A mother-in-law's disdain for her stepson's prospective bride has become an internet sensation.

Carolyn Bourne wrote to Heidi Withers, 29, before she married Freddie Bourne, in what was meant to have been a private email, reproaching her for her lack of manners and saying it was a "pity" her stepson had fallen in love with her.

But such was the London personal assistant's anger at the email she received after visiting her future in-laws in April that she forwarded it to friends, who then emailed it on to others until it went "viral".

News Corporation has sold struggling social networking site MySpace for £22m, mostly in stock, according to a source.

The deal values MySpace at a fraction of what News Corp paid for the site six years ago.
The sale to online advertising network operator Specific Media is expected to close later today, a day before the end of News Corp's financial year. News Corp will maintain less than a 5% stake in the company.

The person was not authorised to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

News Corp bought MySpace for £361m in 2005 but users and advertisers have fled the site for other more popular social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

Specific Media confirmed the acquisition but not the terms of the deal.

"There are many synergies between our companies as we are both focused on enhancing digital media experiences by fuelling connections with relevance and interest," said Specific Media CEO Tim Vanderhook, in a statement. "We look forward to combining our platforms to drive the next generation of digital innovation."

Specific Media, based in Irvine, California, was founded in 1999 by brothers Tim, Chris and Russell Vanderhook.

POLICE have dealt a crushing blow to a boy racer whose "dangerous and idiotic" antics brought chaos to a Midland road plagued by the hot hatch menaces - and used Youtube to post the results on line.

The silver Citroen Saxo car was recorded racing down the wrong side of the dual carriageway near to Hams Hall, near Sutton Coldfield, and then reversing back up the road as police closed in on it.

So officers seized the vehicle - and then had it crushed.

They have posted a video on YouTube as a warning to other boy racers as police ordered a fresh crackdown on their illegal 'fast and the furious' style stunts and street races.

The business park and villages around Hams Hall, in north Warwickshire, has been plagued by car cruisers from across the Midlands for years.

The area is covered by an injunction banning boy racers from gathering.

This gives police the power to seize vehicles involved AND cars belonging to those there to watch.

Shocked by the dangerous and idiotic driving, Insp Patrick Devereux said: "We don't want people to think the police are taking this action just to stop people having fun, the point is these are illegal gatherings which pose a massive threat to businesses and people who live nearby.

"Not only are the Hams Hall illegal cruise events causing disruption in the area, but the combination of racing cars and large crowds on roads that are also being used by private motorists is lethal.

"The danger of injury or death is always present.

"People coming to the car cruise seem to think they are not causing a problem, but the business park operates 24-hours a day and hundreds of people gathering there, and racing on the roads disrupts the work of companies.

"The injunction gives the police the power to seize the cars of those taking part and those who go to watch. Many of these cars, the pride and joy of their owners, will end up being crushed."

In a similar tactic to one used against boy racers in Birmingham, police are also writing to insurance companies of drivers spotted at the event.

Tens of thousands of new businesses have started trading online since the start of the recession, reporting a turnover of hundreds of millions of pounds, according to new research today.

Online giant eBay said more than 45,000 new firms had registered since September 2008, with a joint turnover of £350 million in 2010.

Birmingham was said to be the biggest area for e-commerce start-ups, followed by Manchester, Sheffield and Nottingham.

One of the biggest growth areas was homes and gardens, with thousands of businesses setting up online in recent years.

Tony Blair's national insurance number appears to have been obtained by computer hackers from the email account of a former member of his staff.

Details of a file containing the former prime minister's NI number and the names, addresses and telephone numbers of friends, colleagues and relatives began circulating on Twitter last night.

Mr Blair's office said the data had not been obtained from his own systems but probably that of a past colleague.

Britain's top policeman has described the arrest of a teenager suspected of taking part in a global computer hacking plot as "very significant".

Ryan Cleary, 19, was detained as part of a Scotland Yard and FBI probe into LulzSec, a group which has claimed responsibility for hacking attempts on the UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency, the US Senate and the CIA.

The student, described as highly intelligent but introverted, was held yesterday at his family home in Wickford, Essex, and is still being held for questioning at a central London station.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson refused to comment on the details of the case, but said: "It's a very significant arrest."

"The challenges around cyber crime are extraordinarily significant and deeply worrying," he added.

LulzSec denied that Cleary was a member of the group but confirmed it used his computer equipment to host a chatroom.

The group wrote on Twitter: "Ryan Cleary is not part of LulzSec; we house one of our many legitimate chatrooms on his IRC server, but that's it."

A British teenager suspected of masterminding a global computer hacking plot from his bedroom could face a fight against extradition to the US.

Ryan Cleary was arrested at his detached family home in Essex today as part of a Scotland Yard and FBI probe into LulzSec, a group claiming responsibility for hacking attempts on the UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency, the US Senate and the CIA.

Neighbours who witnessed the dawn police swoop spoke of their shock as the "very bright" 19-year-old university student was questioned.

Around 250,000 books will be put on line as part of a deal between the British Library and search engine Google.

The works, which are all out of copyright, date from between 1700 and 1870 and have been selected by the library to be digitised by Google.

Among the first works to go online are a pamphlet about French Queen Marie Antoinette and Spanish inventor Narciso Monturiol's 1858 plans for one of the world's first submarines.

A story which somewhat passed me by at the time was songstress Katy Perry's appearance on Sesame Street.

Apparently her song and dance routine with Elmo proved to teach youngsters that 'C' is for cleavage.

Footage was leaked early and parents groups in the USA campaigned for the segment to be pulled, and it was subsequently.

So it might have never seen the light of day - apart from, needless to say it has been saved online for posterity...

Apologies if you've seen this before - but it ticked me.

A GOOD old row has blown up over the release of Duke Nukem Forever, with games publisher Take 2 parting company from the PR firm handling the launch.

It was already off to a somewhat rocky start with many outlets claiming review copies weren't being sent out prior to release.

But once the review websites did get their hands on the game, it seems like they really laid into it.

On metacritic the XBox 360 version has got an average of 49 per cent, PS3 55 per cent and PC 57 per cent.

Not good. Still it went to number one in the games charts on release, so perhaps holding back those review copies for a while was a good idea.

Anyway the reviews haven't gone down well with PR agency Redner Group with founder Jim Rednor tweeting: "Too many went too far with their reviews...we r reviewing who gets games next time and who doesn't based on today's venom."

This led to Take 2 being accused of putting pressure on negative reviewers.

2K Games sacked Redner Group later tweeted it had "a mutually respectful relationship with the press and will continue to do so. We don't condone @TheRednerGroup's actions at all".