Postcode Anywhere
Christmas is coming, and Santa’s annual round-trip of the globe just gets more and more difficult.
With population growth making Father Christmas’s route longer each year, and with global warming set to reduce the North Pole to little more than an ice cube, old St Nick could be forgiven for feeling a little less jolly as the years go by.
Fortunately boffins at a UK technology firm have invented some bits of kit that could make Santa’s Christmas 2008 deliveries a breeze.
Award-winning Worcester-based company Postcode Anywhere say they can help Santa select the right presents, deliver them to the right addresses, and then plan the best route for his sleigh.
They can even cut down Santa’s carbon emissions.
Managing director Guy Mucklow said: “We might be entering a recession but we’re determined that at least Santa should stay smiling.
“Postcode Anywhere has a special route planner that can cut his journey time by almost a third – it works off a brain-busting algorithm that finds the quickest possible route along many stop-off points. With nearly 100 million homes to visit, we think Santa probably delivers to a few more people than our regular customers, but the principle’s the same.
“The added bonus is it will reduce his carbon emissions by up to 30% - and because the trip will be quicker, he’ll have some time left over to take all the letters he’s received this year over to the recycling centre.
“We’ve got a whole range of tools to lighten his load this year. Our lifestyle profiling software means Santa can choose the right presents for children across the world based on where they live. So no more socks for Sam and no more cardigans for Cathy – though we haven’t yet built in functionality to tell us whether the children are naughty or nice.
“Our address management could be useful for Santa too. Anyone who’s ever lost a parcel in the post will know how frustrating it can be. But often it’s simply down to bad handwriting. We can verify addresses from partial information like the postal or zip code. Armed with this, Santa can be sure he’s got the right address.
“No matter where Santa is, he’ll be able to get to our services – because they’re accessed over the web they can be used across the entire globe.”
Senior developer Richard Geary, in charge of developing the routing software which could cut down Santa’s journey, said: “Everyone knows Santa’s magic. But even Father Christmas needs a little help sometimes.”
