The Weekly Geek: Googling Jessica Biel can be hazardous

I’ve got some bad news, Jessica Biel fans: It seems that the sexy starlet has been named “the most dangerous celebrity” on the Internet. It has nothing to do with any of the “usual” things celebrities do to stir up trouble, it’s the chances that some malicious cyber criminal has laced one of her pictures with malware. Apparently, fans searching for Biel online have a one-in-five chance of hitting a website or download that contains a nasty surprise.

She’s certainly not the only celeb who bears caution. The full list is available at CNET, and includes Beyonce, Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Simpson, Megan Fox, Angelina Jolie, Reese Witherspoon and our beloved Lindsay Lohan. In fact, of the top 15, only two men appear (Brad Pitt and Tom Brady, for those keeping count). It seems that women just make better bait for unsuspecting fans. That, or something about the nature of rumors, gossip and celebrity stalking just seems to center on the fairer sex. Women’s studies and media studies professors, get on it!

In any event, search safely. It bears saying that these aren’t necessarily searches for “naughty” photos (remember the infamous Anna Kournikova picture that was really hiding a virus?) — these are just ordinary search engine inquiries for celeb photos or information. Cruise in peace and safety.

Mac geeks (who still need to be concerned about malware, mind you) are abuzz about the release of the newest Apple Operating system, Snow Leopard. It comes out on Friday, and is purported to be a true “refinement” of the OS X code. Everything from browsing online to backing up the system via Time Machine is supposed to be significantly faster. We’ll see when it gets here — though it’s a good sign that the software is shipping sooner rather than later, as it was originally slated for a vague September release.

Also, I have to say, I’m completely digging the actual snow leopard photos Apple is using to hawk the product. It’s very 1980s glam rock, in a strange and wonderful way.