REDMOND, Wash. – Dec. 19, 2012 – Microsoft made the nice list this year.
The company is working with North American Aerospace Defense
(NORAD) to help power the annual Santa Tracker using NORAD’s powerful
global radars and Microsoft technology, including Bing Maps, Windows
Azure, and apps for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8.
Santa Visits NORAD
December 19, 2012
Santa
Claus (center) with Col. Marcus Beyerle (left), 21st Dental Squadron
commander, and Lt. Gen. J.M. Duval (right), Canadian Forces, Deputy
Commander, North American Aerospace Defense Command, at Peterson Air
Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo., during his NORAD mission brief on
Dec. 16, 2012.
Once upon a time children would have to take their parents’ word
that Santa Claus was on his way (but will only stop at their house if
they go to sleep already). Now, using a website, a mobile app, or by
placing a phone call to NORAD, children can determine Santa Claus’s
approximate global position.
The Colorado-based NORAD is a bi-national command between the
United States and Canada, who work “side by side to defend North
America” by monitoring the skies and seas for any potential threats. The
organization’s headquarters are at Peterson Air Force Base.
“Since we’re watching the skies anyway, it only makes sense to
watch for Rudolph as well,” said Marisa Novobilski, NORAD Tracks Santa
project manager.
It was a wrong number in 1955 that first led NORAD to track Santa
Claus on Christmas Eve. That year, a Sears, Roebuck & Co. department
store ran an advertisement inviting children to call Santa. But the
phone number in the ad contained a typo. Instead of reaching Santa
directly, that wrong number meant children were calling the “red phone”
at NORAD's predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command. The line
was typically reserved for major security situations.
Colonel Harry Shoup was on duty that night, and though he
initially thought someone was playing a joke on him, he eventually
realized what had happened.
“Then he played along, and for the rest of the night as calls came
in asking where Santa is, he and his staff checked the radar and
relayed location information to the children,” Novobilski said. “It
became the goodwill military outreach program it is today that reaches
millions around the world.”
It’s the first time NORAD and Microsoft have teamed up to help track Santa Claus across the globe.
“We appreciate all of Microsoft’s support,” Novobilski said. “It’s
actually helping us grow to have such a great technology partner on
board. It’s been great so far.”
NORAD uses Microsoft technology for other non-Santa-related
projects the rest of the year, said Dana Barnes, account team unit
manager for Microsoft’s Joint Defense Agencies.
“I attribute the opportunity for us to do something like the Santa
Tracker to the men and women from Microsoft who are on the ground every
day helping keep NORAD’s servers running, educating people on
technology, building out solutions for line-of-business applications –
they’ve given NORAD confidence in Microsoft,” Barnes said.
Test-Driving the Santa Tracker
Seattle sisters Tansy, 5, and Lola, 7, recently explored the NORAD
Tracks Santa website using their family’s new Microsoft Surface. The
Surface’s Touch Cover was an exact color match to Lola’s hot pink pants.
Sitting back on the couch, the girls played holiday matching
games, watched a video about Santa’s Christmas Eve journey and learned
about his fighter jet escort. “Wow … jets,” Lola murmured, as the video
introduced children to the pilots who would be Santa’s escorts.
Surface Meets Santa
December 19, 2012
Seattle
sisters Tansy, 5, (left) and Lola, 7, recently explored the NORAD
Tracks Santa website using their family’s new Microsoft Surface.
“I think this is pretty cool because you don’t have to go anywhere
to find Santa, you can just stay wherever you are,” Lola said. “And I
like that some people are gonna make sure Santa has a good trip and that
everything goes well. Some people with jets.”
The girls then discussed at length how fast Santa would have to go
to get around the world in one night (and finally deduced that Santa
must be faster than both a cheetah and a peregrine falcon). Then the
sisters pondered whether Santa has 50 of the same outfit, and what the
big guy might wear when he’s relaxing at the North Pole.
Tansy, sophisticated in her argyle tights, crossed her legs and
took a sip from her white tea cup (which contains all-natural,
grapefruit-flavored soda).
“Next year I think he should wear pink pants and a black shirt,” Tansy said matter-of-factly, taking another sip.
Tansy decided to draw Santa with a red marker, and the girls
debated whether they should call the NORAD hotline on Christmas Eve to
ask where Santa is, or track him via the app and website throughout the
day.
“I can’t call,” Tansy said. “I’m going to be busy sleeping and thinking about getting books for Christmas.”
“What if Santa gets lost in a snowstorm?” Lola said.
“He’s gonna be alright,” Tansy said. “He’s always alright.”
“Are you always alright?” Lola said.
Tansy stops coloring her Santa and looks at her sister. “Sometimes,” she said.
They both exploded into giggles as Tansy finished drawing Santa’s
hat and added the final touch, a speech bubble containing his trademark
laugh, “Ho, ho, ho.”
Reindeer-Friendly Technology
Santa tracking has evolved since 1955. What began as telephone
calls and radio reports has blossomed to include a website, apps and
online mapping.
Christmas Eve at NORAD
December 19, 2012
Each
Christmas Eve thousands of volunteers answer calls and emails from
children, using NORAD’s powerful radars to keep everyone apprised of
Santa’s location.
Download: Web
“The first year we were on the internet, in 1997, we crashed when
we had 100 visitors to our site at the same time,” Novobilski said.
“Last year we had 18.9 million visitors through month of December, and
upwards of 1 million inquiries per second on December 24.”
Now that’s a traffic spike. No problem, said Bill Hilf, general
manager of Microsoft’s Windows Azure Product Marketing. Whether it’s the
Olympics in London, the launch of “Halo 4,” or a busy month tracking
Santa, Windows Azure was built to help a website and its components
scale up and down – and way up, if needed.
“All of this stuff is kind of like a rubber band – it has to grow
and stretch together or it won’t grow the right way,” Hilf said. “Each
component of the NORAD Santa Tracker site was designed for scale.”
Windows Azure’s consumption-based model means that sites like the
NORAD Santa Tracker that experience heavy traffic on Christmas Eve, or
perhaps a mainstream retailer on Black Friday or Cyber Monday, can both
accommodate the tremendous load, “then week after week slowly scale back
to the bare minimum of what you need, and also pay only for what you
need,” Hilf said.
Phew. Santa could use that kind of tech support from Windows Azure.
“I think Santa already has it,” Hilf said, though when pressed for
details, he’ll only add that the North Pole’s non-disclosure agreement
is pretty strict.
“I think tracking Santa is a great, great example of Windows Azure
being put to use in its full glory,” he said. “And I love that this is
an application of Windows Azure that I can tell my mother or my kids or
everyday people about as an illustration of what the cloud can do.”
Barnes said the Bing Maps component of tracking Santa will show
kids where Santa is, let them place icons on the map, and focus in on
his trip past the world’s major cities.
“NORAD has predicted the flight they think Santa will make to be
able to cover the entire world in one night. Bing Maps will map that out
so kids can have the visual, zoom in and out, watch videos, and see
where Santa is,” Barnes said. “We’re really excited about it.”
Microsoft was thrilled to start work on the project in September,
and Microsoft and NORAD are already dreaming up features for future
holidays that will continue to show off Microsoft’s multi-device
platform and back-end technology in a way that continues to create a
delightful holiday experience for children and their families all over
the world, he said.
“It’s a fantastic fit,” Barnes said. “The timing of this with all
of the new products Microsoft releasing – it’s kind of a perfect storm
in a way.”
He adds: “A perfect storm, but not one that will keep Santa from making his deliveries.”
On Christmas Eve, the hotline is staffed by about 1,200 volunteers
who, over the course of 24 hours, will sit “shoulder-to-shoulder”
working two-hour shifts.
Apart from inquiring about Santa’s location, children have all
manner of questions, from “How do I become an elf?” to “Can Santa bring
me Justin Bieber?” All told, volunteers will answer upwards of 10,000
e-mails and more than 102,000 calls.
“It’s an adrenaline rush,” Novobilski said.
On Christmas Eve, children can call the hotline at 1-877-HI-NORAD
or email noradtrackssanta@outlook.com to get information on Santa's
whereabouts. In addition, children can download the NORAD Tracks Santa
free app or visit the website, which is available in eight languages, including English, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish.
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