In other words, nearly the entire Net got flagged as malware due to a simple slash -- setting a record for brevity not even can match.

Why is this news? For one thing, it's always fun to see the high and mighty slip on a banana peel and land on their assets. More important, it points out the extreme power Google wields -- and once again raises fears the Web is rapidly turning into . Monocultures are beneficial to a point, because they can speed adoption and standardization of technologies. But they also share the same vulnerabilities; if they contract a deadly disease or fatal exploit, they can be wiped out en masse.

This week somebody in Mountain View sneezed, and the entire Web went home with the flu. Next time, Google could catch something more serious -- and we all could end up in the hospital.

Is Google too powerful? And if so, what are ya gonna do about it, eh cowboy? Send your thoughts to me direct: cringe@infoworld.com.