I ask questions

Friends certainly wonder: Where is Erkan ?

I am taking a break (again). At the moment I am fullfilling an old dream of mine: I am reading a book (see here) together with secondary literature.

And this demands a lot of time (looking up facts, making notes, thinking on what you just read,…)
and I must add: it makes very much fun to also read aloud during this.

From time to time - like today - I get an edgy feeling and visit some friends also online on their blogs. But for the moment I am addicted to another drug (if it is urgent call me and let’s talk about it while playing table tennis).

Erkan YILMAZ
You certainly have also an old dream or not ? Take the time and pursue the dream again. If not now, when ?

I am reading a foreign language book - aloud.
I remember the last time reading aloud - over a longer period of time - was in school, when we read set books in class.

Why am I doing this now (again) ?
Perhaps to get more of my senses activated ? Could also be because of the topic of the book - it is about ancient times. And as you know: stories sound better, when they are told.

I noticed that this slows me down (when comparing to “normal” silent reading). Could be because:
- now I read REALLY the complete text instead having read some parts (quickly)
- sometimes also the pronounciation/accentuation seems not correct to me and I stop and think how it would be correct
- perhaps I see more with my mind’s eye ?

The book has >500 pages - I wish all my neighbors fun listening

Erkan YILMAZ

I agree fully to Pradeep’s comment about the Birbal stories. They are so smart, funny, addictive, …

So, if you didn’t buy the book yet, you missed a chance.
If you want to buy it also for your team here are some arguments to convince people who do not believe it is a book for/about testing.
You could e.g. tell them: “See how often the term test is mentioned” haha

some quotes:
- a chapter called “The Test”: “I might agree with you entirely,” smiled Akbar, “if you would agree to put them (the questions) to the test…”
- “Shall we put it to the test ?” asked Birbal
- Akbar resolved to test the shoemaker’s resilience.
- But Birbal intervened: “Jahanpanah, I think it is a fairer test if somebody is in the armor - I’ll volunteer.”
- “Can we test this ?” smiled the king.
- So Akbar had the court scholars test the stranger in every tongue.
- “… How can this be tested ?”
- “I know”, smiled Akbar. “It was the last test - so you would come out.”
- And the Emperor led everyone into the garden for the test.
- A week later in durbar, Akbar decided to test Birbal’s memory.
- “Put him to the test”, said the Begum/princess proudly.
- “You seem unconvinced”, he said to Birbal. “Very well, we shall have a test.”

Did you notice how often his majesty Akbar smiles, when he mentions test ?

book:
“A Caravan from Hindustan - the complete Birbal tales from India” by James Moseley

Erkan YILMAZ

…I am reading at the moment a foreign-language book.
This is challenging - both: the content and non-standard linguistical expressions.
And now you know, why I am at the moment not so much participating online (see here).

How long has it been since you were busy with a really challenging book ? (please do not reply here, just answer this question for yourself truly)

Erkan YILMAZ

After reading Christian’s article addicted about his book-buying-adventure, I feel the need to also post about this topic. For my books-to-buy-list I am still searching for some children’s books. And the kid in me needs your help !

I have recently read Peter Pan and I am thinking about the next to be:

- Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
- The Book of One Thousand and One Nights
- Akbar and Birbal Stories

But I would use this opportunity to also get some advise by you too. Which children’s book did you like most as child ? Or which book should you read over and over again to your child ?

Erkan Yilmaz

At the moment I am reading Made to Stick (why some ideas survive and others die) from the two brothers Chip and Dan Heath (I got this input from Frank).

(this is not the books cover - I am to blame for this selection)

So, you might now think: “What has this to do with testing ?” A lot - e.g. you should always write a good bug story (to convince the developer and/or others to care especially for that important bug); mentoring new testers and increasing the learn effect; perhaps just for the fun of telling (remember how it was back then - when you lay in your bed and you listened to a story by your mother - hey, open your eyes again ) …

0. INTRODUCTION: WHAT STICKS ?
The two authors give examples of successful stories and start to analyze them. As they tell on page 15:
“There is no “formula” for a sticky idea … But sticky ideas do draw from a common set of traits, which make them more likely to succeed” (on page 21-24 they try to harden this by results from a research team).

They give a checklist for creating a successful idea - this is a
Simple Unexpected Concrete Credentialed Emotional Story

But:
of course there is a problem to this - the Curse of Knowledge (page 20: “Once we know something, we find it hard to imagine what it was like not to know it. Our knowledge has “cursed” us“).
They demonstrate this with a simple game (I will not tell you what it is - buy the book or ask me in private).

But they say there are two ways to handle this Curse of Knowledge:
- not to learn anything or
- to transform your ideas (see the checklist above)

1. SIMPLICITY:
In the first chapter they talk about Simplicity (simple = core + compact) and demonstrate this with stories/examples (buy the book and read them ).
I liked the part where they gave examples from the Army - Commander’s intent (CI), “No plan survives contact with the enemy.” (page 25). Does this awake in you old testing memories ?

For compactness they advise to pack a lot of meaning into the sentences: proverbs, schema, concepts, categories, analogies, metaphors, associations, …
this is a clever substitution and will help transmitting info faster.

As they tell the book is a complement to Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell (guess which book is on my buy list now ?).
Here you can also listen to two audio files:
interview (runtime: 40:55 mins, 18.7 MB, recorded 2007-01-09),
speech (runtime: 37:07 mins, 17 MB, recorded 2006-09-09)

I really can recommend this book !
What I personally like besides the content is, that I get to know background info on urban legends, proverbs (eventually soon also wartime rumors, conspiracy theories and jokes).

Erkan YILMAZ

I have returned all of my software testing books to the library. Since I am not reading them any longer. Please don’t confuse this now that I am not interested anymore in software testing – on the contrary: TESTING MEANS A LOT TO ME.

With the benefit of hindsight now – I would associate reading these software testing books with watching a black and white slide show about animals. But now I feel like I am visiting a zoo. I can see the animals now in colour, with their natural sounds, their own special smell, can touch them to get a much better experience.
Well, this is of course only my subjective opinion.

I believe that these “other” books have a much better impact on me than the books which I read before. I will just list a few things and perhaps – from your perspective - not necessarily important ones:
e.g. Bach’s advice: when you need help for a decision: to open any book and ask that page. Feynman and Weinberg show me, how to approach different topics. Heath, McCloud (and Goodman) show interesting aspects on story telling. Von Oech has some interesting ideas (e.g. try to find 5 benefits of sleeping in your clothes) and Barrie helps me in being a kid again.

Erkan YILMAZ

BTW: the picture is blurry isn’t it? I did this on purpose so you must guess some book titles. Who knows perhaps on the search you discover some other interesting books or things?

At the moment I am reading Peter Pan (original edition title: Peter and Wendy) by J.M Barrie. There is an interesting place in the book when Peter, Wendy, John, Michael and Tinker Bell reach Neverland. The pirates can see them because of Tinker Bell’s light and they get the big gun out to let it fly eventually. First, Wendy, John and Michael want Tink to go away. But of course Peter does not abandon her (good Peter).

“Then tell her,” Wendy begged, “to put out her light.”
“She can’t put it out. That is about the only thing fairies
can’t do. It just goes out of itself when she falls asleep, same
as the stars.”
“Then tell her to sleep at once,” John almost ordered.
“She can’t sleep except when she’s sleepy. It is the only
other thing fairies can’t do.”
“Seems to me,” growled John, “these are the only two things
worth doing.” (from Project Gutenberg)

I like this part. Because you see that it is not the only thing fairies can not do, but the info was not given at first by Peter. It is similar to testing: you should not believe only what you get to know at that moment. Explore it more. Then you can put Tinker Bell in the hat or find another solution.

I am wondering what other things Tink and the other fairies are not able to do? For your info: I am reading the book now for the first time, but I watched the movie. I will continue adding at the end of this post, what Tink and/or the other fairies can not do.

The other reason I liked this part was that fairies are limited creatures. If fairies can not do everything, can there be concluded that other creatures can not too?

You can read Peter Pan at Project Gutenberg

Erkan YILMAZ

What fairies are not able to do:
- Tink can not come out from a drawer alone
- Tink can’t go a twentieth part of the way round
- Tink can not fly so slowly (because Wendy, John and Michael can not keep up the speed in flying)
- Tink can only recover from drinking poisoned medicine, when kids believe in fairies.
- When a child says, `I don’t believe in fairies’, one fairy does not survive this and falls down dead.
- Fairies do not live very long (but they are so small, that a short time appears for them very long)
- There is no fairy for every boy and girl.
- There are fairies who have a blue color and they are just little sillies who are not sure what they are.