santa

NORAD ready to track Santa Claus again

Editor's note: This story originally ran in 2009. In the spirit of the holidays, we thought we'd run this touching piece again.

On a recent Christmas Eve, Jeff Martin found himself forced to explain to a Canadian general why, when Santa Claus passed through Toronto that night, Google Maps had placed the city in the United States.

Martin, then a senior marketing manager in Google's Geo group, was part of a huge team of people involved in the joint U.S.-Canada North American Aerospace Defense Command's annual NORAD Santa tracker program, a long-running effort to … Read more

Scientist reveals Santa's technology

I get quite a lot of e-mails from 7-year-olds. At least the content suggests they're 7-year-olds.

So I would like to dedicate the film I have embedded to them. For it reveals, once and for all--with a definitiveness that offers vast relief--what technology Santa Claus uses in order to bring the gift of, well, tons of gifts to the world's young and restless.

Larry Silverberg, associate head of North Carolina State University's Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, has clearly spent much of his life attempting to solve the Santa problem.

I am grateful to WRAL in North Carolina … Read more

Four great ways to track Santa this Christmas

Christmas Eve is full of suspense and mystery as children spend the day wondering when Santa will arrive at their home.… Read more

New Apple ad says Siri-reliant Santa is a slob

Has Santa fired the elves?

Were they too short, too ridiculously dressed, too squeaky-voiced?

Whatever the reason, a new Apple ad suggests that the great white-bearded hope has decided to rely on Siri for all of his most pressing needs this Christmas.

In truth, Santa seems to have become a lazy, sluggish capitalist like so many who become serfs to technology. He's always on his iPhone 4S and asking her some of the most basic questions imaginable.

Will it be cold in Cleveland tonight, he wonders. It's always cold in Cleveland. Cleveland exists in order to ensure that … Read more

How to Androidify yourself for the holidays

Google released a fun little Android app called Androidify earlier this year, that lets you create your very own Android robot caricature. The recent update to Androidify adds a few holiday-themed items to provide some holiday cheer to your Android robot-loving ways.

Here's how to Androidify yourself for the holidays:

1. After installing Androidify to your Android smartphone or tablet, you'll be presented with the basic Android robot. To customize it, click on the hanger icon on the lower left corner.

2. A column of items is on the left and a row of categories like pants, shoes, … Read more

NORAD to once again track Santa's progress

The North American Aerospace Defense Command will once again be tracking Santa Claus as he circles the globe on Christmas Eve, offering up-to-the moment online updates on St. Nick's progress in a number of languages and using Google Earth and Google Maps to display his flight path.

While the actual "tracking" starts at 3 p.m. on December 24 (GMT +8), visitors to the NORAD Santa Web site can view last year's flight path while waiting.

If you're out and about on Christmas Eve, you can also use iOS and Android apps to view Santa's progress. Santa watchers can track his updated progress on Facebook, Google+, YouTube, and Twitter. … Read more

Yes, Leia, there is a Yoda Santa--made of Legos (photos)

SAN FRANCISCO--Brick by brick, visitors to San Francisco's Union Square are taking part in a fantastically geeky holiday treat: helping to build a 12-foot-tall, 10-foot-wide Santa Yoda. The event, which takes place this weekend, is part of a Lucasfilm and Lego promotion for the launch of www.legosantayoda.com, a Web site that will soon let you send Star Wars-themed holiday greeting cards. For each virtual greeting shared, Lego will donate one new Lego toy to the United States Marine Corps' Toys for Tots program, up to 1 million toys. The public is invited to come out and help … Read more

Help Lego master builders make a giant Santa Yoda

You may not be a Lego master model builder, but if you're in San Francisco this weekend, you could help one make a giant Santa Yoda.

Starting Friday, the public is invited to visit San Francisco's Union Square and lend a hand as Lego's master model builders take thousands of the iconic bricks and shape them into a 12-foot-tall, 10-foot-wide Santa Yoda.

The event, which is partly a fundraiser for the Bay Area Boys & Girls Club, is also partly about promoting the Monday launch of the new Santa Yoda Web site (which will have no content … Read more

FBI investigates grade change hacking at Santa Clara

After a Santa Clara University undergraduate tweeted that he had unexpectedly been questioned by FBI agents, the school itself acknowledged that it has asked the feds to investigate how an intruder electronically altered a few dozen grades.

Mark Loiseau, 25, a senior electrical engineering student, received an unpleasant surprise this morning: three FBI agents showed up at his off-campus apartment wanting to have a friendly chat with him.

FBI agent Jeffrey Miller and his colleagues had complete dossiers on him and his friends, Loiseau told CNET this afternoon. "They had all my grades. They had pictures of me." … Read more