Give Santa a poke

Published 12:01 am Thursday, December 24, 2009

Santa Claus has never shied from technology, using the latest gadgets to assist him as he delivers presents to girls and boys around the world. You can follow him on Twitter or “friend” him on Facebook. And yes, there’s an iPhone app to send your wish list to the North Pole.

But St. Nick’s had a few tech flops in the past: There was the year he delivered nothing but Betamax VCRs. And he’s really sorry about handing out all those copies of Microsoft Vista.

Again, you shouldn’t have: Walgreen stores and other convenience and drugstores say they plan to be open as late as 3 a.m. on Christmas Day as a service to Christmas gift procrastinators desperate to find that last item for stockings or under the tree.

Good to know. Nothing warms the heart more on a Christmas morning than a gift picked out in a cold sweat at 2:48 a.m., like a Chia Pet, a pair of flip-flops or a hunk of beef jerky.

Just follow the siren: Police in New Hampshire used a stun gun to subdue a man who jumped into an ambulance outside a hospital and drove it 18 miles before he was tracked down.

Fortunately for the suspect, a lawyer started chasing the ambulance the moment it was stolen.