Maaike Brinkhof
@maaikees.bsky.social
Jack of all trades, master of none: Tester, Developer, Powerlifter, Nutritionist, Writer. I do too many things, and I can't help it.
Why do so many testers think they aren’t enough? That they should be ashamed of their role? That they should be called something different in order to get the respect they desire and deserve?
Well, I can venture a guess!
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl/why-do-so-ma...
Well, I can venture a guess!
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl/why-do-so-ma...
Why do so many testers have an identity crisis?
Why do so many testers think they aren’t enough? That they should be ashamed of their role? That they should be called something different in order to get the respect they desire and deserve?
Well, I...
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl
November 14, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Why do so many testers think they aren’t enough? That they should be ashamed of their role? That they should be called something different in order to get the respect they desire and deserve?
Well, I can venture a guess!
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl/why-do-so-ma...
Well, I can venture a guess!
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl/why-do-so-ma...
In my last post about testing, I told you to stop thinking that testing can find all the issues. Today, I want to focus on what I do, instead of saying what you shouldn't do. Walk the talk, and such.
What is my main job as a test consultant?
#testing #tech
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl/my-software-...
What is my main job as a test consultant?
#testing #tech
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl/my-software-...
My software testing approach
In my last post about testing, I told you to stop thinking that testing can find all the issues. Today, I want to focus on what I do, instead of saying what you shouldn't do. Walk the talk, and such.
...
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl
October 15, 2025 at 10:14 AM
In my last post about testing, I told you to stop thinking that testing can find all the issues. Today, I want to focus on what I do, instead of saying what you shouldn't do. Walk the talk, and such.
What is my main job as a test consultant?
#testing #tech
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl/my-software-...
What is my main job as a test consultant?
#testing #tech
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl/my-software-...
> Be a better person, so you can be a better person to the people around you.
Without reading self-help books, or doing conscious personal development work, I have managed to take big steps this year. I am accepting myself as I am, and trusting myself to be good enough as a human being.
Without reading self-help books, or doing conscious personal development work, I have managed to take big steps this year. I am accepting myself as I am, and trusting myself to be good enough as a human being.
Acceptance of the self
The theme that Hobonichi chose for next year is "you love you?". At first, it sounded cheesy to me, but follow the link and read what Shigesato Itoi has to say about it. A small excerpt:
“I Love Me” ...
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl
September 27, 2025 at 9:35 AM
> Be a better person, so you can be a better person to the people around you.
Without reading self-help books, or doing conscious personal development work, I have managed to take big steps this year. I am accepting myself as I am, and trusting myself to be good enough as a human being.
Without reading self-help books, or doing conscious personal development work, I have managed to take big steps this year. I am accepting myself as I am, and trusting myself to be good enough as a human being.
New YouTube video!
Explore Utrecht from the comfort of your couch. I'm walking next to the Catherijnesingel, a lovely bit of water where people come to chill, watch boats, walk their dogs...
#urbanism #walking
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FePt...
Explore Utrecht from the comfort of your couch. I'm walking next to the Catherijnesingel, a lovely bit of water where people come to chill, watch boats, walk their dogs...
#urbanism #walking
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FePt...
Taking a walk in Utrecht POV: Catherijnesingel
YouTube video by maaikees
www.youtube.com
September 23, 2025 at 7:09 PM
New YouTube video!
Explore Utrecht from the comfort of your couch. I'm walking next to the Catherijnesingel, a lovely bit of water where people come to chill, watch boats, walk their dogs...
#urbanism #walking
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FePt...
Explore Utrecht from the comfort of your couch. I'm walking next to the Catherijnesingel, a lovely bit of water where people come to chill, watch boats, walk their dogs...
#urbanism #walking
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FePt...
Reposted by Maaike Brinkhof
Newsletter: My 16,000 word opus - How To Argue With An AI Booster, a comprehensive guide to arguing with AI boosters, addressing both their bad faith debate style and their specific (and flimsy) arguments as to why generative AI is the future.
www.wheresyoured.at/how-to-argue...
www.wheresyoured.at/how-to-argue...
How To Argue With An AI Booster
Editor's Note: For those of you reading via email, I recommend opening this in a browser so you can use the Table of Contents. This is my longest newsletter - a 16,000-word-long opus - and if you like...
www.wheresyoured.at
August 25, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Newsletter: My 16,000 word opus - How To Argue With An AI Booster, a comprehensive guide to arguing with AI boosters, addressing both their bad faith debate style and their specific (and flimsy) arguments as to why generative AI is the future.
www.wheresyoured.at/how-to-argue...
www.wheresyoured.at/how-to-argue...
How to make "the most" of my life? (A question that makes me slightly ill just by writing it down.) I don't believe that life is there to be squeezed like a lemon, to get the maximum amount of juice out of it. On the other hand, just loafing about on a couch ain't it, either.
Being erratic
This has honestly been the question that I've been dealing with for almost my entire life: How to live when my "output" is so erratic? How to make "the most" of my life? (A question that makes me slig...
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl
August 14, 2025 at 5:06 PM
How to make "the most" of my life? (A question that makes me slightly ill just by writing it down.) I don't believe that life is there to be squeezed like a lemon, to get the maximum amount of juice out of it. On the other hand, just loafing about on a couch ain't it, either.
I've written this straight from the heart:
Humanity hates people.
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl/humanity-hat...
Humanity hates people.
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl/humanity-hat...
Humanity hates people.
We could have made our environment welcoming to cyclists and pedestrians, but we didn't. A car centric environment is the norm in many parts of the world, making it dangerous to be outside if you cann...
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl
May 20, 2025 at 9:42 AM
I've written this straight from the heart:
Humanity hates people.
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl/humanity-hat...
Humanity hates people.
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl/humanity-hat...
Many people choose to watch short videos on their smartphones for hours on end, willingly.
What are the consequences of this behavior? Why do so many people choose to let their minds be colonized instead of doing something else with their limited time?
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl/dont-let-the...
What are the consequences of this behavior? Why do so many people choose to let their minds be colonized instead of doing something else with their limited time?
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl/dont-let-the...
Don’t let them colonize your mind
In the disturbing film, A Clockwork Orange, the protagonist's eyes are being forcefully kept open, and he has no choice but to watch the most horrible scenes in order to “rehabilitate” from the awful ...
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl
March 31, 2025 at 9:11 AM
Many people choose to watch short videos on their smartphones for hours on end, willingly.
What are the consequences of this behavior? Why do so many people choose to let their minds be colonized instead of doing something else with their limited time?
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl/dont-let-the...
What are the consequences of this behavior? Why do so many people choose to let their minds be colonized instead of doing something else with their limited time?
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl/dont-let-the...
RIP the Internet as we have known it. You were great while you lasted, until big tech came along and fucked everything up with SEO and ads. "AI" is just the thing that finally tips the balance over to "most of the internet is unusable", but all this bullshit was in the making for years.
Why I don't want to be in a WhatsApp group with boomers
Almost everyone I know is in at least a couple of group chats on messaging apps. Here in Europe, WhatsApp (by Meta) is still the most popular choice to run a group chat. My second orchestra also put e...
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl
March 17, 2025 at 6:09 PM
RIP the Internet as we have known it. You were great while you lasted, until big tech came along and fucked everything up with SEO and ads. "AI" is just the thing that finally tips the balance over to "most of the internet is unusable", but all this bullshit was in the making for years.
Reposted by Maaike Brinkhof
On international women's day, we train for the apocalypse 💪 thanks for an awesome session @maaikees.bsky.social
March 8, 2025 at 10:14 AM
On international women's day, we train for the apocalypse 💪 thanks for an awesome session @maaikees.bsky.social
Happy to announce that I've found a new IT assignment, thanks to the power of my network and serendipity.
Thank you all for sharing my posts about looking for a new assignment and the "don't put me in a box"-blog <3
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl/thank-you/
Thank you all for sharing my posts about looking for a new assignment and the "don't put me in a box"-blog <3
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl/thank-you/
Thank you
Many thanks to everyone who liked and shared the posts on my blog and LinkedIn where I was announcing that I was searching for a new IT assignment and where I was asking people to not put me in a box....
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl
March 6, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Happy to announce that I've found a new IT assignment, thanks to the power of my network and serendipity.
Thank you all for sharing my posts about looking for a new assignment and the "don't put me in a box"-blog <3
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl/thank-you/
Thank you all for sharing my posts about looking for a new assignment and the "don't put me in a box"-blog <3
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl/thank-you/
Spilling the tea for MoT, soon.
March 6, 2025 at 9:48 AM
Spilling the tea for MoT, soon.
Reposted by Maaike Brinkhof
@fionaccharles.bsky.social closing her fantastic keynote at #TestAutomationDays with a shoutout to @maaikees.bsky.social, showing a drawing of her.
March 6, 2025 at 8:58 AM
@fionaccharles.bsky.social closing her fantastic keynote at #TestAutomationDays with a shoutout to @maaikees.bsky.social, showing a drawing of her.
A Guardian article inspired this blog post, in which I will once again lament this Catch 22 situation: you cannot truly prove testing has worked.
The closest we can come to proving testing works is to be exceptionally clear about its process, its results, and also its limitations.
#blog #testing
The closest we can come to proving testing works is to be exceptionally clear about its process, its results, and also its limitations.
#blog #testing
The real reason we need to invent a time machine
I was reading a very interesting article in The Guardian: 'All people could do was hope the nerds would fix it': the global panic over the millennium bug, 25 years on. At the turn of the millennium, I...
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl
February 24, 2025 at 10:37 AM
Blogged: "Don't Put me in a Box".
I share my personal frustrations about finding a job as a tester. I don't neatly fit in any of the testing roles but a bit in all of them.
#blog #testing #tech #IT
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl/dont-put-me-...
I share my personal frustrations about finding a job as a tester. I don't neatly fit in any of the testing roles but a bit in all of them.
#blog #testing #tech #IT
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl/dont-put-me-...
Don't put me in a box
I'm trying to find a new assignment as a self-employed Test Consultant, and this confronts me with some facets of job searching that I don't really enjoy.
My main complaint is that most roles try to ...
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl
February 17, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Blogged: "Don't Put me in a Box".
I share my personal frustrations about finding a job as a tester. I don't neatly fit in any of the testing roles but a bit in all of them.
#blog #testing #tech #IT
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl/dont-put-me-...
I share my personal frustrations about finding a job as a tester. I don't neatly fit in any of the testing roles but a bit in all of them.
#blog #testing #tech #IT
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl/dont-put-me-...
New article alert! My hatred for all things AI forced me to consider the lovely drug that is cognitive dissonance once again.
In the article, I present a visual metaphor that explains cognitive dissonance clearly: the cognitive dissonance pyramid.
#blog #tech
In the article, I present a visual metaphor that explains cognitive dissonance clearly: the cognitive dissonance pyramid.
#blog #tech
The cognitive dissonance pyramid: one hell of a drug.
We are all wrong from time to time, it's part of the human condition. Even smart people can be wrong. True wisdom is being able to admit you were wrong, and then actually change your mind. However, th...
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl
February 10, 2025 at 11:01 AM
It's maddening to me how many people in the software testing community are blindly using AI tools in their work. Promoting these tools! Are you a parrot for big tech?
Weren't we supposed to care about quality?
How is a tool that is fully based on stolen work a quality solution!?
Weren't we supposed to care about quality?
How is a tool that is fully based on stolen work a quality solution!?
January 28, 2025 at 8:43 AM
It's maddening to me how many people in the software testing community are blindly using AI tools in their work. Promoting these tools! Are you a parrot for big tech?
Weren't we supposed to care about quality?
How is a tool that is fully based on stolen work a quality solution!?
Weren't we supposed to care about quality?
How is a tool that is fully based on stolen work a quality solution!?
"You still look feminine", is not the compliment you think it is.
A short rant about stuff people say to me now that I'm more muscular than average.
#blog
A short rant about stuff people say to me now that I'm more muscular than average.
#blog
"You still look feminine", is not the compliment you think it is
Let's talk about the female body.
The female body is not allowed to just exist without garnering opinions from others. Surprisingly, not only from men. Women also love to comment on other women's bod...
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl
January 25, 2025 at 10:17 AM
"You still look feminine", is not the compliment you think it is.
A short rant about stuff people say to me now that I'm more muscular than average.
#blog
A short rant about stuff people say to me now that I'm more muscular than average.
#blog
Uhm, I’m almost embarrassed to ask this, but how do you call a Tweet on this here platform?
January 23, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Uhm, I’m almost embarrassed to ask this, but how do you call a Tweet on this here platform?
Ticked off a lot of to-do's today. I really wish that would make me feel good, but as I explained many times by now, it does NOTHING in my brain. There is no reward, no relief. Damn it.
One big task remains: TAXES. Of course, I left that one as the last task.
*takes a deep breath*
HERE WE GO
One big task remains: TAXES. Of course, I left that one as the last task.
*takes a deep breath*
HERE WE GO
January 23, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Ticked off a lot of to-do's today. I really wish that would make me feel good, but as I explained many times by now, it does NOTHING in my brain. There is no reward, no relief. Damn it.
One big task remains: TAXES. Of course, I left that one as the last task.
*takes a deep breath*
HERE WE GO
One big task remains: TAXES. Of course, I left that one as the last task.
*takes a deep breath*
HERE WE GO
Was using Obsidian a ton last year, but then I made a switch to more analog note-taking.
Not using a computer turns out to remove barriers to get started, even though Obsidian as a tool tries to not be in your way. Picking up a notebook and starting to write is even easier.
YMMV
Not using a computer turns out to remove barriers to get started, even though Obsidian as a tool tries to not be in your way. Picking up a notebook and starting to write is even easier.
YMMV
January 23, 2025 at 10:35 AM
Was using Obsidian a ton last year, but then I made a switch to more analog note-taking.
Not using a computer turns out to remove barriers to get started, even though Obsidian as a tool tries to not be in your way. Picking up a notebook and starting to write is even easier.
YMMV
Not using a computer turns out to remove barriers to get started, even though Obsidian as a tool tries to not be in your way. Picking up a notebook and starting to write is even easier.
YMMV
I thought the final boss of software testing was the organization structure, aka: management.
We can go one level deeper, to the secret fifth level!
Once you know, it cannot be unseen.
#blog #IT #software #testing
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl/the-secret-f...
We can go one level deeper, to the secret fifth level!
Once you know, it cannot be unseen.
#blog #IT #software #testing
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl/the-secret-f...
The secret fifth level of testing
The following drawing was the inspiration for my Testing RPG talk. Excuse its quality, I have never left the "drawing people as figure sticks like a toddler"-stage.
I have contemplated recording the ...
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl
January 23, 2025 at 10:26 AM
I thought the final boss of software testing was the organization structure, aka: management.
We can go one level deeper, to the secret fifth level!
Once you know, it cannot be unseen.
#blog #IT #software #testing
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl/the-secret-f...
We can go one level deeper, to the secret fifth level!
Once you know, it cannot be unseen.
#blog #IT #software #testing
www.maaikebrinkhof.nl/the-secret-f...
You use white noise to calm yourself.
I use atmospheric black metal to calm myself.
We are not the same.
I use atmospheric black metal to calm myself.
We are not the same.
January 23, 2025 at 8:54 AM
You use white noise to calm yourself.
I use atmospheric black metal to calm myself.
We are not the same.
I use atmospheric black metal to calm myself.
We are not the same.
Reposted by Maaike Brinkhof
I found a silly little baby on my walk today. She meows back if you meow at her!!
January 23, 2025 at 8:34 AM
I found a silly little baby on my walk today. She meows back if you meow at her!!