Santa Claus ditches sleigh for internet

But these days even the symbol of Christmas for millions of children around the world is taking some unusual steps to keep up with the pace of modern life.

To help him with what has become a year-round job, Santa has hooked up to cyberspace so fans who can’t travel to the Arctic Circle can see and talk to him live online and watch him receive guests in his office.

This year some 500,000 people, many of them Japanese, are expected to flock to his Santa Village, tucked between snow-covered fells in Finland’s isolated Lapland region.

Around 5,000 people, mostly, but not all, children, will sit on his lap each day during the busy December weeks.

For the rest of us, the Web site www.santaclauslive.com launched last month, may be just the ticket.