This winter, you could enjoy the recreational abilities that snow offers just like every other snow-going individual. Or, you could do one, possibly two better and go “all out”. Leave mere snowboarding to commoners. You deserve so much better. Introducing, the gas-powered snowboard.
A 6-1/2 horsepower motor, 250lb. weight capacity, 18mph top speed, and two hours of runtime on a 3/4-gallon tank mean “fun” has a new meaning. To be honest though, the 18mph top speed is pretty slow all things considered. The human body can hit 2x-3x times that on a decent slope. I see the gas-powered snowboard as move of a transportation device between slopes more than the only way of getting down a hill. Of course, this thing would rock for going back up…
Oh yeah, there’s a small sticking point — it costs $2,500
Because you’ve got nothing else better to do when rocketing down a hill at 40mph — Introducing the Recon Instruments Transcend. Thick sarcasm aside, these snow goggles are actually pretty cool. First and foremost, they block your eyes from harsh ice chips and snow that seek to invade your ocular cavities. Second, they display a bevy of useful information including altitude, speed, distance, number of runs, time, and temp.
Doesn’t sound like a bad deal. Though I use “deal” loosely — the Transcend’s will set you back $499. Still got your eye?
Falling into an ever spiraling wave of boredom can only lead to a few outcomes. (1) you can get creative and invent something, (2) read a book, or (3), get into trouble. Unfortunately for myself, option three happens all too often. Perhaps that’s what the individuals in the video below were facing when they decided to take a laptop and turn it into a snowboard. For an old laptop that is either beyond repair or simply not worth repairing, the snowboard option is a rather noble afterlife the way I see it. Better than living in a landfill for the next 100 years anyway…
You know, with each passing day of not being able to see the Olympics live either how I want on TV or god forbid, stream anything worthwhile, it becomes more and more clear — NBC flat out sucks as a network. Earlier this year they handled the whole Tonight Show/Jay Leno/Conan Obrian fiasco in a less than stellar manner and now they are in the process of making this one of the worst Olympics yet. To say coverage is terrible is a gross understatement. The blatant tape delays until prime time are greed at it’s worst and a complete pain in the ass for those who actually care about the games, as by the time they actually see the tape delayed events, the outcomes of each have been spilled onto the internet in one form or another. But so far, this is all from the viewers perspective. That is until US Skier Jake Zamansky started tweeting of NBC’s shit filled Olympic’s broadcasts as well. Then it got interesting.
Earlier today, Jake Zamansky made a few critical tweets calling out NBC. The tweets were then automatically pulled onto the NBC Olympic website’s live scrolling Twitter feed. Pretty funny stuff huh? Oddly, NBC didn’t feel the same way. Instead, they’ve gone ahead and begun removing any and all negative or critical tweets from Jake Zamansky’s athlete Twitter page — censorship at it’s finest.
Perhaps the saddest part is in the fact that CCTV in China — a government run TV channel in a communist country who routinely takes pride in censoring outside media — has more and better live coverage of the Olympics. What does that say for NBC’s corny “fireside chats” each and every night, recapping old news and Olympic highlights that our hours upon hours old? All of this grief is merely touching on the TV aspect. We haven’t even gotten into the whole live streaming thing yet.
To recap: NBC completely butchers live Olympics coverage for their own personal gain — not in any way to actually broadcast and showcase the games in any sort of way….and they censor the hell out of critics. Awesome! Hopefully NBC doesn’t get their hands on the next Olympics and ruin them too. Then again, they couldn’t suck any more than they do now…
Some gadget gurus will go and combine something like a clock and toilet, or a toothbrush and a laser. Now don’t take it in the wrong way or that I’m trying to dismiss/knock on those indivuduals’ personal achievements and creations. They’re great, really. But this, this Igloo/Man Cave/Icy Wonderland is something I could really use.
For Jimmy Grey of Cleveland, Ohio, a recent vacation to the unemployment line with an unwelcome extended stay left him with some extra time on his hands. Like any creative individual, he started a project. While he didn’t create a “gadget” per say, his ingenuity and creativity are no doubt worth highlighting. And if you really want to get strict about it, a flat scree, cable, and beer are involved. Interested now?
Instead of helping the homeless or doing some other non-fulfilling volunteer work, Jimmy set out to build the greatest arctic man cave ever — a 6′ tall igloo with (4) rooms, a flat screen, cable, and a mini fridge stocked with icy cold brews no matter the time of day or state of utility payments. Then again, when the beers are stored outside in sub-arctic temperatures inside of the Igloo Gigantor, no amount of late utility payments are going to spoil your beer anyhow, are they?
On top of the inner arrangement, the snow that did occupy the inner sanctums of the ice cave have been transformed into walls outside the structure and create a sort of mini-courtyard. Talk about impressive!
So how did he come up with all the snow to make such a work of art? It started with his driveway, then the front yard, the neighbor’s yard, and…you can see where this is going. Eventually it came to the point where Jimmy and his friend were trucking in snow from other neighborhoods and cleared parking lots. That, my friends is determination.
I think Bud Light needs to make one of those singy song commercials for this guy…just sayin’
If there were any doubt in your mind that global warmingglobal cooling climate change wasn’t an immediate threat to humanity, I have one thing that should instantly re-instill fear into the depths of your soul — Frost the Fire Breathing Snowman.
Gone forever are the childhood memories of dear sweet frosty, the glistening of freshly fallen snow, and the smell of Auntie’s hot-out-of-the-oven chocolate cookies. Instead, all of it will be replaced with the destruction and utter chaos that Frosty the Firey Snowman will levy on the human race. Godspeed everyone.
It’s always cool to see impossible feats of strength that our gadgets sometimes endure. For most of us, we worry about dropping our precious gadgets even a few inches onto any hard floor. For one “bb-gun” on DroidForums, his DROID Eris didn’t necessarily survive some nasty drop, but instead conquered not one, but two feast of strength.
Going into the weekend, bb-gun dropped his beloved DROID Eris onto the driveway into some light snow and was unable to find his electronic love. Then it snowed all weekend, further obscuring his device. Meanwhile, the poor sap routinely ran over his Eris during the weekend while it lay cold, deserted, and assumed dead in the driveway.
Victory did ensue however and after a few days in it’s icy chamber, bb-gun found his lost love. As you can see from the pictures below, while it took monumental beating it still managed to escape — and still work! Besides the cracked screen with water underneath, a soaked battery, and crushed case, the Eris lives on.
No, this isn’t some new scheme from Verizon to milk you for more dollars with a new snow white Moto DROID color option. The Snow Droid is a tad more cheery. Quite simply, it’s a replica R2-D2 snowman droid. In the colder regions of the planet (read: most of the US…that means you Floridians too), snow has been falling in a bizarre showcase of unusual cold sweeping the US.
So if you find yourself in one of these unusually cold climates or are a cold weather native, make this year the year you break out of the norm. Make a Snow Droid. Wow your friends, your parents, and strangers with your artistic display or sub-arctic crystalline construction.
Energy efficient traffic lights seem like one of the best ways to save local governments significant amounts of money of the course of 5, 10, or more years. The lights which often use LED technology are much less demanding on the power grid which in turn means more money for other things. But there’s one side effect many have overlooked. Heat output.
Remember, the higher the heat output of a light, the more energy is being wasted. That’s all fie and dandy for indoor lighting or lighting or “non-critical outdoor lighting”. You see, the city of Chicago is discovering that the lack of heat output because of the new LED traffic lights’ increased efficiency is actually creating another problem — increased snow build up leading to a higher number of accidents.
It’s an easy concept to understand. Traditional traffic lights generate heat which in turn melts the snow off of the actual lights keeping them free and easily seen. LED’s with their much lower energy consumption and heat output allow snow to build up as temperatures aren’t getting high enough to melt the snow. It’s a sad side effect really as now numerous people are being injured and potential lives lost. Even still, it would be foolish and hasty for the city of Chicago to backtrack on their “green rollout” by replacing the more energy efficient traffic lights with the older style simply to melt snow for a few months out of the year. Though for an easy and quick fix, swapping the lights may be the only answer.
I’m not a civil engineer in Chicago so I don’t know how they went about the big switch to LED bulbs. Can they simply replace the bulbs with traditional lights or do they need to change the entire fixture? On the surface, such a switch seems like the best way to go as I don’t see any quick, easy, and cost effective way to “warm up” LED traffic lights. Future models of LED traffic signals could have an electric heating element of some sort built into the light housing as to melt the snow. But again, that doesn’t help the thousands of currently deployed lights on the streets. Not to mention, adding such a feature will no doubt add to the cost of energy efficient traffic lights — lights which are already a fair amount more than traditional lights.
Of course, cities employing LED traffic lights have another option — have city workers clean of the bulbs by hand. It’s not quick and it isn’t exactly a very good “fix”. For the time being however it is the only viable option to keep the LED’s and reduce traffic accidents.
To highlight the point further, many cities in Wisconsin have been migrating to LED lights for some time now. In fact, there are so many “modernized” traffic lights — numbering in the hundreds — that the state is saving over $750,000 per year in energy costs. It may not seem like it would make a huge dent in the state’s budget, but every little bit helps. Not to mention, I’m sure their are more than a few hundred traffic signals in Wisconsin. Just imagine the energy savings if all of them were converted to LED. Simple solution: Take a tad of that savings and hire an extra body or two during the winter months to aide in cleaning LED traffic lights off. Sound easy enough?
Some will never be pleased however as several are calling for the city to abandon the move to LED traffic lights until a new design emerges that can actually be self sufficient in cold, snowy weather. Such things are again short sighted. While a price tag can never be placed on a human life, removing technology — a very needed and important one at that — simply because of a minor problem is a bad decision.
Any Chi-town residents care to chime in? Have you personally witnessed any accidents due to LED lights being covered by ice and snow?
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This winter, you could enjoy the recreational abilities that snow offers just like every other snow-going individual. Or, you could do one, possibly two better and go “all out”. Leave mere snowboarding to commoners. You deserve so much better. Introducing, the gas-powered snowboard.
Energy efficient traffic lights seem like one of the best ways to save local governments significant amounts of money of the course of 5, 10, or more years. The lights which often use LED technology are much less demanding on the power grid which in turn means more money for other things. But there’s one side effect many have overlooked. Heat output. 
