May 17, 2006 9:14 AM PDT
Google becomes 'evil'
A series of recent Dilbert comics could be a sign of changing sentiment toward the Internet darling. The everyman office worker has gone from a Google worker in 2004 doodles Scott Adams did specially for Google, to a high tech start-up entrepreneur being terrorized by them.
After getting fired by his now billionaire dog, Dogbert, Dilbert has started a high tech company out of his garage. He has invented a search engine that matches singles by common searches. As he applies for a patent on his search algorithm, Dogbert warns him of Google wrath. Dilbert brushes off the warning as ridiculous, but a "back at Google" scene pokes fun at Larry Page's and Sergey Brin's recent interpretations of Google's "Don't be evil" company policy.
In a software-driven world, it's easy to forget about the nuts and bolts. Whether it's cars, robots, personal gadgetry or industrial machines, Candace Lombardi examines the moving parts that keep our world rotating. A journalist who divides her time between the United States and the United Kingdom, Lombardi has written about technology for the sites of The New York Times, CNET, USA Today, MSN, ZDNet, Silicon.com, and GameSpot. E-mail her at candacelombardi@gmail.com. She is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not a current employee of CNET. 
