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Minnesota and DC sue Target-owned Shipt delivery service for worker misclassification
The Minnesota and District of Columbia attorneys general are suing Target-owned Shipt delivery service over worker misclassification.
Twitter hides Trump and White House tweets over 'glorification of violence'
Twitter has hidden one of two recent tweets from US President Donald Trump, saying it “violated the Twitter rules about glorifying violence.”
LA and Minnesota are getting 'Call of Duty' esports teams
Activision Blizzard has revealed the next two teams for its upcoming Call of Duty esports League, bringing the total franchises announced so far to seven. The latest squads will represent Los Angeles and Minnesota.
Minnesota cop receives $585,000 after fellow officers spied on DMV data
The city of Minneapolis is learning a hard lesson about the importance of placing checks on government data access. A court has awarded police officer Amy Krekelberg a total of $585,000 after she sued Minneapolis and two fellow officers for allegedly violating state law protecting the disclosure of DMV data. Krekelberg had discovered that people had arbitrarily accessed her DMV records almost 1,000 times over the course of roughly a decade. Dozens of the perpetrators were other police officers, and the behavior was frequently creepy -- some officers looked for her info late at night, while the two targeted in the lawsuit allegedly looked her up after she turned down their romantic offers.
Big Ten Network adds 'League of Legends' to its tournament lineup
The Big Ten Network announced on Thursday that it's adding a less conventional sport to its conference title coverage. Now, in addition to everything from baseball and basketball to football and field hockey, subscribers will be able to see their favorite schools compete against one another in League of Legends. Yeah, the video game.
Banks can bring class-action suit against Target over data hack
Target's legal woes continue to mount over its now-infamous data breach in 2013, which exposed the credit card numbers and personal information for as many as 70 million shoppers. A District Court judge in Minnesota ruled on Wednesday that Target was negligent in its credit card data security and is therefore liable to a class-action suit brought by banks affected by the hack. That $5 million lawsuit seeks to defer the cost of covering fraudulent charges made with the stolen data. Wednesday's decision allows the primary five plaintiffs -- Umpqua Bank, Mutual Bank, Village Bank, CSE Federal Credit Union and First Federal Savings of Lorain -- to represent the rest of the class in its action.
Minnesota plans to roll out 40,000 iPads for students
Apple's deal with the L.A. Unified School District may have fallen through due to a variety of factors, but Minnesota's St. Paul School District remains committed to deploying 40,000 iPads to students as soon as possible. The district will supply Apple's tablets to 37 schools by January 2015, which will conclude the first phase of the rollout. The remaining schools will be targeted for iPads in the following school year, until all 61 locations are equipped. The deal with Apple is worth approximately $5.7 million during the current school year, which will rise to $8 million next year. Families of students will not be charged for use of the tablets, but may incur fees for lost or broken devices, and any students who repeatedly find themselves with a damaged tablet will need to attend an "iPad Academy" class on acceptable tablet use.
The government shouldn't regulate smartphone kill switches
Few things are worse than realizing your smartphone's been stolen. Your personal information is now in the hands of a dishonest soul, who can decide to either erase and sell the device or -- even worse -- do whatever they want with your contacts, photos and texts. If it's happened to you, you're not alone; millions of people have gone through the same nightmarish experience. The technology to deter thieves, known as "kill switches," exists, but it's up to phone makers and carriers to implement it. Most major phone companies have committed to adding kill switches to their products, and some have already begun selling phones with the tech included. A handful of state governments, like California and Minnesota, don't believe this is good enough, so they're passing bills that mandate anti-theft measures in every phone sold in those states beginning next year. This seems like a great idea, but let's take a closer look at what exactly these laws mean and if they make sense.
Minnesota beats California to the punch, signs smartphone kill-switch into law
The Governor of Minnesota just signed a bill that could change the cellphone industry forever: a mandatory kill-switch law. The bill was written as a criminal deterrent: if a stolen phone can be remotely disabled, stealing smartphones may become a less lucrative crime. A study conducted at Creighton University suggests that such a measure could save consumers upwards of $2.5 billion a year, but it could prove expensive for carriers. The law has the potential to gut profits from selling cellphone insurance, sure, but implementing a feature for a single state isn't cost effective -- Minnesota's kill-switch requirement might bring the feature to the entire nation.
LVX System launches visible light communication in the US, finally
Ever wonder what happened to LEDs as a WiFi alternative? Well, wonder no more, because visible light communication is here -- in the municipal offices of St. Cloud Minnesota, at least. Starting tomorrow, LVX System, a Minnesota start-up, is installing the first of a series of LED fixtures that will use flashing lights to connect office workers to the internet, while saving big on the electric bill. The fixtures also function as regular overhead lights, using 36 watts of energy where 100 watts were once necessary. The setup consists of clusters of LEDs that switch on and off thousands of times per second at intervals undetectable to the human eye. The flashes emit binary code data -- off equals zero and on equals one -- that is received by special patented modems. Lights on these modems then transmit data back to the fixtures, and voila, you've got internet. According to LVX, light-powered networks are far less crowded and far more secure than their predecessors. Unfortunately, LVX's current incarnation transmits data at about 3Mbps -- a mere pittance compared to standard WiFi or Ethernet. Then again, 3Mbps is certainly fast enough for a city employee to perform really important tasks like keeping track of their favorite gadget blog, so we'll take it. [Thanks, Andrew]
Wooden DIY quadrocopter gets no respect from Minnesota State Fair
The Parrot AR.Drone may be the hot quadrocopter of the moment, but not everyone has $299 to add one to their scale-sized hangar. We're not sure if it was financial reasons or a simple desire to get creative that drove Greg "Grease" Lehman of St. Paul, Minnesota to build his own, but build it he did, and out of wood. Using plans for a kit called the Roswell Quadrocopter, Greg hewed this from ash, oak, walnut, and paduak via CNC and a Sherline Mini mill. Thanks to its MikroKopter electronics the thing can hover and automatically fly to coordinates via GPS, or you can switch to a first-person view and do it your way. Most importantly you can build it your way using the instructions at the source link, and then enter it into your own local state fair. Greg entered his into the Minnesota State Fair's "airplane flying model, scratch built" class and came in second. Yes, second. Sadly the Fair's results sheet doesn't describe what came in first, but it damn well better have had lasers and some degree of sentience to have beaten this.
Toughbook plummets from helicopter, narrowly misses future Toughbook user
So, check it. You're out and about with mum and dad on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, eager to get whatever's on the grill into your own grille. You're pondering the origin of wildflowers, the middle name of America's 18th president and how humanity functioned prior to the invention of Mighty Putty. You're only ten years old, but your young eyes have lived to see a lot... so much, in fact, that you're semi-seriously considering penning your own novella. Bang. Three inches to your left lies a mildly deformed swivel-screen laptop, and all you can think about is the gush of air that's still rustling your fauxhawk. Turns out, a medical helicopter departing St. Cloud Hospital in Minnesota forgot to bring their Panasonic Toughbook onboard before heading out, and if fate were feeling just a bit more cruel, that shock-mounted hard drive may have left you out for the count. But as it stands, you've got a fairly stupendous show-and-tell to deliver in class this week, and who knows -- maybe that DIMM will work in your Nickelodeon Edition Mini 10.
Google's 1Gbps broadband offer brings out the crazy in municipal officers around the States (video)
You'll be aware by now that Google's cooking up an experimental high speed broadband network, which is currently in the process of collecting applications and nominations from interested communities. Given the limited coverage planned -- anywhere between 50,000 and 500,000 people -- there's understandably a lot of competition to get your small town on Google's radar, and city officials all around the USA have been doing their utmost to grab some publicity for their locale. Duluth mayor Don Ness can be seen above taking a dip in Minnesota's icy Lake Superior (with his unfortunate underling Richard Brown taking a fish to the face), while others have held parades, danced, invented a "Google Fiber" flavor of ice cream, and even swam with sharks for the sake of that precious fiber. Duluth, however, is the only place officially endorsed by a senator, and you can see Al Franken promote the city's virtues on video after the break. [Thanks, b3ast] Update: We've now also got video of the actual dip in the water, slide past the break to see it [Thanks, TheLostSwede].
Police to auction off nitrous-fueled, motorized La-Z-Boy
We've seen plenty of strange motorized chairs in this space, including those controlled by Wii Nunchucks and even brainwaves, but rarely do they become available for sale. The handiwork of Minnesota resident Dennis Anderson, this La-Z-Boy mod features everything the manufacturer left out, including: stereo sound system, nitrous oxide booster, parachute, headlights, a steering wheel, and a sticker that reads: "Hell yeah, it's fast." The vehicle, which will reach speeds of 20 MPH, was seized by the state when the driver crashed into a parked car -- he was on the way home from the bar (of course) and 'fessed up to consuming "eight or nine" beers prior to the incident. Anderson may be roaming the streets with a two-year suspended sentence, but his chariot can be yours! Keep an eye out on eBay, where it's due to appear this week with no reserve price. [Thanks, Scooterde]
Reminder: Come meet WoW Insider at the midnight launch
Today's the day! After years of speculation and months of waiting, Blizzard is finally officially releasing Wrath of the Lich King. More than a few people have grabbed their copies already, but the vast majority of us are heading out to midnight launches all over the country (and indeed, the world) to pick up the game's second expansion.Blizzard has their own launches planned (there's a rumor going around that the NYC event is canceled, but we've confirmed that's not true -- everything is still on as planned), and so do we here at WoW Insider -- in all the places that we're going out to take pictures and grab our own copies, we're inviting you to come along with us and say hi. We've reprinted all the meetups after the break -- I'll be in Chicago, we'll have people at the Blizzard events in Anaheim and Austin, and in North Carolina, California, Maryland, Minnesota and Florida, and our own Jennie Lees is hosting an event in Scotland. Take a look after the break, and if you happen to be in the area, definitely come out and meet us.No matter where you are, good luck getting the game, and have a terrific time. We'll be around tonight with coverage of the event as it happens, interviews with devs on the scene, and of course in-depth coverage of our (and your) first steps into Northrend. Today is the day!
Daktronics HD-X LED scoreboard coming to Twins' Target Field
You know that ridiculously large HD-X LED scoreboard that keeps tabs on which Arizona Diamondback is up to bat? Yeah, one of those things is coming to Target Field in 2010. Said ballpark is slated to open in under two years in downtown Minneapolis, and Daktronics will be installing a 101- x 57-foot high-def scoreboard (the fourth largest in MLB) that can be "operated as a single giant display or be divided into multiple zones." If you'll recall, this isn't the first gigantic HD scoreboard to be ordered up by a Minnesota-based team, but this particular deal also includes a variety of ribbon boards and a sophisticated out-of-town scoreboard in right-center field that measures 109- x 12-feet. So, any Twins fans jazzed to see their club at the new park? Or are you really just jazzed about the new 'boards?[Thanks, Andrew]
Minnesota pays ESA $65k in legal fees
The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) announced today that the state of Minnesota has paid $65,000 – that's $6.50 for every lake – in attorney's fees and expenses to the organization over its unconstitutional game law. The ESA claims it has now been awarded moneys totaling almost $2 million for fees and expenses incurred by defending the industry in other jurisdictions.Bringing out fightin' words, ESA CEO Mike Gallagher said that Minnesota's taxpayers should be "outraged" by having to pay this bill after its elected officials ignored precedent and pursued a political agenda. Gallagher wants politicians to get behind the efforts of the ESRB "rather than continue to pursue unconstitutional legislation."
Comcast adds Family Channel HD / Disney HD in Minneapolis, MN
We know, it's a shocker of epic proportions, but Comcast has expanded two of its three favorite newcomers to yet another city. This time, we're talking Minneapolis, Minnesota, which has just received Family Channel HD and Disney HD. Interestingly, our local tipster didn't seem to notice Science HD, but considering that this area was already gifted with 11 new high-def stations last December, we suppose there's not too much room to complain -- for another month or so.[Thanks, Matt]
Minnesota game law's only recourse is Supreme Court
GamePolitics reports that the 8th Circuit Court has declined an "en banc" review of the Minnesota "fine the buyer" video game law, meaning the only place left to run for the currently unconstitutional law is the Supreme Court of the United States. Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson hasn't said whether she'd go that far, but if she does pursue it and the justices decided to hear arguments, it would be the first time the Supreme Court dealt with a video game law case .With the United States Supreme Court's current makeup, a game law case could go pretty badly for the industry. Justice Antonin Scalia has said if a game law banning the sale of mature-rated games to minors ever made it to the docket he would affirm it, but that's not what the Minnesota law is about. The question before the court would be whether Minnesota would have the right to fine a minor $25 for attempting to buy an M- or AO-rated title.
And we're off: Twin Cities get first DOCSIS 3.0 deployment
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]
