Byte size news: When computers just don't hack it

If you thought a printer paper jam puts sand in the shorts of your work day, the following examples may help put your computing problems into perspective.
The Australian and New Zealand Software Testing Board have released some of the top bugs and glitches that have had some huge costs.
Queensland Health has apologised to staff and may opt to ditch its new payroll system after thousands of workers were incorrectly paid. The system cost AU$64.5 million ($83.22 million) and was released to the market by a project team that knew of its defects, a report found.
A hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica was left undetected for a period of time because of anomalies in data used to measure the atmosphere.
Toyota had to extend its worldwide recall of the Prius hybrid cars to correct a braking problem. In the US and Japan, the recall included almost 300,000 cars and affected more than 30,000 Prius owners in other countries. The cars were experiencing a lack of braking control, with the problem needing a software upgrade to fix it
Nasa launched two exploration vehicles as part of the Mars Surveyor programme. The Mars Lander was launched in 1999, less than a month after its partner, the Mars Climate Orbiter, was launched. Both missions ended in failure with the loss of both crafts in separate incidents.
The most likely reason for one vehicle's demise was a software glitch mistaking the vibration of the legs as a touchdown. The other was intended to enter orbit at an altitude of 140-150km above Mars - however, a navigation error caused the craft to go as low as 57km - causing it's destruction from atmospheric stress.
So next time you're cursing when your computer crashes - spare a thought for those poor rovers.

Release your inner Mario
Calling all creative Mario fans - Nintendo is looking for animated visions of gaming's favourite plumber.
One of a series of events to celebrate 25 years of the Super Mario Brothers game, the game maker is running a Make Your Own Mario Flipnote competition.
Flipnote Studio is software built into the Nintendo DSi and Nintendo DSi XL hand-held consoles which allow players to create their own short animations.
There are even two different songs available to download to accompany your graphical goods.
The competition closes on December 10 and will be judged by members of the Nintendo development team, including the original creator of Mario, Shigeru Miyamoto.
The best Flipnotes will also be posted online and made available to download.
For more information check out gamesites.nintendo.com.au.

Got any news, gadgets or queries? Contact lindsay.harvey@apn.co.nz