January SFNode Meetup at Microsoft

SFNode comes to Microsoft to hear all about JWTs and JavaScript Powered Smart Aquariums. The first talk of the new year is Randall Degges talking about why JWTs are bad for authentication. Followed up by Bryan Hughes showing us how he built a smart aquarium using Node.

Schedule
6:30pm - Doors Open
7:00pm - Why JWTs Are Bad for Authentication - Randall Degges
7:30pm - Building a JavaScript Powered, Cloud Connected Smart Aquarium - Bryan Hughes
8:00pm - Open Mic and Social Time
9:00pm - Doors close

Why JWTs Are Bad for Authentication
JSON Web Tokens (JWTs) are all the rage in the security world. They’re becoming more and more ubiquitous in web authentication libraries, and are commonly used to store a user’s identity information.

In this talk Randall Degges, Head of Developer Advocacy at Okta, will take you on an extensive tour of the web authentication landscape. You’ll learn how JWTs and Sessions work, and why JWTs are the worst possible solution for solving web authentication problems.

You’ll also learn the real reason behind JWTs rise to fame, and better ways to secure your websites that don’t involve misplaced hype.

About Randall Degges
Randall Degges leads Developer Advocacy at Okta, previously Stormpath, where he builds open source security libraries and helps make the internet a little safer. In a prior life, Randall was the CTO of OpenCNAM, the largest Caller ID API service.

In his free time, Randall geeks out on web best practices, explores new technologies, and spends an inordinate amount of time writing Python, Node, and Go projects. As a fun fact, Randall runs ipify.org, one of the largest IP lookup APIs which serves over 27 billion requests per month.

He writes at rdegges.com, and tweets as @rdegges.

Building a JavaScript Powered, Cloud Connected Smart Aquarium
Lots of people have pets, and many of those pets live in aquariums. But how many people automate their aquariums with JavaScript? I did just that using Node.js, a Raspberry Pi, and the cloud...and became a collaborator on the Johnny-Five project in the process. Now I can control my aquarium using my smart phone from anywhere in the world!

In this talk, I'll show you how I used a Raspberry Pi and Node.js to automate the lighting and temperature monitoring on my freshwater aquarium, and how you can too!

About Bryan Hughes
Bryan Hughes is a Developer Evangelist at Microsoft. Bryan is the creator of Raspi IO, a Raspberry Pi plugin for the Johnny-Five JavaScript robotics library. Outside of tech, Bryan is an amateur photographer, occasional writer, a once upon a time pianist, and a wine aficionado.

Open mic
Open mic time give attendees 2-3 minutes of time to talk to the entire group. This is the time to debut a new project, announce upcoming events or let people know they're hiring.

Upcoming Events
• WaffleJs (http://wafflejs.com/)- First Wednesday of the month
• NodeSchool SF (http://nodeschool.io/sanfrancisco) - Last Saturday of the month
• NodeSchool Oakland (http://nodeschool.io/oakland) - Middle Saturday of the month