We strive to design hard drives that look as cool as they are reliable and functional. That’s why when we wanted to offer a line of hard drives that were hip, cool and different, we asked Cal State University Long Beach Industrial Design students to design them. We tasked the students to come up with ideas that would appeal to a wide variety of personal styles from the outdoor enthusiasts to urban trendsetters. The result is awesome! Take a look the five new designs available exclusively at Best Buy and online at the WD Store.Then tell us what you think about them by tweeting us @WDTVLive. Keep in mind that even though they’re designed by students for students, they’re still a great choice for the young and trendy at heart. We’ll have more news to come about the student designers mentioned here. Stay tuned!

For months now, we’ve been following the World Cup Trek team on their amazing journey through Europe and Africa as they raced to the World Cup Finals in Cape Town. To be honest, we’re a little sad for it all to come to an end. Of course, we say that sitting comfortably in our air-conditioned offices—not from the oftentimes treacherous conditions the team experienced on the Trek. As you’ll see in our final interview below, the crew’s real-life experience makes even the most outlandish action/adventure flick seem like a walk in the park. That said, before we move onto our final interview with John and the crew, we can’t forget about the purpose of the Trek—to film the adventure for international consumption to benefit Nomadic Nation children’s charities in Africa. That’s the ‘new story’ that will begin now that the crew is back home.

Now here’s our interview with John Lovejoy and the crew about getting to the Trek finish line:

Western Digital: Now that the World Cup Final is over, we’re dying to know what happened. Did you make it to Cape Town in time for the game?

John Lovejoy: Well, we made it to Cape Town on time, depending on how you define ‘on time.’ We managed to make our flights back to the States by July 21, but not for the Final Match. We ended up watching the Final Match in Kinshasa, D.R.C. before which was an amazing experience.

As for the Trek itself… There are so many stories from me having malaria to us having two cars explode (and another car totaled twice in two days), to losing two team members and four crew members, etc. The stories are endless. The show, however, will reveal a lot. We plan to have five webisodes and a teaser. Then, you’re going to have to watch the show yourself to see the rest.

WD: You guys were able to travel through 16 countries in Europe and Africa and make it out in one piece… almost. You did lose a few cars along the way and Rob Evans got stuck in Ouaga, Africa (his bank card was stolen). What do you think was the scariest or most crazy thing that happened to the team on the Trek?

JL: We did certainly lose a few cars along the way. It is still beyond me how we managed to have the first one blow up only 300km South of Berlin. The clutch literally caught on fire. Instead of fixing it, we bought a new used car for a third of the repair costs. After that, the vehicles literally started falling by the wayside.

Two of the scariest things that happened were Tony’s car getting accidently shot at while at a police checkpoint in Nigeria. Then ten minutes later, a flaming tire came rolling out of the jungle towards my car, which I narrowly avoided. We still have no idea how or why that happened.

The craziest thing by far had to be when we took the ferry across the Congo River from Brazzaville to Kinshasa. It took us literally a week to get the cars across the river. We had to pay all sorts of bribes because the ferry was broken and they had to be sent by barge. That, however, was not the crazy part. What ensued on the Kinshasa end of the journey across the river may be the craziest and possibly scariest thing I have ever seen–a complete breakdown in humanity. I stood watching the ferries come in (Lucy and I had taken a speed boat across in hopes of getting Angola visas for the whole team early) waiting for the rest of the team. As the ferry came in, chaos broke out. People streamed out of the ferry like ants from an anthill, carrying all sorts of immense baggage. Police with whips were hitting children who were trying to steal materials from the ferry. I witnessed police punching a woman, another officer smashing a teenagers face into the railing, all while I was being crushed against from the stampede. Another police officer broke a beam of wood across a young child’s head, leaving him bleeding on the ground. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t move and only wanted to do anything to help but I couldn’t. It was something I never want to see again.

WD: Western Digital donated a My Book Studio Edition II 4 TB hard drive and a WD Elements SE 1TB hard drive to the team to film the Trek. Tell us about your experience using WD technology during the WCT?

JL: The drives were amazing. Despite the dust, crazy roads, heat and humidity–they just kept humming along. Our editor was using the 4 TB drive in the truck to edit whilst flying in the air over bumps. I knew those drives would hold up though, which is why I contacted Western Digital in the first place. During the last Trek, we had even more elements to it and it was six months long. Our WD drives from that Trek are still functioning now.

WD: Are you happy with how the Trek film footage turned out? What are the next steps in the editing and distribution processes?

JL: The footage is simply fantastic, as you’ll see as soon as we’re finished with the webisodes. We just got green lit on Trabant Trek by the International Travel Channel, meaning it will be shown in 50-60 countries. At the moment, we are working on editing the webisodes. Then, we’ll begin the pilot. Once this happens, we will go back to the Travel Channel to present it. Our distributor will also be pitching to various other networks around the globe. Once we have a deal in place, we will move forward with the post process editing (13)x23min episodes.

WD: Before the Trek began, we asked if you thought you’d still be friends afterwards. You weren’t sure. So, what’s the verdict?

JL: It’s still a tough one to call. Most of the people on board were all strangers to start with. I know there was a certain amount of fighting, resentment and misunderstanding along the way that may still leave team members questioning each other (I know I have a few questions myself). I hope over the course of time some of that it sorts itself out. We are all on speaking terms, which is good.

WD: Okay, we just saw a few posts on your Facebook page about a side-swiped rental car, Medevac ride and jail stint. Please explain!

JL: Our rental car was hit while we were sleeping–guess we just couldn’t get off the continent without one last hurrah! Our director was Medevac’d from Burkina Faso to Europe and then to the States. Honestly, I still don’t know what happened. I hope to see him in the next few days and get the story myself. As for jail… it’s a risk you take when you try to travel without a passport.

Thanks to everyone for following us, and most of all, thank you Western Digital! We wouldn’t have a show without all the footage being safely stored on your drives. If anyone is in doubt about buying a drive, WD is honestly the way to go. If it can hold up to Africa, it can hold up to just about anything. I think the drives fared better than we did!

WD: Thank you John and crew. We know this isn’t the last time that we’ll hear from you guys. We’re looking forward to checking out the webisodes, and of course, the final cut of the Trabant Trek! To see the team’s latest webisodes, go to http://worldcuptrek2010.com/.