It’s hard to resist juicy celebrity gossip, which is probably why spammers tie their landing pages into the most popular stars of the moment. A new survey by McAfee shows that Jessica Biel is the most dangerous star to search for on the Internet, as 20% of the time (1 out of 5 sites), you’ll end up on a page that contains spyware, adware, malware, viruses, and an assortment of other threats.

Other celebrities on the Most Dangerous Searches list include Beyonce, Jennifer Aniston (especially the term “Jennifer Aniston screensavers”) Tom Brady, Jessica Simpson, Gisele Bundchen, Miley Cyrus, Megan Fox and Angelina Jolie (tie), Ashley Tisdale, and Brad Pitt.

Fortunately, I don’t search for any of these celebs on my own. I prefer sticking to safer things like the Chicago Bears, book reviews, Gatlinburg vacations, or fly fishing. Maybe that’s not as exciting as finding out who Jessica Biel’s boyfriend is, but whatever. At least I’m not getting any viruses!

Well, my first week of graduate school is in the books. It was fairly easy going, as the assignments mostly consisted of introductory stuff like setting up a homepage so students can get to know each other, etc. There was quite a bit of reading as well, but I was able to stay on top of it. And I finished everything yesterday, so now I have all day today to relax, clean the house, and watch football. Let’s hope the next 15 weeks go just as smoothly!

NUMMI, the joint-venture automotive manufacturing plant operated by Toyota and GM will likely be closed. Toyota decided to cease operations at the Fremont, CA plant, and distribute the work to other Toyota factories in Canada, Texas, and Japan.

This announcement is not much of a surprise, as GM was forced to pull out of NUMMI in June, leaving Toyota holding the bag. And even though Toyota is not as financially troubled as GM, they’re not exactly making dough hand over fist these days.

I’ve actually been to NUMMI several times. The company I used to work for had some contracts with NUMMI and frequently sent me there on business. In fact, the first time I ever went to California was on a NUMMI visit, so the place holds special memories for me. This is sad news for sure — especially for the 4,700 workers at the plant, as well as the thousands more at other suppliers.

(AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, file)

After seven good years of service, my monitor is on its last legs. A couple weeks ago, it suddenly started acting up and wouldn’t turn on until a good 10 minutes after my CPU was booted up and ready to go. I’ve been waiting out the hassle and inconvenience because I don’t have the money to buy a new monitor now, but I’m just about at the end of my rope here.

So I started looking around for replacements this morning and came across this Samsung 18.5″ LCD monitor over at Buy.com. I currently use a 15″ screen, so 18.5″ would be a nice upgrade without going overboard. I can’t imagine using a 20″ or 22″ screen like some people do. I sit at a tiny computer hutch, so a screen that big would likely end up causing massive eyestrain from being right in front of all that huge print all day.

Anyway, the Samsung monitor is a pretty straightforward product that comes with the features you’d expect out of an LCD computer monitor. I like the fact that it can tilt forward and backwards to allow me to put the screen at just the right angle, and it can also be mounted to the wall — which is something to consider if I need more space on my hutch.

Right now this particular monitor is on sale for $122.99, down from its suggested retail price of $232. That’s an awesome deal in itself, but Samsung is sweetening the pot with a $20 mail-in rebate, which means my final price for this monitor would be just $102.99. That’s a lot less than I thought I would have to spend, so I’m going to order it in two weeks when I get my next paycheck. Hopefully I’ll be able to deal with my current monitor until then.

I usually don’t pay attention to preseason football, but it’s hard not to be excited about Sunday’s upcoming contest between the Bears and Broncos in Denver. This of course marks QB Jay Cutler’s first return to Denver, where he spent the last three years. His departure was tumultuous, with some of the fans supporting him, but most coming down against him for deserting the team.

This also marks the first time that unappreciated former Bears’ QB Kyle Orton will square off against the Chicago squad. Though Denver coaches and teammates are trying to keep things positive, I don’t think anyone really believes that Denver ended up with the better quarterback in the trade. Orton has thrown 1 TD and 4 INTs in his previous two preseason games. Cutler has 1 TD and 1 INT to his name.

I even went so far as to check around online for good travel deals to Denver so I can catch the game in person. But I quickly came to my senses and realized how foolish it would be to spend several hundred dollars to go see a meaningless preseason game. Guess I’ll just settle for watching it on TV like most everybody else!

Have you seen Texas QB Colt McCoy yet this summer? Apparently he showed up to camp sporting a mustache, which was supposed to be part of some team-building exercise that the offense engaged in. Whatever the reason, he looks like some kind of ’70s p.r0n (don’t want spammers) star with this thing!

At least Colt knows that it looks like crap. He has promised to shave it off just as soon as the team unity thing is done with.

I just read that Senator Edward M. Kennedy passed away last night at his home in Hyannis Port, MA. The statement from his family said in part:

We’ve lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism, and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever.

He loved this country and devoted his life to serving it. He always believed that our best days were still ahead, but it’s hard to imagine any of them without him.

As we mourn his loss, we rededicate ourselves to the causes for which he so dutifully dedicated his life.

I am not a liberal and did not support many of Senator Kennedy’s policies or causes, but it was clear that he always acted with the best interests of the country in mind.

Condolences go out to the Shriver-Kennedy clan. The American political scene has lost an icon.