Twitter Buys Social Analytics Startup BackType

Twitter has acquired BackType, an analytics platform aimed at helping companies understand their impact on social media sites. The acquisition was announced on BackType’s blog on Tuesday, but the post did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.

BackType will be joining Twitter’s platform team, and the company says it will be developing tools for Twitter’s publisher partners. BlackType has developed products that help its clients understand the value that social engagements on social media sites, such as Twitter, have on their business.

The company’s product BackTweets enables publishers to better understand the reach of their Tweets and content, the audience they are reaching, and how Tweets covert to web traffic and sales.

“Joining Twitter gives us the opportunity to bring insight to tens of millions of publishers around the world that are using Twitter to communicate and connect with their audience,” BackType wrote in a blog post. “We’re also

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Thailand Seeks to Retrieve Crown Prince’s Plane

Weird one: Thailands foreign minister was visiting Germany today in a bid to retrieve a plane used by the Crown Prince that was impounded earlier this week in a long-running commercial dispute. The Boeing 737 “Royal Flight” was seized in Germany on Tuesday as part of a long-running court battle over payments between a German construction company and the Thai government. The bankruptcy administrator of German construction firm Walter Bau AG said this week the plane was seized at Munich airport on court order because of the Thai governments refusal to pay $42 million it owes the company under a contract agreed to more than 20 years ago to build and operate a toll highway in Thailand.

The company maintains the plane belongs to the government. Thailand, however, says it is the property of Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, and therefore can not be impounded in the commercial dispute.

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Exiting Cop Turns On Prime Minister in Tab Scandal

The flames of the News of the World scandal are lapping at Prime Minister David Camerons heels after a top cop zinged him for his relationship with a Rupert Murdoch henchman. Scotland Yards Metropolitan Police Chief Sir Paul Stephenson resigned amid questions about the forces relationship with the tabloid and now-busted newspaper editor Neil Wallis. But Stephenson dinged the prime minister in his resignation statement, saying Cameron risked being “compromised” because of his ties to Andy Coulson, another Murdoch editor arrested in the burgeoning phone hacking scandal.

Stephenson, who has denied any wrongdoing, appeared to lay the blame for the police-force mess at Camerons feet, indicating he was only trying to protect the prime minister. “I am aware of the many political exchanges in relation to Mr. Coulsons previous employment,” he stated mysteriously.

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Blackberry No Longer the Dominant Handset Among Execs

Unlike other addictions, “crackBerry” seems to be a habit that can be shrugged off.

BlackBerry smartphones, dubbed “crackBerry” for their alleged addictive qualities, led U.S. smartphone sales as recently as last year. But the BlackBerry has dropped from owning 35 percent of the American smartphone market share in 2010 to holding 23 percent, according to data that Nielsen, a consumer measurement and information company, reported in May. The BlackBerry now trails both Android and iPhone in sales.

June reports revealed that stock values for BlackBerry’s creator company, Research In Motion of Waterloo, Ontario, also were falling, and big investors were dropping shares like they’re poisonous.

Industry observers such as The Wall Street Journal reported that RIM had lost its innovative vision, was unable to come up with new ideas to satiate smartphone consumers’ protean appetites and was likely never to recover from the recent decline.


More Foreclosures Means More Mold

At least one population is benefiting from the housing foreclosure crisis—mold. As more foreclosed homes sit unused for months or years while bureaucracy holds back sales, mold and mildew are growing at an alarming rate, reports NPR. More than half of all forecosed homes in some states are thought to be affected.

When a house is occupied, air conditioning, heating, and the flow of foot traffic facilitates natural ventilation that keeps mold in check. But when a home is closed up for an extended time, it can creep into drywall and fixtures and cost thousands to remove. “I had one really interesting [house],” says one Realtor. “It was the middle of winter. There were icicles coming out of the windows above the garage, no heat, but it was 80 degrees inside of the house because it was self-composting.”


A Beginner’s Guide to Accepting Credit Cards

Electronic payments have overtaken cash as the most popular payment method in the United States.  Sixty percent of retail purchases are now completed with a debit or credit card.  By comparison, only about thirty percent involve cash. What this means to modern business owners should be patently clear.  They must be able to process credit cards in order to compete in marketplace where customers hold all of the cards

Yes, the modern customer is finally, undeniably, always right. Businesses must work hard to keep them loyal. One easy and affordable way to improve customer loyalty is to offer shoppers multiple payment options.  Survey after survey has confirmed that shoppers appreciate when businesses accept plastic. On the flip side, when their preferred method of payment is refused at register, they almost never return.

The Pros
Shoppers spend an average of twenty dollars more when they use a credit card instead of cash. The

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