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

Bug Management: Don't Confuse the Tools with the Strategy

It's important to have good tools, including bug trackers, but do we overrate the significance of the bug tracker and overlook where it actually sits in the larger picture of defect management? Tools should be just one part of your bug-management strategy.

When Unencrypted USB Keys Go Missing

Elections Ontario recently lost two USB keys containing the personal information of as many as four million electors. Surprisingly, the data on the keys was not encrypted. Even worse, the agency resumed using unencrypted keys within days. What went wrong, and what can we learn from their errors?

Learning by Osmosis

We've got access to more information than at any time in history, but all that information can be a benefit or a burden. Don't squander your attention. Spend it intelligently, and make sure you get something of value in return for your time by adjusting your information intake.

Upgrade Your Wetware for Better Testing

Good software testing is a challenging intellectual process. What you find when testing a piece of software depends on your thinking, your perceptions, how you organize your observations, and what connections you draw between them.

Hero Culture or Crisis Culture?

Organizations should avoid developing a "hero culture," but keep in mind that the heroes themselves aren't the villains. It's the organization's inability to handle difficult situations on a regular basis that leads to trouble.

Who Are Our Users—Actually?

Dr. Genevieve Bell is an anthropologist working at Intel. Her keynote at the 2012 Commonwealth Broadcasting Association Conference touched on where she thinks technology is going, who our users actually are, and in what context they use our products.

The Independent Double-check

When someone gives us a piece of code to test, they are telling us, "This code works correctly." If we accept this assertion without verifying it, we have failed as testers. While it seems unlikely that we would ever let such an assertion go unchallenged, it is easier than one might think.

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