Recently in Internet and Gaming Category

Some of the stars of "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" are on Twitter, and The Examiner has published a helpful list to let you follow all their tweets.

Mickey Mouse is my favorite animated character. Part of the reason is historic -- he starred in the first movie to feature a synchronized soundtrack, "Steamboat Willie." And he was the first character and later the emblem for what would become Walt Disney Studios. Walt Disney lost the rights to his successful Oswald Rabbit character and decided to start his own studio with a new idea. As Disney said,

We thought of a tiny bit of a mouse that would have something of the wistfulness of Chaplin -- a little fellow trying to do the best he could. When people laugh at Mickey Mouse, it's because he's so human; and that is the secret of his popularity. I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing -- that it was all started by a mouse.

My favorite Mickey appearance is in "Fantasia," where he plays the sorcerer's apprentice who gets into trouble when he tries to perform a little magic.

But Mickey has not been much more than a logo for quite a while. What I like best about him, his perpetually cheery outlook, is a challenge for film-makers. It is easier for them to write stories for characters who are frustrated (Donald Duck), clumsy (Goofy), or mischievous (Chip and Dale). As he gets ready to turn 81 on November 18, Mickey is getting more attention -- and a bit of a personality change. The New York Times reports that Mickey will star in a new video game and is getting a new look to go with a more aggressive persona. The game is "Epic Mickey, in which the formerly squeaky clean character can be cantankerous and cunning, as well as heroic, as he traverses a forbidding wasteland" battling none other than Oswald Rabbit. Players will be able to decide whether their Mickey character will be helpful or "selfish and destructive."

I understand that Disney wants to make Mickey Mouse relevant to a new generation. But I hope Disney remembers what makes Mickey so appealing. And I hope Disney pays attention to the lessons of "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" about how much trouble you can get into messing with magic.

Can you review a movie in 140 characters? TwitCritics thinks you can. This site assembles tweets about current releases and distills them into a rating. You can follow them by RSS feed, on Facebook, or, of course, on Twitter. The reviews so far seem to skew more positive than other aggregators like Rotten Tomatoes, probably because tweeters are more motivated to post when they are feeling enthusiastic. Civilian reviews in general tend to be more positive because people only buy tickets to movies they want to see so there is a selection bias. It is fun to see how the fans react, just another way Twitter is becoming the go-to real-time temperature-taker for the hive mind.

Thanks to my beloved nephew Dante for this suggestion!

You know the old saying "No matter where I serve my guests, they seem to like my kitchen best?" Well, that's what I think of when I watch Irene and her new cooking show, Irene Cooking With the Stars. She is an award-winning actress and comedian who has cooked for much of Hollywood and now they will be joining her on her online show. Her warm and winning personality will make you feel like you're sitting in her kitchen and can almost smell the food. A sneak peek from the first webisode, featuring Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx, is available now.

IRENE COOKING WITH THE STARS SNEAK PEEK

Follow Irene on MySpace and visit her new interactive website for recipes, blog posts, and information and on Twitter at Irenecooking to learn about fun, healthy, and affordable cooking. She even features "Top Ramen Fridays" to help families save money.

YouTube has a fascinating new section with top reporters explaining how they get, organize, verify, and tell their stories. Katie Couric explains how to conduct an interview. Bob Woodward talks about investigative journalism. NPR's Scott Simon talks about how to tell a story. Ariana Huffington explains citizen journalism. Tavis Smiley talks about "digging deep and getting more." This is an outstanding resource for anyone who wants to understand -- or make -- news.

Michael J. Nelson is the former host and writer of the Emmy-nominated, Peabody Award-winning Mystery Science Theater 3000 and the author of the hilarious Mike Nelson's Movie Megacheese. His witty commentary on movies is wildly funny but also very clever...

Many thanks to Only Good Movies for listing my site as one of the 100 top places on the Web for information and insight about the movies!...

You've heard of educational software that teaches you something but this is educational software that teaches scientists something. Foldit is a Tetris-like game that is easy to understand but a challenge to master. That's what makes it fun. What makes...

Telltale, Inc. and Aardman Animations have announced that Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, the new comedy game series based on the claymation duo, will premiere for PC on March 24. The series' Xbox LIVE® Arcade debut will follow soon. In...

Social network sites risk infantilizing the mid-21st century mind, leaving it characterized by short attention spans, sensationalism, inability to empathize and a shaky sense of identity, according to a leading neuroscientist. The UK paper The Guardian reports that Lady Greenfield,...

The Jewish Partisan Educational Foundation has put together free resources for teachers who want their students to learn about the resistance fighters who opposed the Nazis. Their website includes a place to ask real-life partisans like the Bielski brothers featured...

Celebrate the inauguration of the nation's 44th president with the help of the fabulously rich and engaging resources of Our White House. The non-profit, non-partisan National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance has created a free online presidential inauguration activity guide...

Thanks so much to my dear friend Lilah Lohr for showing me Andy Ihnatko's wonderful blog Celestial Waste of Bandwidth and especially his Amazon Advent Calendar. I love his tribute to the classic musical "The Band Wagon," which he bravely...

Be sure to check out Speekaboos -- storybook recordings featuring Kevin Bacon, Kelly Ripa, Marcia Gay Harden, Minnie Driver, Clay Aiken, Bob Saget, Fran Drescher, Tom Arnold, Chazz Palminteri, Harry Shearer, Nick Cannon and many others reading stories for children....

One of my very favorite movie critics is writer/speaker Desson Thomson, whose wonderful new website has an archive of reviews, blog posts, clips from his NPR commentaries, and contact information for groups who'd like to have him do a presentation...

Rock Band and Guitar Hero are two of the most popular video games and many parents like them because they do not involve shooting anyone or blowing things up. Instead they encourage cooperation and build an understanding of music and...

Parents often fear that their kids are wasting their time clicking around the web. But a new study on teen use of online media commissioned by the MacArthur Foundation found that "America's youth are developing important social and technical skills...

Be sure to take a look at the excellent Ten Tips for Parenting the Facebook Generation from Beliefnet's Hesham Hassaballa. Technology has made the risks and humiliations and cliquishness of the early teen years exponentially more treacherous, and these guidelines...

Thanks very much to blogs.com for asking me for my list of the best blogs about children's entertainment. Please check them out, especially Elizabeth's Children's Books Blog, Kids Music that Rocks, Zooglobble (where I found this adorable clip), and, for...

Dozens of films released each month never play in theaters outside of a few big cities. But Gigantic Digital is making independent films available online for a modest charge. For a ticket price of just $2.99, we'll stream it to...

The Washington Post has a great photo of my friend Ally Burguieres playing video games with her mother and sister. The article says: Women and girls make up 40 percent of the gamer population, according to the Entertainment Software Association,...

Spore is not just one of the most highly anticipated computer games of the year. It is one of the most highly anticipated works of art and entertainment in any category. Think I'm exaggerating? Sales last year were $9.5 billion....

With not much new in theaters this week and next week, it's a good time to investigate some of the great online resources for entertainment. I was delighted to find out that there is still a way to see Joss...

I think one reason I became a critic is that I am fascinated by mistakes. I don't mind seeing bad movies (most of the time) because I like to think about what it is that makes them so bad. And...

PalTalk has a site where you can put in any name -- yours or a friend's -- and it will create a remarkably real-looking news broadcast about how the name you type in has become a massive nationwide political phenomenon...

The Museum of the Moving Image has a fantastic and nostalgic online exhibit of classic 1980's video games like Frogger, Space Invaders, Pong, Missile Command, and of course Pac-Man. Best of all, you can download and play the games --...

Maybe it's just too much exposure to commercials for Bridezilla, a sort of WWE with smackdowns between maniacal brides and their wedding planners, families, and bridesmaids, but I was horrified to read a press release today from MyKidsRegistry.com, a new...