When it comes to computer foul-ups, there are so, so many to choose from. Why, just in the last 12 months, we had a major internet security hole, Heartbleed, that hit pretty much every "secure" web server on the planet. That was followed by Shellshock, which had the potential to be even worse.

But, hey, did any of those almost cause World War III? Blackout the power for tens of millions? Smack the stock market around for a 22.6 percent loss? Knock out 10 percent of the internet? I think not!

No, for the real bad ones, we need to go back a few years.