The Wrong Way to Retrieve the Last Record ID Inserted

Hardly a week goes by without seeing some forum post that either uses or recommends my pet peeve: the erroneous SELECT MAX(id) query. Mind you this is across the board, not just in CF. For some bizarre reason, this faulty technique never seems to die. And it REALLY should. There are so many correct alternatives, I cannot understand why anyone would still use it for new code. If you are even considering it, might I inject a note of sanity and recommend some excellent reading material on Adrian J. Moreno's blog:

Please stop using SELECT MAX(id)

(His comments on the topic are much more educational and polite than mine ;-)