Projo Holidays Blog

Great blog post at the official Google blog.

The hard news:

NORAD has partnered with Google to use technology including Google Maps, Google Earth, iGoogle and YouTube to track Santa...

The countdown begins December 1st on NORAD's website (Norad Tracks Santa), where families can find a new kid-friendly game or activity every day until December 24th.

But the cool part is the blogger -- Carrie Farrell is the granddaughter of Col. Harry Shoup, who, as commander-in-chief of NORAD in 1955, took a call to Santa from a wrong number printed in a Sears ad, and gamely asked his staff to check the radar for a sleigh.

The photo is of Harry and Carrie now.

Read it all :Tracking Santa, then and now.

Updated Saturday: With a new month, all restaurants are again available, and there's a new coupon code to get 50 percent off; enter the word "NEW" in the coupon code field on your shopping cart to see the discount reflected.

Dealnews reported Thursday morning (Restaurant.com coupon: 60% off gift certificates):

Ending tomorrow, Restaurant.com slashes 60% off any gift certificate via coupon code "THANKS". This coupon cuts $25 dining certificates to $4 and $10 gift certificates to $1.20. Restaurant.com's gift certificates are redeemable at local restaurants across the United States. Some gift certificates have restrictions, like dinner-only or a $15 or higher minimum. (Each restaurant lists its individual restrictions.)

Been there. Done that -- three times tonight. These look to me like 84 and 88 percent off face value, respectively.

There are only a few available for Rhode Island restaurants -- just 16 -- and six have sold out of however many coupons they chose to offer this month. (If you're elsewhere, you may see more restaurants, or none..)

You can select how many restaurants to view on one page, something I think every results page needs..

Some do restrict the coupons to lunch or dinner, others have minimums. Terms are clearly stated. Wickford Gourmet, for instance, offers a $10 coupon, "Valid with a minimum purchase of $25 for Catering, Gift Baskets, Cheese's. All services valid."
There are participating restaurants I've never been to -- Feast or Famine 'Wood Grilled Cuisine in Cranston and Warren, for instance, and Uncle Ronnie's Red Tavern in Harrisville -- and there's ($10, lunch only) Rasoi, the Indian restaurant just after Hope Street becomes East Avenue in Pawtucket, where we ate last night. It's in the plaza where Barney's bakery/deli used to be, and the food is distinctly different from that of the two India restaurants, for which gift certificates are also available here.

(Specifics: Crisp pappadums and three dipping sauces/relishes to everyone. We loved the mutton in savory brown sauce, bones and all and the surprisingly sweet-crusted and flavorful cauliflower. Leftovers were just as delicious tonight. Nan, too.)

The restaurant.com interface offers info about each restaurant and its cuisine, with a photo and links to the menu and a map. Use a search engine to find out more, if you're unsure.

The shopping cart is smart. Changes in quantity are reflected immediately. Typing the magic word "THANKS" in the coupon code field immediately applies the additional 60 percent discount to the already discounted price of the gift certificate, and tells you so.

Even after doing that, using Firefox, I was able to use my back button to go back to the search results page for Rhode Island and continue shopping, with the cart remembering it all. Good thing, since the link back to the site from the cart leads back to the front door.

Checkout offers an easy way to opt out of promotional emails , if you like (uncheck the box).

After you pay -- PayPal is an option -- you get coupon links to print now or later in b&w or color. An email reinforces the certificate links, and they remain available in your account. Privacy policy says they don't share your personal info, but you'll probably be an anonymous blip on a demographic profile that includes your zip code.

So far so good. This is as far as I've gotten. Some will be gifts.

If you don't have much money, this could take you -- or people you wrap these for -- to some potentially funky eateries for not much. Me, too.

Ticket to Ride
Tops: "It's familiar (much of the play is based on rummy), appealing (who doesn't love trains?), easy to learn (figure five minutes for explaining the rules, tops) and competitive without being confrontational. Read my full review here" -- defective yeti Matthew Baldwin

The defective yeti's all-time favorite Good Gift Games. These are board games, not computer games. He offers links to other roundups of best games as well, so if you're looking for a new way to bring the family together for fun, this is the place to start.

The yeti -- Seattle programmer and board-game fan Matthew Baldwin -- also points to his annual roundup of good gift games for 2007, now up at The Morning News (2007 Good Gift Games Guide), and to those of earlier years.