Stories by: Robert X. Cringely

This story is just too wild to ignore: It seems Newegg has quite a bit of old egg on its face this week after it shipped customers "counterfeit" Intel CPUs that were more like movie props than actual working electronics.

I don't know about you, but beautiful Russian girls are just dying to meet me. They're all 26 years old, most of them are named Olga, and from their descriptions they sound totally hot. But first I have to buy a fantastic luxury timepiece, change my Facebook login, get a bucketful of knockoff prescriptions, and pick up that parcel waiting for me at UPS or DHL (even though I never ordered anything).

Well, that was the biggest news bombshell to land in quite a while. Google reveals that it's been hacked by Chinese cyber attackers and says it will no longer play along with China's repressive Internet rules.

It's that time of year again -- time to look back and offer my 2009 awards for the most malicious, obnoxious, offensive, or nonsensical behavior in technology. The 10 winners this year include some of the best-known companies on the planet, as well as some obscure but worthy candidates.

Would you buy a gPhone? That's the question I posed last week, as rumors, news, and speculation about a new Google-branded Nexus One handset washed over the Webosphere. I got some interesting answers.

Well, it finally happened. Digital versions of the Beatles' catalog are finally coming to Apple. It's just not the Apple you're thinking of.

For a while there it looked like 2009 would be remembered as the Year of the Dead Celebrity. But Michael, Farrah, Walter, Ed, and all the rest may have to move over. This is rapidly becoming the Year the Data Died.

It is my sad news this morning to report the demise of the world's most famous microblog. Twitter, we hardly knew ye.

Over the last week I've been on a fact-finding mission to Scandinavia. No sign of the Swedish National Bikini team (yet), but I've run into a few companies that may help determine what our always-connected lives may look like in a few years.

The Obama administration clarified its rules about border searches of laptops and other digital gear. Bottom line: If you care about your data, leave the laptop at home.