I swallowed a rock... and it was good.

I often overanalyzed everything.  I pine and worry and fret over how people behaved or think of me.  I use to think that this wasn't a normal behavior or response to adversity.  It occurred to me recently that I wasn't alone.

I follow a few blogs and listen to a couple of choice podcasts... and I learned something.  I learned that other people feel this way as well.

As an example, a few months ago a coworker of mine who I admire and look up to got a phone call while in my presence.  After terminating the call, they were obviously frustrated.  This coworker then very briefly vented about another coworker.  In was only 1 or 2 quick sentences about said employees' competence, but it stuck with me.  I remembered it because it was out of character.  I remembered wondering if that person would do the same to me.  I remembered it from that point until last Friday.  I had done something that drew an observing eye from said person and it was brought to my attention via a short email.  And I WAS RIGHT back to that moment where they vented some months ago.  I couldn't help but wonder if that person was venting right now about me to the person next to them.  In fact I'd go so far as to say I knew they were.  I could see it play out in my head.  It hurt to even think about.  And the result... my productivity went down!  Dare I do something else that might draw more attention?  Dare I even respond?

Obviously this is a slippery slope, but we all do it!  At some point or another, we all experience the thought that someone might be talking about us.

If I were to go back in time I would say to that coworker STOP!  Do not say anything.  If I am not in a leadership position or a position to fix your problem, then I don't want to hear it.  It will only be gossip... and it will forever tarnish the way I look and think of you. 

It's better, no matter how tough, to swallow those harsh words and move on.  Your relationships, your productivity, your team's productivity, your company's success will be better because of it. 

Be Affraid Of Programming

Routine is nice.  It's predictable.  It's comfortable.  But it's also stagnant.  It doesn't move us forward... it just kind of leaves us in a hover state.  We're content to just do what we're use to, day in and day out.  But that's the wrong mentality for a programmer.

Like all walks of life, change is scary.  We avoid it because of our fear for the unknown.  But that's really the only way that we will grow in our respective fields is by stepping out of our comfort zone.

So as a programmer, I say step out of that comfort zone and take risks.  Make mistakes.  Grow in your field.  Try something new.  Take on a project that challenges you.  In doing this, you will grow as a person and become an invaluable asset to your team and your company. 

The 'Bleeding' edge of security!

Over the past few weeks, we've learned about a serious security issue known as the 'Heartbleed Bug'.  Rather than go into detail about this, I am just going to point out a few references:

Heartbleed Bug Details

Heartbleed Bug Test

Stay informed about these kind of vulnerabilities.  They affect everyone and they're popping up every day.  I would warn though to not conform to the 'sky-is-falling' mentality.  This particular vulnerability is not new... it's just recently been brought into the light.  You're no more at risk now then you were a year ago... you're just aware of one more risk out there. 

Safe surfing!

We've all been given a new Identity!

By Identity, I'm referring to the new ASP.NET Identity authentication.  It's a bit different than what I'm use to doing.  For one, it's based on a fluent code-first data model.  So in order to extend Identity classes, such as User, you need to modify and extend the ApplicationUser model and persist the changes via migrations to the database. 

I must say, it's a bit of a disappointment in terms functionality.  You get a basic auth system right out of the box, but the system itself lacks basic fundamental security.  For instance... you don't get a feature to lock a user account.  I also would have expected to see some question/answer functionality for retrieving forgotten passwords.  Although these are easy enough to implement by extending the model, I would have like to have seen a more thorough framework.

I will be posting a document in the near future explaining in detail how to extend the user models and make a more secure authentication system.

I'm an expert... I can do anything!

Have people assumed you can do something just because you're an "expert" in a particular field?  I saw this video posted on a blog I follow by Seth Godin.  Have a look: