Technology companies can make our lives easier and even change the world. But just as often they can mess up. Spectacularly. And 2014 delivered ample proof that even smart people do stupid things.

It was a year of extreme bad-boy behavior, from former RadiumOne CEO Gurbaksh Chahal being charged with battering his girlfriend to anonymous online trolls threatening women for taking a stand against sexism in games.

It was a year of flops, as Amazon (AMZN) entered the cutthroat smartphone business -- with predictable results -- and Google (GOOG) scuttled its plans for turning barges into showrooms.

It was also a year when we learned just how vulnerable our personal information has become. What with the loss of credit card data from JP Morgan (JPM) and Home Depot (HD), and the leaked celebrity photos taken from Apple's (AAPL) iCloud, it's a wonder we continue to use online services at all.

Read the full story at CNET.