One of our favorite activities on Christmas Eve is to watch NORAD’s tracking of Santa on his worldwide trip. NORAD has been tracking Santa for over 50 years.
“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 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.”
As of this writing, he’s in Japan. By the time he gets to Nova Scotia, its time for my kids to get to bed because we know that Santa won’t come if the they are awake. Visit NoradSanta.org to watch Santa’s trip by video and/or Google Earth, learn about Santa and NORAD, and find fund activities.
Here’s a clip of Santa’s departure this morning.
Phone service has changed a lot over the last few years. Unlimited long-distance calling for one fee made a huge impact on my business. I went from paying over $100 a month just in long distance to one low fee ($25). But now things have gotten even better. I can call anyone, anywhere in the world for free using Skype.
Skype has been around for awhile, but I hadn’t really seen the value in it. No one I knew had Skype so it didn’t seem worth it to figure it out. But recently I’ve noticed more and more podcasters and small business owners had Skype so I wanted to learn the advantages.
The biggest advantage is that its free. Its free to download and its free to call others who also have Skype. For the business crowd, Skype offers conference and video calls, mobile Skype and instant messaging. Through Skype applications you can have a virtual receptionist and even record your calls (which is great for podcasts!).
But Skype isn’t limited to internet calling. You can call landlines and cell phone for a fee. The cost is extremely affordable using Skype Credit in a pay-as-you go manner or through a subscription. SkypeOut calls are about 2.1 cents per minute or for $3.00 a month you can have unlimited calls throughout the United Stats and Canada ($10 worldwide). For about $60 a year you can get a SkypeIn number whereby people can call you from landlines or cell phones.
Skype is very easy to use. In fact, the program walks you through a test call to make sure its working correctly.
I’m not sure Skype will replace other services the way cell phones are replacing landlines, but there’s no doubt that there is a place for Internet calling especially when its so affordable.
With the economy in the tank, finding ways to save money yet still enjoy life is a challenge. But now Bookins.com offers you the books and DVD’s you want for only $4.49…the cost of shipping them to you. Bookins is a book trading program whereby you can find the books you want or unload books you don’t want. It also provides the shipping label and postage all right from your computer to ship the books you trade.
Bookins is the only trading service that helps you swap stuff with no fuss. There is no standing in line at the post office, and no need to follow-up with each member you exchange with. We provide the postage, track all shipments, and make sure you get back items of equal value. We even provide replacements at our expense for lost/damaged items. If you have a problem, you contact us, and we resolve it.
With Christmas upon us, Bookins offers a way to get a great selection of books and DVD’s for very little cost.
