It’s called the Crossbow Snow Launcher, and it can shoot a snowball up to 60 feet away. It comes with a snowball press to make up to three snow spheres just the right size for firing. It appears to use some sort of rubber or elastic straps to hurl the snowball towards your victim.

The photo here is actually only a rendering. I would love to see a video of this in action. The Crossbow Snow Launcher is offered by The Sharper Image and sells for $39.99 (USD).

[via OhGizmo! via Dvice]

These gloves come with special no-scratch conductive materials woven into the thumb and index (that negates some multitouch gestures, but it’s better than nothing), which will allow you to keep your hands warm while using your touchscreen devices. These gloves come in a variety of styles for men and women.

You’ll find Isotoner smarTouch gloves at a variety of retailers, and they cost between $15 to $33 (USD). They’re currently on sale for 25% off over at Firebox.

[via GeekAlerts]

What you need is one of these Electro Amp Parka heated jackets from Columbia. That is assuming you can stomach the massive price of the jackets that can run you up to $900. Yes, $900! You won’t catch me sporting one of these things, but I would bet hunters or outdoors types will gladly spring for one to stay warm.

The jackets have carbon fiber strands inside that feel like thread and conduct the heat needed to keep you warm. The heat is provided by a battery pack that is good for up to five hour of use per charge. The charging is done by that ubiquitous port known as USB.

[via GearJunkie]

Panasonic held a contest on where it looked for ideas that spawned a mission to let some kids in Bahrain see snow for the first time. Panasonic used some of its cool high-tech vacuum insulation, packed a snowman away inside a box, and put it on a plane to start its 5,314-mile journey to the desert and the waiting kids.

I am surprised to say that the fancy insulation material actually kept the snowman frozen for the whole trip, and when it arrived in Bahrain, the kids got to touch snow and see their first snowman. As Frosty started to melt, the kids got to have snowball fights and build their own mini snowmen too. This may be the best use ever for boring insulating materials ever.

This awesome snow removal device had a 25” length that can go out to 36”, an aluminum handle, plastic head, and nylon bristles. The materials may not be better than any other ice scraper you’ve seen, but it’s design makes sure that none of that matters.

If you’ve ever thought you might have frostbite just from cleaning off your car in the winter, this is definitely something you need to have. And at only $17, you can’t say that it’s not a good investment.

[via 7Gadgets]

I’m guessing that whoever made this thing tinted the snow with food coloring or the dog peed on it to give it that lovely color. The only thing missing is Princess Leia in her slave bikini chained to him. I’m assuming that she melted.

[via DannyTRS via /Film]

You’ll have to follow these instructions to make your own. It sounds like a fun project to do over the holidays, when you’ve got some time to kill to make your Christmas tree look a bit more festive.

Naturally, I like the Darth Vader snowflake, although it looks more complicated to make than the clone trooper. I also like how he managed to sneak in The Galactic Empire logo in the middle.

[via Star Wars Blog via Laughing Squid]

The jacket is called the M12 Heated Jacket and it runs on red lithium rechargeable batteries. A single battery is good for up to six hours of heat. The three heating zones are made from carbon fiber and will keep you toasty. The jacket is wind and water resistant as well.

It also has a three stage heat control along with pockets for your gadgets like a phone or MP3 player. The jacket is about $180 depending on the size you need and you can buy the thing in some local stores and at Amazon.

[via Uncrate]

The medals all feature work by Canadian artists Corrine Hunt and Omer Arbel, and are each laser-etched with a unique design so that no two of the games’ medals will be the same. But perhaps most interestingly, the medals are made from materials reclaimed from used electronics. All that gold, silver, and bronze used to be running something… and now it’ll all be part of some of the biggest and heaviest medals in Olympic history.

The medals are also not flat, but instead move and rise, a design said to spring from the undulating land of Vancouver.

[via notcot]

The colorful snow sled doesn’t have the battle scars that the real Falcon has seen, but I’m sure after a few wipeouts (or laser cannon blasts from your neighbor with the personal TIE Fighter), you’ll have it looking pretty close. The sled is only big enough to hold one passenger, so you’ll have to decide if you want Chewbacca or Han to fly solo.

Sure, it’s not as cool as the handmade X-Wing Fighter sled, but this one is only $35 bucks and it probably wont’ break into pieces after a single run. Last I checked, the Millennium Falcon sled was out of stock over on Amazon, but you can get yourself on the backorder list so you can get yours just in time for all the snow to melt.

[via OhGizmo!]

The Bula Lex Earphone Hat is made of Polartec® fleece to keep things warm, while your music keeps things cool. Bula Lex. Sounds like some kind of drug. For diarrhea.

You can get the Bula Lex Earphone Hat for $40.00 at Amazon. While you’re there, check out Bula’s other hats, the Kamikaze and the boringly-named Campus Cap.

[via inventor spot]

Okay so that’s not the whole story. The gloves were modified so that people with tiny gadgets can still touch, push and poke even with the gloves on. Because people don’t know how to use scissors. You should all be ashamed of yourselves for waiting for others to come up with great ideas.

I, too, have an idea. An ordinary telephone has too many numbers, which makes telephone numbers hard to memorize. What if I scrap them all except for the number 4? Then we’ll only have to remember how many 4′s there are in someone’s number! I’ll call it The Fourn. Or Fourno. Then I’ll sell it for $800! Money money money-MONEY!

[Etre Touchy via Forever Geek]

I’ve never been very good at making decent snowballs, but with this heavy-duty mechanical Snowball Blaster, pretty much anyone can become an expert snowball marksman.

Just pack your snow into the three casting chambers, and it’ll roll three perfectly round snowballs. When you’re ready to take aim, just load one of your spherical snowballs into the muzzle, pull back the launcher mechanism, and SPLAT! Your victim is covered in snow. An elastic slingshot mechanism means that you’ll be able to fire off another snowball blast in just seconds, just in case one wasn’t enough.

The $29.95 Snowball Blaster should ship just in time for Christmas over at Hammacher Schlemmer.

[via Switched]

The SG4 and SG5 snow makers from Snowathome.com turn water and pressurized air into actual snow. You’ll need to provide your own power washer and an air compressor, and the outside temperature will need to be below 29