NORAD to once again track Santa's progress

(Credit: NORAD Santa)

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.

Now, let's just hope a few people at NORAD won't be enjoying a Christmas break. After all, it would be a shame if a mythical missile accidentally blows Santa's sled out of the sky while en route.

For more on NORAD's decades-long effort to provide children a live view of Santa's progress as he and his reindeer deliver Christmas presents, read this behind-the-scenes story by CNET's Daniel Terdiman.

Ho ho ho.

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YouTube gets social-networking face-lift

YouTube has a new look, one that the video-sharing service hopes will make it easier for users to find and organize the kind of content that they want.

Google said in a blog post today that it has redesigned YouTube's home page and the channel pages, and is basically revamping its overall appearance by applying "a fresh coat of digital paint across the whole site."

"You can browse recommended Channels," YouTube wrote in its post. You can "customize your homepage's feed; even link your YouTube account to Google+ and Facebook to see what your friends are sharing. The new homepage feed we launched earlier this year is now front and center on the homepage."

One of YouTube's biggest challenges has always been about helping users cull through the seeming infinite amount of video clips to find material that appeals to them. The site has also sought ways to streamline the sharing process to help popular clips go viral. This is the latest poke at those problems.

You can read YouTube's blog post here.

Clarification YouTube said the image of the pages in the video is an artistic rendering.

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How to send money to friends through Facebook

If you forget birthdays until Facebook reminds you, or you constantly fear that your friends pay for lunch more often than you, then PayPal's new Facebook app is for you. Send Money is aptly named, and while you can choose to bundle your e-payment with a silly customized greeting card, there's no need for it. Here's how to settle your accounts:

1. Log on to Facebook and visit the Send Money page.


2. Click "Send a card with money" if you want to make a card. Click "or just send money" if you want to get down to business right away.

Step 2: Send a card or just send money.
3. Give PayPal permission to see your friends list and make posts in your name.


4. Type in your friend's name, then e-mail address (needed for fraud protection and account confirmation).


5. Write a message to your friend; if you haven't told him what you're doing, an explanation would probably be most welcome. You can attach photos or YouTube clips, if you'd like.

Step 5: Create message.
6. Add money. If you use your bank info or PayPal account, there's no fee. If you use a credit card, there is a fee that currently stands at 2.9 percent plus 30 cents in the U.S.


7. You'll need to sign in to your PayPal account to confirm and choose a payment method. You can also tell Send Money to skip this step in the future when using the same computer, but you may want to keep another layer of security active.


8. Your friend will see a notification in Facebook and in his e-mail. Once he logs in to PayPal, he should soon see a bump in his account balance.

That's all there is to it. From now on, forgetting your wallet is no excuse.

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