Talk:Basic Testing Ideas

We need signs in the classroom (and maybe some designated bins) for where to put incoming mice, keyboards, and speakers/headphones! Also, we need to have a plan for what to do when we fill up those bins. Put them on the floor in the classroom? Keep them in receiving instead? What would be better?
When we have a dedicated mouse/keyboard tester scheduled, it's difficult for me to walk the line between making sure they have enough to test while still making sure that they destroy the unsightly things! If we up the standard for what we consider clean, then there's not a whole lot of 'testing' happening. Basic destroying is more like it.

Mice

I agree that the tested stuff doesn't get out of the area enough. Mainly I feel unsure of where to take them - should tested USB mice always go to the store? Do we give them to grants? What happens if we have more USB mice than PS2 mice? Should those go to the classroom?
Standards for cleaning should be clarified & easy to explain. My idea of what's clean might be pretty different than someone else's idea of a clean... I notice when scroll buttons or the bottom of mice are dirty! Other people don't...care.
Mouse testing isn't super engaging & it's a little isolating. That's fine for some people, but sometimes I think other people want to have a little more stimulation/interaction. If a person doesn't have physical limitations & there's nothing else to do in receiving, I don't feel like I'm utilizing someone's full potential by asking them to do mouse testing.

White keyboards are usually yellowed & dirty. I'd love to auto-recycle the majority of them!
Black keyboards are usually a lot better, but there still is a lot of dust that gets into them. We need better tools for cleaning in between the cracks! Our brush doesn't work, and system eval's vacuum wasn't much better. What about a can of compressed air over there? Or we need a stash of q-tips and isopropyl alcohol...and some instructions for cleaning keyboards
Keyboards with extra buttons = I'm clueless about what to do with them! Only a few of them are nice enough to send to the store, in my opinion. And I'm under the impression that the classroom doesn't want them. Is there a way to designate these for grants? Where do we put them when the bin is full?
I'm not sure what you mean by "Some good stuff getting recycled." Can you give some examples?
I think new software for testing PS2 & especially USB keyboards is REALLY going to help us revamp basic testing.

I agree that it's sometimes not-so-basic testing to match up speakers & wall warts. With the right volunteers, it's fine; but it can be a bit of trouble for others.
I'm getting conflicting messages for saving/recycling speakers. In the beginning, I was recycling speakers that weren't matched properly (especially if their subwoofer was missing). I think I got asked by Liane to try to save more speakers for grants and/or the classroom? So I started saving orphaned speakers & subwoofers...but the system definitely has kinks.
Would it be better to teach people to test speakers as soon as they come in? If it's slow, it's relatively easy; if it's busy, untangling/hooking up cords/cleaning/wrapping them nicely can take valuable time.

My impression from the store is that we don't have a lot of space to sell TVs, so I usually auto-recycle most of them unless they are shiny & have a remote & there's time to test them. Which doesn't happen a lot either. I'm not sure what else to do to improve this process!