Screen Testing

In our first venture into the world of Doctor Who, guest Andrew Morton adds to Dan's expertise (and Neil's ignorance) to unpack a Fourth Doctor story which has vibes of The Manchurian Candidate and The Matrix (with a bit of a whodunnit and a courtroom drama in the middle). Plus there are fisticuffs! We take a reverential look at some of the series' tropes, including The Doctor's skill at hiding behind things, the speed at which cliffhangers are negated, stilted deathbed monologues and a villain's inability to finish off his enemy. We also analyse The Master's ability to turn people into Action Man dolls, short-sighted writers creating continuity nightmares, wonder whether the Timelords would do well to invest in two-factor authentication, and make very early plans for Screen Testing's thirty-year anniversary episode. Clips from The Deadly Assassin on YouTube (courtesy of BBC Worldwide): DVD trailer From episode 1: The Doctor's premonition From episode 2: Interrogation scene From episode 3: The Doctor inside

Neil and Dan get their teeth into the latest movie in the Star Wars franchise, Rogue One, a prequel to Episode IV which is steadfastly doing its own thing, complete with retconned Death Star powers, penis-tentacled monsters and sarcastic droids. In a midichlorian-free episode, we discuss whether the Imperials should have discovered the Death Star's fatal flaw, how workplace politics can hinder us from achieving our goals, the nature of Chirrut Imwe's Force-like abilities, and the merits of re-casting versus CGI. Along the way, Dan proposes a potential spin-off podcast to explore his inner dictator, Neil ponders whether Jon Bon Jovi is in canon, we compare our tenuous connections to Star Wars cast members, and rhetorically wonder why nerds are never satisfied. In an extended news section at the end, we say goodbye to some of our childhood heroes who we've lost in recent weeks: Roger Moore (Bond), Adam West (Batman) and Andy Cunningham (Bodger). References: YouTube: Skyfall's cold open Amazon: Star Wars: Cata

HACK THE PLANET! Your regular hosts Neil (aka Integer Overflow) and Dan (Shoe_Gazer) are taking over the airwaves with special guest Matthew Bretten (Mr Null) to pull apart the most 90s film of all-time. We analyse the visuals, the clothing, the soundtrack and the tech, all of which help to make Hackers a hundred times better than Swordfish. To keep our critical eyes sharp, we debate whether curiosity was really their only crime, whether the hacks still hold up today, and whether the recycle bin is really a good place to store secure files. Among the oddities we encounter along the way, we talk about the merits of SWAT teams pointing guns at kids, whether Acid Burn's fencing proficiency is a useful weapon, we get pedantic about RAM, and try to avoid talking about Matthew Lillard at all. References: BBC Future: These unlucky people have names that break computers (Jennifer Null) Let's Talk About Tests, Baby YouTube: 24 season 4 prequel featuring Alberta Watson (with Jack Bauer swearing) YouTube: Doctor Who M

In a Screen Testing first, we take a guest's love for a movie and weaponise it against them. It's no holds barred as (alongside Mark Winteringham) we unravel the film which gathers everything that you love about hacker culture, and adds Vinnie Jones and blowjobs. There's explicit language from the start, as we wonder why John Travolta's character loves to spoil the ends of movies, we compare Gabriel to a demanding product owner, we crowdfund an interesting (but potentially libelous) reboot, and listen to a disturbing number of candid remarks from the director's commentary. We find a surprising amount of testing-related content, as we discuss chains of command, deadlines, battles with recruiters, bad interview experiences, user interfaces and flow. In our desperation to avoid talking about the film, we get sidetracked by whether a cashpoint is a computer, how compound interest works and vehicle emissions standards, all of which are far more entertaining than Swordfish. YouTube clips of notable Swordfish scenes

Are you a watcher or a player? We're joined by Gem Hill to discuss last year's teen psychological thriller, Nerve. It's a deadly (and somewhat cheesy) technological game of truth or dare, available to stream now on Netflix. We discuss the game within the movie, the weird pockets of fame within social media, teen cliques, and how effectively the film manages its portrayal of hackers, the dark web and open-source software. We also deal with our usual array of distractions, including the unusual pricing/prize structure of Nerve, whether the game could truly run without servers, teenagers' password security, Neil's unlikely crush on Dave Franco, the difference between literal and metaphor, and how not to get a tattoo. Also, we forget to mention that Dave Franco's character is named Ian, so when we suddenly start talking about Ian halfway through, that's what's going on! References: Neil's review of Nerve on Letterboxd Neil's seven(!) pages of plot notes YouTube: Unfriended trailer (movie entirely shot through a

How do you measure humanity? We go deep into spoilers for Ex Machina as we recap Bluebook's work to produce a robot that can pass as a human. In a reference-filled episode, we talk about the challenges of passing (or manipulating) a Turing Test, we debate the ethics of creating sentient machines, and compare the "planning/interview/debrief" structure of the film against how we approach our testing sessions. As we proceed, we get distracted by discussions about the capabilities of helicopters, we wonder how a CEO can run a business from a location with no mobile coverage, investigate whether Nathan has already succeeded in creating the perfect dancing robot, and discover a film connection which sends Dan into uncontrollable laughter. We also subject Siri and Google Home to their own Turing Test. It doesn't go well. Testing conferences and initiatives mentioned during the introduction: Neil's blog post about TestBash Brighton 2017 Brighton tester meetup - 19 April (where Dan presented this week) Brighton te

Recorded live with guests at the TestBash Brighton Open Space on Saturday 25th March 2017. Expect some occasionally dubious sound quality, and some strong language, as we try our best to unravel the story behind the Star Wars Holiday Special. We focus on the "requirements" and the various different audiences for the show, wondering whether any of them would have been impressed that the previous summer's breakout sci-fi hit had been watered-down into a variety show format. There are thoughts about whether George Lucas was paying attention, the role of pornography in the Star Wars universe, and a heated debate around whether Han Solo was again denied credit for a killing (this time denied by clumsy footwork and shoddy craftsmanship). Huge thanks to our special guests during this episode: Paul Holland (@PaulHolland_TWN) Mike Talks (@TestSheepNZ) Gem Hill (@Gem_Hill) Melissa Eaden (@melthetester) Mark Tomlinson (@mark_on_task) Del Dewar (@deefex) Vernon Richards (@TesterFromLeic) Clips: At the time of writing,

It's our first (and possibly not our last) visit to Craggy Island, as we take apart arguably the finest episode of Father Ted, in which our heroic priests do battle with a randy milkman and a bomb on a milkfloat. Discover how every mishap in the episode is a direct result of Ted's inability to communicate clearly, join our contest to find the best use for a brick, we analyse the priests' five possible solutions to the bomb problem, and learn which joke Neil took 19 years to get. Among our many distractions, we discuss how many films make a franchise, we learn Dan's connection to Victor Meldrew, Neil drunk-dials Will Self, and there's a particularly dubious rendition of "My Lovely Horse". Mentioned in this episode: YouTube: Speed 3 YouTube: UB40 - Tell Me Is It True (Speed 2 theme song) Ace Hotel, Shoreditch YouTube: Syd Dale - The Penthouse Suite (Pat Mustard's theme) Our next episode will be about the STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL, and we'll be recording it LIVE at TestBash Brighton! Twitters: @ScreenTesting @

Join the Screen Testers' first full-length episode, as we discuss the Berg/Wahlberg movie which inspired the podcast. It's a disaster film with a uniquely testing twist, as we analyse the events that led up to the catastrophe. We investigate the culture of miscommunication, debate how we know when testing is completed, the importance of quality in a safety-critical environment, and how false positives/negatives can blight automation. Along the way, we'll debate foreshadowing, alarm clock precision, jump-scares, and whether Kriss Akabusi holds the key to surviving a catastrophe. For a wordier version of this episode, check out Neil's companion blog post - Screen Testing preview: Deepwater Horizon Further reading/viewing: YouTube: Deepwater Horizon trailer Amazon: Mark Kermode - The Good, the Bad and the Multiplex YouTube: Red Dwarf - Blue Alert YouTube: The jump scare from Alien (SPOILERS!) YouTube: The Simpsons - "Nothing could possibly go wrong" Atlassian: The Iron Triangle of Planning (Project Management

It's introduction time: join Neil and Dan as they take you through a potted history of their experiences with testing, movies, and podcasting. Learn about Arnie's movie debut; the episode you'll never hear; and discussion on the statute of limitations for spoilers. Hear it before it gets awarded the Golden Poddy™! Podcasts that we name-checked that are undoubtedly better than ours: Testing in the Pub Let's Talk About Tests, Baby How Did This Get Made? Bad Puns and Machine Guns James Bonding Radio Free Skaro Verity Wittertainment Empire Film Podcast Movies You Should See Our rules: a first draft! If a film/show is in the episode title, expect spoilers for that. If we name-check random films/shows in an episode, we'll try to avoid spoilers. Episodes will usually be under 30 minutes in length. Episodes will be released fortnightly on Fridays. We want guests! Got a film you love, or want to discuss? Drop us a line - we'll take care of everything. We'll be back in two weeks for Episode 1: DEEPWATER HORIZON. Twit