He's not dead yet (I'm feeling better)

What could possibly happen to Matt Heusser that he wouldn't blog for a couple weeks?

Well, try the flu - which found it's way into my lungs and became bronchitis.

After a week or so, the bronchitis was gone yet I still could not breathe (easily). It turns out my lungs were not recovering - they remained inflamed - which means they could not contain enough oxygen. My breathing was basically ragged, shallow, and constant, and I became winded walking up a set of stairs.

As you can guess, I let Creative Chaos languish a bit.

So, what's happened since?

(1) I've given more thought to "what's an SDET" - details to come

(2) My copy of the the March issue of Software Test & Performance Magazine came in the mail. Unfortunately, the newest issue isn't yet available for download on the web. Expect a link in a few days. I'm particularly proud of our column on web performance management - I think we nailed it.

(3) The second person has passed my test challenge - Laura Vayansky. Congratulations Laura!

(4) I've been having an extended email conversation with Janet Gregory, one of the co-authors of Agile Testing: A Practical Guide for Testers and Agile Teams. One of Janet's concern is that testers are too-often viewed as, in her words "second class citizens." I've been thinking about it, and I have at least one sure-fire way for testers to make themselves first-class citizens, without having "executive buy-in" or "being involved early in the process" or even any formal "process improvement." Wait for it tomorrow!