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Track Santa With NORAD, How It Works & Fun Facts For The Kids.

If you have children, tonight they will undoubtedly be anxiously awaiting the arrival of Jolly Ol' Saint Nick. Chances are, they are not snuggled in their beds with visions of Sugar Plums dancing in their heads. Heck, they don't even know what Sugar plums are.

It's more likely that they are using every excuse in the book to stay up late (I'm thirsty, I have to pee, I wanna see Santa....) and try to catch a glimpse of the bearded gift courier, you can assure them that He's on his way with the NORAD Santa Tracker.

December 24, 2010: NORAD has confirmed that Santa and his fully-loaded, reindeer-powered sleigh took off from the North Pole and soared into the arctic sky at 6:00 a.m. EST (5:00 a.m. CST, 4:00 a.m. MST, 3:00 a.m. PST). NORAD radar is tracking Rudolph’s bright red nose, and satellite imagery is providing minute-by-minute coverage of Santa’s location. Regale your kids with wonderful updates and info, like how many gifts have been delivered, how many snacks Santa has consumed so far in real time and his latest stop.

above: Santa as he cruised over Cairo, Egypt as I wrote this post

How NORAD Tracks Santa
In case the kids wanna know exactly how Norad tracks Santa, here's the official answer: NORAD uses four high-tech systems to track Santa – radar, satellites, Santa Cams and fighter jets. Tracking Santa starts with the NORAD radar system called the North Warning System. This powerful radar system consists of 47 installations strung across the northern border of North America. On Christmas Eve, NORAD monitors the radar systems continuously for indications that Santa Claus has left the North Pole. The moment that radar indicates Santa has lifted off, we use our second detection system. Satellites positioned in geo-synchronous orbit at 22,300 miles from the Earth’s surface are equipped with infrared sensors, which enable them to detect heat. Amazingly, Rudolph's bright red nose gives off an infrared signature, which allow our satellites to detect Rudolph and Santa. US and Canada flags

The third tracking system is the Santa Cam network. We began using it in 1998, which is the year we put our Santa Tracking program on the internet. Santa Cams are ultra-cool, high-tech, high-speed digital cameras that are pre-positioned at many locations around the world. NORAD only uses these cameras once a year on Christmas Eve. The cameras capture images and videos of Santa and his reindeer as they make their journey around the world.

The fourth system is made up of fighter jets. Canadian NORAD fighter pilots flying the CF-18 intercept and welcome Santa to North America. In the United States, American NORAD fighter pilots in either the F-15 or the F-16 get the thrill of flying alongside Santa and his famous reindeer: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and, of course, Rudolph. And a video to share with the kiddles:

You can see him via satellite, or map or terrain... zoom in on some Santa Cams, use Google earth to follow him and more.

On YouTube you can track Santa's whereabouts on the NORAD channel in different languages.

HOT UPDATES from the North Pole (changing each day of December)

• Santa's Village Kids can even check in and see what's happening in Santa's Village here:

• Santa Snacks You can even see how many snacks Santa has consumed so far in real time!

•Naughty Or Nice List Mrs. Claus has informed NORAD that Santa’s “Naughty or Nice” list includes a record 1.9 billion children under the age of 15 this year. This list grows continually, as children are born at the rate of approximately 340,000 per day. Check the world’s current population here

•Weather Forecast Weather forecasters have predicted that the temperature at the North Pole on December 25 will be about -15 F (-26ºC). Brrrrrrr! Check current North Pole weather here

•You can send an email to NORAD to find out where Santa is located!
Today, NORTH Pole staff have advised NORAD that it is the final day to send Santa an email because Santa and the elves will begin loading the sleigh later today. You can send an email to noradtrackssanta@gmail.com A NORAD staff member will give you Santa’s last known location in a return email.

•See Santa on your mobile phone This Christmas eve, join NORAD to track Santa's flight from your phone. On December 24th, open Google Maps for mobile and do a search for "Santa" to see his latest location.

Sweet Bread. Now, Toast Yourself.

The post just prior to this one today featured the fabulous new music video for the song "Last Leaf" by Los Angeles quartet, OK Go.

The stop motion video features illustrations burnt into toast with a laser. Created in conjunction with the Samsung Create Your World website to promote their new NX100 digital camera, the site also features a fun and easy interactive way to place your own image on a piece of toast.

Simply upload your image, choose your level of toast darkness and voila!

Go toast yourself here.

See the Stop motion video of laser burnt toast for Last Leaf by OK go! here.

Lights Fantastic. New Video & Interactive Site For LG dLite Mobile Phone.

A cool song, animated video and interactive website are all part of a marketing effort for the new LG dlite phone from Tmobile, a slim mobile phone in bubble gum pink or bright blue that has a customizable external screen with an LED matrix and fun sound effects.

The Animated Video:
To promote the new mobile phone, LG dLite, Sophie Gateau, of Paranoid US, directed a playful music video to showcase the phones character-based digital display. The video, via DOJO SF, tells a classic love story to the track, “White” by electropop artist, LIGHTS. The campaign features a website, the video, and other interactive elements.

Using the LIGHTS’ track as a basis for the pixelated boy meets pixelated girl storyline, Sophie created a 3.5 min animated piece. Sophie utilized her CG and motion graphic background, for the LED narrative. Sophie collaborated with Paranoid Design Studio’s Lead Artist Vincent Rogozyk to first develop the story as an animatic.

This solved the production challenge of finding a way to duplicate a few phones to appear as if they were in mass. Utilizing motion control to shoot the available 45 pre-production models , Sophie shot twenty passes--moving the phones along in each pass. The Paranoid Design Studio team then assembled the passes, tracked animated characters and environmental drawings, and composited them into the scenes. The LED look was then finished on Flame by Paranoid Design Studio VFX Artist Seb Caudron.

DOJO Executive Creative Director’s, Geoff Edwards and Mauro Alencar, share why Sophie was handpicked for the project. "Sophie has a unique way of creating a relationship between the audience and the story. Her work is personal and feels like someone is talking directly to you," said Edwards. "The combination of her willingness to collaborate with us and LIGHTS made Sophie the right choice for this program,” added Alencar.

The Website

But that's not all... To accompany this marketing effort, an interactive website allows you to create your own story by dragging and dropping animated lights to the tune of the song "White" and then share it with your friends.

You also have the option to allow the site to access your webcam and microphone and create your own music video by tapping and playing.

credits:
Title: LG dLite Brilliant Together
Client: LG Electronics
Assoc. VP, Consumer, Trade & Insights Marketing: Tim O’Brien
Agency: DOJO
Executive Creative Director/Partner: Mauro Alencar Executive Creative Director/Partner: Geoff Edwards
CFO/Partner: Jeremy Brown
Art Director: Chris Masse
Copywriter: Michael Leibowitz
Senior Producer: Annie Uzdavinis
Partnerships: Audrey Santamarta
Production Company: Paranoid US, Los Angeles
Director: Sophie Gateau
Executive Producer/ Partner: Claude Letessier
Executive Producer/ Partner: Cathleen O'Conor
Head of Production: Matej Purg
VFX / Animation: Paranoid Design Studio, Los Angeles
Head of Post Production/Producer: Guillaume Raffi
Lead VFX Artist: Vincent Rogozyk
VFX Artists: Michael Tavarez, Jahmad Rollins, Derek Hansen, Andrew Cook, Naime Perette, Joe Ball, Maggie Balaco, Alexandre de Bonrepos
Production Assistant: Julie Amalric
Track: “White” by LIGHTS
Mix: Lime Santa Monica, CA
Mixer: Sam Casas Asst.
Engineer: Jeff Malen
Executive Producer: Jessica Locke
Color: New Hat Santa Monica, CA
Colorist: Bob Festa

Pet Names For Your Pussy Promote The Mooncup, An Alternative To Tampons.

The Mooncup, a reinvention of a centuries old concept by entrepreneur Su Hardy, is a smart eco-friendly alternative to tampons. Made from medical grade silicone, without bleaches, dyes or pesticides, the reusable menstrual cup leaves no fibers behind like other sanitary products.

The first sanitary protection manufacturer in the world to be awarded Ethical Business status, Mooncup Ltd. is guided by people and environmentally-friendly business practices.

But what is equally as smart as the product design is the advertising poster campaign and website promoting the Mooncup, created by St. Lukes in conjunction with the company.

The Advertising
Posters with euphemisms for lady bits began appearing around the London Underground signed off with a url that read loveyourvagina.com.

above photo courtesy of Uplift Magazine

The five advertising posters:

The Website

Equally blind and compelling, the posters lead you to a website where you can not only get information about the Mooncup, but as is smart engaging behavior these days, invites the audience to add their own vaginal moniker to the many other hilarious ones posted by others.

Above are just a few of the submitted nicknames from their site. You've got your expected ones -- coochie, va jay jay, beaver, muff, etc. and some very unexpected ones. Some that may make you cringe and some that will make you crack up... my personal favorite being "The Downtown Entertainment and Dining District." You can visit loveyourvagina.com and add your own nickname.

Kath Clements, Campaign Manager for Mooncup, says: “We hope the ads will get women thinking, smiling and talking about their vaginas. We’re up for women feeling good on the inside too!”

Clearly, this humorous approach is getting some serious attention. With lots of blogs, women's sites and magazines, such as Marie Claire, writing about the campaign... the relatively unknown product is reaching larger audience than it otherwise would have. Mooncup Ltd also has a facebook fan page and a twitter account, intelligently using social media to further promote the product.

Mooncup was launched by Brighton entrepreneur Su Hardy in 2002 and is now stocked in Boots, as well as independent health food stores and through the mooncup.co.uk website.

all images and information courtesy of Mooncup, Ltd.

Santa's On His Way! Find Him With The NORAD Santa Tracker.

above: Santa as he cruised over Perth, Australia a few hours ago

If you have children, they are undoubtedly anxiously awaiting the arrival of Jolly Ol' Saint Nick this evening. Chances are, they are not snuggled in their beds with visions of Sugar Plums dancing in their heads. Heck, they don't even know what Sugar plums are.

It's more likely that they are using every excuse in the book to stay up late (I'm thirsty, I have to pee, I wanna see Santa....) and try to catch a glimpse of the bearded gift courier, you can assure them that He's on his way with the NORAD Santa Tracker.

Regale them with wonderful updates and info, like how many gifts have been delivered, how many snacks Santa has consumed so far in real time and his latest stop.

In case the kids wanna know exactly how Norad tracks Santa, here's the official answer:

How NORAD tracks Santa:
NORAD uses four high-tech systems to track Santa – radar, satellites, Santa Cams and fighter jets.

Tracking Santa starts with the NORAD radar system called the North Warning System. This powerful radar system consists of 47 installations strung across the northern border of North America. On Christmas Eve, NORAD monitors the radar systems continuously for indications that Santa Claus has left the North Pole.

The moment that radar indicates Santa has lifted off, we use our second detection system. Satellites positioned in geo-synchronous orbit at 22,300 miles from the Earth’s surface are equipped with infrared sensors, which enable them to detect heat. Amazingly, Rudolph's bright red nose gives off an infrared signature, which allow our satellites to detect Rudolph and Santa.

You can see him via satellite, or map or terrain... zoom in on some Santa Cams, use Google earth to follow him and more.

On YouTube you can track Santa's whereabouts on the NORAD channel in different languages. Kids can even check in and see what's happening in Santa's Village:

Although, not much to see now, since the bulk of the elves hard work has been done. You can even see how many snacks Santa has consumed so far in real time!

Santa Snacks

Santa takes breaks during his Christmas Eve trip around the world – especially for snacks left by children. Do you put a snack out for Santa? Kids all over the world do. Some even leave carrots for Santa's reindeer. (Carrots are their favorite food.) Check to see how many cookies Santa eats during his journey. No wonder he’s jolly and round! Leaving cookies for Santa is a tradition for many families. Imagine eating that many cookies in one night (burp)! How many cookies has Santa eaten so far at the time of this post?: 41143 Now see how many here!

HOT UPDATES from the North Pole: Mrs. Claus has informed NORAD that Santa’s “Naughty or Nice” list includes a record 1.9 billion children under the age of 15 this year. This list grows continually, as children are born at the rate of approximately 340,000 per day.

Check the world’s current population at http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/popclockworld.html Weather forecasters have predicted that the temperature at the North Pole on December 25 will be about -15 F (-26C). Brrrrrrr! Check current North Pole weather at http://www.weather.com/weather/local/99705?from=monthAvgGraph_topnav_undeclared

NORAD has received confirmation that the special navigation panel aboard Santa’s sleigh is functioning as planned. The elf staff provided no further comment or details. North Pole officials confirmed that the Santa Cams NORAD uses on Christmas Eve are in fact able to detect and photograph objects as large as 100 lollipops long and 55 lollipops wide. Elf Soen Firr, chief Santa suit engineer, confirmed that Santa’s red suit has been weatherproofed and tested to ensure Santa will stay warm and dry in any type of weather. No further details of the suit’s material or capabilities were released. Today, NORTH Pole staff have advised NORAD that it is the final day to send Santa an email because Santa and the elves will begin loading the sleigh later today. This is such a huge task that they will not have time to check emails!

NORAD has confirmed that Santa and his fully-loaded, reindeer-powered sleigh took off from the North Pole and soared into the arctic sky at 6:00 a.m. EST (5:00 a.m. CST, 4:00 a.m. MST, 3:00 a.m. PST). NORAD radar is tracking Rudolph’s bright red nose, and satellite imagery is providing minute-by-minute coverage of Santa’s location.