A picture is worth a thousand words. But if you include an entire database, make it interactive, and add filtering options, the word-to-picture exchange rate is even better.

Infographics at their best are more than just pictures — they can provide new understandings, succinct summaries, or just plain old fun.

In that respect, reading newspaper archives isn’t the only way to get a deeper understanding of current events. Infographics can help us get a better grasp on what’s going on.

Check out these 10 visualizations to learn more about the news with a quick look.

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1. Google’s Appetite for Acquisition

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Last month alone, Google acquired social-search service Angstro, visual shopping search engine like.com, and social currency company Jambool. Google has been on an acquisition binge for some time, and it’s getting tricky to keep track of its appetite.

This graphic shows a timeline of Google’s activity in three categories: “Building Revenue Streams,” “Cutting Competition,” or “A Little of Both.”

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2. Gay Marriage Chronology

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The campaign for gay marriage has passed a multitude of milestones over the last decade. Unfortunately for those trying to keep track of them, the victories and setbacks vary drastically by state. Decisions are reversed and in some cases overturned by higher courts, which makes progress hard to track.

This map from the LA Times shows the status of gay marriage in each state by month. Click on a state for its most recent ruling or watch the country change from being legally similar in its treatment of same-sex couples in 2000 to sharply divided in 2010.

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3. IED Attacks from Wikileaks’ Afghanistan War Logs

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The frequency and fatality of IEDs (homemade bombs) in Afghanistan was highlighted when WikiLeaks published more than 90,000 secret documents about the Afghan war. Anti-war activists published this illustrative video that includes all of the incidents reported in these leaked documents.

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4. Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

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On April 20, an explosion on a BP drilling rig started what has become the largest accidental oil spill in history. Despite numerous strategies that were deployed to plug the leak, it wasn’t capped until July 15.

This video graphic by New Orleans online newspaper NOLA wraps timeline, graphic, and cumulative damage data into one easy-to-digest piece of media.

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5. CIA World Factbook Dashboard

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The CIA World Factbook has always been a great resource for putting news stories into the context of their geographic location. But now it’s also easy to get the information at a glance.

The World Factbook Dashboard allows you to color code the countries of the world by population, population growth, infant mortality, agricultural GDP, industry GDP, services GDP, total GDP, GDP/inhabitant, or inflation. Clicking on a country zooms in for more information.

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6. Geography of a Recession

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This map from The New York Times illustrates not only which areas suffered the highest unemployment rate after the recession, but also offers the option to filter data by metropolitan areas, areas with housing bubbles, rural areas, and manufacturing centers.

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7. Afghanistan and Pakistan Regional Violence Map

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The Wall Street Journal updates this map constantly with violent conflicts in Afghanistan and Pakistan. If you want to learn about the day-to-day details of the war or understand its scope, there’s no better visual resource.

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8. What Does the Health Care Bill Mean to Me?

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Even if you read through every health care bill article, it could be hard to exactly pick out what the law would change about your insurance coverage and taxes. The Washington Post made it easy by providing this nifty tool. Input whether you have insurance coverage, your family size, your income, and your marital status, and it will tell you how health care reform will impact your life.

For the broader picture on healthcare reform, see this subway-style map from GOOD Magazine.

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9. Obama’s $787 Billion Economic Stimulus Plan

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The government is still busy spending much of the $787 billion it allotted for the economic stimulus in February of last year. This infographic effectively illustrates how that huge chunk of change is being distributed.

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10. American Casualties in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Beyond

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This chilling interactive graphic from USA Today simply illustrates the deaths in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. Information seekers can search deaths by personal factors like name, age, gender, race, or home town as well as by military service details, date, cause, or place.

CNN has a more elaborate version here.

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More Graphics Resources from Mashable:

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- 5 Fab Twitter Follower Visualization Tools
- 10 Beautiful Social Media Infographics
- 5 Amazing Infographics for the Health Conscious
- 10 Essential Free E-Books for Web Designers
- 12 Beginner Tutorials for Getting Started With Photoshop

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Reviews: Google

More About: afghanistan, bp, current events, gay rights, graphics, healthcare reform, infographics, iraq, News, oil-spill, stimulus, visualizations, wikileaks

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Mashable is excited to announce MashBash BlogWorld, the opening party for this year’s BlogWorld & New Media Expo in Las Vegas on October 15-16. To kick off the Expo, we’ll be hosting the first night’s official party at Haze at Aria Hotel.

We would love for you to join us, so we’re giving away passes to BlogWorld. To enter, answer the following question — “What is the future of blogging?” — in the comments below. Readers with the best answers will win one of five “full access” tickets to BlogWorld, which includes MashBash. Winners are invited to attend this industry celebration where the online world comes together to meet, relax and make important business networking connections.

Date: Friday, October 15
Time: 8:00 p.m.-10 p.m.
Location:Haze at Aria. 3730 Las Vegas Boulevard, Las Vegas, NV.
Tickets: Must have BlogWorld Badge to enter.

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How To Win Tickets

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• Simply click the “Like” button on our Facebook Page (below).
• Respond to the question: “What is the future of blogging?” by noon ET on Monday, September 6, in the comments section of this post.

Please use your real identity so that we may contact you via e-mail, Twitter or Facebook to let you know that you’ve won and how to redeem your prize.

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About the Blog World Expo

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BlogWorld & New Media Expo in Las Vegas on October 15-16: “Join us at the World’s Largest New Media event and learn about Content Creation, Distribution and Monetization strategies, step-by-step techniques and bleeding-edge tools from the most successful Bloggers, Podcasters, Social Media Pro’s, Internet TV and Radio Content Generators and New Media Marketing Pro’s! From the premier educational sessions at the Social Media Business Summit and BlogWorld Conference, to the resource-rich New Media Expo, to Amazing Networking events…it’s One economical trip, One weekend, One Big Show you can’t afford to miss!”

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Reviews: Facebook, Twitter

More About: blogging, BLOGS, blogworld, contest, Events, las vegas, MashBash, new media expo, Tickets

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Google and AOL have signed a deal that extends the search and advertising partnership between the two companies for another five years. The agreement also includes mobile search and adds a content sharing partnership with YouTube.

In a statement, AOL CEO Tim Armstrong said, “After nearly a decade-long partnership in search, we’re looking forward to expanding our global relationship to mobile search and YouTube. All aspects of our partnership will be improved by this deal.”

The extension of the deal wasn’t a given by any means; the $1 billion investment Google made in AOL back in 2005 proved to be disastrous financially. Further, Microsoft has been aggressively making deals to grow marketshare for Bing, most notably with Yahoo, which now sees Bing powering Yahoo search and its related advertising.

With the renewed AOL deal, Google locks up about 2.3% of the search market according to the most recent numbers from comScore. Google currently has 65.8% of the market, while Microsoft has 27.1% between Bing and Yahoo.

Beyond web search, today’s deal also broadens Google’s reach on mobile and gets additional premium content onto YouTube –- both of which are currently high priorities for the company, as CEO Eric Schmidt noted in his statement on the deal. “It’s particularly exciting to see our relationship expand into video and mobile. These areas are now at the heart of users’ online experiences and at the core of both of our businesses,” he said.

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Reviews: Bing, Google, YouTube

More About: aol, Google, Search

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Alexander Hotz is a freelance multimedia journalist and public radio junkie based in New York City. Currently he teaches digital media at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Follow Alex on Twitter at @hotzington.

With another long hot American summer coming to a close, many students are scrambling to get back into “learning mode” before school starts. One of the simplest ways to ease that transition is with podcasts. Whether your passion is American History or Algebra, there’s probably an educational podcast out there for you.

While these programs probably won’t mirror your lesson plan, they will explore topics covered in class. Below is a sampling of some of the exceptional podcasts that both teach and entertain. Best of all – they’re free. Read on for your “2010 Downloading Curriculum.”

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Science

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Radiolab investigates some of world’s most intriguing scientific questions in a unique conversational format. Recent episodes have examined the importance of words in human development and time. First time listeners will probably notice that the show also just sounds different.

Before becoming a radio producer, Jab Abumrad, one of Radiolab’s creators, was as an experimental musician. Abumrad’s passion for ProTools is apparent in the show’s textured soundscape, which is layered with a variety of sound effects and quick edits. Perhaps the show’s only downside is its frequency. There are only a handful of episodes every season because one Radiolab episode requires months to produce.

Outlet: WNYC, New York City’s Public Radio Station
Time: An Hour
Frequency: 5-6 every season

Additional Listening: The Naked Scientists Podcast

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History

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In Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History, Carlin, a veteran journalist turned podcaster, dissects the textbook version of events. In shows that often run over an hour, the host passionately retells some of history’s best stories.

Hardcore History has become one of the most downloaded podcasts on iTunes, and Carlin’s widespread appeal can also be attributed to his insight. One podcast asked, “Could widespread child abuse in earlier eras explain some of history’s brutality?” Another show was based off the question, “Does the toughness of peoples play any role in history?” Don’t let the name fool you; all material is appropriate for younger listeners.

Outlet: Dan Carlin
Time: 1 – 1 1/2 hours
Frequency: 5-6 every year

Additional Listening: Stuff You Missed in History Class

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Economics

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Planet Money is NPR’s podcast on global economics and business. Initially created by veteran public radio reporters Alex Blumberg and Adam Davidson to explain the recent financial crisis, the show quickly became one of the most popular and praised podcasts available.

Planet Money’s success lies in how it tackles complex subjects with great storytelling. A financial instrument like a Collateralized Debt Obligation (CDO) may sound impossibly boring, but Planet Money routinely makes these types of things the heart of a thrilling narrative. The team continues to explore the financial collapse, but they’ve expanded their scope to include all aspects of the global economy.

Outlet: NPR
Time: 15-30 minutes
Frequency: Twice a week

Additional Listening: Freakanomics Radio

Disclosure: The author interned at NPR.

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English

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For those of us who couldn’t make it through Wuthering Heights, Cliff Notes Cramcast would have been a lifesaver. This free podcast reviews some of the stuff you need to know for the big test and does it in three to four minutes. Of course, these podcasts can’t cover every detail. To do that, you would — you know — need to read the book.

Outlet: Cliff Notes
Time: 15-30 minutes
Frequency: Twice a week

Additional Listening: Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips

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Foreign Language

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The Internet is full of podcasts that cater to students learning foreign languages. For those interested in the major European languages, Radio Lingua is a good bet. Another reliable hub is Open University, which in addition to the European languages also has a set of Mandarin podcasts. These outlets are mainly for beginners or students who need a quick review. Both are rated highly on iTunes by users.

Outlets: Radio Lingua and Open University
Time: 15-30 minutes
Frequency: Lesson plan

Additional Listening: Other reliable podcasts include Discover Spanish and Learn French.

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Math

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For those of us who struggle to calculate a 15% tip, The Math Dude’s podcast is a must-listen. Every week, affable nerd Jason Marshall explains basic concepts like how to calculate the area of an object or how to add faster. When Marshall isn’t podcasting, he researches “infrared light emitted by starburst galaxies and quasars” at Caltech, which just means his left-brain knows what’s up.

Outlet: Quick and Dirty Tips
Time: About 7 minutes
Frequency: Weekly

Additional Listening: Mathgrad.

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Current Events

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Every Sunday, comedians Andy Zaltzman and John Oliver recap the week’s events in The Bugle, a satirical podcast that is easily one of the funniest listens on the Internet. Think an audio version of The Daily Show, where Oliver is also a regular. The Bugle’s focus tends to be on the biggest international news, but the duo’s separate locations – Zaltzman in London and Oliver in New York City – ensure a focus on the English-speaking world’s antics. Although the pair has a leftward slant, there are no sacred cows. The Bugle even takes aim at itself in its tagline: “An audio newspaper for a visual world.”

Outlet: The Times (UK)
Time: 30 minutes
Frequency: Weekly

Additional Listening: NPR News, BBC World Service

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More Educational Resources from Mashable:

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- 10 iPhone Apps to Get You Back to School
- Why Online Education Needs to Get Social
- 5 Innovative Tech Camps for Kids and Teens
- 5 Organizations Helping Women Get Ahead in Tech
- 5 Fun Ways to Help Your Kids Learn Math Online

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, mattjeacock

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Reviews: Internet, iStockphoto, iTunes

More About: back to school, cliff notes cramcast, current events, dan carlin, economics, education, english, foreign language, history, itunes, math, planet money, podcast, podcasts, radio lingua, radiolab, Science, the bugle, the math dude

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For some in Silicon Valley, Asia remains an alluring black box. A promising world with pockets of hyper growth, obscured by a tangled web of unfamiliar languages, customs, regulations and native ecosystems. Although the walls are coming down fast, the road to Asia’s markets remains an intimidating one for many.

Enter Dave McClure, founder of 500 Startups (a recently launched $30M super angel fund) and Geeks On A Plane, a program that takes tech entrepreneurs and investors to emerging markets. In its own small way, Geeks On A Plane is attempting to bridge that gap between the Valley and the rest of the world. Earlier this year, roughly 55 “Geeks” traveled to several key hot spots in Asia, including Shanghai, Singapore, Seoul and Beijing, to connect with the region’s top entrepreneurs, to mingle with Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and to sample local tech conferences like Shanghai World Expo and CHINICT.

“Asia is easily a third, possibly close to half of the world’s population, I think there’s a lot of innovation and a lot of growth that is happening in China, India, and Southeast Asia,” McClure says. “Some of the internet models that we’ve seen are starting to be transferred over there, and actually a lot of the internet business models are being copied over here…There’s actually an explosion of social networks happening in all those countries.”

Although McClure doesn’t consider himself an expert in doing business in Asia, through his trips and his new relationships, he says he now has a better understanding of the internal dynamics of Asia’s disparate markets and is acutely aware of common Western misconceptions. In particular, he says it was very eye opening to learn how advanced China actually is and how many have underestimated the region’s technological and economic progress.

“Well I think people tend to look at China as being a pretty big opportunity but they also tend to think about China as being a little bit behind and I think that’s just really the wrong impression. China has actually got more internet users than the US, they certainly have more mobile devices than the US…You know the top 10% of the Chinese population probably has more average spending power than the average US citizen…and they’re buying a lot of cars, they’re buying a lot of houses, they’re buying a lot of consumer products online.”

While not everyone can join a Geeks On A Plane Tour, Dave McClure is sharing a collection of mini-documentaries from his latest trip with TechCrunch TV. The videos were shot and produced by Ben Henretig, founder of Micro-Documentaries, a new startup that creates highly polished, short (hence micro) videos for clients. The first of four episodes is on their trip to Shanghai (second video from the top). You can also watch McClure’s interview with TechCrunch TV, where he discusses his new fund and expounds on his trip to Asia (first video).

Washington D.C.-based startup EverFi has just raised $11 million in Series A funding from New Enterprise Associates (NEA), with participation from TomorrowVentures and independent investors including Michael Chasen, the CEO of Blackboard.

EverFi has created a SaaS application for schools to help educate young adults on financial literacy, student loan default prevention, filing taxes, credit card debt and more. The application’s curriculum incorporates virtual worlds, gaming, social media and videos to help teach children these life skills.

For example, the company’s Buttonwood platform, aims to prevent teenagers from student loan defaults. The application includes a Second Life-like virtual world where users can learn and implement key financial literacy concepts, such as credit worthiness, the loan application process, interest rates and more.

Currently over 2,000 public schools in 47 states will be using EverFi, with the company’s reach expected to more than double in 2011. While EverFi’s technology is not free to use, the platform’s use in public schools is completely funded by outside corporations and foundations that license its programs. Partners include United Negro College Fund, Capital One, Genworth Corporation, U.S. Bank, PayPal, BB&T Corporation, and others.

The company plans to use the funding for new product development and additional hires.

It may not be the most socially acceptable way to check in, but Vlingo has created a way for Android app users to check in on Foursquare with their voices. It’s a speech-to-checkin feature that will save time, even if it does raise a few eyebrows.

With the new app, Android users can speak a simple “check in to [insert place name]” command after tapping the home screen button. The command will prompt Vlingo to automatically pull up the location in question, and other nearby venues, on Foursquare, providing users with a fast alternative to touch-based Foursquare checkins.

Vlingo’s voice-activated Foursquare integration not only includes support for checkins, but also lets users post voice shouts and ask Vlingo, “Where are my friends?,” or “Who’s nearby?” to pull up a list of Foursquare friends who have checked in recently.

Vlingo for Android also supports voice-activated, speech-to-text status updates for Facebook and Twitter.

Unfortunately for those of us with iPhone and BlackBerry devices, our Android-toting friends have the advantage here, but hopefully not for long. Vlingo promises voice checkins for these devices in future releases.

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Reviews: Android, Facebook, Foursquare, Twitter

More About: andriod, checkins, foursquare, vlingo

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For Beginners

If you’re just getting started, be sure to follow these tips.

1. Set up your profile: Give people a glimpse beyond what your tweets reveal.
2. Include a picture: Make sure you add a photo of yourself so that your tweets will be more personal.
3. Create a simple and short Twitter name: The longer your Twitter ID, the more space it takes up, and having a complicated name can make it hard for people to respond to or mention you.
4. Just do it: Don’t just lurk-jump into the conversation.
5. Make your profile link something that tells more about you: Share your blog, an about me page, or any other page that offers more information about the person behind the tweets.
6. Share photos: Post your photos on Twitter to shake things up a bit and add some interest to your stream.
7. Use proper grammar: Occasional abbreviations are passable, but make sure that your tweets are readable.
8. Use your real name: Build your personal brand by choosing your real name as your Twitter ID.
9. List your location: Many people use Twitter for local networking, so they’ll be more likely to follow you if they know where you are.
10. Learn the lingo: If you don’t know what DM, @, RT, and other Twitter symbols and words are, look them up or ask.
11. Don’t rush to build your network: Don’t follow hundreds of people right away-allow your following to grow organically.
12. Reply to someone with @: Place an @ sign in front of someone’s name on Twitter to write to them specifically, or simply just mention them-they will be notified that you did so.
13. Shrink your URLs: Use a URL shortener like TinyURL or is.gd to make it easier to fit into 140 characters.
14. Use your mobile device: Tweet from your phone, iPod, or other mobile device to keep your Twitter updated on the go, using the mobile web or text.
15. Find your friends: Use Twitter’s search in order to find your friends, classmates, organizations, and others that you may want to follow on Twitter.
16. Go public: Keep your tweet public so that people can get to know you before deciding to blindly follow.
17. Make it easy for others to find your tweets: Use a hashtag (#) in order to be more a part of a popular conversation.
18. Use abbreviations: Make use of codes like LOL, BRB, and NSFW to save space and reading effort.
19. Remove and/or block problem followers: If you don’t want to follow someone anymore, you can remove them, and if you don’t want your tweets to appear in their timeline, you can block them.
20. Remove irrelevant words: Use only the words that are completely necessary to get your message across.
21. Go private: Make your account private if you don’t want to share your updates with the world.

Finding Friends

In order to really use Twitter, you’ll need to build your own community and find people to follow.

1. Find people with similar interests: Check out Twitter directories to find, classmates, people in your niche and interests, as well as those in your location.
2. Don’t sweat finding followers: Twitter isn’t about quantity, but quality-focus on building good relationships with those you follow.
3. Follow genuine people: Avoid only following people that want to game the system-build relationships with people.
4. Keep an eye on Facebook statuses: Many Facebook users tie their status to Twitter-if you see any @ signs in there, chances are they are on Twitter.
5. Share your passions in life: Discuss your hobbies and interests, and hash tag them so others can find you-and find others this way as well.
6. List yourself in directories: Make sure you’re easy to find by putting your Twitter name in relevant directories.
7. Get out from behind the curtain: Participate in meetups to meet your followers face to face, and get connected with others.
8. Be informative: Share links, video, and more in order to be interesting and valuable to the Twitter conversation.
9. Follow influencers: Follow important people on Twitter and interact with them to get lots of value.
10. Follow the people that you think are interesting: Listen to people that say things you’re interested in hearing.
11. Be funny and interesting: Make your timeline entertaining so that others will want to follow you.
12. Make yourself an authority: Share invaluable knowledge that would be missed if you stopped tweeting.

Keeping Followers

Once you’ve got followers, be sure to keep them by following these guidelines.

1. Don’t spam: Just don’t. Excessive DMs, repeated messages, and constant annoying information will get you unfollowed quickly.
2. Follow back: For goodness sakes, reciprocate. If someone is following you, and they offer some value, go ahead and follow them back-you can always take it back later.
3. Don’t make Twitter an extension of your blog: Twitter about your blog, but go beyond it as well-Twitter isn’t RSS.
4. Take it easy: Don’t tweet incessantly-or you’ll flood the windows of others so much that they’ll want to stop listening.

Tweeting

These are some of the ideas and things you can tweet about.

1. Share your announcements: Let people know about your achievements-shows, interviews, big trips.
2. Tweet useful links: Found something interesting, useful, or funny? Share it with your Twitter network.
3. Have fun: Be social, make connections, and use Twitter for good.
4. Share multimedia: Twitter loves photos, videos, and more, so share good multimedia.
5. Update daily: Update at least once a day so your followers have something to follow along with.

Developing Relationships

These tips explain how to develop good relationships with your Twitter followers.

1. Ask questions, give answers: Help others out, and ask for their opinions to improve relationships.
2. Check your @ replies: Make sure you know who is mentioning you by looking at your @ replies, and responding to them.
3. Collaborate with others: Share information and work closely with others in your niche on Twitter.
4. Show gratitude: If someone’s helped you out, be sure to thank them publicly.
5. Be a human being: Share personal information and show people that you’re a human being.
6. Provide value: Share your knowledge and give people a reason to listen when you tweet.
7. Give shout outs: Mention your Twitter friends and give them the spotlight.
8. Meet off of Twitter: Go to Tweetups and meet other users, or organize your own.
9. Retweet: If someone you’re following offers valuable information, retweet it, and you can simultaneously share it with more people and show the person you retweeted that you appreciate them.
10. Respond to every reply: If someone writes directly to you, be sure to acknowledge them by responding to their tweet.
11. Be genuine: Avoid being false-stay honest and let people see yourself.
12. Keep an eye on your reply ratio: You should keep your ratio or normal tweets to reply tweets in balance in order to stay original while still actively engaging others.
13. Take extended or private conversations to DM: If there’s too much quantity, or a privacy issue involved, don’t Tweet in public-share via DM.

Getting Value

Here we’ll take a look at how you can best get value out of Twitter.

1. Join the conversation: Read what others are doing and reply to what you’re interested in.
2. Ask for help: Use Twitter to get your questions answered and find a lending hand.
3. Keep your tweets short enough to retweet: If you want to be retweeted, make sure to leave extra space for at least “RT @yourname” to be added.
4. Keep up with the Twitter blog: Find out about technical problems, community issues, and more from the Twitter blog.
5. Stay active: Don’t use Twitter passively-be an active user to get the most value from it.
6. Follow the news: Twitter is a great source for breaking news-often beating mainstream media to the punch by hours.
7. Tweet during peak times: People are most likely to see your tweets during US business hours, so time your usage accordingly.
8. Stay on top of your friends: Use Twitter as a service to stay well connected with your real-life friends.
9. Connect with companies for better service: Use connections on Twitter to address your customer complaints.
10. Meet celebrities: You can often have a conversation with celebrities on Twitter, even if it’s one sided.
11. Track mentions of keywords: Set up a service to notify you whenever certain keywords are used on Twitter.

Snafus

These are actions that are best avoided on Twitter.

1. Remember to tweet like your grandma’s listening: Twitter is public, and even if you keep things private, you can never be too careful.
2. Give information about links: Don’t just share links without any explanation-tell your followers why they need to visit.
3. Keep it all to one tweet: You’re limited to 140 characters-keep it that way unless it’s absolutely necessary.
4. Don’t share EVERYTHING you do: Don’t share useless details about your cat or grilled cheese sandwich for lunch-make things a little more interesting.
5. Stop arguing: Debate is fine, but too much tense back and forth will turn followers off.
6. Avoid automatic DMs: Don’t set up your account to send welcome DMs to new followers-it’s considered impersonal and bad form.
7. Make sure your background doesn’t look like an advertisement: Many users choose to customize their background-just be careful not to take it too far.
8. Keep your follow to following ratio fairly even: You should be following about the same amount of people who follow you-too far either way makes you look like a spammer or a snob.
9. Don’t expect unrelated people to follow you back: If your Twitter is all about how you sell real estate in California, someone in Texas with no unifying interests to you is just not likely to want to reciprocate.
10. Don’t be an island: Engage your followers, and show that you’re a part of the community.
11. Don’t make it a following contest: If your main goal on Twitter is to amass as many Twitter followers as possible, you’ll end up turning a lot of followers off.
12. Do not autorespond: Autoresponders take the personality out of Twitter-individually connect instead.
13. Don’t always push your agenda: Twitter is a great marketing tool, but it will backfire on you if you abuse it.

For Business

Follow these tips if you’re a business on Twitter.

1. Don’t automate: Impersonality is the bane of Twitter-you’ll get more attention by engaging others and being genuine.
2. Use a photo instead of a logo: Make your Twitter account more personal with a photo.
3. Share your events: Make things interesting and possibly meet your followers through events.
4. Be personal: Show character and enforce a friendly brand for your company.
5. Share contests: Get followers more interested in what you tweet by holding contests.
6. Create multiple accounts if necessary: Set up an official account and others for individual employees if you’d like.
7. Follow relevant people: Connect with colleagues, journalists, competitors, and people who love your brand.
8. Share your business culture with OHs (overheards): Let people listen in to what’s happening in your office by repeating fun moments and comments.
9. Gather information: Ask Twitter followers what they’d like to see from you, and how you can improve.
10. Monitor your brand: Use alerts to find out what people are saying about your business, and respond to them.
11. Share your media: Link to videos, interviews, and more so followers can learn more about you and your business.
12. Talk back: Engage with those who engage you-and don’t be afraid to start conversations.

Productivity & Organization

These tips will help you keep it all together.

1. Use a client: Whether you’re on a mobile device or your desktop, get some help from clients like TwitterFon, Twirl, or TweetDeck.
2. Don’t feel like you have to read every tweet: You will miss some tweets, and that’s OK.
3. Limit your Twitter time: Check in occasionally, but don’t let Twitter keep you from more important things.
4. Don’t feel pressured to follow everyone back: While you generally should follow those who follow you, if someone offers no value to you, don’t feel guilty about not following them back.

Beyond Twitter

Take things a step further with these tips.

1. Link your Twitter and Facebook: Use the Twitter app on Facebook to automatically update your status whenever you update Twitter.
2. Put your blog posts on Twitter: Share blog post links on Twitter to reach a greater audience.
3. Share your Twitter ID: Put your Twitter ID on your email, business cards, and other social media networks so others will know you’re on the service.
4. Tell others about Twitter: Get people in your real life on Twitter, and you’ll have a great new way to communicate with them.
5. Include a link to tweet blog posts: On your blog, place a link that allows readers to send out a tweet about your post.

It looks like the bidding war for 3PAR could be over. Dell has just issued a release indicating that it will not increase its most recent $2 billion proposal to acquire 3PAR, and the company's has ended acquisition talks for the data storage company. Dell is entitled to receive a $72 million break-up fee from 3PAR upon the termination of its merger agreement. This morning, HP upped the ante today with an offer worth $33 per share or $2.4 billion. 3PAR has accepted HP's bid. Dell also said that its improved offer included a proposed commercial relationship and an increased break-up fee.

Die Entscheidung von Bundestrainer Joachim Löw zur Kapitänsfrage hat Philipp Lahm nicht geschwächt. Der Bayern-Verteidiger weiß um das Vertrauen des Trainers und baut weiter an seiner Karriere - bis jetzt hat er mit seinem Kalkül immer richtiggelegen.

Neuer Besitzer für den "Whopper"-Brater: Burger King ist für vier Milliarden Dollar an den Finanzinvestor 3G Capital verkauft worden. Die weltweit zweitgrößte Fast-Food-Kette hofft nun darauf, den Abstand zum Erzrivalen McDonald's zu verringern.