A long time ago I coded up a feature for SocialCoder which converts a link - any link - to a short URL. I use it all the time for sharing links to volunteer profiles and to volunteer opportunity listings.
A new opportunity listing is posted by a charity.
I review and publish it, tweet about it, then click a button to send the charity an emailed notification of next steps.
Could it be a mail provider problem? Unlikely.
Maybe a bug, an infinite loop or recursion in my code? More likely.
I changed the notification email address so that it would only spam me, and not the charity.
But now that it was just me being spammed, and not the charity rep, I was able to calm down enough to see what had happened.
You could say it was a learning moment. So what did I learn?
Don't use HTTP GET when a POST is more appropriate. If the request parameters were in the body of the request, and not in the URL, the link would have been fine to share.
The feature that sends email should not have been available to anonymous users.
In coding terms, the controller action was missing an [Authorize] attribute. yeah ...oops.
Although the consequences of this mistake were relatively minor, affecting only me and the charity rep's Inbox, I still needed to calm down before I could see the problem clearly enough to effectively trouble-shoot. Maybe I'm drinking too much coffee. Maybe.
Being able to code a fix, run unit tests, and deploy that fix, all within within minutes is such a valuable thing.
Thank you to the @Azure team who made this so easy.
More from Tech
I could create an entire twitter feed of things Facebook has tried to cover up since 2015. Where do you want to start, Mark and Sheryl? https://t.co/1trgupQEH9
Ok, here. Just one of the 236 mentions of Facebook in the under read but incredibly important interim report from Parliament. ht @CommonsCMS https://t.co/gfhHCrOLeU
Let’s do another, this one to Senate Intel. Question: “Were you or CEO Mark Zuckerberg aware of the hiring of Joseph Chancellor?"
Answer "Facebook has over 30,000 employees. Senior management does not participate in day-today hiring decisions."
Or to @CommonsCMS: Question: "When did Mark Zuckerberg know about Cambridge Analytica?"
Answer: "He did not become aware of allegations CA may not have deleted data about FB users obtained through Dr. Kogan's app until March of 2018, when
these issues were raised in the media."
If you prefer visuals, watch this short clip after @IanCLucas rightly expresses concern about a Facebook exec failing to disclose info.
Ok, here. Just one of the 236 mentions of Facebook in the under read but incredibly important interim report from Parliament. ht @CommonsCMS https://t.co/gfhHCrOLeU
Let’s do another, this one to Senate Intel. Question: “Were you or CEO Mark Zuckerberg aware of the hiring of Joseph Chancellor?"
Answer "Facebook has over 30,000 employees. Senior management does not participate in day-today hiring decisions."
Or to @CommonsCMS: Question: "When did Mark Zuckerberg know about Cambridge Analytica?"
Answer: "He did not become aware of allegations CA may not have deleted data about FB users obtained through Dr. Kogan's app until March of 2018, when
these issues were raised in the media."
If you prefer visuals, watch this short clip after @IanCLucas rightly expresses concern about a Facebook exec failing to disclose info.
A company as powerful as @facebook should be subject to proper scrutiny. Mike Schroepfer, its CTO, told us that the buck stops with Mark Zuckerberg on the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which is why he should come and answer our questions @DamianCollins @IanCLucas pic.twitter.com/0H4VMhtIFu
— Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee (@CommonsCMS) May 23, 2018
