Wednesday Website of The Week: Give a Day, Get a Day

(In keeping with the spirit of the holidays we're dedicating our weekly WWW to great sites/causes for the month of December.)

This is probably the first time we've ever linked to a Disney page for charitable reasons. Hey, we love the mouse house as much as anyone (probably a bit more) but Disney isn't the first name you think of, when you think of people in need.

As you may recall from the ads that played about a month ago (and will probably pick up again shortly) Disney is making a unique offer for their 2010 promotion: Essentially, doing a day of volunteer service for a participating organization will earn you a single day admission to a Disney theme park. We don't know just which organizations are participating, or how the logistics of the offer will play out, but you can sign up here now, and they'll email the details when they're available on January 1st. The project is powered by the HandsON Network, billed as the largest volunteer network in the nation. Or just check the site on New Year's. Hey, you might as well extend the spirit of giving into the new year, and get something back at the same time!

Get Ready for the Goofy Bar: Jobs Said to be Influencing Disney Store Design

The New York Times reports Apple's (and Disney's) Steve Jobs and the Apple retail team are helping revamp the Disney stores. We've received the first transcript of a customer interaction in the new stores:

"Welcome to the Disney Store, may I help you?"

"Yes, my Buzz Lightyear wings are locked up."

"Have you tried a hard reset?" Hold down his voice command button and press in on his right boot for ten seconds."

"That didn't do anything."

"Ok, let's get you signed in to the Goofy Bar... Looks like we have a slot tomorrow at 11AM."

"Tomorrow?"

"Yes. Did you get DisneyCare on this item?"

"No."

"Well, you've had it 13 months, which means it's out of warranty. A new one is $24.99. The repair on this one is a flat fee of $22.99."

"What? That's ridiculous! This is a racket!"

"Actually, it's an iRacket. Have a magical day!"

Geek News: Disney Buys Marvel for $4 Billion

Wow. This story really came out of left field. It was announced earlier today that Disney is buying Marvel for $4billion. Disney will get the rights to over 5,000 characters, including the Spiderman, x-Men, and Ironman franchises.

Early reaction from Marvel fans is mixed, but long-term, this opens up all kinds of potential. John Lasseter and the team at Pixar for example, have a whole new universe to play in, and given their track record, I would trust them to do a far better job than some of the Marvel movies of the last decade.

Additionally, while overlaying Marvel characters into the Disney theme parks could be awkward and/or difficult, imagine a superhero theme park all its own.

Interesting news, indeed.

Disney's Fairies Fly for iPhone and iPod Touch Review

Disney has made its foray into the world of iPhone and iPod Touch gaming with Fairies Fly. We'll give them kudos for bringing a girl-centric game to the App Store. The graphics are great, and the gameplay is fine, but simplistic. Here's a full look:

Becoming a successful podcaster and more

Now that's it's so easy to share your thoughts with the world via podcast, how can you cut through the clutter of all those voices, and build a solid and stable audience? Where can that success take you? We asked the highly successful Disney podcaster Ricky Brigante, the host of "Inside The Magic" for his podcasting secrets, and find out how he's taken his interest to the next level with a new print magazine. And of course, he does it all on his Mac: