Beta Testing

The lifecycle of a piece of software begins with an idea, spends the majority of its life in the developmental stage, and finally is tested thoroughly both internally and externally before being publicly released. Kaspersky Lab defines beta testing as the “external testing of [a] product in order to identify configurations that cause problems, as well as collect requirements and suggestions from users” (n.d.). As the beta version of a piece of software is not the final version, it is not guaranteed to be without bugs. Internal testing will only yield so many results as the number of devices and configurations upon which testing can be done is limited. However, by enlisting the help of the public, the number of devices and configurations is nearly limitless. This ensures a much better representative sample of how well a piece of software will work when it is released to the public. Beta testing is an absolutely essential stage of the software development lifecycle as it helps ensure a product’s success.

References

Kaspersky Lab. (n.d.). Beta Testing | What Is Beta Testing. Retrieved April 20, 2014, from http://www.kaspersky.com/downloads/beta_testing

Roth, Matthew. (2011). Coding Shots Annual Plan high res-5.jpg. [Photograph]. Retrieved April 20, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Coding_Shots_Annual_Plan_high_res-5.jpg

Usability Testing

Source: justincaseyouwerewondering.com

According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, usability testing is the “[evaluation of] a product or service by testing it with representative users” (n.d.). While usability testing is largely used in the tech industry to test new hardware and software, it can be used to benchmark virtually any man made product. The goal of usability testing is to “identify any usability problems, collect qualitative and quantitative data and determine the participant's satisfaction with the product” (n.d.). Usability testing seeks to determine if a user can successfully figure out how to properly use a product so that it meets its intended purpose. These tests are run in such a way that a user is asked to use a product and figure out how to do so with only the instructions that come with the product. As the user attempts to use the product, a team of observers will often record both audio and video as well as take notes. Usability testing is not beta testing; it is not meant to be a means for weeding out bugs. It is, however, a way of qualitatively measuring how usable a product is by comparing a test user’s actual results of using the product to the expected results. Usability testing is an absolutely essential part of the development process and should be viewed as equally important as beta testing.

References

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Usability Testing. (n.d.). Retrieved April 14, 2014, from http://www.usability.gov/how-to-and-tools/methods/usability-testing.html

[Usability Testing]. Retrieved April 18, 2014 from
http://justincaseyouwerewondering.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/UsabilityTest.png

Blogs

Maybe you have heard the term “blog” before and quickly attributed it to a website where one can freely journal about any topic; but what actually is a blog? A blog is not just any website but a website with a very specific format and characteristics. According to Marshall Brain, the characteristics that define a blog are:

• A blog is normally a single page of entries. There may be archives of older entries, but the "main page" of a blog is all anyone really cares about.
• A blog is organized in reverse-chronological order, from most recent entry to least recent.
• A blog is normally public -- the whole world can see it.
• The entries in a blog usually come from a single author.
• The entries in a blog are usually stream-of-consciousness. There is no particular order to them. For example, if I see a good link, I can throw it in my blog. The tools that most bloggers use make it incredibly easy to add entries to a blog any time they feel like it. (Brain, n.d., para. 6).

In the early years of the internet, the internet was less of a social platform and more of an information tool. Publishing content to the World Wide Web required knowledge of HTML and thus imposed great limitations on the general public’s ability to create web pages. With the development of tools in the late 1990s that aided non-technical users in creating and publishing content for the web, the blogosphere quickly took form. These tools allowed for anyone and everyone to post about any topic they wanted to. However, according to Susan Gunelius, the earliest blogs started out primarily as online diaries in which individuals posted information on a daily basis about their lives and opinions (Gunelius, n.d., para 5). Blogs originated as a one-way street in which there was no communication between an author and his audience. As blogs evolved, features were added to allow for readers to interact with an author by posting comments or “liking” a post.

Blogging has become an incredibly popular form of social media. As of November 20, 2013, there are over 152 million blogs in existence (Gaille, 2013). At the time of this writing, Tumblr is statistically the most popular blogging platform with over 178 million blogs (Tumblr, 2014). While Blogger is often regarded as the most popular blogging platform, there is no statistical data to back up this claim as Blogger keeps all of its statistics private.  

References

[Blog Icons]. Retrieved April 2, 2014 from

          http://awas.aweber-static.com/images/features-pages/bbc-blogs.jpg 

Brain, M. How Blogs Work. (n.d.). Retrieved March 30, 2014, from http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/social-networking/information/blog.htm

Gaille, B. How Many Blogs are on the Internet. (n.d.). Retrieved March 30, 2014, from http://www.wpvirtuoso.com/how-many-blogs-are-on-the-internet/

Tumblr. Tumblr. (n.d.). Retrieved March 30, 2014, from http://www.tumblr.com/about

Gunelius, S. What is a Blog? (n.d.). Retrieved March 30, 2014, from http://weblogs.about.com/od/startingablog/p/WhatIsABlog.htm

QR Codes

The QR code, or Quick Response Code, has become a staple of modern consumerism and technology. Developed in the 1960s, the QR code was created as a way of overcoming the 20 or so character limitation of traditional, one-dimensional barcodes (Denso Wave Incorporated, n.d.). Denso Wave Incorporated, a division of Denso Corporation, created the QR code as a response to users’ requests for a barcode that could store not only more alphanumeric characters but Japanese characters as well (Denso Wave Incorporated, n.d.). The two-person development team at Denso Wave created a special two-dimensional code packed with information and special features to make scanning quick and easy.

Every QR Code contains a finder pattern, an arrangement of squares that help the scanner detect the size of the QR Code, the direction it's facing and even the angle at which the code is being scanned. Next, every QR Code contains an alignment pattern, another pattern of squares devised to help scanners determine if the 2-D bar code [sic] is distorted (perhaps it's placed on a round surface, for instance). QR Codes also have margins for error, meaning that even if part of the code is smudged or obscured, the code can often still be scanned (Atteberry, 2011, para. 3).

As intricate as QR codes are, they would mean nothing without the software used to decode them. According to Jonathan Atteberry, this special software works by

"calculating the ratio between the black and white areas of the code, it can quickly identify which squares are part of the alignment patterns and which squares contain actual data. Using the QR Code's built-in patterns and error correction, the software can also compensate for any distortion or obscured areas of the bar code. After the software has digitally 'reconstructed' the QR Code, it examines the jumble of black and white squares in the QR Code's data section and outputs the data contained within" (Atteberry, 2011, para. 4).

It was not until around 2002 that QR codes became popular as the scanners required to read QR codes were previously quite costly. However, as mobile devices began offering a way of scanning the two-dimensional code, its popularity boomed. In 2014, QR codes are everywhere. They are on our packages, our boarding passes, our passports, business cards, and even billboards. This staple of technological ingenuity has forever transformed the world we live in.

References

Atteberry, J. (2011, March 03). How 2-D Bar Codes Work. Retrieved March 22, 2014, from http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/repurposed-inventions/2d-barcodes1.htm

Denso Wave Incorporated. History of QR Code (n.d.). Retrieved March 22, 2014, from http://www.qrcode.com/en/history/
[How QR Codes Works]. Retrieved April 2, 2014 from
          http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/repurposed-inventions/2d-barcodes1.htm