Measured

The 28th General Conference on Weights and Measures is expected to settle the debate over whether we should be so pedantic about our measures of time, putting the future of the "leap second" to a vote.

It can be quite the hassle, trying to measure curved surfaces with either a stiff metal tape measure or a floppy cloth one that won't stay in place. The Tiroler 2.0 offers a clever alternative, and it boasts several improvements over the original.

Chances are you already need a steel ruler for your fixing and making tasks, so why not use one that can do much more than most? That's the idea behind the ten-function Tiruler, which packs a protractor, caliper, bubble level and even a wrench.

Ordinarily, when you're cutting lengths of a material, you measure each piece with a tape measure then mark the cut point with a pencil before sawing. With the new M1 Caliber tool, however, neither of those tasks are necessary.

Plott, a startup based in New Jersey, wants to make renovating your home a simpler process with its smart Cubit tape measure and associated app that allows changes to be visualized before a hammer is raised.