Use Twitter And Google Maps To Keep Track of Santa, Courtesy Of NORAD

There may be a slight tinge of darkness to this holiday season, what with the midwestern snowstorms, the flight delays, and the inevitable health care debates sure to snow over many a family dinner table. But there’s a glowing red light at the end of the tunnel, courtesy of CGI Rudolph’s nose: NORAD’s web apps allowing you to track Santa on his journey around the world.

PC World has the lowdown on the Google Earth tracker at noradsanta.org, which may require a plug-in for some users:

Santa began his annual journey at 2 a.m. ET on Thursday, and Google and NORAD have developed many different ways to keep tabs on the jolly old elf this season. One of the best ways to do so is through the Google Earth Web browser plug-in available for Windows and Mac OS X users…

…Once you’ve installed the plug-in, go to noradsanta.org to track Santa’s progress using Google Earth in Google Maps.

And then, of course, Twitter. It’s not entirely clear how many apple-cheeked tots use Twitter, but NORAD has helpfully set up a Twitter feed synced up with his map progress. He apparently just got a flavored hot chocolate machine. Overshare? Nah.

As of press time, it appears that Santa is over Nepal:

Related: CNET has a neat article on the history of NORAD’s Santa-tracking operation.

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