Track Santa Online

Telling one of today's technology-savvy kids that "Santa is on his way" just won't cut it. So we've rounded up a handful of useful Web sites to keep the good little boys and girls busy until the big morning.

NORAD Tracks Santa

This Christmas, don't wait for your lame local weather person to offer a best-guess estimate of Santa's progress. Instead, turn to the Web and the awesome technological power of the North American Aerospace Defense Command. Normally the folks at NORAD are busy defending the United States and Canada, but for a few days each year they track a different world power: Santa.

As the story goes, some 45 years ago a misprinted phone number for a Santa hotline had kids calling the Continental Air Defense Command, the predecessor to NORAD. Instead of turning the eager callers away, good-natured defense personnel offered to use their high-tech equipment to track the jolly elf and report on his position.

All these years later NORAD personnel still take calls, but today's Internet-savvy kids can also visit NORAD's special Web site to keep tabs on Santa's progress around the world. To view live, streaming-video updates of Santa's progress on December 24 and 25 you'll need the free RealPlayer G2 or RealPlayer 7 beta, both available at the RealNetworks Web site.

In the meantime, the NORAD site offers tons of great Santa-related information. There's a brief recounting of Santa's storied history, a best-guess explanation of how he delivers so many gifts in one night, information about his high-tech sleigh, and even predictions about his Y2K compatibility. Oh, and be sure to visit the section that finally reveals how he can fit down a narrow chimney and access a home without one.

Scanning Digital Skies

If you'd prefer to leave the military out of your holiday celebration, have the kids point the browser toward the Trip.com site. There you can plug in your e-mail address to receive a message on Christmas Eve with real-time North Pole Sleigh Data from the SantaTracker.

The highly scientific tool provides information on Santa's whereabouts, his sleigh speed, his altitude, and his direction. (Sorry, SantaTracker can't tell you what presents you'll receive.)

The site doesn't monitor Claus year-round. The rest of the time you can visit to check out flight information using the FlightTracker, make travel arrangements, or read travel news.

In its second year of offering another view of Santa-tracking is Holoworld, an online holography site that adds a Santa page providing a digital countdown to Christmas starting on Thanksgiving. You can listen to RealAudio broadcast interviews with Santa's staff and Kris Kringle himself, as well as Christmas music and stories. Also, click there to send e-mail to St. Nick.

Holoworld maps Santa's route, from his North Pole departure through Canada and the U.S., with a special note when he swings through Lehigh Valley, where the Holoworld page originates in the Philadelphia suburbs.

According to the site, Santa is wired this year and will broadcast updates along his route.