Reach out and Orkut someone

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago,  there were homing pigeons, postal service, telegrams n telephones.
And now, all the primitive forms of staying in touch have snowballed, picked up speed and evolved into a communication phenomenon we call
“Orkut“. It started out as a proper noun- the name of an online social networking site. But it has become so popular and so massive that it has morphed into its own verb, as “OK, I’ll just Orkut (scrap) you about that later.”

Orkut is a magical place on the World Wide Web where you can find nearly anyone you’ve ever met in your entire life. And they can find you.
Your first love, your last boss, your third cousin you have never met and nearly everyone on your Diwali card list is there.
If you have a pulse and can operate a computer, you should be probably on Orkut. After all everybody is doing it. (And, no, If everybody is
jumping off the bridge, you wouldn’t do that too. But I’m pretty sure Orkut and bridge-jumping are two entirely different things.)

I have been Orkutting for about 5 years now and I find it very much interesting. It was even more fun when invitations from old friends and
classmates started appearing in my inbox
Initially there was a lot of Skepticism about Orkut, but now with the addition of new privacy features, it has gained the trust and attention
of media. For ex. we can decide who should view/write in our scrapbook, see our Photos/Videos etc.
Not to forget the addition of third party widgets or applications (Add Apps) on Orkut, that makes it even more entertaining and engaging.
Of course, Orkut isn’t the only Social Network in town, but it is the most user friendly, simple and interactive.

Nevertheless a college student’s hobby project has now turned into a billion-dollar company that has people of all ages typing, updating,
connecting, “friending” and Orkutting until the wee hours of the morning.

Who needs homing pigeons, postal service or telegrams? Clicking the “Share” button is so much faster!

Happy Living

Shruti.

My April Fools Day :)

Hello Friends,

After a long time I am writing the blog… and what a day to choose! - “April Fools Day!”

Everybody was aware of April Fool Virus… first I thought somebody must be cracking a joke or planning to fool on 1st April; but Alas! The
news was very true and soon it started spreading all over the world! Experts said that this warm aka Conficker.c program to be specific could
delete all of the files on a person’s computer, use zombie PCs — those controlled by a master — to overwhelm and shut down Web sites or
monitor a person’s keyboard strokes to collect private information like passwords or bank account information. The Conficker, strain C, will
generate 50,000 URLs per day instead of just 250 when it becomes active. Microsoft has declared $250,000 bounty for the one who finds this
malicious software program’s author. I updated my Antivirus Program as advised.

So finally… the 1st of April came!  My day starts with the gym everyday. Today I thought to work-out for some more time n burn few more
calories as couple of days back it was my birthday and the calories in the Cake were still dancing in my mind!
Then.. came home, switched the coffeemaker and toaster ON, took some cereals in the bowl with milk n apple and started checking my mails. I
saw some April Fool forwards in my mailbox..which got me nostalgic about my childhood April Fools’ Day with the fear of this “April fool Warm”…
“Hughhh… today’s gonna be a different day!”, I said to myself. I didn’t watch online movies, missed my favorite serials on Online TV, didn’t
do any e-shopping and transactions whole the day. Internet has been perhaps most outstanding innovation in field of communication in history
of mankind. Since quite a while.. I have been “addicted” to surfing to be frank; so one day with less use of Internet made me think…. what
will I do?

I thought with the my side of coin and decided to spend this day completing all the pending jobs.

• Its spring time and I wanted to plant some plants… though I have never done this before I thought why not do it now? So I brought some nice plants n seeds and planted them.
• I finished reading my favorite novel.
• Tried a new dish as I love cooking
• Listened to divine music.
• and last but not the least blogged this article, which is one of my hobbies

This way I spent my day doing the things I always wanted to do; which were pending till now saying “I will do it one day, some day..”
I would say.. that someday-one day is “NOW”. Do it right away! And . . . my “April fool Day” was really happy, content and a good one

Hope you will like “My Side of Coin”.

All kind of comments and suggestions are welcome!!

Happy Living
~Shruti.

First Snowfall Experience

Frozen Lake

Winter Storm can make the running water frozen….

Old age of trees in winter Snowfall...

Not a Wallpaper!

Now I know why the nature in its various colors and conditions makes artists and everyone fall in love with it!

Poets write poems, Painters portray it in beautiful paintings, Photographers capture its beauty, Philosophers praise it in their words and many common people like me just enjoy the soothing scenery!

I bet the nature’s beauty is so powerful that it can give birth to an artist within us!

I can tell it outta my own experiance…see it made me capture its beauty in a Photograph and praise it as a Philosopher!

I will personify this scenery as “Old Age of the trees in winter after the Snowfall”! (it would rather sound more rhythmic “Vrukshanchi Vrudhhawastha” in Marathi)

Happy Living

-Shruti.

Happy Independence Day

Happy Independence Day

CodeMunch is live on Orkut

Hello Friends,

Orkut-CodeMunch App

Today I found a great application on Orkut, called CodeMunch. It’s a useful app as we can edit,update and showcase our resume in Orkut profile. Follow the simple steps : Add ‘CodeMunch’ app > complete your CodeMunch profile and your resume will appear on your Orkut profile.
Plus the bonus advantage is that we can share our resume with friends,fellow geeks and potential recruiters from Orkut! Isn’t it great friends?

I think it’s the best way to promote our resume and maintain our Personal as well as Professional Profile on the same platform, who knows a new job opportunity is hanging around!

So couldn’t stop myself from sharing this with you all.

Click on the link below to add CodeMunch app in your Orkut Profile :

http://www.orkut.co.in/AppDirectory.aspx?dirFilters=featured&dirQuery=CodeMunch

Happy Munching

Cheers,
-Shruti.

Black box, White box and Gray Box Testing

Hi guys,

I found these some important concepts for any tester to know. So sharing with you all -

Black Box Testing – These tests are based on requirements and functionality, not based on any knowledge of internal design or code.
Tester has to test just the input and expected/actual output.
Synonyms for Black-box include: behavioral, functional, opaque-box, and closed-box.

White Box Testing – These are based on knowledge of the internal logic of an application’s code. Tests are based on coverage of code statements, branches, paths, and conditions. For conducting these tests, tester should have the knowledge and access to internal code, algorithms and software designs.
Synonyms for white-box include: structural, glass-box and clear-box.

Gray Box Testing – It is a software testing technique that uses a combination of black box testing and white box testing. Gray box testing is not black box testing, because the tester does know some of the internal workings of the software under test. In gray box testing, the tester uses the internal code, algorithms for creating the Test Cases, one takes a black box approach in applying inputs to the software under test and observing the outputs.

Gray box testing is a powerful idea. The concept is simple; if one knows something about how the product works on the inside, one can test it better, even from the outside. Gray box testing is not to be confused with white box testing; i.e. a testing approach that attempts to cover the internals of the product in detail. Gray box testing is a test strategy based partly on internals. The testing approach is known as gray box testing, when one does have some knowledge, but not the full knowledge of the internals of the product one is testing.

HTH

How To Create Very Secure Passwords That Are Easy To Remember

Friends… I came across a very useful article about creating a strong password, so thought to share it with you all

I have had a lot of experience trying to get clients to use secure passwords and the common problem that comes up is that secure passwords are often difficult to remember. So, I came up with a simple solution to this. Let’s get started:

First, we should pick our favorite song. For the sake of this tutorial, I will use Stairway To Heaven by Led Zeppelin. Now, pick a line from the song that is 6 or more words long. I will use the line “And she’s buying a stairway to heaven”.

Next, take the first letter of each word in that line of the song. Mine would be:

ASBASTH

Now, alternate between lower case and upper case:

aSbAsTh

Next we will choose a letter in this that can also be represented by a number. Some examples of this would be to use a 5 instead of an S or a 1 instead of an I. So, I will use a 5 instead of the capital S:

a5bAsTh

Next, we will add a character that is not alpha-numeric such as a $ or a # and add it to the beginning and end of the string. I will use a $:

$a5bAsTh$

“$a5bAsTh$” is a very secure password. A brute-force attack would take a LONG time to break this and a dictionary attack would simply fail. The best part is that even though this password is very secure, all I have to remember is that line from the song with a “$” on either side of it and a “5″ instead of an “S”. I recommend this to all of my clients now and it has convinced a lot of computer novices that they can have secure passwords without the worry of forgetting what they are! I sure hope that this helps some people!

World Environment Day

Automated v/s Manual Testing

Friends… I have seen in many places that more importance is given to Automated Testing than Manual Testing,it is a doubt in every tester’s mind as they move ahead in career. I have attended some Testing Forums about it as well.. but everyone has their own opinion about it. I strongly believe that both the types of testing methods are equally important at their side.

Some tests inherently require an automated approach to be effective, but others must be manual.
Generally Automated testing tools are quite expensive and only big MNCs can afford to buy them… in that case they use the Automation testing and things can be automated only if the environment is conducive and the tasks are repetitive. If there is an activity which requires a human intervention / supervision, it cannot be automated. More ever automation can be done only if few things are stabilized. But an effective automation tester can sprout only if he / she has adequate manual testing experience.

But small scale companies can not afford the expensive Automation testing tools, therefore they follow Manual Testing method. In this method each & every module of the application is tested thoroughly by the tester. If it is a constantly changing application, then Manual Testing makes sense.

I would say Manual & Automated both the testings are sides of the same coin. Manual testing serves as a stepping stone for automation testing. If a tester hasn’t done much of manual testing, he can’t hone his automation skills.

Test Plan & Test Case

What is a Test Plan ?

A test plan is a systematic approach to testing a system such as a machine or software. The plan typically contains a detailed understanding of what the eventual workflow will be.
It can also be defined as the high level testing documents that describe test project.
Test plan includes :
1. Scope of Testing
2. Schedule : It contains Test Strategy or Approach.
3. Test Deliverables
4. Release Criteria
5. Risks and Contingencies

What is a Test Case ?

The good test case is one which has maximum probability of finding the bugs.
The test cases should be good enough explanator, because problem well stated means its half solved.
“The essential value of any test case lies in its ability to provide information (i.e. to reduce uncertainty).”
Test Cases usually have the following components.

* Test Case Summary
* Configuration
* Initial Condition
* Steps to run the test case
* Expected behavior/outcome
* Priority

Click here for Test case format.