Mashable geek Ben Parr brings us a helpful post on creating custom Twitter backgrounds. Ben introduces the reader first though to reason why one might want a custom background.

The top reason provided? Personalization and expression! That’s right; ditching the blue and putting up something that says you on it is going to be vast improvement. Luckily it’s easy to do with the sites Ben points too.

In addition to linking to about half a dozen free design tools, several excellent samples of custom profile backgrounds are shown and commented on. My favorite is for Doug Cone aka @nullvariable.

The list of design sites included MyTweetSpace. After skimming down to the list, I was able to visit MyTweetSpace and in minutes have a brand new custom background.

All of the resources provide a form to fill in for the text portion, the ability to upload a profile picture, and you can select from a bevy of predesigned background pictures.

A caveat to mention; each free background is tagged with the source. This isn’t a big deal for personal accounts, but for a professional company page, you’ll want to spend a few dollars. At least two of the Twitter background sites provide a pay upgrade option.

Visit my Twitter page, then visit Mashable. Break free of the blue!

Mashable has long gathered Easter Eggs. This time they’ve pulled up some fun ones from the new WolframAlpha search (research) engine.

But Stephen Wolfram and his team didn’t stop there, and they certainly didn’t lack a sense of humor when they built their Mathematica-based engine. Slowly but surely, people have been finding some interesting quirks within Wolfram Alpha, triggered by specific questions or events. These interesting easter eggs will make you smile or raise an eyebrow in bewilderment.

Two of my favorite finds in the list I’m resharing here. I take no credit for these finds.

Go read the whole post and get a laugh or share your WolframAlpha Easter Eggs.

Finding Your Social Media Purple Cow: “Every potential client I’ve ever met with thinks their product is extraordinary. They emphasize the unique selling points, the bleeding-edge technology and the frothing delight of their early adopters. But the fact is, even in the technology sector, everything old is new again, and our world overflows with the ordinary. And yet, marketers must promote what companies sell.

It would be great if we worked for Apple or Volkswagen. Their products generate conversations because they are legitimately worth talking about–they’re beautifully designed, innovative and easy to love. They are, to use Seth Godin’s classic metaphor, a few purple cows among a vast pasture of Jerseys. And, of course, the social web loves purple cows.”

Mashable writer Darren Barefoot brings us some tips on turning any product into a Purple Cow and it’s fun stuff. Darren’s intro above might leave you worried that your product could never be a purple cow.

I won’t steal his thunder here, but I do want to share one I’d like you to think about for your sharing and online marketing, Explore Extremes.

Darren says, “What would it look like if you had 10,000 copies of your product in one room? What if you made your premium services free for a week? The folks at Samsung made a four-minute video showing 24 of their hard drives together in a RAID array. They open every Microsoft Office app in half a second, and then demonstrate that the drives work when held by somebody jumping up and down on a trampoline.”

He shares an interesting video of an ad that really got folks attention. I wonder how you or I could apply the same thing? Perhaps a thousand tee shirt shots to market your tees. Or how about a thousand quotes from Twitter folks about your product. Be inventive.

Please click through to Mashable and show Darren some love. While you’re there though, be sure to take his advice and turn your toilet paper into the next purple cow.