Midlife crisis for email, 40

As social networking services peak, Adam Turner asks if electronic mail has passed its prime.

IT IS 40 years since American computer engineer Ray Tomlinson put the @ into email addresses, triggering a communications revolution that would forever change the way we correspond. Yet email now faces a mid-life crisis as young people turn to newer forms of communication, such as Facebook and Twitter.

Internal messaging systems have existed since the 1960s but in 1971 Tomlinson was helping build ARPANET for the US Department of Defence and laying the foundations of the modern internet. Tomlinson needed an easy way to send electronic messages between the various computers hooked up to ARPANET. He chose @ - generally referred to as the ''at'' symbol - to designate that a message was intended for a specific user ''at'' a specific organisation. The email protocol continued to develop but, for the next 20 years, it was restricted to academic and military use. Full Read

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Meet the nine-year-old nudist who says he loves everything about being naked... except the mosquitoes

The nudist lifestyle is an alternative and somewhat bewildering choice to most people but few consider how living sans-clothing affects children. For nine-year-old Alex Reamer of Loxahatchee, Florida, the liberating fashion choice is one that he values highly. Aside from the small issue of pesky mosquitoes. Residing in a nudist community just outside Palm Beach with his parents and brother, the fair-haired boy spends most days like any other - playing video games, riding his bike and playing with friends - albeit, naked. Read Here

'Am I ugly?': Worrying new trend sees tweens posting YouTube videos asking the public to comment on their looks

Teen and tween girls and boys are posting clips of themselves on to YouTube accompanied by the question 'Am I ugly? ' A short search yields scores of videos from insecure 11, 12, 13 and 14-year-olds, their anxiety forcing them into the notoriously harsh world of online commentating to find an answer to their misguided question. The worrying trend has mushroomed of late, though the videos first starting appearing two to three years ago. Read Here

Cat kill film No2

A SICK video of a cat being drowned in a bath has been posted on the internet — by the same sadist behind footage of a kitten being fed to a python. The latest video — uncovered by The Sun — shows the terrified pet taped to a broom handle being slowly lowered into the water by a woman. Bubbles can be seen rising as it struggles frantically before losing its fight for life. The footage, called "Bathtime lol" was posted on YouTube at the weekend by a user called jasminethecat666. Full Read

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