Before you turn from this story and run, I am talking about spoilers -- but believe it or not, there are no spoilers in this column. So if you're worried about being spoiled, don't. There's nothing here to spoil you.

In fact, what I want to talk about is why spoilers exist online, and what is this whole fascination with spoilers. I bring this up because there are some (like people who produce television shows for instance) who would give a million dollars to stop news organizations -- including Web sites like Airlock Alpha -- to stop posting spoilers.

I'm not sure how you, the reader, would react to that, because Airlock Alpha attracts all kinds of readers, including those who love spoilers, those who hate spoilers, and those who could care one way or the other. It's taken us more than nine years to get the right balance to make everyone happy on spoilers, but we're still not perfect on it. I still get e-mails once in a while about spoilers.

Because SyFy has been a spoiler site almost since its inception (and we're talking all the way back to "Earth: Final Conflict" here), there are many people who think I love spoilers, and have to have them. Guess what ... I don't. I hate spoilers. I hate not being able to watch television, like "Battlestar Galactica," and already knowing what's going to happen.

But I also care about Airlock Alpha, and I care about the readers. And if we suddenly stopped posting spoilers, we would lose a very large segment of our readership. That's not fair to them, and it's not fair to the great members of our staff who volunteer to make this site so wonderful for all of you.

What's funny is that with the type of spoilers I get, and how extensive they are, we could easily be the No. 1 spoilers site on the Internet. Maybe even bigger than Michael Ausiello (OK, maybe not that big). But I pick and choose what we release as spoilers. Why?

I could tell you if the ragtag fleet finds Earth, and if they do, what's there. I can tell you what the year will be. I can tell you the last scene of "Battlestar Galactica." Sharing any of that information -- answering questions that have lingered for years -- would catapult this site into one of the most visited sites out there. And while I do want to keep increasing our traffic, I'm not going to do it at the expense of shows that people work hard on.

I practically idolize Ronald D. Moore and the work that he does on BSG. I loved his work in "Star Trek: The Next Generation." I've loved his work in "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine." I loved what he did for "Carnivale." Hell, I even watched "G vs. E." I knew that "Battlestar Galactica" was going to be great when he came aboard, and we've been practically cheerleading the show since 2002, before a single word had been written in the script.

In fact, this column was originally scheduled to talk about how Moore is up for an Emmy, and how he should win. Instead, I have to talk about how Moore is making it quite clear that he wants to see spoilers go bye-bye. In fact, the official "Battlestar Galactica" message boards -- operated by the show's network, SciFi Channel -- is even considering banning spoilers from their pages after years of poorly-defined rules.

What do spoilers do? Well, when you print them responsibly as we try to do here on Airlock Alpha, you give away bits and pieces of episodes, but not enough to actually "spoil" the show. I mean, for those of you who actually read the spoiler stories (which would be most of you, by the way), how many spoilers have you read on this site, where once you were done reading, you said, "OK, good. Now I don't have to watch it." I'm sure the answer would be "never."

We only spoil certain shows because those are shows that I personally adore, and want to see people watching. We give enough information to whet your appetite, and want to tune in. We don't give away endings or anything like that. And we help create buzz for the show -- which in a long hiatus like we are getting leading into Season 4, is greatly needed for shows.

Next week, I'll be talking about fall programs, and with that, you will hear about how buzz factor can kill or help a program. It's only been in the past few years that the netwoks have realized that buzz now is generated with the help of the Internet (CBS got a direct dose of that when "Jericho" fans sent them 20 tons of nuts). Hate spoilers all you want, but hate it while accepting that they also create buzz, and possible viewers, for your show.

Spoilers aren't going to go away no matter how much anyone tries. Even details of "Star Trek XI" -- which has been one of the best guarded secrets in a long time -- is starting to get out. It's the nature of the beast.

Either you accept it and use your energy as an influential Hollywood producer to encourage responsible spoiler reporting, or take the whole abstinence without condom route, and see how many teenage mothers you end up with.

In any event, good luck at the Emmys Sunday night, Ron. Although we don't see eye-to-eye on this, I still think you're a genius, and I will still be rooting you on Sunday night. And I will cheer when you win an award you deserve.

SyBits

At the same time we are imagining the Internet community without television spoilers, I'm wondering if we should start imagining Airlock Alpha without me.

Ugh, I guess I'm just exhausted. As many of you know, we all volunteer to make Airlock Alpha great, including me. Sure, we get revenue from the ads on the site, but to be honest, by the time we're done paying for taxes, expenses, and everything else, there's very little left.

So I work a full-time job, which is very challenging and demanding of my time. I have a personal life that I neglect far too often. I'm trying to film Vlogs for AfterElton.com (thanks to everyone who saw our premiere episode, by the way), and I try to answer every piece of e-mail I receive, and pop onto different blogs and message boards whenever I can.

If you've visited SyFy for a long time, you know I've publicly contemplated retirement from the site in the past. But I can't remember ever being closer to doing it than the past few days.

Just thinking about all the pilots I have to watch, and all the shows I'll have to watch, and helping to coordinate the news effort here on the site ... it just seems overwhelming. And yeah, I know, this is from the person who a few years ago, complained that there wasn't enough genre television out there, haha.

I don't know. I guess I just need to think about it.

If you want to send me a letter, just drop me an e-mail at mhinman@airlockalpha.com and you might find your words right in this very spot

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Have a great week, and don't be a stranger!

Michael Hinman, a 22-time winner of the British lottery and heir to three Nigerian fortunes, is the founder and site coordinator for Airlock Alpha, writing out of Tampa, Fla. He can be reached at mhinman@airlockalpha.com