But I know one thing: Too many women die of breast cancer every year.

Now we have to hear so-called health experts tell women to wait until age 50 to get potentially life-saving mammograms? Those same experts are saying that self-examinations may be worthless.

The Boston Herald’s Margery Eagan got it best.

Statistically, it’s true that breast cancer rates skyrocket after age 50, but you don’t need to click this link to know that women under 50 get breast cancer. A 10-year-old girl got breast cancer this year in the US.

While we’re on the topic of numbers, we also know that children are going through puberty faster and faster over recent generations.

I understand that people are worried about false-positives among mammograms. It’s scary. It’s a science that we should be working to perfect, especially with today’s computer technology. But do you know what’s scarier? A dead mom. A dead wife.

Men will never have to experience a mammogram. We hear it’s unpleasant. We hear it can be painful. I understand it’s equal to 1,000 x-rays. I’m not saying every woman should be forced to undergo a test they don’t want, but if you’re a 35-year-old woman, and your mom died of breast cancer, you should be able to get any test you want, whenever you want, to ensure you don’t have to die, too.

It’s outrageous, and you shouldn’t be surprised when men are getting recommendations not to get their own “manly” cancer screenings before a certain age either.

Well, they came for the woman, and I’m not going to wait to let them come for me. Defaultly waiting until age 50 for a mammogram is awful advice that appears to be solely driven by money.

Terral Ainooson, 25, was arrested along with roommate, Ryan Oshima, 23, on November 11, when police found more than a dozen plastic bags of marijuana, and seized cash, a grinder and a scale after searching their Sudan Street apartment.

Each was charged with drug possession with intent to distribute.

Ainooson, elected student body president in fall 2008, is a senior International Management major, according to the school’s student senate Web site. He has a criminal record. Jake Wark, spokesman for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office, said records show Ainooson had faced similar charges at least once before. The records did not indicate other details about the charges except to say they were not brought in Suffolk County, Wark said.

Oshima is a former UMass Boston student, a school spokesman said. The school’s official athletics Web site says he’s from La Jolla, Calif. and played baseball at Umass for three years.

In the raid, police knocked on the apartment door, but when no one responded officers forced their way in. They found the suspects in a bedroom, detained them and read them their Miranda rights, according to a police report. After officers showed them a search warrant, the pair volunteered the locations of the drugs, some of which were hidden in a Cheerios cereal box, and paraphernalia. The report also indicates that Ainooson and Oshima had been under investigation by the drug unit prior to the raid.

Oshima faces up to two years in jail or a fine or both. Ainooson, as a repeat offender, faces at least one year in prison or a fine or up to $10,000, or both.

TBS’s new “The Very Funny Show” will debut November 19 at midnight, featuring stand-up comics talking about life on tour. The show will follow “Lopez Tonight.”

The CW is developing a medical school drama called “HMS.” Word is that Hayden Panettiere will executive produce it.

That’s it today. A worthless Browns/Ravens game is on “Monday Night Football” tonight. Enjoy.

We in Generation Y had it good. We saw the emergence of the sourest candies ever made, while the good old candies you could choke on were still there.

From our sugary amazingnesses to favorite fast food, here’s a list of 10 things that taste like our childhood.

1. Airheads

The originals are still available. (Media credit/Travis Hornung/Flickr)

After taffy, there were Airheads. These babies are flattened sugar with artificial flavoring. Mmmm.

Manufactured by Perfetti Van Melle of Erlanger, Kentucky for the past two decades, the mini ones are a tease, but the big, full size, foil-packaged Airheads really do bring back memories. You could get more than one for a dollar at the concession stand at the little league field. Watermelon is particularly good, but we also remember the sour varieties and the odd “white” Airhead.

Kids today know of Airheads because they’ve done a Spongebob variety and in 2007 and 2008, a new “BerryHot” flavor gets warm in your mouth, and “Chillin” flavors are supposed to have a “cold” feeling. They aren’t the same. The originals are still available, and that’s all that matters.

2. Play-Doh

You know you went for it at least once. (Media credit/WikiMedia)

You don’t have to admit that you might have nibbled on the product of your Fun Factory. It’s OK. You ate the Doh. We know it.

We didn’t have clay growing up. We had Play-Doh. Originally created in the 1940s as a wallpaper cleaner, the makers soon realized kids were playing with it. Play-Doh was born. The product may have had its golden age slightly before our generation, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find a single kid our age (and by kid, we mean mid 20s) that didn’t play with Play-Doh growing up.

And don’t worry; it’s non-toxic.

3. Atomic Fireballs

15 million Fireballs are consumed weekly (Media credit/pgh_shutter/Flickr)

Round, red, hot. Nello Ferrara’s 1954 contribution to the candy world was extremely popular in the 80s and 90s when we were sucking them down, and we might still be found trying to talk to our boss with an Atomic Fireball that leaves our mouth red.

The company claims that 15 million atomic fireballs are consumed by Americans every week.

This is one of those things that, when we’re 50, we can tell our kids that “back in our day, Atomic Fireballs were a nickel. A NICKEL!”

Atomic Fireballs are part of the Jawbreaker family. There are also four flavors of Atomic Sourball.

4. Plastic

Everything we touched was made of plastic. (Media credit/Kat Gloor/Flickr)

Sippy cups. Action figures. Furniture. Buttons. Pens. Soda bottles. Baby dolls.

Almost every freakin thing we touched — and subsequently put in our months — as kids was made of plastic.

We were born in the plastic revolution. Do you know what they used to use before plastic? GLASS!

We didn’t use glass. The only things made of glass back in our day were Gatorade bottles.

One Blast editor said she can’t smell plastic without thinking of her Glo Worm, which she’d always have in her mouth as a child.

Plastic has since been vilified. You don’t even see plastic bags at the supermarket anymore.

5. Fundip and Pixy Stix

Pure, tooth-rotting sugar (Media credit/WikiMedia)

This is candy. Pure, tooth-rotting sugar that will make you bounce off the walls 20 minutes before you pass out from the crash.

Fun Dip has been on the market since 1942, when it was called Lik-M-Aid. We remember the stick is called Lik-A-Stix. It was white and flavorless, and that’s how we liked it. Willy Wonka Candy Company ruined Fun Dip by making the stick flavored in the modern era.

Fun Dip is the same sugar as Pixy Stix. Three flavors come in a package, separated, of course. The stick becomes a yucky mess.

Good times.

6. Candy Cigarettes

I never got the urge to smoke. (Media credit/WikiMedia)

In 1991 the government tried to ban candy cigarettes.

They failed, but the fun chalky pretend cigarettes with a red tip are all but gone now. The bubblegum ones were not very good because the paper tasted, well, like paper. The chalky candy ones were fun to suck on and pretend we were having a good ol’ smoke.

I never had the urge to actually smoke because of candy cigarettes.

According to Wikipedia, candy cigarettes are banned Finland, Norway, Ireland, Turkey and Saudi Arabia .

Still, it was fun to buy a pack whenever the ice cream truck came up the hill when I was a kid.

7. McDonald’s French Fries

Hey Jimmy, what did you win in the Monopoly game? OBESITY! (Media credit/Scorpions and Centaurs/Flickr)

McDonald’s used to cook with trans fats. I think it even used animal fat before our time.

French fries are God-awful for you. Dietitians will tell you that they’re one of the worst things you could possibly consume.

Fuck that.

OK, so I have gone a whole year without eating a single French fry, but McDonald’s French fries are the best French fries in the world, perhaps second only to the Glenwood Drive-In in Hamden, Connecticut.

They’ve tasted the same since we were kids. They’re delicious, and we’re all fat today because of them.

But…memories…

8. Big League Chew

It comes in a pouch! Cool! You mean they make tobacco in a pouch too? Gross! (Media credit/thinkjose/Flickr)

Here’s another attempt by big tobacco to get kids hooked, right?

Horseshit.

The only bad thing about Big League Chew was that the taste didn’t last very long, and you always had to go “dipping” for more.

The original was good, but I always bit down on a big wad of watermelon when I was on the pitcher’s mound in my little league glory days. My teeth ache at the memory of chewing down on a golf ball-sized wad of gum.

9. Sunny Delight

I don’t know what’s in Sunny D. I don’t wanna know what’s in Sunny D. All I know is that it was better than soda, OJ and that purple stuff, and it’s got healthy junk in it.

10. Old-School Doritos

75 cents! Back in my day!

Jesus Christ, is it any wonder we’re all out of shape?

But do you remember old-school Doritos? Before “Nacho Cheesier” and “Collisions” came to be? Back when it was just a cheesy corn chip?

Really, all you needed were Doritos, Fritos, some pretzels and maybe some Smartfood Popcorn, and you’ve got yourself a party!

There were some failed experiments. Remember Doritos 3D?

Plus, Doritos always has great Superbowl commercials.

What did I miss? Share your favorite reminiscent tastes in the comments section!

Blast columnist Lindsay Milgroom and writers Sam Peters and Brooklynne Peters contributed to this report

Whatever the reasons, there are plenty of fine alternatives to the old brandy-in-egg-nog mixture that I can never seem to think about without throwing up a little in my mouth.

I found some cocktails that not only whet the whistle, but they just give you that warm, fuzzy, holiday feeling. You know, the kind that makes you forget you troubles like that speeding ticket from the Statey who didn’t want to hear your lame ass excuses on the Pike, or the hot blonde with the rack that never called you back last week, even though she seemed totally excited when you bought her a drink down at one of the Faneuil Hall bars and gave you her number before her giggling gaggle of girlfriends dragged her to the next bar.

Drink up, my friends.

If you happen to find yourself down in Dot, don’t miss the Ashmont Grill. Not only is the food great and the service fantastic, but the drinks shouldn’t be missed. The Berkshires Manhattan is a vanilla-infused bourbon mixed with apple cider reduction, Markers Mark, and orange bitters. This one is really different because is mixes the flavors and really hits the pallet. And one for you rummies: The Ashmont Apple Toddy is steamed apple cider, brown sugar, and Captain Morgan.

If you really want to try something wacky, and a little scary at first glance, UNI Sashimi Bar in The Eliot Hotel on Comm. Ave. has a $17 346 Below. Its Hammer & Sickle Vodka straight up with liquid nitrogen. By the way, if you drank liquid nitrogen straight, youd die, so dont try to copy this one at your next party.

For a hint of high class, UNI also has the Monarda: St. Remy Cognac, bergamot syrup, whiskey bitters and a splash of Louis Bouillot Cremant be Bourgogne (a pink sparkler).

If you’re a fan of pumpkin pies and all those great holiday desserts and need a cocktail to pair with them, head north to Za Za in Saugus. The Pumpkin Patch Martini combines vanilla vodka, pumpkin spice liquor, cream de cacao, and pumpkin pie filling and finishes it with a dollop of whipped cream and a candy corn to create a great spiced after dinner drink that’s good with dessert. But lets be real, youre really going to Saugus to scoff down some Sonic burgers. If you class it up at Za Za afterward, we wont tell anyone.

Back on the subject of rum for a minute, I always lumped rum in with tequila as a summer booze. Its in those hilarious buckets of booze you can buy at the supermarket, and you put it in daiquiris. And I do enjoy the occasional Captain and Diet. But I never really thought of rum as something to reach for during the cold weather months. Burtons Grill in Fenway found a way to change my mind. The Burtons Hot Buttered Cider combines Captain Morgan, Stoli Gala Apple, Navan Cognac, apple cider, cinnamon, sugar, and butter and makes something that will warm your stomach. Its $9 and available through December 31. Heres how you can make it yourself:

For one drink, you need:

75 oz Captain Morgan
.25 oz Navan Cognac
.5 oz Stoli Gala Apple
1 oz Monin Cinnamon Simple Syrup
6 oz Hot Apple cider
1 100 scoop of whipped butter (yes, actual butter)
Cinnamon sugar rimmer

In an Irish coffee mug, rim with cinnamon sugar. Combine all ingredients except butter in mug. Stir to mix. Garnish with a scoop of butter.

John M. Guilfoil runs BlastMagazine.com and is a freelance news reporter in Boston. He can be reached at guilfoil.j@blastmagazine.com.

There are some problems with this process, however. Obviously, deep frying a turkey in oil isn’t very healthy. There are some size issues. You need a huge pot to cook for an entire family. Most of all is the risk of fire. If you throw a frozen turkey into hot oil, it will explode. If you drunkenly tip over the boiling oil, you can run into a host of problems with grease fires and personal injury.

I’ve had firefighters all over New England tell me that they practically expect turkey fires every year. One fire captain in a city in southeastern Massachusetts said he has two hot spots where some idiots light up a bird every year.

That’s where The Big Easy comes in. Char-Broil’s propane-powered infrared cylinder allows you to “fry” a turkey, and a variety of other meats, without the health and hazard risks of cooking in oil.

It operates very much on the same principals as a gas grill, specifically those more modern infrared gas grills. Instead of boiling oil, the cylinder has holes that allow for the conduction of heat even throughout the device. This results in a thoroughly cooked turkey that’s not burned on the outside.

Now, Char-Broil did not overcome the size issue. You can’t toss a 30-pound Thanksgiving turkey in it, but it’s a great solution for a few turkey breasts. So on Thanksgiving, when you’re still making the big, huge roasted turkey and other fixings, you can throw some extra meat in the Big Easy. It’s also a great barbecue tool for making turkey, chicken, ribs, brisket, and more. There is another version of The Big Easy that can accommodate a turkey up to 25-pounds.

Another advantage — albeit one I didn’t realize right away — is that The Big Easy has a side-out tray that collects drippings you can use for gravy. You can’t do this when you’re frying a turkey in oil, of course. The problem is, I didn’t notice the tray right away. If you don’t clean and empty it out every time you cook, you’ll be left with a gross, rancid, insect-infested mess.

That’s a basic maintenance thing, but one complaint I did have with The Big Easy was that the legs aren’t very sturdy. They are more like sheet metal, and I would have liked something a little thicker and weighty. The rotary ignition system wasn’t very impressive either. I actually had to resort to match-lighting the cooker.

The idea when cooking is to leave the fryer open, but there’s a mesh lid that you can throw on for 10-20 minutes at the end of the cooking cycle to crisp it up a bit. See, the way The Big Easy cooks meat is that it generates heat all around and all through the device.The wall of the cooker radiates infrared heat that penetrates the food as it rises out the top before the stale air has a chance to dry out the food. It’s like cooking in a really hot wind tunnel.

Shortcomings aside, at $149 for the standard version and $169 for the 25-pound variant, (available at Costco) The Big Easy is a great toy. It’s sort of the opposite of a smoker. Instead of low and slow, it’s hot and fast, but it doesn’t dry out your food the way a hot oven would.

This week the team of flirty, dramatic lost wanderers finds themselves on a jungle planet with weird food, and suddenly people start getting sick. The race is on to figure out what’s making everyone sick and how to fix it before time runs out.

It’s an episode! Get it? Well, almost. Because it’s another multi-part episode.

But it’s progress. We’ve well established that they’re stranded on a ship in outer space with no chance of getting home. That doesn’t mean they can’t have a little off-world fun, does it?

There’s drama, jungle, disease, rain, but oh no wait, it’s all just a flashback from an alternate reality that they now need to work to prevent. Perhaps even two alternate realities.

Finally, it almost feels like we’re watching Stargate again.

Character development: We learn about these people. We learn their human stories; where they come from; what their burdens are. We learn what makes them tick, and it makes is relate to the characters. How many people gasped when they learned *spoiler* that Eli’s mom’s mystery sickness is that she was a nurse who got HIV from a junkie who stabbed her in a hospital.

These are the kinds of things that add value to the show. The soldier and the scientist working together, helping each other.

In the episode, a team from the Destiny arrives on a jungle world and finds one of their floating recording devices already on the planet with a full recording file. They return immediately and see that the video is actually of them. The team on the tape arrives, comes down with a horrible disease, and they can’t risk going home. But at night, horrible lizard-like creatives emerge and attack, laying waste to the team. Lt. Scott gets bit and goes into a coma. He wakes up to find he’s the only one alive. The alien snake’s venom cured the disease. An unstable wormhole meant that when Scott tried to return to Destiny, it sent him back in time, and that’s how the “real” team found the recording device.

Back to the present, the disease isn’t from the planet, it’s from the water the team brought back two episodes ago. Now the team has to go back to the awful snake planet to capture one of them and extract its venom to cure everyone else.

Things don’t go well, but that’s all the time we have for today. Tune in next week for the dramatic conclusion.

I don’t like all of these multi-part episodes, but it’s progress. It’s already late in the season, but I can sense that we’re getting closer to “good” here in SGU.

As I’ve said before, if we were at this point a month ago, things would be a lot cheerier in the SGU world, especially among fans of SG-1 and Atlantis. If the setup wasn’t so awful leading up to this, I don’t think I’d have said a negative word about the show so far.

“While storage costs have dropped naturally in the past few years, we’ve also been working hard to improve our infrastructure to reduce your costs even further,” Google said in an e-mail to users. “On Tuesday, November 10, we increased the size of each of our tiers to make storage even more affordable and accessible. For the same $20.00 per year, you’ll now get 80 GB, 8 times as much storage as before.”

Your plan will be automatically upgraded and your new quota will automatically show up in your account in the next 24 hours, Google said.

“We hope you’ll like the extra space,” Google added.

“Companies are looking for ways to break free from the business limitations imposed by a networking paradigm that has been dominated by a single vendor,” said Dave Donatelli, executive vice president and general manager for enterprise servers and networking at HP. “By acquiring 3Com, we are accelerating the execution of our converged infrastructure strategy and bringing disruptive change to the networking industry.”

Buying 3Com heavily increases HP’s network product line overnight and aims to increase HP’s position in China, where demand for networking is growing rapidly.

Levasseur was released from federal prison in 2004 after serving 18 years for his involvement in United Freedom Front. The group was linked to shootouts with police, bank robberies, and a series of bombings. He was invited to be part of a panel Thursday night speaking about terrorism. The news has sparked outrage from law enforcement and political leaders and very little defense from freedom of speech advocates.

As is with any controversial, or even outwardly unpopular event, police have to be present to maintain peace. This happens all the time — even black officers have been forced to work security details protecting Ku Klux Klan members marching down city streets across the country.

“The (International Brotherhood of Police Officers, Local 432) union leadership wishes it to be recognized that the Local, on behalf of the Officers who will be forced to work this event for public safety concerns plan to donate all proceeds obtained for working this
paid over-time detail to the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund in the name of Fallen New Jersey State Trooper Philip Joseph Lamonaco,” said Gerald Perkins, a union spokesman.

Little Miss Values, 22, ousted from the Miss USA pageant after coming out against gay marriage, has penned a book called “Still Standing,” which has been a flop so far. Even the well-timed “scandalous” and “malicious” release of a Prejean sex tape that reportedly shows the fallen blonde beauty queen pleasuring herself hasn’t spurred her publicity.

You can’t market Carrie Prejean — not unless you get her, Sarah Palin, Ann Coulter and 9 other women together with bearskin rugs and rifles, and make a calendar.

She claimed that she made the tape for a boyfriend — because she was in a proper male-female relationship and “cared about” the guy the tape was “for.”

Prejean also went on Sean Hannity, because if anyone’s going to defend her, it’s Fox News.

Let’s be clear: This tape is no accident, and the topless photo of Prejean (right) was no accident either.

But there was plenty of backfire. The sex tape ruined Prejean’s lawsuit against Miss USA, and it’s not helping her book sales.

You can’t shine shit. No matter how hard you, uh, rub.

Preliminary sketch of Plymouth Rock Studios front gate, which may never exist

The Boston Globe has reported that mere weeks before groundbreaking, the $550 million in funding for the construction of Hollywood East in Massachusetts has been pulled, leaving the future of Plymouth Rock Studios, the movie industry in Metro Boston, and countless jobs up in question.

A week ago, the Globe started investigating Prosperity International LLC, of Orlando, Fla., finding “its track record was thin, at best.” Today the studio said it was cutting ties with its would-be financier.

In January, we said Plymouth Rock Studios would be a marvel in green technology, being a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified structure with a 21st century earth-friendly setup. The studio, when finished, is supposed to have 14 sound stages and 10 acres of outdoor sets.

Now it’s just a question mark.

Jackie Liebergott, Emerson’s president, in a campus-wide e-mail, reported that Starring died this week.

“He was a bright and talented young man, earning Dean’s list honors every semester,” Liebergott said. “He was a former President and active member of the student A Capella group Noteworthy, lighting up the stage each time he took the lead. He also served as a Student Ambassador in the Office of Admission, providing campus tours for prospective students and their families.”

Liebergott called Starring’s death “an enormous loss” for the college.

Emerson is making staff at the Counseling Center and Center for Spiritual Life available for students tomorrow from 3-4:30 p.m. in Emerson’s Campus Center. A memorial service will be held before the end of the semester.

I can think of a few things off the top of my head that I learned about with my eyes glued to the television and my hand in a box of Cheerios as a child: Counting, counting in Spanish, bottle caps, and a mastery of the ABC’s are a few examples.

But here’s one thing I learned about on Sesame Street that you might not think of right away: death.

When Will Lee, the actor who played Mr. Hooper, died of a heart attack in 1982, instead of covering it up on the show or saying Mr. Hooper moved away or went on vacation, the show decided to tell children the truth: “Mr. Hooper died.” They told Big Bird this in the episode “Farewell, Mr. Hooper,” broadcast on Thanksgiving 1983. Later in the episode, Big Bird wants to give all the cast members drawings that he made of each of them. When Big Bird asks where Mr. Hooper is, they remind him that Mr. Hooper is dead, to which Big Bird replies that he’ll just wait for him to come back, so he can give him the drawing. The adults pause and tell Big Bird that when someone dies, they never come back.

It was real. It was powerful in a way that insulating modern television may never be again. It was one of TV’s most important moments, and it would affect me just as much when I saw it for the first time in the late 80s. (I wasn’t born when it originally aired)

But most of my Sesame Street memories aren’t nearly as sad!

It this doesn’t completely floor you, nothing will: (see more here)

Register a free account with Blast, and leave a comment about your best Sesame Street moment for a chance to win a free DVD.

The inclusion of Richard Dean Anderson in this episode of “Stargate Universe” was a happy anecdote. He’s now a 3-star general.

Totally changed is the senator’s wife, role from a raging alcoholic who’s emotionally out of control to this oddly grounded matron who has to comfort and reassure her daughter. I guess grief is a process.

Oh wait … HEY! A sex scene! Col. Young, (Justin Louis) millions of light years away, used one of the ancient communications stone devices to take over a soldier’s body on Earth to communicate with everyone back home. And he has sex — in that soldier’s body — with his wife. I’ll leave that one out there for you to comment on. We also learned that Young had an affair with Johansen (Alaina Huffman) before any of this all happened. It might has also been the reason she has decided to leave the Stargate/Icarus program shortly before the attack that forced them to evacuate through the Ninth Chevron.

And then, two of the other characters, in two other people’s bodies, get drunk and go clubbing. Elyse Levesque plays a decent drunk. Not great, but decent.

We do learn more about these characters. The senator’s daughter role (Levesque) gets a back story that’s not too surprising. She was a shallow, rich, bitch, whose boyfriend is dating her best friend now. She didn’t have real friends, and she’s beginning to learn that her happy little life wasn’t so great. This is all good stuff. This is character development. There remains much work to do on the three fronts of character development, writing dialog, and acting it out.

The Eli character (David Blue) was also improved. We knew he was an underachieving misfit with a sick mom, but we saw more of his inner monologue. We gets to take over the body of an attractive, fit man and gets to be popular with the ladies for once.

Improvement was made in this episode, but I still can’t help but wonder if this much progress could have been made in three episodes instead of seven. We are also having all of these “good” moments on Earth, instead of on the ship the show is set in.

We learned in previous episodes that the ship, “Destiny” recharges its power by flying through a sun, but each pass doesn’t recharge the batteries to 100 percent. Earth has a master plan to fire the ship’s weapons, to lower the ship’s power, to force the ship to further recharge its batteries entirely by flying through another star, hopefully giving the ship enough power to dial the Stargate back to Earth. We know this fails, because that would essentially end the show. A nice twist is the fact the plan might have worked — or it might have blown up the ship — if Dr. Rush (Robert Carlyle) hadn’t staged the whole thing to fail.

Rush showed me something in this episode. He’s spiteful and arrogant, but we’re finally seeing clearly that his goal is to study the ship and learn more about the universe. The ship might be very well able to get everyone back home, but Rush’s experiment is ongoing.

On a side note, it’s so refreshing to continuously see the talent that Carlo Rota brings to the table every time. The man who played Morris O’Brianon in “24″ added something to “Stargate Universe” in his brief appearance as a member of the International Oversight Committee.

This was the best episode of “Universe” yet, but it came six weeks and seven episodes later. You get the feeling we’re an an impasse here. They’re stranded. Earth tried to intervene/interfere and failed, and now they have to figure things out for themselves. If this were week four, I think people would be more drawn in to the suspense.

Therefore, in good network television form, ABC is doing everything it can to totally screw it up.

According to ABC, 14.3 million people watched Tuesday’s series premiere of “V,” which challenged CBS and the current No. 1 show in America, “NCIS” in the Tuesday night ratings battle. In fact, “V” had the best debut of the 2009-10 fall television season.

It’s all gravy so far.

But ABC has decided only to air four episodes this fall. It will hold the remaining episodes for March — March — until after the NBC Winter Olympics coverage. Also, news came recently that the producers, who made “V” the ratings and popular success it is, are departing the show. “Chuck” executive producer Scott Rosenbaum will join the series as executive producer and showrunner, to pick up production, which was halted for what ABC called a “creative hiatus.”

ABC only filmed the fourth episode of “V” a few weeks ago, and the show will not go back into production — they won’t film the rest of the episodes — until January.

I have no explanation for any of this. Usually if a show debuts with the best ratings of the season you leave it alone and let the magic happen. This move reeks of no uncertain lack of confidence on ABC’s part.

Unless you’re a vegetarian, of course.

The Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker is not your typical smoker. It’s upright, and looks more like a space ship or a time capsule than something that slowly cooks meat. But cook meat it does.

The dual level, 22.5-inch cooking surfaces give you plenty of room for several racks of ribs or just “a lot” of whatever animal you intend to smoke. The lid-mounted thermometer also lets you make sure you stay in the 200-300 degree smoke zone.

We liked the space saving design. When you already have a grill on the patio, you might not have room for a smoker, which is often the same width or wider. The upright design is also functional. Ribs are especially good. Rib meat comes right off the bones and remains flavorful despite what you might think happens when meat cooks for several hours above a fire.

What exactly is smoking? For nearly as long as people have been cooking meat and fish, they have been smoking it. Early on, before refrigeration, smoking meat provided a way to preserve it from spoilage, as absorbing smoke removes water and kills bacteria on the food. In modern culture, the smoky flavor provides a tasty BBQ delicacy. Smoking meat slowly, at low temperature also renders out the fat and breaks down tough connective tissue, making “rougher” cuts of meat easier to eat.

The Smoker Mountain Cooker is easy to use. Dump in your charcoal and choice of wood chips, and light a fire at the bottom. Don’t use lighter fluid. An egg carton or crumbled newspaper will do the job, but chemical fluid will hurt the pure taste of your food. Make sure the water pan is full — try it with apple juice!

Allow the smoker to warm up to about 250 before you add your meat, or you’ll have a difficult time keeping the smoker in the right temperature range. You’re going to leave it going for several hours, so wake up early if you’re having an afternoon cookout.

This is a vocation. For all you gas grill users, you just turn it off and maybe give it a brush-down when you’re done. Not with a smoker. Cleanup is a process. You have to let it cool down, remove the racks and brush them off. It’s actually better to soak them in dish soap in a large cast iron basin if you have one. The water pan will be a caked mess, especially with us throwing juices and beers into it for more flavor. You have to clean that each time you use the smoker. You also have to make sure the fire is out and the ashes are properly disposed of. But as long as you’re willing to put the man hours in, smoking will give you and you guests a delicious meal.

The Smokey Mountain is well-built and will last you as long as you take care of it properly. It’s $499 and is available at a variety of stores where grills and smokers are sold. It’s a great product, and the perfect BBQ companion. The smoked meats and fish are a great compliment to the super-hotness we often achieve with a traditional grill.

More than 30 suspect brothels could be raided by police soon as Gov. Don Carcieri signed legislation Tuesday banning prostitution and making it a misdemeanor.

Rhode Island was, until now, the only state except Nevada where prostitution was not a crime. This began in the Ocean State as a loophole in 1980 when legislators passed legislation aimed at cracking down on people who sold sex in “public,” which was a major problem in Providence’s West End. Judges would later rule that the law actually made prostitution legal in private, and the brothels sprung up all over. The effect was that a law aimed at cracking down on the sex trade actually made it proliferate.

But the part’s over now.

Michael Shanks is an actor, and while it’s easy to get lost in the character he has played on, off and on again for a dozen years, there’s a lot under the surface.

Born in Vancouver and raised in small town British Columbia, Shanks began his acting career playing Charlie Brown in the fourth grade play. He witnessed his first television production in college while taking a beach break from trying out for a play. Ironically, it was “MacGyver” that shanks saw being filmed, not knowing of course that he would one day star beside Richard Dean Anderson in “SG-1.”

He made his television debut in a 1993 episode of “The Commish,” a popular ABC crime drama. He landed a lot of minor roles before getting his big break on “Stargate SG-1″ in 1997, staring in 196 episodes in the series as an adventurous archeologist named Dr. Daniel Jackson. Since the end of “Stargate SG-1″ in 2007, Shanks, 38, has been trying to remake himself as an actor

“Well its a double-edged sword, I will say this,” Shanks said in his interview with Blast. “The things that come down the pipe, career-wise, that are offers to pay the bills are sort of sci-fi related projects.”

But, humbly, Shanks admits that all he can do is keep trying to land roles — hopefully roles that aren’t nerdy archeologists. “You just have to get back in a line as if you’re starting all over again,” he said.

We saw some of this. Shanks left “SG-1″ after season 5 and landed a few small roles, including two episodes of “Andromeda,” where he met his wife. It’s possible we may never have seen Daniel Jackson again if Shanks was offered another starring role (pure speculation). But Daniel’s was a popular role, and Shanks returned to “Stargate,” first as a guest, and then in his everyday role.

After “Stargate,” Shanks got to show some range by playing a pseudo-villain in the popular USA series “Burn Notice.” He played Victor, a rogue secret agent taking revenge on the shadowy intelligence agency that killed his family. He also recently landed a role that could bring him more into the mainstream by appearing in The CW’s “Smallville,” as comic book hero Hawkman. It’s still in the realm of sci-fi/fantasy, but the show has a wider following.

Still though, we can’t forget what Shanks and the “SG-1″ crew did in making the Sci-Fi/SyFy channel what it is today. A new Stargate show, “Stargate Universe” began this year, even as a rumoed “SG-1″ straight-to-DVD movie is on the shelf.

“Stargate Universe” is a much younger, more melodramatic, almost juvenile take on the franchise, and fans are conflicted. Shanks is too, even though he’s slated to appear in at least four episodes this season.

“It is really slick and pretty,” Shanks said. “[But] from what I’ve seen I’m not on board. … I’m not hooked in.”

Shanks said the drama and conflict seems forced. “They’re creating tension, pathos and angst,” he said. “The conflict with the characters seems a bit forced.”

One thing I did not dig deeply into was Shanks’ relationship with Christopher Judge. At the San Diego Comic-Con International in 2008, Judge boasted that he and Shanks started their own production company. We later heard about a production about the archangel Michael. But Shanks said the production company was off. He didn’t discuss his relationship with Judge, and I didn’t press him any further on the matter.

BLAST: So you and Christopher Judge are best buds. You have a production company you’re putting together? What’s happening with you guys?

MICHAEL SHANKS: Yeah. Let’s just say the production company’s not happening anymore, and I’d rather not go down that road and talk about Christopher Judge at this particular junction.

Shanks lives in Vancouver with his wife, the beautiful British-Filipina-Canadian actress Lexa Doig (Jason X), whom he got to work with when she played a doctor in 11 episodes at the end of “SG-1’s” running. She is also known for her sci-fi/fantasy work. The couple has two children, and Shanks has an 11-year-old Daughter, Tatiana, born in 1998 to then girlfriend Vaitiare Bandera, who played Daniel Jackson’s wife, Sha’re on “SG-1.” Shanks also said he’s been known to enjoy a good game of Hockey — like any true Canadian.

Editor’s note: After readers called out Blast — and called us liars — for not including the audio of the Christopher Judge portion of the Michael Shanks interview, we are posting it in the interest in full disclosure. We wouldn’t lie about or improperly quote an actor who agreed to give an interview to Blast.

The superstore will also offer a $137 Wii fitness bundle with Wii Fit Plus, a balance board, The Biggest Loser game, a Biggest Loser cookbook and a one-month membership tot he Biggest Loser Online Club.

Other deals this week include $22 Blu-ray 2-packs and a $319 Vizio 26-inch 1080p LCD HDVT, regularly $389.99.

The collection includes three oak-aged beers that were brewed and aged here in Boston. These join the Samuel Adams Triple Bock and very limited Utopia collection of aged beers. The collection is available at the brewery on Germania Street in Boston as well as select retail locations in Massachusetts, Hew Hampshire, Maine and Denver at $9.99 for a 750ml bottle.

The new beers are called New World Tripel, a cherry flavored American Kriek and Stony Brook Red,

“(The beers) are a result of years of experimentation by the brewers at the Samuel Adams Boston Brewery,” the company said in a statement. “The trio of brews have been aged in Eastern European oak barrels, originally used to age brandy in Italy, imparting a subtle sweet, toasty note to each beer. The barrels also allow a small amount of oxygen to slowly seep in to the brew, smoothing out the flavors in the beer.”

“For years, we’ve been playing with barrels at the brewery, aging small batches of beer in our Barrel Room. Before now, these beers have only been available at beer festivals or to a few lucky visitors to our Boston Brewery,” said Jim Koch, Brewer and Founder. “Our Boston Brewery is where every Samuel Adams style of beer is dreamed up and nurtured. It has been our hub of innovation since I started brewing here in 1988; I like to think of it as the ultimate brewer’s workshop.”

For an optimum drinking experience, the brewers at Samuel Adams recommend serving each brew in a traditional Tulip-style beer glass.

Samuel Adams New World Tripel: Pale gold in color, this ale is big, flavorful and complex. A special Belgian yeast strain adds tropical fruit and spice notes to the crisp dry ale, while Saaz hops add a subtle herbal note. (~10% ABV)

Samuel Adams American Kriek: The intense black cherry character in this beer comes from Balaton cherries, which were discovered in Hungary and are now grown in Michigan. These special cherries are prized for their depth of flavor. The tartness from the cherries is balanced by a rich, malty character with toasted oak notes added from the barrel aging. (~7% ABV)

Samuel Adams Stony Brook Red: This unique brew defies traditional beer style definition. The rich, malty brew combines notes of tart fruit from the yeast with a toasty oak character from the barrel aging. The long dry finish is almost wine-like. This is a beer that is satisfying on its own and also pairs well with many foods such as braised or roasted meats, beef stews and strong salty cheeses. (~9% ABV)

The Wireless Fender Precision Bass is one of the only (Beatles Rock Band not included) video game guitars that specifically caters to the oft-ignored bassists out there. The most obvious feature will grab you right away in the split strum bar. This allows you to have a certain degree of realism in doing two-fingered bass strumming.

The elongated neck and fret buttons make for comfortable game playing. The guitar is 84 percent to scale, but it actually feels like you’re holding a bass when you hold this guitar’s shape in your arms and start to pick away at your favorite songs.

The two fingered mode is interesting, but I’m still a “thumb strummer” in Rock Band and Guitar Hero. It takes some getting used to. But the bass is well put together.

It’s a Rock Band 2 product, licensed by Harmonix/MTV Games on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 for $89.99.

“General Hospital” is on Wednesdays at 3 p.m. on ABC, but that’s not what we’re talking about.

I’ve been holding back so far in my “Stargate Universe” episode reviews. I’m a fan. I keep hoping they’re going to bust out with “the big one,” and everyone is going to be happy.

We noticed later on in the “Stargate SG-1″ and “Atlantis” runnings that the powers that be would put together a fantastic opening plot, fraught with unimaginable danger and peril, only to hastily wrap it up when they ran out of time. We saw this when SG-1 “fought” Ares. How about “Red Alert?” That’s what’s happening so far in “Universe,” only it’s happening at the beginning of the series. And it’s happening on two fronts. The makers are building up this fantastical plot in every episode, complete with certain death. Only each episode spends 40 minutes building up a 5 minute plot. And each episode is building up to what we assume is going to be something, but we’re deeply into the season without any hint of the endgame.

In this episode, “Water,” Lt. Smith (Brian J. Young) nearly dies on an ice planet only to not die. This is maybe the third time this has happened to him.

Oh and an alien bug that may or may not be benevolent was flushed out of the ship via the Stargate. I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of that.

And that’s it. That’s all that happened on this week’s episode of “Stargate Universe.” It was 43 minutes of “oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, what are we gonna do?” and no substance. We know little more about the characters, and, frankly, I am starting to care less and less about each one to the point where I’d like to see someone killed off just to make things interesting. Do the producers forget what happened when Daniel Jackson died/ascended to a higher plane of existence on “SG-1?” People went nuts. People created “Save Daniel” websites. People were truly in love with these characters. To a slightly smaller extent, the same applied to the now-abandoned characters on “Atlantis.”

“Universe?” No one gives a shit about these people. Even Ben Browder has a proper introduction to “SG-1″ that made us care about him. And he’s a better actor than anyone on this new show. Even Robert Carlyle is beginning to let down (though, to his credit, it’s mostly the writing that’s making him look bad).

The producers are acting like they have a three-season order in place already from SyFy. All seven episodes have been garbage so far. They have done nothing to build a community feeling for the viewers. In the past two shows — and on any good sci-fi show — the audience is naturally brought in somehow. They feel included. In “Universe” we feel like the outsiders. We’re the nerdy kids watching the high school football game. There are aspects of a good sci-fi series that make people go apeshit and dress up in full-on cosplay costumes — that they make themselves, spending sometimes thousands of dollars on — to attend conventions.

What you never saw, was someone dressing up as their favorite Gilmore Girl. It’s a different fanbase, people.

Sadly, “Universe” fails both as a sci-fi show and a teenage melodrama, because the elements that attract sci-fi fans religiously aren’t there and the writing just sucks.

So we’ll see what happens next week.

Shanks will play Hawkman in two episodes, “Society” and “Legends” which he told Blast are due to air in early 2010, possibly January.

The Canadian actor is working on a few other projects, but it wasn’t all good news. Shanks said that the next — and currently untitled — “Stargate SG-1″ movie is “not coming any time soon,” as the DVD market is down and financial issues aren’t making things easy for MGM to green light another Stargate film.

Make sure you read Blast in November. Did we mention we’re doing a Stargate-themed giveaway? Make sure you register an account to be eligible.

The DB-90 mixes traditional metronome functions, including 30 kinds of beat patterns and a 30-250 tempo with features like its “Rhythm Coach” exercises to keep you matching the beat.

The unit features a MIDI input and 1/4-inch headphone and input jacks with amplifier simulating, meaning you can plug your guitar into the Dr. Beat directly, and it will act as a monitor for you. There’s no MIDI output though, so you won’t be sending any data back to your computer/workstation/etc.

The DB-90’s “tap” feature lets you choose your own tempo without having to dial in to a pre-programed setting. After all, it’s your music.

The unit’s default power supply is a 9-volt battery, but we’d recommend buying the Boss PSA DC power adapter to save on batteries.

It’s a big device, but it has all the practice and tuning features you could imagine. It’s a perfect solution for any musician.

All three episodes are getting decent ratings. “Community” averages about 5.7 million viewers. “Mercy” has 7.8, and “Parks” has 4.8 million weekly viewers.

“Parks and Recreation” has gotten markedly better as the season has gone on. We’re glad its staying.

What do you think of the three shows? What do you think of Jay Leno?

Between Universe and the recent news about Jason Momoa, you’d think we’d have covered it all by now, right?

Wrong.

“Stargate Atlantis” alumnus David Hewlett, who’s appearing in the forthcoming straight-to-video movies that will wrap up the “Atlantis” story, was recently cast in an indie film called “The Whistleblower,” GateWorld reported.

The movie films in Romania and is about the true story of a Nebraskan police officer who outs the United Nations for covering up sex trafficking.

Hewlett plays an American U.N. peacekeeper who’s suspected of being involved in the elicit sex trade. It’s a far ways away from his nerdy scientist character in Stargate.

“The Whistleblower” also stars Rachel Weisz, Vanessa Redgrave, David Strathairn and Monica Bellucci, so it’s the real deal.

GateWorld also said that MGM gave Hewlett a green light on a script he’s working on. No details about that just yet.

The deal, reached with D.A.W. Inc, a subsidiary of Florida-based Nyer Medical Group,

Shares of the penny Nyer stock were up some 200 percent in after hours trading.

Eaton has stores in Dorchester, Brockton, Danvers, Peabody, Salem, Sherborn, Framingham, Southborough, Gloucester, Wellesley, Lynn, Westwood, Weston, Marblehead, Woburn and Newton.

Walgreens promised to keep on most of the Eaton employees.

“Today is a very special day for our Boston market,” said Dave White, Walgreens market vice president for Boston, in a statement yesterday. “Not only are we keeping most of the pharmacies open, but we also intend for eligible employees at all 12 locations to join our team.”

White said Eaton’s long-time customers will see the same familiar faces and level of service with the expanded Walgreens umbrella of products and services.

“We look forward to continuing Eaton’s 100-plus year tradition of quality pharmacy service in communities around the Boston area,” White said.

“I am confident that the best choice for our customers and employees is Walgreens,” said Mark Dumouchel, President of D.A.W and Nyer Medical Group

The acquisition is subject to certain terms and conditions, and is expected to close within the next 90 days, Walgreens said.

Walgreens is the nation’s largest drugstore chain, operating some 7,000 stories in all 50 states, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The company did $63 billion in sales in fiscal year 2009.

And for people who have been loyal to Stargate and Sci-Fi Channel and now SyFy, this isn’t our Stargate either.

What’s left is for us to decide if that’s a bad thing or not.

Through the first four episodes? Yeah. It’s a bad thing.

Now we get to the fifth episode of the series. Once again, the crew is facing imminent demise.

Only 15 people will fit aboard a shuttle that can leave the “Destiny” for another planet. The melodrama unfolds but becomes difficult — actually impossible — to believe when half of the main cast of the show is not picked in a lottery to decide those 15 shuttle-mates.

Oh my god, MacGyver, how can you possibly get out of this one??

Of course, they do. Everyone lives to die another day.

The ship was on a collision course with a sun. What happens? Instead of crashing into the sun and dying, the ship’s tiny remaining shield power protects it while the ship flies directly into the sun, which recharges the ship’s power. All is well.

Yay.

This whole experience — after more than a month of episodes — unites this crew of misfits. Now they’re all friends. Or are they? Another cliff hanger at the end of Episode 5: “Light.”

This month has taught us definitively that “Stargate Universe” is absolutely not “Stargate SG-1.” In the second episode of SG-1, the crew was already out visiting new planets and encountering new civilizations. SG-1 and Atlantis were shows about societies and groups of people. Universe is a show about a few people. The main problem so far is that I don’t give a damn about these people. There’s no depth to them, except maybe Dr. Rush (Robert Carlyle) who is easy to single out as the bad guy or just a pure Machiavellian.

But there’s too much build up and anticipation and not enough performance. Every episode of “Stargate Universe” is prom night with chevrons.

Thinking outside the box here, maybe they should have brought back Ben Browder for this one? Or Joe Flanigan? There’s a lot of inexperience on this show. It’s already written like The CW’s version of Stargate

I’m not saying that we need a new episodic adventure every week. SGU is obviously tied into this main story for survival far from Earth. I get it. All I’m saying is we don’t need an hour to realize that the crew isn’t going to die for the fifth time. Let’s explore a bit. Let’s have some adventures.

The show has two elements that can be used to make a few interspersed episodic adventures work: When the ship stops in a solar system, there’s a ticking clock until it will jump back into “faster than light speed.” The crew can disembark on an adventure. You can leave the ticking clock at the bottom of the screen and let then get into all sorts of mischief, trying to make sure they can get back in time.

You also have a love triangle emerging with Chloe (Elyse Levesque) and the muscular hero Matthew Scott and the lovable nerdy genius Eli. The Stargate overlords skirted (totally ignored) the love triangle in “Stargate Atlantis,” but now you can use it. There are more ways to make drama than “death at every possible turn.”

The show is still getting better ratings than “Dollhouse” though.

The Joss Whedon series will come back in December with back-to-back episodes.

But when the show returns in December, it will remain in its deadly Friday time slow when no one is home and the sci-fi fans who are watching TV seem to be gravitating toward Stargate Universe.

The sweeps period runs October 30 to November 26. A repeat of the two-hour “House” season premiere will air on Oct. 30, and “House” and “Bones” reruns will fill Fridays until December.

Despite all the popularity we’ve heard about the show and its quality and diehard base of fans, this could be the beginning of the end.

It’s too bad. FOX really should put this show on earlier in the week. We even heard that this week’s episode was one of the best yet. Maybe a little time apart will make fans appreciate the show more. Then again, maybe FOX will just cancel the show after this season.

What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments section!

We talked to Marty Cassidy, the general manager of the northeast district for Microsoft, about what makes Windows 7 tick. Here’s what we got:

BLAST: For people that downgraded or stayed with Windows XP, what will be the biggest differences between XP and 7 for users?

MICROSOFT: For current XP users, there are several reasons to upgrade to Windows 7, including enhancements to security, networking and search.

• Security: while Microsoft prides itself on software security measures, the security levels have increased from XP to Vista to Windows 7 making it the most secure operating system on the market today.
• Networking: previously networking all devices took a few extra steps that were challenging for some: now with Windows 7, connecting to a network can be done with a simple click of the mouse.
• Search: with the ability to search across various networks, Windows 7 takes the search for files to the next step. Search functions can also utilize Internet Explorer 8 to provide assistance to those users looking for computer help.

BLAST: What about Windows gaming on 7?

MICROSOFT: Games Explorer is the center for gaming on Windows 7, providing information about games, such as game play statistics, ratings and requirements. In addition, you can find new games or more information about online providers right from Games Explorer. Also, with the Game Update feature within Games Explorer, you can request to be notified whenever there are updates for your games. Parental Controls features also allow specification for which PC games your children can play.

If you’re a gamer, you know how graphics, sound and interaction capabilities are becoming richer. You probably also know that the hardware limitations of 32-bit PCs can limit the gaming experience. As more people opt for 64-bit PCs, new games will be able to take advantage of more robust and powerful processing. Because Windows 7 fully supports 64-bit PCs, you’ll be ready when they arrive.

As part of the newest DirectX Graphics Technology Platform, Direct3D 11 helps game developers create high performance games with richer, more realistic graphics. With a DirectX 11 compatible graphics card, you’ll be playing games with higher frame rates, more organic, realistic looking characters, smarter artificial intelligence, and more natural-looking effects. A large subset of the Direct3D 11 feature set is also available on existing DirectX 10-compatible graphics cards.

All games built to perform on Windows XP will remain available on XP mode.

BLAST: What are the top differences between Windows Vista and Windows 7?

MICROSOFT: Windows 7 builds upon innovative features from Windows Vista and feedback from our customers. The greatest difference users will notice with Windows 7 is that it works the way people want with less time needed for boot-up sequences and shut down. Some of the top differences include:

• Better and faster performance: start-up times and boot-up sequences have been decreased as users interact with a faster and more efficient operating system
• Increased integration beyond the operating system: Windows 7 has upgraded the pop-up message when connecting a device, as more drivers will be supported and more device-specific options including links to manufacturer’s website which will allow you to see additional related software that supports the device
• Improved taskbar: Windows 7 will improve on the many advancements of Windows Vista by allowing for personalization of icons to display on the taskbar
• Less storage requirement: storage requirement for the operating system has been nearly reduced by half
• Multi-touch capability: users can interact directly with the PC through finger keystrokes
• Enhanced media center: features include Internet TV with greater telecasting capabilities

BLAST: What are the brand new features in 7?

MICROSOFT: Microsoft continues to further innovation and produce technologies that people want to use and that will help manage their busy home and business lives. Many of the latest features in Windows 7 are designed to decrease search times while increasing access across multiple devices. Some of the highlights include:

• Desktop: introducing improved taskbar previews, bigger icons and creative ways to personalize
• HomeGroup: takes the headache out of home networking, so it’s easier to share files and printers
• Jump lists: speedy access to your favorite pictures, songs, websites, and documents
• Snap: a quick (and fun) new way to resize and compare windows on your desktop
• Windows Live Essentials: must-have software for your PC — free. Get Mail, Photo Gallery, and other favorites
• Windows Search: at last, searching your PC is as simple as searching
• Performance improvements: it’s designed to sleep and resume quicker, be less memory hungry, and spot USB devices faster
• Full 64-bit support: Windows 7 makes the most of powerful 64-bit PCs, the new desktop standard
• Power management: new power-saving features are designed to help laptops run longer on battery
• Easier wireless networking: Windows 7 gets you online in fewer clicks
• Windows Media Center: watch, record, and pause live TV (additional hardware required)
• Windows Touch: pair Windows 7 with a touch-sensitive PC and you won’t always need a keyboard or mouse

BLAST: What new programs/apps are there in Windows 7?

MICROSOFT: Those top applications that worked on previous operating systems will continue to operate on Windows 7 as new apps are being continuously developed. Many of the latest programs are designed to connect multiple units, creating greater collaboration amongst devices.

• PC interaction – Windows Touch and improved handwriting recognition provide new and more direct ways of interacting with your PC
• Navigation: the customizable taskbar presents previews in a larger, clearer format. You can get to documents, applications and tasks faster with jump lists
• Home collaboration: creating a home group has easier set-up, easier file and media sharing across multiple PCs, along with one step printer sharing, simple security control
• HomeGroup: connecting multiple devices and sharing music, photos, documents and more
• Direct Access: this feature enables IT managers to provide mobile users with reliable and security-enhanced access to corporate network resources when they are on the Internet, without having to initiate a VPN connection. It also allows servicing and updating of remote PCs, even when they are on the road. This helps ensure that all mobile PCs are always up to date, and Windows Powershell means IT pros can automate many standard tasks to help reduce helpdesk costs, minimize user disruption and ease PC management. Direct Access is delivered by Windows 7 with Windows Server 2008 R2
• BranchCache: delivered jointly by Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, this feature enables IT pros to decrease the time branch office users spend waiting to download files from remote servers by caching the previously accessed content locally in a branch’s network
• Libraries: helps you find files faster. Gives users a single view of content across multiple sources

The Windows 7 upgrade edition costs $119 for the Home Premium version and $219 for the Ultimate edition. We highly recommend it.

There will be some spoilers in the podcast. Click at your own risk.

Now that the movie has been shown to fans, we can finally sit down and talk about it.

I saw “Boondock Saints II” last week. I liked it.

I didn’t like it in the way that I’m a news editor and occasional film critic. I didn’t love it in the way that I’m an artist and I can appreciate a classic piece of film.

Let’s face it, there’s two kinds of people in the world: The ones that love “The Boondock Saints” and the ones who hate “The Boondock Saints.”

And I love “The Boondock Saints.”

Shit, I put it on the cover. But I’m not a damn fanboy. I’m not a fanboy about anything. In fact, the more I like something, the harder I tend to be on the people in charge. You can ask the people at Sony when PlayStation 3 first came out, and you can ask Boondock writer/director Troy Duffy, because I changed the pace on Monday and asked him some pointed questions.

What you’re going to hear in the podcast on the top of this article is my session on one of a series of roundtable interviews that Duffy and actors Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus, and Billy Connolly put on at The Black Rose bar in downtown Boston. We had a good time and we laughed throughout most of the 20-minute session, but I was on a mission to bring home some data for this piece of our month-long coverage on the sequel, “All Saints Day.” But, besides that, the podcast is mostly hilariousness and gay jokes.

“It was just like riding a bicycle,” Duffy said about his return to directing.

“He sucked equally on this one as he did in the first one,” Flanery added after a pause, laughing.

But return it is. Duffy made Boondock in 1999 and hasn’t made a film since. He was a young director coming out to Hollywood, and he made some mistakes — and I’m probably being nice here. But he still managed to make a good movie amidst it all.

“They talk about Troy as a new director, but from day one it looks as if he was doing it his whole life,” Connolly said.

Just as people either love or hate Boondock, they either love or hate Duffy. (The Documentary “Overnight” really hurt him too)

The people in the original movie seem to be loyalists. Nearly everybody — including someone you don’t expect (it’s in the podcast) — is back for the sequel.

“Everything just happened,” Connolly said. “Everybody seemed to be there for the love of the piece, not just to be in a movie or earn some money.”

It showed. When you listen to the podcast and check out our other interviews, you’ll hear how good of a time they all had making both movies.

Boondock is an organic cult success, and the cast and crew know it.

“Half of Boondock was one guy sitting another guy down going ‘you’re watching this movie,’” Duffy said.

Will there be a third movie?

“Lets just ride this one into the shore and see what happens,” Duffy said. “I got some ideas.”

It’s also up to the studio and the fans. If the sequel makes money in theaters, I say bet on a trilogy.

At the end, I asked Duffy what we could expect from him going forward.

“During that 10-year period, I have written a bunch of scripts,” he said, “and I intend to knock them down like dominoes one by one. They’re in ascending budgets, all different stories. One is a period piece, a buddy comedy, a black comedy, one is about serial killers, one is called “The Peregrines” which would take me an hour to describe what the’s about, one is about a historical figure, which will take a lot of money to do that last one.”

The four guys also toured Boston College and Emerson College before premiering the movie for fans on Monday night. Here’s a vid from their day:

“Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day” is in theaters October 30.

Without giving away too much, we can say that good ole George gets the crap embarrassed out of him by the brothers in the flick.

We saw the movie, but it doesn’t officially realize until October 30, so take some time to get to know Rubin.

BLAST: So Bob, tell us a little about yourself. I see a mix of film, tv, writing and comedy in your background.

BOB RUBIN: Everyone knows that as a baby, I was abandoned in the woods and raised at the end of a stick by a pack of wild corndogs. After years of
battling condiment addiction, I pulled myself together, started stand up and in only 26 years I made it to an obscure, cult hit status.

That’s 26 years of maximun R&B (rambles and babbles). The rest of the story is at Rubetime.com.

BLAST: What is your role in “Boondock Saints II?”

BR: I play Gorgeous George, a pivitol character in the storyline of “BDSll,” and another awsomely memorable character created by Troy Duffy.

BLAST: Tell us about “Gorgeous George” — what went into that character?

BR: To prepare for the role, I spent a week watching “The Sound of Music” over and over. When that didn’t work, I conjured up the spirit of Otto Preminger who told me to fatten up on Chubby Chug Bacon Beer.

BLAST: How did you get involved in Boondock Saints II?

BR: I was walking down the midway at a carnival when Troy hit me in the head with a sledge hammer on his backswing during a try at the
strength skill game, ring the bell. I was in a coma for a week. When I came to I was okay, except I lost all my 4’s, which screwed up a lot of my phone numbers and some uncashed checks I had. Anyhow, Troy felt so bad he put me in his movie.

BLAST: Any plans to come to Boston?

BR: Oh hell yes. I love Boston. Great town and it’s been way too long since I’ve been there. Don’t know when, but I’ll see ya there soon.

Enjoy the movie, it kicks ass.

Catch Bob Rubin in “The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day” in theaters October 30.

How much does size matter?

One of the best parts about a netbook is also one of its drawbacks.

They’re small.

The keyboards are undersized. The displays are tiny. But the battery life is huge, and that’s why netbooks are the hottest thing going right now.

The Lenovo S12 attempts to bridge the gap by tossing up a 12.1-inch screen and slightly larger keyboard than the usual netbook. But it is still a netbook with out the bells, whistles and optical drives of traditional computers. This model doesn’t yet have the much rumored and hotly anticipated Nvidia Ion chipset, which will let us run 1080p video and modern PC games on a low power netbook. Therefore, we’re still dealing with a regular old netbook that’s a little bigger.

That’s not a bad thing, mind you. The S12 gets more than five hours of battery life during normal use. You can squeeze out more juice if you’re really careful. The glossy screen is surprising light on the eyes. It’s back-lit running at 1280×800, which is much higher than other netbooks we’ve encountered out there.

The S12 has three USB 2.0 ports, an ethernet port, a 4-in-1 card reader, a 1.3-megapixel Webcam, 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi, an ExpressCard slot and a standard six-cell battery, which is very, very necessary. Some earlier models came with the three-cell battery. Don’t bother.

The interface is comfortable, and the touchpad is smooth and easy to navigate with. The keyboard is really comfortable to type on, but Lenovo switched the FN and CTRL keys on the left side of the keyboard. It’s a huge pain, because when you think you’re hitting CTRL-C, you’re actually hitting FN-C and not copying that text you wanted.

The 160GB hard drive and 1GB of RAM are both sufficient for the needs of a netbook user. You can even sneak a few video files on there.

The Intel ATOM N270 processor is also sufficient, especially because the S12 runs Windows XP.

Lenovo also throws in a hard drive backup utility that operates independent of the operating system and a facial recognition security utility that uses the on-board webcam.

If you’re looking for a slightly larger than normal netbook that’s comfortable, with decent battery life, look no further. At $449, it’s pricier than what you might find at the store, but the computer is stable, fairly speedy and still cheaper than a “real” laptop.

We get it. They’re in space. It’s dark. It’s a big freaking void.

But I’m so sick of the “Stargate Universe” crew facing imminent death at every foreseeable turn.

Can we start watching the show now? Please?

We’re three weeks and four episodes in, and they’re already recording the “Dear Home, If we die out there…” messages. They didn’t get to that until the end of the first season of “Atlantis.” Although we knew they would go there, because Brad Wright and company stopped writing new show ideas sometime around 2001.

I don’t mean to be bitter. I’m still glad that some semblance of Stargate is back on the air, even if it is just a semblance.

This week’s episode, “Darkness” felt too similar to the first three episodes. Maybe frustration is a good thing? I admit that I’m really looking forward to whatever enemy or actual plot will start to develop.

There’s also just — I never thought I’d actually say this — there’s too much sexual tension. It seems like any 10 characters are just going to drop down and bang at any given moment. Stargate Orgy, anyone?

We do have a genuine McKay/Zelenka between Rush and Volker.

Nothing else happened in this episode. They were dying before “Darkness,” and they’re still dying. They found some new planets, but now they might crash into the sun. They’re out of power. Etc.

“Darkness” could have been a 10 minute intro to a real episode.

Kinda waiting on one of those…

The move comes as single-serve beer sales reached $3.2 billion in the industry.

“Our consumer research indicates these consumers see Corona as a reward. Our 24-ounce cans offer a new trade-up option for drinkers looking for a premium beer experience,” said Jim Sabia, executive vice president of marketing for Crown.

The company is already rolling out the Corona Extra 24-oz can in 26 markets, including Massachusetts. Corona Light will follow in a few weeks.

Between friends’ houses and arcades, I played everything growing up, but what I had at my house was different. I owned an NES, but a Genesis instead of SNES. I owned a Dreamcast and a PlayStation but an Xbox instead of PlayStation 2. Now I focus on PlayStation 3 instead of 360, but occasionally play Wii.

Though I admit I mostly play Wii for Virtual Console lately. And I recently bought the retro video game player on Think Geek.

And all along, I always loved PC games. It was a victory to figure out the perfect Autoexec.bat and Config.sys file so that I could get most of the games to run on my old 486SX PC that ran Windows 3.1 – it came with 4MB of RAM, but we upgraded it to a whopping 8MB and added a CD-ROM drive.

One thing I did miss out on: I didn’t play the Final Fantasy series growing up.

There have been some amazing games made lately, but nothing has ever sucked me into a virtual world like some of the games I played when I was young. Even with the realistic sounds and graphics of today’s games, it was the nuances of childhood games that stuck.

Here is my list of the 10 games I played the most.

10. The “Strike” franchise (Genesis)

Jungle Strike, Urban Strike and Desert Strike. Three buttons, three weapons. You move, shoot, reload and hope for an armor crate eventually.

The games are the purest example of simplicity. There’s some story mixed in, but really these are arcade games. They’re fun, challenging, addictive, and satisfying.

9. Contra (Genesis)

Up up, down down, left right, left right, B-A-B-A, Start. That got you 30 lives, instead of the impossible three that you started with.

Though, I beat the game on 4 lives on the Think Geek retro player recently. It’s like riding a bike. Just get that first “Spread” weapon and never lose it.

Contra is a shooting-based platformer with sequels that range from impossibly difficult to absurdly bad. But the original stands as one of the best games ever made, and it was one of the first multiplayer action games that felt rewarding enough to repeat.

Because everyone wants to relive that ride home in a helicopter.

8. Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)

Do I really need to explain much here? The platformer genre never got any better after this. The Mario Bros. were in their golden age here.

Mushroom houses, whistles, hammer brothers, sand, water, fire and floating gunships combine to send you on a trip you’ll not soon forget.

This was also a big game to hit with Game Genie codes, especially in — I think it was — World 4 with all the sky levels.

7. Shining Force II (Genesis)

Shining Force will make the list twice. Remember, this is a list of games I dedicated the most time to. Shining Force II was a lot harder than the original Shining Force. It wasn’t as intuitive, and though I played the original a lot more often, it was the sequel that eluded me for a long time, especially after the Sega Channel dropped the game from its list.

For the longest time, I couldn’t get past a certain point where I had to interact with a hollow oak tree to obtain an ancient caravan that would let me progress further in the game. It was a shock when I finally figured it out.

6. Fighters Anthology (PC/DOS)

The entire PC combat flight simulation genre came to an apex here. Jane’s and Electronic Arts had success with both Navy Fighters and Advanced Tactical Fighter. So when they combined the games into one title and added several more campaigns, the result was a three-inch thick box with an (unnecessary) novel-sized manual and two CD-ROMs.

The game was sick. You could spend days flying around Vietnam, Russia, Ukraine, China and even Cuba. You career spanned some 50 years, from F-4’s in Nam to F-14s in a 1998 Russian invasion of Ukraine to F-22’s and X-31’s in Egypt in the early 21st century.

The game also had a rich following from third parties who developed an assortment of modifications, including new plans, weapons, buildings and even nukes.

5. Shining Force (Genesis)

This game, too, disappeared from Sega Channel. It disappeared before I could beat it. Years later, I would trade in some then worthless Dreamcast games for the Shining Force cartridge.

It was actually emotional to beat this game. The strategy, the sacrifice. The game told a story and forced the imagination into overdrive.

4. Doom and Doom 2(PC/DOS)

I still play these next four games whenever I can. Doom started it all for me. It was the first game I ever installed from a CD-ROM.

I played the shareware first episode of Doom for months. It was only nine levels (I forget if the bonus level was in the shareware), but there was something about shooting imps and shotgun-toting former human sergeants that’s still addicting.

We didn’t get The Ultimate Doom, which included the three original Doom episodes and a fourth called “Thy Flesh Consumed,” until years after we bought Doom 2.

Enter Doom 2. Now there’s 32 levels.

The levels were better, the enemies were more plentiful and there were two new weapons. I’d brag — I have gone through the entire game without cheats on Nightmare. I probably can’t do it anymore.

The only way we ever improved on Doom 2 was by playing Doom 2 for Windows 95 over our home network, without lag.

Be thankful kids, Doom’s deathmatch paved a blood-stained road that leads right to your Slayer matches in Halo 3.

3. Phantasy Star IV

There’s a healthy mix of action and RPG in this mix of games, but nothing (except maybe the next title) can possibly match the depth I found in Phantasy Star IV.

Not only was the game a graphical wonder with depth of character development and attack technique, but it was a wicked long game to beat. The game goes on forever, and you can’t just skip through it. You have to fight every battle and gain every character level to even have a chance at taking on the final boss.

Phantasy Star IV is also in this sort of cyberpunk post-modern fantasy world with remnants of ancient, advanced technology despite the primitive, agrarian lifestyle of the characters. That makes more sense if you played Phantasy Star I-III, but the fourth installment was the best.

It was such a perfectly made game. It was stylized but not over the top. It had dialog you could understand. It had character development. I dare you not to shed a tear when Alys dies.

2. Shadowrun (Genesis)

Karma is something you earn.

I still wish there was a 16-bit sequel to Shadowrun. I didn’t like the popular SNES Shadowrun RPG. It was the totally different Genesis game that owned me.

It’s all about depth. Character development, conversations and interactions, weapons, magic, guns, computers, dragons, elves, trolls and evil mega corporations in 21st century Seattle result in one of my favorite games and #2 on my most played list. You could even ignore the plot and become a mercenary or freelance computer hacker.

This was Shadowrun. There was as much reading as there was shooting. Don’t even talk to me about the newer Xbox 360/PC game that happens to be called Shadowrun. It’s a disgrace. It’s pitiful. It’s sacrilegious.

1. Tie Fighter Collector’s Edition (PC/DOS)

The hair on the back of my neck stood up and a fight or flight response triggered the first time Admiral Harkov betrayed me to die in a Rebel minefield while flying Tie Interceptor Alpha 1.

I was doomed. The Victory Class Star Destroyer Protector was firing on me and a Rebel cruiser dropped out of hyperspace to back up the traitors. I, a loyal Imperial naval aviator, was singled out for a creative extermination.

Then the cavalry came. The Modified Frigate Osprey, carrying shielded Tie Interceptors from Theta group arrived to pick me up from the clutches of certain death.

I was born after the original Star Wars trilogy and way before Episodes I-III. I didn’t read the books growing up. It was this game, which still ranks as one of the best computer games ever released, that gave me my Star Wars education and left me rooting for the Empire from then onward.

Tie Fighter Collector’s CD puts you in the cockpit of the Empire and immerses the player in a world of intrigue, open war and piracy. The full voice acting (one of the first games to do it) and sound effects are forever burned into my mind. And when the throngs of dementia take me later in life and I end up spouting off “Die Rebel Scum” and “Peace between the Dimok and Ripoblus!” in my nursing home, you’ll know why.

Measuring just 9.99mm thick and curiously shapen when its open, the Adamo is intriguing. No word on specs, pricing, etc. Stay tuned on this one.

Dr. Evan Dobelle, president of Westfield State College announced today the list of the “Top 25 Best Neighbor Colleges and Universities” at the 15th annual conference of the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities in Philadelphia.

“It’s regrettable that with almost a trillion dollars in bailout or stimulus money that more of these funds are not being invested in projects sponsored by campus-based civic engagement initiatives,” Dobelle said in a statement. “Projects don’t come much more turn-key than those in the higher education-community alliance sphere.”

New England just isn’t on the list, with the exception of the Rhode Island School of Design is Providence. None of the 50+ colleges or universities in Boston made the list.

The list:
1. University of Pennsylvania – Philadelphia, PA
1. University of Southern California – Los Angeles, CA
2. University of Dayton – Dayton, OH
2. University of Pittsburgh – Pittsburgh, PA
5. Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis – Indianapolis, IN
6. Creighton University – Omaha, NE
7. Case Western Reserve University – Cleveland, OH
8. Tulane University – New Orleans, LA
9. Portland State University – Portland, OR
10. Drexel University – Philadelphia, PA
11. Virginia Commonwealth University – Richmond, VA
12. University of Louisville – Louisville, KY
13. University of Rochester – Rochester, NY
14. University of Houston – Houston, TX
14. University of Missouri at Kansas City – Kansas City, MO
14. University of Missouri at St. Louis – St. Louis, MO
17. Emory University – Atlanta, GA
18. University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee – Milwaukee, WI
19. Carnegie Mellon University – Pittsburgh, PA
20. Rhode Island School of Design – Providence, RI
21. Miami-Dade College – Miami
22. St. Louis University – St. Louis, MO
23. Rutgers-Newark, State University of New Jersey – Newark, NJ
24. George Washington University – Washington, DC
25. University of Nebraska-Omaha – Omaha, NE

Criteria for assessment in the survey included length of involvement in the community, dollars invested in local efforts, community service, students in local K-12 schools going on to attend the college/university and recognition of positive community impact from those living in the community.

Blast relies on a big MySQL database for all its stuff. It’s a great technology that let us and millions of others run dynamic websites.

More and more people turning to WordPress and content management platforms on their own domains, through hosting providers that make setting up your SQL database a cinch.

But like any database — or like any pile of data — it gets cluttered, and your hosting provider usually isn’t there to help with these problems.

Just like your computer’s hard drive needs to be defragged every now and then, it’s also a good idea to “optimize” your MySQL tables. Optimizing a messy database can create drastic performance improvements.

Here’s how.

Before you do ANYTHING to your database, make sure you back it up. A good method is to “export” the database to a file on your hard drive. We aren’t responsible if you screw up.

The common MySQL management tool is called phpMyAdmin, and it can usually be accessed by typing the name of your SQL server into your browser and logging in. Once you’re in, click on the database you want to optimize. On the left panel, you’ll see all the database’s tables. Scroll to the bottom and click “check all.”

Then — very carefully — click the dropdown menu and select “Optimize table.” Again, be careful, because “drop” and “empty” are also options in this menu. You don’t want to click those.

Now your server will run an analysis, repair and optimization sequence on your entire database. It can take a few minutes depending on the size of your database.

Enjoy your optimized MySQL database.