I’ve been a developer long enough to know the drill: you’ve got to keep learning, keep growing, or you’re toast. Sticking to my niches is comfortable, but dipping into new languages, techniques, and approaches? That’s where the real juice is. Lately, though, I’ve been spending a lot of time peering over the fence—reviewing someone else’s code. Sometimes I’m hunting for bugs to feel smug about; other times, I’m hoping to spot brilliance in someone else’s code that I can quietly admire (or borrow). Most of the time? I find over-engineered messes or half-baked ideas that make me mutter, “Not Invented Here,” under my breath. You know the story—they didn’t do it my way, so it’s wrong.
I’ll own it: I’ve got a bad case of NIH syndrome. It’s a programmer’s curse. I’d rather rewrite something from scratch than admit someone else’s code might—just might—be worth a second look. I've seen other developers say it about my code (a very senior developer who called my code "hacky" but offered it might be worth taking a look at). But every once in a while, the universe decides I need a slice of humble pie, and today was one of those days.
My Old Faithful Firewall Trick
Years back, I wrote a little script to keep my server firewalls armed with an up-to-date list of TOR exit nodes. I don’t access my admin interfaces through TOR—nobody sane does—so why let those nodes even knock on the door? Grabbing the list, processing it into something usable, done. Barely an inconvenience. It’s been humming along ever since, and I’ve patted myself on the back for it more times than I care to admit. My way worked. I didn’t need someone else’s code to figure that out. End of story.
Or so I thought.
The “Oh, Duh” Moment
This morning, I was poking through a paid Joomla GA4 extension—purely out of curiosity, mind you, not because I needed it. I went in with my usual NIH goggles on, ready to nitpick someone else’s code. Then I saw it: a setting to track TOR exit nodes. Simple, elegant, sitting there like it was no big deal. My first instinct? “Pfft, I wouldn’t have done it that way.” But then it hit me—wait, why haven’t I done it that way? I sat there, blinking at the screen, as the realization sank in. This wasn’t just a feature; it was a gap in my thinking—a gap someone else’s code exposed. A gap so obvious in hindsight I almost laughed.
Here I was, smugly blocking TOR traffic at the firewall level, while someone else’s code was out there quietly tracking it in analytics. Not just shutting the door, but keeping a log of who’s knocking. It’s not rocket science—it’s barely a hop from what I was already doing—but I’d never considered it. My NIH blinders had me so locked into “my way” that I missed the bigger picture. And yeah, that’s humbling. I didn’t invent this idea, and I didn’t even think of it, but someone else’s code shoved it right in my face, and now I can’t unsee it.
Pie Eaten, Lesson Learned
So, what’s a dev to do when they stumble across a paradigm shift courtesy of someone else’s code? You eat the pie, tip your hat to the unnamed coder who sparked it, and get to work. I spent the day digging into my System - Google Tag Manager plugin, weaving in TOR exit node detection. It’s not a total rewrite—just a tweak, really—but it’s one that feels right. A little nod to growth, a little proof that even a stubborn NIH sufferer like me can learn from someone else’s code.
For those of you using the plugin, keep an eye out. This feature’s coming soon, and I think you’ll like what it adds. Nothing flashy, just a quiet, obvious-in-hindsight upgrade. Turns out, sometimes the best ideas aren’t mine—they’re out there, hiding in someone else’s code, waiting to teach me a thing or two.
Update:
I slapped myself for thinking I should implement this directly into System - Google Tag Manager, because it occurred to me that this would also be useful to System - AdminExile, and possibly other extensions. So I've rolled back the GTM modifications in favor of creating a new plugin named Console - Tor Nodes. This plugin manages the exit node list, providing it to any extension that needs it.
Update 2:
Both System - AdminExile and System - Google Tag Manager have received the Tor tracking updates.
