Virgin Mobile launches Surprise Gig Tour with Wolfmother, MGMT and others

To celebrate its Surprise Gig bonus data offer, Virgin Mobile has announced the Surprise Gig Tour - a series of free, last-minute music gigs around Australia to be announced via its Members' Lounge Facebook page.

Schoolgirl makes the team for Delhi

WHEN you are only 14, aren't you supposed doing things like playing computer games, rapid-fire texting your friends, and working out ways to get out of doing your homework? She may like doing all those things, too, but as of last night, Yolane Kukla is no longer your average 14-year-old.

Teen takes down world champ

WHEN you are only 14, aren't you supposed to play computer games, text your friends, and get out of homework? Yolane Kukla may do all those things too but she is no longer an average 14-year-old.

Video game violence stand-off

FAMILY and Christian groups have drawn on evidence they claim shows links between violent video games and increased violence among players as part of a broader debate over whether the games should be legally sold in Australia.

In Melbourne What they're saying . . .

In Melbourne

Not all home-buyer assistance is gone

You say house prices posted the strongest quarterly growth in more than half a decade "despite dwindling government grants" ("House prices surge ahead of rate rises", February 2). By that you mean, of course, the first-home buyer grants which were worth a few hundred million dollars annually. But the other grants, christened "negative gearing" and "halved capital gains tax", which amount to several billion dollars a year, are still with us.

Juvenile prisoners the most violent

THE state's most violent prison is a young offenders facility where one in every two prisoners has been assaulted in the past three years.

FAMILY FUN Adapted from Parlour Games for Modern Families by Myfanwy Jones and Spiri Tsintziras, Scribe, $35.

TWO MOTHERS, Myfanwy Jones and Spiri Tsintziras, were sitting in a park watching their children play when they began reminiscing about the games of their childhood.

Stop backing just one code and barrack for Australian sport

JUST what is going on in this great country and its preoccupation with sport? Negativity and cynicism seem to be controlling the agenda. Football, AFL, rugby league or union - whatever our football passion - it's time to get positive here and stop treating opportunity with suspicion ... especially when "your" code is not controlling the debate. It is interesting to note how "the whingeing Poms" have embraced the opportunity to stage the World Cup. In London, Tottenham Hotspurs chairman Daniel Levy has written to his shareholders urging them to write to Haringey Council to increase the chances of getting planning permission for a new 58,000-seat stadium, which he believes could be used as a host ground if England's 2018 World Cup bid is successful. What a shame the owners and controllers of our sporting stadiums don't take a leaf out of Mr Levy's book and see the opportunity here. Forget which code you support, this World Cup bid is for all Australians to get behind. Stop thinking that the glass is always half empty or we will become a sporting joke.

Dancing around the problem

Celebrated choreographer Hofesh Shechter tells Stephanie Bunbury he only started dancing to overcome his shyness.

'Proponents of new schemes underestimate difficulties and assume audiences will come' MARCUS WESTBURY

WHY don't we see teething problems coming when we build a new cultural centre? There is something strangely familiar about events at the Melbourne Recital Centre last week. A major new cultural centre opens and soon finds itself over budget. Programs are slashed, directors are accused of mismanagement and recriminations begin among former allies.

Pixel perfect

MAKING the leap from real life into a computer game is a well-driven path for many a car but it's rare to see a "virtual" car jump from computer screen into your driveway.

Macfile

WAS it Casanova that said: "Many a good tune is played on an old fiddle"? Probably not, but when it comes to iPhone/iPod touch games, the oldies look like some of the better goodies. And what better oldie in the games business than Monopoly?

Interactive Video Sports Have Only Wii Effect On Obesity

INTERACTIVE sports video games such as the Nintendo Wii are better for children than conventional computer games, but do not tackle the epidemic of childhood obesity, British research shows.

Men Charged Over Nowra Stolen Computers

CHARGES have been laid against two men after a quantity of stolen computer equipment and computer games was allegedly seized at a Nowra home.

Computer Games

Postgraduate courses are keeping pace with IT industries, writes Yvette Nielsen.