Although we just heard that Comcast's DOCSIS 3.0 rollout was on track for 2009, folks in the Twin Cities region now have exclusive bragging rights for an undisclosed window of time. Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota have become the first markets to have access to an all new "extreme" broadband (or wideband, as it were) connection, which promises 50Mbps down / 5Mbps up. As expected, the carrier isn't being modest about the launch, claiming that users can suck down a 4GB HD movie "in about ten minutes," compared to "more than six hours" on a 1.5Mbps DSL connection. The newfound speed won't come cheap -- for residential users, look to lay down $149.95 per month for the privilege. Even if you aren't springing for the good stuff, current customers in the area will have their existing broadband connections hastened gratis, with 6Mbps / 384Kbps users moving up to 1Mbps uploads and 8Mbps / 768Kbps users seeing 2Mbps uploads. Kudos, Twin Cities -- you just made most of America sick with envy.

[Image courtesy of TheRedWoodMotel]

Not too long ago, we reported on a case brought to the Minnesota Supreme Court wherein a defendant in a DUI case asked (and was allowed) to view the source code of the breathalyzer machine which was used on him. Well, there's a new chapter in this book, it appears, as Minnesota authorities have missed the deadline for handing over the code to defense attorneys, thus dramatically increasing the chances that the defendant will be getting his case dismissed. Apparently, the Minnesota state public safety commissioner would not supply the source code, and the Department of Public Safety offered no explanation for the refusal. The state previously argued that it doesn't have the rights to hand over the data, as it is actually the copyrighted property of CMI -- the company who manufactures the machines. CMI has not been forthcoming with the source code in the past, leading to blunted or thrown out cases, though Court judges say the state must do whatever it takes to procure the software, even if it means suing CMI. A court hearing scheduled for September 19th will likely decide the defendant's fate, though we doubt this is the last we've heard of this case.

We didn't think that this PS3 stuff could get any more ridiculous, what with the theft, chaos and death that has ensued. But the lengths that some people are willing to go to get Sony's next-gen console are pretty insane -- besides braving the elements for days at a time, apparently folks are willing to sacrifice their own offspring for the chance at a PS3. Dave Ryan, a morning radio host at the Twin Cities' KDWB, earlier this week made a joking offer that the station would give a PS3 to anyone who turned their baby over to the station for 24 hours. A dozen people apparently jumped at the opportunity, with one caller offering her one-month-old infant, and another offering more than one child for three days. Callers were apparently very disappointed when they found out that it was just a gag. To his credit, the host tried to alleviate the callers' requests by saying "Listen, you're not the only one who fell for this," though we're not sure why wannabe negligent parents really deserve any reassuring.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

This whole "war on terror" thing sometimes reminds us a bit of that comic "Spy vs. Spy" -- each time we turn around, another company comes out with a way to ratchet espionage tech up a notch. We thought that the Lethal Frisbee UAV was cool, but we just found something that might in fact be a bit sweeter. Meet the "Phantom Sentinel," the latest from VeraTech Aero in Minnesota, which is a boomerang-like device for spying on our crafty foes on the other side. Apparently, as the UAV rotates it becomes nearly invisible in the sky while its cam takes quick snapshots of the scene below, then transmits them back to a soldier on the ground. We're assuming that those crazy goggles the other G.I. is wearing in this photo are able to translate that dizzying number of spinning images to something that a human brain can make sense of.

[Via DefenseTech]