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NORAD Santa Tracker

December 24, 2013 by · Comments Off on NORAD Santa Tracker 

NORAD Santa Tracker, NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) started tracking him when a 1955 advert encouraged children to phone Santa – but gave the wrong number.

Once he realised what had happened, Colonel Harry Shoup – who came to be known as the “Santa Colonel” – quickly told his staff to answer the calls with an update on Father Christmas’s current position.

Nowadays, volunteers staff call centres on Christmas Eve and field around 70,000 phone calls each year from 200 countries.

NORAD online Santa tracker

Then deputy commander of NORAD Lt. Gen. Marcel Duval said in 2010: “It’s really ingrained in the NORAD psyche and culture.

“It’s a goodwill gesture from all of us, on our time off, to all the kids on the planet.”

Through the years the tracker has become more advanced, and it now has its own Twitter, Facebook and YouTube accounts.

This year sees a new website that not only counts down the days until Father Christmas will begin delivering presents but lets you visit the digital North Pole and play various games.

Every day, NORAD will release a new game on the site; currently you can play a memory game.

On Christmas day, the site will monitor Father Christmas and the reindeers’ whereabouts on a map and keep a running tally of the number of gifts delivered.

Bing has optimised the site for touchscreen devices and is using 3D technology with WebGL to provide a “more realistic-looking version of Santa’s Village and Santa’s trek across the world”.

Norad Santa Tracker 2011

December 23, 2011 by · Comments Off on Norad Santa Tracker 2011 

Norad Santa Tracker 2011Norad Santa Tracker 2011, Santa is real. He brings all the good boys and girls their presents, eats some cookies, drinks a glass of milk and feeds a carrot to his reindeer. Oh, and he also records personalized video greeting cards, uses QR gift tags and shows up on your OnStar dashboard.

The holidays are a season for the wilful suspension of disbelief, and once again, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, also known as NORAD, is helping children big and small to keep tabs on Santa’s whereabouts. NORAD, which was established as a joint Canadian and U.S. airspace defense military organization, has been tracking Santa for more than 50 years. These days, it’s utilizing radar, fighter jets and a network of webcams to do so. Status updates are posted to Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Google Earth and a whole bunch of other services.

But of course there is a whole lot of other geeky holiday fun to be had, from the aforementioned QR gift tags and holiday greeting cards to seasonal mix-tape apps. Still need a last minute virtual present? Or want to know when Santa will reach your house? Then check out the following things:

NORAD’s Santa Twitter, Facebook and Google+ feeds offer up-to-the-minute updates on Santa’s progress around the globe.
NORAD also lets you track Santa via Google Earth, Google Maps and through dedicated apps for iOS and Android. Please beware: Santa’s schedule is busy these days, so you’ll only get to see him on Google Maps and Google Earth on Christmas Eve.
Videos from NORAD’s SantaCams are going to be uploaded to YouTube.
NORAD is also partnering with OnStar, so you’ll be able to get Santa updates while on the road. Just don’t try to chase him, the old man is known for his offroad adventures.
Call 1-877-HI-NORAD, and one of 1,200 volunteers will tell you exactly where Santa is and when he will reach your house.
Want to send someone a personal message from Santa? Then check out Google’s Santa video generator, which can be personalized with names, locations and even favorite gifts.
Still need to geek up your gifts? Then how about using QR codes as gift tags? You can record your own holiday message as a YouTube video and then make a QR code that links to the video. CNET’s Sharon Vaknin has a detailed step-by-step guide.
The free XMAS Stereo iOS app makes it possible to compile your very own holiday-themed video mix tapes for your loved ones.
And finally, what would the holidays be without Elf Yourself? The classic personalized JibJab greeting card has now been used close to 200 million times, and it’s still a lot of fun.

NORAD Santa Tracker

December 5, 2011 by · Comments Off on NORAD Santa Tracker 

NORAD Santa Tracker, Anxious for Christmas or know some young ones who are? On Thursday, a special website launched just for the holiday season, bringing games and videos leading up to Christmas Eve.

On Dec. 24, the NORAD Santa Tracker starts tracking Santa’s journey, a special treat for believers young and old.

The tradition started in 1955 after an advertisement for Sears Roebuck & Co. misprinted a telephone number for a special “Santa hotline.” Instead of reaching Kris Kringle, the number put kids through to the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) Commander-in-Chief’s operations, according to a description on the NORAD Tracks Santa Facebook page, which has more than 715,600 “likes.”

Colonel Harry Shoup, Director of Operations at the time, received the first ‘Santa’ call and had his staff check radar data for Santa. From then on, children who called in were given an update on his position.

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