Teknologien har affødt masser af overskrifter i hele 2008 - og at krybe sammen ved siden af ​​hver succeshistorie er en opsving, nogen gerne vil glemme.

Vi har samlet et dusin af årets værste teknologirelaterede pinligheder. Mens de gode ting i sidste ende vil blande sig sammen, vil disse dårlige øjeblikke leve evigt i skændsel. Gør^(Brace) dig klar til nogle blush-buunders.

1. Mest pinlig servicelevetid^{(Service Lifespan)}

Går til: Lively by Google^{(Goes to: Lively by Google)}

I juli  introducerede Google begejstret  sit svar på den virtuelle verden Second Life : et familievenligt cybermiljø kaldet Lively. Det er rigtigt, stamkunder med rødt lys - ingen sex, ingen beskidt snak, ingen virtuel handling i dette joint. "[Folk] ved, at vi ikke kommer til at lægge porno ind der, og de kigger på det og tænker, at det er et sikkert sted at komme ind,"  forklarede en Google^{(a Google exec explained)} -chef  på tidspunktet for Livelys lancering.

Spol en^{(Fast-forward one)} måned frem, og Lively var blevet til en  virtuel famleplads  for børn over hele verden. Alligevel var disse mellemskoleelever nødt til at få kreative, "stødende" robottentakler for at "behage" andre avatarer.

Mashable  udtrykte det bedst^{(put it best)} : Google havde bygget en tjeneste med "alt det sjove ved et virtuelt chatrum [men] ingen af ​​de 'fordele', som dets konkurrenter tilbyder." Og offentligheden så ud til at være enig - i midten af ​​november^{(mid-November)} fik Lively  øksen^{(got the ax)} , kun fire måneder efter sin debut.

2. Mest pinlig online eksponering

Går til: Chris Cooley's Phallic Fumble^{(Goes to: Chris Cooley’s Phallic Fumble)}

At komme ind med, hvad der kun kan beskrives som en af ​​årets "mindre" fejl, er Washington Redskins' tight-end Chris Cooley . Cooley , der vedligeholder en  online-blog  om sine NFL- bestræbelser, postede et billede af sig selv, hvor han studerede holdets spillebog før en kamp. Studerer legebogen nøgen, altså.

For at være retfærdig ser man ikke meget i skuddet. Faktisk kan det være en underdrivelse. Billedet - fjernet fra Cooleys blog, men  tilgængeligt her^{(available here)} , hvis du skal se det - viser bogen på Cooleys skød med lidt ekstra hængende nedenfor. Og objektet er ikke, skal vi sige, svært at genkende.

En undskyldning^{(An apology)}  blev sendt en dag senere: "Vi er meget kede af, at vi viste en penis på vores hjemmeside hele dagen i går. Det var på ingen måde vores hensigt, og vi ville ikke fornærme nogen."

Enhver kan lave en fumle, men du må undre dig over, hvordan denne gled forbi. Det ser ud til, at nogen ikke brugte sit hoved. Eh... ja, ligegyldigt.

3. Mest pinlige e-mail-afsløring

Går til: Sarah Palin-Yahoo Mail Saga^{(Goes to: The Sarah Palin-Yahoo Mail Saga)}

I tilfælde af at vores næste vinder ikke havde nok  offentlig ydmygelse^{(public humiliation)}  i år, gav internettet^(Internet) hende en dosis mere. Vi taler selvfølgelig om Sarah Palin og det nu berygtede Yahoo Mail - hack.

Det var blevet opdaget, at Palin^(Palin) brugte et par Yahoo - konti  til officiel regeringsvirksomhed^{(for official government business)}  - et skridt, der blev stillet spørgsmålstegn ved aktivister, der hævdede, at hendes administration i  Alaska ^(Alaskan)forsøgte at undgå love^{(trying to avoid laws)}  , der kræver, at regeringens e-mails skal placeres i offentligheden. Tilsyneladende passede det heller ikke godt hos en hacker.

Fyren brugte Yahoo Mails forenklede sikkerhedsbeskyttelse til  at udgive sig som Palin^{(pose as Palin)}  og nulstille hendes adgangskode, og fortsatte derefter med at sende billeder fra sin konto  på nettet^{(onto the Web)} . Whoopsie daisy.

Dette,  mine venner^{(my friends)} , er grunden til, at vi ikke bruger webmail - tjenester med lav sikkerhed til officielle offentlige beskeder.

4. Mest pinlig visning af desperation

Går til: Microsoft Lives Cashback-kampagne^{(Goes to: Microsoft Live’s Cashback Promotion)}

Ude af stand til at sikre nogen trækkraft til sin Live -søgemaskine, har Microsofts taktik i 2008 været bestikkelse - og meget af det. Virksomheden startede først sit  Cashback  -program  i maj^{(in May)} , og tilbyder grundlæggende  brugere penge  til at henvende sig til Live for søgning. Du slår produkter op på det kæmpende websted, og du får penge tilbage på eventuelle køb, du foretager.

Den oprindelige idé var stønfremkaldende nok. Men på trods af statistikker, der viser, at Microsoft faktisk havde  mistet markedsandele siden programmet startede^{(lost market share since starting the program)}  - et fald på hele 6,5 procent fra april til oktober -^{(October —)} blev Live - teamet ved med at insistere på, at programmet  var en succes^{(was a success)} , og endda  udvidede det^{(expanding it)}  i begyndelsen af ​​december.

( Google vandt i øvrigt markedsandele på samme tid, som Microsofts Cashback - program "virkede ". Selv Yahoo^{(” Even Yahoo)} formåede på en eller anden måde at vokse.)

Søg efter "desperat", og dette triste stunt skulle dukke op højt.

5. Mest pinlige resultat af internetrapportering^(Internet)

Går til: The Death (and Subsequent Near Death) of Steve Jobs^{(Goes to: The Death (and Subsequent Near Death) of Steve Jobs)}

Den første falske forskrækkelse for Mac - mesteren kom i august , da Bloomberg ved en fejl  offentliggjorde Jobs' nekrolog^{(published Jobs’ obituary)}  på sit websted^(Web) . Nyhedstjenesten havde på forhånd skrevet en 17-siders konto, og nogen trykkede den forkerte tast.

Jobs blev hurtigt genopstået, men det tog ikke lang tid, før hans anden omgang fejlagtige ulykke kom. I oktober^(October) citerede en historie på CNN's borgerjournalistikside, iReport, en "pålidelig insider" for at sige, at Jobs havde  lidt et "større hjerteanfald"^{(suffered a “major heart attack”)}  og blev indlagt. Denne gang faldt Apples aktie  ,^{(shot down)}  da nyheden hurtigt spredte sig over internettet^(Internet) . Det er overflødigt at sige, at det hele viste sig at være en fup.

"Ufiltrerede" nyheder^{(“Unfiltered” news)} , faktisk.

6. Mest pinlige dataundersøgelse^{(Embarrassing Data Investigation)}

Går til: TSA's Lost Laptop Probe^{(Goes to: The TSA’s Lost Laptop Probe)}

Overlad det til America's Transportation Security Administration at miste en bærbar computer fuld af følsomme data, starte en fuldgyldig undersøgelse - så indse, at tingen sad inde på kontoret hele tiden.

Har^(Did) du hørt om denne? TSA rapporterede en checkpoint - laptop i San Franciscos lufthavn  som savnet^{(as missing)}  i august . Computeren havde titusindvis af passagerers personlige oplysninger på sig, og den kunne ikke findes nogen steder.

TSA lukkede sit prescreening-program og startede en søgning . Nationale^(National) medier blev underrettet, og rapporter ramte aviser over hele landet. Så indså  TSA , at den bærbare computer havde været ^(TSA)på sit eget kontor hele tiden . Ups.

Faktisk kunne det have været mindre pinligt at miste tingen i sidste ende.

7. Mest pinligt overhypede lancering^{(Overhyped Launch)}

Går til: Cuil^{(Goes to: Cuil)}

Få internetstartups^(Internet) har set den slags hype, som Cuil formåede at opbygge op til lanceringen. Søgemaskinen, startet af nogle tidligere Googlere, lovede at være  "større, hurtigere og bedre"^{(“bigger, faster, and better”)}  end den gigantiske G. Den var bygget på "kontekstuel" søgning, der ville ændre den måde, internettet^(Web) fungerede på, hørte vi. Teknologiske^(Tech) blogs  blev ga-ga med dækning^{(went ga-ga with coverage)} , der  foregreb den mystiske nye enhed.

Så gik siden faktisk op, og forventningerne gik helt ned. Latterlige resultater og overvældede servere kombineret for at  dræbe Cuil-brummen^{(kill the Cuil buzz)}  hurtigere, end du kan sige "Sergey Brin." I disse dage viser Alexa -data, at søgemaskinen ser  mindre end en enkelt procent^{(less than a single percent)}  af internetbrugerne^(Internet) , der besøger sit websted, sammenlignet med Googles omkring  28 procent^{(28 percent)} .

Større end Google ? En større fiasko, måske. Tror ikke Cuil^{(Guess Cuil)} er så sej alligevel.

8. Mest pinlige offentlige holdning

Går til: The Associated Press Take On Bloggers^{(Goes to: The Associated Press Take On Bloggers)}

Måden vi får information på er i konstant udvikling. Alternative mediekilder indtager en stadig mere fremtrædende rolle i leveringen af ​​nyheder, og bloggere er en stor del af det mix. Du tror måske, at en af ​​verdens førende nyhedsorganisationer ville lære at tilpasse sig og omfavne den skiftende kultur til sin egen fordel. Selvfølgelig tager du fejl.

I stedet besluttede Associated Press at  bekæmpe blogosfæren  i år og formulerede  sit eget sæt standarder^{(its own set of standards)}  for, hvordan onlinepublikationer kunne bruge dens information. Fair use doktriner være forbandet, sagde AP at bruge selv små uddrag af sine historier på en blog var ude af linje og udelukket.

AP opnåede noget med sin fjollede holdning: Den fremmedgjorde sig fra nogle af de mest indflydelsesrige aktører i moderne medier. Utallige^(Countless) blogs og onlinepublikationer lovede helt at  stoppe med at referere og linke^{(stop referencing and linking)}  til Associated Press -historier. Indgående links kaldes ofte "valutaen for blogs", og spiller en væsentlig rolle for synlighed og søgeplacering. Ikke at en virksomhed, der lige har  skåret 10 procent af sin arbejdsstyrke^{(slashed 10 percent of its workforce)}  , behøver at bekymre sig om sådanne ting. Rigtigt^(Riiiight) .

Godt spillet, AP. Godt spillet.

9. Mest pinlige mobile øjeblik

Går til: iPhone 3G-aktivering^{(Goes to: iPhone 3G Activation)}

Alle vidste, at den første dag med iPhone 3G-salg ville blive enorm. Alle, så det ud til, undtagen Apple .

Virksomheden led, hvad der kun kan beskrives som en stor nedsmeltning, da abonnenter, der havde ventet i lange køer,  ikke var i stand til at aktivere deres nye telefoner^{(unable to activate their new phones)} . Kunder i butikken blev afvist og bedt om at prøve at aktivere deres telefoner senere hjemmefra. Men aktiveringsservere ville heller ikke fungere over internettet^(Internet) , hvilket efterlod folk med en ubrugelig enhed og ingen fungerende telefon.

Jamen^(Gee) , hvis bare Apple på en eller anden måde kunne have  forudset svaret^{(anticipated the response)}  - eller måske havde nogle  tidligere erfaringer med overvældende servere^{(past experience with overwhelmed servers)}  for at lære at håndtere det - kunne tingene måske være gået mere glat.

10. Mest pinligt svar på en sikkerhedsbrist^{(Security Flaw)}

Går til: The Boston Transportation Hack Fiasco^{(Goes to: The Boston Transportation Hack Fiasco)}

Indlever denne under " Hvordan^(How) man ikke håndterer en sikkerhedsbrist^{(Security Flaw)} ": Et par studerende fra MIT  fandt et smuthul^{(found a loophole)}  i Bostons "T"-metrosystem. Fejlen, opdagede de, ville lade enhver tilføje ubegrænset værdi til systemets betalingskort. De studerende, der planlagde at præsentere deres resultater på DEFCON 16 's årlige hackerkonference, mødtes på forhånd med transportembedsmænd for at diskutere deres rapport.

Så lige før konferencen indgav Transportation Authority en føderal klage og fik et midlertidigt tilhold for at holde eleverne i at tale. Ved at gøre det offentliggjorde  den også utilsigtet de studerendes fulde rapport (PDF)^{(the students’ full report (PDF))}  til internettet^(Web) som en del af offentlig registrering.

Det bliver dog bedre. Selv efter at have indset, at alle i verden kunne få adgang til hele rapporten, kæmpede Transportation Authority  for at udvide sin tilholdsforbud^{(fought to extend its restraining order)}  mod eleverne. Lang^(Long) historie kort, den blev lukket ude. En føderal dommer  afviste anmodningen^{(denied the request)} , eleverne  fik et "A" på deres projekt^{(got an “A” on their project)} , og sikkerhedsfejlen fik langt mere opmærksomhed, end den ville have haft, hvis transportmyndigheden^{(Transportation Authority)} ikke havde fået fat i det.

Ironi kan nogle gange være så tilfredsstillende.

11. Mest pinligt gennemsigtig løgn

Går til: Metallicas "We're Okay With Filesharing"^{(Goes to: Metallica’s “We’re Okay With Filesharing”)}

Metallica så ud til at synge en ny melodi i 2008. Otte år efter at trommeslager Lars Ulrich  førte krigen mod fildeling^{(led the war against filesharing)} , hvilket i sidste ende resulterede i  nedlukningen af ​​den originale Napster^{(shutdown of the original Napster)} , arbejdede bandet hårdt for at  give et udseende af en reformeret tilgang .

Ulrich  udgav en video^{(released a video)}  , hvor han snakkede afslappet om at dele Metallicas musik online. "Bandet forsøger at redde sit omdømme ved endelig at omfavne onlinemusikkens realiteter,"  bemærkede Wired.com^{(Wired.com observed)}  dengang.

Den lille fyr gik endda så langt som til at opføre sig totalt cool med det faktum, at hans bands dengang ikke-udgivne cd var blevet lækket på nettet^(Web) . "Det er 2008, og det er en del af, hvordan det er i disse dage, så det er fint. Vi er glade,”  insisterede han^{(he insisted)} .

Faktisk så glad, at bandet stille og roligt  aflyste et interview^{(cancelled an interview)}  med en avis efter at have hørt, at reporteren havde lyttet til nogle af de lækkede numre online. I en tilsvarende hånende opvisning krævede Metallica adskillige bloggere  at nedlægge forhåndsanmeldelser^{(take down advance reviews)}  , de havde skrevet af det nye album. Deres anmeldelser var baseret på en lyttefest afholdt af mærket selv. Det er trist, men sandt.

Kunne disse fyre være mere ude af kontakt med den digitale tidsalder? Måske skulle de overveje et partnerskab med  vores venner på AP  - vi hører, at de også er store til forældet ideologi.

12. Samlet præstation^{(Achievement)} i international forlegenhed^{(International Embarrassment)}

Går til: Jerry Yang^{(Goes to: Jerry Yang)}

Hvem ellers kunne toppe vores liste over største tekniske pinligheder end Mr. Yahoo selv? For hans endeløse række af utroligt uhyggelige handlinger tildeler vi hermed  Jerry Yang  den samlede præstation^{(Achievement)} i international forlegenhed^{(International Embarrassment)} . Løbet var ikke engang tæt.

Der er ikke meget, der kan siges om Yangs år, som ikke  allerede  er blevet diskuteret  ad nauseum . Fyren kørte sit firma i jorden og traf dum beslutning efter dum beslutning - alt imens han hele tiden talte om, hvor fantastisk det gik, og hvordan Yahoos store dag var lige rundt om hjørnet. Selv  da Yang annoncerede sin længe ventede fratræden^{(announcing his long-overdue resignation)}  i november , ignorerede Yang , hvad alle i verden kunne se, og blev ved med at lade som om, han havde gjort et godt stykke arbejde:

“It’s been an extraordinary year here at Yahoo.”

“I truly believe we’ve made tangible progress in bringing our strategic vision to life.”

“Now I believe the time is right for us to bring in a new leader — someone who will build on the important pillars we’ve put in place and who will take the reins on the critical decisions our company faces.”

Vigtige søjler? Ligesom aktieværdien, der nu er  en tredjedel af, hvad Microsoft tilbød at betale  , da du afviste dem? Kritiske beslutninger? Ligesom hvordan man fortryder den umådelige skade, du har gjort?

Åh, Jerry... Jerry , Jerry , Jerry . Alt, hvad jeg kan sige er, at "Chief Yahoo" måske er den mest passende titel, jeg nogensinde har set en mand holde. Tillykke.

* * * * *Så det gør det - vores Top 12 Tech Embarrassments i 2008. Nogle af minderne får os til at grine; andre får os stadig til at krympe os (hoste hoste Yahoo ). Og der er uden tvivl utallige andre rod, vi ikke engang nåede til. Du^(Feel) er velkommen til at lave dine egne tilføjelser i kommentarfeltet nedenfor.

Året er selvfølgelig ikke helt omme endnu. Her håber vi, at ingen Yangs op med et andet teknologifirma inden for 08's resterende dage, ellers bliver vi nødt til at gå tilbage til udgangspunktet. Nu ville det bare være pinligt.

Top 12 Tech Embarrassments in 2008

Teсhnоlogy’ѕ spаwned plenty of headlines throughout 2008 — and cowering next to every story of success is a slip-up someone would like to fоrget.

We’ve compiled a dozen of the year’s worst tech-related embarrassments. While the good stuff will eventually all blend together, these bad moments will live forever in infamy. Brace yourself for some blush-building blunders.

1. Most Embarrassing Service Lifespan

Goes to: Lively by Google

In July, Google excitedly introduced its answer to virtual world Second Life: a family-friendly cyber-environment called Lively. That’s right, red light regulars — no sex, no dirty talk, no virtual action in this joint. “[People] know we’re not going to be putting porn in there, and they’re looking at it and thinking it’s a safe place to enter,” a Google exec explained at the time of Lively’s launch.

Fast-forward one month, and Lively had turned into a virtual groping ground for preteens worldwide. Still, these middle schoolers had to get creative, “thrusting” robot tentacles to “pleasure” other avatars.

Mashable put it best: Google had built a service with “all the fun of a virtual chat room [but] none of the ‘benefits’ offered by its competitors.” And the public seemed to agree — in mid-November, Lively got the ax, just four months after its debut.

2. Most Embarrassing Online Exposure

Goes to: Chris Cooley’s Phallic Fumble

Coming in with what can only be described as one of the “smaller” mistakes of the year is Washington Redskins’ tight end Chris Cooley. Cooley, who maintains an online blog of his NFL endeavors, posted a shot of himself studying the team playbook before a game. Studying the playbook naked, that is.

Now, to be fair, you don’t see much in the shot. In fact, that might be an understatement. The photo — removed from Cooley’s blog but available here, if you must see it — shows the book on Cooley’s lap with a little something extra hanging out below. And the object is not, shall we say, hard to recognize.

An apology was posted a day later: “We are very sorry that we showed a penis on our website all day yesterday. That was by no means our intention and we did not want to offend anyone.”

Anyone can make a fumble, but you’ve gotta wonder how this one slipped by. Looks like someone wasn’t using his head. Er… yeah, nevermind.

3. Most Embarrassing E-Mail Revelation

Goes to: The Sarah Palin-Yahoo Mail Saga

In case our next winner didn’t have enough public humiliation this year, the Internet brought her one more dose. We’re talking, of course, about Sarah Palin and the now-infamous Yahoo Mail hack.

Palin, it had been discovered, was using a couple of Yahoo accounts for official government business — a move questioned by activists who claimed her Alaskan administration was trying to avoid laws requiring government e-mails to be placed in public record. Seemingly, it also didn’t sit well with a hacker.

The guy used Yahoo Mail’s simplistic security protection to pose as Palin and reset her password, then proceeded to post images from her account onto the Web. Whoopsie daisy.

This, my friends, is why we don’t use low-security Webmail services for official government messaging.

4. Most Embarrassing Display of Desperation

Goes to: Microsoft Live’s Cashback Promotion

Unable to secure any traction for its Live search engine, Microsoft’s tactic of 2008 has been bribery — and lots of it. The company first started its Cashback program in May, basically offering users money to turn to Live for search. You look up products on the struggling site, and you get money back on any resulting purchases you make.

The initial idea was groan-inducing enough. But then, despite statistics showing Microsoft had actually lost market share since starting the program — a full 6.5 percent drop from April to October — the Live crew kept insisting the program was a success, even expanding it in early December.

(Google, by the way, gained market share in the same time Microsoft’s Cashback program was “working.” Even Yahoo somehow managed to grow.)

Search for “desperate,” and this sad stunt should show up high.

5. Most Embarrassing Result of Internet Reporting

Goes to: The Death (and Subsequent Near Death) of Steve Jobs

The first fake scare for the Mac master came in August, when Bloomberg mistakenly published Jobs’ obituary to its Web site. The news service had prewritten a 17-page account, and someone hit the wrong key.

Jobs was quickly resurrected, but it didn’t take long for his second bout of mistaken misfortune to arrive. In October, a story posted on CNN’s citizen journalism site, iReport, quoted a “reliable insider” as saying claimed Jobs had suffered a “major heart attack” and was hospitalized. This time, Apple’s stock shot down as the news quickly spread over the Internet. Needless to say, the whole thing turned out to be a hoax.

“Unfiltered” news, indeed.

6. Most Embarrassing Data Investigation

Goes to: The TSA’s Lost Laptop Probe

Leave it to America’s Transportation Security Administration to lose a laptop full of sensitive data, start a full-fledged investigation — then realize the thing was sitting inside its office the whole time.

Did you hear about this one? The TSA reported a checkpoint laptop at San Francisco’s airport as missing in August. The computer had tens of thousands of passengers’ personal information on it, and it couldn’t be found anywhere.

The TSA shut down its prescreening program and started a search. National media outlets were notified, and reports hit papers across the country. Then, the TSA realized the laptop had been in its own office all along. Oops.

Actually losing the thing might have been less embarrassing in the end.

7. Most Embarrassingly Overhyped Launch

Goes to: Cuil

Few Internet startups have seen the kind of hype that Cuil managed to build leading up to its launch. The search engine, started by some former Googlers, promised to be “bigger, faster, and better” than the giant G. It was built on “contextual” search that would change the way the Web worked, we heard. Tech blogs went ga-ga with coverage anticipating the mysterious new entity.

Then the site actually went up, and the expectations went right down. Laughable results and overwhelmed servers combined to kill the Cuil buzz faster than you can say “Sergey Brin.” These days, Alexa data shows the search engine seeing less than a single percent of Internet users visiting its site, compared to Google’s roughly 28 percent.

Bigger than Google? A bigger failure, perhaps. Guess Cuil isn’t so cool after all.

8. Most Embarrassing Public Stance

Goes to: The Associated Press Take On Bloggers

The way we get information is constantly evolving. Alternative media sources are taking an increasingly prominent role in the delivery of news, and bloggers are a big part of that mix. You might think, then, that one of the world’s leading news organizations would learn how to adapt and embrace the changing culture for its own benefit. Of course, you’d be wrong.

Instead, the Associated Press decided to fight the blogosphere this year, formulating its own set of standards as to how online publications could use its information. Fair use doctrines be damned, the AP said using even small excerpts of its stories within a blog was out of line and out of the question.

The AP did accomplish something with its silly stance: It alienated itself from some of the most influential players in modern media. Countless blogs and online publications pledged to stop referencing and linking to Associated Press stories altogether. Incoming links are often called the “currency of blogs,” playing a significant role in visibility and search placement. Not that a company that just slashed 10 percent of its workforce needs to worry about such things. Riiiight.

Well-played, AP. Well-played.

9. Most Embarrassing Mobile Moment

Goes to: iPhone 3G Activation

Everyone knew the first day of iPhone 3G sales was going to be huge. Everyone, it seemed, except for Apple.

The company suffered what can only be described as a major meltdown, as subscribers who’d waited in long lines found themselves unable to activate their new phones. In-store customers were turned away and asked to try activating their phones later from home. But activation servers wouldn’t work over the Internet either, leaving people with a useless device and no functioning phone.

Gee, if only Apple could somehow have anticipated the response — or maybe had some past experience with overwhelmed servers to learn how to handle it — maybe things could have gone more smoothly.

10. Most Embarrassing Response to a Security Flaw

Goes to: The Boston Transportation Hack Fiasco

File this one under “How Not to Handle a Security Flaw”: A couple of students from MIT found a loophole within Boston’s “T” subway system. The flaw, they discovered, would let anyone add limitless value onto the system’s payment cards. The students, planning to present their findings at the DEFCON 16 annual hackers’ conference, met with transportation officials in advance to discuss their report.

Then, just before the conference, the Transportation Authority filed a federal complaint and got a temporary restraining order to keep the students from talking. In doing so, it also inadvertently published the students’ full report (PDF) to the Web as part of public record.

It gets better, though. Even after realizing anyone in the world could access the entire report, the Transportation Authority fought to extend its restraining order against the students. Long story short, it got shut out. A federal judge denied the request, the students got an “A” on their project, and the security flaw got far more attention than it would have had the Transportation Authority not thrown its fit.

Irony can be so satisfying sometimes.

11. Most Embarrassingly Transparent Lie

Goes to: Metallica’s “We’re Okay With Filesharing”

Metallica seemed to be singing a new tune in 2008. Eight years after drummer Lars Ulrich led the war against filesharing, ultimately resulting in the shutdown of the original Napster, the band worked hard to give the appearance of a reformed approach.

Ulrich released a video in which he talked casually about sharing Metallica’s music online. “The band is trying to salvage its reputation by embracing, at long last, the realities of online music,” Wired.com observed at the time.

The little fella even went as far as to act totally cool with the fact that his band’s then-unreleased CD had been leaked onto the Web. “It’s 2008 and it’s part of how it is these days, so it’s fine. We’re happy,” he insisted.

So happy, in fact, that the band quietly cancelled an interview with a newspaper after learning the reporter had listened to some of those leaked tracks online. In a similarly sneering display, Metallica demanded numerous bloggers take down advance reviews they’d written of the new album. Their reviews were based on a listening party held by the label itself. It’s sad but true.

Could these guys be any more out of touch with the digital age? Maybe they should consider a partnership with our pals at the AP — we hear they’re big into outdated ideology, too.

12. Overall Achievement In International Embarrassment

Goes to: Jerry Yang

Who else could top our list of biggest tech embarrassments but Mr. Yahoo himself? For his endless string of amazingly asinine actions, we hereby award Jerry Yang the Overall Achievement in International Embarrassment. The race wasn’t even close.

There’s not much that can be said about Yang’s year that hasn’t already been discussed ad nauseum. The guy drove his company into the ground, making dumb decision after dumb decision — all while continually talking up how great things were going and how Yahoo’s big day was right around the corner. Even in announcing his long-overdue resignation in November, Yang disregarded what everyone in the world could see and kept pretending he’d done a great job:

“It’s been an extraordinary year here at Yahoo.”

“I truly believe we’ve made tangible progress in bringing our strategic vision to life.”

“Now I believe the time is right for us to bring in a new leader — someone who will build on the important pillars we’ve put in place and who will take the reins on the critical decisions our company faces.”

Important pillars? Like the share value that’s now a third of what Microsoft offered to pay when you turned them down? Critical decisions? Like how to undo the immeasurable damage you’ve done?

Oh, Jerry… Jerry, Jerry, Jerry. All I can say is that “Chief Yahoo” is perhaps the most fitting title I’ve ever seen a man hold. Congratulations.

* * * * *So that does it — our Top 12 Tech Embarrassments in 2008. Some of the memories make us laugh; others still cause us to cringe (cough cough Yahoo). And there are, no doubt, countless other mess-ups we didn’t even get to. Feel free to make your own additions in the comments section below.

Of course, the year isn’t quite over yet. Here’s hoping no one Yangs up another tech company in 08’s remaining days, or we’ll have to go right back to square one. Now, that’d just be plain embarrassing.

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