Rick Scott

Rick Scott is a Canadian philosopher-geek who's profoundly interested in how we can collaborate to make technology work better for everyone. Rick's an incorrigible idealist, an open source contributor, and a staunch believer in testing, universal access, and the hacker ethic. When he's not in front of a computer, you'll find Rick hiking, making cupcakes, or honing his viola technique.

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All Stories by Rick Scott

The Importance of Diverse, Inclusive Software Conferences

By making a software conference inclusive, you avoid perpetuating the stereotypes that only certain people are good at technology. You're also helping to grow the pool of people who see a career in the computer industry as a possibility. Rick Scott looks at why diversity is beneficial for everyone.

Be Careful: The Internet Is Real Life, Too

It's undeniable that we experience the offline and the online worlds in drastically different ways. Perhaps this difference is what leads us to feel as though the online and offline worlds are two separate things. This digital dualism leads many to think that anything that happens online is trivial.

Reduce Your Attack Surface to Reduce Security Threats

The unfortunate truth is that the find-and-patch approach to security is inherently problematic—the attacker is always one step ahead. Reducing your attack surface is a strategy that will help you minimize the number of security threats you are exposed to, whether they are promptly fixed or not.

Reviewing Specifications: Focus on What's Not Said

Reviewing a specification or a user story as it's being created is probably the most crucial way testers can contribute early in the software development process. Rick Scott explains three steps for reviewing requirements specifications that focus on what is not said and what should be answered.

Making Choices about Privacy and Online Tracking

Much of the data collected via online tracking is said to be anonymous, but because third-party cookies used by tracking sites uniquely identify you as a user, it's easy to link together all the information gathered about you. Rick Scott looks at the privacy implications of the choices we make.

The Perils of Closed Ecosystems

A closed ecosystem, where a single entity controls both the hardware platform and what content can go onto it, has far-reaching ramifications for corporate and individual consumers. It's also a risk that needs to be given serious consideration when a business decides to develop for the platform.

Use and Abuse of the Bug Tracker

Although there seems to be an increasing number of teams who opt not to use bug trackers, bug trackers are still used in the vast majority of information technology shops. If you are going to use a bug tracker, it's important to be aware of what it is—and is not—good at.

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