NORAD Santa Tracker

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One of my fondest childhood memories of Christmas was calling the NORAD Santa tracking hotline to check and see where St. Nick was at. I also greatly enjoyed using the [website] in the late 90's even though I was well beyond the childhood tales of Santa.

Here is how the story behind NORAD tracking Santa goes:

The program began on December 24, 1955 when a Sears department store placed an advertisement in a Colorado Springs newspaper which told children that they could telephone Santa Claus and included a number for them to call. However, the telephone number printed was incorrect and calls instead came through to Colorado Springs' Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) Center. Colonel Shoup, who was on duty that night, told his staff to give all children that called in a "current location" for Santa Claus. A tradition began which continued when the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) replaced CONAD in 1958.

Now you can share the fun of tracking Santa with your kids on your iPhone or Android phone. Get it on the App Store or Android Market.

Explore Apple's Grand Central Retail Store

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Apple's page for its brand new store in Grand Central Station has a neat trick for owners of the iPhone 4/4S, 4th Generation iPod touch, and iPad 2. Tap View More Photos then tap the one labeled 360. You can then move your device around in front of you and look around the store. I found it works best on the iPad 2.