Until recently, I never measured freshly ground pepper. If a recipe called for half a teaspoon, I would simply grind the berries over the dish until I thought I had "enough", based on nothing but my nose and how pungent I was feeling that day, because there was no elegant way to measure it by teaspoon from the grinder. But, if you take the time to do some measuring just once, you'll be able to dispense the amount needed in any recipe, no measuring spoon required.

When you start out cooking, measuring everything exactly can be a big concern, which is why beginning cooks may be put off by recipes that list vague amounts such as "a pinch of salt" or "one medium onion". Though "pinch" has been pretty much standardised -- it's agreed upon to be an 1/8th of a teaspoon -- a "medium" onion is a little harder to pin down.

Tape measures are great, but the when you're doing inside measurement, like in a window, you have to awkwardly bend the tape to get your measurement and that bend makes it inaccurate. It turns out that most tape measure cases are a measure themselves.

You probably know the basics of how to use a tape measure, but it has a few built-in "features" you may not realise. Case in point: that little slot on the hook can be used to keep the tape measure in place with a nail, or even draw a perfect circle.

Anyone who's worked in a big organisation will know about KPIs -- key performance indicators. Numbers to measure how the organisation is functioning.

In the big data era, we're told that measuring everything and correlating that data is a crucial goal. However, if you want to improve your business, it pays to be selective about the metrics you emphasise. Here are five myths about metrics to bear in mind when you're measuring any aspect of your technology infrastructure or business performance.