iPad

It was a close call, but California voters yesterday defeated Proposition 19, also known as the "Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010," so we're canceling our S.F. holiday plans and staying in New York. Oh well, at least we still have front-row seats to the World Series riots thanks to the newly appointed Riot Badges on FourSquare.

Speaking of things that are harmful to your health, a new report co-authored by former government chief drugs adviser David Nutt suggests that alcohol is more harmful than heroin.

Professor Nutt judged 20 drugs on 16 degrees of harm that include lasting effects on physical and mental health, social harms including crime, and environmental damage, and alcohol is the most prevalent on this chart, topping other substances like ecstasy, LSD, mushrooms, crack, and methylamphetamines.

The results likely have more to do with alcohol being the only legal drug on the list, and cannabis surprisingly ranks fairly high on the list as well, just two under nicotine.

We all know cigarettes are lethal carcinogens, but a new company called Blu Cigs is manufacturing electronic cigarettes aimed at users who want to "smoke" tobacco without the addictive nicotine element.

We're obviously not condoning use of this product, but the tech angle on the device itself is interesting because they use battery-operated atomizers to warm up capsules of flavored liquid that then produce vapor you can inhale, making them technically "legal" to use in non-smoking areas, like on an airplane. Be sure to watch this segment's video to see an actual e-cigarette in action!

After we hit the break (and a small audio hiccup afterward), we have two jaw-dropping video voicemails queued up: the first is from our own Jeff Bakalar, who recorded a video of him and his new wife Stacie at some dreadful resort in who knows where, and the second is a relatively straightforward voicemail from "BMGreatness" that also features a disturbing prop. Check it out, and keep sending your video voicemails to the404(at)cnet.com!

Even in paradise, Jeff is still Jeff. BMGreatness: Please call back and verify the owner of that thingie.

Flash is still banished from Apple's iPhone, but a mobile browser is opening the door--at least partially--to the technology.

After its recent approval by Apple, Skyfire, a mobile Web browser that converts Flash videos to HTML5, hit the App Store today at 2 p.m. PT.

Selling for $2.99, the app has been awaiting Apple's thumbs-up since it was submitted for approval more than two months ago.

Skyfire uses a trick to coax Flash videos to run on the iPhone and iPod Touch. Those devices don't support Flash due to Apple's ban of the Adobe … Read more

High satisfaction rates among iPad owners is leading to more interest in the device, which continues to eat away at demand for Netbooks, according to a new survey from ChangeWave Research.

The survey, which included the views of 3,108 consumers contacted in October about buying plans for PCs, Netbooks, and tablets, showed that 26 percent of consumers would purchase a tablet in the next 90 days.

Of those tablet buyers, 80 percent said they would purchase an iPad. RIM's PlayBook, which is Apple's nearest competitor, came in at 8 percent. The Samsung Galaxy Tab (3 percent), HP … Read more

Apple, after releasing the iOS 4.2 beta Gold Master version of its mobile operating system, is now accepting apps for the App Store that have been tested against iOS 4.2 GM and are ready for public release.

Apple will begin reviewing submissions from developers so that the store will have plenty of iOS 4.2 apps available when the new operating system releases later this month.

The GM version of iOS 4.2 beta also includes a few minor changes that were not in the previous beta release, including a redesigned multitasking bar that adds easy access to … Read more

As a bona fide cheapskate (and author of the eponymous blog), I'm a longtime fan of the Entertainment Book. For about $30 (a little more in some states), it provides substantial discounts for thousands of local stores, attractions, restaurants, movie theaters, and the like.

In my experience, the book pays for itself within a month or two, then offers additional savings (often major savings) throughout the rest of the year. Killer deal.

Just one problem: a lot of coupons go to waste because we don't know where the deals are. We might be out and about, looking for … Read more

Apple has released the final testing version of ira next update to iOS--iOS 4.2 Gold Master--to developers for a final look before public consumption. The update to iOS promises to catch iPad users up to the features that have existed on iPhones and iPod touches running iOS 4 for the last several months.

Highlights of the expected update include Multitasking, Folders, AirPrint, and AirPlay as well as Game Center compatibility, better Mail, enhanced Safari, increased enterprise support, and keyboard and accessibility upgrades.

With the Gold Master of iOS 4.2 now in the hands of developers, a public release … Read more

This week's Halloween-inspired Apple Byte features CNET TV's Brian Tong discussing the latest in Apple news, tips, tricks, and of course rumors. This week, Apple's biggest security flaw has been exposed by simply initiating an emergency call, iOS gets major competition from a forthcoming Sony PSP phone and major dap from Nintendo, and the MacBook Air gets a speed test versus popular MacBook Pro versions.

On an iOS device? View the Apple Byte… Read more

This week we celebrate the launch of Sprint's WiMax service in NYC, then discover a secret art project that involves planting USB ports around the city--what's stored on them? We're kind of afraid to find out.

After some talk about Halloween and high-tech costumes, we turn to the biggest story of the week--the launch of Microsoft's Kinect, with a brief detour into the land of The Walking Dead.

Don't forget: You can download the show's theme song as a free MP3 here for a limited time!

… Read more

Imagine, if you will, that Tetris had a younger brother who was always getting into trouble. On this particular day, he managed to inject himself full of adrenaline, high-five Bejeweled, and ran off to start his own thing. This is Ponk.

The gameplay seems overwhelming at first: glowing orbs dropping with asteroid tails at a fairly steady rate. But once you get the hang of it, Ponk becomes a fascinatingly addictive challenge.

Unlike a lot of touch-screen games, Ponk requires a lot of touch. Players can move those little orbs all over the screen in order to create sets of … Read more