Attention, tweeps: Follow me as I traipse across the Twitterverse

Hi, my name is Al and I Twitter from my Kindle.

I'm pretty sure that puts me in the category of geek, and perhaps ultrageek (although I can point to others wearing propeller caps fancier than mine). Looking back to my childhood, I recall leafing through my dad's Popular Science and Popular Mechanics magazines. I didn't inherit his ability to craft something from nothing, but I did get the passion to know more about the newest technology.

I remember my first centerfold. It was a life-size image of Sputnik, a volleyball-size Russian satellite that was the first man-made object put into orbit around the Earth in October 1957. I was still a tyke, but I recall my Dad talking frequently about the space race. I was glued to the tube on July 20, 1969, when Neil Armstrong first set foot on the moon. Feels like yesterday.

It all adds up to me now owning -- or at least having a chance to test -- almost every new gizmo or visiting every new Web site. I've only had my Kindle2 a couple of weeks and I've been using Twitter, a microblogging Web site, twice as long. I'm liking the Kindle2 and what I can do with it, include sending "tweets" to my followers. Of course, reading books, newspapers, magazines and blogs is the main purpose of the Kindle2, but there are some features hiding a layer or two below the surface.

These include browsing the Web, updating my Twitter feeds and checking my Web-based e-mail accounts. To jump on the Web with the Kindle2, start at your "home" screen, then hit the "menu" button. Next click on the "search" line, which leads you to searches within the device as well as the Kindle store, Google, Wikipedia and a "go to Web" button.

It's not as fast or as slick as your computer or smartphone, but it's good enough.

Back to Twitter. It's a site that lets users reach many people, or followers, with messages of 140 characters of fewer.

I am approaching 100 followers, which is paltry compared with celebrities like Ashton Kutcher, who has more than 1.2 million followers.

I decided to get serious on Twitter after I received a couple dozen notices of people "following" me. I felt guilty, as I wasn't sending any updates, so there was nothing to follow. I met with a friend who is a heavy Twitter user. She showed me the basics.

I now send updates a few times a week. Most of them have to do with a blog posts or columns I've written, including links to my stuff. I also tweet about developments on the Internet and in mobile computing, and have asked my followers for help finding certain information.

I don't consider myself an early adopter of new technology. I'm lucky to be in a position to watch others pay the high prices and deal with early versions. Then I can swoop in on second or third generations of the now-tested and tweaked technology.

Share your Internet story with me at agibes@reviewjournal.com.