BOSTON (CBS) – Using frequent flyer miles can be one of the great frustrations before you travel, often because you have to navigate a complicated maze of rules and expiration dates.

Check: More Frequent Flyer Mile Tips

In the past 30 years, travelers have earned millions of free flights using frequent flyer miles.

Over the last decade, all those frequent flier miles cost the airlines a fortune, so many of the them adopted a “use them or lose them” policy.

WBZ-TV’s Paula Ebben reports.

In many cases now, the frequent flier miles are only good for about six months, which is a huge inconvenience for travelers who aren’t paying attention and don’t get a notice from their airline.

George Hobica of airfarewatchdog.com says for most airlines, extending those points is as easy as spending a few points on the airline’s online shopping mall.

“You could buy a tube of toothpaste at drugstore.com, $1.99 and your miles will be extended for another 12 to 18 months,” said Hobica.

You can also earn miles shopping at many of your favorite stores as long, as you access them through the airline malls.

So, if you buy a $2,600 refrigerator, that equates to 5,200 points, and you are almost a quarter of the way to a free ticket with that one purchase.

“People can get a free ticket very, very easily just by buying high-ticket items on the airline malls,” said Hobica.

What’s better than earning a vacation by just buying the things you need?

WASHINGTON (AP) — Home-brewed coffee lovers, take note: More than a million popular coffee makers are being recalled after dozens of reports of the brewers spraying hot liquid, coffee grounds or tea leaves onto people.

CHECK: More Information

The Consumer Product Safety Commission says there have been 140 reports of problems with the Tassimo (TAH’-sih-moh) single-cup brewers dousing people, including 37 cases involving second-degree burns.

In one incident, a 10-year-old girl was hospitalized with second-degree burns to her face and neck.

CPSC says the coffee maker’s “T-disc,” the plastic disc that holds the coffee or tea, can burst while brewing.

About 835,000 coffee makers are on recall in the United States; another 900,000 in Canada.

The agency also announced the recall of 4 million packages of Tassimo espresso T-discs after 21 reports of problems.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

BOSTON (CBS/AP) — Attorney General Martha Coakley says Massachusetts borrowers will receive about $318 million from a $25 billion national settlement with lenders over foreclosure abuses.

Massachusetts was one of the last states to sign on to the settlement.

Under the agreement, five major banks — Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Ally Financial — will reduce loans for nearly 1 million households.

They will also send checks of $2,000 to about 750,000 Americans who were improperly foreclosed upon. The banks will have three years to fulfill the terms of the deal.

All but one of the 50 states agreed to the deal. Oklahoma, the lone holdout, will receive no money.

Coakley filed suit in December against five major U.S. banks after expressing frustration with the pace of negotiations toward a national deal.

She says the settlement announced Thursday will allow the state to continue pursuing legal claims against the banks on issues specific to Massachusetts law, including claims that lenders initiated foreclosures without holding the actual mortgages.

Of the $318 million targeted for the state, Coakley says $224 million will go toward loan modifications and other direct relief to borrowers.

For more information about specific loan modification programs and whether they qualify under terms of the state-federal settlement, contact the appropriate lenders:

• Bank of America: 1-877-488-7814
• Citi: 1-866-272-4749
• Chase: 1-866-372-6901
• GMAC: 1-800-766-4622
• Wells Fargo: 1-800-288-3212

Additional information can be found on the state-federal settlement at the websites below:

• www.mass.gov/ago/
• www.NationalMortgageSettlement.com
• www.HUD.gov
• www.DOJ.gov

(TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

BOSTON (CBS) – It’s one of the worst bills we have to pay: The one to keep our houses warm.

Harriet Laurin researched how much it would cost to heat her home this year and the news wasn’t good. “It was nearly $4.00 a gallon in the summertime, and I said, ‘I don’t think so.’ There’s got to be a better way, so I started looking.

That’s when she found www.neighboroil.com, a new company based in Andover which promises to save homeowners big bucks by earning points. The more points, the cheaper the oil.

WBZ-TV’s Kate Merrill Reports

Harriet’s first reaction wasn’t positive. “Scam. Scam. It’s got to be a scam. It looks too good to be true.”

CEO Paul Harkins says he’s hearing that a lot because people aren’t used to saving money on their heat. “You could buy food, clothes, airline tickets. You could reduce the price all the way down to almost nothing by using coupons and reward, incentives. Home heating oil never had that ability.”

So in the past, the only option to save money was to turn the thermostat down and grab another sweater. With Neighbor Oil the focus is on accumulating those points, and there are a couple of ways to do that.

First, you can get points by getting family and friends to sign up. Harkins says that is the most popular approach. “It’s as simple as ‘I found this site, check it out’.”

You can become one of their ambassadors on social media which is what Harriet did. “I did Facebook. I did list groups because I belong to a few Yahoo groups, mostly related to dogs. And guess what? Dog owners use oil too.”

The American pastime of shopping can also help you save money on your oil. Harkins explained, “The other way to earn points is to shop with our more than 3,000 retail partners. You will see the for X dollars you spend, you earn Neighbor Points. It’s very easy to do.”

Neighor Oil keeps track of your points and calculates your lower price every time your order oil. The savings can add up fast for the average client. “We are saving them 30%-35% over last year’s price,” said Harkins.

Harriet did even better than that. Way better in fact. “$1.70 for the entire delivery, a penny a gallon,” she bragged. That’s right. A penny a gallon.

Harriet prides herself on being a smart shopper and says she still can’t find a catch to the Neighbor Oil approach.

Neighbor Oil is free to use and doesn’t require any contracts. You do, however, have to use the supplier in your area who is part of their network.

CAMBRIDGE (AP) — Move over, coffee and Red Bull.

A Harvard professor thinks the next big thing will be people inhaling their caffeine from a lipstick-sized tube.

Critics say the novel product is not without its risks.

The product, called AeroShot, went on the market late last month in Massachusetts and New York, and is also available in France.

A single unit costs $2.99 at convenience, mom-and-pop, liquor and online stores.

Biomedical engineering professor David Edwards said AeroShot is safe and does not contain common additives, like taurine, used to amplify the caffeine effect in common energy drinks.

Each grey-and-yellow plastic canister contains 100 milligrams of caffeine powder, about the amount in a large cup of coffee, plus B vitamins.

But Democratic U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer of New York wants the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to review AeroShot, saying he fears it will be used as a club drug so that young people can drink until they drop.

Schumer’s national press secretary did not immediately respond to calls for comment.

FDA spokeswoman Siobhan DeLancey declined to comment, saying the agency will respond directly to Schumer on the matter.

Edwards said Schumer’s comments are understandable in the context of developments over the last few years, when students looking for a quick and cheap buzz began consuming caffeine-packed alcoholic drinks they dubbed “blackout in a can” because of their potency.

But he said AeroShot is not targeting anyone under 18 and it safely delivers caffeine into the mouth, just like coffee.

“Even with coffee — if you look at the reaction in Europe to coffee when it first appeared — there was quite a bit of hysteria,” he said. “So anything new, there’s always some knee-jerk reaction that makes us believe ‘Well, maybe it’s not safe.’”

Once a user shoots a puff of calorie-free AeroShot into his or her mouth, the lemon-lime powder begins dissolving almost instantly.

Each single-use container has up to six puffs.

“The act of putting it in your mouth is the act of breathing — so it’s sort of surprising and often people the first time they take the AeroShot, they laugh … that it’s kind of a funny way of putting food in your mouth,” said Edwards, who also came up with a breathable chocolate product a few years back.

Dr. Lisa Ganjhu, a gastroenterologist and internal medicine doctor at New York-based St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital, said people need to be aware of how much caffeine they are ingesting.

“You want those 10 cups of coffee, it will probably take you a couple hours to get through all that coffee with all that volume that you are drinking,” Ganjhu said.

“With these inhale caffeine canisters you can get that in 10 of those little canisters — so you just puff away and you could be getting all of that within the hour.”

Even the product packaging warns people not to consume more than three AeroShots per day.

Northeastern University students who sampled the product recently gave it mixed reviews.

“This tastes really good and I think it rocks,” student Zack Huang said after puffing onto a free sample before rushing to join a group of friends who were walking away from campus.

Still, one student was not happy with the taste, echoing sentiment expressed online by some consumers.

People elsewhere vowed they would never give up their morning coffee.

“I want to brew it, I want to stir it and I want to drink it slowly as I absorb the caffeine,” said longtime coffee fan Mark Alexander.

The makers of AeroShot appear to be aware of that sentiment, declaring that the product isn’t about switching away from coffee, but rather making it easier for people with active lifestyles to get their caffeine fix.

“AeroShot can be used in a variety of settings inconvenient for liquids, such as when you study in the library, board an airplane or get into the car for a long drive,” they say in the section dedicated to frequently asked questions on their website. “It’s easy to take AeroShot with you when you go biking, skiing, curling, or any other activity that consumes energy.”

AeroShot, manufactured in France and the flagship product of Cambridge-based Breathable Foods Inc., is the product of a conversation that Edwards had with celebrity French chef Thierry Marks over lunch in the summer of 2007.

“We were discussing what interesting culinary art experiments we might do together and I had the idea that we might breathe foods since I’ve done a lot of work over the last 10 or 15 years on medical aerosols,” Edwards said.

The first venture Edwards worked on with Harvard students was the breathable chocolate, called Le Whif.

Now he’s preparing to promote a product called Le Whaf, which involves putting food and drinks in futuristic-looking glass bowls and turning them into low-calorie clouds of flavor.

Rodrique Ngowi can be reached at www.twitter.com/ngowi

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

BOSTON (CBS) – Curt Schilling has moved on from the “Old Ballgame” to the video game world.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030′s Rod Fritz reports.

Schilling’s new video game, “Kingdoms of Amalur – Reckoning,” which is a fantasy adventure set in a mythical world, was released at midnight on Tuesday. It’s available for PC, X-BOX 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles.

Schilling’s Rhode Island-based company 38 Studios produced the game.

“We set out a goal to be the No. 1 entertainment company in the world,” said Schilling. “It’s going to take time, we get that. But, when you put really amazing talented together, and you allow them to do what it is they do best, special stuff happens, and that’s really what Reckoning is.”

The former Red Sox pitcher signed copies of the game when it was released at a GameStop in Bellingham.

BOSTON (CBS) – When it comes to shopping, we are increasingly choosing to go online. Now, retailers are trying to lure shoppers back to the mall.

Imagine trying on a new outfit without ever stepping into a dressing room, or interacting with a store associate. If that sounds like the shopping experience of the future, the future isn’t really so far off.

This is the premise of Cisco’s new “Style Me” application. It allows a shopper to quickly visualize a new outfit without putting it on.

WBZ-TV’s Paula Ebben reports

Retailers know consumers like features of online and mobile shopping such as product information and user-generated reviews.

The National Retail Federation in New York recently showed off technology that integrates a lot of those concepts with the in-store experience.

Michelle Tinsley of Intel said these new approaches “really enable the consumer to really drive the experience, and get all the data they would get from, typically, an online shopping experience, but get it at the store.”

Intel developed an in-store kiosk with Macy’s, which gives customers the freedom to explore product features on their own. A sales associate can help make the final sale.

Intel hopes this innovation will respond to discerning consumers who have more options than ever to research a purchase.

Why are brick and mortar retailers doing this? Because they look at the numbers and see the trends. Just this past holiday season, overall shopping was up about 4%, but online shopping far outpaced that rate, surging 15%.

Daniel Butler of the National Retail Federation believes customers will be embrace this technology to improve their experience in stores.

BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts residents are paying two more cents a gallon at the gas pump, the seventh consecutive week of increases.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030′s Fausto Menard spoke with AAA Southern New England’s Mary Maguire:

AAA Southern New England reports Monday that self-serve, regular is up to an average of $3.49 per gallon, 12 cents higher than a month ago.

WBZ-TV’s Jim Armstrong reports

The current price is a penny above the national average and 38 cents more than at the same time last year.

AAA found self-serve, regular as low as $3.39 per gallon and as high as $3.89.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

BOSTON (CBS) – Move over Jersey Shore, here comes “Southie Pride”. TLC has ordered the new series that goes inside the homes of five South Boston women.

The series is currently casting and shot footage in South Boston this weekend as the Patriots suffered through a devastating Super Bowl loss.

Eight episodes have been ordered and the series is scheduled to premiere this fall. The series is being produced by 495 Productions, the same company that produces the Jersey Shore.

“Spend some time with the women of South Boston and you quickly learn that pride runs deep, family comes first, and that their friendships and rivalries are forever,” said SallyAnn Salsano, President of 495 Productions. “And, their accents are wicked awesome.”

According to a press release, Southie Pride will feature, “The loudest, proudest, most in-your-face subculture on the Eastern Seaboard.”

BOSTON (CBS) - They’re the littlest web stars, finding fame and fortune online, and their parents are making big bucks from their tiny tots’viral videos.

But before you try to make your child a star on the web, there are some precautions you’ll want to take.

Nineteen-month-old Micah McArthur has a great laugh and 31-million people from around the world know it, thanks to a home video his father posted for friends and family on YouTube.

WBZ-TV’s Paula Ebben reports

The video went viral and started racking up millions of hits.

“We were just in shock,” says Micah’s father, Marcus McArthur.

Micah is part of a growing breed of little web stars gaining worldwide fame, often before they’re even out of diapers.

“They’re cute, they’re funny and some of them have sort of sound bites that people quote” says Damian Collier, CEO of Viral Spiral, a group that represents parents who find they have a Youtube hit on their hands.

Collier says in addition to fame, there’s also a potential fortune to be made on these videos through brand sponsorship, product placements, websites, books, and TV shows.

Like the father who posted the “David after Dentist” video and reportedly earned more than $150,000 in advertising revenue, merchandise and licensing.

Or the two dancing twins whose video scored them a commercial.

“Anything that is cute or funny I would say is hugely in demand,” Collier says.

But child and teen development specialist Dr. Robyn Silverman cautions parents to think before they upload.

“You never want to demean them, take advantage of them or embarrass them in any way because this is going to live online forever,” Silverman says.

And remember, once a video is uploaded, you can’t control who watches it.

“Sometimes parents will carelessly put geographic markers on their videos, say their full name, say the child’s full name, where the child goes to school,” Silverman says.

“All of those things could put your child at risk.”

As for Micah, he now has the start of a college fund thanks to his Youtube hit. But that’s not what makes his dad smile the most.

“The fact that my son’s laugh could bring that kind of happiness to people around the world… felt really good,” Marcus McArthur says.

Remember, by uploading a video you’re starting your child’s online portfolio.

Experts suggest you ask yourself, in 10 years, will my child be proud of this video or embarrassed by it?

BOSTON (CBS) – It seems no matter how many warnings officials issue, sports fans will fall into the trap of buying bogus tickets for big events. This year’s Super Bowl is just the latest example.

Two best friends from Boston just lost $2,800 in a ticket scam. Matt and David, who don’t want their last names used, answered an ad on Craigslist. They drove to Stamford, Connecticut where they met a guy with a solid back-story.

“He said my dad is a Pats season ticket holder that’s how we got them,” David explains.

WBZ-TV’s Jim Armstrong reports

“I was drilling him with questions,” says Matt. “How’d you get them, where are you and your dad staying?” But the seller had polished answers at the ready, and made the guys believe he and his dad would even be setting next to them in Indy.

They paid $1,400 cash each for two tickets with face values of $800.

“I just kept looking at it all the way home and in the pit of my stomach something didn’t feel right,” according to David. “It just seemed too good to be true.”

He brought the pair to Ace Tickets, where it took three professional brokers to figure out that the guys got scammed.

According to David, the Ace Tickets employees, “said it’s a really good fake, it’s the best fake we’ve seen, but it’s a fake.”

The tickets have holograms and bar codes – even the square scan code on the back, when you run your smartphone over it, brings you to the Super Bowl website.

The guys know they were taking a risk, but they’re still disappointed.

“You would like to think that there are still good, honest people out there,” Matt said.

“It was all ready to go and now, I don’t even know if I want to watch the game,” said David.

BOSTON (CBS) – Paying property taxes is something nobody likes to do. However, if you are a college or a hospital, you do not have to pay a penny.

Boston leaders have been working for years to change that due to tough economic times.

Just in Boston alone, dozens of big name non-profits do not have to write a single check for property taxes. Boston’s new voluntary payment plan was targeted at the largest and wealthiest tax exempt institutions and so far it seems to be working.

WBZ-TV’s Joe Shortsleeve reports

“We have raised almost ten million dollars, we are up 24%. It is good news for the tax payers in the city of Boston,” said the President of the Boston City Council, Steve Murphy.

If Northeastern University had to pay real estate taxes, they would owe about $39 million each year. The university has only paid Boston around $30,000. Under the new play, Northeastern will have to pay about $900,000 every year.

It was recently found out by the I-Team that 18 of the 45 largest nonprofits targeted by the city have not yet sent a check. Under the new city calculations, local colleges and universities that include Emmanuel College, Simmons College and Suffolk University owe more than $300,000.

Councilor Murphy believes these institutions need to start putting their money where their mouth is. He is quoted saying, “Come on, do the right thing. You were there. You were part of this.”

Suffolk University released a statement saying, “We are reviewing the city’s PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) formula to determine our voluntary contribution and have every intention of making an agreed upon level of payment.”

The New England Aquarium and Shriners Hospital are also on the list. And while many of these nonprofits took part in city talks, many now fear if they make a payment, legally it could threaten their tax-exempt status.

BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts gas prices have jumped another nickel in the past week, and have now increased 18 cents in the past month.

AAA Southern New England reports Monday that the average price of self-serve, regular is up to $3.47 per gallon.

That price is five cents above the national average and 37 cents more than at the same time a year ago.

AAA found self-serve, regular gas as low as $3.39 and as high as $3.89 per gallon.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

BOSTON (CBS) – Back in 2001, delicious food a stylish dining room were hard to find in the suburbs, unless you were at Square Cafe in Hingham.

And a decade later, this comfortable bistro continues to turn out some of the best food outside the city, under the watchful eye of Executive Chef Andrea Schnell.

“The food is modern American with global accents. A lot of fresh flavors,” said Schnell.

Watch video:

Square Cafe has Fresh flavors and plenty of Asian influence too, like the crispy hot & sour calamari, Korean spice rubbed flat iron steak, or the amazing seared sea scallops with ponzu emulsion, sautéed asparagus, crispy bacon, and shrimp fried rice.

The menu is broken up into small and large plates, allowing diners to sample and taste a wide variety of dishes.

“Try not to mess with the food too much, I mean there’s beautiful food, you don’t really play with it too much and we just enjoy feeding people and making people happy and that’s what we do,” said Schnell.

For more food and fun, watch the Phantom Gourmet every Saturday and Sunday at 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. on myTV 38.

BOSTON (CBS) – The Pats are getting ready for the Giants in the Super Bowl, while many of you are getting for a Super Bowl Party.

Andrea Woroch, is a consumer and money-saving expert.

WBZ’S Rod Fritz Reports.

Here’s the full interview, with WBZ’S Rod Fritz.

You can hear the WBZ Water Cooler on Saturday at 10:25 AM and 2:25 PM, and Sunday at 10:25 AM, on WBZ NewsRadio 1030.

DALLAS (AP) — It comes as no surprise for experienced travelers, but novices are sometimes shocked to find that the final cost of airline trip can be much higher than the price touted on the airline’s website or advertising.

Recently, Southwest’s website quoted prices starting at $99 to fly from Dallas to Los Angeles. Come Jan. 26, Southwest could have to show a fare of $120.60.

New rules from the U.S. Transportation Department will require that advertised prices include taxes and mandatory fees. Currently, airlines just have to note that other charges apply, and provide a link or footnote to the details.

The new rules will make fares easier to understand. Government and airport charges can add 20 percent or more to the price of an airline ticket.

“It’s truth in advertising, right?” said Angie Toriggino of Austin, who travels frequently in her job training salespeople for a pharmaceutical company. “Some people probably budget a certain amount for their trip and then spend more than they expected.”

WBZ-TV’s Paula Ebben reports

Airlines protest that other industries don’t have to include taxes in advertised prices. And they worry about the effect on ticket sales.

“We’re not raising our fares, but it will look to the consumer like we’ve had a big price increase,” said Robert Kneisley, Southwest’s associate general counsel.

David Berg, the general counsel of Airlines for America, a trade group of the biggest carriers, said the change will depress travel.

“It’s basic economics,” he said. “History tells us (that consumers) will see higher prices and buy less.”

Southwest, Spirit Airlines and Allegiant Air are fighting the government in court, hoping to roll back the rule, but a decision in that case isn’t expected until after the rule takes effect.

Transportation Department officials have been cracking down on airlines that, in their view, failed to make it clear enough that extra taxes and fees would be added to the advertised price.

In 2011, airlines and travel agencies admitted violating price-advertising rules in more than 20 cases and agreed to fines totaling more than $1 million. In the biggest case, Continental, which has since been acquired by United, agreed to a $120,000 fine after it was found to have touted some international flights at $240 less than the final cost by failing to include fuel surcharges in the advertised fare.

Penalties, however, are routinely cut in half if the airline avoids violating the rules for a year. And they pale in comparison to airline profits — about $850 million in just the first nine months of 2011 — and could be seen as a minor cost of doing business. That’s one reason that some consumer advocates wanted the Transportation Department to go even farther than it did in regulating how airlines describe prices.

The new rules will only require disclosure of government levies for things such as security and airport improvements. They won’t include the proliferating airline fees for checking bags, getting an assigned seat and other items. Those must be listed somewhere on an airline’s website, but the Transportation Department this week delayed whether to require more prominent disclosure.

Still, the inclusion of taxes in advertised fares “eliminates a lot of the skulduggery from airline pricing,” said Charlie Leocha of the Consumer Travel Alliance. “We’re moving forward.”

The advertising change is the latest of many passenger-service regulations imposed by the Transportation Department since 2010. The most notable was a limit on how long airlines can hold planes on the ground before giving passengers a chance to return to the terminal.

Just two days before the advertising changes kick in, several other new rules delayed from last year will also take effect, including a ban on airlines raising fares for tickets already sold. Allegiant Air raised the possibility of selling discounted seats that could go higher — even after the customers paid — if oil prices rose.

Another new rule will give customers 24 hours to cancel a reservation without penalty if it’s at least a week before their flight. Some airlines already allow that.

Leslie Araiza of San Antonio, who works for a nursing-home company, thinks free cancelations are a good idea.

“I travel every week for business,” she said, “and there are times when something comes up and I’ll have to change where I’m going.”

___

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

BOSTON (CBS) – Prepaid debit cards are becoming more popular all the time. Recently, they’ve gotten more attention as financial guru Suze Orman came out with a card bearing her name.

These cards can be useful when it comes to managing money, but you do have to pay attention to the rules.

Prepaid debit cards are aimed at those ‘unbanked Americans’ who don’t have a bank account, can’t get one, or just don’t want to deal with a bank. Users upload money on the card and pay transactions on line or in a store, just like a regular debit card.

WBZ-TV’s Paul Ebben reports

Some cards have drawn criticism for fees that can eat into the balance. Greg McBride of www.bankrate.com said “The primary downside of prepaid cards are the fees, and while the fees themselves are very modest, in isolation, it’s the fact they can mount quickly, in the course of just traditional financial transactions.”

That can include fees for opening or loading funds on the card, making ATM withdrawals, or even monthly or yearly fees for just holding the card. This makes it critical to understand the terms of the card before you activate one.

McBride said, “The smaller the print, the more important the words. That’s where you’re really going to find if this is really a fit for you. You really have to be dialed into what the fees are, what’s going to trigger those fees, and what you need to do to avoid them.”

Think ahead about services you need in a card, whether that’s being able to call customer service or receive a paper statement every month without being charged extra.

More people will be paying attention to those details as it looks like a prepaid debit cards are here to stay. They are now the fastest growing method of payment, having grown 35% last year alone.

BOSTON (CBS) – The Phantom Gourmet recently purchased four brands of mozzarella string cheese at a local supermarket.

The snack-sized contenders were Frigo Cheese Heads, Polly-O, Sargento, and Sorrento Stringsters.

Polly-O finished at the bottom of the barrel. This cheese stick was too firm and chewy, reminding Phantom of rubber. Even worse, there was virtually no flavor whatsoever.

Watch video:

A big step up from there is Sorrento Stringsters. With a nice texture and flavor that’s not too tangy and not too salty, this brand had more of what Phantom was looking for. But when it came to stringiness, Sorrento just didn’t peel as well as the other contenders.

The runner-up is Sargento. Firm and flavorful, this snack actually tasted like real cheese. It had a salty earthiness that might not appeal to kids, but should keep adults full until dinner.

At the top of the food chain is Frigo Cheese Heads. The package boasts that this cheese is ‘America’s Favorite’and Phantom has to agree. Softer, tangier, and much creamier than any of the other competitors, this fresh-tasting cheese was a satisfyingly stringy snack.

For more food and fun, watch the Phantom Gourmet every Saturday and Sunday at 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. on myTV 38.

BOSTON (CBS) –Some Massachusetts residents will see only a small rise in health care premiums this year.

State regulators have approved premium hikes averaging 2.3% for what’s called the Small Group Market.  That includes thousands of small businesses and self-employed residents.
They go into effect in April.

Last year, people saw health care premiums rise 9 percent, and there have been double-digit increases in years past.

State officials say the lower increases reflect years of efforts to get costs under control.

NEW YORK (AP) — Can the world live without Wikipedia for a day?

The shutdown of one of the Internet’s most-visited sites is not sitting well with some of its volunteer editors, who say the protest of anti-piracy legislation could threaten the credibility of their work.

“My main concern is that it puts the organization in the role of advocacy, and that’s a slippery slope,” said editor Robert Lawton, a Michigan computer consultant who would prefer that the encyclopedia stick to being a neutral repository of knowledge.

“Before we know it, we’re blacked out because we want to save the whales.”

Wikipedia’s English-language site shut down at midnight Eastern Standard Time Tuesday and the organization said it would stay down for 24 hours.

Instead of encyclopedia articles, visitors to the site saw a stark black-and-white page with the message: ”Imagine a world without free knowledge.”

It carried a link to information about the two congressional bills and details about how to reach lawmakers.

It is the first time the English site has been blacked out.

Wikipedia’s Italian site came down once briefly in protest to an Internet censorship bill put forward by the Berlusconi government. The bill did not advance.

The shutdown adds to a growing body of critics who are speaking out against the legislation.

But some editors are so uneasy with the move that they have blacked out their own user profile pages or resigned their administrative rights on the site to protest.

Some likened the site’s decision to fighting censorship with censorship.

One of the site’s own “five pillars” of conduct says that Wikipedia “is written from a neutral point of view.”

The site strives to “avoid advocacy, and we characterize information and issues rather than debate them.”

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales argues that the site can maintain neutrality in content even as it takes public positions on issues.

“The encyclopedia will always be neutral. The community need not be, not when the encyclopedia is threatened,” he tweeted.

The Wikimedia Foundation, which administers the site, announced the blackout late Monday, after polling its community of volunteer contributors and editors and getting responses from 1,800 of them.

The protest is aimed at the Stop Online Piracy Act in the House and the Protect Intellectual Property Act under consideration in the Senate.

“If passed, this legislation will harm the free and open Internet and bring about new tools for censorship of international websites inside the United States,” the foundation said.

Both bills are designed to crack down on sales of pirated American products overseas, and they have the support of the film and music industry.

Among the opponents are many Internet companies such as Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Twitter, eBay and AOL. They say the bills would hurt the industry and infringe on free-speech rights.

Social news website Reddit.com is shutting down for 12 hours on Wednesday, but most companies are staying up.

Google Inc. said it will display its opposition to the bill on its home page in some fashion.

Dick Costollo, CEO of Twitter, said he opposes the legislation as well, but shutting down the service was out of the question.

“Closing a global business in reaction to single-issue national politics is foolish,” Costollo tweeted.

Since Wikimedia depends on a small army of volunteers who create and update articles, it’s particularly concerned about a lack of exemptions in the bills for sites where users might contribute copyrighted content.

Today, it has no obligation under U.S. law except removing that content if a copyright holder complains.

But under the House version of the bill, it could be shut down unless it polices its own pages.

The plans for the protest were moving forward even though the bill’s prospects appeared to be dimming.

On Saturday, Rep. Darrell Issa, a California Republican, said the bill would not move to the House floor for a vote unless consensus is reached.

However, Lamar Smith, a Texas Republican, said work on the bill would resume next month.

The White House raised concerns over the weekend, pledging to work with Congress to battle piracy and counterfeiting while defending free expression, privacy and innovation in the Internet.

The administration signaled it might use its veto power, if necessary.

That the bill seems unlikely to pass is another reason Lawton opposes the blackout.

“I think there are far more important things for the organization to focus aside from legislation that isn’t likely to pass anyway,” he said. He’s been contributing to Wikipedia for eight years.

Danny Chia, another contributor to the site, said he had mixed feelings about the blackout.

The neutrality applies to the content, but a lot of people interpret it as being about the site as a whole, said the Los Altos, Calif., software engineer.

In an online discussion, others raised the same point about the blackout: Appearances matter, and if the audience sees Wikipedia taking a stand, it might not believe the articles are objective, either.

Wikipedia has seen a small decline in participation, from a peak of 100,000 active editors a year ago to about 90,000 now.

Wikimedia Foundation blames this mainly on outdated editing tools, and believes it can get the number growing again with software upgrades.

AP Technology Writer Mike Liedtke contributed to this report.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

NEWTON (CBS) – The first of 20 meetings over proposed fare hikes and service cuts were held Tuesday night.  Bus and train riders had the chance to air their grievances at meetings in Newton and Worcester.

Officials say they need to raise fares as much as 43 percent to close a projected $161 million budget gap. Another scenario calls for a fare hike of 35 percent, that is accompanied by more extensive service cuts.

Commuters lined up at Newton Town Hall to express their concerns. Todd Glaskin said, “You’re saying to people that you’re not going to be able to wake up tomorrow and go to work.”

WBZ-TV’s Jonathan Elias reports

“We’re trying as best we can in the fiscal circumstances that we have to affect as few people as possible,” says Transportation Secretary Richard Davey.

The T hasn’t increased fares in five and a half years.

“You should prudently have fare increases from time to time,” says Davey. “This will help us at least stave off the significant deficit we face this coming fiscal year.”

Both plans would end commuter rail service on weekends and ferry service in Boston Harbor.

BOSTON (CBS) – Comcast cable customers in the Boston area will see their bills rise again next month.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030’s Carl Stevens reports

This is just ten months after the company introduced sharp increases in many of its fees.

WBZ-TV’s Jon Keller Is At Large

“While we’ve worked hard to hold down price adjustments, the average customer bill will increase by 2.9% in the Greater Boston Region, ” the company said in a statement Tuesday, “because of the impact of higher programming costs and increased operating expenses.”

Mayor Tom Menino told WBZ NewsRadio 1030 Tuesday his office will be speaking to Comcast executives about the increase.

BOSTON (CBS) – Gift cards were the most requested present this past holiday season.

But that doesn’t mean they are always a hit.

Laura Heebner got several gift cards she couldn’t use.

“I probably had 6 or 7 gift cards for a baby store and my kids are now getting older, so I swapped them for something I could use for older children,” she said.

How could she do that?

She went to cardcash.com.

Liz Luke, who is with the website, explained “We buy all the gift cards that nobody really wants, and have no use for, and we turn around and sell them to people who want them.”

When you do a trade, a 3%-20% transaction fee is deducted depending on the popularity of the cards involved. For example, trading a $100 card would result in a $80-$97 credit.

WBZ-TV’s Paula Ebben reports

You can also choose to get money back.

“You can send in a card for 5 cents, or you can send in a card for $2,000- $3.000. It doesn’t make a difference, unlike other sites. We take every single card that you would send us. We don’t have a minimum, we don’t have a maximum,” Luke said.

The amount of money you get back varies based upon the popularity of the cards you sell.

For example a $10 Starbucks card would fetch $8.20 right now.

A more popular $10 card at Target would fetch $9.20.

“Target definitely is one of our hottest sellers. Kohl’s is another one. There’s always a lot of orders for Macy’s, JC Penny’s, a lot of department stores, Nordstrom’s,” Luke added.

After mailing in the cards, the money is sent to you by check, electronic transfer or deposited in a PayPal account.

If you are in the market to buy a gift card, the savings range from 5%-28%.

If you buy a card from them, you have 45 days to use the card.

This allows you to make sure the balance is correct and the card has not expired.

The site offers a money back guarantee if there are any problems.

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire’s largest utility company is warning its customers about a scam that involves being asked to open a new credit card account in order to keep their power on.

Public Service Company of New Hampshire says utility customers in other states have been getting called by scammers pretending to be power company workers. Customers are told that their electricity will be shut off unless they buy a “Green Dot” credit card and make a payment.

PSNH says customers should not provide any financial information and should call customer service if they get such a call. The company notifies customers in writing, not by phone, if they are scheduled to lose their service.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) – Wikipedia will black out the English language version of its website Wednesday to protest anti-piracy legislation under consideration in Congress, the foundation behind the popular community-based online encyclopedia said in a statement Monday night.

The website will go dark for 24 hours in an unprecedented move that brings added muscle to a growing base of critics of the legislation.

Wikipedia is considered one of the Internet’s most popular websites, with millions of visitors daily.

“If passed, this legislation will harm the free and open Internet and bring about new tools for censorship of international websites inside the United States,” the Wikimedia foundation said.

The Stop Online Piracy Act in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Protect Intellectual Property Act under consideration in the Senate are designed to crack down on sales of pirated U.S. products overseas.

Supporters include the film and music industry, which often sees its products sold illegally. They say the legislation is needed to protect intellectual property and jobs.

Critics say the legislation could hurt the technology industry and infringe on free-speech rights. Among their concerns are provisions that would weaken cyber-security for companies and hinder domain access rights.

The most controversial provision is in the House bill, which would have enabled federal authorities to “blacklist” sites that are alleged to distribute pirated content.

That would essentially cut off portions of the Internet to all U.S. users. But congressional leaders appear to be backing off this provision.

Tech companies such as Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Twitter, eBay, AOL and others have spoken out against the legislation and said it threatens the industry’s livelihood.

Several online communities such as Reddit, Boing Boing and others have announced plans to go dark in protest as well.

The Obama administration also raised concerns about the legislation over the weekend and said it will work with Congress on legislation to help battle piracy and counterfeiting while defending free expression, privacy, security and innovation in the Internet.

Wikipedia’s decision to go dark brings the issue into a much brighter spotlight.

A group of Wikipedia users have discussed for more than a month whether it should react to the legislation.

Over the past few days, a group of more than 1,800 volunteers who work on the site and other users considered several forms of online protest, including banner ads and a global blackout of the site, the foundation said.

Ultimately, the group supported the decision to black out the English version of the site.

Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia who first announced the move on his Twitter account Monday, said the bills are a threat to the free, open, and secure web.

“The whole thing is just a poorly designed mess,” Wales said in an email to The Associated Press.

Wikipedia is also requesting that readers contact members of Congress about the bill during the blackout.

“I am personally asking everyone who cares about freedom and openness on the Internet to contact their Senators and Representative,” Wales said.

“One of the things we have learned recently during the Arab spring events is that the Internet is a powerfully effective tool for the public to organize and have their voices heard.”

Wikipedia will shut down access from midnight Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday night until midnight Wednesday.

This is the first time Wikipedia’s English version has gone dark.

Its Italian site came down once briefly in protest to an Internet censorship bill put forward by the Berlusconi government; the bill did not advance.

“Wikipedia is about being open,” said Jay Walsh, spokesman for the Wikimedia foundation.

“We are not about shutting down and protesting. It’s not a muscle that is normally flexed.”

Skidmore reported from Portland, Ore.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.