I’m prone to exaggeration, but believe me when I say the Amazon Kindle is about the most amazing piece of technology I’ve ever held in my tiny hands. You must go buy one.

Seriously, do it. You’ll not understand how freaking cool this thing is until you own one. You’ll not be sorry, in fact, you’ll be addicted to reading again.

You know how you go through those phases of constant bookish-ness…then it fades. For me, it was always a matter of instant gratification. When I want a book, I want it now. The Veruca Salt in me is completely satisfied by the Kindle.

The Amazon Kindle is the kind of technology you can cuddle up with–yes, even with a cup of tea. It’s not heavy like all the Harry Potter and Twilight books you’re reading.

More good news: if you are embarrassed to be reading the aforementioned works, your secret is safe on the Kindle. No one can see what you’re reading.  So feel free to consume Eat, Pray, Love for the third time. Read More…

Sure, Google is taking over the world, but how they’re doing it is so freakin cool.

Have you seen Social Search? Check out the video below and then tell me you don’t think this is about the neatest/ slightly creepiest/ a tad too personal-ist thing you’ve seen in a while.

I ran a social search for “Nashville” and got a list of all the relevant blog posts, news articles, Tweets, etc. that my social networking connections (that I have given my Google profile access to) are associated with. IT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND.

I love it; I’m using it in Google Labs right now and I’m about to pee my pants — in a this-is-all-too-close-for-comfort kind of way.

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• BREAKING: Google Announces Social Search (mashable.com)

I’ve now had four days on Google Wave (if you want a quick primer, go here) and I really dig what it could mean for future office collaboration and editing. Not to mention how it will change the way we think about email.

It’s hard to explain what Wave really is, but I’m having fun with it. At this point though it’s very much like hubby describes it: “a glorified chat room.”

We’ll need more folks Waving with us (only 10 of my contacts have Wave access) — and more features, Gmail integration, etc — before we’ll really discover and appreciate its potential. In the meantime, a few quick observations:

Potential use I love most:

Live editing – in theory, you could invite the five folks who have to review and approve your copy/press release/statement/etc. to a Wave and everyone could tear up your draft make their edits while the everyone else is watching in real-time. Within minutes, you could have an approved draft for release; and if someone wanted to see how those edits were made, by whom and in what order, you can invite them to that Wave to “play back” the conversation.

Thing that scares me:

Folks must watch you type: at this point, anything you type is visible to the person you are Waving with — as you are typing. So all those typos and Freudian slips will unfold like a train wreck. Not cool, Google. I’m ready for that little “Draft” box to actually be clickable so I don’t break out into a sweat when I start putting thoughts to pixels.

Oh, and I’m not ignoring you JM, AH, Matt, TL, etc. Although I received my Wave invite because Dave shared one with me, I don’t yet have invites to send around. If/when I am granted some, I’ll share! I promise!

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In this town there is a Meetup, Tweetup, Festival or Twestival every night — at least it seems that way. Over the past three months, we’ve been hitting up social media happy hours like nobody’s business. In fact, Team Newman was recently included in a verbal listing of “the usual suspects” at “these kinds” of D.C. events. We weren’t sure if we should be flattered or embarrassed.

So far, we’ve: attended the NextGenWeb re-launch party, taken a free trip to New York courtesy of @SouthwestAir, partied with Social Media Club DC, eaten tasty brie at #Hyatt4Good, giggled at the DCBlogger’s Meetup, won a free dinner at the @destinationDC Tweetup, declared a winner of our very first Twitter contest and even started a Meetup group for digitally minded DC Flacks. Oh, and along the way, we’ve made some incredibly smart and talented new friends.

Yep, The Hill is alive with the sound of geek-ness — this particular social scene is just another reason why we heart The District. What’s your favorite thing about D.C.?

The folks at Verizon Wireless let me the Chic Geek test out the HP Mini for a few days – and unlike the Blackberry Storm test of 2008 – I actually have nice things to say about the thing. Read all about it and check out a picture of my husband acting like a goober!

Oh, and I couldn’t help but giggle as I posted a link from the Chic Geek blog to the the new Twitter for Business site. Oh, Twitter. You know you are tired of explaining yourself when you create a communications tool that does nothing but make the case for why you are a relevant communications tool.

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Her Nashville Geek Graphic, June 2009

There must be something in the water here in DC. Lately, quite a few folks have asked me how to begin getting organized. My first answer is usually: make one huge to-do list.  That’s usually followed up by me loaning you a copy of David Allen’s Getting Things Done. If I’ve not yet made you read it, no worries. It’s coming.

But honestly, making lists and reading great advice isn’t going to help you if you haven’t made a pact with yourself to stick to it. It’s tough because, at first, living an organized, task-driven existence takes a lot of discipline until it becomes an actual habit. And that takes a good month or so.

Here’s how it usually goes down: you’ll be an organization rock star for the first week, but will then find yourself slipping back into post-it notes and double-booked-induced panic attacks by week three. Don’t let that sway you. Just sit down, consolidate all the brain clutter into one master to-do list, and start all over again.

I keep myself on track using tricks from both GTD and Bit Literacy, which is the book that introduced me to Goo To Do. I’m on year two of using this online to-do list; I can’t even tell you how much I love it.

Of course, I totally dig the fact that folks come to me for this sort of advice. Your questions and successes have been great inspiration for my Her Nashville columns; please keep them coming!

What about you? Are you well-organized guy/gal? Share your tips and tricks in the comments!