Technology Thursday
Image by dannysullivan via Flickr
For your amusement, here are a few fun holiday-themed technologies to play with.
First, the iPhone Mom has been curating a list of cute holiday iPhone apps. Here's her list of Christmas apps. I'm curious to see how my toddler does with the Match and Learn iPhone app (basically a version of concentration or 'the memory game') from what I can tell.
Second, if you haven't played around with Elf Yourself, it's really hard not to giggle while doing so.
Elf Yourself has been around for years, but has become increasingly feature-rich over the years. Here, I've "elfed" me and Katherine, just for fun.
Third, and perhaps most usefully, are the many services that offer to send free e-cards -- not just for Christmas, but for nearly every other holiday and occasion, as well. I first discovered e-cards through Blue Mountain Arts many many years ago. I think they may have been bought out and redone a few times since then. Then for quite awhile I used Apple's iCards, but Apple shut down that service a year or so ago. I recently came across a random mention of the Ocean Conservancy e-card service (and used it to send my husband a birthday card when he was away on a business trip for his birthday this year.) Do a quick Internet search for your favorite organization and "e-card" and there's some chance that they'll offer e-cards or desktop backgrounds or something like that.
Finally and perhaps most importantly for today, the folks at NORAD (the North American Aerospace Defense Command) working with Google Earth have helpfully created a Santa Claus tracker to keep track of where the fat man in the red suit is at as he makes his rounds this evening. Their work in this area started back in 1955:
Send your own ElfYourself eCards
Third, and perhaps most usefully, are the many services that offer to send free e-cards -- not just for Christmas, but for nearly every other holiday and occasion, as well. I first discovered e-cards through Blue Mountain Arts many many years ago. I think they may have been bought out and redone a few times since then. Then for quite awhile I used Apple's iCards, but Apple shut down that service a year or so ago. I recently came across a random mention of the Ocean Conservancy e-card service (and used it to send my husband a birthday card when he was away on a business trip for his birthday this year.) Do a quick Internet search for your favorite organization and "e-card" and there's some chance that they'll offer e-cards or desktop backgrounds or something like that.
Finally and perhaps most importantly for today, the folks at NORAD (the North American Aerospace Defense Command) working with Google Earth have helpfully created a Santa Claus tracker to keep track of where the fat man in the red suit is at as he makes his rounds this evening. Their work in this area started back in 1955:
The tradition began in 1955 after a Colorado Springs-based Sears Roebuck & Co. advertisement for children to call Santa misprinted the telephone number. Instead of reaching Santa, the phone number put kids through to the CONAD Commander-in-Chief's operations "hotline." The Director of Operations at the time, Colonel Harry Shoup, had his staff check the radar for indications of Santa making his way south from the North Pole. Children who called were given updates on his location, and a tradition was born.So, if you want to keep tabs on the big guy tonight, now you know who the trusted source is!
[...] Since that time, NORAD men, women, family and friends have selflessly volunteered their time to personally respond to Christmas Eve phone calls and emails from children. In addition, we now track Santa using the internet. Last year, millions of people who wanted to know Santa's whereabouts visited the NORAD Tracks Santa website.
Finally, media from all over the world rely on NORAD as a trusted source to provide Christmas Eve updates on Santa's journey.
I really like the online resources for off-line activities. We featured several of these in recent issues of News for Parents, a complimentary newsletter from Parenting Press, and there will be more in the January issue (parentingpress.com/ezine.html). Among my favorites: free paper dolls. I found one site that shows a cat with several historic costumes.
Posted by: Linda Carlson, Parenting Press | Monday, December 28, 2009 at 12:40 PM