;(function($) {
// displays snowflakes in a giving selector
$.fn.snow = function(options) {
	
	var opts = $.extend({}, $.fn.snow.defaults, options);
	
	
	// generates a random position
	function getRandomPosition(width) {
		return Math.floor(Math.random() * width);
	}
	
	// move the flake!
	function moveFlakes(flakes, speed) {
		for(i in flakes) {
			var $left = parseInt(flakes[i].css('left'));
			var $top = parseInt(flakes[i].css('top'));
			
			if($top > $(window).height()) {
				$top = 0;
			}
			if($left > $(window).width()) {
				$left = 0;
			}
			
			flakes[i].css({
				left: $left + flakes[i].particleSpeed + 'px',
				top: $top + flakes[i].particleSpeed + 5 + 'px'
			});
		}
	}
	
	return this.each(function() {
		
		var $this = $(this);
		var $width = $(window).width();
		var $height = $(window).height();
		
		// Support for the Metadata Plugin.
		var o = $.meta ? $.extend({}, opts, $this.data()) : opts;
		
		// create a flake
		var elm = $('<div>' + o.dot + '</div>');
		elm.css({
			left: '0px',
			top: '10px',
			color: o.color,
			fontSize: o.dotSize,
			position:'absolute'
		})
		elm.addClass('snowflake');
		
		var flakes = [];
		
		// and clone it for the amount of particles
		for(var p = 0; p <= o.particles; p++) {
			var flake = elm.clone();
			flake.attr('id', 'snowflake-' + p);
			flake.css({
				top: Math.floor(Math.random() * -$height),
				left: getRandomPosition($width)
			})
			flake.particleSpeed = Math.floor(Math.random() * o.particleSpeed);
			flake.appendTo($this);
			flakes.push(flake);
		}
		
		setInterval(function() {
			moveFlakes(flakes, o.particleSpeed)
		}, o.speed);
		
	});
	
	// private function for debugging
	function debug($obj) {
		if (window.console && window.console.log) {
			window.console.log($obj);
		}
	}
};

// default options
$.fn.snow.defaults = {
	dot: '&#149;',
	dotSize: '10px',
	color: '#fff',
	particles: 100,
	particleSpeed: 3,
	speed: 20
};

})(jQuery);