đź“Š The Inspiration
After reading Oğuzhan Yılmaz’s “How 2013 Went” article, I decided to write a reflection of my own for 2014. I was unsure where to start, then Jetpack sent me a detailed annual report. It was a beautifully designed page with personalized insights and interesting statistics. Even though it was automated, it was more impressive than anything I had seen from Google. You can check it out at: jetpack.me/annual-report. Not long after, Todoist also sent me one.
đź’» Work Highlights
This year was packed with development projects and scripting tasks. Here are some of the highlights:
I created a VB.NET application that extracts answers from PDF-based test books and exports them to Excel.
I developed a tool to convert AVI files to MP4, either individually or in batches.
I rewrote the screen recording component, replacing the old AVI format with high-quality MP4 recordings using Leadtools Multimedia SDK.
I wrote around 15 to 20 JavaScript scripts for use within Adobe InDesign.
One script adds a new menu to the top menu of InDesign, along with submenus that execute other scripts.
Some scripts replace colors, fonts, styles and languages in the active document.
Others automatically write test answers onto a new page.
I created a script that mimics Photoshop Actions, repeating user-performed operations.
One of my most complex scripts stores each test question in a database and uploads the questions as images to a server. The filenames match the database IDs.
In the screenshot I included earlier, you can see IDScriptInstaller, which uploads all my scripts to the server. When users run the installer, it checks for updates and installs the latest versions with a single click.
đź“ş What I Watched
When I was not coding, I was watching some incredible shows. Here are the ones that stood out:
Doctor Who: I still can’t decide if it is science fiction or fantasy. Either way, the series avoids focusing on romantic drama and explores strange timelines, other universes and unknown planets.
House of Cards: A powerful political drama. Kevin Spacey’s performance makes the backroom deals and dark strategies captivating.
The Newsroom: The trailer and intro give off one impression, but the show is much more dynamic. It follows the chaos behind producing news, the pressure from upper management and the emotional impact on the audience.
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: The humor and pace are great. In one scene, Cobie Smulders asks a fellow agent if he knows what SHIELD stands for. After a long answer, he says, “Someone really wanted our initials to spell SHIELD.”
The 100: Based on the aftermath of a nuclear war, the story begins in a space station where humanity struggles to survive. To test Earth’s habitability, they send 100 young people to the surface.
The Vikings: A brutal but well-acted tale of blood-soaked battles, tribal politics and a leader obsessed with heading west.
Sherlock: A modern retelling of Sherlock Holmes. The acting, pacing and storytelling make it addictive.
🧪 An Unexpected Security Discovery
A few days ago, I stumbled onto a built-in Windows security feature by accident. I searched for a file called zehir.asp on GitHub and copied its content since a direct download was unavailable. I opened Notepad, pasted the code and saved it as zehir.asp in the root folder of my local IIS server.
When I tried to open it through the browser at localhost/zehir.asp, I got a 404 error. I checked the folder and the file was missing.
I repeated the process while keeping the folder open. Still no file appeared. I then saved it as .txt and it worked. When I renamed it back to .asp, it disappeared immediately.
That was the moment I realized Windows was silently blocking the file from being saved due to its potentially dangerous nature.
đź“Ś Final Thoughts
2014 was a full year of writing code, automating creative tools and diving into television worlds. I improved my productivity and discovered a few surprises along the way. Some lessons came from errors, some from curiosity but every one of them added something new to my journey.