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
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’
The Olympics are a grand time for many people and groups all over the world. It’s a time for said groups to represent their country on the world stage, proving that they are just a cut above the rest. For decades, watching the Olympics meant catching time in between your busy life schedule to sit down and enjoy the (tape delayed) games. And then there was the VCR. Recording the not only the Olympics but TV in general was a huge revolution, as now people didn’t have to babysit their TV. Then the digital revolution took over and has brought us to where we are today.
Consuming any type of media is easier that it’s ever been — except if you want to watch live Olympic coverage over the internet. This year for the Vancouver Winter Olympics, NBC is going to great lengths to talk up their exclusive coverage. Part of their big marketing push for the 2010 Winter Olympics is the vast amounts of all-HD video footage and other high tech overlays such as “best line” and ghosting effects for skiers/snowboarders to make it easier (and cooler) to watch them fly through the air. Topping it off, a nifty little factoid has surface concerning the amount of cable being used to make this whole shebang run this year — 730,000 feet!
Yet the digital only avenue for Olympic consumption (read: online streaming) is a joke. A paltry ~400 hours worth of live coverage on NBCOlympics.com with the bulk of free online content being “highlights” and athlete bios. If you recall, the 2008 Beijing Olympics featured over 2,200 hours of live online/streaming Olympic coverage on the same site. So what gives?
Even worse, this year NBC is using an authentication layer of DRM of sorts to limit the bulk of honest live coverage to paying cable subscribers. Those whom don’t pay for cable — SOL.
It’s a collection of decisions and policies built on greed no less. It frustrates me that NBC continues to do this as the bulk of the population hoping to watch the Olympics online this year have moved more twoards online streams. It is these people who will suffer, not knowing how to get around NBC’s draconian attempts to earn an extra buck.
For me and many other more tech savvy people however, there are plenty of sources and outlets to fool NBC’s lame attempts to prevent live Olympic streams.
If you find yourself curious on this whole “beating around the NBC bush” type of approach to Olympic streaming, spend a little time Googling proxies and VPN’s. They’ll be a big factor, though not the only options.
If you must take anything away from this, let it be this: NBC is yet again missing the entire point of the digital world we live in today by artificially limiting content and coverage — essentially what consumers really want. Doing so will only drive them away and to other sources — what NBC doesn’t want. NBC has yet again ruined the online Olympic experience.
Call the Google Street View team lazy all you want. I mean, they do ride around in a car all day snapping pictures of clueless humans and other random occurrences. But little did I even know that there is a more rugged and mobile Google Street View team. Evidence of such can be found with the Google Street View Snowmobile above.
When the nicely paved streets end, the mercury drops, and the snow starts a fallin’, the Google Street View team has even the rugged Yukon terrain covered. For your viewing entertainment, a short video of the Snowmobile that sees it all.
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?
Skis are so 1970′s. Snowboards are out too. What in this day and age is cool for the slopes and won’t leave you looking like a lost and aging poser? The North Legion SMX Snow Bike. While those around you will still be slippin’ and slidin’ around on traditional old school snow travel methods, you can wow spectators and garner gawkers from all around with your snow bike. Essentially a custom bike frame attached to 3 skis, the Snow Bike makes traveling the vast snow covered hills and mountains of the world a new adventure that should bring new levels of adrenaline to those who seek such things.
If you find yourself looking at the design and thinking about how many times your rear end would come in contact with the seat, make note of the robust suspension attached underneath that aims to save your ass end from bottoming out in the most painful ways. It’s worth noting that because of the design and physics involved, deep, fresh powder isn’t the best road to drive on with this contraption. Instead densely packed, hardened slopes or those covered in the fake stuff are your best bet.
This holiday season instead of getting your kids socks or new pants for school, get them something that’s cool, get’s them outside, and builds character by punishing them to routine organic snow cones via their face (remember the helmet) If you’re dead seat on getting one, be sure to figure out an approach on the grand price tag revealing — £1,049 (~$1,700 USD). In all reality, $1,700 isn’t really that unreasonable for a top of the line bike — much a killer snow bike. So whataya say?
After hanging all of your grenade ornaments, why not venture outside into the white fluffy stuff and embrace all that which winter and coldness is about. First, you’ll need to choose your sled. From the classic wooden toboggans to newer composite speed sleds, it doesn’t really matter what you choose as you’re going to be at the bottom of a hill regardless. When you were a kid, did you ever try to go down on your back end only to quickly realize that (1) it hurt and (2) your ass isn’t exactly very slippery on ice/snow? A trash bag or some other flimsy plastic material would allow you to go sledless though those are fragile and don’t last long at all. Too bad we didn’t have “Snow Shorts”.
Yet again, the phrase “I wish they had these when I was a kid” seems to fit in all too appropriately. The concept is extremely simple and yes, I’m kicking myself for not monetizing this idea first. A simple plastic plate with some padding affixed to the ass end of snow pants and now someone, somewhere is many dollars richer. Adults need not worry about those embarrassing moments that may arise when you get caught trying to fit into your kids’ Snow Shorts as they come in adult sizes too. As long as your waist is 42″ or smaller, your golden. Whew! Safe here.
Now for the part none of us like — the price. They’re actually pretty reasonable at $35.00 meaning you may as well order a couple. I’m definitely getting a pair as my head is already chock full scenarios in which these pants would be amazing. You down?
Fond memories of Grandma’s cookies, the sweet smell of gingerbread cookies, and the overall mood that falls over the Christmas season brings many adults back to a simpler, younger time in their lives. Some may want to keep the memories as they are, only reliving them with their new families as they grow older. Though some will be tired of the same and instead seek out change. Perhaps you’re the type that remembers all of the jollies of the cold winter months when a whiff of ever so sweet gun powder floats by a nostril. Perhaps not. Still, those seeking something new can now celebrate Christmas with a bang — figuratively…almost literally. The Hand Grenade Ornament looks shiny, sleek, and impressive hanging from your precious tree, real or fake. Of course, no actual boom boom is possible — something a weekend project could fix I’m sure. Old tails of crazy squirrels running rampant in your tree to mental family members creating havoc will be replaced with “How dad blew up the tree/house”. *reminiscing about fond Christmas memories of years past….*
So how about it? £20 ($32 USD) nets you a set of six. Go crazy.
Freezing to death doesn’t sound like a good way to go. You know…shivering and feeling yourself slowly getting rigid as the mercury falls just seems like a bad deal all around. Heck, even losing a foot to frost bite will instantly turn a good day bad. But what if you could be more proactive in your arctic adventures? Sure you have special sleeping bags, tents, and….fire, but what about something that will protect one of your most often used yet under appreciated extremities? The Columbia Bugathermo boot is your saving grace. These boots aren’t your grandfather’s boots. Instead of merely encasing your foot in rubber and synthetic fibers, heating elements and rechargeable batteries get thrown into the mix. For those seemingly unbearable cold winter nights in the wilderness or those long day voyages into the unknown, the integrated heating element will keep your southern digits warm from 3-8 hours depending on what level of heat you require. Furthermore, the batteries within are rechargeable meaning you can simply plug in to any electrically friendly hole and keep the heat ‘a flowin’.
One particular thing that would be helpful as well would be the ability to swap out normal batteries for times when you need heat now. Though I wonder if that would pose problems for water resistance and retaining heat. Still, these boots are might cool for those who venture into the cold corners of the earth. Is $250 really that much to keep your toes on the ends of your feet?
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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. 
Skis are so 1970′s. Snowboards are out too. What in this day and age is cool for the slopes and won’t leave you looking like a lost and aging poser? The North Legion SMX Snow Bike. While those around you will still be slippin’ and slidin’ around on traditional old school snow travel methods, you can wow spectators and garner gawkers from all around with your snow bike. Essentially a custom bike frame attached to 3 skis, the Snow Bike makes traveling the vast snow covered hills and mountains of the world a new adventure that should bring new levels of adrenaline to those who seek such things. 
