Mike makes his case for realism when it comes to automated testing, and a readjustment of expectations in the wider community.

Plus the guys define what makes a “Dark Matter Developer”, and gauk at the possibility of this young hip upstart’s automated build pipeline, and share memories of large scale QA testing teams.

Links:

• Mike: I'm Seeing Something Strange...
• MacinCloud — This is the cloud-based Mac solution you are looking for! Access on-demand Mac servers for app development, Mac tasks, and enterprise builds.
• iOS Code Signing in App Cente — An app must be signed to run on a real device during the development process, through a beta program or in the App Store.
• The Day the QA Department Died — Let’s take a step back and examine how things used to work.
• Who needs a separate QA Team? — Have you come across developers who think that having a separate Quality Assurance (QA) team, who could test (manually or auto-magically) their code/software at the end of an iteration/release, will really help them? Personally I think this style of software development is not just dangerous but also harmful to the developers’ growth.
• Why your QA testers quit—and what to do about it — After years of hearing tragic tales of continuous tester turnover, I started to wonder if testing is just a temporary, transitional role for many people.
• Alexa is the future of Amazon’s consumer business — Here’s a quick rundown of the Alexa-enabled products Amazon announced: A wall clock, microwave, subwoofer, an Alexa for the car, a DVR for your TV antenna, a smart plug, and a microphone that turns your existing hi-fi setup into an Alexa-powered audio rig. Oh, and updates to the Echo Dot, Echo Plus, and Echo Show.
• Big Mouth Billy Bass will soon work with Amazon Alexa - The Verge — Amazon says an updated Billy is coming later this year.