So earlier today I wrote a post upon The Blog Herald regarding VaultPress (a service by Automattic/WordPress that securely backs up your entire blog) that was at best speculative and at worst slanderous.

In his wisdom my Editor (that would be Franky) pulled the article offline, although unfortunately other sites have picked up my sloppy article which is currently tarnishing VaultPress’s good name.

I personally owe a lot to the folks at Automattic, whose software & services have turned blogging from what use to be a chore to an enjoyable experience.

In fact just today Isaac from Intense Debate (a service that is literally saving my skin from human spammers) went out of his way to create a fix for my micro blog so that I could continue to enjoy using the p2 Theme by Automattic.

Since it was my big mouth that created this whole farce, I’m going to be spending the rest of tonight contacting bloggers/journalist who republished my sad piece of journalism in order to clear VaultPress’s name.

If anyone runs across any reprints please email me a link at darnell.clayton@gmail.com so I can resolve my lapse of judgement. Thanks!

Note: Apologies to Matt, Paul and the entire Automattic crew.

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Since I get a lot of questions over which iPhone apps people should buy (at least from friends new to the iCult!), here are my must have apps that will kick your butt and (hopefully) make you a more productive iCitizen.

Remember The Milk (iPhone App)

Founded by 2 Australian dudes, this elegant GTD (or “Get Things Done!”) app will help keep you focused on your game plan without giving you a case of eyesoreoitus (as most GTD apps are extremely ugly).

The UI (or user interface in geek) is designed for new comers and guru’s alike, and despite the price is worth every penny.

Price: $25/year (subscription)

Note: There is also an app for my Android and Blackberry pals too. Palm Pre is sadly lacking.

Evernote (iPhone App)

Evernote is the greatest note taking app! You can create audio, image or text notes right from your iPhone! I use this for random notes/ideas that I have at 3 AM in the morning, and have yet to find a better product online.

While the app is freemium (or free with premium features), I would recommend upgrading to the pro edition as that gives you the ability to save notes on your iPhone.

Price: $5/month or $45/year (subscription)

Note: And once again there is an app for my Android and Blackberry friends. Oh, and Palm Pre is supported too!

Instapaper (iPhone App)

Basically this is a great service if you want to save any webpage you find on the iPhone for later viewing (say on your iPad or notebook). There is a limited free version, but in my honest opinion its worthless unless you upgrade.

It’s a great time saver too! (although don’t use it as an excuse by telling someone you “Instapapered it” and never bother to read the document again).

If you’re into reading newspapers, online magazines, college papers (online) or blogs, this app is for you.

Price: $5

Documents To Go Premium (iPhone App)

This app has saved me over $300 as I no longer have to buy Microsoft Office!. Basically its a third-party office suite for your iPhone that includes Word, Excel, and Powerpoint (if you enjoy that program).

You can also configure the app to retrieve documents inside your various email accounts, enabling you to view attachments (including .pdf files! WOOT!) saving you time from powering your notebook and reading the attachment.

For you padawan geeks out there, it also supports saving (and creating) files in Google Docs, Box.net, Dropbox, Sugar Sync and Mobile Me (the last 2 I would never use. Ask why in the comment section).

Don’t go for the cheaper Documents To Go in the app store (you’ll only be disappointed, trust me on this). Plus its a universal app (so if you have an iPad you won’t have to buy this twice).

Price: $15

Note: There are Android and Blackberry apps available. Palm Pre fans, they have you in their hearts!

Skype (iPhone App)

Okay so this technically won’t save you any time, but it will save you money calling your friends and family around the world.

And the best news is that it works over AT&T’s 3G signal! Yea! The app is free to download, although I highly recommend a subscription offer (voicemail plus a number).

It’s also good to use as a secondary number if you don’t want someone calling your iPhone in the middle of the night.

I’ve had Skype for a few years now, although the only reason I’ve continued with the service is due to the iPhone app (it’s that good).

Price: Under $30-60/year (depends what features you get).

Note: Android and Blackberry fans get the hook up once again, unlike Palm Pre lovers who are out of luck.

Any others?

Yeah, there are probably a zillion apps I would also recommend, but these 5 are “must have” for beginners.

If anyone else has other suggestions (aside from games), feel free to enlighten us all in the comment section below (if you are not a spammer of course!).

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Not too long ago I heard a rumor that Twitter, the (only!) social network site I would pay to use, was erasing ancient tweets.

The rumor turned out to be half true, as Twitter was only hiding them from users’s profiles, so the tweets could be searched (if you knew what you were looking for). Thus my first major geek drama ended as quickly as it began.

But…

…it made me nervous about where my data was. But being the typical slacker at the time I did what all typical slackers (and average politicans) do when a crisis emerges–nothing.

Fortunately my friend DPOM* (who is also my spiritual mentor) wasn’t pleased with my slackerhood (he daily kicks my butt) and motivated me to move ALL of my data upon my own servers, with the exception of Tumblr (because we both think its cool!).

*I’ve nicknamed this friend DPOM (which is an acronym for Daysman, Preserver of Men) although he is known by a much more popular name by many of my friends in the US and abroad.

Fast forward to today and my blogs are now hosted upon WordPress instead of Blogger, and after stumbling upon VaultPress I decided to pay premium to back up my data in 9 different locations (11 copies total).

But I still wanted to secure my tweet data. REALLY bad!

I decided that I was going to start a second blog, mainly because I didn’t want to host the tweet data here. But the question was, which domain was I going to buy?

I looked into Darnell.TV, but didn’t like the name (as I didn’t want it to be known for videos) and Darnell.cc appealed to me but DPOM thought it was stupid (we always debate) so I didn’t purchase that one either.

Months passed…then a year…but despite DPOM’s insistence, I refused to do anything about Twitter unless I had a domain ready (I’m the “need end vision” type of guy).

Then I heard that the .CO domain was available so I quickly snapped up Darnell.CO and (to the annoyance of GoDaddy) called custom service 4 times in 8 hours (or was it 5? It wasn’t 6! I think?) to verify if my purchase went through (since there was a backlog of registrations).

I used the Twitter Importer plugin (by Brad Touesnard) as well as adopted the p2Theme WordPress skin (seen below in the video) and thus Darnell.co was born!

Unfortunately Twitter Importer only imported 4 months of data (ghetto!!!) but I’ll be content with what I have.

I’m using Twitter Tools to post tweets from my microblog to Twitter, and I’ll be blogging through HelloTXT iPhone app (I’ll link a review of the app later) as well as the official WordPress app when I need to insert some images (HelloTXT sadly doesn’t upload them to my micro blog).

So thus I spent half a day setting up a micro blog in order to satisfy my weary soul (and DPOM’s too!).

And while I will still blog longer entries (like this one) here, I’ll be posting most of my frivolous thoughts upon Darnell.CO from now on. See you there!

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Finally going to bed! I’ve never been this excited about free lancing/blogging before. Too many projects to do! (and I want to do them all!)

On a side note, I need to stop jotting random thoughts into Evernote/RTM when I sleep.

I wish I was a robot. Or maybe a Cylon. What if I am one? Hmmm….

–Posted from my iPhone

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Well, after reading a post upon Hot Air, it looks like some of Mel Gibson’s critics were right about the man after all.

We broke the story that Mel told Oksana Grigorieva, the mother of his love child, “You’re an embarrassment to me. You look like a f***ing bitch in heat, and if you get raped by a pack of n***ers, it will be your fault.” RadarOnline.com had heard the tape.

Now, in a blockbuster world exclusive, RadarOnline.com is posting the audio of Mel’s disgusting outburst. You can listen to it here.(RadarOnline.com)

After previously making slurs against women and Israelis, I was willing to “overlook” Gibson’s outburst due to the fact that he was drunk and displayed some remorse for his comments later on when he was sober.

After this though I’ll be boycotting all of Gibson’s movies (past & present), since the last thing I want to do is condone his actions, especially since we both “share” the same faith (albeit I’m of the Protestant variety).

The sad part about this whole dilemma is that I actually once defended this (formally) great man after he made The Passion of the Christ.

For now I’m glad I held off seeing Edge of Darkness, as well as his Amazon flick, and despite his excellent skill as an actor (and a director) I’ll spend my money and time else where.

Farewell Mel, and as they say in Israel, Shalom! (as you really need to find some)

–Posted from my iPhone

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