It’s that time of year again – time for family, friends and food. Yes, the holiday season is upon us, and around the halls of uTest, we’re feeling particularly jolly.  So how does a company with 49,000 testers from 183 countries around the globe say “happy holidays”?  Well here at uTest, this is how we roll:

And now, for a little holiday fun, here’s our naughty & nice list from around the 2011 apps universe:

Naughty List (tsk, tsk, tsk):

• India’s government, who’s recent software glitch led them to overstate exports by $9,000,000,000. Personally, we think that bugs should never create problems that exceed $8.5 billion, but that’s just us. And earlier this year, the Indian government wrestled with PayPal over payments to the country’s online merchants. Santa never forgets… I mean, he makes a list and checks it twice (which is his form of QA).
• The U.S. politicians driving SOPA. Yes, the same tech visionaries who brought us such timeless quotes as “the internets” and “the series of tubes” have decided to try their hand at defeating online piracy with a proposed bill that many believe would cripple innovation and free speech on the web.
• Pretty much everything on this list of “worst software glitches of 2011” from WebLayers and ZDNet. And this list from Appolicious. And this one from AppAdvice.
• TripAdvisor founder, Stephen Kaufer, who chatted with TechCrunch about “404 testing”, in which they add a link for a feature that doesn’t exist (and returns the dreaded 404 message) to determine user demand for features in a web app. Uh, guys, congrats on the IPO, but there’s a much better way to quickly build and test new features without subjecting users to an intentionally lousy experience.
• The Australian casino that refused to pay a customer the $57MM he “won”, because they blamed his “winning” on a bug in the slot machine software.

Nice List (or at least people we want to give a hearty holiday thanks to):

• Our testers: the aforementioned 49,000 testers from 183 countries around the world. Because of you, we’re enabling nearly 1,000 companies to launch apps that work as well in the wild as they do in the QA lab. Big ups.
• Our customers: it’s nice to know that there are companies and tech execs that care so much about their end user experience that they’re willing to pay us to point out every glitch, bug and snafu we can find – before their app gets into the hands of users. You rock.
• Our investors: we’ve always loved you, but the recent $17MM D round was the gift that keeps on giving — and that enables us to grow faster, grow bigger, change the world of apps, and all that other stuff we promised we’d do.
• Our blog readers: we’re psyched that there are about 4X as many of you as there were at this time last year (keep telling your friends, fans and followers). And since you’ve read this far down in the post, it would feel awkward not to include you amongst our list of favorite people!
• Ben Huh, Paul Graham, the crews at Scribd and Tumblr, and  for taking the fight against SOPA to the streets. Way to stand up for a cause you believe in, and to do it in bold, engaging ways. Santa likes that.

Ok, all kidding aside, uTest sincerely wishes everyone a peaceful, safe and happy holiday season. It’s been an amazing 358 days thus far in 2011, and we’re supremely thankful that we get to spend our days and nights at the epicenter of this crazy (but never dull) apps universe with all of you.