Testing update

First, thank you to those of you who have been testing for the guide.

You may have noticed that the testing process has changed in the last few weeks.   Because the iPhone has no commercials to cause delay and streams start faster, it has sped up the rate of testing  by at least 5x.

A recurring problem has been people misunderstanding or ignoring the purpose of testing.  

The purpose of testing is to

confirm that what your hear streaming matches what the  StreamingRadioGuide  says – and REPORTING things that are different – including sporting events.  

 (The note about not reporting sporting events is “as wrong program” – there is a link to report a sporting event – if that process is confusing, let’s make it more user friendly).  

“Testing” programs is NOT:
– listening until you hear a commercial
– clearing items from the list as fast as you can without listening
– comparing what you hear with the station’s own schedule
– comparing our schedule to the station schedule
– reporting where the station’s own schedule is wrong but ours is correct
 – listening to a real radio and comparing it to the Guide

With fewer things to test, the remaining testing is being more closely monitored.   If I find a blatant mistake (like a hockey game on the stream and it being reported as the Twilight Zone), I’m going to send an email to alert you that we have an issue.     If you don’t reply to those emails to let me know you got it – and continue submitting bogus tests, I’ll eventually suspend your ability to test and undo all your prior testing results.

My expectation is that if you want to continue testing, we’ll discuss the issue via email and I’ll work to make the testing or the description of how to test more clear.    Ignoring  the emails (or not getting  them because the email on your account isn’t checked) means then you can’t continue to be a tester.   I need the ability to contact you in the event there is a problem.   

Don’t use the blog as a way complain that your ability to test has been suspended and you don’t understand why.   Use email.     I would prefer to have volunteers testing, but I’m prepared to continue without help if that becomes necessary.

I’ve also tagged many of the items as “Never expires” – thing that are unlikely to change, or things that few people will care about (WCBS is “all News”,  the Sioux City morning news show, etc…).   Those items will no longer appear in the list of things to be tested, although they can still be tested from the “what’s on now” pages.