Trying to fight your way through the mall for a picture of your kids with jolly old Saint Nick always end up the same way, with you knuckle-punching some rude soccer-mom in the throat for cutting in line, followed by the usual arrest, processing, and posting bail. Save yourself some grief thin 2006.
Microsoft will play the role of Santa this year, but don’t wait for Bill Gates to drop some cash down your chimney because he’s got a much better cause to spend it on than your mid-life crisis.
Bring your child to the computer, fire up Windows Live Messenger, and chat with Father Christmas at Northpole@live.com in an interactive session.
On Christmas Eve, the kids can ask Santa where he is through Live Messenger. Instead of saying he’s freezing his holiday buns off somewhere over Saskatchewan, he’ll tell your little darlings to check out his 10-20 on NORAD’s Santa tracker.
Microsoft’s Virtual Earth has a role on the Santa tracker, which will use the mapping technology seen in Windows Live Local to show where the sleigh pulled by eight tiny reindeer may be in the world.
So rather than spending a silent night with the legal system for yet another misdemeanor assault at the mall, gather the family around a toasty warm computer and go the Live Messenger route. A soccer-mom somewhere will be grateful without knowing why.
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David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
