Merry Christmas! It's a touch early, but Digital Mike won't hit again until two days after the holiday. So here's some cheer. Read on.
Oh, Tannenbaum
This list is very debatable, but it gives you a beautiful sampling of the artistry of the Christmas tree. American Profile listed its eight most beautiful Christmas trees.They're wonderful and put the old Dougherty tree to shame, but they also don't have ornaments from my kids, which, for me, is the best. Take a look.
Snowflakes
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I'm a fan of making paper snowflakes. I'm such a klutz of an artist, but I feel like I have a fighting chance to produce something artistic through dumb luck. Here, however, is a true artist. This guy makes snowflake patterns in the snow. It's a wow!
Santa Tracker
Google's got a new feature — or at least it's new to me — called the Santa Tracker. I'm a fan of the Norad feature that has tracked Old St. Nick's progress on the big night, but I'll definitely check this out as well. And you don't have to wait for Christmas Eve. It's got good goofy features each day, much like an Advent calendar. It's not the reason for the season, but have some fun with it and give it a look.
Ground control
Norad is the gold standard on Santa trackers. I still love them and they've upgraded as time has progressed. Connect with both to get the live updates of Old Red flying on his global mission on Dec. 24. And don't forget to follow on Twitter . You could be the star of the show on Christmas Eve if you can give live updates to the nephews and nieces on Santa's whereabouts. Meanwhile, check the holiday hub portion on the site for more fun before the big night.
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Stars of the moment
YouTube made some stars this year and the social media video site brings you YouTube Rewind: What Does 2013 Say? What I enjoyed was trying to ID all the people and songs. Good fun. See if you recognize them. I spotted Kid President, The Slo Mo Guys and even Jimmy Kimmel. Have fun.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7jtC8vjXw8
2013 in review
And since you're YouTubing, give their year in review a review.
www.youtube.com/user/theyearinreview
Books for you
Shhh...This one is a few years old, but it's still a good list for us all. It's cold outside, so it's a perfect time to catch up on your reading. Here's a good list to get you going. I like how Time described it: "massive, anguished, exalted undertaking that is the ALL TIME 100 books list. The parameters: English language novels published anywhere in the world since 1923, the year that TIME Magazine began." It'll do you some good to crack open a book. http://entertainment.time.com/2005/10/16/all-time-100-novels/
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Digital Mike is looking for great websites to share with readers. Send your ideas to Local News Editor Mike Dougherty at mdougherty@postbulletin.com or follow him on Twitter @PBmikedougherty. Check out the column at PostBulletin.com for additional interesting links.
