My GM diet Experience (Review) - Inches matters....

Well, Many people hate dieting. Dieting is not being hungry. But to eat certain things that does not make you happy instead gives you a good body and long lasting pleasure. People are good with their daily basis happiness which is so much junk food dependent. 

I was same. Then it was too much and my kids wanted their mom to be fit and look good. I decided to sacrifice my food dependent happiness and just go for diet. I searched a lot of diets giving assurance of weight loss. There I found GM and it really attracted me for its fewer days diet plan.

In last two months I tried twice the GM Diet. I couldn’t even think about dieting but i was in desperate need of loosing some fat. Which made me finally to opt this diet plan. The reason to opt it was the variety of options it provides on different days. And the period of 7 days is really less to stick on something which you don't like much. It don't ask you to exercise. :) Although walk and light crunches / stretching are fine for better result.

As you must have read in many places, including in GM website:


"The GM Diet is a seven-day diet plan which was supposed to have been created by General Motors for their employees. it is a detox diet and detoxifies the body. It cleanses the body of all impurities and gives a refreshed feeling. "

The Ugly Truth About A story of strength or revenge - Draupati from Mahabharat

"In revenge and in love woman is more barbaric than man is."
Some words are really proved and shows true mirror. Draupad is a correct example set for this quotation.

Draupadi a daughter of king Drupad of Paanchaal. She was born from fire. She was a powerful woman. Her powers increased with her journey of life.

Eye Allergy - Conjunctivitis via weather change

We have heard about skin infection, urine infection, stomach infection, etc. Now a day’s people complaining about eye infection too. It’s not eye flue. It is different from the eye flue.

This happens due to climate change. When, we get exposed to severe weather change. Like in summers if we go to any place which is very hot and we are in contact of direct sunlight. 

Similarly this may happen in a cold weather, if you go to very cold place like highlands, where you come in direct contact with sun. It causes due to ultraviolet rays which are high and direct in the region.

Hinduism - A culture or An art of living.

·         Do we know who we are? ........Yes human being....- Alright......

·         To which country do you belong ?........India......- OK

·         And your religion - Hindu, Sikh, Muslim, Christian? Hindu......- Oh I was guessing so.

·         So you must be having some cast too.......Yes its Vaishay.....- hmm

·         And gotra....Ummm, no idea, I do not know what they are..........- It’s OK

·         Which God u believes in the most ?...Ganesha ji, hanuman ji, Durga ma......- So many, nice.

·         Ur process of prayer?...Anytime, I mean sometimes......- OK

·         Ur belief in Hinduism.....um mm

·         Which sacred book of Hindus ....Know a bit about Vedas, Geeta, Ramayana etc but never read them....

·         You know Hinduism is not religion but an Art of living? Hmm...Yeah 

·         How? No idea.

Discovering happiness : In depressed environment (Story)

This is a story of a woman surrounded with depressed environment. She wants to be happy, as she has everything and has no reason to be low. Still her eyes keeps on staring a long empty path in search of happiness. She is still discovering happiness.

Sheryl is married and has one child. Her husband is working in a big company at managerial level. Sheryl owns a house with all the facilities. She is well settled in a metro city. Her son is studying in one of the most reputed school of the city.

One day I met that beautiful woman,she had the same glow on face, brightness in eyes and a wide smile as she was in her college. But warmth in her personality was missing. She was loosing confidence, is elaborating her happy married life. All she was trying to avoid her eyes so that I may not look into her heart through it. Soon with some minutes of words exchange she left towards her car, without turning back.

Low cost make up products for less makeup oriented women..

If you are not much makeup loving lady. Then its really painful to spend your hard earned money on products which are really expensive and not sure of using them completely. Still love to look good with minimum make up then the must haves are eyeliner / kajal, tinted moisturizer, powder, blusher and lipsticks. Eye shadow, mascara, bronzer, Concealer etc for me not must for daily wear makeup.

 I too belong to the category where I have no time to beautify myself on daily bases with proper makeup. But some easy to use must have products really helped me. I started with oriflame very me foundation and loved it. Then followed with reasonable lipsticks, Concealer, blusher etc. These very me products are not only reasonable but comfortable in usage too. The less quantity products in this range finishes before their expiry arrives. If not then still you will not regret their half of the usage by their expiration.

Reduced 6 kg weight in 15 days without much efforts.... :)

Weight loss is something which every large size people are up to. And I am one among them.... :)

img src-http://www.webmd.com/

And you know what guys and gals, I have just lost 6 kg in 15 days without too much exercise and dieting. And without any weight loss pills.

I just worked on my daily routine and in takes, very honestly. By keeping some standards while choosing my food and the drinks. 


Guys easiest n loving ways to reduce the weight. 

Yoga for inner peace and health....

Yoga is not religion,

But a culture.

Yoga is not God,
But for goodness.

Yoga is not yoga pants,
But a comfortable outfit.

Yoga is not fun of breathing,
But fitness and health.

Yoga is not being thin or slim,
But long active living.

Yoga is not yawning,

But meditating for inner peace.

And inner peace has no religion, no outfit, no target of being thin.......
But make us to meet ourselves,
By cleaning our body, our mind and sipirit.

~ Nidhi

Whiskey based cocktail....Orange Zinger

This old fashioned whiskey based cocktail is for all those whiskey loving Indian men & yes women too.

But this cocktail comes with a tinge of ginger & the zing that comes only with orange marmalade. That's why they choose to call it a zinger. Ginger cocktails are big hit all over & this cocktail is a must try for all whiskey fans.

                                                        Ingredients : 

- Indian Whiskey : 60 ml

- Orange marmalade : 2 tsp

- Ginger : 1 inch finely grated 

- Soda : A splash

- Ice to fill & shake glass

- Orange slice garnish 


                                                           Recipe :

1. Add the whiskey orange marmalade & grated ginger to a shaker  full of ice, shake well & strain into the ice-filled glass.

2. Add a splash of soda , (do not top up) , garnish with orange slice & serve.







~ Shiva

White Rum in Desi Avtar....(Recipe)

Wanna try something new in drinks. Something simple and different. A bit of Indian tadka in western style.

Here is your drink, if you have a bottle of Thumbs up and some White run.

Add some Chaat masala & Tabasco to that boring old drink,with all perfect desi flavors to make it your new must serving for parties.

                           

Ninni, a manual testing professional- By bitstrips

~ Nidhi

Naughty boy Kim.... :)

~Nidhi

Importance of Standardizing the test scripts for WEBSITE TESTING......

It's not always that we love to do same things with interest and energy. For me when it comes to work then I don’t get passion in doing exact task again and again. I like managing things and saving time. So any IT person be having the same mindset.

Img src : http://www.pinsoftek.com/images/web-testing.jpg

All IT companies are running on projects that they work for, Either Indian based or outsourced. The project can either be product based or browser based. Browser based means any website testing.

The chances that a product based project will vary from the other product based project are really 95%. But website has some or many similarities. Especially if it’s shopping or retail website then you will find so many common functionality.

In case If you are working for a company dealing with the retail website testing. And there are so many websites with similar functionality then why do we need to write test cases from scratch.

Very smartly, 

We can save our time by pulling existing test scripts that we used for our previous website testing and modify them accordingly. In this way we can use the time in better testing and providing on-time deliveries.

I not only found writing same test cases and steps for different website as waste of time but boring too. Then my peer reviewers were not very interested in reviewing same things again and again. 

While pulling the existing standard scripts not only save time, but also finance that client is uselessly paying for these hours. This way client too finds this trick smart and logical.

So logically I started pulling the existing scripts from the similar web based project and made changes in the required areas. Off course the existing test cases used to be very complete and reviewed ones. I used different color text for updating content. And reviewer also reviewed only that part for review.

If you are still thinking of reasons for why should we skip creating test scripts from scratch and use the existing ones:

1. 
   

   Illustration 1: Source - http://blog.rgs-bg.com/webdevelopment-tips/25-point-website-usability-checklist/

   Most of the functional areas of web site are almost same like login page, registration page, add to cart page, wish list, checkout process pages, shipping options, payment options, product page content, recently viewed, relevant products, promo code facilities etc. 
2. Many times we get the projects which are just enhancements or changes in existing functionality.
3. Content management system which includes defining of slots and image uploads with static and dynamic ways is also common for all websites.
4. All retail websites have CSR system too. Where the customer service man can assist using the application without any defects.
5. Then the back end system that is warehouse application using JDA is also used by all websites which arranges products and delivers them to customer.
6. The concept of cookies, time out feature and security are common in every website
7. Web based projects are very frequently porn to requirement changes in any phase of testing. 
8. The types of testing that a website application require and the client may ask for are common like browser compatibility testing, performance testing, security testing etc.

Illustration 2: Source - http://www.slideshare.net/RichaYamini/web-application-testing-14407020

All the above modules are very common in every retail website. Although the steps to use functionality may vary, their designing and the outcome on using them may also vary. Then why can’t we use the same set of scripts with some modifications as per the requirements.

Off course modification may and may not take less time. Even sometimes one may feel it better to start from scratch than to modify so much. This guilt of wasting too much time in modification can be handled by creating a set of standard test cases for each of the common functionality.

What do you mean by standard test case in website testing?

~ Here by standard test case for website testing I mean to create test cases very complete including the set of data and variables that may require to test.

~ The test case modification should be easy just by making changes in non similar data and variables.

~ The entrance and exit criteria should be properly defined for each set of website functionality including the perquisites.

~ The steps or the statements in the steps should be highlighted with different color which need to be modified for different websites for testing.

~ There should be no test data of any website attached to any step in any test case. Instead the data which can be commonly used for testing of all websites should sure be there.

~ The language used for the standard test case creation should be very generic. It should not specify any particular website.

~ All the features of every websites should be covered in the test cases. If there is a new feature or any old feature which is present only in a website then there must be test case/s for the feature too in the standard test cases set.

~ The name of the test cases should be the name of the functionality or the feature the test case is covering. This will make ease for us to find the particular test case from the set.

~ If there is any basic or standard sample or GUI file or screen shot of the feature or the functionality then it should be well attached with the relevant steps.

By using above tips one can create a set of standard scripts and use them with little or required modifications for different websites.

I found the above procedure very helpful in my manual testing for websites. But there are organizations who relate this requirement of standard scripts with business and introduce automation of such scripts to the client. Although automation may be costlier for the client but time saving too. Hence its up to the client to go for manual testing or automation of website quality check.

In Automation too the tester creates a set of scripts which can be used repeatedly for different websites with some modifications. But modifications in automation scripts are more time consuming as compared to manual test cases editing.

The automation of stable GUI is most effective in reusing the same scripts for same website. Its challenging to maintain the same set of automation scripts for different websites, because all websites have different GUI. I never found it as effective as manual. It always missed bugs and took more time in editing scripts for perfection of each website.

In my opinion using standard set of manual test cases for different websites with little modifications is best way to carry a website testing. All we need is to keep the test cases with proper standards which can make the testers interesting and trouble-free to rework on them.

~Nidhi

Summer vacation - Excitement, Relaxation, Refreshment, Association and Bonding

Finally summer vacations are here after whole one year interval. 

Well, I am pretty excited for the coming fun filled tenure and so are my kids. Although this enthusiasm is not as Strong as it was in my childhood.

In those days summer vacation was not only the time of break from studies, but a TIME......

1. To visit maternal parents called ‘nana - nani ka ghar’ was always the first thing on priority basis.

2. To concentrate on something you want to master from the list of your hobbies.
3. To sleep for longer hours in morning and noon.
4. To explore new holiday destinations.
5. To chit chat till wee hours with cousins.

6. To look into the new books of new session and give an unsuccessful trial to cover some chapters before the school starts.
7. To afford laziness by bathing late, sitting in front of TV for no reason, no hair brushing, no nail trimming etc.

                                              Really those summer vacations were fun and a worth waiting for that break.

Now the trend of such break is more or less changed. For some, visit at Nani place is erased from the list. Kids get summer vacation home work full of activities to remain busy, and then they do not bother much to look into new session books.

Working parents can not tolerate the lazy kids, and they have to get ready with their parents for the day care. Visit of cousins are not summer vacation dependent because of different and non correlated tasks of day today living. So their visits are rare and of lesser number of days.

Apart from the above, the concept of summer vacation in another big rising trend since last few years. Parents are accepting it as a modernization from western culture. Here kids are visiting the school or any campus giving all facilities of a good summer camp like a school with zero studies. Where kids are required to stay for 4 - 6 hours and follow the routine of processing the activities in the school campus prospectus. 

The kids are doing all types of activities like dance, singing, art/craft, swimming and personality development programs.

So as in schools days the child has to wake up early and get ready for school. Here too the child does all activities irrespective of the child's interest. 

All children will be taught in batches of more then 10. Sometimes even 20 plus kids will be in a batch. I surprise that how a kid without personal attention can master something he/she not interested or even interested in, with such schedule and non focused environment. 

All they can have is just fun or just time pass.

No matter how hot climate it is but our little totes have to go out for these camps which parents have enrolled for their development and fun. The time that they could spend at home with parents and relatives in building closeness and capture some precious memorable childhood memories.

This is the longest vacation that a child gets and can be used in doing something that one does not get chance of doing during school days.

This is the time parents can make child experience nature, cultural events and social gathering. To make one more open and confident for society.

This is the time parents can use to teach them emotions and humanity.

All I can say is that old trends and culture are not always meant for changing them. Some are still valuable and better than our modern like the summer vacation fun we used to have in our childhood.

~Nidhi

Fighting Summers

With growing high degrees warmth, day by day people's distress also increasing but people are not getting any remedy. Birds and animals are also restless. 


Due to this  terrible warmth in many cities ponds and lakes are about to dry. 

Tourists and locals are facing lot of problems. After getting in such situation, people are now realizing the importance of trees and water.

On highways nobody has taken care of the roadside trees. To prevent dry and dusty roads. Go green concept is not followed by any one. The truth is that some of the national highways even has no tree in the area of 10 km which can provide shelters to travelers.

The greenery of jungles and villages are demolished by cutting their trees for some bugs. Why still these people don't understand this little concept of importance of greenery. Do they still need education on same.

Such destruction is not only effecting us but will impact on our generation too. That's why its high time to put our effort in the path towards saving water and trees. At lest its our responsibility to handover a green and natural environment to upcoming generation.

Its a time to focus on the solution of this problem. Weather heat stroke is really dangerous for us. Surviving in such extreme sunny days is very difficult for all classes of society and almost impossible for very poor living on roadsides. One may get high fever which can be fatal.

To keep ourselves safe in such climate, we have to take good care of our intakes. We should have frequent intake of water so the loss of water in terms of sweat can be beaten. 

Having a glass of water with a pinch of salt and one tea spoon of sugar helps in avoiding  the deficiency of salt.

Lemon and mint is a gift to people in in fighting heat. 

We should avoid junk and oily food. Taking light food in small intervals is better way to keep ourselves light and active. 

In-spite of buying cold drinks and pasteurized juices from market we should go for home made drinks.

Specially females are careless about their diet. They should carry some light eatables like fruits, peanuts, biscuit etc in their bags and always carry a water bottle while they step out of home. To carry umbrella is also a good idea.



To fight back with warm weather we need to prepare lot. Also its high time for us to follow Go Green concept. Therefore save trees save water to save our lives.

Panting and gardening in near by areas is the first step and the minimum that we can do to support this concept.


                           GO GREEN
                                                SAVE WATER
                                                                         SAVE TREES
                                                                                                  SAVE LIVES
~Shiva

Top Holiday Destinations....

Every year one or two months before we all start planning for destinations that we want to visit in the coming vacations. Then sometimes its an instant planned trip. 

For finalizing destination, the protocols that we consider are:

1. Season and climate
2. Our choices for type of destination : Mountains beaches snow desert etc.
3. Our Budget

Irrespective of third point here are some destinations prioritized on the basis of first two protocols.



Summer Destinations-
Places where we shall love to visit during summers within India:

Himachal Pradesh
Uttrarakhand
Kadhmir
Ladakh
Darjeeling
Munnar



Winter destination-
During winter we love to get some heat and visit places where we can get rid of our overcoats:


Kerala
Andaman
Goa
Rajasthan
Lakshadeep
Tamil Nadu



Coastal destination-
If you love beaches, shores, fairies etc then following destinations are your favorable:

Goa
Andman and havlock Lakshdeep
Kerala
Andhra pradesh
Maharashtra



Hill destination-
I am sure most of you love mountains and adventures. And would definitely love to visit these places:

img src -http://www.bluemounttours.com/ItineraryDetail.aspx?id=28

Manali
kodaikanal
Darjeeling
Shillong
Nainital
Ooty
Munnar
Gulmarg
Mussoorie
Shimla



States destinations-
If you have enough time to cover a complete state which includes all destinations belong in the state then here are priorities on the basis of quality and number of destinations:

Kerala
Rajsthan
Uttarakhand
Jammu Kashmir
Delhi
Madhya Pradesh
Tamil Nadu
Gujrat

National Parks-
For Safari and wildlife lovers:

http://citruscheckinns.in/blog/tag/jim-corbett-park/

Corbett
Nanda Devi
Periyar
Ranthambhore
Nagarhole
Kanha





Heritage and historical destination-
If you love to explore historical places then your choice can be:

Hampi

http://industrialtour.com/hampi-industrial-visit/

Ajanta and Ellora
Taj and Fatehpur Sikri
Jaiselmer fort
Khajuraho
Konarak
Mahabalipuram



Out of India destination-
If your budget allows and you want to go out of India:

http://www.happyhourholidays.com/

Thailand
Italy
USA
Malaysia
Singapore
New Zealand
UK






Happy travelling................... :)


~Nidhi

The Pain that persists - Another side of motherhood

Mom is a beautiful word.  Its a God gift to a woman. She gets complete after a baby and its just not a myth. She becomes a mother after a baby comes in her life. The feeling of being a mom comes with a shine in eyes, blush on cheeks, smile on lips, lights on forehead, such a lovely experience. Everyone loves and respects her more. Its a start of a new phase of her life in which a lady gets changed physically, mentally and emotionally. Pregnancy takes nine months to complete but from the very first day, the feeling of  being a mommy starts.

The pain and complication of pregnancy ends on the date baby comes in her hand. First shot of baby in cry mode and a mom smiles. New relationship starts on that day. Best relationship which directly attached to each other.

 Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come, but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world. 

But then there are women who can not be a part of this beautiful phase. It can be by choice or by luck. If such women don't want a child then they go for abortion and sometimes abortion/miscarriage happen naturally. Opting a pain might be equal to no pain. However who are accidentally caught in this tragic are full of pain. And in such accidents its a miscarriage/abortion of a feeling started of being a mommy.

The feeling starts with the smile, shine, brightness, lights, blush but ends with cries and silence.

Such incidents give U turn to ones life. After a miscarriage the hopes get shattered, mind stops working, heart keeps sinking and the women become silent for the death of motherhood....Ahhh it pains a lot. Its hard to imagine this pain.

We can console to them but the physical and mental wounds will be their forever in the form of marks. These marks are of their unseen cuts on her body, soul and heart. She still manages to stand again but with shaking legs and hands.

All she says,

"I am broken today. 

Ah It pains like something hit on me. 

It bleeds like something crashed on me.

 It swells like a big pond. Ah I am broken.

 My dreams lost like a dark room. 

My emotions are floating like a boat with a hole. 

Ah I am broken today."

All relatives and friends try to console her. But remains helpless. The best help she can get is from her husband. As he could understand the pain. Although, not so easy.  As a man is not emotional enough to handle a mom emotions. 

The time passes and for the world she is recovered. Her wounds are heeled up, but the marks will stay there in her soul and heart.

Note - Imagine taken from different sources.