There are two flavors of software (and firmware) tests: the functionality test plan and the try-to-break-it test.
The functionality test plan involves writing test plans to test functionalities and requirements. The try-to-break-it test involves using the software in an unexpected manner without a pre-written test plan.
Managers usually lobby for the functionality test plan and developers usually lobby for the try-to-break-it test.
Both tests are important and both tests must be performed after every new release.
The try-to-break-it test verifies the quality of newly added functionalities. On the other hand, the functionality test plan verifies that all previously added functionalities are still working.
Manager: Why do we need the try-to-break-it test?
Developer: Because we need to test new functionalities now.
Developers: Why do we need the functionality test plan?
Manager: Because we need to test current functionalities in the future after new releases.
The functionality test plan should be updated after running the try-to-break-it test to include tests for all new functionalities.
At 4:20 AM this morning, I spent 5 minutes in my bed trying to figure out whether the annoying sound was my alarm clock or my cell phone. Eventually, I realized that it was the fire alarm! So what, the fire alarm goes off regularly in my building, however, the last time we had a fire was December 2006. So this time it is probably be a false alarm, right?
I took a quick peak outside my bedroom window. Well, well, well! There was a big scene down in front of my building. There were at least 6 fire trucks with their flashy red lights. Many people were already down with more coming out every few seconds. My building has about 400 apartments with an average of 2-3 people per apartment. I am guessing there are at least 1000 residents in my building.
I believe in the wisdom of the crowd, so I decided to head down immediately. I washed my face, put on my jeans and jacket and headed out. My building has 3 exits on each floor, one in the middle and one on each side. I tried the middle one, and it was full of smoke, it did not help that I took a deep breath as I opened the door to the stair way. Well, that sucks, this is the real deal!
I ran to one of the other exits, and it was clear. I got down fast. I survived!
The fire was on the fourth floor. I did not see an ambulance so I am hoping nobody got hurt.
After watching the following video of Max Keiser on Rigged Markets, I compiled a list of the definitions of questionable and illegal trading practices:
Bear Raid
The illegal practice of attempting to push the price of a stock lower by taking large short positions and spreading unfavorable rumors about the target firm.
Front running is the illegal practice of a stock broker executing orders on a security for their own account (and thus affecting prices) before filling orders previously submitted by their customers. After the broker has made their original transactions, they can expect to close out their position at a profit based on the new price level. Front running may involve either buying (where the broker buys for their account, driving up the price before filling customer buy orders) or selling (where the broker sells for their own account, driving down the price before filling customer sell orders).
Dating any document by a date earlier than the one on which the document was originally drawn up. Under most circumstances, backdating is seen as fraudulent and illegal, although there are some situations in which backdating can be used in a legal and beneficial way, such as backdating a claim for a past period.
Call or put option whose strike price is not determined until the option is exercised. At the time of exercise, the holder can exercise the option at any underlying price that has occurred during the option’s life. In the case of a call, the buyer will choose the lowest price, and in the case of a put, the buyer will choose the highest price. The premium on such options tends to be high since it gives the buyer great flexibility, and the writer has to take on a lot of risk.
An illegal transaction an investor makes by simultaneously buying and selling a security through two different brokers, thereby creating the illusion of activity. Investors do this to try and recognize a tax loss without actually changing their position.
A company in a developmental stage that either doesn’t have an established business plan or has a business plan that revolves around a merger or acquisition with another firm.
1. The act of misrepresenting the value of a financial instrument for the purpose of extending credit obligations or increasing financial leverage.
2. A fraudulent act involving the alteration or issuance of a check or draft with insufficient funds.
A form of kiting shares that a brokerage commits by moving long positions in unrelated accounts to cover short positions that are improperly settled according to SEC regulations.
An illegal action by a group of market manipulators buying and/or selling a security among themselves to create artificial trading activity, which, when reported on the ticker tape, lures in unsuspecting investors as they perceive an unusual volume.
1. The act of attempting to predict the future direction of the market, typically through the use of technical indicators or economic data.
2. The practice of switching among mutual fund asset classes in an attempt to profit from the changes in their market outlook.
A type of option-granting practice where options are granted at a time that precedes a positive news event. Since positive news typically causes the underlying company’s stock to surge in value, timing an option grant to precede the public newsrelease will allow the option-holder to receive an almost instant profit.
A form of option granting where the awarding of options is delayed until a piece of bad news is known to the public and the stock’s price falls. Since an option’s strike price is often determined by what the underlying stock’s price was on the grant date, waiting for the stock price to drop will allow the option holders to gain some additional benefit, in the form of a lowered strike price.
The selling of a security that the seller does not own, or any sale that is completed by the delivery of a security borrowed by the seller. Short sellers assume that they will be able to buy the stock at a lower amount than the price at which they sold short.
The illegal practice of short selling shares that have not been affirmatively determined to exist. Ordinarily, traders must borrow a stock, or determine that it can be borrowed, before they sell it short. However, some professional investors and hedge funds take advantage of loopholes in the rules to sell shares without making any attempt to borrow the stock.
A scheme attempting to boost the price of a stock through recommendations based on false, misleading, or greatly exaggerated statements. The perpetrators of this scheme, who already have an established position in the company’s stock, sell their position after the hype has led to a higher share price. This practice is illegal based on securities law and can lead to heavy fines. The victims of this scheme will often lose a considerable amount of their investment as the stock often falls back down after the process is complete.
An unethical (if not illegal) practice of a hedge fund purchasing and then selling securities (usually shares of a mutual fund) after the close of a trading day, but making the transactions appear as though they occurred before the market close.
Today I was very disappointed to learn that my evil plan to get rid of over 1,000 pennies is going to fail miserably. Over the past few years, I collected over 1,000 pennies. My plan was to take all the pennies and buy something with them and enjoy the look on the cashier’s face while attempting to count the pennies. I thought that cashiers are obligated to take all the pennies. Well, I was wrong, according to a CBC article titled Save the penny or leave the penny?
In Canada, the Currency Act says, “A payment in coins … is a legal tender for no more than … twenty-five cents if the denomination is one cent.” No one is legally obligated to accept more than 25 pennies at a time.
CakePHP has a great caching helper with one annoying bug; the main page located at “/” never gets cached because the cache helper tries to name the cache file .php (null) and fails.
This does generate an extra request due to the redirect. The optimal solution is to fix this in the CakePHP core. Once I have a better understanding of the cache code I may suggest a fix, assuming someone doesn’t beat me to it.
Here is my solution which requires modifying two files in CakePHP framework build cake_1.1.16.5421:
On line 206 of \cake\libs\view\helpers\cache.php change:
if (empty($cache)) {
return;
}
To:
if (empty($cache)) {
/*Modified by Rami Nasser */
/*”rami” is the main page cache file name*/
$cache = “rami”;
/*return;*/
}
On line 90 of \cake\bootstrap.php
After:
if (empty($uri)) {
$uri = setUri();
}
Add:
/*Added by Rami Nasser*/
if($uri == “/”) {
/*”rami” is the main page cache file name*/
$uri = “rami”;
}
I used “rami” for the cache file name because… Anyways make up your own.
I am not sure if this story is true or false, however it makes a point that everyone in your organization should be informed about the dangers of the internet and should be trained to spot and avoid hackers’ attacks.
The attack strategy was the easiest one.
The usual milw0rm downloaded exploit delivered by email/click-on-the-link/open-browser/click-on-this-animated-icon/back-connect to some employee of Bloomsbury Publishing, the company that’s behind the Harry crap.
It’s amazing to see how much people inside the company have copies and drafts of this book.
