====== Message of the Day ======
MOTD can be silenced with
<code>touch $HOME/.hushlogin</code>
or
<code>sudo chmod -x /etc/update-motd.d/*</code>
You can edit the scripts in <code>/etc/update-motd.d</code>

Disabling the news part (the pingback to canonical) is simple. Edit the following file:
<code>vim /etc/default/motd-news</code>
Change ''ENABLED=1'' to ''ENABLED=0''.