Where does this put me? I have been enjoying Qik, and Audioboo because I can safely use these services on the drive to the client’s office. I’m a long time user of Twitter and continue to Tweet several times a day. Despite my early disdain for Facebook, I put a lot of brief content on Facebook and use it a bit like an aggregator (see also). Soon, Reality Me is going to be redesigned to aggregate more of these third party services.

Wait! I thought you hated 3rd party services! I have preached over the years that you should own your content. Despite that, I started my blogging on Blogger.com. As a result, I almost lost an enormous amount of writing a research when Blogger decided to simply disable my account. In those early days, I also used Haloscan for comments. Haloscan recently shutdown due to hardware failures that made continuing the service prohibitive. I don’t hate these third party services. Using them comes with risks such as loss of ownership of content, or loss of content altogether. Maybe the third party decides to use your works with their own creative changes; the terms of service may permit that…you read the TOS right? The caveat is that the barrier for entry to using these services is so low that content creation is fun and almost like a game. The positive side of using these services is that they act like free or inexpensive CDNs and bear the brunt of the load when you find yourself on the front page of Digg. Be sure to backup the content you want to own.

Why aren’t you blogging when you get home? My evenings have been consumed with family duties, paper work and client support. This is the time of year that I spend evenings rechartering the scout troop, filing taxes, filling out various long forms to support my work, etc. I have so much due at the same time around this time of year that my head is so cluttered that even with Jott (affiliate link) chiming off reminders, I feel like I’m letting some things slip through the cracks. Fortunately, I believe this weekend my plate clears and then I can begin to fill it again.

Over the past few years, I endeaved to eliminate paper from my life using cloud tools such as Google Docs. The iPhone seems to be the missing link and has helped me take the last steps toward cutting the umbilical cord to paper. Meeting notes go straight to my iPhone. Todo lists, via Jott, straight into the iPhone. The iPhone has helped make my already digital world even more digital.

Now I need a secure password/data keeper for the iPhone. I’m considering SplashID, 1Password, and iAccounts. What are your recommendations?

Related: Best password manager programs for your MacBook and iPhone 3G
Review: Secret keeper apps for the iPhone

It’s fascinating to have witnessed the growth of such a world changing technology. I’m embarrassed to admit that around 1992 when commercialization of the Internet was being discussed that I was among those saying commercialization would destroy the Internet. When the Internet moved from strictly the domains of the universities and military in 1994, I was proven wrong.

To fully appreciate the events you are about to read, you must understand that Knoxville had a snow and ice storm over the weekend. The forecast was so certain that announcements on Thursday night declared all area schools closed for Friday, except Pellissippi State Community College where my oldest son attends. The snow came Friday afternoon and PTSCC closed early.

We are a seven person household with five children attending five different schools: pre-school, elementary, middle, high, and college. We have one functioning vehicle.

Setting

On Monday, schools delayed opening two hours due to icy roads. Normally, Sarah gets a ride to the high school with a neighbor who teaches at the high school. To protect identities, let’s call her Tonya. For the past decade, I have worked out of my basement, telecommuting to answer my client’s needs around the world. On this particular Monday, I actually had a rare onsite appointment from 8am to 5pm downtown. Before leaving, I asked Sarah, "Do you have a ride?" She replied, "I called last night and Tonya wasn’t there but they said she’d call back if she couldn’t give me a ride. She didn’t call back so I’m good." I left. At 9am, with 30 minutes left before Sarah’s 2 hour delayed pickup, Tonya’s husband called. To protect identities, let’s call him Randy. Randy explained that Tonya went to the high school early. I knew Cathy, my wife, was fighting a migraine and sleeping in so I called Sarah directly. Sarah explained her boy friend, let’s call him Zach, would drive her to school.

Calamity

Cathy calls me a little amped, "Sarah and Tonya have been in an accident! Air bags went off and Sarah won’t call an ambulance because she’s waiting for the police. You’ve got to call Randy and tell him that Tonya’s been in an accident."

Confusion

I stare into my half finished first cup of coffee trying to shake the fog out of my head and process what I’ve just heard, "Tonya. Sarah. Accident. Call Randy." That doesn’t make sense. Other thoughts: "The woman is always right" "Yes dear" "Want a happy life, keep a happy wife!" I call Randy and about the time his very confused question, "Tonya was in an accident?" hit my ear, I realized Cathy didn’t know Zach drove Sarah so I apologized to Randy for the confusion and called Cathy.

Enter Larry, Moe and Curly stage left

If Cathy could be sheepish over the phone, she pulled it off, "Whoops. I just told the elementary school they had a pregnant woman in a car accident in the parking lot and they needed to get her to a doctor." Later that night I apologize to Randy again who chuckles and asks, "Did you know I was in an accident today?" No way! Then he explains, "See, Tonya took my car in today and I drove hers. So when her principal, let’s call him Dr. Barlett, checked on her because he’d heard she’d been in an accident, probably from the elementary school, she just knew someone had seen her car in an accident, assumed it was her, she knew it had to be me, and called to see if I was okay." Cymbal crash.