In the early 1900's England, if a tree fell in the woods or an oncoming enemy plane was approaching a military stronghold on the coast, chances are someone would know it. However, it wasn't due to the Brits bionic hearing. It was more likely due to “sound mirrors;” these concrete parabolic monoliths and design ancestors to the satellite dish were used to trap sound waves and hear incoming enemy airplanes before you could see them. While practical back in the day, the reliance on radar made them obsolete. Fortunately for anyone who finds themselves on the British Isles many of them still stand today as an impressive monument to a technology gone the way of the dodo. Thanks to the good folks at Core77 and deputy dog for the heads up.

When musician Rob Diament and producer Luke Busby started the electronic rock band Temposhark 4 years ago, they didn’t waste time trying to get on a label — instead, they formed their own record label, Paper and Glue, as means of distributing their singles. In their newest album “The Invisible Line,” Temposhark pairs incredible vocals (way better than I am used to for this genre) and great musical arrangements. There is a noticeable inclusion of strings in some tracks which adds another dimension to the sound, and fans of Depeche Mode, New Order, and the Pet Shop Boys will feel right at home with this album. I am going to have to make room in my car’s CD changer for this masterpiece. It is set for release on March 25, 2008, but in the meantime, you can learn more about Temposhark at their website.

So, this is a few days old, but it’s not too late to grab the zip-awesome that is MySplice 2.0 from the fine folks at Stereogum and team9 — their gift to you, in celebration of the year in singles that was 2007. This year, MIA meets the A-Team, Bloc Party parties with The Cure and Arcade Fire and Smokey Robinson pair up with The Gunsmoke Theme for in what is all sorts of epic goodness. Get them track-by-track, or pick up the whole zip here.

Seb Lester isn't just another pretty face in the typography world…he made the “scene.” Or, at least that's the name of one the several typefaces he designed; Lester's also responsible for crafting the Neo Sans and Soho fonts. The type designer's work is in high demand with companies like the Intel Corporation, Dell, American Airlines, The New York Times, and GQ all clamoring for the U.K. based type designers font work.

In addition to his type designing talent, Lester also has a knack for 3D animation. His ‘Moving Type’ animation was featured in the Typophile Film Festival, Computer Arts, and 3D World; his combination of gifts also landed him some typo-illustration work for Red Bull.

Curious to see what's got all of those megahuge corporations in such a typeface tizzy? Perhaps, you should hop on down to Seb Lester so you can believe the hype.

Our pals at Metromint are at it again. Back in March of 2006 they launched Spearmint (I’m still waiting on my stock options), then in early 2007 the super-genius mintologists launched Lemonmint and Orangemint — also stellar flavors. But who could have seen this one coming? Chocolate mint water, the most original beverage since mint water. Choco-mint is delicious. In fact, if you close your eyes and drink it, the essence of chocolate left in your mouth afterwards feels like you just chomped down a chocolate bar. Same great taste, zero calories. Oh my god! It will be in stores for Valentine’s day, and I’m telling you, it’s damn good.