Testing Team vs Development Team

Hey guys, I thought of sharing this chain mail I received few days back. Believe me, it will be extremely funny from a technical guy's perspective. No offence testers, it's just a joke. I would like to thank Mr. Siva, my project lead for sharing this funny mail with me.

How Testing Team(Roshan D'Mello) frustrates Development Team (Mukesh Thakur)

Roshan D'Mello: Hey Mukesh, there is a bug in your code. Type a text in user name text box and press enter. Beep sound doesn't appear.

Mukesh Thakur: How can that be a bug? There is no requirement that beep sound should come. Anyway, I will assign it to offshore and get it fixed.

After 2 days,

Mukesh Thakur: Roshan, bug is fixed. Please verify.

After another 2 days,

Roshan D'Mello: I have re-opened the bug because sound is not coming in some PCs. Sound is coming in my machine, but my colleague Rajat Choudhry is not getting the sound.

After another 2 days,

Mukesh Thakur: Not a bug. I observed that your friend Rajat Choudhry has old IBM machine. Unlike your DELL machine, IBM machines do not have inbuilt speakers. So, to hear the sound in Rajat Choudhry's machine, please use head phones and then get the bug closed soon.

Another 2 days,

Roshan D'Mello: I have re-opened the bug because sound tone is different across different machines. Sound is coming as 'BEEP' in my machine, but my colleague Rajat Choudhry who is having IBM machine is getting the sound as 'TONG'.

Mukesh Thakur: Not a bug. Get lost man. What can we do for the bug? The two machines are built in such a way that they produce different sounds. Do you expect the developers to rebuild the IBM processors to make them uniform? Please close it.

Another 2 days,

Roshan D'Mello: I have re-opened the bug because intensity of beep sound produced on 2 different DELL machines is different. My machine produces beep sound of intensity 10 decibels whereas my friend's machine produces sound worth 20 decibels. Fix your code to make the sound uniform across all machines.

Another 2 days later,

Mukesh Thakur: Once again it is not a bug. I have noticed that the volume set is different on the two machines. Ensure that volume is same in both the machines before I get mad and then close the bug.

Another 2 days,

Roshan D'Mello: I have re-opened the bug.

Mukesh Thakur: What ?? Why? What more stupid reasons can be there for re-opening?

Roshan D'Mello: Sound intensity is different for machines placed at different locations (different buildings). So, I have re-opened it.

After 2 days,

Mukesh Thakur: I have made some scientists do an acoustical analysis of the two buildings you used for testing. They have observed that the acoustics in the two buildings varies to a large extent. That is why sound intensity is different across the 2 buildings. So, I beg you to please close the bugs.

After 1 year

Roshan D'Mello: I am re-opeing the bug. During the year, I requested the clients to arrange architects to build two buildings with same acoustical features, so that I can test it again. Now, when I tested, I found that intensity of sound still varying. So, I am re-opening the defect.

Mukesh Thakur: GROWLLLL…..I am really mad now. I am sure that the sound waves of the two buildings are getting distorted due to some background noice or something. Now I need to waste time to prove that it is because of background noice.

Roshan D'Mello: No need for that. We will put the machines and run them in vacuum and see.

Mukesh Thakur: (not alive)

Life Insurance: When and why it’s needed?

At the beginning I never thought of writing about this topic because I had limited exposure on this insurance product but now I feel like it’s appropriate to write about it. The reason is; for the past 2 years (ever since I started my career) I’ve met like 4 agents (these good Samaritans approached me, not me approaching them) from 4 different insurance firms and all had the same thing to say, PLEASE TAKE THE POLICY, FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR FAMILY!!!

Now, when I meet up with these agents my question always starts with a simple WHY till it becomes endless. At times I just get some insinuating answers and pestered to take the policy without even having a glance at the terms and agreement. I’m sure that many of you tend to have the same question that I have in my mind. Since I have discovered some answer I thought of sharing it here. (I do welcome readers to correct me if I’m wrong)

What is Insurance?

To put it in a nutshell, Insurance is all about transferring risk from an individual or an organization to the Insurance firm.

Now let’s analyze the keywords one-by-one in the LIFE INSURANCE product scope:

• Risk = If I die/face permanent disabilities
• Transfer = I transfer the risk (possibly, financial difficulties of my dependents) to the Insurance firm
• Benefits = My dependents benefit from the insured amount

Now, after going through all these definitions, my first question to the agent was as below:

Me: Why do I need a policy when I’m a single?
Agent: It will benefit your parents and the monthly premiums you need to pay will be less if you take it now.

Now this makes a lot of sense, my dad who’s still working as an Executive and makes 3 or 4 times (I don’t know my dad’s pay) more than me in a month is going to benefit from the insured amount if something happens to me? Give me a break people!!

When is the right time??

Important keyword here is, when you are the PRINCIPAL SOURCE OF INCOME for the family. No matter you are a single or not, when you are the principal source of income for the family and you have dependents, sure you do have to get a life insurance policy. Now let’s look at the possible scenarios:

• When you are a single but you are the principal source of income (e.g: Your parents are retired)
• When you are married and your spouse is not working
• When you are married and your spouse is working (is not applicable in most cases unless your liabilities are high)
• If both you and your spouse are working, the most appropriate time to get one is when you already have a junior.

When some agents say this is the right time for me to get a policy because I need to pay very less premium every month, I just feel like its not right. The reason being is, at this point of time, I can’t forecast what sort of spending habit my future family will possess and my pay scale can be totally different 5 or 6 years down the run.

How much to insure?

You have to look into the monthly expenses, bills, mortgages and all other liabilities before considering a life insurance policy.

From what I get to know by reading online articles and some personal finances book, the easiest way to calculate is multiply your annual income by 6 or 8. That amount would be sufficient for your dependents if something happens to you.

Where can I get to know more about Insurance in Malaysian context?

Insurance Info - is a joint effort between Bank Negara Malaysia and the insurance and takaful industry to educate consumers on Insurance or Takaful products.

Conclusion

Life Insurance premium is very important ONLY when you have DEPENDENTS so that you can bring them to the shore (temporarily) from the sea of financial crisis if something happens to you.

Author: Thiagu

Vegetarianism in a Nutshell

Introduction

I am a strict Vegetarian and I thought of sharing my thoughts on Vegetarianism here because every time when I say that I'm a Vegetarian, many people down here in Malaysia tend to look at me like some GOAT (I mean, I know that I'm a herbivore, but that doesn't mean I eat RAW VEGETABLES!! ). Some would even ridicule me by saying I won't be healthy or will be undernourished because of my diet.

Vegetarianism is all about abstaining yourself from consuming food from animal origin (except for milk and egg for some Vegetarians) and I can firmly say Vegetarians live a better lifestyle compared to any non-Vegetarian.

In Pic: Paneer Salsa Wrap from McD India

Types

• Vegan => Do not consume any food of animal origin
• Lacto Vegetarian=> Do not consume any food of animal origin except for milk
• Ovo Vegetarian=> Do not consume any food of animal origin except for egg
• Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian=> Do not consume any food of animal origin except for milk and egg

Most of the vegetarians by religion such as Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism are Lacto vegetarians. India with the highest number of Hindu population in the world holds the highest number of Vegetarians on earth as well. Pic at the left shows symbol used to identify a vegetarian and non-vegetarian meal in India. Green reflects Vegetarian

Benefits

• Vegetarians are 50 percent less likely to develop heart disease, and they have a 40 percent lower cancer rate of meat-eaters.
• Meat-eaters are nine times more likely to be obese than vegans (who don't eat any animal products) are.
• Vegetarians have stronger immune systems than meat-eaters.
• Vegetarians and vegans live, on average, six to 10 years longer than meat-eaters.
• Vegetarians develop strong immunity in them.
• Vegetarian diets have a good proportion of three macronutrients that are needed for maintaining good health. These include carbohydrates, proteins and fats.
• Vegetables and fruits are good sources of micronutrients.
• Green leafy vegetables have ample supply of calcium.
• A vegetarian diet helps maintain perfect weight. Chances of becoming overweight are very less, if you follow a plant-based diet.

Deficiencies

• A plant-based diet may lack some vitamins and minerals, unless a wide variety of fruits and vegetables are included in it.
• Vitamin B12, largely found in meat, is not present in a vegetarian diet. This vitamin is essential for converting protein, fats and carbohydrates into energy. (For lacto or ovo vegetarians, B12 won’t be an issue because it can be derived from dairy products and egg).
• A plant-based diet lacks Vitamin D, a very essential nutrient. (Products including milk, soy milk and cereal grains may be fortified to provide a good source of Vitamin D)
• Meat is a good source of essential amino acids. A plant-based diet cannot provide as much amino acids as found in non-veg. (Problems faced by Vegans)
• Each of the 9 essential amino acids is not found in vegetarian diets. Inadequacy of this may result in tiredness, moodiness - due to the fluctuation in blood sugar levels, lack of motivation and poor performance at work or during exercise. (Problems faced by Vegans)
• Finding a good source of protein in plant-based diet is difficult. (Problems faced by Vegans)
• Vegetarian diets typically contain similar levels of iron to non-vegetarian diets, but this has lower bioavailability than iron from meat sources, and its absorption can sometimes be inhibited by other dietary constituents

How to find an outlet

http://www.happycow.net/ - Is a Vegetarian food outlet search engine. This site will come in handy when you are going to an alien nation.

Vegetarian population estimate by country

County	Percentage (%)	Population
India	40	399,000,000
Taiwan	10	2,300,000
Israel	8.5	595,000
England	6	3,600,000
Austria	3	243,000
Belgium	2	204,000
Netherlands	4.3	700,900
Croatia	3.7	166,500
USA	3.2	7,300,000
France	>2	1,200,000
Norway	2	92,000
Czech Republic	1.5	153,000
Denmark	1.5	81,000
Poland	>1	386,000
Portugal	0.3	30,000

References:

• http://www.raw-food-health.net/NumberOfVegetarians.html
• http://www.chinapost.com.tw/business/asia/b-taiwan/2009/11/16/232904/Vegetarian-entrepreneur.htm
• http://lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/pros-and-cons-of-vegetarianism-3908.html
• http://www.sixwise.com/Newsletters/2008/September/17/The-Pros-and-Cons-of-Being-a-Vegetarian.htm
• http://www.mcdonaldsindia.com/menu.html

Never too late to share my OUTLOOK!!!

Although I've already created a blog to share my knowledge on Java, I never felt like I was fully articulating myself, so I thought of establishing this blog to share my personal views and hopes on things revolving around me. 

This blog will be a platform for me to express my views on the society around me. Whatever posted on this blog are purely my personal VIEWS and it could be subjected to criticisms because HUMANS don't think alike, so I do welcome critics to criticise, but please, please and PLEASE put your comments in a rationale and constructive form.