Merrill,

It sound slike spyware, or malware of some sort trying to "phone home":

First, click on either of the links below and run the free online scans that they provide. PPanda is slower than Housecall but does a good job.):

HOusecall Online Scanner

Panda Online Scanner

Next, download the free spyware removal tools from the links below. Install Spybot and Ad-Aware, update them from withing the user interface, then run them. Delete all spyware that they find.

After that, run CWShredder by double clicking on the downloaded file..

Ad-Aware 6 Spyware Removal Tool

?Spybot Search & Destroy? Spyware Removal Tool

CWShredder Hijack Removal Tool

Hope this helps and let us know how it goes.

Grif