Dear Reader,

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.

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Hazel Butters
Prompt Communications

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Technology Update

By Lance Concannon

Wireless network security useless

The WEP security protocol that encrypts data carried over WiFi networks, used widely by businesses and consumers, can be cracked in seconds with nothing more powerful than a standard laptop PC, according to security researchers from Darmstadt University of Technology in Germany. The researchers claim that they have discovered flaws in the WEP algorithm which would enable a hacker to identify the security key required to gain unhindered access to the wireless network in very little time, less than a minute to capture the required data and then just a few seconds to extract the key from that data.

The WEP protocol has never really been considered particularly robust, and this discovery renders it practically useless as a serious security tool. Organisations using wireless networks to carry any sort of sensitive information are advised to the more advanced WPA protocol which is available on more modern wireless equipment, or to consider third party security products to strengthen their network.

Death by PowerPoint

Australian researchers have made a discovery which explains why so many of us struggle to cope with lengthy PowerPoint presentations. Scientists at the University of New South Wales claim that the human brain can easily absorb written or spoken information, but not both at the same time. If a presentation features slides with text that echoes what the speaker is saying, then it will be more difficult for the audience take in the message. It's better, the researchers say, if the slides feature graphical devices such as charts and diagrams, which present the information in a different form.

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Consumer Technology Update

By Dave Wilby

Consumer ISDN bites the dust in face of broadband competition

BT will withdraw its consumer ISDN (Integrated Digital Services Network) services later this year as a result of fierce competition from its own cheaper, faster ADSL connections. It only seems like ooh, five or six years ago that ISDN was still the dream link for consumers, especially home-workers fed up with dial-up modem speeds. I even remember going to a music festival in 1994 where British drum 'n' bass artists 'Future Sound of London' proudly appeared 'via ISDN' as if it was akin to playing a gig wearing jetpacks or flying hovercars.

"We are withdrawing consumer ISDN because the demand for it has dived with the availability of cheap, fast broadband," a BT spokesperson told the BBC rather unnecessarily. Some publishing houses and broadcast professionals will undoubtedly lament the cull of these trustworthy, all-digital, PAYG 64Kbps pipes, but with BT now claiming 50% of UK adults running broadband at

Bandits swap guns for console controllers

Police in Mexico City are flying in the face of popular belief that video games cause violence, and are instead hoping that local gangsters can be weaned off the streets with the carrot of a free Xbox 360s. Times Online reports on a new campaign to exchange guns for consoles and other gifts in an attempt to reduce violent deaths on Mexico's streets.

Laughably the bigger gun you tote, the bigger the rewards. Large weapons can be swapped for desktop computers, says The Times, while those coughing up smaller heat will receive an Xbox 360 or maybe some cash. On the first day of the program in Tepito, a market neighbourhood known for drug dealing and contraband.

Chinese PC firm heads eco-friendly charts

The latest quarterly report compiled by environmental pressure group Greenpeace examining the world's most eco-friendly electronics firms, puts Chinese PC manufacturer Lenovo at the head of the field. Lenovo, the innovative firm breathing new life into IBM's Thinkpad range has previously ranked low for eco-friendliness, has now scooped the top spot over Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Dell, and Samsung, reports the BBC.

Apple came last of the 14 firms Greenpeace profiled in the report. The quarterly report ranks firms by how green their production processes are and what they do to recycle hardware they sell. It looks at the use of toxic chemicals in production and scrutinises recycle programmes, providing an overall score and ranking.

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Marketing Update

By Sally Forge

Is all marketing good marketing?

A Thorntons voucher dropped out of the DVD mail service package this week - log on and redeem your voucher code for 20% off. It didn't seem like a very good offer. Why make the effort just to save £3.99 on a £19.95 'Jolly Treat Eggs and Emma Bridgewater Egg Cups', for example. Unless last minute buying in a panic £15.96 seems like an unlikely price to pay for some chocolate eggs and two pottery egg cups; let alone £19.95. Meanwhile, if last minute buying in a panic, the time-delaying internet route is best avoided.

So what was the purpose of this marketing campaign? To remind us that Thorntons is there to provide chocolate this Easter and drive traffic its website - in this case it worked. To drive a sale - in this case it didn't; and won't in future. In a case like this, is the marketing effort worthwhile?

There are however some marketing geniuses at Thorntons: this week they set up a 390 kilo edible chocolate billboard in London's Covent Garden. It was eaten in 3 hours. The billboard's designer said he was sure they would be making more giant chocolate items in future.

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US Media Report

By Kay Wilson

There's plenty of activity in the US media this week including Eric Pooley being named editor for Time magazine and Bryan Ball becomes the new editor of on-line magazine PDABuzz.com. Rebecca Carroll replaces Jonathan Durbin as managing editor at Paper Magazine while at Bloomberg News, Alan Goldstein joins as bonds editor.

Reporter and analyst Jeff Greenfield moves from CNN to CBS News and John Seigenthaler leaves his job as anchor for NBC Nightly News - Weekend Edition. Atoosa Rubenstein has finally grown up and away from her position as editor in chief at Seventeen magazine to become an ed-op columnist for Forbes.com.

Following the latest trend of reader interaction, business publication Conde Nast Portfolio adds three new bloggers to its web-site portfolio.com. Felix Salmon, Tim Swanson and Laura Crowe will cover finance, entertainment and fashion respectively.

You no longer need to guess on how the other half live with the launch of Trusted Voices from Yahoo News which, partnered with McClatchy company, features input from foreign correspondents in Iraq, China, South America and the Middle East. Print is definitely taking a back-seat these days with the news that media giants Life and InfoWorld have announced that after April their print editions will be no more. They are both diverting all their attention to their web-sites.

UK Media Report

By Lance Concannon

An extensive restructuring program at Emap has resulted in 175 redundancies, including Dan Flower, publisher of Arena and Zoo, and Mandy Key, publisher of More.

Julie Harris has quit her job as general manager of women's magazine publisher Hachette Filipacchi after four years in the position.

The Independent newspaper has enjoyed a 65% increase in year on year advertising revenue for its website, contributing to an overall growth of 8.5% for its parent company Independent News & Media.

Nielsen/NetRatings has launched a new service called SiteCensus Streaming to help websites measure how many visitors are viewing their digital audio and video content.

Best of the 'Net

By Dave Wilby

Onion News Network

In an era in which every company adding a podcast or a bunch of forums to its website seems to warrant a fanfare launch to rival the release of SlicedBread 1.0, it was refreshing that old-skool satirical site The Onion went out of its way to play down its latest creation. No press shindig or marketing onslaught preceded the launch of this really very straightforward effective use of video to add another dimension to The Onion's already tried, tested and much-loved breed of spoof news commentary and comedy. Check it out. If you liked The Onion and you think moving pictures are pretty entertaining, you're sure to like this too.