Idolator

A tipster forwarded us an e-mail that he'd fished out of his junk-mail folder this morning, and it made us sad for reasons that will become pretty obvious:

From: *redacted*
Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2007 09:50:00 -0400
Subject: this video rocks

Kelly Clarkson filmed the most amazing new video.
Get it before it comes out. Click on the link to pull it off my server:
[link to page that I stupidly clicked on for "research" purposes and that doesn't have video, but does have a link to an executable file and a really scary-looking script in its source, deleted]

From American Idol to the seediest corners of the Internet (non-porn variety): Oh, how the mighty have fallen. But take heart, Kelly: As someone who's been blacklisted from many a mailserver through no fault of her own (don't ask), just remember, these scumbags are using your name because they know that it inspires goodwill. Maybe you should get one step ahead of their next missive and work some sort of endorsement deal out with Symantec? At the very least, it'd vault you into pinup status among the geeks.