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Plus: Tracking Santa's Journey: There's An App for That and Santa Tracker 2011 App
NORAD's preparations for tracking Santa's flight path over North America this year are in place. You can receive updates from the North Pole and discover new surprises in the Kids' Countdown Village.
Santa's elves have been busier than usual this year preparing. Visit Santa's Village to see what's been going on, and join in on the fun here:
http://www.noradsanta.org/en/index.html
NORAD uses four high-tech systems to track Santa radar, satellites, Santa Cams and fighter jets.
Tracking Santa starts with the NORAD radar system called the North Warning System - a powerful radar system consisting of 47 installations strung across the northern border of North America. On December 24th, NORAD monitors the radar systems continuously for indications that Santa Claus has left the North Pole.
The moment radar indicates Santa has lifted off, NORAD switches to its second detection system. Satellites positioned in geo-synchronous orbit at 22,300 miles from the Earth's surface are equipped with infrared sensors, which enable them to detect heat. Amazingly, Rudolph's bright red nose gives off an infrared signature, which allows the NORAD satellites to detect Rudolph and Santa.
The third tracking system is NORAD's Santa Cam network, which was first used in 1998, the year NORAD first put its Santa Tracking program on the Internet. Santa Cams are ultra-cool, high-tech, high-speed digital cameras that are pre-positioned at many locations around the world. NORAD only uses these cameras once a year to capture images and videos of Santa and his reindeer as they make their journey around the world.
The fourth system is made up of fighter jets. Canadian NORAD fighter pilots flying the CF-18 aricraft intercept and welcome Santa to North America. In the United States, American NORAD fighter pilots in either the F-15 or the F-16 get the thrill of flying alongside Santa and his famous reindeer: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and, of course, Rudolph.
In addition to tracking Santa on the NORAD Tracks Santa homepage, you can also track his flight in Google Earth.Visit this page on Christmas Eve:
http://www.noradsanta.org/en/track3d.html
This Christmas Eve, you can also join NORAD to track Santa's flight from your smartphone. On December 24th, open Google Maps for mobile and do a search for "Santa" to see his latest location.
For more than 50 years, NORAD and its predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) have tracked Santas flight.
The tradition began in 1955 after a Colorado Springs-based Sears Roebuck & Co. advertisement for children to call Santa misprinted the telephone number. Instead of reaching Santa, the phone number put kids through to the CONAD Commander-in-Chiefs operations "hotline." The Director of Operations at the time, Colonel Harry Shoup, had his staff check the radar for indications of Santa making his way south from the North Pole. Children who called were given updates on his location, and a tradition was born.
In 1958, the governments of Canada and the United States created a bi-national air defense command for North America called the North American Aerospace Defense Command, also known as NORAD, which then took on the tradition of tracking Santa. NORAD, provides advanced warning of impending missile and air attacks against its member nations, safeguards the air sovereignty of North America, and maintains airborne forces for defense against attack.
NORAD's mission has evolved over the years. The most recent "evolution" coming as a result of the tragic events of September 11, 2001. NORAD now coordinates closely with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and NAV CANADA, Canada's equivalent to America's FAA, to monitor the airspace within Canada and the United States. In addition, the command also conducts maritime monitoring.
The men and women of NORAD are constantly watching the skies and waterways of the United States and Canada to keep us safe.
Tracking Santa in Google Earth
Google Engineering Elf Brian McClendon notes that the Santa tracker has really come a long way. He syas he always thought NORAD's Santa Tracker was a great holiday tradition, but thought could have been even better if people could visualize exactly where Santa was on Christmas Eve. So in 2004, shortly after Keyhole was acquired by Google, they followed Santa in the "Keyhole Earth Viewer" - Google Earth's original name - calling it the "Keyhole Santa Radar." The audience was relatively small since Keyhole was still a for-pay service at that point, hosted on a single machine shared with the Keyhole Community BBS server, but even so that forst night about 25,000 people kept tabs on Santa and, needless to say, wreaked some havoc on Google's servers.
Over the next two years, Google's Santa-tracking efforts improved dramatically, and by December 2005, Keyhole had become Google Earth and the Santa tracker audience had become much, much larger. Google's "Santa Radar" team also grew: with enhancements like greatly improved icons from Dennis Hwang, the Google Doodler, and 20 machines set up to serve the tracking information. Google engineer elf Michael Ashbridge took over the software and more than 250,000 people tracked Santa on Google Earth that Christmas Eve. In 2006, Google acquired SketchUp, a 3D modeling software that enabled them to include models of Santa's North Pole workshop and sleigh. Google also incorporated a tracking feed directly from NORAD's headquarters, and were now displaying NORAD's information in Google Earth. That year, more than a million people tracked Santa.
In 2007, Google became NORAD's official Santa Tracking technology partner and hosted http://www.noradsanta.org . In addition to tracking Santa in Google Earth, they added a Google Maps tracker and integrated YouTube videos into the journey as well, and now had Santa on the map and on "Santa Cam" arriving in several different locations around the world, with commentary in six different languages. Elf McClendon says he heavy traffic - several millions of users - put Google's infrastructure to the test, but with some heroic work by Google's system reliability engineers, the Santa Tracker worked continuously.
This year, Elf Bruno Bowden is in charge of the Santa software, and Google have further upgraded their server capacity, hoping this version of the tracker will be the best yet. In addition to their "Santa Cam" footage, geo-located photos from Panoramio will be viewable in Google Maps for each of Santa's stops that don't include video. They've also included a few new ways to track Santa. With Google Maps for mobile, anyone can keep tabs on him from their mobile phones (just activate GMM and search for "norad santa"). You can also receive updates from "Bitz the Elf" on Twitter by following @noradsanta.
Visit http://www.noradsanta.org today from 6:00 am EST when Santa's journey begins.
Tracking Santa's Journey: There's An App for That From Edmonton Research Park Firm
For parents whose children are already asking when Santa Claus is going to arrive, well - ho, ho, ho - there's an app for that, developed at a workshop at snowy Edmonton Research Park.
Santa GPS is a free app developed at Edmonton Research Park by Fission Media Group Inc. Now available on the iPhone and iPad from the Apple App Store, Santa GPS is a fun way for children and parents to interact together with these smart devices.
The app uses the global positioning capability of the device to calculate and display the distance between the young user and Santa, who until December 24 is busy at his workshop at the North Pole, 4,047 kilometres from downtown Edmonton and the Edmonton Research Park where Fission Media is housed. It also displays a clock that counts down the days, hours, minutes and, yes, seconds until Christmas.
Turn the device on its side and the display changes into a map showing where the user is in relation to Santa Claus. On Christmas Eve, this feature will become a whole lot of fun as children track Santa as he dashes through 550 destinations around the world from the mid-Pacific, through Australasia, Europe, and so on to Edmonton, bringing happiness to good boys and girls everywhere.
Fission Media Group has added some fun interactive features in this year's upgraded version of Santa GPS, which is now in its second holiday season. There is a blog from Santa that updates the children of the world on happenings at his workshop. Kids can type their gift requests into a Christmas letter to Santa and mail it off the North Pole, while Mom and Dad can help the busy elves up north keep tabs on whether the kids are behaving, with the results displayed on naughty or nice meter for each child.
Fission Media's CEO and creative director, Blaine Bertsch, expects to develop the product in future years for other platforms, such as Google's Android phones. Bertsch believes the mobile software business offers significant new business opportunities for his company. He sees future business falling into three categories: service contract development such as the driver training app; build and publish apps such as the knots; and branded apps in which the Edmonton technology company creates and services apps for corporate clients.
Despite its name, Fission Media was actually the result of a fusion of two small media companies that operated for several years out of the Edmonton Research Park's Advanced Technology Centre. Bertsch's business partner, Fission Media's president and executive producer Tom Dodd, has a broad background in television and digital media.
"Fission Media shows innovation can be fun," says Candace Brinsmead, vice president of technology advancement at Edmonton Economic Development Corporation, which manages the park. "It shows the diverse range of innovative companies and community that call the Edmonton Research Park home."
In the first week after its release, Santa GPS for iPad ranked in the top 4oo utilities in 69 countries and top 400 overall downloads in 21 countries, including the USA, UK, Canada and Australia. There are both iPad and iPhone/iPod touch versions,
Download here:
http://itunes.apple.com/app/id405389139
For more information about Fission Media Group's Santa App, visit
http://www.fissionmedia.com/news.php#post-71
Santa Tracker 2011 By Talus Media LLC
Santa Tracker 2009 was the #1 downloaded Christmas app last year. The 2010 version is also available on iPad.
Santa Tracker 2010 includes an entirely new story via Santa's Blogs of friendship and Christmas Spirit! It enhances the magic of Christmas for the entire family! This app will make you want to believe again!
Track Santa around the globe via GPS on our 3D globe just like NORAD. Read his blogs, text him yourself, or even show your kid's if they're on the naughty and nice list.
Note To Parents - Customization
To increase the fun and customize your app, from your iPhone's main menu, outside of the app, click your iPhone's "Settings" icon and scroll to the bottom where you'll find the settings for Santa Tracker. Here you can enter your children's names into Santa's list. Santa Tracker also uses their names in other areas of the app! You can also enter a vacation destination...just in case you aren't home for Christmas!
6 APPS IN ONE
-GPS Santa Tracking
Track Santa using a 3D globe or sonar as he travels to thousands of cities across the world on Christmas Eve. Like the NORAD Santa Tracker, use real-time GPS, see yourself in relation to his sleigh and follow his route on the big night! Comes complete with a unique countdown timer, realistic sound effects and beautifully rendered imagery.
-North Pole Blog
Keep up-to-date with the happenings at the North Pole with over 75 blog posts as you follow a unique and in-depth storyline from tons of Christmas friends like Santa, Mrs. Claus, Jack Tupp Head Elf Mechanic, Hammer Head Toy Production Manager, Snowman, the Gingerbread Man and many more. Your kids will love to check back throughout the day as new blogs are posted from the North Pole.
-Santa's List
View Santa's official nice list. You have control over which list your kid's are on. Better not pout, better not shout...
-Santa Text
Find out the answers to some of your most lingering Christmas questions by texting Santa throughout the season or even on the big night! Hell even write you back!
-Countdown Timer
Let your kids know exactly how long until Santa delivers his presents with our unique countdown timer.
-World Population and Educational Map!
Our map will teach your kids the location and population of thousands of cities across the globe.
Extra Features:
-Double tap the globe to transform it...
-On the globe screen, turn the phone to the side to display a flat military map.
-Touch the i icon to bring up Santa's agreement letter with Talus Media.
For more information, visit:
http://bit.ly/hQjWi3
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