Cool Hunting

Five Better Bike Racks
The bike rack is one of those urban features woefully in need of a redesign. Thanks to NYC DOT and Cooper-Hewitt, who joined forces in creating the City Racks Design Competition, New York just might continue to lead the way in making cities more bike-friendly. As many people have noticed, the city has been making great advances on behalf of the cyclist, adding miles...

Swobo Folsom Bike: Interview with Founder TIm Parr
After living in NYC for over ten years I finally started riding around the city on a bike this past spring. Of course, as these things go, I now have all sorts of opinions on the urban bike experience. While I'm now surveying all different bikes, the Folsom from Swobo is my new favorite. (Click image for detail.) The Folsom is like a featherweight...

OnNYTurf Subway Map
The most frustrating aspect of most New York City Subway Maps is that they only show the subway lines, neglecting all but major streets. You might know where get off but then you have no idea how to get to your final destination. Alleviating the problem, OnNYTurf simply overlays the subway map on a google-style map (click on image for enlarged view). Google also...

TLC SmartCab
The TLC SmartCab promises to revolutionize the taxi experience for both drivers and passengers. New York City's Taxi and Limousine Commission decided about two years ago that it was time for a technology upgrade, and results are just now hitting NYC's taxi fleet. The TLC SmartCab was designed by Digital Dispatch and includes three elements: A GPS device, the Vector 530 Driver Information Monitor...

Foneros
The spanish company Fon, billing itself as the largest WiFi community in the world, is poised to make a dramatic entrance to New York City this month. Their "free WiFi for all who contribute" manifesto found a comrade in technologist and former candidate for NYC Public Advocate Andrew Rasiej, who ran on a free-WiFi-for-all ticket. Having lost that bid, Rasiej is now privately teaming...

Tube 2 NYC, London and Paris
Tube, the absolute best subway mapping program for the Palm, has been updated to a significantly new and improved version. Incorporating subway lines and station information with either a system or street view, Tube even includes route planning and timing information to figure out the optimal series of connections during any time of day....