PSFK Author:
Matthias Weber (PSFK Hamburg)

Our friends over at Ubilabs have put together a new version of their Tour de France Live Tracker application. Features include improved performance of the map interface and a neat Streetview implementation showing the riders’ POV. You can follow select riders from Teams such as Milram, Columbia, Gerolsteiner and CSC/Saxo Bank.

Tour de France Live Tracker 2008

Joanne Lee from the Singapore based The Straits Times comes up with an interesting term that complements some of the experiences Team PSFK encountered during some recent travel (- and we’re thinking we’re not the only ones).

Joanne has coined the term “Virtual Lanlords” to touch upon the issue of limited access to free wifi and the decision whether or not to share it.

Joanne writes:

There aren’t very many unsecured Wi-Fi networks out there. For all the talk of the Internet having revolutionised the world, Wi-Fi still has us all trapped in a feudal system where wireless surfers are peasants at the mercy of LAN owners.

The past week in Europe was a nightmare: When my phone or laptop was able to detect Wi-Fi networks at my hotels, it cost a small fortune to surf. A day’s subscription cost me $41S in London and 22 euros ($47S) in Dusseldorf. Outside the hotels, private Wi-Fi networks - with or without passwords - simply did not exist.

As for Germany, where there were occasional free wifi hotspots available a couple of years ago, it seems almost everyone has locked-up and password-protected their access today. Mass computer magazines such as Computer Bild have fueled the fear of data-theft and published easy tutorials on how to secure your home or business wifi.

There is hope, though: initiatives such as Fon, an easy to install and safe to share wifi router that comes with a community membership allowing access to other Foneras wifi, could be a solution. We wonder if wifi should be treated like most other things - you need to be willing to give in order to get something in return. …Are you sharing your wifi?

Share The Wifi Or It’s Back To Pigeons

German car manufacturer Volkswagen have released a site called “Volkswagen 2028″ that sketches a scenario of future automotive mobility, 20 years from now. The site kicks off with a short introductory movie set in the future, where a father takes a walk with his son talking about the old times where you had to search for a parking-lot. Future times according to VW are about smart, on-demand car delivery services, skinnable car exteriors and the death of traffic jams as we know them.

A series of interviews with VW researchers and designers unveil their visions of electric-driven Single Occupant Vehicles, holographic projections, gesture controlled dashboards, and emission free automobiles.

While the entire site is in German, it’s still worth having a look at their future scenarios.

Volkswagen 2028

Update: The site is also available in English. (Thanks, Janne!)

pyWuzzler is a tabletop football game developed by a couple of students from FH Hagenberg in Austria. The game runs on Nokia N95 devices using the handsets acceleration sensor. The aim of the game is of course to score as many goals as possible within two minutes, while it concentrates on the head-to-head match between the attacking player and the goalkeeper. The interesting thing here is that they took the motion of your wrist from playing a real-life tabletop football match into the game interaction.

pyWuzzler

Superbude (Supershack) is a new budget-hostel located in central Hamburg with a design twist. A double room includes a private shower, TV and toilet and start from EUR 59, while a dorm-style bed starts at 16 Euros. The hostel features some nice, quirky touches, including seats made of old Astra beer crates and bikes as well as Nintendo DSes for hire. Patrons can also rent a cordless Skype phone from the reception desk, or engage in some virtual athleticism in the Wii Sports Room or catch a movie in the private theater. The shared kitchen area also serves as dining-room, with three fully equipped fridges offering a variety of different snacks, all self-service and payable by credit card.

Superbude

We’ve previously written about Daim’s 3-D graffiti, now a couple of Media Art and Design students are working on a Wii-Controller turned Spraycan. Wiispray is a prototype, currently under heavy development as part of a final-thesis design work by Martin Lihs at Bauhaus-University in Weimar, Germany.

Wiispray aims to give sprayers all the tools of a real-life spraycan with a digital extension. This neat gadget could open the concept of a digital spraycan to a wide audience. The virtual spraycan simulates real spraying characteristics and comes with a range of different caps and of course paints. Collaborative spraying on a virtual wall is planned as well.

Wiispray

Hamburg based Vienesse DJ and producer DJ DSL has designed another great wallchart for the Euro 2008 Championship.

Known for his club-flyers and record-sleeve designs, DSL retains his unique drawing style to fit all the games into a football stadium grid that leads to the trophey match in the center of the field.

The poster measures 75 x 59,4 cm / 29,5″ x 23,4″ and comes folded in a printed A4 envelope. Be quick - Euro 2008 kicks off this Saturday…

DJ DSL Wallchart ‘08

The Telectroscope is a charming piece of artwork by Paul St. George. The installation that could have been part of a fantastic Jules Verne or H.G. Wells novel visually connects the cities of London and New York. Simulating a massive tunnel, people on both sides of the Atlantic gather in front of the device to wave at each other.  St. George even developed a fun little story explaining how the tunnel had originally been conceived of by his great grandfather:

Hardly anyone knows that a secret tunnel runs deep beneath the Atlantic Ocean. In May 2008, more than a century after it was begun, the tunnel has finally been completed. An extraordinary optical device called a Telectroscope has been installed at both ends which miraculously allows people to see right through the Earth from London to New York and vice versa.

You can take a look through the Telectroscope in New York or London until June 15 or follow on the projects blog.

The Telectroscope

Limestudios in Nottingham, England have created a simple curved form for your relaxation. Somewhere between a bean bag and a deck chair, the Leaf allows the user to recline in multiple positions.

Limestudios

Contributed by Pete Serjeant