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Step halfway into induction cooking

Jumping into unfamiliar technology can be a little intimidating. Perhaps more so in the kitchen than anywhere else in the house. After all, people don't like it when you mess with their food. Maybe it's a throwback to our caveman days, when our ancestors had to fight for survival, or maybe it is because modern technology doesn't always jibe with our instincts. In any event, at least when faced with an induction stovetop, one doesn't need to jump in with both feet when just one will do.

Inducing a current in ferrous metal cookware, induction cooking … Read more

Clean up well with new Samsung range

There are few things in life as satisfying as a home-cooked meal. However, the personal touch that we so crave has a serious drawback: The clean-up. Dishes may migrate from table to sink to dishwasher at a glacier's pace, but in the end, they do get cleaned. That's the easy part. The stove unfortunately is usually another matter entirely.

The Samsung FER300 Electric Range offers the modern kitchen the convenience necessary to not only streamline the evening meal but also the clean-up afterward. Featuring a four-element ceramic glass cooktop, spills and spots are easily wiped clean. Inside, a … Read more

Car Tech Live 165: Fiat rethinks Chrysler, Maserati, and Ferrari (podcast)

Fiat rejiggers Chrysler, Maserati and Ferrari, the Garminfone mashes up GPS with Android in your car, Subaru's cars get stereo vision, and we drive the supercharged Range Rover Sport.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 165 SHOW NOTES

• Ford puts SYNC Mobile Apps on new Fiesta

• Garmin tries to get it right with Android-based Garminfone

• Lower cost Maserati, higher cost Ferrari on the way

• CNET reviews the 2010 Range Rover Sport Supercharged

• Cars that hold the hill for you

Capable image editor

We've tested a lot of image editors lately, and most have been pretty disappointing, so we weren't expecting much from AKVIS MultiBrush. But we're happy to report that this program exceeded our expectations on a variety of levels.

AKVIS MultiBrush has a sleek user interface that is extremely straightforward and seems perfect for novice users. Five navigational commands run across the top of the window; these allow you to open new images, save, print, and undo and redo actions. A simple toolbox resides on the left side of the window, and hovering your mouse over each tool … Read more

Avanti CK30B-1: Turducken of ranges

The endless customization options available for kitchens assures you that no matter the preference, there is an option available--sometimes you just have to look a little harder for it. Design choices do not have to be all about shiny chrome and stainless steel when it comes to looking for ways to outfit the hearth. Sometimes, it's not a matter of elegance at all; it could be all about convenience. And sometimes that means stuffing as many major appliances into one space as possible.

Combining a sink, a refrigerator, and a stovetop into one unit, the Avanti CK30B-1 Compact Kitchen … Read more

Stylish Dacor range offers more than just good looks

Distinctive appliances in the kitchen lend a stylish appeal to the entire house. However, it is not only the amount of time we spend in and about our kitchens that make them a reflection of the whole home. "You are what you eat," they say, and by extension it could be said that how you prepare your meals shows who you are. (At least when it comes to personal style.)

Distinctive in name as well as in description, Dacor offers a brand-new entry into its lineup. The Dacor Distinctive 30-inch Dual-Fuel Range fits nicely into the Millennia line, … Read more

A range hood that's not a hood

A vent hood has the potential to take over your kitchen with its light-blocking large design. Some vent hoods try to ingratiate themselves with LCD screens and other goodies, but Jenn-Air's latest offering takes a different tack. The new perimetric ventilation systems remove smoke, steam, and cooking odors by pulling air through thin channels located on the perimeter of a glass-finished panel that hangs on the wall like a picture frame.

The high-gloss angled glass panel comes in several finish options to match different kitchen styles. Choose from black with stainless steel trim, white with white trim, or trim … Read more

What's the difference: Dynamic vs. lossy audio compression?

Dynamic range compression and lossy file compression are completely different things. What's the difference?

Dynamic range compression squashes soft-to-loud volume shifts. This form of compression has been used by recording, mixing and mastering engineers for decades.

Other than bona-fide audiophile recordings, most of the music you hear has been dynamically compressed--which isn't necessarily a bad thing, as dynamic range compression adds punch, presence, and impact to music.

It's just that over the past decade or so the trend is to overcompress dynamics, so not only has music lost most of its natural soft-to-loud dynamics, but nuance and subtle detail are missing as well. The loud-all-the-time aesthetic is boring.

Recordings with less compression have lower (quieter) overall volume, so if you go from listening to maximally compressed contemporary recordings to something with less compression you need to turn up the volume to compensate for the difference.

As a consumer of music, you don't have the option of buying uncompressed music. If the engineers squashed the soft-to-loud dynamics out of the new Lady Gaga record there's no way of getting them back. Once sound is compressed, you can't decompress it. If you want to hear music with less compression, buy original pressings of 1960s or 1970s LPs. Yes, some of those will be compressed, but less than contemporary recordings. … Read more