Spreadsheet Horror Stories and a Blog on Spreadsheet/Information Risks

The European Spreadsheet Risks Interest Group has a great link that catalogs strange but true stories of spreadsheet errors and the business losses they caused. In addition, Patrick O'Bierne of Ireland and who is actively involved with this group has a blog discussing best practices in information systems and risk management  

How relevant are these stories? Consider this news story on November 15, 2004, the day the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (as amended) got its first real teeth:

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041115/dam033_1.html 
CARRIZO Oil & Gas, Inc. Corrects Diluted Share Computations, Nov 15, 2004.
The company recently discovered an error in a spreadsheet which tracks the average number of warrants and options outstanding. This error impacted Carrizo's financial results. The corrected number of shares for the 2004 six month period was 20.8M rather than 18.9M as previously reported. The actual diluted net income per share was $0.19 rather than $0.21.

Related Links
European Spreadsheet Risks Interest Group
Spreadsheet Horry Stories
Patrick O'Bierne Blog