measures

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Beyonce reacts to President Obama's re-election.

- Marijuana now legal for recreational use in Colorado and Washington.

- I'm joining the rest of the world and getting cable TV; which Time Warner package is the best deal, and are there any pro tips out there to get more for my dollar?

- Measure B in California requires L.A. porn stars to wear condoms.

- Don't forget to enter our Halloween Samsung Galaxy S3 Giveaway contest!

Bathroom break video: Horse crashes Huffington Post's election night coverage.

Combining one thing with another is a time-honored kitchen tradition. In fact, it's hard to imagine how any cooking would get done without such an activity. But beyond the food, there lies another realm of alchemy and it can be found on the shelf or in the drawer where all the kitchen gadgets lay in waiting.

Haunting any kitchen worth its salt will be a set of measuring spoons as well as a measuring cup. They may reside in different areas, but that doesn't mean that the utensil drawer and kitchen cupboard haven't been mixing it up. … Read more

Anyone who has ever used a measuring cup knows that they like to lie. Well, maybe not lie so much as distort the truth. That is, unless one lifts it up to eye level, the reading might not be so accurate. Attempts have been made to rectify this issue and include enhancements such as angled measuring cups (Oxo) or measuring cups with a scale built in. Those are all steps in the right direction, but we now have given the measuring cup itself a voice.

The Talking Measuring Cup ($59.95) chimes into the conversation by offering voice-assisted operation. Capable … Read more

With the booming popularity of sound bars, iPod docks, and tiny Bluetooth speakers, it's increasingly obvious that most people aren't interested in buying the best-sounding speakers. Other factors, such as the smallest possible size and maximum feature set are higher priorities than sound quality. I go the other way and put sound at the top of my list, but I'm far from convinced that the most accurate sound is the best sound. Accuracy isn't what it's cracked up to be.

Digital audio formats, for example, always have more accurate frequency response than any analog format, … Read more

Even with its belt full of powerful tools onboard, Smart Tools is, for the most part, simple. The app opens up to a wall of choices, and if you've used any of Smart Tools' apps before, then all of them should look familiar. Smart Tools combines the powers of all of the developer's individual Pro tool sets.

The first set lets you measure length and angle, using a level, ruler, and two protractors (one which uses the screen, and the other your device's camera).

The second offers a Distance tool, which is a bit more complicated, as … Read more

We'll be frank: Quick Conversion is one of the ugliest programs we've seen. It's also fairly light on features. But if you're looking specifically for a program that can convert between both English and metric units of length, it can get the job done.

Quick Conversion's interface consists of a list of units of measurement: inches, feet, yards, fathoms, rods, furlongs, miles, and leagues, as well as millimeters, centimeters, decimeters, meters, decameters, hectometers, and kilometers. A drop-down menu lets you select the unit of measurement that you want to convert from and enter the number … Read more

I wrote a very favorable review of the Velodyne vPulse in-ear headphones a few months ago, but for one reason or another I'm still listening to the vPulse. Not exclusively, I listen to my own headphones and headphones I'm reviewing, of course, but there's something about the vPulse that still draws me in.

Part of the appeal is comfort; it's exceptional in that regard, and most of my vPulse listening time is on the New York subway. At home the vPulse has too much bass, but the quality of the bass is so good I don'… Read more

The reality of cell phone radiation Buried deep in the pages of your cell phone manual is an often-ignored section on Specific Absorption Rate (SAR), which is the measure of the amount of radio frequency (RF) energy (radiation) absorbed by the body when using your handset. Every phone is measured and rated, and in the U.S. and Canada, the maximum allowable SAR for any handset is 1.6 watts per kilogram. For our database of current cell phone SAR ratings, be sure to check out our ongoing chart on Cell phone radiation levels.

What we don't know, though, … Read more

CNET's Steve Guttenberg goes by a couple nicknames like "The Gutman," "The Audiophiliac," and "Sphere," but today we'll hear from the more tender side of our favorite audiophile as he tells us the story of how his life changed on this day back in 1972.

After he accepts our challenge to explain leap year in three sentences or less, he'll tell us why he can't stop laughing when hears the phrase "Mastered for iTunes," and we're both surprised to hear that he has a special thank-you message for Jimmy Iovine, Dr. Dre, and Monster Headphones.… Read more