As of October 31, 2010, the US Cyber Command has achieved full operational capability. If you're not familiar with what the US Cyber Command is, in a nutshell it is designed to "lead day-to-day defense and protection of DoD information networks; coordinate DoD operations providing support to military missions; direct the operations and defense of specified Department of Defense information networks and; prepare to, and when directed, conduct full spectrum military cyberspace operations." (source Wikipedia) You can read the full press release at Engadget.

Maybe I watch too many bad-for-me movies, but doesn't the title sound like something out of futuristic dystopian movie? I understand the need for such a group, but it does bring to mind the Terminator movies for me!

The Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Civil Rules will be presenting the 2010 Civil Litigation Conference at the Duke University School of Law next week, May 10-11.  A full agenda is linked below.  I'm most interested in the Tuesday morning session, E-Discovery: Discussion of the Cost Benefit Analysis of E-Discovery and the Degree to Which the New Rules are Working or Not.  I won't be able to attend, so if you go, take lots of notes on this session and send them my way!

News Release from the US Courts Website:

Access, fairness, cost, and delay in civil litigation in federal court will be the focus of a Conference, May 10-11, 2010, sponsored by the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Civil Rules. The 2010 Civil Litigation Conference at the Duke University School of Law will present new data from several empirical studies on current litigation practice and proposals for improving civil litigation in the federal trial courts. In particular, data on actual litigation costs incurred by law firms and major corporations will be available for careful analysis. The Conference agenda is available here. The Conference will be streamed live over the Judiciary's Newsroom website.

"This Conference hopes to build on the legacy of the 1976 Roscoe Pound Conference and all it contributed to the reform of the administration and delivery of justice in the federal system, as well as on the 1997 Boston College of Law Conference on Discovery" said Judge Mark Kravitz, chair of the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules. According to Judge Kravitz the cost of civil litigation will be among the topics to be discussed, and how recent Supreme Court decisions in Twombly and Iqbal have focused attention on pleading standards and discovery.

"Much of the data to be presented at the Conference has not been available before," said Judge John G. Koeltl, a Civil Rules Committee member and Conference organizer. "This will be important new information on what is actually happening in different practice areas."

Nearly 200 nationally recognized federal judges, lawyers and professors and others with expertise in civil litigation are expected to attend. Duke University School of Law will host the Conference, which will take place in Room 3041 of the Duke Law School.

I just got done reading a most interesting post on the techPresident site.  It turns out that the Library of Congress is going to begin archiving the Twitter stream.  The LOC views all of our random tweets as part of the new American History.  Just think, next to the Abraham Lincoln Papers and one of the most famous images of the Great Depression can now be found images of #Lolcats, locations sent from foursquare and endless amounts of misspelled and inaccurately punctuated meaningless rants.

(Photo credit: CNET Pulse)

When I first read the post, I was scratching my head and wondering what was really the point.  But ultimately, I think I get it.  While the vast amount of tweets are basically stupid in terms of content, it is a constantly updated stream of conciousness of America and a peek into what we as a nation are thinking and doing.  This is somewhat embarrassing, as a whole.  They say history is written by the victors.  In this scenario, history is written by the victors...and the losers, nerds, bimbos, you-name-it.  This is the real America.  It's a rather interesting and unique way of cataloguing us, but an authentic way. 

It's also interesting to note that ALL of the Twitter feed is being archived.  All those tweets you sent out eons ago are still there, just waiting to be logged by the LOC.  Given that you are reading this particular type of blog, I would imagine you are more than well aware that electronically stored information is never really gone (with some exceptions, of course, and if you make the effort to properly dispose of it) if you just know how to look for it.  But I would venture to guess that most people type it, tweet it and then think of it no more past a few a days.  For them, it's gone forever.  I'd be interested to see if anyone cries foul over this, though ultimately it wouldn't make a difference.  Tweets are public, the end.

So, next time you see @DRUNKHULK tweet about the following: UK SCIENTIST CREATE DESIGNER EMBRYO USE DNA OF MAN AND TWO WOMANS! DRUNK HULK NO KNOW ABOUT YOU! BUT THAT TOTALLY HOT!, you can feel good knowing it's being saved for posterity and that future generations will be able to share in our experience.

Originally posted by Vivek Kundra on the White House blog.  To view the original article containing all links, click here.

Taking a page from our efforts here in the Obama Administration, the United Kingdom today launched data.gov.uk – a site to aggregate datasets from the UK government.  It is exciting to see the seeds of openness, accountability, and transparency taking root around the world.

When we launched Data.gov here at the White House website in May 2009, we had just 47 datasets online.  It was a modest start, but the growth we’ve seen has been phenomenal.  Today, there are more than 168,000 datasets online, and federal agencies are poised to publish new high-value information this week as the next step in Administration’s Open Government Initiative.

But the U.S. and UK governments aren’t alone in data sites.  There is a nationwide movement to unlock public data.  Governments of all sizes are unlocking the value of data for their constituents.  Washington, D.C., San Francisco, the City of New York, the State of California, the State of Utah, the State of Michigan, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts have launched data.gov-type sites, as have cities in Canada and the UK.  All of these sites are dedicated to breaking down longstanding barriers between governments and the people they serve -- facilitating collaboration and transforming dry data into tools that can improve people’s lives.

As we grow Data.gov across the Administration, we are focused on releasing high-value datasets to increase agency accountability and responsiveness; improve public knowledge of the agency and its operations; create economic opportunity; or respond to need and demand as identified through public consultation.

For instance, when the Department of Agriculture makes nutrition information available, families can make smarter eating choices; when the Department of Education makes key information available about colleges and universities, students can make better-informed choices about the quality and cost of education; and when the Department of Labor makes safety information available, employers can better protect workers.

The Federal Government does not have a monopoly on the best ideas.  We are all part of an increasingly complex network of communities, ideas, and information.  We applaud today’s launch of data.gov.uk  and look forward to working with the  international community to ensure that people across the world are actively engaged in helping find the most innovative paths to solve some of the toughest problems we face. Moreover, we are pleased to see that other governments share the Administration's philosophy that data availability will help change how government operates and empower citizens to participate in making government services more effective, accessible, and transparent.

Vivek Kundra is U.S. Chief Information Officer