Bernd Gurn

Life is beta ...
beta Me at age 3

Yeah, life is beta.
What does this mean? It´s just a simple phrase to describe how life works. If you see making experiences as errors or failures, then to correct them is a kind of "debugging". A constant process of iterations of adapting your behaviors to the current situation, smaller or bigger changes, nice ones and painfull ones, learning by doing. Some of them are obvious or mandatory, some are just fine corrections of handling of your everyday life. In some more plain words:


Make errors, debug them, try again, live better!


And due to the fact that there is no "final release", no "bug-free-version" of yourself you are constantly in the beta phase. Sounds simple, couldn´t be easier, right? But is it? Think it over.

Some things about me

I am a tester

I am a software tester and like to hunt bugs. Fortunately software bugs will never extinct so i made a profession of it. Want to know more about it?

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I am a runner

To keep a flexible mind in a resilient body you can find me frequently on and off track with my running shoes. For the records and my experiences while running and with my equipment go on.

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I am ...variable

From time to time i have a need to express myself in various ways. I call that "projects". Smaller and bigger ones, more or less seriously meant.


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I am a tester

“Failures are divided into two classes - those who thought and never did, and those who did and never thought.” ― John Charles Salak

Since 2003 I am a certified software tester with a "Foundation Level" by ISTQB.ORG . I focus on dynamic, functional tests for web sites and apps for the current desktop and mobil operating systems. I also do GUI and End-to-end tests before and after go live. Mostly i perform these tests manually but more and more test automation is needed so i keep an eye on this technics (for instance TA with Selenium). I have worked with "Bugzilla" and "Jira", the bugtracking software besides "Confluence" the enterprise wiki, both from "Atlassian".


I have come a long way from assembling computers in the early 1990 over supporting user around the year 2000 to currently fullfill and manage tests. Since my beginnings in the IT industry the test process has changed. Once there were developers who write the code, send it to a test environment and waited till the testers had done their tests. After that the developers went back to their cubicles with a bug list to fix them. Then all repeated. No big touch points between both parties. That was then. Nowadays developers and testers work together in agile teams right from the beginning. Both participate in each others work and contribute there expertise. So developers have to go more deeply into testing and testers have to become a little bit more a developer. The borderline between both roles is getting blurred. Cause of that change i force myself more into coding and made this page.
OK, it´s a simple page but it´s a beginning. More and more it will grow with content and technics after increasing the stuff i have learned. Currently i started with HTML5, CSS and some JavaScript.


And additionally, some notes from the testing world that come up on my screen:



Basics: Validation / Verification

Lately i had to give a short presentation of a maximum of ten minutes with a free of choice content. So i decided to go back to the testing roots and researched for the definitions and differences between validation and verification. I often stumbled over these two terms in my daily testing business and noticed that not all people surrounding me are use them in the right meaning. Both terms are engaged with several similar definitions and use but i found a nice little differentiation:

Verification:

Does it meet the specification?

Validation:

Is it according to the purpose?


Replace "it" with your favorite word like software, system, process, task and so on. In other words: Verification --> Do we build the system right? And for Validation: --> Do we build the right system? Simple and plain, easy to memorize. (14/06/2014)

Is this an error? (001)

Lately when my operating system calculated the remaining time for a copy task it surprised me with a interesting number:

Fehler 001

Check the prefix. Didn´t took it to serious. (16/04/2014))

I am a runner

I run long distances between 5km and 22km. At an average i run about 10 km with a 4:45 pace. It´s good for health and I like to get in a "flow" while the body is in "automatic running mode". If it´s getting optimal, my body runs like a clockwork and my head is free for detached thinking. Sounds spiritual, weired - maybe. But in my believe it´s a simple kind of meditation.
I mostly trace my progress with the "Runkeeper" app on Android-2.3.x and 4.x-based mobile phones. My summarized results can be found here. Every now and then i use the app from Nike+ and import the results into the Runkeeper account and mark them as imported. Thanks to Matt Stuehler and his great work to export my Nike+ GPS-records to my local machine and then up to Runkeeper.

Running notes

  • May 26

    Nike+ app not usable

    Consistently i try to use the Nike+ Android app on my mobile phones. On my LG E430 Optimus L3 II with a 3.2" screen is the "Pause" or "Stop" - slider in the running mode is completly covered by a "Lock Screen" button in the current version. No chance to stop the run without loosing the collected data. #EpicFail

  • May 18

    Mittelrhein-Marathon

    Took part at the Mittelrhein-Marathon with around 3500 runner, walker and skater. Completed the half-marathon-track in 1:44:45 and get the 185. place in the ranking out of 923 half-marathon-participants. During the race the weather was very pleaseant, warm winds blew and the viewing was very scenic beside the rhine.

  • April 19

    Spring is in the air

    There is definitely spring in the air. Whereby you can see it? Big and small flies, butterflies and any kind of pollen crossed my air space today while running and you have to exert yourself not to swallow to much of them.


    • Archive Up

I am ... variable.

Project: "T-Shirt-Shop"


Currently i love t-shirts. It´s easy to have an idea for an slogan and print it on a t-shirt. So i do it. Not very world-changing but a nice way to play around with given shop systems.

28039327-119977201

Click on the t-shirt to open the shop in a new window.
(If nothing happens - maybe it depends on your browser settings, think over your pop-up policy ;-)




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