
Google Santa Tracker - ryanseys
https://santatracker.google.com
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degenerate
If anyone ever says we still need flash - I'll link them to this page. These
"kiddy"-like interfaces are so common in flash but I haven't seen a good one
done in HTML5 until just now.

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_august
What kind of tools are used to make something like this? Just browser/editor,
or something more for timelines like flash?

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bduerst
It looks like they're using Polymer.js (aka web components), but I've never
seen it used for a video game before.

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username223
They already know when you're sleeping or awake, if you've been good or bad,
and what you may buy. For goodness' sake!

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mintplant
I'm eagerly awaiting the HN comments telling us why we shouldn't be coddling
our kids with the illusion of Santa Claus.

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scrollaway
(Since you're stirring up the pot) Is it really rare and absurd to tell kids
about Santa without trying to make them believe he's real?

I'm not a parent so please do enlighten me as to why kids _should_ believe in
a made-up entity, up until some arbitrary age at which point they _should_ be
told the truth. Is this some perverse initiation to getting your heart broken
or something?

I was raised with the whole santa bells & whistles without ever being told "by
the way, he's _real_ ". As far as childhoods go it was pretty uneventful and
christmas was always fun. Did I miss some crucial childhood enlightenment?

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11thEarlOfMar
> getting your heart broken

I did the whole Santa Clause bit with my two daughters. Part of it was
reliving my own childhood and wanting them to have the same fond memories I
did. I don't recall a heart break moment for myself when I realized it was all
a ruse. My parents never formally told me. It came on as a sneaking suspicion
that eventually became obvious as I grew more aware of how the world really
works. And I don't ever recall being pissed off at my folks for leading me on
like that. There were still presents under the tree, so what did it really
matter?

I'll ask my younger daughter in a few years how she sees it. It's especially
interesting in her case, because she cracked the code on Santa, the Tooth
Fairy and the Easter Bunny all at the same moment, when she recognized that
the notes she'd been receiving from them were all in the same handwriting, and
that didn't add up for her.

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Guest192038
Same here, my parents never told me, it was just a growing suspicion that
slowly came together. At the same time, I never recall being angry with them,
it was just a fact of life that parents pretend Santa exists.

It is strange that we lie to children, but at the same time, kids have
interesting minds, and they seem to really appreciate fantasies, creativity
and adventures. This is the one time in their life when they can honestly
believe a magic fairy leaves money for their teeth, or that the treasure map
they discovered for lost candy in their backyard is real, and left by a pirate
500 years ago. As adults, we lose that magic as we get a better understanding
of the world, and we try to relive some of it through movies or games, but for
kids, it can exist in reality.

So, yes, we lie to them, but in return they live years in what feels like a
more fantastical world, and I think they appreciate those memories when they
grow up.

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dkonofalski
What is the North Pole airport minigame supposed to do? You just flip the
switch to make it go faster and that's it?

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matteotom
I was a big fan of the old Norad Santa Tracker from when I was a kid (~10-12
years ago?).

It didn't have any fancy animations or games, just a map on Christmas eve
showing where Santa had been, and some cool videos about the cities (and an
aircraft carrier!) he visited that were narrated by various military (Air
Force?) officers.

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atwebb
There's an app for Norad Santa Tracker now as well, we used it last year and
discussed the different places he had been.

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kimcheekumquat
I'm sorry, but how is it possible to finish this level in 5 blocks?

[http://i.imgur.com/76qMY6c.png](http://i.imgur.com/76qMY6c.png)

We began 2 blocks left from the bottom right block

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itp
You know that the "repeat" block can have multiple steps inside of it, right?
i.e. 4x(North,West) should have done it.

EDIT: [http://imgur.com/jOHpJqn](http://imgur.com/jOHpJqn)

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kimcheekumquat
Didn't know you can do that :( Thanks.

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itp
No problem. The affordance for that particular UI element is not the most
obvious.

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greggarious
Does this fail for anyone else if you are bloocking Google Analytics? (I am
using NoScript, I allowed the JS for the site)

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dogma1138
I'm blocking Google tracking with uBlock which blocks GA domains as well and
it seems to work, NoScript is a bitch to work with there might be some cross
domain scripts that are not white listed.

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joezydeco
Last year my kids sang that gibberish elf cover of "Jingle Bells" for an
entire month after Christmas was over.

