I broke down and bought an Echo when it went on sale on Friday. As I've posted in the home automation thread, I'm slowly automating my home with SmartThings as a hub. Increasingly, posters on the ST message boards kept mentioning how Echo is a game changer when connected to their home automation system, so I was persuaded to make the leap. (Until the BF and I move in together, my home automation efforts are largely on hold because I don't feel like rewiring outlets and switches now only to have to move them to a new place in a few months. So this helps satisfy that itch.)

I've only played with Echo for a couple hours, but I love that I can tell it to turn on or turn off a particular light (one that's part of my HA setup) and it will do so. I need to mess around more with IFTTT (I know it's now officially IF, but like everyone else, I'm still referring to it by the old name). For those of you going the home automation route, how have you integrated it into your home?

My music purchases are spread between Amazon and Google. Anyone have any tips for getting it to play music from my Google Music account (where I've also synced my personal library)?

ETA: Also, best message board people have come across for discussing Echo setup, features and functionality?