as possible. Don't worry if you miss a few steps here and there. It just leads to better Applied Chaotic testing.
To sum up, Applied Chaotic Testing taps into the undiscovered country of random and unmeasurable use cases. Forgot how your software is suppose to be, or even should be, think of how it is.
Applied Chaotic Testing:
How many times have you run a test pass for your product and bugs have slipped by that could have been caught if others had been testing as well? Big corporations can afford large teams or extended beta programs. The little guys are strapped for money and resources are stretched with no time.
How to get the maximum return on testing?
One way is to shake up the patterns we all fall into. Implement what I like to call "Applied Chaotic Testing". As much as one may feel they are being creative and representing their user base as domain experts, there are certain techniques that are ingrained in us that make our testing results measurable and predictable. We all know that is does not reflect real world usage. How many times has customer support reported issues that come from the field that when researched come from environments that could not be predicted? I remember my days in support taking a call from the field where the user was running an English version of our software in a Danish version of Windows 95 running from a Japanese version of Dr. DOS. Who does that? This was an excellent example of an "Applied Chaotic User". Another was from a heroic fellow that had no hands and was struggling to calibrate my company's touch screen with a pen in his teeth. Turned out to be the wrong version of the driver.
As a tester with 22 years in software testing, I have seen many unique testing methodologies introduced into the field: Unit testing, Systems testing, Exploratory Matrix testing, Moge-Warwick Centralized. Analysis, Certified Emulation testing, RGB testing, Lowest Common Denominator testing (LCDT), and Micro testing. But overall there is still a need to capture the majority of chaotic users.
Remember that an IQ of 100 is average, so this should be the goal when test planning. To increase the target zone, plan for 85 instead. Don't forget to factor in one-off anomalies like managers of companies in the Fortune 100 and the elderly.
Applying Applied Chaotic Testing:
At irregular intervals, an Applied Chaotic Tester will change his/her testing approach by doing the unexpected. A sample scenario might look something like this:
Test with the mouse in the left hand
Reconfigure your keyboard to be Chinese
Turn off the monitor and try using the software via a screen reader with the volume set low
Try testing on an operating system in a language you can't read. I find Arabic or Hebrew most effective given these languages are right to left.
Try testing under duress. Many users have deadlines that keep them awake extra longs hours. Try testing in sleep deprivation of 24 hour increments. Eating poorly also can create a source of duress. Try an entire build cycle eating nothing more than Hostess HoHos and drinking Red Bull.
Create a software configuration that is prone to random crashing. A great solution is to test on virus-ridden operating systems. A quick source of viruses is AOL or several shadier porn sites, but clear this with the IT department to ensure it does not conflict with company policies.
Get small children as beta testers. Be aware and sensitive to the fact that criticism on their performance can make them cry. Same guidline goes for ESL (English as a Second Language) students.
Ask (if possible) to sit in on your company's support center. Listen with a careful ear for customers with attention deficit disorder preferably from non-English speaking countries and/or the clinically diagnosed bi-polar because they will have the most challenging questions and having the most questionable scenarios. Ideally the tech will share these same qualities. Take many notes and as detailed steps as possible. Don't worry if you miss a few steps here and there. It just leads to better Applied Chaotic testing.
To sum up, Applied Chaotic Testing taps into the undiscovered country of random and unmeasurable use cases. Forgot how your software is suppose to be, or even should be, think of how it is.
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