Deep in the grip of a global recession, IBM has again surprised analysts with better than expected second quarter results, with net profit up 12 per cent to US$3.1 billion (A$3.85 billion).

Commercial buyers re-entered the personal computer market in the second quarter in Australia, contributing to strengthened growth and putting the PC market on track for a recovery in the second half of 2009, according to research group IDC.

As rivalry heats up between eastern states hoping to attract the National Broadband Network company headquarters to their capital city, Victorian Premier John Brumby has thrown in a sweetener with the opening of a $50 million broadband institute at Melbourne University.

Prime Ministerial advisor and former NineMSN chief executive Martin Hoffman has suddenly emerged as the go-to guy for Rudd Government technology planning, appointed to the board of Stephen Conroy’s National Broadband Network company and to Lindsay Tanner’s Government 2.0 taskforce in the space of a fortnight.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has quietly tweaked his Web 2.0 communications processes, attaching a moniker to each social media update on services like Twitter and Facebook to help followers recognise whether the message is directly from the PM, or from one of his team.