Technology: In A New PC, Mickey Meets The Mouse

Computers have come a long way from the dull beige box. The new Disney Dream Desk PC for kids is bright blue with yellow accents; the speakers are Mickey Mouse ears perched atop a flat-screen monitor. The coolest application is a game called Disney's Extremely Goofy Skateboarding, in which Goofy skateboards underwater and performs all sorts of spins and slides. There are also Disney-themed programs for mixing your own music, creating digital videos and drawing pictures. Kids can use Microsoft Works for homework and can safely surf the Net, thanks to the ContentProtect Internet filtering program. Built by the European PC maker Medion, the $599 PC (plus $299 for the 14.1-in. monitor) features a 2.66 GHz Intel Celeron processor, a 40-GB hard drive, 256 MB of memory and a CD burner. And there's an array of matching accessories, including a 1.3-megapixel digital camera ($79) and a game controller ($19).