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Learning how to eat with Dal?'s Cutlery Set

Sometimes I get bored eating the same old way. Hold food with fork, cut with knife, scoop soup with spoon. I've been doing it for a while, so I've become pretty adept at it; very rarely, nowadays, do I (unintentionally) end up with food all over myself.

Although chopsticks may offer an occasional diversion from the drudgery of using a knife, fork, or spoon, I can't really claim them to be a true escape; I've been acclimated to the things since I was a kid. I need something new, and perhaps a bit dangerous to enjoy … Read more

Layoffs and executive shuffle at Vudu

Only 16 months ago, Vudu, the maker of a movie-playing set-top box, was generating splashy headlines in publications like The New York Times.

Now the company, which bills itself as a video store in a box, is at the center of speculation about layoffs and executive upheaval.

Last week, CE Pro reported that the company had reduced staff by nearly 20 percent, or about 16 to 18 employees out of 100.

A Vudu representative confirmed via e-mail that the company had reduced staffing but declined to discuss figures. Vudu "had to restructure a bit from each department" the … Read more

PS3 Blu-ray settings: Ask the Editors

I had a question regarding hooking up my PS3 to my Panasonic TH-50PZ800U HDTV. I want to use my PS3 as a Blu-ray player for my TV. Would you be able to tell me the best settings/configuration for watching Blu-ray movies? Thanks. -- Khurshid, via e-mail

Well, Khurshid, it's no secret that the PlayStation 3 is the best Blu-ray player-- it's the reference Blu-ray player we use here at CNET, and we're not the only ones. To get the most out of your PS3 as a Blu-ray player, however, you'll need to get the settings right. What follows are the settings we use for our reference PS3 units here at CNET for testing HDTVs, including your Panasonic. The two menus referenced below can be found under the main Settings menu.

Logitech unveils ergonomic Cordless Desktop Wave Pro

It's the end of the workday, and my hands hurt from typing. I suspect I'm not alone on this one--thus the proliferation of ergonomic keybords and mice. On Tuesday, Logitech announced its latest contribution to the genre, the Cordless Desktop Wave Pro.

Like its predecessor, the Cordless Desktop Wave Pro features both a varied key height to accommodate the different lengths of your fingers and a gently curved layout designed to keep your wrists and arms at a more natural angle. A cushioned palm rest gives your hands a comfortable landing spot between paragraphs.

The desktop set also … Read more

Picture settings and calibration FAQ--Ask the editors

At CNET we publish our recommended dark-room picture settings with every HDTV we review, and it's one of our most popular features. We also host a picture settings forum that you can search for your model, so you can try our settings and see if you like them. We still get lots of questions from readers interested in picture settings, however, so we'll cover a few of the most popular here.

Thanks for the dark-room picture settings, but could you give me settings for my TV in a bright room? No, I can't. We don't publish bright-room picture for a number of reasons. First off, room lighting varies tremendously; think about the difference between having a couple dim lamps turned on versus watching in daylight with a window shining on the screen, for instance. Second, a dark room is the best place to enjoy high-quality images, because the screen's reflective properties and the room's ambient light conditions won't influence the onscreen image. Third, we simply don't have the time to do so in every review. For a quick-and dirty bright-room calibration, take our dark-room picture settings and increase the contrast and/or backlight control until the image looks bright enough, then increase brightness until you see all of the detail in shadowy areas.

Sony commits to 'Tru2way' TV

Sony signed an agreement with the country's six largest cable companies Tuesday to develop a TV that will receive cable services without the need for a set-top box.

The Japanese electronics giant will make an LCD set based on the Tru2way cable platform introduced in January at CES by Comcast. Tru2way allows interactive cable services to be integrated directly into devices.

Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, Charter Communications, Cablevision, and Bright House Networks have all agreed to develop the technology behind Tru2way.

Sony's not the first consumer electronics company to announce a device based on the platform, … Read more

Transfer AutoCorrect settings to a new PC

If you create custom AutoCorrect entries to speed up your typing in Microsoft Word as I described on Monday, you might need to move those entries to another PC someday.

Years ago, Dave Rado wrote a Word macro for backing up and restoring the program's AutoCorrect files. It still works for Word 2007--or at least it did on my PC.

First, make sure macros are enabled. In Word 2003, click Tools > Macro > Security > Security Level, and select either of the bottom two options. In Word 2007, click the Office button, choose Word Options > Trust Center &… Read more

Not another set-top box: Sezmi unveils its 'TV 2.0' service, with sparse detail

We're constantly hearing that seamless integration of television and broadband video is fast approaching, but nobody's gotten it right yet. That hasn't stopped new companies from jumping into the mix.

Enter Sezmi, the latest start-up hoping to capture the market: on Thursday, the venture-backed company unveiled a piece of hardware that it claims will be able to handle broadcast and cable TV, as well as streaming and downloaded Internet video content.

Currently in testing, Sezmi has already inked partnerships with a number of broadcasters, content companies, and broadband service providers. The ambitious company hopes to start putting … Read more

Blockbuster considering set-top box for movie downloads

Trips to the video rental store may be a thing of the past sooner than thought.

Netflix and Blockbuster are already offering DVD rental service by mail. Amazon.com, Microsoft's Xbox Live, and Netflix deliver movies directly to the PC. TiVo, Vudu, and Apple TV--not to mention cable and satellite companies--are doing the same for TV sets. Local independent stores notwithstanding, the only major brick-and-mortar options left for renting discs are Hollywood Video/Movie Gallery, which is close to bankruptcy, and Blockbuster.

But The Hollywood Reporter says Blockbuster may be giving customers more reasons not to visit its stores. … Read more

The re-keying deadbolt that 'learns'

If you're the hopelessly paranoid sort who identifies with Mel Gibson's character in Conspiracy Theory, a New York cabbie who barricades himself at home with a phalanx of deadbolts, you'll love the KwikSet Smartkey. The secret to this formidable piece of security is its "un-bumpable" technology, a "side locking bar" that bypasses the traditional pins-and-tumblers system that just seems too easy to pick if you've watched enough CSI episodes. (Wikipedia has more on this.) If that's not enough peace of mind for you, there's an option to self-program any key … Read more