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Google Releases 'Testing on the Toilet'
JasonK writes "Here's a type of Google launch you don't see every day: Testing on the Toilet. This is a service that has been apparently been running internally for several months and teaching developers about testing during their 'down time,' so to speak. Due to the wild success of the program inside of Google, they decided to start a blog where they will post these weekly episodes so that the rest of us can print them out and have our own reading on the can. Is this a step towards Google becoming more open about their development practices?"
So now Google's gunning for Uncle John's Bathroom Reader ?
Honestly, I don't see this as a positive development. My time on the pot is a time for reflection and grunting. If someone leaves the section with the comics and "Dear Abby" in the stall, I might elect to read, but I prefer to dump and run (TMI??). Also, knowing what Google employees are reading while they crap... Would "disquieting" be the right word for the sense of unease this gives me?
- Greg
Start a happiness pandemic
... considering most employees aren't half as anally-retentive as them.
== Jez ==
Do you miss Firefox? Try Pale Moon.
This idea may be a little shitty... We can't even just relax and clear our minds when we're layin' a brick?
Help save the critically endangered Blue Iguana
At least testing PC software while taking a dump is easier than trying to control the pointing remote and a man's urine stream at once.
Swedish plasma phys. PhD student; MSc EE; knows maths, programming, electronics; finance interest; seeks opportunities
I seem to recall having read something about how reading on the john is bad for you. The idea is that if you are constipated, you should wait for the movement, and not sit there and get all agitated and stressed. You are not supposed to push them out, as it can damage you and/or make the constipation worse in the long run. The article was written by a MD, IIRC. The one quote that sticks out in my mind is, "you wouldn't take a dump in the library, so don't read in the toilet".
Mr.... *Poopypants*!?!?!?!" -Lt. Frank Drebin
No that's thinking outside of the box! Personally, I like to do testing in the kitchen, then QA in the shower, then go production on the can... but that's just me.
This is the NSA, we're gonna geet U h@x0r5! Also, what is a h@x0r5?
Also, the hidden Web Cams in the female lavatory stalls are strictly for teleconferencing... during the downtime.
Obama likes poor people so much, he wants to make more of them.
this is the result of the "Fire Hose" feature that slashdot has.
Stories selected by mobs.
My 50 year old company has been putting out "The Porcelain Press" in the can for years. They do it mostly for health & safety stuff, but the idea's the same. It just took Google a few decades to catch up.
Google Testing Blog, November 15:
Today I was hanging a clock above my toilet, when I fell and hit my head. I ended up having a vision of a new way to make sure code works properly (there also was some idea for a new hardware component -- some sort of capacitor -- but I'm a software engineer and don't know how to deal with those things; hopefully it wasn't very important).
...is usually limited to checking the TP to know when to stop wiping.
Serious, if you have time to read on the toilet, maybe you should consider adding some bran fiber to your diet.
Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
Dude. There's no keyboards in the bathrooms. It's 8.5"x11" posters on the walls where you can read them while you *ahem* use the facilities.
Sitting on the toilet too long can lead to hemorrhoids. Reading software testing documentation on the toilet can't be any better for your bunghole.
Edith Keeler Must Die
Tried to test, and only farted.
Then one day I took a chance,
Passed the test and shit my pants!
Fascism trolls keeping me up every night. When I starts a preachin', he HITS ME WITH HIS REICH!
The first time a manager hands me some test documentation to read in the can, will be the second time I hand a manager a poop wrapped in a test document.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
I RTFA, but it was one of the comments that amused me:
Ahem. 'Doodling on their PDA'? So is that what you kids call it these days?
If I didn't know better I'd say Google was having an increasingly difficult time
squeezing out well formed ideas. (And something about this one smells a little off.) It might
be because they're just not flushing out the bad ideas, but it also might be an
indication that Google needs to unclog their management and wipe themselves clean
of this "Testing Grouplet". While it is true that great ideas have plopped out of Google, I think
our apparently limitless enthusiasm for anything and everything that spews from Google may have had
the effect of loosening up their releases to the point of being soft and formless.
My two cents.
------ The best brain training is now totally free : )
Speaking of bathroom etiquette, if its a single bathroom, please knock on the door before just jiggling the handle to test if its locked. One day I might forget to lock the door and then we'll both be in for a rude surprise
Regarding automated tests...write them!
Once you get a framework in place, it really does make you feel better about writing new code and modifying old. It also helps with your design by forcing you to write components that are loosely coupled (i.e., they can be tested easily because they have little to no external dependencies)
If you feel overwhelmed and don't know where to start, start by writing tests for new code and worrying about old code until later.
Despite the veneer of amiability about this project, I find it faintly disturbing. Why?
I think it's the attempt to work the job and group mindset into every part of an employee's day and life. The insinuation (by default) that an employee will want (not just be expected to) to contribute to the company in this way; even in rare "private time" like this (*).
I think what really bothered me (in this context) was the group-oriented friendliness. It took me a while to figure out why, then I realised that it was faintly reminiscent of a cult. Not the mass-suicide, Waco types (or at least, not at that stage), but the friendly pressure "we're your friends and we want to help you" newcomer stage- often with good intentions by those taking part (**)- where the group slowly enters every aspect of the newcomer's life.
Okay, I'm reading too much into this now; just bear in mind that Google's uber-friendly, everything-you-want-here campuses and the like have the advantage of keeping their employees happy, productive and within the Google sphere of influence. Sinister or not?
(*) Please *don't* start a discussion about how, as the employee is being paid during work hours, this is reasonable. Besides which, the employee- of their own volition- would probably be thinking about their work while they were on the toilet anyway. Plus, it's often more productive to give the mind a rest or let it wander every so often. Isn't it normal and healthy for employees to think about something else (e.g. outside interests) every so often?
(**) Yes, I did notice that this project was started by volunteers. Draw your own conclusions.
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Decades from now, when we are suffering under the tyranny of Google, we will wistfully look back on this as the moment when they started to become evil. It always starts small, and with the best of intentions. I JUST WANNA TAKE A DUMP, OK??? LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!
It was indeed a very weird environment. I have worked in other big companies, but never say anything like that. The day my contract ended was a good one.
It's a crap!
Dare I ask about the first time?
Personally, I cannot be bothered to carry reading material to the pot. However, when the natural cycle is slow enough, I rather like the idea of having some interesting reading material conveniently available.
In the past, I can remember seeing special toilet paper that contained jokes, quotes or similar material. The main difference here is that the material is more useful and can be provided at lower cost.
You don't have to read it. It's just there. And this also has the advantage that if you don't agree, you just need to aim a little bit higher...
I'm wary of any article using both 'toilet' and 'launch' in the same sentence.
heh. It's funny when written that way.
Comedy is art. And I am a comic in much the same way that a guy frames a glass of urine is an artists.
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