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Since the launch of iOS 4.3, several iPhone users have complained their batteries are draining much faster. I haven't personally noticed a difference, but for those of you who have, you'll happy to know that iOS 4.3.1 unexpectedly launched today. (It was rumored earlier this week that it might launch in two weeks).

Though there aren't many details about the release besides minor security and maintenance updates, it is likely that this early launch for the iOS means that Apple is trying to smooth out the bugs and hopefully take care of battery drain quickly.

Please let us know in the comments if you've experienced issues with iOS 4.3 and whether you noticed a difference in this latest update.

This week's apps include a well-designed barcode scanner and a game that challenges you to race through traffic on a motorcycle.… Read more

STOIK Imagic is a large, feature-packed photo album, organizer, manager, and editor. It's also a retouching tool, a calendar maker, a media cataloger, a video editor, and a drawing tool. In short, it's a full-featured graphics suite with an emphasis on digital photographs. At 80MB, it's a big download, but since it's compressed, it's a fast one, too, and setup is virtually automatic, including scanning your system for images. Anything else? You bet: it's free.

Like all proper graphics apps worth the name, STOIK Imagic's interface is finished in mod dark-gray tones with … Read more

I didn't think I could love a printer. I mean, sure, I thought I might like the Epson WorkForce 840, what with its speedy printing, copying, scanning, and faxing and all.

But then, during my review, I kept discovering surprising and unexpected features. It has a 7.8-inch touch-screen interface? Two paper trays with a combined capacity of 500 sheets? 802.11n Wi-Fi?

Already, that's mighty impressive for a multifunction printer Epson has on sale for $179.99 shipped (after applying coupon code WELCOME9F at checkout). The list price on this model is $299.99.

So, yeah, I … Read more

On the heels of the recent iDVD update, Apple has released a new version of iMovie, which addresses a problem with audio playback being out of sync. In addition, the update addresses a number of undisclosed stability issues. The update is available for all users of iMovie '11 (version 9.0.0 or greater) and requires OS X 10.6.3 or later to install.

The update should be available through Software Update, but can also be downloaded from Apple's iMovie 9.0.2 update page (27.52MB).

In addition to the iMovie update, Apple has released the latest … Read more

Just when you thought it was safe to enter an airplane, along comes some professor to tell you that it may not be quite so.

For it seems that, despite the entrance of body scanners and their piercing gaze on every last element of your junk (reference embedded for those who missed it), these machines might not be foolproof.

According to Fox News, two professors at the University of California, San Francisco--Leon Kaufman and Joseph W. Carlson--have released a learned document that suggests it might be depressingly simple to fool a body scanner.

"It is very likely that a … Read more

This is just nuts.

Wal-Mart has the HP Deskjet 1050 all-in-one printer for $20 shipped (plus sales tax in most states). Yes, the ink costs more than the printer. Yes, it comes without a USB cable. Should you buy one anyway? Yes!

Update: Sold out!

(Interestingly, Wal-Mart offered this same deal as a Black Friday doorbuster, which further reinforces my belief that Black Friday is a lot of hooey.)

As you may recall, it was just last week that I mentioned a Canon Pixma photo printer for $23 (now expired). That was just a printer. The Deskjet 1050 also scans … Read more

There is tension in the air. Well, even before you manage to get into the air.

Stories have abounded concerning new screening procedures and their overly personal nature. Why, just the other day, a woman decided that the only way to maintain her dignity was to go through screening wearing only matching bra and panties. (I have embedded her here.)

And yet, as one might imagine in a land in which the enthusiasm for self-expression and the invention of the Internet merge to create a dynamic cocktail, some of the stories told are simply not true.

So the TSA has … Read more

It seems that America's airports have become, in the words of San Francisco filmmaker John Maringouin, "YouTube City."

Ever since the TSA introduced body scanners into the most detailed parts of our lives, travelers have pulled out their cell phones in order to record incidents that seem to verge on the pointless, if not the slightly degrading.

Following the YouTube video of a little boy being strip searched (which has since been added to with a claim that the TSA might not have been entirely truthful about what happened), here is Dr. Tammy Banovac in her underwear.… Read more

Last week, I had the privilege of telling you about new underwear featuring allegedly TSA scanner-proof radiation shields designed to cover your naughty bits. The privacy-protecting garb is one way to protest the airport body scanners that many people find to be invasive and in violation of Fourth Amendment rights.

We've asked the Transportation Security Administration how the undies will fly in the security line and haven't yet heard back whether the leaf-shaped blockers will single you out for a hands-on search, which could be even worse.

So if you want to let the TSA agent know you're not happy about mandatory virtual strip searches, check out this new line of T-shirts, skivvies, and socks from artist Mike McQuade called 4th Amendment Wear.

It's a series of underwear with either the phrase "Read the 4th Amendment, perverts" or the text of the Fourth Amendment printed in magnetic ink, so it can be read by the people manning the scan machines. I like this passive-aggressive way of letting a stranger know you don't like them seeing you naked. … Read more