christmas

The North American Aerospace Defense Command will once again be tracking Santa Claus as he circles the globe on Christmas Eve, offering up-to-the moment online updates on St. Nick's progress in a number of languages and using Google Earth and Google Maps to display his flight path.

While the actual "tracking" starts at 3 p.m. on December 24 (GMT +8), visitors to the NORAD Santa Web site can view last year's flight path while waiting.

If you're out and about on Christmas Eve, you can also use iOS and Android apps to view Santa's progress. Santa watchers can track his updated progress on Facebook, Google+, YouTube, and Twitter. … Read more

There's nothing like a little holiday music to get you in the holiday mood. To help you get your holiday music fix this season, here are some Web sites streaming holiday music:

Pandora Pandora's holiday genre has several stations including pop, classical, R&B, country, rock, children's, and more. They're all available through the mobile app as well.

Slacker Slacker has a nice selection of holiday stations to choose from. Just navigate to the "Seasonal" section and you'll see the list of stations. The stations are accessible via the mobile app, too.… Read more

Cut the Rope, one of the hottest smartphone games, just got an update to the free standalone holiday version for both the iPhone and iPad (universal) featuring new challenges and holiday-themed levels.

Certain apps have staying power on the top-10 list at the iTunes App Store and Cut The Rope offers just the right mix of challenging physics-based gameplay, family-friendly graphics, and tons of levels to explore to keep it near the top.… Read more

You almost can't go wrong giving the gift of music, so take a look at our top audio picks in this year's Holiday Gift Guide.

My opinion is that one can never have too many headphones since each model offers a different sound profile, but check out these alternatives for the audiophile on your gift list.

A good place to start is obviously a portable music player like the versatile Apple iPod Touch, but I also love the Logitech Wireless Boombox for iPad.

It lets you stream music from any device with a Bluetooth connection (most current smartphones, … Read more

It seems as if everyone is looking for a holiday gift bargain this year, but the lowest price isn't always your best choice. To help consumers navigate their way through both online and brick and mortar stores, I spoke with PriceGrabber.com President Steve Krenzer.

"The best way to take advantage of the season is to prepare ahead," said Krenzer. "Have a good sense of what your objectives are, what your budget is, what types of items you're looking to buy and what are the must-have features versus nice to have features."

Krenzer said … Read more

Having attended jazz pianist and composer Vince Guaraldi's alma mater of San Francisco State, and having played Snoopy in "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" in high school (where I was voted Most Talented; go ahead and have fun with that in the comments section [alas--or whew!--it was before YouTube]), I think I'm more than qualified to let you all know about the appearance of a tablet and smartphone app based on the classic "Charlie Brown Christmas" TV special.… Read more

No more trips to the post office or appointments with expensive photographers for holiday cards. This year, you can use a new app brought to us by the same people who made Postagram, and send out holiday cards directly from your smartphone.

Holiday Cards by Sincerely Ink (iTunes link) is a collection of roughly 30 Christmas, New Year's, and Hanukkah cards. You can also download the app to your Android device from the Android Market.

One thing not mentioned in the video is the ability to enter your address book into your account online, saving you from having to … Read more

Angry Birds Seasons lets you play the popular birds vs. pigs game, but with themes that match every season. You can play among jack-o'-lanterns and white-sheet ghosts in the fall; snowmen and Santa-capped pigs during the winter; or brightly colored eggs and bunny hats when it gets close to Easter. You can play whichever season you want right away--you won't need to unlock every level in order to unlock new themed worlds. With that said, the gameplay is no different than you've come to expect with Angry Birds, but maybe that's a good thing--most people love … Read more

From what I recall, Ford in 1971 offered "his and hers" Thunderbirds in The Christmas Book from Neiman Marcus. Retailing at $25,000 for the pair, the T-Birds were outfitted with the latest connectivity of the day. I have no idea how many of these special-edition T-Birds sold, but the built-in telephones and tape recorders must have seemed like spy tech to the drivers.

Then again, in 1971, there were about one-third the cars that are on the road today, and passengers serving as navigators would direct drivers to their destinations using complex and hefty Thomas Guide map … Read more