He’s been working on some interesting apps, recently featured on Lifehacker and even scored an endorsement with myMacBUZZ—DJ Macintosh who has been developing Mac apps part-time, looks like he’s making waves and heading for prime time.

myMacBUZZ: How did you start developing Cocoa applications? And also, how long have you been a Mac user?

DJ Macintosh: I have been a Mac user since 1992 with my first Mac being a Macintosh LC, before that I had an Apple IIC+. I have been developing Mac applications since 2003, mainly for something to do. I developed my first full app iYML to automate the downloading of an internet radio show I like called “Your Mac Life�. Before that I dabbled in Script editor to automate the recording and encoding of the Howard Stern Show.

myMacBUZZ: What made you decide to create BackityMac?

DJ Macintosh: I decided that I wasn’t happy with all the backup software out there. Some software like Retrospect created a proprietary container of the backup. If I lost the software, how would I get my backup back. Others created disk images of the entire disk or home directory, I realized when doing backups of my wife’s computer and mine, there were only certain things I really wanted to backup, like iCal, iTunes, Mail, Bookmarks. Plus, when I went to restore my home directory, I had to figure out where these things went. I decided that I would create a program for me. Something so brain dead simple, anybody who could use a mouse could do it. Then there would be no excuse for not backing up.

myMacBUZZ: BackityMac was featured as Lifehacker’s download of the day some time ago and must have boosted interest in BackityMac. How successful has BackityMac been? How many registrations have you had?

DJ Macintosh: The Lifehacker article did boost interest in BackityMac. I spent the day the article came out trying to figure out where all the hits came from. Based on registration I have about 500 registered users, however, since most of the features of it are free except for CD/DVD burning, there could be a lot more. Thus far reactions to BackityMac have been very good. There have been some people who have had some problems, but it mainly turns out to be permission issues.

myMacBUZZ: What’s your goal for BackityMac? What would you consider a success for BackityMac?

DJ Macintosh: The goal for BackityMac is to become the every-mans backup utility. Whatever needs to be backed up, will be backed up. I’m looking for it to become the utility that people look to for their short term and long term needs. Success for me is use. If I hear that someone suggested it to a friend, I’m successful.

myMacBUZZ: What’s down the line for BackityMac? What are you working on next and how often are you going to release updates?

DJ Macintosh: The next thing I’m working on is a scheduler. That’s been in the works for quite some time. Automated backups are my most requested feature and I want to make sure I do it right. Updates come as I feel that BackityMac needs them. I have done two releases in a week, and then not released a new one for a month. Currently I working on BackityMac 1.5 and 2.0 along with some other projects that I’m not yet ready to divulge.

myMacBUZZ: You’ve also written some other applications besides BackityMac. Tell us about them, especially anything you’d like to highlight.

DJ Macintosh: My first app was called iYML, mainly it was a desktop client for the “Your Mac Life� radio show. People could open the app and listen to the live show or listen to the recording on their desktop, or download the file to iTunes. I often think of it as the worlds first podcatcher. iTattle is an app I wrote as a rewrite of System Profiler, but only with the most important information. This app was my first experience with shell scripting. Widget Master was useful for managing widgets, until OS X 10.4.2 came out and apple introduced their own manager. That app quickly faded into the sunset.

myMacBUZZ: What about plans for yourself? Are you planning to focus on developing software, or will that depend on other factors, e.g. the success of your software.

DJ Macintosh: I definitely would love to do this full time. Right now I have a wife and two kids, and programming is something can do when everybody has gone to sleep for the night. I currently work in a call center for a the largest Credit Union in the world from 11am to 7:30pm, so I’m gone most of the day. Spending time with my family is very important to me, programming at home with my family would be a dream. Right now I don’t make enough from the software to do that, but is ultimately my goal as I learn more about programming and develop the apps I have conceived. If anybody wants to lend me a few few thousand dollars, contact me.

myMacBUZZ: Last of all, tell us the significance of “Whimsically Plucky”. What is it and what does it mean?

DJ Macintosh: I worked in a coffee shop back in 2000, and to get the attention of the customers and also get more tips, I would ask the customer how they were doing, they would usually say “fine, and you?�. I would then say “I’m Whimsically Plucky thank you.� Yes, because I interrupted their monotonous day with that phrase, it became synonymous with me. I’ve carried it forward to this day. Although I don’t use it as much anymore. I’ve always been fond of the phrase, so I just kept it. Whimsically Plucky means Happily Courageous.