Lonely Canadian shocked to get $84,000 phone bill Oil field worker, 22, downloaded movies and other high-resolution files unaware of the charges they would incur. A Canadian oil field worker, stunned to get an almost $84,000 cell phone bill, has had the charges reduced to about $3,400, but is still fighting them. Piotr Staniaszek, a...

Cracking open the cybercrime economy Hacking for fun has evolved into hacking for profit, and created a business model nearly as sophisticated as that of legal software. "Over the years, the criminal elements, the ones who are making money, making millions out of all this online crime, are just getting stronger and stronger....

Google develops Wikipedia rival Now in beta, the "knol project" aims to present authoritative articles; once project goes live, contributors can monetize their pages. Search and advertising giant Google is developing a user-generated online encyclopedia that could rival Wikipedia. Google has named the encyclopedia the "knol project," a knol being a...

Week in review: Googles DoubleClick deletion dilemma Fight over megamerger takes intriguing turns, while social networks open developer platforms. Also: celebrating Commodore 64s legacy. The controversial fight over Googles proposed acquisition of online ad firm DoubleClick took some politically intriguing turns this week that opponents hope will imperil the $3 billion merger. It...

Lovers turn to text message to say its over One in seven people in a survey say they have been dumped via text message or e-mail. U R dumped--one in seven say they have suffered the same fate as Britney Spears ex-husband and been told its all over via text message or e-mail, a survey said on...

Amazon buys J.K. Rowling tales for $4 million Handwritten, illustrated book is one of seven in existence; proceeds from sale go to childrens charity co-founded by author. Amazon.com, the Web retailer known for selling books, said it had paid about $4 million to buy a handwritten, illustrated book of wizardry by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling....

Survey: People skills valued over those for IT Microsoft-commissioned survey of execs finds ability to communicate with co-workers is regarded as more important than tech skills. Interpersonal skills are more important in the workplace than IT skills, according to the results of a survey commissioned by Microsoft. In the survey of approximately 500 board-level executives,...

Dropping off the grid After screwing up his travel preparations, CNET News.coms Charles Cooper goes through the electronic equivalent of cold turkey. Packing for a recent hiking vacation, I forgot my cell phone. When I realized my goof, it was too late. I was 30,000 feet over Californias Sierras and climbing. ...