Geek Weekly: Our top weird tech stories for 18 June 2015

Technology Decisions’ weekly wrap of IT fails, latest tech, new must-have gadgets, ‘computer says no’ moments and more.

“You failed utterly and totally.” The head of the US government agency that suffered one of the biggest hacks in history, in which the details of “nearly every US government employee and detailed personal histories of military and intelligence workers with security clearances” was stolen, has tried to shift the blame to other parts of government and her predecessors. Security systems that should have been tightened years ago were allowed to remain unsecure. “I am as distressed as you are about how long these systems have gone neglected… The whole of government is responsible and it will take all of us to solve the issue,” Katherine Archuleta, director of the Office of Personnel Management, told a Congressional hearing. “You failed utterly and totally,” said committee chairman Jason Chaffetz. “They recommended it was so bad that you shut it down and you didn’t.”

No entry. Still in the US, and a ‘computer glitch’ has been blamed for delaying thousands of visas being issued to temporary farmhands from Mexico, preventing their entry into the US and having a knock-on effect on the agricultural economy. Losses are claimed to have reached millions of dollars.

Grand duplication auto. And another US computer glitch, this time in Indianapolis, has resulted in duplicate car number plates being issued… with an estimated 1400 motorists affected. “I think it’s scary; what if there is a hit-and-run driver and some bystander writes your licence plate number down that matches with you,” motorist Keeley Fry told WishTV.com. Apparently the plates are only temporary ones and the problem will be resolved once permanent plates are issued.

Macquarie to hand back $5.5m. You guessed it, yet another computer glitch, this time from Macquarie Investment Management. The ‘glitch’ is being blamed for hitting roughly 2300 customers with excess fees for more than a decade.

Next time you suffer a power outage… Blame it on the birds — at least, if you live in the US. According to a survey cited in the newly released ‘IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA) Introduces IEEE 1264-2015 Guide for Animal Deterrents for Electric Power Supply Substations’, 90% of electric power utilities had experienced substation disruptions caused by squirrels, 86% from birds, 57% from raccoons and 46% from snakes.

Robots falling over. Okay, enough of the glitches — on to some fun stuff. If you haven’t already seen this video of humanoid robots attempting to complete some everyday tasks, prepare to laugh yourself silly.