Dear Reader,

Welcome to the Prompt Communications Newsletter. Finally it seems that the talking is over and Dell will at last begin offering its customers Ubuntu Linux as an alternative option to Windows on desktop and laptop PCs. Whether this will usher in a new era of open source computing for the masses remains to be seen, but it will be interesting to see how the move pans out over the coming year.

For any feedback on our newsletter, or to discuss how we can help you with your technology PR, marketing, copywriting or surveys, please email me at hbutters@prompt-communications.com. We are always delighted to hear from you.

Best regards,

Hazel Butters
Prompt Communications

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Technology Update

By Lance Concannon

Dell to offer Ubuntu Linux

As reported in Computer Business Review, and pretty much everywhere else on the web, Dell has announced that it will sell PCs with Ubuntu Linux pre-installed. Ubuntu is an enormously popular desktop-Linux distribution which enjoys a large community support base, making it a favourite amongst novice Linux users.

The company already offers various Linux flavours on its server models, but this is the first time Dell has sold desktop and laptop machines with the open source operating system. Although its unclear what level of Linux support Dell will offer its customers, some reports have claimed that Ubuntu's sponsor company, Canonical, will provide support for an additional fee.

IBM Loves SMBs

IBM's CEO, Sam Palmisano has said that he expects small to medium businesses to make up the bulk of the company's customer based within two years, according to this report from Techworld. Speaking at IBM's PartnerWorld conference in St. Louis, he said that the SMB sector was "the biggest IT growth opportunity in the world today," valued at US$487 billion, with the global market currently growing at 6.5 percent annually.

The comments were underlined by an announcement that IBM would expand its Express Advantage program - an initiative which ties in the company's Express product line for SMBs in with financial service offerings targeted at organisations with 100 to 1000 employees.

DoS attacks no longer profitable

The Register reports that black-hat hackers are turning away from Denial of Service attacks because they are no longer the most effective way for them to make money. Organised criminals were able to extort money from businesses by launching Denial of Service attacks against their websites and threatening to keep the services offline until a ransom was paid.

In order to carry out such an attack, hackers would make use of a network of thousands of compromised machines, but now it seems that there's more money to be made by using these bot-nets to send out vast quantities of spam instead. This line of 'business' also carries less risks than Denial of Service attacks.

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Consumer Technology Update

By Dave Wilby and Sean McManus

Webby awards won

The winners of the 11th Annual Webby Awards were revealed on Tuesday. Flickr, Cute Overload, 'lonelygirl15', The Onion and YouTube founders Steve Chen and Chad Hurley were all chosen for honours from a record 8,000 entries from 60 countries. Awards were handed out in close to 100 different categories, decided by 400,000 public votes and a panel of 80 'web experts'. Webby lifetime achievement awards went to eBay, as well as David Bowie, for "pushing the boundaries of art and technology" with BowieNet, UltraStar, and BowieArt. If you're interested, CNET has also taken a closer look at some of the less obvious winners, such as A Greener Apple.

Joost for a change?

This week saw the official commercial launch of Joost, the on-demand video portal from the Skype stable. The service promises TV-alternative, broadcast quality internet video streams from more than 150 content channels ranging from cartoon to Hollywood blockbusters. To pull off the trick, Joost has been busy striking content deals with the likes of Viacom, CNN and Sony, reports the BBC and others. We'll certainly be checking out trials of the new service, but have more than a few concerns about the extra load Joost will place on residential broadband services, and expect to see ISPs having their say in the press very soon, probably using phrases like 'fair usage limits' and 'premium rate charges'.

Microsoft wants to archive your spam for posterity

Microsoft is attempting to compile what is being billed as an 'Email Domesday Book' as part of a launch campaign for a new version of Hotmail. You are invited to submit selected emails from your inbox or sent items to be archived by the British Library. The categories for submissions include spam. Participants can also write messages purely for the archive, which seems to undermine the idea of capturing a snapshot of email today. The sample will be selective, which will skew history, but because they couldn't take people's email without permission, this is the only way such archiving would work.

Doubtless there will be some useful material for future historians in everything that's submitted. The emails will be anonymised when made available to the public, but after 100 years will once again be associated with the author's email address. You've got to admire the vision of a storage project that claims to plan for the next century.

And finally...

Boo.com is back, have you heard? When the internet industry rolled laughing off its mountain of cash and over the precipice in 2000, Boo.com was repeatedly derided in the media as the perfect model of hubris; the archetype of inept dotcomery. But now, as ZDNet reports, it's back, well kind of. Boo.com has been relaunched as a social networking and travel booking site, using user-generated content to help travellers decide which hotels to book.

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US Media Report

By Bill Barnwell

Time Magazine has announced that Mark Halperin is joining the staff as an editor at large. Halperin will have an office in both the New York and Washington bureaus, and currently serves as a political analyst for ABC News, whose political director role he's leaving.

Jennie Baird has been named senior vice president and editor in chief at iVillage.com. Baird comes over from AOL, where she was executive director for women's and lifestyle programming. Baird replaces Kellie Gould at iVillage, who served in the position for nearly four years.

Joris Evers has left CNet, where he was a senior writer for the past two years. Evers is moving on to the PR department of Mcafee, effective May 21. Evers previously wrote for IDG.

Embattled hip-hop magazine The Source filed for bankruptcy on Monday under the weight of some $34 million in debt. The Source has seen advertisers pull out following controversial statements and business practices related to the magazine's president, rapper Raymond "Benzino" Scott, have come to light. The magazine has struggled to compete with industry leader XXL, which features writers formerly of The Source.

UK Media Report

By Annie Kasmai

Josa Young has been appointed as executive editor of Conde Nast's interactive division. From 8th May 2007, Young will be managing editorial content on all of Conde Nast's websites. The websites include: Tatler.com, Glamour.com, Vogue,com and stylefinder.com.

CNET Networks UK is increasing its focus on video content with the recruitment of a four person video production team led by Ben Howard, formerly of Reuters and World TV. Howard's brief is to expand the use of video content across all of CNET's UK sits, including Silicon.com and ZDnet UK.

Best of the 'Net

By Sean McManus

Tapedeck

If you remember a time when downloads was what you did after following the bear, and when LPs had a skull and cross bones on the back to warn you that home taping was killing music, you'll love this site. It's a collection of photos of blank audio cassettes. Tapes sold in ten packs in the 80s so that people could record all their witty conversations and bathtub singing. Taping 'proper' music would have been illegal.

The only downside of the site is that so many of the tapes haven't been fast forwarded to the end, making them look infuriatingly untidy. Perhaps I should take a leaf from the tapes themselves and try not to get wound up.