Ciao Bella! June 11, 2010March 18, 2017 THE LAST OF MARC’S 12 MOST USEFUL THINGS We’ve had fun, haven’t we? But now it’s time to revert back to uselessness . . . after this one last tip: 12. Keep a pen in your wallet. The WalletPen is aptly named because it fits inside your wallet without making it any bulkier. It comes in very handy when you need it. It’s also a thoughtful gift. Their site says it’s one of “Oprah’s favorite things.” Walletpen, $49. ☞ If you missed any of the others, click here! Thanks, Marc! MORE! MORE! I know what you’re thinking: could it really be over? Is that really the end of the show? And sure enough, just like Ferris Bueller coming back at the end of the credits (“You’re still here??? Go home!”) – just like that famous baker who had six fingers on one hand but seven on the other – Marc offers us this: Meetings are more productive if they have an agenda. But sometimes a meeting is only 10 minutes away, and you realize that there’s no agenda. In these situations I use www.Typewith.me. This service basically enables you to create a Word-like, Web-based document on the fly. The unique thing is that you can share the page with any number of people via its Web address, and that it’s “live.” This means that when someone makes an edit to the document it updates immediately for everyone else. It’s similar to a real-time chat. And there’s no need to log in, have an account, or a password. So when you need an agenda, simply create a page at www.Typewith.me, jot down agenda items that you can think of, then send the link for the page to all meeting participants so they can add their agenda items. You’ll have a collaboratively generated agenda in no time. Of course, this works also to create an agenda if you are not time-crunched. For instance, I use it to ask my collagues to contribute their items to the agenda for our weekly department meeting. Typewith.me is also a great tool for collaborating on documents such as news releases while on the phone with others. It really transforms the process of real-time collaborative text-editing, making it much more efficient, and fun. Typewith.me is based on open-source code from Etherpad.com which was recently acquired by Google. Its live sharing is somewhat related to Google Wave, but far more user friendly, because people don’t need a password or any type of account in order to participate. ☞ Now go home. CIAO BELLA! I know it’s not summer yet, technically speaking (and even if it were, the thing I mainly want you to buy is iced cold Honest Tea, mmmm, mm!) (full disclosure: I have a small interest in Honest Tea), but may I just say (why do you keep interrupting me?) that an entire pint of Ciao Bella wild blueberry sorbet, which is naturally fat-free, completely delicious – and which I have all by my rotund little self just consumed – contains a scant 280 calories? Barely more than you’ll find in a pathetic little fat-drenched 2.2-ounce Three Musketeers candy bar? And not many more than in a single Subway chocolate chip cookie? Is this a great country, or what?