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RonJonSurfer land shark

RonJonSurfer

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Santa Goes High Tech on the Internet By AMY LORENTZEN, Associated Press Writer

DES MOINES, Iowa - Santa Claus is going high-tech as more children and parents are able to reach the jolly old elf online.

"We can use this technology to our advantage and provide a much more believable experience for our kids," said Anne Gaskell, co-owner of SantaSpeaking.com.

The Sioux City-based Web site, launched last year, features an online form where parents, friends and relatives can request personalized letters and phone calls, which last three minutes or more depending on how many children are whispering — or shouting — their Christmas wishes in Santa's ear.

Gaskell said the company has made about 1,000 calls this season, with many more requests rolling in just days before Christmas.

The live calls range in cost from $15 to $39.95 — add $5 if the call if made after Dec. 15. SantaSpeaking.com also offers a selection of MP3 and CD recordings of the holiday conversations, in which Santa lets little children know that he's aware if they have been naughty or nice.

"When you go to the mall, Santa's not able to know all of those details," Gaskell said. "Parents are just overjoyed with the reaction their kids are getting — that Santa knows they've been stealing cookies from the cookie jar or fighting with their brother or sister.

"It just blows them away," she said.

Gaskell, the mother of three children under age 5, said she started the Web site because "I wanted something a little bit better for my children."

A series of four prerecorded telephone calls update the tiny tots on Santa's travels on Christmas Eve. Kids also can log on at noon on Dec. 24 to watch Santa's departure from the North Pole through a CG animation video — the type of technology used in the holiday hit "The Polar Express."

And if that's not enough to update kids on the comings and goings of Mr. Claus, he's even taken up blogging at the site.

High-tech services from Santa are available on Web sites popping up around the nation and world. Other sites feature names such as santasayshello.com, livesantacalls.com, santacalledme.com, santaphonecalls.com and chatwithsanta.com.

At SantaSpeaking.com, parents also can order personalized letters that include the child's name, age and activities. Those cost $14.95 and arrive in a plastic tube filled with festive "magic dust" to be sprinkled outside the home to "help attract the reindeer."

A sample letter, addressed to young Lydia, reads:

"I know that you have been doing so well in preschool, picking up your toys and learning to ride your bike. Don't worry about accidentally cutting your sister's hair, we know that it's impossible to be good all the time."

The cheery and colorful Web site, which features a live reindeer cam and children's games, was developed by a Rhode Island company, and the graphics come from a designer in Ohio. The Santas make their calls from Omaha, Neb., contracted through a call center.

According to a press release issued by Gaskell earlier this month, About.com and Google Zeitgeist report that the word "Santa" has been the 6th most popular search in December.

By comparison, a separate survey found the number of Santa visits to shopping malls has dropped about 40 percent between 2001 and 2003, Gaskell said.

"To skeptics, the thought of going online to find Santa can sound high-tech and impersonal," Brandon Lobaugh, Gaskell's business partner, said in a statement. "But the live phone call from Santa in reality is more believable and more in keeping with the Santa Claus legend because they are highly personalized by the parents ... Santa knows all."

___

On the Net:

SantaSpeaking.com: http://www.santaspeaking.com/Index.aspx

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RonJonSurfer land shark

RonJonSurfer

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More cutting edge Christmas info:

Czech carp competes for a place at the Christmas table

TREBON, Czech Republic (AFP) - Carp, the traditional Christmas meal in Central Europe, is facing fierce competition this year from newcomers such as salmon and poultry, according to worried Czech producers.

Already facing pressure from poultry, carp prices have fallen by around five percent since last year, according to estimates from the biggest national carp producer, Trebon-based Rybarstvi Trebon in the heart of the Czech carp production region.

"Prices could fall even more because of competition from salmon," which has been helped by favourable customs duties in the enlarged European Union, said Petr Sedlacek, the commercial director of the company, which exports around 70 percent of its annual production of 3,000 tonnes.

In addition, there is the traditional competition from Poland and Hungary, the two other major providers of carp in Central Europe.

Still, impervious to the waves of globalisation, consumers jealously guard their place in the queue at the stall near Bosilecky Lake, where the fishermen of Rybarstvi Trebon sell their fish.

"Look at these fish, they are magnificent," a grandfather exclaims to his son, visibly moved by the sight.

Some, however, are deterred by the price asked for top of the range carp, 250 koruna (8.5 euros, 10.2 dollars) a kilo for larger live specimens.

Fishmongers who have set up stall across the capital since mid-December are offering cheaper prices -- from around 70 koruna a kilos -- to compete with fish-farmed salmon offered in supermarkets. Around half of annual Czech carp production is sold during the Christmas period.

"The quality of Czech carp can not be compared with fish farmed salmon, our fish live in a natural environment," argue representatives of the Trebon company.

On Bosilecky Lake, partially drained overnight, fishermen use boats armed with long poles and loading nets to carefully haul in the carp in the haze of the early morning mist.

On land, professionals judge the weight of the wriggling fish by hand before selecting one of the large water-filled tubs for them. In the muffled silence, only the sound of outboard motors and the lorries recalls the fact that the action is being played out in the 21st century.

In the Trebon region, production of carp dates back to the 15th and 16th centuries, when monks dug out some 27,000 hectares (66,700 acres) of artificial lakes for fish production.

Extracted from the lakes, the fish are usually sold live in large tubs in the run up to Christmas.

Carp enthusiasts often keep them alive in their baths until Christmas Eve, when they killed and cooked as the main festive meal. Those with weaker constitutions have them killed on site before taking them away.

Culinary tastes, however, are evolving. Kitchen space is shrinking and households devote less time to cooking. The challenge is as great on the local as the export market, with around half of the annual 20,000 tonnes of Czech carp produced annually destined for sale abroad.

At the same time, traditional methods of raising the fish leave no room for cutting costs. Two years is the minimum time for a young fish to grow naturally, without any stimulants as required by EU rules, into a commercially saleable adult.

What is more, the Association of Czech Fish Producers prefers to bet on the recognised quality of the "Czech Carp" mark, rather than take part in a price war.

In this light, environment group Greenpeace's recent campaign highlighting the presence of health damaging phthalates in raised carp was poorly received by the industry. The only consolation for them was that their Polish and Hungarian rivals were also targeted.

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Tenacious_Peaches land shark

Tenacious_Peaches

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Since this is the official Christmas thread, I would like to officially thank Joe for keeping us in tunes this holiday season. The songs were great and kept me singing and dancing. But more importantly, although Joe's friendship and generosity cannot be wrapped up in ribbons and bows, it is definitely one of the best presents I've received this year. Wishing you much love and many thanks, my sweet Joe.

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