Needed any more sign that Christmas is upon us? The annual Google and North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) partnership to track Jolly Saint Nick is back in action, starting tomorrow at 2:00 am EST despite the fact that it is already Christmas Eve in some parts of the world.
From the Google Blog:
“There’s one timeless question that we’re proud to say we can help answer: Where in the world is Santa at this very moment? Thanks in part to recent advances in warp-speed GPS technology and some very clever elves (elveneering?) NORAD Tracks Santa is once again prepped and ready to go.”
The kids love it (Okay who am I kidding? This is really cool). As of tomorrow young and old alike can visit www.noradsanta.org to stalk Santa as he crosses the names of over 6 billion people off of his list. And because it’s the all-seeing GOOG you have multiple “Santa stalking” options. Yes really.
Google Map — Open Google Maps and search for “Santa NORAD” or just visit NoradSanta.org and get past the language screen. You can also watch a Santa cam here.
Google Earth Plugin — If you’ve got the Google Earth plugin, you can visit Noradsanta.org and click on Track Santa In Google Earth.
Santa Mobile — Visit m.noradsanta.org or complete the “Santa NORAD” search on Google Maps for mobile.
YouTube — Of course, Santa has a YouTube channel.
Realtime Search — You can follow Santa on Twitter at @noradsanta, find him on Facebook here and use Google’s realtime search for updates.
Apparently NORAD has been tracking Santa since 1955, hilariously because a telephone misprint in a Sears catalogue misdirected Santa hotline callers to a NORAD higher ups phone line. Google got in on the Santa tracking game in 2004 and partnered up with NORAD in 2007, bringing Google services like Maps, Earth and YouTube into the mix.
Okay seriously, does ANY tech company have more Christmas spirit than Google?
Update: For those in need of an even bigger Santa fix, here’s his privacy policy.
Image: Google