I guess I am confused about that. The way it was explained to me is closer to the first couple posts.
If we use what you found on AOPA, that would mean that we could log Actual in VMC as long as we were less than 1000 feet above the clouds and on an IFR flight plan, even if it was blue skys above. If that is the case, I have about tripple the actual time that I thought I did... And if we were IFR over the desert at night, wouldn't we need a safety pilot to log that as simulated instrument?