Slashdot Mirror
Annual NORAD Santa Tracker Up And Running
SumDeusExMachina writes: "NORAD is at it once again folks! You can track Santa as he travels across the globe via a nifty Real Media stream." Apparently, this guy has been making some changes up North, too, including stealth technology, so I hope the radar tracks.
hooah to stealth tech
Loopback Fighters- paving the way for the revolution, one instance of linux at a time.
My 4 year old daughter was spun up due to all the Christmas excitement. We were having trouble getting her to sleep until we showed her where santa was on the map - he's getting close! So off to bed she went without a peep.
...but the point is well taken. Nowhere do we go nowadays without being observed. England, once the most liberal country in te world, where cops could not stop you unless they had a good readon to do so, is now the most big brotherish country in the world. Orwell was British - no surprise. My kids here in Canada wil have - no, already have - significantly less freedom that I used to have. "Nothing to fear unless you are a criminal" - that argument is still heard all over the place every day. As it was in Nazi days. Dobn;t want to sound alarmist, but we really have to worry about all this.
I would say just a *little* pushback from all of us would help greatly. Does your bank really need that social insurance number? Perhaps asking "am I really legally oliged to give you this" whenever you are asked to produce ID would be a good step?
Peace,
Michael
---
BDOS ERR ON A:>
How would tracking by radar be possible?
"The United States has no right, no desire, and no intention to impose our form of government on anyone else." - Bush 05
And you thought it was bad enough when Matthew Broderick messed up the WOPR, now the damn mainframe is going completely gaga ...
I'll never stop refreshing Slashdot again! I can't allow this to happen a second time!
Is your company running tools written by ma
(This is not to be taken as flamebait or trolling or anything like that.)
I have a HUGE problem with Real's forced marketing policies when it comes to their software -- changing startup pages, adding links everywhere, changing your program associations.. I know a large number of people who won't touch Reals stuff anymore.
Does anybody know of a WindowsMedia stream of something like this? I want to show my niece.
A few years ago, when I powered up one of the lost Clinton administration laptops (it was found in under a set on the DC Metro), I came across some interesting intelligience data. Apparently, the White Bearded One (WBO) has advanced well beyond what this article implies. I only caught a quick glimpse before the Secret Service snatched it from my hands and threatened to lock me up (didn't say where exactly).
Naturally, I pretended not to have seen anything...except to say I was looking for a video game to play and it was just sitting there looking like it wanted to be played.
Well, anyway...it seems that the WBO has been dabbling with quantum physics. Supposedly, he's found a way to convert himself into a wave function. This allows him to visit every home in the world simultaneously. But, it seems to work better if he contrained the function to a particular longitude. By adjusting this variable alone, he could make his visit to each child's home at exactly midnight in the child's time zone.
Pretty ingenious if you ask me. He doesn't even need to slip down any more chimmneys and risk getting stuck (or burned). And, because the probabliity of him being where you are looking is so remote, he remains completely stealthy yet accomplishes his yearly mission in exactly one solar day. Whoa.
Happy Holidays to All!
RD
Santa is not a Christian tradition, per se. Indeed he is quite secular.
I'd do something interesting, but my server can't handle a slashdotting.
Isn't it ironic that this story of Santa being tracked as he goes about his business should appear right next to the "World Sousveillance Day" article....
I have to ask? How many massive bong hits did you have before comming up with this site? Its great!
and got the following reply.
John,
Santa's sled is powered by reindeer not 'bong hits' (whatever that is). Our technology is supplied by the incredibly complex NORAD tracking system, the website by STK and AOL.
Keep checking out the website throughout the day
Go 'Noles.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Years
Team NORAD
They took the time to figure out I was from FSU area from my ip I guess. Very impresed
From CNN:
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. military officials are tracking Santa's travel path and reporting the latest data on his location on a Web site.
"If he deviates from his filed flight plan or turns off his transponder, we're prepared to scramble F-15s from Langley AFB, Eglin AFB, Mountain Home AFB, Elmendorf AFB, Tyndall AFB, and Nellis AFB, and blow that fat bastard out of the skies," said NORAD spokesman Gen. Buck Turgidson.
In addition, Gen. Turgidson stated that there would be a limited test of National Missile Defense (NMD) tracking assets at various locations around the country. "Santa can deploy all the decoys he wants. We'll find him, we'll track him, we'll get him," Gen. Turgidson added.
Military analysts have mentioned possible countermeasures Santa Claus might take to avoid NORAD radar, including a low-altitude, terrain-masking flight profile, radar-absorbant coating on his sleigh, and multiple layers of metal foil on Rudolph's nose to lessen the infrared signature.
k.
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
Well, if it was me choosing an OS to organize a bunch of reindeer, I would have to trust to instinct and run with the Hurd.
:-)
(Groan: -1 Corny
are belong to us
;)
merry christmas slashdot readers - catch the real video stream and see if you can spot that firewire card in his sack that you asked for this year
free (as in mp3s) electronic music
I thought /. was a REAL news source! How unprofessional! They didn't bother to do any fact checking on this story... I found out through a friend that Santa doesn't actually exist.
Shame on you.
Santa does not exist!!
:-\
This is probably the best way to explain to your kids that he doesn't exist... i guess you could use this for the Easter rabbit as well
"The ones who dont do anything are always the ones who try to pull you down" -- Henry Rollins
2001-12-24 19:51:01 Military Tracks Santa! (articles,xmas) (rejected)
*snif*
I knew it! Just like the moon landing, this whole "Santa" thing is just a scam, filmed on some Hollywood movie lot. Look, I found the proof! Thru very careful hacking of the sites computer code (i.e., I read the html), I've managed to decipher the highly encrypted links (i.e., took a wild guess), and have found film footage that couldn't possibly exist yet if this whole "Santa" thing was real! According to this official "NORAD" site, "Santa"'s already finishing delivering present to Hawaii. It's still the middle of the afternoon there!
a ls /2001/santatrack/28_en.rm
http://santa.stream.aol.com/ramgen/aol/us/speci
This opens up some interesting possibilities:
SAM.
Well, Real Media sucks and AoHell blows, so I guess it's a draw...I woulda appreciated this site alot more if it gave me a Winblows Media option or even a Qwacktime option. Oh well, guess the internet isn't for everyone, at least I don't have 6 real/player/launcher/watcher/catcher/downloader icons taking up 5 inches of my systray.
Freeschwag
Tweet, tweet, all idiots out of the gene pool!
I used to look down on Christmas, until I realized that Santa (the Coca Cola Santa, that is) had nothing to do with the traditional Christmas. I've come to appreciate Christmas as an excuse for generosity and fellowship, but I will never be reconciled with the selfishness and wastefulness the fat idiot in the trademark red suit represents.
So I think a couple of quotes are in order. First, some dialog from Buffy:
And we mustn't forget Neil Gaiman's reinterpretation of the basic Santa myth.Hope Santa has his Oracard if NORAD stops him and asks about fruits or vegetables.
--
"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
'Christmas' itself is nothing other than the Roman re-branding of the Saturnalia festival.
Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
NORAD only exists to make the last phone call to the president and ask him for his launch codes. At least they can provide a worthwhile national service while waiting for doomsday.
Twas the night before Christmas...
:)
And up at the north pole, everybody's going crazy, everything's out of control.
The toy shop is on fire, the toys melting on the shelves, and you can Mrs. Clause screaming "I warned you never trust those elves."
Unless something drastic happens fast, say hello to the Ghost of Christmas Past.
Because Rudolph's puking boughs of holly, and Old Saint Nick aint all that jolly, 'cus the sleigh's in the shop cus it's broken down, but Christmas won't stop, 'cus Santa Clause is thumbing to town
Gotta Love Relient K.
Check out all the archived Santa cam shots, every picture execpt Eastern Canada shows Santa in his sled.
Seems he likes to ride in CF-18's instead.
SANTA CLAUS: An Engineer's Perspective
.001 seconds, would be subjected to centrifugal forces of 17,500 g's. A 250 pound Santa (which seems ludicrously slim) would be pinned to the back of the sleigh by 4,315,015 pounds of force, instantly crushing his bones and organs and reducing him to a quivering blob of pink goo.
I. There are approximately two billion children (persons under 18) in the world. However, since Santa does not visit children of Muslim, Hindu, Jewish or Buddhist religions, this reduces the workload for Christmas night to 15% of the total, or 378 million (according to the Population Reference Bureau). At an average (census) rate of 3.5 children per house hold, that comes to 108 million homes, presuming that there is at least one good child in each.
II. Santa has about 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to the different time zones and the rotation of the earth, assuming he travels east to west (which seems logical). This works out to 967.7 visits per second.
This is to say that for each Christian household with a good child, Santa has around 1/1000th of a second to park the sleigh, hop out, jump down the chimney, fill the stockings, distribute the remaining presents under the tree, eat whatever snacks have been left for him, get back up the chimney, jump into the sleigh and get on to the next house. Assuming that each of these 108 million stops is evenly distributed around the earth (which, of course, we know to be false, but will accept for the purposes of our calculations), we are now talking about 0.78 miles per household; a total trip of 75.5 million miles, not counting bathroom stops or breaks. This means Santa's sleigh is moving at 650 miles per second --- 3,000 times the speed of sound. For purposes of comparison, the fastest man-made vehicle, the Ulysses space probe, moves at a poky 27.4 miles per second, and a conventional reindeer can run (at best) 15 miles per hour.
III. The payload of the sleigh adds another interesting element. Assuming that each child gets nothing more than a medium sized Lego set (two pounds), the sleigh is carrying over 500 thousand tons, not counting Santa himself. On land, a conventional reindeer can pull no more than 300 pounds. Even granting that the "flying" reindeer could pull ten times the normal amount, the job can't be done with eight or even nine of them --- Santa would need 360,000 of them. This increases the payload, not counting the weight of the sleigh, another 54,000 tons, or roughly seven times the weight of the Queen Elizabeth (the ship, not the monarch).
IV. 600,000 tons traveling at 650 miles per second crates enormous air resistance --- this would heat up the reindeer in the same fashion as a spacecraft re-entering the earth's atmosphere. The lead pair of reindeer would absorb 14.3 quintillion joules of energy per second each. In short, they would burst into flames almost instantaneously, exposing the reindeer behind them and creating deafening sonic booms in their wake. The entire reindeer team would be vaporized within 4.26 thousandths of a second, or right about the time Santa reached the fifth house on his trip. Not that it matters, however, since Santa, as a result of accelerating from a dead stop 650 m.p.s. in
V. Therefore, if Santa did exist, he's dead now.
Quid latine dictum sit, altum viditur.
Anything said in Latin, sounds profound.
I feel safer at night knowing that our technology is so advanced that we can even track Santa clause. But I'm worried about the cost to the economy because of all the money outlayed because of Santa. The amount of money we spent to irradiate the mail that was sent to him, and I presume he will be given an F15 fighter jet escort because of the hightened state of security. I think the cost of this far surpasses the cost of toys for every girl and boy. But there's an opportunity for santa to repay us. He knows when people are sleeping you know, and when they're awake, and obviously he knows where everyone is, so why doesn't the FBI find out from him where Bin Laden is? I mean think of all the free publicity cocoa-cola and other American companies give him over the years, the least he can do for the country is help our war effort. I personally would support covert military action at the north pole to find Santa Clause and find out what he knows, and while they're at it they should get some of that technology that he has. Especially that part in that poem,
"..And laying his finger aside of his nose, And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;"
That I think could be very useful in those caves of Tora Bora.
I understand he was held under lock and key, but he must of had a good lawyer and made bail. Although He'll now be in trouble for fleeing the jurisdiction.
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
So when you're opening your shiny gifts from Santa tomorrow morning, think of Jesus. He's probably going to get frostbite for your sins, and then have to have his feet amputated for your sins, and go on prescription painkillers while receiving federal welfare for your sins. You fuckers!
-- The_Messenger
Were you beaten as a child or something?
Lighten up. You know, Happy Holidays and all. It's something goofy and fun for kids and adults alike, a way to whimsically integrate technology with a cherished childhood myth.
Or, I suppose, yet another reason for a slashdot troll to whine and stomp. sigh. Merry Xmas.
I know this is a foreign concept to a lot of parents today, but what you do is spank the brother when he is bad, then he will not act so bad most of the time...
Check out the Sydney footage. Al Qaeda terrorists are obviously using Santa as cover for attacks on popular landmarks.
They flew their aircraft behind and above the sleigh to remain invisible to radar, then as Santa changed course into Sydney proper, they dived in and exploded in the Opera House.
Santa must be stopped! Quick! Call Bun-Bun, only he can save us! Break out the Furbies! Assemble the Easter Bunny!
astfgl@iamnota.org
"I don't trust goats," --To Catch a Spy
What ever happened to separation of church and state? I find this whole thing highly offensive.
Well, my son and I will sleep better tonight knowing that NORAD can survive the Slashdot effect!
Merry Christmas everyone!
sig fault
He said "Santa," not "Christmas."
Karma: Terrifying (mostly affected by atrocities you've committed)
On BBC Radio 1, there was an advisory put out by the DJ, Scott Mills, to parents to be aware of an old man coming down chimneys and emptying his sack all over your living room. If you do spot him, please do not approach him!
Looking at the very poorly rendered snapshots and flybys of Santa, I would feel bad telling my kid that it's really him. Hell, no wonder kids can't distinguish video games from reality!
Awake all night, terrified that Satan's going to come down the chimney...
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
...I guess, but that's no guaranty.
If I have kids, I'm gunna tell them when Christmas -is- but not actually warn them it's Christmas Eve. Cuz if they know it's Christmas Eve, they'll be complete brats for the next 24 hours waiting till they can open their presents.. whereas if they wake up to a surprise on the 25th, think how easy it will be?
I will be a wonderful parent.
* g o a t s e x * g o a t s e x * g o a t s e x *
g g
o / \ \ / \ o
a \ a
t `. : t
s` \ s
e \ / / \\\ -- \\ : e
x \ \/ --~~ ~-- \ x
* \ \-~ ~-\ *
g \ \
o \ \// ((> \ o
a \ . C ) ((> / a
t
s /
e ( C__)\___/
x \ \\// (/ x
* \ \) `---- --' *
g \ \ / / g
o / \ o
a / \ \ a
t / / \ t
s / / \/\/ s
e / e
x x
* g o a t s e x * g o a t s e x * g o a t s e x *
but Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Quanza, and other non-denominational holiday greetings to all \.
Need sometyhing to listen to? Ho about Prank Calls:
208.38.138.12:8000
:-)
I'm not a prophet or a stone-age man,
I'm just a mortal with potential of a super man.
Er, wrong. Santa Claus is an Americanization of Sinterklaas, the Dutch name for Saint Nicholas. Saint Nicholas was one of the early Christians (he participated in the first Council of Nicaea), and went on to become one of the most famous and well regarded saints in all of Europe. His reputation for generosity and kindness gave rise to legends of miracles he performed for the poor and unhappy.
Although the trappings associated with the modern Santa Claus legend date to the late 1800's and the American poem "Twas The Night Before Christmas" (flying reindeer, sleigh, chimney sliding and the red coat were all original creations of that poem), the concept is completely Christian in origin and far older, dating back almost to the time of Christ.
Now, one could argue that Christmas *itself* isn't a Christian tradition, per se, since the early Christians simply co-opted the Roman holiday Saturnalia, a holiday far more like our modern Christmas than Christmas itself was up until about a hundred years ago, and one which involved festivals, a state holiday, a feast, lights and the exchange of gifts. Everything old . . .
Rumor has it that Santa is actually running late, after having to to submit to a personal search, have his packages hand inspected and unwrapped, and having his boots x-rayed before leaving. (imagine standing around barefoot in a foot of snow). On a related note, anyone expecting a Swiss Army Knife for Christmans will be disappointed as more that 3 million were confiscated.
They want to set a world record!
This should be easy to do they even give phone numbers you can call! Hint call collect 8) its free that way!
Its an old school Ma Bell joke, so its free trust me 8)
Best Regards,
And Good Cheer,
8)
I guess that this idiot does.
I remember Norad doing this since *I* was a kid (it's been awhile...)
Sorry you can't see your way clear to let others have a bit of fun. Besides, why is it so hard to believe? I've recently come across proof that there is a Grinch...
If Santa is using stealth technology, can I detect him with my cellular phone? It would be cool to see him for the 0.00000001ms he'd be in my house.
I hope he has that shiny new hard drive for me.
Merry Christmas everyone and have a great New Year!
The Dude
Is spreading the concept of commercialism in order to destroy the true meaning of Christmas... I think that it's no accident that his name is an anagram for Satan.
Just kidding, all. I'm from a Chanukah house. No offense intended...
(...I'm watching you, Santa. I'm watching you.)
Y'know, I was playing Flight Simulator today. And then I saw that Norad Santacam. Hmmm, looks a little similar; you have a sprite of Santa in this flying contraption, atop some scenery. Hey, what would it be like to fly one of those things? No throttle, but reins, and minimal instrumentation. It's certainly fast enough, navigable, and doesn't need regular airports to land at. Yeah, that'd be a nice addition! Why just airplanes and helicopters?
You might have to set the date to late December to get it to take off, though.
A Slinky Jr.
A spinning top which plays a tune and has little weapon stickers on it.
A Boba Fett Pez dispenser
Works for me. I feel great!
Anyone else buy themselves presents?
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
That was an "instant classic" as the kids like to say these days.
"Would it kill you to put down the toilet seat?" -- Maya Angelou
When I was a kid, I thought that this was so wonderful. I can remember hearing NORAD's reports on the radio while driving home from Christmas Eve dinner at our grandparents. It was an integral part of christmas for me, and it was quite magical too.
I hadn't thought about it in a long time until I heard this story, and I'm glad I did. It warms my heart to think that a new generation of children is enjoying this, and in new ways thanks to the digital age.
Anyone else have childhood memories of NORAD tracking santa?
"Mister President, our latest test during a midnight clear failed to pick up the intended target, again."
"Well, it's important you boys keep trying, we can't have anything sneaking into our borders, it's important I keep this campaign promise."
"Sir, it did strike a target, we confirm that it mistook an incoming large man wearing a red suit in a sleigh pulled by eight tiny reindeer. Apparently he had a large beard and its anti-terrorist homing zeroed in on it."
"Well, we'll just have to cover up this unfortunate incident. Can't be having children think Santa Claus is dead, it wouldn't do the economy any good. See if Ralph Reed is available to fill in, give the tykes some spiritual guidance."
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
The NORAD Santa Report owes its existence to a typo in a local newspaper in Omaha,
Nebraska. In the mid-Fifties, a local department store had an actor impersonating Santa Claus,
that kids could call on Christmas Eve. (Presumably, the guy told the kids that "he'd be right over" and tell them to get to bed early.)
Unfortunately, the number had one digit wrong, which yuppers, patched the rugrats into NORAD.
The somewhat amused personnel, married and with kids themselves (as per regulation,
according to then-current psychological theory) took to saying "Well, we're an Air Force base, not
Santa Claus, but yes, we're tracking Santa right now."
A few winters of this were enough to get everyone's story straight, and to retire the number (except for Santa reports). In 1958, they began releasing live reports to TV and radio stations, casting high-ranking (and often retired) officers asuld get a "full NORAD welcome" (of escorting state-of-the-art fighter jets) if seen over US airspace. Creepy, when you think of it...
teleny, friend of cats.
I am sorry, but the statement "it's more effective to show them *why* doing something is wrong" has no basis in reality. A child LOVES to push against the limits that a parent sets, and with out the threat of punishment they will keep doing what ever they feel like...In reality it is most effective to combine punishment with talking
Is it appropriate that we deliberately deceive our children? Does this make them more or less likely to trust us? Should we be talking about how cute this is, or about what we can do to change the brutally mistaken tradition of conspiring to trick young children?
Osama Bin Laden !
Worse.
Norad has completely missed him !
HELP ! SOS ! HELP !
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
Osama got run over by a reindeer
Right outside his cave on Christmas eve
Some folks says there's no such thing as Santa,
But now even the Taliban believes
Osama thought we'd never find him,
But even little children know
Santa knows who's been real naughty,
In those hard Afghani mountains capped with snow
Al-Quieda found him Christmas morning
Face down on that mountain pass.
There were hoof marks on his turban,
And a broken reindeer antler up his HO HO HO HO
Osama got run over by a reindeer
Peein' near his cave door Christmas eve.
You can say there's no such thing as karma
But if you saw those hoof marks you'd believe.
Osama got run over by a reindeer
Now he's not around on Christmas day.
He was hoping he's be meetin' Allah
But the only thing he met was Santa's sleigh.
If Bin Laden trains his camels to fly, will the U.S. start to use this technology to track him as well?
You forgot to mention that our modern "image" of Santa Claus was created in (I think) the 1920's by an artist working on a Coca Cola advertising campaign.
If you're a zombie and you know it, bite your friend!
So the military is tracking Santa? Hate to think what you are going to do to the poor old bastard, when your missile defence is up an running.
*start chorus*
jingle bell jingle bell
jingle all the way
o what fun is it to ride in a one horse open sleigh
jingle bell jingle bell
jingle all the way
o what fun is it to ride in a one horse open sleigh
*end chorus*
dashing thru the snow
in a one horse open sleigh
o'er the hill we go
laughing all the way
bell's on bob tail ring
making spirit bright
what fun it is to sing and ride in a one horse open sleigh
hey
*chorus*
AND A MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU TOO
HO HO HO
Do you think there will be a terrorist attack on US on Christmas or New Year when everybody is having fun?
Santa?
I remember working at NORAD during Christmas Eve on several occasions. The operator would patch over phone calls from children all over the states. The head officials at NORAD had a transcript prepared for the current events of Santa Claus. Over the course between 5:00pm to about 10:00pm, our office would receive hundreds of phone calls. Most of the callers were shy and very young kids that didn't say more then a few words over the phone. We'd also get the adults calling up either drunk or curious if the whole system was even working.
Even though there is no more "Enhanced Class B" airpace in the U.S., Santa DID get permission to fly from the U.S. government.
The Experimental Aircraft Association filed a flight waiver request for Santa which was granted by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Earlier he got permission directly from U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta.
In spite of this, Santa flies VFR (Visual Flight Rules) and it it is up to him to "see and avoid" other traffic in the air.
Ever dream you could fly? Get up from the Flight Sim. I Fly
Santa's not the only one who gets tracked by the US government. There is no privacy in the U.S, airspace system. All aircraft that have been assigned unique transponder codes, usually on an instrument flight plan, can be located and tracked, based on which Air Traffic Control facility has control of the flight.
n G=Google+Search
These sites . will show you the current location of any commercial flight. There are others that will track and locate corporate jets..
http://www.google.com/search?q=flight+tracking&bt
Ever dream you could fly? Get up from the Flight Sim. I Fly
the link to main page works right, but in that page all the Realmedia links don't work.... oh wait... no surprise, they're hosted on AOL :)
Stop and think - why do we spend years of our children's lives trying to convince them that this invention of the Greeting Card, Soda, and Department store industries is really true? Then, we are quite astonished when years later they come up not believing in God etc. Yet another example of a crazy culture.
Is this news for nerds?
"It's even cooler how it shows the family values side of our government"
Which comes back as "A PR budget".
BTW, Governments have no family values, nor souls or sentiments.
Just a greed to increase their Rule.
Hoping to read from you in the future (I mean, if the FBI don't come to arrest me for Anti-US thought...also, if NaZi ModeRatOr don't make me -20 / Troll, which is why I will AC for now 8p )
Santa is an anagram of Satan.
Both like the colour red.
Never seen together at the same time.