Give the gift of Disney DVD this Christmas with the festive and hilarious release of Phineas and Ferb: A Very Perry Christmas!

And from Playhouse Disney the delightful Handy Manny: A Very Handy Holiday!

Available on Disney DVD from 3 November 2010!

Tis’ the season to be jolly and nothing will make you laugh harder than Phineas and Ferb: A Very Perry Christmas, released to Disney DVD 3 November 2010! Brand new to the Disney DVD collection, this hilarious and quirky animated series is a one-of-a-kind holiday adventure filled with magical fun, extreme adventure and festive flare guaranteed to make the whole family smile.

When evil scientist Dr Heinz Doofenshmirtz threatens to cancel Christmas by telling Santa that everyone in the wacky suburban town of Danville is naughty and not nice, it’s up to step-brothers Phineas and Ferb to set things straight and restore Christmas cheer! With the help of their trusty pet platypus Perry, who doubles as “Agent P”, a secret operative working for the OWCA (Organisation Without a Cool Acronym), can these courageous do-gooders stop wicked Dr Doof in time to save Christmas?

Created by the writers of The Simpsons, Rocko’s Modern Life and long-time director of prime time series Family Guy, this DVD is certain to have the whole family laughing all the way to New Years Eve! The laughs continue with a string of fantastic bonus features including the Perry-oke Sing-Along, Phineas and Ferb Virtual Fireplace, Dr D’s Xmas Jukebox-inator and much more. Phineas and Ferb: A Very Perry Christmas is the Perry-fect gift this festive season.
Meanwhile, the town of Sheetrock Hills is abuzz with Christmas cheer as Manny Garcia and his team of mismatched talking tools prepare to close up shop for Kelly’s Winter Holiday Party in Handy Manny: A Very Handy Holiday.
But when the Christmas lights in the town square suddenly go out, and a string of last-minute repairs are desperately needed, it looks as though our favourite handyman and his increasingly disgruntled tools will need a miracle to make it to the festivities in time!

With the Christmas lights still glowing and the mistletoe still on show, it’s now time for Manny and his team to celebrate New Year’s Eve. But when clumsy Mr Lopart takes on the task of coordinating the annual New Year’s Eve Ball, it leads to several accidents that require Manny and the tools’ help. Manny sets the gang to work quickly; but will it be enough to fix the damage in time to ring in the New Year with all their friends?

Join Manny as he teaches Pat, Turner and the whole gang about the true meaning of the holidays in this special festive edition of the Playhouse Disney favourite. With some handy teamwork, creative thinking and a “can do” attitude, the gang is about to discover that helping others is the greatest gift of all. Loaded with festive songs and bonus episodes including My Friends Tigger and Pooh: Many Thanks for Christopher Robin and My Friends Tigger and Pooh: Turtle’s Need for Speed, Handy Manny: A Very Handy Holiday is one DVD you’ll want to take home faster than you can say Feliz Navidad!

Give the gift of Disney this Christmas and enjoy these hilarious, heart-warming and soon-to-be family favourites, available to own on Disney DVD from 3 November, 2010.

Inspired by the Academy Award®-winning masterpiece Beauty and the Beast, Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas releases on DVD from November 3 2010

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment is proud to announce the release of Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas, inspired by the Academy Award® winning masterpiece Beauty and the Beast. Coming out of the Disney Vault for a limited release this Christmas, this wonderfully crafted tale will be available for the first time ever on DVD.

Share the wonder as Mrs. Potts (Angela Lansbury) recounts another “tale as old as time” about a Christmas past that almost wasn’t – thanks to the scheming of former court composer Forte (Tim Curry), now a gloomy, holiday-hating pipe organ, determined to keep Belle and Beast apart forever. Only a true Christmas miracle could possibly thwart his dastardly plans.

Reuniting the original voice cast, this spectacular gem sparkles with exciting special features, delightful songs,
spellbinding visuals, and enduring themes of hope, friendship and love. Give your family the gift of Disney this Christmas with the timeless magic of Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas.

PRODUCTION OVERVIEW – Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas
Director: Andrew Knight
Producer: Susan Kapigian
Writers: Flip Kogler
Cindy Marcus
Bill Motz
Bob Roth
Voice Talent: Paige O’Hara (Belle)
Robby Benson (Beast)
Jerry Orbach (Lumiere)
David Ogden Stiers (Cogsworth)
Angela Lansbury (Mrs. Potts)
Bernadette Peters (Angelique)
Tim Curry (Forte)
Haley Joel Osmont (Chip)
Frank Welker (Philippe / Sultan)
Jeff Bennett (Axe / Poke)
Jim Cummings (Various)
Katie Soucie (Enchantress)
Paul Reubens (Fife)
Genre: Animation / Family
Rating: G
Release Date: 3 November 2010
RRP: $19.95
DVD BONUS FEATURES
· ‘Click the Mouse’ – Behind the Scenes Featurette
· Games & Activities
o Forte’s Challenge Game
o Enchanted Environment
· ‘As Long as There’s Christmas’ Music Video Performed by Play
· Disney Song Collection
o ‘Deck the Halls’
o ‘Stories’
o ‘As Long as There’s Christmas’
o ‘Don’t Fall in Love’
o ‘As Long as There’s Christmas’ Reprise
o ‘A Cut Above the Rest’
· Sing Along with the Movie
· Bonus Episode –
o Disney’s Sing Me a Story with Belle ‘Stick To It (Don’t Give Up)’

As a token of our appreciation to all the Red Dead Redemption fans out there, the eagerly anticipated Hunting and Trading Outfits Pack downloadable content is now available on both PlayStation Network and Xbox LIVE, completely free of charge.

The Hunting and Trading Outfits Pack features two new outfits, the Savvy Merchant and the Expert Hunter, along with their associated challenges, plus the new elusive Jackalope animal that’s been added to the frontier.  Additionally, the pack contains a compatibility update that allows players who do not have the Liars and Cheats Pack and/or the Legends & Killers Pack the ability to see other players that do who are playing as characters from Red Dead Revolver or the Red Dead Redemption single player story.                                  
TO DOWNLOAD ON PLAYSTATION NETWORK
Once you’ve registered for a PlayStation Network account you can then scroll to the PlayStation Network icon on your XMB and select PlayStation Store. The Red Dead Redemption Hunting and Trading Outfits Pack is available from the Add-On section.

TO DOWNLOAD ON XBOX LIVE
Simply go to Xbox LIVE Marketplace with your connected Xbox 360 console and select the Red Dead Redemption Hunting and Trading Outfits Pack from the Game Add-ons section of Marketplace. Alternatively, you can download the DLC from the Xbox LIVE Marketplace website and have it ready and waiting for you the next time you go online with your Xbox 360 (requires Xbox LIVE Gold Membership for online play).

Don’t Make it Easy for Criminals to Learn too Much About You

Melbourne, 13 October 2010. Across generations there have always been those who just don’t trust new technologies. It happened with radio, TV and more recently with the Internet. In the case of the latter, a little distrust would serve us well — especially when it comes to sharing information about ourselves on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Foursquare and other social media outlets.

As social networking continues to evolve, location-based services such as FourSquare and Facebook Places have developed. The evolution of social networking and geo-tagging means learning how to protect one’s online privacy becomes critical. Most people would be surprised to discover that when they upload a picture from their smart phones to Twitter, that picture is encoded with the latitude and longitude of the picture’s location, as seen in this image.

This data can then be used to match your geographic location with a business, home or other public place via Google Maps (see ICanStalkU.com).

Peter Cameron, Managing Director of AVG (AU/NZ), says: “By themselves, certain shared facts may seem harmless enough. But disparate pieces of ourselves can easily be assembled like puzzles to create holistic pictures of our daily lives. Don’t make it easy for criminals — follow these tips to protect yourself.”

Don’t post pictures online. If you must, make sure they can only be viewed by those you trust. There are privacy features on Facebook that will let you do this, but remember there is nothing to stop your contacts from copying and pasting pictures openly elsewhere.

If you want to share location or other personal info on Twitter, or you’re afraid of inadvertently giving away too much, create a separate network just for those you know and trust, and set the privacy setting to protected. But again, nothing prevents your contacts from publicly retweeting your updates.

For your larger online networks, always consider how someone might use posted info against you before you post. It is also a good idea to regularly look back on what you’ve posted to see how updates might be combined together to indicate where you live, work or go to school.

If you have a smart phone, disable the geotagging feature. But if you must use location-based services such as Foursquare, never “check in” from home as this will disclose your address.

Google yourself to see what others can find out about you online. Be sure to remove yourself from Spokeo and other aggregators of personal content.

Earlier this year we learnt about the so-called Bling-Ring, where some LA kids targeted celebs’ homes, robbing them of A$3.6 million worth of jewellery, artworks and designer clothes. Some of the celebrities burgled were Orlando Bloom, Megan Fox, Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton.

The teenage gang used Google Earth to locate and survey the homes and find ways in. For example, Paris Hilton lived in a gated community, but the kids found via Google Earth that there was a gully that went under a fence, and when they went and looked, found they could easily walk right in.

Then they simply watched Twitter until Paris announced that she was going out, and walked right up to her house. They found a key hidden near the door and returned to Hilton’s house five times.

“A little bit of extra care can help protect you from the baddies out there,” Cameron says. “After all, you wouldn’t hand out your address and personal details to strangers in the street, so don’t do it in the online world.”

AVG (AU/NZ) has a comprehensive range of security tips on its web site at http://www.avg.com.au/resources/security-tips/.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – 13 October 2010: Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC) today announced availability of the public beta of Norton 360 version 5.0, an award-winning premium all-in-one security suite.  Norton 360 beta incorporates the powerful security protection found in Norton Internet Security 2011, including the latest generation of the Norton reputation-based security technology.  Norton products leverage this to check specific attributes of downloaded files to identify and stop completely new malicious programs faster than ever, no matter which browser, instant messenger or file sharing program you use[1].  Since its launch last year, more than one trillion file reputation ratings have been served by this powerful technology.  Norton is so effective that in a third-party test by Dennis Labs, it ranked first in real world threat detection[2] and was the only vendor to achieve a remarkable 100 percent protection score, marking its second year in a row to secure this distinction.

Additional security features that help deliver Norton’s award-winning protection include Download Insight 2.0, which checks every download file for malware before it is allowed to run using the latest-generation reputation system and SONAR 3, which provides true “zero-day” protection against new and emerging threats designed to evade other security features.  Also in Norton 360 beta is System Insight 2.0, with new Proactive Performance Alerts that identify programs that overuse system resources and cause PC slowdowns.

In addition to providing core security, Norton 360 beta includes identity protection, automatic backup and PC tuneup features to give computer users comprehensive, automated protection for their PC in a simple set-it-and-forget-it package.  Consumers can feel safer shopping and banking online with antiphishing technology, Identity Safe protection, and Norton Safe Web site ratings.  Norton 360 beta also offers the ability to backup important files or photos online and  restore or access them from anywhere on the Web.  PC tuneup technology is designed to improve computer performance so users can spend more time doing what they want, and less time waiting for their computer to boot up or for applications to load. 

“Full protection online requires a combination of the right security solution, identity protection, reliable backups, and regular PC maintenance,” said Jens Meggers, vice president of engineering, Norton products.  “But a recent study conducted by Norton shows that 62 percent of adults worldwide don’t use strong passwords and 69 percent don’t regularly backup[1], which are important steps to take to stay secure online.  Norton 360 makes it easy for consumers to take these actions, plus more, to ensure their files, photos, and important documents are protected.”

Norton 360 beta’s new user interface organises settings, security controls, and information about a computer’s  protection and performance status in one simple redesigned screen. New this year is the Norton Protection Map, which provides up-to-the minute information about the newest threats Norton has identified and is protecting its users against. This map brings to life the fact that cybercrime is happening right now, all around the world, reminding users that they need to be diligent about online safety. The new user interface also includes one-click access to Norton Online Family, a family safety service, and Norton Safe Web, which warns if a website is unsafe before clicking on it.

Beta Availability

The beta is available for free public download now at:  www.norton.com/n360v5beta.  Norton beta testers are encouraged to share feedback and discuss their product experiences in our Norton Public Beta Forum.

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures announced today TRON Night: A special global event on October 28, 2010 that will give audiences the first opportunity to step onto the Grid and into the cutting-edge, 3D world of Walt Disney Pictures’ high-tech adventure “TRON: Legacy,” for an exciting 20-plus-minute sneak peek of the highly anticipated film.

Select cinemas across Australia and the world will offer a special screening of thrilling, never-before-seen 3D footage. “It’s exciting to offer fans an early, exclusive 3D preview of ‘TRON: Legacy’. We can’t wait for audiences around the world to experience the visually stunning and cutting-edge world that director Joe Kosinski has created,” said Sean Bailey, President of Production, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

Tickets to the October 28th TRON Night events are available to WIN through Event, Hoyts and Village cinemas via the links below.

Event Cinema Indooroopilly (Qld)
Event Cinema Robina (Qld)
Event Cinema Parramatta (NSW)
Event Cinema Marion (SA)
Event Cinema Innaloo (WA)
To Win tickets log on to www.facebook.com/eventcinemas from Oct 14.

Hoyts EQ (Imax) (NSW)
Hoyts Highpoint (Imax) (VIC)
Hoyts Norwood (SA)
Hoyts Carousel (Imax) (WA)
To win tickets log on to hoyts.com.au from Oct 14.

Village Jam Factory (VIC)
To win tickets log on to villagecinemas.com.au from Oct 14.

ADDITIONAL TRON LEGACY HIGHLIGHTS:

• Walt Disney Records (released locally via Universal Music Australia) will release the “TRON: Legacy” official motion picture Soundtrack, scored by the French electronic music duo Daft Punk, on December 8th. 
• On December 7th, Disney Interactive Studios will launch the next-gen video game “TRON: Evolution” for all major home video game consoles, Windows PC and handheld platforms.

Highly Anticipated Medal of Honor Delivers Authenticity and Award-winning Gameplay

Australia, Oct 13, 2010 — Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS), announced that Medal of Honor(TM) will be available at retail stores in Australia tomorrow, October 14. Co-developed by EA’s Danger Close(TM) Studio in Los Angeles and DICE in Stockholm, Medal of Honor heralds the return of EA’s storied first person shooter franchise with award-winning multiplayer combat and stunningly authentic single-player incursions. Set in today’s real-world war zone and inspired by actual missions in Afghanistan, Medal of Honor was developed with unprecedented access to the U.S. Army as well as active and retired Tier 1 Operators. The game brings a new level of authenticity to interactivity, inspired by soldiers’ stories from the war in Afghanistan, which the NY Times Magazine calls, “…transgressively real.”

Medal of Honor has impressed critics and fans around the world with its authentic environments, advanced graphics, and outstanding gameplay. As Medal of Honor ships tomorrow, it launches with great momentum. Some highlights:

• Highest pre-orders in the 11-year history of the Medal of Honor franchise.
• Supported by a global marketing campaign including multiple TV spots.
• Over 180K Facebook fans and 25K Twitter followers before the game even shipped.
• Exposed Medal of Honor multiplayer to over 1M people across PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC platforms via two open betas to ensure the best performing multiplayer gameplay experience.
• PC Multiplayer Beta Peak Simultaneous Users (PSUs) outperformed EA’s previous record-holder Battlefield: Bad Company(TM) 2 by 41%.

According to internal estimates, Medal of Honor is slated to be the biggest blockbuster week-one event in October 2010 outpacing movies such as ‘The Social Network’ ($46M), ‘Secretariat’ ($12.6) and ‘Life as We Know It’ ($14.6). Box office estimates according to Boxofficemojo.com.

Launched Linkin Park song “Catalyst” to #1 with music video set in the Medal of Honor fiction; 6.5M worldwide views to date making it #1 most viewed video on YouTube on August 1 and 2.

For the first time in its 11-year history, Medal of Honor leaves the WWII theatre and enters the modern setting of war-torn Afghanistan. The game is told through the lens of a small band of fictional characters within the real-life Tier 1 Operators, a relatively unknown instrument of the U.S. Military. Tier 1 Operators function under the National Command Authority to take on missions so dangerous, so specialized; they require an elite level of soldier. The unparalleled authenticity and realism in the Medal of Honor single player campaign is supported by a multiplayer mode awarded “Best Multiplayer of E3 2010” by GameSpy, with its dedicated servers and full feature set developed by DICE, delivering one of the most seamless online experiences of the year.

Medal of Honor will be available tomorrow in Australia on October 14, 2010 for the Xbox 360(R) videogame and entertainment system, PlayStation(R)3 computer entertainment system and PC. Medal of Honor is rated “MA15+” by the OFLC.

For more information on EA, please visit www.ea.com. For more information on Medal of Honor, follow the game on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/medalofhonor  or become a fan on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/medalofhonor.

A new exhibition exploring the long-held traditional beliefs and cultural practices of contemporary West African society opens at the Immigration Museum on 12 November 2010.   

West Africa: Rhythm and Spirit features a collection of objects, photographs and film footage amassed by Joel A. and Patricia H. Vanderburg between 1964 and 1975 that provides a window into the life of 28 different contemporary West African cultures, primarily located in Nigeria and Ghana. The exhibition explores the diversity of these cultural groups and the ways in which their identity and creativity is expressed through cultural practices rooted in long-held traditions and beliefs.

“This fascinating collection is very representative of how communities, particularly in rural areas, live in West Africa today”, says Dr David Dorward, former Director of the African Research Institute, La Trobe University. “The objects in this exhibition, including beautifully decorative cloth and jewellery, masks and intricately carved figures, reflect a rich cultural past and traditional belief systems that are still relevant and actively maintained within many cultural groups”.

West Africa: Rhythm and Spirit encompasses six major themes – kingship and authority, fertility, pattern and adornment, divination, masks and masquerades, and trade – which reflect the diversity and dynamism of West African cultures.

“With more than 9,500 West African born people now living in Australia, West Africa: Rhythm and Spirit presents a very exciting opportunity for the Immigration Museum to showcase the wonderful cultural traditions of a relatively new and growing part of our community”, said Padmini Sebastian, Immigration Museum Manager.

Highlights of the West Africa: Rhythm and Spirit exhibition include:

Cowrie shells and manillas. Cowrie shells were used for small transactions, such as in bush markets to buy food. Manillas are brass bracelets, and were manufactured in England in the 17^th and 18^th centuries for the buying of slaves in West Africa.

Ere ibeji figures. These intricately carved wooden figures are made following the death of a twin, and the hair styles, scarification and general body features can often identify the town where they come from. The ere ibeji figures on display are from the Yoruba people of Nigeria, who have the highest rate of twin births in the world.

Initiation mask. This elaborate mask from Nigeria is worn like a helmet and has a colourful plant fibre collar symbolising aggression. Masks and masquerades are a key feature of West African culture and are often worn to make social commentary and provide entertainment, to celebrate a harvest or to mark the transition from childhood to adulthood.

Edan Ogboni. The Ogboni society are an intensely secret society of the Yoruba people of Nigeria who wear these small Edan Ogboni brass figures around the neck to represent a member’s social standing and the authority of the group. The Edan Ogboni figures are both male and female, representing the unity of both genders.

West Africa: Rhythm and Spirit is an Otago Museum exhibition from Dunedin, New Zealand.

West Africa: Rhythm and Spirit

12 November 2010 to 29 May 2011
Immigration Museum, 400 Flinders Street, Melbourne
Adults $8, children and concession FREE