Ten mortifying moments from technology history
It could have been worse, it could have been you...
By David Haskin, Computerworld | Published 09:00, 29 October 07
The problem was that she didn't realise how Photoshop, or possibly the camera itself, included the original image as a viewable preview of the cropped image. Not surprisingly, this mistake spread around the web rapidly, giving Cat Schwartz an additional 15 minutes of fame, or at least of mortification.
NSA offspring cripples the internet
Let's take a trip down memory lane, back to 1988. This was a time when widespread security threats were starting to become known, but we hadn't yet reached our current supervigilant state. That's also when a Cornell student, Robert Morris, Jr., released what many believe was the first major worm to be spread via the internet. He claimed it was a relatively innocent exercise.
The so-called Morris worm brought down a big chunk of the internet. Of course, in those days the internet was a relatively small network, largely limited to academics and the military establishment, so the worm didn't do nearly as much damage as it would today. Still, it caused, by some estimates, $15m in damage. Morris apologised for releasing the worm, was convicted and received probation.
Now the truly embarrassing part: Morris' father, Robert Sr., was a well-known, highly regarded security expert who worked for the National Security Agency. However, while Dad was undoubtedly mortified at the time, he surely must be proud of his progeny, who is now a professor at MIT.
Execs shine up their Wikipedia write-ups
What do Microsoft, the Vatican, the FBI, Al Jazeera, Exxon Mobil and Amnesty International have in common? They - and many other organisations with household names - have been busted for altering Wikipedia entries that don't flatter them.
This practice came to light earlier this year thanks to a program called WikiScanner. Developed by CalTech grad student Virgil Griffith, WikiScanner can discern the origins of edits made to the user-editable online encyclopedia. And, sure enough, what his program found was that many people and organisations edit Wikipedia to suit their own needs. With this one, there's plenty of mortification to go around.
A good starting list of who changed what is at MaltaStar.com. Wired also keeps an ongoing, user-contributed list of edits. And you can always try WikiScanner yourself.
