It's December 1st, which means you can finally break into that advent calendar and start the countdown to Christmas. Today Google and NORAD have kicked off their official countdown, which allows one and all to follow Santa online as he embarks on his annual trip from the North Pole to your chimney (an annual tradition).

They explain, "With NORAD Tracks Santa, children and families can watch Santa as he delivers presents all over the globe (with a little help from the North American Aerospace Defense Command). If you haven't yet followed this tradition in your family, we'd like to invite you to join us this Christmas Eve." Get a little preview in the video below, and while you can visit the site right now, they ask that you set a reminder for 2 a.m. EST on December 24th to start tracking Santa in real-time using Google Maps, and 3D Google Earth.

But what will they do for Hanukkah?