Dating site fraud is vastly under-reported and may have claimed more than 200,000 victims in the UK, research suggests.

The "online romance scams" typically involve criminals setting up fake identities using stolen photos of attractive individuals, often models or Army officers.

A relationship is struck up with the victim who at a certain point is asked for financial help.
Some of those targeted have been duped out of hundreds of thousands of pounds, but frequently the crimes remain unreported and hidden.

Action Fraud, the reporting and advice centre run by the National Fraud Authority, identified 592 victims of the scams between 2010-11. Of these, 203 lost sums of more than £5,000.

But a new study by researchers at the universities of Leicester and Westminster suggests the problem is far bigger.

Nearly 30% of drivers send text messages while at the wheel, according to a new survey.

And 8% text-and-drive at least once a week, the poll by road safety charity Brake and insurance company Direct Line found.

The findings, based on responses from 841 drivers, follow a recent Ofcom report which warned of increased levels of smartphone addiction in the UK by users who are unable to go long without checking their phone.

The volume of mobile data transferred over the UK's mobile networks increased 40-fold between 2007 and 2010.

Watching Clash of the Titan  (new version) the other night I was put to thinking about unbelievable CGI sequences which completely kill any tension in the movie by either trying to do to much, or by just being, well, crap.

While it can be used sympathetically and in-keeping with what's going on around it, the box of tricks can encourage the director to think 'let's go big!' with disastrous consequences.

Clash of the Titans (2010).
One element of the film which couldn't be aided or hindered by CGI is the solid teak performance of leading man Sam Worthington - making Harry Hamlin seem positively Olivier-like by comparison. The two bits I have a problem with are basically the same typical cgi problem. The fight with the scorpions is rendered unbeliveable because they're just too darn big! It's a classic wham-bam over the top fight, which is deliberately confusing visually and the seeming impossibility of defeating massive armoured foes makes the eventual victory (over some of them before the Djin turn up), frankly unbelieveable. Medusa's temple (in Hades for some reason, so how did all the other turned to stone fighters get to it in the first place?) is just classic cgi 'too much' with the inevitable lava lake below it. (I won't even mention the Kraken which is a complete knock-off of the lake dweller outside the Mines of Moria in The Fellowship of the Ring...oops I did). Shame really as the Ray Harryhausen effects in the original film, seemed to me to be much better and in-keeping with the rest of the 'live' action.

Die Another Day.
After a great 'spy thriller' type start when Bond is captured, tortured and involved in a hand over this film gets progressively more silly culminating in a totally ludicrous and suspension of disbelief killing car fight at the north pole.

Die Hard 4.0.
Yes yes yes. The F22 sequence. I didn't actually mind this film at all - but I've only watched it once because I can't bear to see that bit again. Yes Bruce takes on an F22 and god almighty... It is the silliest and most unbelievable sequence in any non-superhero film. I think watching it again would completely ruin the first three Die Hard films for me. I'd just be thinking as Bruce climbs the elevator shaft...but in Die Hard 4.0 he turns into a superhero...

Star Wars - the original films.
The cgi in this case was pretty well carried out (although I thought some of the new spacecraft shots in the New Hope climatic battle didn't look 'right'), it was just the 'tinkering' opportunities which Mr Lucas was allowed by the new technology which got me down. You know the ones... swarms of tiny robots like flies buzzing everywhere on Tatooine, Greedo shooting first and so forth, adding 'Praxis waves' (look it up) to already impressive explosions ... Most of it didn't annoy me that much - in fact, in Empire, I quite liked the added windows to Cloud City. The one which really got me down was the character changing Greedo being allowed to shoot first. I need say no more. (Mutley style muttering). Oh and the Han Solo/Jabba the Hutt sequence in New Hope was poorly done.

King Kong.
The brontosaurus stampede section was crap. Otherwise pretty good.

Mummy Returns.
In an otherwise pretty good film cgi-wise the Scorpion King sections were pretty disappointing and looked like they were in another film entirely.

Feel free to add any more!

More than half of young drivers try to race their satnav's estimated journey time, an AA/Populus survey has revealed.

Almost three-quarters of motorists aged 18 to 24 have a satnav and 55% of them say that they put estimated journey times to the test on occasions, the poll showed.

The trend to try and out-smart technology also persists among the 60% of 25 to 34-year-olds who own a satnav, with more than one-third saying that they put the satnav's times to the test.

Yorkshire and Humberside is the region where satnav ownership is the highest (58%), and where the most people are satnav racers (18%).

Amazing news today that scientists have managed to propel particles along faster than the speed of light.

British scientists are to investigate astounding results which suggest Einstein was wrong when he said nothing could travel faster than light.

Teams in the US and Japan are expected to re-run an Italian experiment that has left physicists shaking their heads in disbelief.

The results released today suggest that sub-atomic particles called neutrinos can break the light barrier.

Of course one of the main things which might be inferred from this experiment is that faster-than-light travel could be possible.

You really would be the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy then!

Mind you it would all come to nothing with a bad hyperdrive motivator in your Millennium Falcon!

A remote UK air force base is a the forefront of international efforts to track a dead six-ton satellite which is expected to crash somewhere on the Earth's surface later today.

RAF Fylingdales, which is high on the North York Moors, near Whitby, is using its giant radar to track the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS).

The Fylingdales base forms part of a worldwide network of powerful radars and tracks all objects in orbit bigger than 10cm.

The station was originally built at the height of the Cold War to track any incoming ballistic missile attack - a role it still performs.

The launch of Gears of War 3 saw the usual late night queues at the Game in Oxford Circus London as people vie to be the first to get their hands on the title.

I've never quite understood the urge to do this as they ship so many to the stores in any case so if you toddled along at opening time in the morning you can get your hands on a copy - and have some much needed kip before a gaming frenzy.


Mind you, judging from pictures at the event, one suspects those at the launch probably have a fair amount of time on their hands.

Below: Some definitely non gaming supergeeks...

The launch of Gears of War 3 saw the usual late night queues at the Game in Oxford Circus London as people vie to be the first to get their hands on the title.

I've never quite understood the urge to do this as they ship so many to the stores in any case so if you toddled along at opening time in the morning you can get your hands on a copy - and have some much needed kip before a gaming frenzy.


Mind you, judging from pictures at the event, one suspects those at the launch probably have a fair amount of time on their hands.

Below: Some definitely non gaming supergeeks...

A shocking Facebook page mocking the fate of four men killed in the Wales mining disaster is under investigation.

Police received numerous complaints from members of the public who called for action to get the page taken down and a union official condemned the site as "thoroughly sick".

The online attack came as friends and families mourned the deaths of Phillip hill, 45, Charles Breslin, 62, David Powell, 50, and Garry Jenkins, 39.

Prayers were said in churches across the principality yesterday in memory of the men, whose bodies were discovered at the Gleision Colliery on Friday.

Transport tycoon Sir Brian Souter has suspended his campaign against Google after the search engine giant reinstated his personal website to its listings.

Sir Brian, chief executive and founder of bus and train firm Stagecoach Group, claimed his website had "mysteriously disappeared" from Google's top results when the term "Brian Souter" was searched.

Last week he accused the company of censorship and vowed to ask Westminster's Culture, Media and Sport Committee to investigate the way in which Google controls the right to free speech in the UK.