If you are a programmer interested in identity, I doubt you'll find a more instructive or amusing video than this one by Vittorio Bertocci. It's aimed at people who work in .NET and explores the Windows Identity Foundation. I expect most programmers interested in identity will find it fascinating no matter what platform they work on, even if it just provides a point of comparison.
And that brings me to Vittorio's new book: Programming Windows Identity Foundation. I really only have one thing to say about it: you are crazy to program in WIF without reading this book. And if you're an architect rather than a coder – but still have a sense of reading code – you'll find that subjects like delegation benefit immensely from the concrete presentation Vittorio has put together.
I have to admit to being sufficiently engrossed that I had to drop everything I was doing in order to deal with some of the miniature brain-waves the book induced.
But then, I have a soft spot for good books on programming. I'm talking about books that have real depth but are simple and exciting because the writer has the same clarity as programmers have when they are in “programming trance”. I used to even take a bunch of books with me when I went on vacation – it drove my mother-in-law nuts.
I'm not going to try to descibe Vittorio's book – but it really hangs together, and if you're trying to do anything original or complex it will give you the depth of understanding you need to do it efficiently. Just as important, you'll enjoy reading it.