When someone asks you if you tweet, you probably know by now they aren't interested in your bird calling abilities (in case you've had your nose in the books the past few years, here is an Introduction to Twitter). Twitter is often ridiculed for being a useless time suck (do I really need to know that my friend is having coffee right now?), but people are coming up with more and more creative and practical uses of the micro-blogging tool.  Here are just a few of the interesting ways twitter is being used to:

• Promote interaction among students and the professor in large lecture halls.
• Conduct research with real-time search and by tapping into the "hive mind."
• Follow smart people in your field.
• Collect opinions about controversial issues.
• Find a job.

If these examples have piqued your interest, check out this Guide to Getting the Most out of Twitter.  And for more ideas on who to follow, try this directory of Tech and Science Twitterers or the Shorty Awards (the Oscars of Twitter).