LITTLE ROCK — Merry Christmas!
OK, so it’s still a few days away, but I had to get it in before the holiday hits. I also had to get in a few recommendations for Christmas fun, as I do each year.
This year, we’ll start with an old favorite for a special reason, the Santa Tracker at NORAD (noradsanta.org). NORAD, or the North American Aerospace Defense Command, has been tracking Santa since its inception. Priorto that, when it was CONAD (Continential Air Defense Command), a misprint in a Sears Roebuck catalog ledchildren to call the director of operations, Col. Harry Shoup, instead of Santa Claus. Shoup would “check” the radar for Santa with each call, and the tradition was born.
Shoup died in March, but the tradition he started is still going strong 54 years later. A countdown on the main page lets you know when the tracking begins, and the site will track Santa on the site or through the free program Google Earth, providedit’s already downloaded and installed prior to Christmas Eve. You can do that at earth. google.com/downloadearth.html. In the meantime, I recommend reading Shoup’s touching story and taking a trip around Santa’s Village for some games, music and fun.
Of course, you could always take a trip outside the village. At northpole.com, kids will find several areas with various activities and different “elves” to run eachsection. Bif, for example, runs the mailroom, where children can send a letter to Santa or can send family and friends animated postcards. Will, the weatherman, will tell children the current conditions and forecast for the North Pole, just in case they want to visit. Raymond tends the barn and lets children read stories about him, or he reads them to them himself. And Mrs. Claus tends the kitchen, where she offers her cookbook with aton of recipes.
If you’re just in the mood for some fun games anyone can play anytime, zip over to PopCap Games’ Web site (popcap.com). Several of the company’s popular games are available online, including Bejeweled and Bejeweled 2, Zuma and the newest, Plants vs. Zombies.
Plant vs. Zombies is not only challenging, it’s hilarious. These zombies areslowly headed toward your house. You have to protect it. How? By planting plants, of course. Peashooters (they shoot peas), Wall-nuts (they stop zombies), Venus flytraps that devour the zombies ... some very interesting waves of defense. The game will keep you smiling and on your toes. The online version only covers one level (for all levels, you must buy the full version), but the one levellasts quite a while.
The site offers several games for purchase as well.
One of the more recent games is Zuma’s Revenge, a follow-up to the popular Zuma released a few years ago. The game features a frog that spins around shooting colored balls at a line of colored balls. The goal is to eliminate the line before it gets to the end of its trail.
It may not sound like much, but trust me, you won’t want to stop playing. It’s frustrating, fast-paced and just plain fun. The best part is,it’s a good game for children or adults.
Most of their games run about $20 for the download of the full version. Right now, however, they’re having a sale, and many of their games are half price.
Finally, I’d like to recommend a site to the adults who want to learn how to use that new computer your child just got.
You know there are some of you out there who still don’t know a hard drive from a floppy drive (p.s., floppies are obsolete).
Goodwill Community Foundation offers free onlinecourses on basic computing, from setting up a desktop system to sending e-mail and setting the parental controls for the Internet.
A few lessons require registration at the site, but it’s free. The lessons are available at gcflearnfree.org/computer/.
Good luck, have fun, learn a little and have a wonderful Christmas!
Melissa L. Jones can be reached via e-mail at [email protected].
Business, Pages 25 on 12/21/2009