then you obviously haven't been in a good snowball fight . . . the wetness factor can be particularly effective even if they aren't that hard, but if you pack them good ...
--
This post was brought to you by the number 584811 and the characters / and .
...because otherwise you could end up on record as the strangest death ever - dying in a blizzard in your back yard in June.
Unless you live in the southern hemisphere, i don't think your snow machine will be making very much snow. Ever eaten ice cream in June? I think you'll end up with a sprinkler.:)
You are probably right, but but are you positive? These guns use compressed air, and when you relase compressed air at room tempature it cools down. This is exactly the same principal that air conditioners use, though air conditioners involve a phase shift for more efficency. So it is possiable that you get can get snow from this machine on a hot summer day, if you adjust it right.
Of course since this is less efficant than a phase change cooling, you won't get much snow, you could end up with some.
potato guns are cooler though . . . i mean come on the mere thought of launghing potatoes is just funny. way funnier than white powdery stuff that is traditionally thrown around anyway.
--
This post was brought to you by the number 584811 and the characters / and .
launghing:
This is defined by Websters dictionary (73.2 edition) as means of projecting a tuborous, organic object into the atmosphere while causing immense amusement to both the launchers and observers.
--
This post was brought to you by the number 584811 and the characters / and .
So that would qualify as the CowboyNeal option, no?
-- I'm not a prophet or a stone-age man,
I'm just a mortal with potential of a super man.
I live in the North East
by
purduephotog
·
· Score: 5, Funny
and I've got enough *$()#%*# snow so that anyone that wants it can come pick it up. Seriously. That stupid blizzard cracked my rafters, backed up ice dams, caused me to scramble to move all my computer gear out of the room that had an stalagtite of ice hanging down in it, and really annoyed the hell out of me with my 250$ heating bill (I keep my house at 58F!).
So needless to say, unless this article describes how to build a snow MELTING gun, I don't any more of that white stuff in my neighborhood. Hell I can't even see out of my driveway- the drifts are up 6 foot now.
*grumble*
Re:I live in the North East
by
IIRCAFAIKIANAL
·
· Score: 1, Funny
So needless to say, unless this article describes how to build a snow MELTING gun,
I'll sell you one. I have a Conair snow melting gun. $200 USD plus shipping and handling. It's also good for drying things, like hair.
-- Robots are everywhere, and they eat old people's medicine for fuel.
Which blizzard was that, the first one, the second one, the seventh one? 6 foot, Cor, you have it lucky. I've never seen so much bloody snow. Every day it comes down, more, more, ever more.
I'm still putting my electronics gear back together after the snow ripped out a window, frame and all, and filled my home with bloody white stuff.
"Hey, how what did you do today?"
"I shoveled out my house."
"Yeah, me too. That's what we all did today."
"No, you don't understand. I shoveled out my *house*."
Then the water pipes gave up. Arrrrrrrrrrgh!
A day of shoveling followed by a day of bailing.
I never want to see snow again. Most of this winter it's been colder here in upstate NY than in Anchorage Alaska. I need to move there for the "good" weather. Who woulda thunk it?
I used to live a few miles from Bromely Mountain in Vermont where they invented the snow gun.
I think I'll send them some friendly hate mail tomorrow.
KFG
Re:I live in the North East
by
kendric
·
· Score: 3, Funny
A snow melting gun... I can tell you how to make one of those. It is a flamethrower that burns at a lower temperature and for much longer to help get rid of the snow.
Here is what you need: gasoline lighter (zippo) styofoam water gun (super soaker works best) balls of steel
You take the styofoam and mix it with the gasoline, and in doing create a much more viscous subtance that has a lower burning temp, but burns for much longer. After adding about 5 times as much syrofoam as gas, you should have some goo that will be perfect for snow removal.
Take the goo and put it into the water gun. Now you have a way of dispersing the propellent, but in order to light it one should place the lighter right past the nozzel and light it up. That will help melt your snow. Be warned, this can burn for a long while, so make sure you have a lot of snow.
This is great for cleaning off a sidewalk or making a quick snow fort, just point to where you want no snow, and in a period of a few minutes, there will be none.
Re:I live in the North East
by
caferace
·
· Score: 1
L.A. gets plenty of snow. See, there are these mountains handy. In fact, I'm guessing if you look in the morning you'll actually see this white stuff at the top of them (unless it's a brutally smoggy day). That would be snow.
-jim
(who used to amuse himself by skiing in Big Bear and surfing in Huntington Beach on the same day)
Re:I live in the North East
by
DigitalDad
·
· Score: 1
Amen! I also live in "Upstate" NY (between Syracuse & Rochester - Central NY actually) about 30 miles south of Lake Onterio where not only do we get the wonderful storms that come up the east coast, if the wind changes, we get serious lake effect snows. The snow drifts are so high on some of the roads around here that the snow plows have had to double-cut the banks on the side of the road and clear the road signs because the banks are higher then them.
Yea, I like snow, love the different seasons, but I don't want to see it before Thanksgiving and am tired of shoveling, plowing, snow blowing, looking at and driving in it by mid-January.
Wisconsin declared a non-snow emergency about a month ago. It seems that we have had so little snow for the second year in a row that business that depend on snow are going under.
Well my experiment with Wisconsin is over I am heeding back South. I am sure that the weather will return to normal starting next month.
Re:I live in the North East
by
exhilaration
·
· Score: 1
Hey, you suppose that's legal? Is there any residue left or will it burn cleanly, like regular gasoline?
I'm being extremely serious here - I'm in New Jersey, and being surrounded by walls of snow forces one to consider unorthodox options to eliminate it.
All you might be breaking are some environmental laws, and as long as you don't set trees on fire you should be fine, right?
On the heels of this ?!?
by
jhouserizer
·
· Score: 1
No refrideration system?!
by
Powercntrl
·
· Score: 1, Funny
Sheesh... Without any way to freeze the water, here in Florida it'll just be a glorified sprinkler. I already have enough of those.
--
--- DRM is like antifreeze, to the MPAA/RIAA it's sweet, to the consumers it's poison.
I have a dream.
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 1, Insightful
I hope one day to start squashdork.org. I was thinking I could import the previous day's slashdot content but invert all the moderations so that insightful posts like the parent post and random ASCII goatse posts were modded +5 Interesting and all the posts linked to some kind of detailed analysis of guns that shoot other kinds of things would be modded down so as not to bother anyone.
Damn, 7th post. Stupid 1 post per 2 minute limit. I almost had it...
Anyhow, I guess the whole snow-gun thing might appeal to you USians, but if you really want, I'll send you some of the white stuff we gots up here in Canucka:)
I heard that snow is expensive down there and there are special snow making businesses that make your yard snowy for parties - tell you what, i'll sell you some for $5 USD per cubic foot plus shipping and handling. Note that some settling may occur during shipping. *cough*and melting *cough*
-- Robots are everywhere, and they eat old people's medicine for fuel.
White House blames terrorists for snow
by
ediron2
·
· Score: 4, Funny
In other news, several terrorist cells are suspected of being responsible for the snowstorms that have crippled the eastern US over the last few weeks.
A high-ranking White House official with a predisposition for overreacting and fascist rulemaking has blamed the ready availability of instructions for snow-guns on the internet, and has asked that so-called weathermen stop presenting contradictory explanations for these terrorist incidents. The same official also insisted that anyone that discounts his theory is practicing poor science and harming the US's ability to combat terrorism wherever he sees it.
Re:White House blames terrorists for snow
by
rjamestaylor
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Factions such as the Weather Underground . . . are high on his list of targeted terrorist groups.
This is funnier than you might have thought -- the Weather Underground was a name for a violent terrorist group in the 1960's. They started out as Students for Democratic Society. Interesting reading, BTW. (As an aside, many of the anti-war protest leaders can trace their roots to this organization.)
-- --
@rjamestaylor on Ello
Re:White House blames terrorists for snow
by
CableModemSniper
·
· Score: 1
if this becomes popular, we can forget about that global warming thing... however, a perpetual global winter wonderland can't be a good thing either. oh well, screw the globe, us here in Berkeley can finally have snow.
The temptation to misuse this must be over the top. I can imagine dorm rooms and frat parties filled with snow. Imagine waking up under 2 feet of snow in your dorm room. hehe, college is going to be fun after all!
-- Quid festinatio swallonis est aetherfuga inonusti? Africus aut Europaeus?
Note that cooling systems don't generate cold, but rather move heat. Since they must be generate waste energy (2nd Law of Thermodynamics), such machines would actually increase warming.
Some asshat beaned the hell out of me with a snowball today. Turns out it was one of these beasts. And to think, I wondered where idiots like him could go to find how to make one of these stupid things. Thanks, guys! >=(
Judging by the reccent weather...
by
Traicovn
·
· Score: 1
Judging by the reccent weather in the Northeast will anybody actually have to make one of these? Although, maybe I could make a snowstorm around my office and then not have to come to work? hehehe...
--
[Something witty and intelligent should have appeared here.] {Traicovn}
Re:crap alert...michael is at it again.
by
corsec67
·
· Score: 2, Funny
Brace yourselves for another 10 stories in a row on how to piss in your pants without anyone knowing...
I recomend the easy leaker for that.
I will take credit for actually shooting a hole threw a stop sign with my potato gun. They are way better then a snow gun. The gun needs to inflict some damage
All I'm missing is some snow! (Being in Orange County, CA doesn't help)
-- --
@rjamestaylor on Ello
Screw at home...try it the real way...
by
djupedal
·
· Score: 5, Funny
I was part of a team responsible for snow making at a resort in the Sierras. We had a man-made resevior that held 1 million gallons. Took 14 hours to fill and 10 hours to drain when making snow. The snow that came out of the nozzles was perfect...
I came to work one morning, only to be greated with a plume of smoke from the compressor shack. Seems one of the aftercoolers sprung a leak, and ATF was being fed into the input for the main airstream. Imagine the cycle of death as the heat grew and grew and the ATF finally ignited. All the while being circulated and compressed....
The local volunteers put out the fire, but they left the smoldering air filters in place, and I had to take action to see that everything was truly under control, and then find a way to be back in business for making more snow asap.
We arranged for two giant portable Ingersol Rand compressors (12 cyl. supercharged Detriot Diesels) to be trucked in and set up as close to the manifold system as possible. Lots of fun with snow cats and blocks, etc. The bandaids did the job, and we were back to making snow in two days. The ski area was waiting for insurance to pay for the rental compressors, but the contractor wanted them back... I was ordered to hide the wheels and tires long enough to stall. Eight mounted sets of wheels/tires were placed into the area manager's pickup truck bed and covered with snow. He drove around for two weeks, and kept asking me where they were.... a man has to know his options.
Re:Screw at home...try it the real way...
by
bodland
·
· Score: 1
I too made snow. At a small resort in Northern WIsconsin. I was on the early season crew. Then when the hill opened I was on the Ski Patrol.
Making snow late at night atop a hill with the guns blazing in the clear night sky was one of the most strangely peaceful moments in my life. I stood watching spray from the gun in sub-zero weather. Completely bundled in a heavy parka, air force bunny boots etc.
We had a problem in that we had no holding pond. The water temp was at 50 degrees out of the nozzles and it put us at a distinct disadvantage in that we had to have significantly colder air temps to make good snow. We did'nt get good results until it was below 10 degrees f...
There is a bit of art to making good snow...balancing the air pressure, water temp and pressure...you can't just mix them all and expect to make quality snow...
Also it has to cure...after making it it needs to drain the excess water of and setup for a day or so.
Want to impress me?
by
bigt_littleodd
·
· Score: 5, Funny
Make it run backwards!
Living through what will look like about 30"+ of snow in 28 days this month, a snow gun is pretty low on my list of priorities.
At least until I buy my snowthrower machine, anyway. Maybe Home Depot will have one by July.:-)
-- Let's play Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. I'll be Pestilence.
Re:Want to impress me?
by
Speed+Racer
·
· Score: 1
Living through what will look like about 30"+ of snow in 28 days this month
Bah! That's nothing. We got that much snow in 24 hours here. . . Oh yeah, blah, blah, blah, uphill both ways, blah, blah, blah.
Re:Want to impress me?
by
bluGill
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Move to a different area. I live in Minnesota, and we have half our normal amount of snow. And since MN is north, and normally gets a lot of snow, we are not only better equiped to handle that much snow that many of those who got it, we also enjoy it. Many of my friends are complaining about lack of snow because they can't play in it. Since we normally have snow, expensive snow toys (snowmobiles) are worth the cost if you enjoy it.
Move to a different area. I live in Minnesota, and we have half our normal amount of snow. And since MN is north, and normally gets a lot of snow, we are not only better equiped to handle that much snow that many of those who got it, we also enjoy it. Many of my friends are complaining about lack of snow because they can't play in it. Since we normally have snow, expensive snow toys (snowmobiles) are worth the cost if you enjoy it.
Yeah, no joke! I live in Alaska, and here in Anchorage we've had maybe three snowstorms this year. I don't think it's been below freezing during the day for a month! For cryin' out loud! I moved up here for snow and cold!
'Course, if this year makes up for the weenie winter like last year did (fairly mild winter, but not as mild as this one, but we received a 30 inch snowfall *overnight* a few weeks before Easter) we're due for about 10 feet within a few weeks. Don't I wish...
--
"I say consider this day seized!" -Hobbes
"Tomorrow we'll seize the day and throttle it!" -Calvin
stalagtite?
by
Tumbleweed
·
· Score: 5, Informative
Stalagmite, stalactite.
Stalagmites grow upwards, from the Ground. G for ground, stalagmite.
Stalactites grow downwards, from the Ceiling. C for ceiling, stalactite.
Oh, and M is for Mnemonic.
This post brought to you by Stalag 17. (Hogaaaan!)
I Know What I Would Use It For
by
jade42
·
· Score: 1
I want to start a movement in colleges across the world. That being the creation of phallic symbols made out of snow. All in the name of free speech, of course.
Yes! I always wanted to shovel the driveway in July!
Re:crap alert...michael is at it again.
by
cetan
·
· Score: 1
I hate these stretches when he gets going like this
Silly me, I thought it was one long stretch...
-- In Soviet Russia...michael would be rotting in Siberia!
Snowmaking is irrelevant.
by
dan.hunt
·
· Score: 1
The snow is stacked up 3.5 feet deep in front of my house where the snow plow cleared the road. Last week it was almost -40 degrees! If you want to play in the snow, hop a flight to Saskatoon Saskatchewan Canada. But remember to pack your thermal underwear, and bring your mittens.
Operation "Desert Snowstorm"
by
gmuslera
·
· Score: 5, Funny
Alarmed by the prediction of a large amount of casualties in civil population, the allied army is trying a novelty variation of psycological war. Instead of weapons that throw bullets and explosives, this new weapons will throw snow balls, spreading chaos in enemy lines.
To be fair, and counting that Iraq will be totally disarmed when the attack begins, iraqui forces will be provided with the same snow guns, to have a fair battle. Unfortunatelly, the SnowGenerator(TM) device is patented with a license of no exportation to some countries, so iraquis soldiers will have to use sand to load this weapons.
Intelligence are checking on the rumors that the new weapon's blueprints are published in enemy web site, and will search for security leaks if this rumors are finally true.
What tempurature this works at
by
enigmatichmachine
·
· Score: 1, Informative
For all you californaians out there( like myself) this only works in the 20's fahreneit, so don't think your going to make snow out here on the west coastt, this only works when its FREEZING.
Did anyone else read the title of this article and think: Wow! Now I can launch snow at my enemies / neighbors / both ?
I have thought of building a snowball gun similar to a potato gun, but I never really figured a good way to make the projectiles. Maybe some type of ice cream scoop loader?
He got so wrapped up in the fact that he COULD, that he forgot to stop and ask if he should...
I'm always amazed the people like this can also build a website...
This would be pretty hard
by
Nobley
·
· Score: 2, Informative
I worked as a snow maker for 3 months a couple years back and what I know is that using water treated with snow enducing bacteria and using air compressed on a set of pumps that used as much electicity as a small town, on snow guns with commercial heads, you really needed it to be below 30 degrees F. To do the equivilant home made style you would need a LOT as well as very high water pressure and very cold temperatures seeing as you would not have the snow enducing bacteria.
Re:Speaking as a Canadian...
by
weeboo0104
·
· Score: 2, Funny
I can make yellow snow...
-- It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. -Frederick Douglass
...I made the snow gun, but unfortunately ran out of stuff to make snow out of. Any volunteers ?
mites go up..tites come down
by
phantomwolph
·
· Score: 2, Informative
thats how i always remember it
you think that's bad...
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 1
I once had to shovel straight down just to find my house....and then a pipe broke and I had to shovel down another meter to fix that problem.
Didn't see the cat for two days and finally heard him under the floor in the entrance...had to use a chain saw to cut an escape door. After a meter of snow (in the first hour) on the roof made it hard to open doors, I decided to shovel it clear....by the time I'd get to one end of the roof, there would be another meter building and I'd have to start all over. We had to walk up just to get outside. More than one structure collapsed and wasn't dealt with until things melted months later.
A pair of buses in a local parking lot dissapeared from view and we had to dig down more than a meter just to find their roof vents. If you don't have at least 5 meters of snow to deal with, you've got it easy.
Hey, i remember seeing a bit on the old discovery channel show "Next Step" anybody remember that?
anyway, they had a bit about these guys who made snow with a modified snow gun and liquid nitrogen, to proove it worked they made snow in the desert or something. i remmeber their setup was covered with what looked like a tarp, but it made something like 1000 cubic feet of snow in an hour or something, damn impressive, and what can i say, i just want to re-create the scene out of real geniuses
-- Cogito Eggo Sum, I think therefore I'm a waffle
From This Day Forward I Decree...
by
istartedi
·
· Score: 1
...that they shall both be called "stalagites" and that everybody will be happy.
-- For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
Re:From This Day Forward I Decree...
by
Tumbleweed
·
· Score: 1
Re:Snow Guns are for Kids...
by
Sarcazmo
·
· Score: 1
Sure, just get an empty spray bottle that various cleaners come in, the kind with a trigger. Fill it with rubbing alcohol. Tie a piece of stiff wire around the nozzle part, and leave some wire sticking out. Put a cotton ball on the end of the wire sticking out, and bend the wire so it is in front of the spray of the nozzle, about 3 or 4 inches away. Spray a few times to get the cotton ball wet, light it, and blast away.
I used to use this to kill ants when they would swarm in the yard as a kid. One could probably use it to melt ice too, but alcohol doesn't burn very hot.
As always, if you do this, I take no liability. The whole thing is liable to erupt into a ball of flames in your hand if you aren't careful. I never did it with anything hotter than 70% rubbing alcohol. Note that some fuels will attack the plastic in the bottle and melt it chemically.
You need a *lot* of water as well.
by
hughk
·
· Score: 1
I like to ski and snow-machines are regrettably very much part of the scene. At crossings in particular, the snow cover can get very thin so they have to use snow machines, usually several to keep the piste in order.
One of the problems with these machines, which as you rightly say, require a lot of power for the fans and pumps but they require a lot of something to pump. At ski-resorts they may even have to build new reservoirs (sometimes by excavating out existing lakes, to increase volume). On a permanet installation, the pipes have to be heated too.
Re:You need a *lot* of water as well.
by
Nobley
·
· Score: 1
The ski resort I worked at did not heat their pipes, they simply had water flowing through them fast enough for it to *mostly* not freeze, they were a foot in diamater and we generally ran 80-120 snow guns a night. If a pipe did freeze, you had 10+ snow makers out there at the frozen point heating the pipe with 10 blow torches, not very fun, only happened like twice in the 3 months I worked there
Re:You need a *lot* of water as well.
by
hughk
·
· Score: 1
What happens when they are swwitched off, i.e., whilst the Piste is open? Does the water drain back down?
Re:You need a *lot* of water as well.
by
Nobley
·
· Score: 1
For one thing, they pumped snow out on 2 seperate 12 hour shifts, just on closed trails during the day, But I do beleive they drained the pipes out when not in use and just flushed them out with air.
Re:You need a *lot* of water as well.
by
AndroidCat
·
· Score: 1
I hope they signs posted not to lick the pipes, otherwise they could be looking at major legal damage!:^)
-- One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
Re:You need a *lot* of water as well.
by
Nobley
·
· Score: 1
well, we would just use the same blow torches that we thaw the pipe out with I guess;)
Re:I live in the SOUTH East
by
smilingirl
·
· Score: 1
I live in Louisiana,and I have never seen snow before in my entire life! Seriously, it doesn't snow here in south Louisiana. So I would probably love to see one of these, but I don't think it would be the same as the real stuff, though I wouldn't know. My lifelong dream has been to build a snowman. I've wanted to build one my whole life and have yet to see it snow. =( Though I wouldn't want it to snow every year cuz I don't like cold weather.
-- The Present is the point at which time touches eternity. - C.S. Lewis
Just What We Need In NYC...
by
DaveRomigh
·
· Score: 1
... just after the worst blizzard in seven years.
And this, coming from someone who grew up in upstate New York, in the middle of the Snow Belt.
-rant on- THIS article makes it onto/.? I'm beginning to rethink why I read this site in the first place. This isn't tech geek news - hell, this isn't even 'tech geek hobby' news. WTF kind of hobby is making snow? Do you put something ON the snow, like maple syrup, or thickened Koolaid? No? Then who gives a damn? It's a bitch enough to shovel what falls naturally - why make more? -rant off-
Re:I live in the SOUTH East
by
Kadagan+AU
·
· Score: 1
well, feel free to come visit me in Pittsburgh someday. we don't get LOTS of snow here like I did when I lived in New Hampshire, but we get enough.
My lifelong dream has been to build a snowman.
It's good to have goals =)
honestly, snowmen are neat, but they lose their charm after the 123112347120394th one you make. Now, the anatomically correct ones you build at the main enterance to your college... they're more fun.
~Jon~
-- This space for rent, inquire within.
Largest... Snow.. Gun... Ever.....
by
Garion911
·
· Score: 1
Lake Erie.
For those not in upstate NY, look up "lake effect snow" and Oswego, NY.
(for the record, I'm in Syracuse)
-- Slashdot is like Playboy: I read it for the articles
I don't need no stinking snow gun..... Just come up here to Northern Ontario.... You die...snow++ and -40 (NO WIMPY CHILL FACTOR).... If you don't die right away, the wolves eat you or the Polar Bears or the cold and hungry trappers or.... Well, you get the pic..
This company called Colorado Home Snow has a couple of different snowmakers targeted toward home users or people running small snowboard parks or tubing hills. I run a site called BoardingPlanet.com and they sent us one to review. We haven't had the chance to review it due to weather conditions, but it looks pretty cool. It is basically just a tripod with a custom casted mixing chamber. You supply the water and air presure. It takes about 30-40 psi w/ about 7 or 8 cfm to get the right mixure. Check out BP for the review sometime in the upcomming weeks. It should be interesting.
I have no use, whatsoever, for snow. I live in the South, and we don't get much of it down here, but we still get more than I want. What would be useful to me is one of those subsonic, megaphone looking devices that can rattle your bones and make your lunch wind up on your shoes. That way, when some a**hole pulls up beside me on the road, blowing vile rap shit out at 200 watts per chanel, bass boost on full, I could out-bass him. Damn, that would be fun! Any of you folks got the specs on how to build one of those?
Fuck snow! (damn, that wouldn't be fun,would it?) If I never see another snow, it'll be to soon. I hate that shit. God made snow to punish yankees, and most of them are too stupid to realize that they're being punished. The only pleasure I get from snow is watching on television where some dumbass in Boston (or somewhere up there) is trying to figure out which snow pile his car is buried under.
Slashdot Mirror
then you obviously haven't been in a good snowball fight . . . the wetness factor can be particularly effective even if they aren't that hard, but if you pack them good . ..
This post was brought to you by the number 584811 and the characters / and .
I remember seeing this on TV. 2 years ago.
What a perfect idea for those of you in the northeast of the US who just can't get enough snow, especially this winter (-:
Modular Redundancy--Because 4 out of 5 Nodes agree
potato guns are cooler though . . . i mean come on the mere thought of launghing potatoes is just funny. way funnier than white powdery stuff that is traditionally thrown around anyway.
This post was brought to you by the number 584811 and the characters / and .
and I've got enough *$()#%*# snow so that anyone that wants it can come pick it up. Seriously. That stupid blizzard cracked my rafters, backed up ice dams, caused me to scramble to move all my computer gear out of the room that had an stalagtite of ice hanging down in it, and really annoyed the hell out of me with my 250$ heating bill (I keep my house at 58F!).
So needless to say, unless this article describes how to build a snow MELTING gun, I don't any more of that white stuff in my neighborhood. Hell I can't even see out of my driveway- the drifts are up 6 foot now.
*grumble*
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-a p-snowball-shooting0225feb25,0,2226125.story?coll= sns-ap-nationworld-headlines
Sheesh... Without any way to freeze the water, here in Florida it'll just be a glorified sprinkler. I already have enough of those.
---
DRM is like antifreeze, to the MPAA/RIAA it's sweet, to the consumers it's poison.
I hope one day to start squashdork.org. I was thinking I could import the previous day's slashdot content but invert all the moderations so that insightful posts like the parent post and random ASCII goatse posts were modded +5 Interesting and all the posts linked to some kind of detailed analysis of guns that shoot other kinds of things would be modded down so as not to bother anyone.
Thank you.
I have a friend who made one of these... but for use in Texas.
As I recall, it involved a very large tank of liquid nitrogen to freeze the water as it left the nozzle.
Unfortunately, the nozzle kept clogging before very much snow could be made.
That and snow never sticks here.
Like I said in the last thread, Americans have an unnatural and dangerous thirst for blood and gore.
First the Vice City sales of 8.5 million in a mere 3 months. Then we're reading about this snow gun.
What's next, the bombing of an innocent Middle Eastern country just for the hell of it?
Join my (1337) clan -- read my journal
Background: 28/M/Bi-Sexual; Owner of a Linux company; MBA Harvard 2003; B.S. Comp Sci MIT 2000
Damn, 7th post. Stupid 1 post per 2 minute limit. I almost had it...
:)
Anyhow, I guess the whole snow-gun thing might appeal to you USians, but if you really want, I'll send you some of the white stuff we gots up here in Canucka
I heard that snow is expensive down there and there are special snow making businesses that make your yard snowy for parties - tell you what, i'll sell you some for $5 USD per cubic foot plus shipping and handling. Note that some settling may occur during shipping. *cough*and melting *cough*
Robots are everywhere, and they eat old people's medicine for fuel.
A high-ranking White House official with a predisposition for overreacting and fascist rulemaking has blamed the ready availability of instructions for snow-guns on the internet, and has asked that so-called weathermen stop presenting contradictory explanations for these terrorist incidents. The same official also insisted that anyone that discounts his theory is practicing poor science and harming the US's ability to combat terrorism wherever he sees it.
Factions such as the Weather Underground and the Internet Storm Center are high on his list of targeted terrorist groups.
if this becomes popular, we can forget about that global warming thing... however, a perpetual global winter wonderland can't be a good thing either. oh well, screw the globe, us here in Berkeley can finally have snow.
The temptation to misuse this must be over the top. I can imagine dorm rooms and frat parties filled with snow. Imagine waking up under 2 feet of snow in your dorm room. hehe, college is going to be fun after all!
Quid festinatio swallonis est aetherfuga inonusti?
Africus aut Europaeus?
Some asshat beaned the hell out of me with a snowball today. Turns out it was one of these beasts. And to think, I wondered where idiots like him could go to find how to make one of these stupid things. Thanks, guys! >=(
TLoM: Nerds + DDR + Rednecks for the win!
...that all those cocaine dealers in South Central are going to go out of business?
I'll form my OWN solar system! With blackjack! And hookers!
Now all i'll need is a green unique shako to give me +2 all skills!
at-home snowmaking
Those pictures are great. I've always wanted to see a yard with freezer burn. Seriously, that's what it looks like. =)
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-a p-snowball-shooting0225feb25,0,2226125.story?coll= sns-ap-nationworld-headlines - Link, of a URL that actually works!
Judging by the reccent weather in the Northeast will anybody actually have to make one of these?
Although, maybe I could make a snowstorm around my office and then not have to come to work?
hehehe...
[Something witty and intelligent should have appeared here.]
{Traicovn}
Brace yourselves for another 10 stories in a row on how to piss in your pants without anyone knowing ...
I recomend the easy leaker for that.
If I have nothing to hide, don't search me
I will take credit for actually shooting a hole threw a stop sign with my potato gun. They are way better then a snow gun. The gun needs to inflict some damage
All I'm missing is some snow! (Being in Orange County, CA doesn't help)
-- @rjamestaylor on Ello
I was part of a team responsible for snow making at a resort in the Sierras. We had a man-made resevior that held 1 million gallons. Took 14 hours to fill and 10 hours to drain when making snow. The snow that came out of the nozzles was perfect...
I came to work one morning, only to be greated with a plume of smoke from the compressor shack. Seems one of the aftercoolers sprung a leak, and ATF was being fed into the input for the main airstream. Imagine the cycle of death as the heat grew and grew and the ATF finally ignited. All the while being circulated and compressed....
The local volunteers put out the fire, but they left the smoldering air filters in place, and I had to take action to see that everything was truly under control, and then find a way to be back in business for making more snow asap.
We arranged for two giant portable Ingersol Rand compressors (12 cyl. supercharged Detriot Diesels) to be trucked in and set up as close to the manifold system as possible. Lots of fun with snow cats and blocks, etc. The bandaids did the job, and we were back to making snow in two days. The ski area was waiting for insurance to pay for the rental compressors, but the contractor wanted them back... I was ordered to hide the wheels and tires long enough to stall. Eight mounted sets of wheels/tires were placed into the area manager's pickup truck bed and covered with snow. He drove around for two weeks, and kept asking me where they were.... a man has to know his options.
Living through what will look like about 30"+ of snow in 28 days this month, a snow gun is pretty low on my list of priorities.
At least until I buy my snowthrower machine, anyway. :-)
Maybe Home Depot will have one by July.
Let's play Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. I'll be Pestilence.
Stalagmite, stalactite.
Stalagmites grow upwards, from the Ground. G for ground, stalagmite.
Stalactites grow downwards, from the Ceiling. C for ceiling, stalactite.
Oh, and M is for Mnemonic.
This post brought to you by Stalag 17. (Hogaaaan!)
I want to start a movement in colleges across the world. That being the creation of phallic symbols made out of snow. All in the name of free speech, of course.
Brought to you by the Artificial Idea Factory.
You insensitive clod!
std::disclaimer<std::legalese> sig=new std::disclaimer; sig->dump(); delete sig;
Yes! I always wanted to shovel the driveway in July!
I hate these stretches when he gets going like this
Silly me, I thought it was one long stretch...
In Soviet Russia...michael would be rotting in Siberia!
The snow is stacked up 3.5 feet deep in front of my house where the snow plow cleared the road. Last week it was almost -40 degrees! If you want to play in the snow, hop a flight to Saskatoon Saskatchewan Canada. But remember to pack your thermal underwear, and bring your mittens.
To be fair, and counting that Iraq will be totally disarmed when the attack begins, iraqui forces will be provided with the same snow guns, to have a fair battle. Unfortunatelly, the SnowGenerator(TM) device is patented with a license of no exportation to some countries, so iraquis soldiers will have to use sand to load this weapons.
Intelligence are checking on the rumors that the new weapon's blueprints are published in enemy web site, and will search for security leaks if this rumors are finally true.
For all you californaians out there( like myself) this only works in the 20's fahreneit, so don't think your going to make snow out here on the west coastt, this only works when its FREEZING.
-and occasionaly a giant moose.
I'll sell you some of my snow too...took my 2 hours to shovel it today might as well make some money for my troubles
Heck...if you come pick it up you can take it all away for free
up 'ere in Canada we get all the snow for free, eh...we don't need no stinking sno-guns...
Digging out my car two weeks ago wasn't fun enough.
OddManIn: A Game of guns and game theory.
Ah, good ole Todd Gross. You should watch his weather reports. He makes perfect arrows on the maps.
Did anyone else read the title of this article and think: Wow! Now I can launch snow at my enemies / neighbors / both ?
I have thought of building a snowball gun similar to a potato gun, but I never really figured a good way to make the projectiles. Maybe some type of ice cream scoop loader?
without which I'd have been forced to view this website and its articles against my will. Now I can view the web-thingy without fear.
Stock schmock, give me cash.
He got so wrapped up in the fact that he COULD, that he forgot to stop and ask if he should...
I'm always amazed the people like this can also build a website...
I worked as a snow maker for 3 months a couple years back and what I know is that using water treated with snow enducing bacteria and using air compressed on a set of pumps that used as much electicity as a small town, on snow guns with commercial heads, you really needed it to be below 30 degrees F. To do the equivilant home made style you would need a LOT as well as very high water pressure and very cold temperatures seeing as you would not have the snow enducing bacteria.
I can make yellow snow...
It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. -Frederick Douglass
...I made the snow gun, but unfortunately ran out of stuff to make snow out of. Any volunteers ?
thats how i always remember it
I once had to shovel straight down just to find my house....and then a pipe broke and I had to shovel down another meter to fix that problem.
Didn't see the cat for two days and finally heard him under the floor in the entrance...had to use a chain saw to cut an escape door. After a meter of snow (in the first hour) on the roof made it hard to open doors, I decided to shovel it clear....by the time I'd get to one end of the roof, there would be another meter building and I'd have to start all over. We had to walk up just to get outside. More than one structure collapsed and wasn't dealt with until things melted months later.
A pair of buses in a local parking lot dissapeared from view and we had to dig down more than a meter just to find their roof vents. If you don't have at least 5 meters of snow to deal with, you've got it easy.
Hey, i remember seeing a bit on the old discovery channel show "Next Step" anybody remember that?
anyway, they had a bit about these guys who made snow with a modified snow gun and liquid nitrogen, to proove it worked they made snow in the desert or something. i remmeber their setup was covered with what looked like a tarp, but it made something like 1000 cubic feet of snow in an hour or something, damn impressive, and what can i say, i just want to re-create the scene out of real geniuses
Cogito Eggo Sum, I think therefore I'm a waffle
...that they shall both be called "stalagites" and that everybody will be happy.
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
you can almost see the lawsuit filing itself...
and in the next war the Germans are gonna paste the Americans with the Potatoe Canons!
I remember by :-
The dear little mites reached up and pulled their mothers tights down....
I love stacking my barbecues in the shed at the end of summer - you can't beat a bit of grill on grill action.
someone please point me to a *REAL* grown man's toy...
A DIY Flamethrower
Welley Corporation - SLM Scammers
Well, not quite what one would call "home-made", but it does the job:
SwizzBlizz
...how do I turn this thing off???
One of the problems with these machines, which as you rightly say, require a lot of power for the fans and pumps but they require a lot of something to pump. At ski-resorts they may even have to build new reservoirs (sometimes by excavating out existing lakes, to increase volume). On a permanet installation, the pipes have to be heated too.
See my journal, I write things there
I live in Louisiana,and I have never seen snow before in my entire life! Seriously, it doesn't snow here in south Louisiana. So I would probably love to see one of these, but I don't think it would be the same as the real stuff, though I wouldn't know. My lifelong dream has been to build a snowman. I've wanted to build one my whole life and have yet to see it snow. =( Though I wouldn't want it to snow every year cuz I don't like cold weather.
The Present is the point at which time touches eternity. - C.S. Lewis
... just after the worst blizzard in seven years.
/.? I'm beginning to rethink why I read this site in the first place. This isn't tech geek news - hell, this isn't even 'tech geek hobby' news. WTF kind of hobby is making snow? Do you put something ON the snow, like maple syrup, or thickened Koolaid? No? Then who gives a damn? It's a bitch enough to shovel what falls naturally - why make more?
And this, coming from someone who grew up in upstate New York, in the middle of the Snow Belt.
-rant on-
THIS article makes it onto
-rant off-
well, feel free to come visit me in Pittsburgh someday. we don't get LOTS of snow here like I did when I lived in New Hampshire, but we get enough.
My lifelong dream has been to build a snowman.
It's good to have goals =)
honestly, snowmen are neat, but they lose their charm after the 123112347120394th one you make. Now, the anatomically correct ones you build at the main enterance to your college... they're more fun.
~Jon~
This space for rent, inquire within.
Lake Erie.
For those not in upstate NY, look up "lake effect snow" and Oswego, NY.
(for the record, I'm in Syracuse)
Slashdot is like Playboy: I read it for the articles
Subject says it all.
No Comment.
It's probably more accurate at destroying ICBMs than Star Wars/SDI or whatever you want to call it today.
It would be accurate for shooting down missles if a few conditions were met:
1)The missle were made of paper
2)The missle was moving very slowly
3)The missle was launced within 30 feet of the gun
Since missles are made of metal, move many times faster than sound, and are launched "Intercontinentally" you'd have no chance. But...thats obvious.
I know, I know. Mod me as necessary.
because I have been enjoined by this Holy Office to abandon the false opinion which maintains that the Sun is the centre
I don't need no stinking snow gun..... ....
Just come up here to Northern Ontario....
You die...snow++ and -40 (NO WIMPY CHILL FACTOR)....
If you don't die right away, the wolves eat you or the Polar Bears or the cold and hungry trappers or
Well, you get the pic..
LOL
Where ever you go, There you are
This company called Colorado Home Snow has a couple of different snowmakers targeted toward home users or people running small snowboard parks or tubing hills. I run a site called BoardingPlanet.com and they sent us one to review. We haven't had the chance to review it due to weather conditions, but it looks pretty cool. It is basically just a tripod with a custom casted mixing chamber. You supply the water and air presure. It takes about 30-40 psi w/ about 7 or 8 cfm to get the right mixure. Check out BP for the review sometime in the upcomming weeks. It should be interesting.
I have no use, whatsoever, for snow. I live in the South, and we don't get much of it down here, but we still get more than I want. What would be useful to me is one of those subsonic, megaphone looking devices that can rattle your bones and make your lunch wind up on your shoes. That way, when some a**hole pulls up beside me on the road, blowing vile rap shit out at 200 watts per chanel, bass boost on full, I could out-bass him. Damn, that would be fun! Any of you folks got the specs on how to build one of those?
Fuck snow! (damn, that wouldn't be fun,would it?) If I never see another snow, it'll be to soon. I hate that shit. God made snow to punish yankees, and most of them are too stupid to realize that they're being punished. The only pleasure I get from snow is watching on television where some dumbass in Boston (or somewhere up there) is trying to figure out which snow pile his car is buried under.