Welcome

Hello everybody. We have got a fantastic newsletter for you this week, full to bursting with interesting stories. We’ve got stories on green patents, a new open source census that will soon be doing the rounds, and why we could soon see a mass exodus of as people move to virtual worlds. And of course, we’ve got a selection of marketing and media news as well.

So all that remains to be said is ‘W00t’, and we’ll see you next week. Oh, and don’t forget to take a look at our blog.

Hazel Butters, CEO - Prompt Communications

Technology News

New Census to Measure Open Source Application Use?
By Duncan Heaney

How much open source software does a business use? It’s a simple enough question, but it’s also one that can be very difficult to answer. Unlike licensed software, which is easily documented, businesses do not often closely monitor open source programs, some of which may be vital to their business. Many do not have a realistic idea of the number of applications they are using, sometimes widely underestimating their importance.

But, as ComputerWorld reports, The Open Source census project hopes to change all that. Announced this week by open source vendor and principal project sponsor OpenLogic Inc, the census is scheduled to commence in the first quarter of 2008. Enterprise users will be asked to share statistical data to add to the census, and the results will be used to create a discovery tool capable of identifying over 5,000 open source applications in enterprise systems.

The organisers claim that participation will be optional and anonymous. Information such as IP addresses, postal addresses, user names and company names will not be kept.

Organisers of the project believe that the information could provide organisations with a benchmark to compare themselves against other companies, or for market research purposes.

W00t! LOL, l33t drop!
By Dave Wilby

This news will make a lot more sense to players of MMORPGs like WoW, EQ2 and LOTRO than people more grounded in RL. According to AP, USA dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster has decided that its ‘word’ of the year for 2007 is ‘w00t’. If you’re not familiar with this ‘l33t speak’ expression don’t worry, it’s not something you’d really want to be caught saying out loud anyway. ‘W00t’ is an exclamation most commonly typed by online role-players when discovering great treasure or succeeding in an important quest.

In English you’d probably say ‘hurrah’ or ‘yay’ instead, depending on which side of the Atlantic you’re from. ‘L33t speak’, or ‘elite speak’ is a collective term for slang shorthand terminology typically used online and in computer games, embracing more familiar expressions such as LOL, BTW or IMHO. If you fancy delving into the hotly disputed origins of the latest word of the year, then unsurprisingly Wiktionary is a good place to start. Um, w00t!

US Media News

By Tarryn Morley

US

BusinessWeek is reorganising its editorial operations and cutting a number of editorial and business positions. The changes are part of an effort to streamline the publication’s print and online operations and to create a single editorial organization for BusinessWeek. Under the new structure, one chief editor will supervise all print and online work in a particular coverage area. Each chief will report to executive editors John Byrne and Ellen Pollock . Brian Bremner will serve as news chief and Peter Elstrom as technology chief.

Kyle Pope has been appointed articles editor at Conde Nast Portfolio . He has been with the magazine since September 2006 and most recently served as a senior editor. Prior to joining Portfolio, he was a freelance writer for publications such as the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times. He has also worked as a staff reporter and editor for The Wall Street Journal .

David Pogue has been appointed technology contributor for CNBC Cable Network . Pogue writes a weekly column for The New York Times , blogs daily for Pogue's Posts , and writes Circuits , an e-mail-exclusive column covering technology news and reviews. He is also a technology correspondent for CBS Television Network .

UK Media News

By Tarryn Morley

UK

Robert Thomson is leaving his post as editor of The Times after five years to become publisher of Dow Jones in New York. He will be replaced by James Harding, who is currently business and city editor of the paper.

Charlotte Williamson has been appointed deputy editor of News, Review and Comment at The Sunday Telegraph. She has previously worked as style editor at newspaper’s Stella magazine and features editor at Harpers' Bazaar.

Natalie Bennett has replaced Patrick Ensor as editor of Guardian Weekly, a digest of stories and features from The Guardian, The Observer, the Washington Post and Le Monde. The publication has an audience in over 100 countries. Bennett has been deputy editor of the publication for 18 months. She was previously a backbench subeditor at The Times and news reporter at The Independent. Ensor was editor of Guardian Weekly from 1993 until his death in July.

Incisive Media’s BusinessGreen.com, a website offering companies news and practical advice on environmental issues, has launched a monthly 'Eco-Entrepreneur' podcast. Every month, editor James Murray will interview prominent figures working in the green business sector. The first episode features Dale Vince, CEO and founder of Ecotricity, the world’s first green electricity company.

UK leads in European social networking usage
By Lance Concannon

Research from Ofcom has found that 40 percent of adults in the UK visited social networking sites regularly during 2006, the largest number in Europe. On average, web users spent 5.3 hours per month on social networking sites, and this prompted a higher rate of web advertising in the UK compared to the rest of Europe. UK online advertisers spent an average of £33 per person, more than double the total figure for France, Germany and Italy combined. In September this year, Facebook reported that the UK was the country with the third largest user base, behind the US and Canada, and that it was the fastest growing region.

The reason for greater uptake of social networking websites in the UK might lie with some of survey’s other findings. UK consumers, it seems, get a comparatively good deal on TV, phone and broadband bundles compared to their European neighbours.

Reality – who needs it?
By Duncan Heaney

The appeal of virtual worlds may prove to be too much for some to resist, an expert on online games has warned. Edward Castronova, Associate Professor in the Department of Telecommunications at Indiana University, was talking to the BBC, on their World Services Digital Planet programme.

Mr. Castranova has written a book, in which he compares the 1600s, when many people left Britain to pursue a new life in America, with what is happening with virtual worlds like Second Life. Castranova predicts that within ten years, everybody will be involved in a virtual world in some way. The levels of involvement will vary, but a significant group of people will cut as many ties as possible with the real world and spend all their lives in the fantasy world.

It’s just like the Matrix!

The expert claims that the appeal will be especially strong for people in poorly paid, low-skill jobs. He suggested that the migration into the virtual world could be for multiple reasons, but gave a distinction between refuge and escape. If people are struggling in the real world, they may take refuge in the artificial one. Escape refers to someone who occupies the fantasy world as a way to avoid something or someone, for example a spouse or partner.

As virtual worlds get more sophisticated, this could prove to be accurate. Alternatively, it could be a load of twaddle. Perhaps we should look out for signs of addiction just in case. Stay vigilant people. I would, but I’m off to play World of Warcraft.

Everything’s gone Green
By Dave Wilby

Environmentally friendly technology isn’t just a big noise these days, it’s an essential part of any sound modern business strategy. If you’re a major enterprise without a green technology roadmap or two, then you might as well just invite the media over to watch your datacentre pump poisonous exhaust fumes into a lake full of three-eyed fish.

Which is why there are now so many green technology patents being filed and why some of them are inevitably quite fun. New Scientist has rounded up this week’s most interesting green patents, including a biobattery made from living kidney cells, a hydrogen purifier based on calcium low silica x-zeolite, a biomass consuming microbe found buried in Massachusetts, and some natty nanoscopic spheres of carbon that could make methanol fuel cells viable called buckyballs!

YouTube kids will be key WiMax consumers
By Dave Wilby

Analyst firm Juniper Research claims the future of mobile platform WiMax could hinge on service providers marketing the technology successfully to the ‘You Tube generation’.

Juniper believes mobile WiMax will begin to boom in 2012 with worldwide subscriber numbers exceeding 80 million by 2013. In order to ensure this adoption however, mobile WiMax service providers will need to differentiate offerings in order to stand out from mobile broadband rivals.

The firm says 18 to 35-year-olds will be core mobile WiMax users and that service providers must create bundles to appeal to this target market, which of course includes consumers who are just 16 years old right now. In an interview with ZDNetUK, research author Howard Wilcox tempered outright optimism with a warning: "As with any new technology, there's an awful lot of uncertainty. We're right on the cusp of the start of this marketplace. Clearly there's going to be an awful lot of competition out there. The WiMax players are going to want to differentiate and come in with some strong attractive financial offers and innovative service offerings, whatever they may be — maybe some exclusive deals with particular device manufacturers or content providers."

Website of the Week

By Duncan Heaney

www.telltalegames.com

Episodic content is a relatively new idea in gaming. The concept is simple – release small amounts of content regularly, at a cheaper price than a full game. A number of large publishers and developers have been trying out this concept, but few of them have succeeded.

Telltale Games is one company that has. Their Sam & Max series is a fascinating example of a well implemented new idea – an interactive sitcom. Each episode has its own storyline, but the series also has an overriding plot that connects them together.

The witty and subversive series follows freelance police Sam, a detective dog, and Max, a sociopathic rabbit, as they argue and banter their way through a series of adventures. The joy of the episodes comes from the nicely executed puzzles and the amusing dialogue.

The fourth episode of the first series, Abe Lincoln Must Die! is available for free on the site. Coming in at around three hours, and genuinely amusing, it’s well worth a download.

We hope you find the Prompt Communications newsletter an interesting read. For any feedback on our newsletter, or to discuss how we can help you with your technology PR, marketing, social media/blogging initiatives, copywriting or surveys, please contact us using the details below. We are always delighted to hear from you.