Not too much to say about the morning in Las Vegas today.  I managed to wake up with my plantar fasciitis foot brace on the opposite foot, though, leading me to wonder what the heck I dreamed about last night.  Who knows!

The flight was short and easy, and our BART/Clipper passes worked like a charm getting us to Oakland and our Clarion with ease.  From there, we checked in and headed back to San Francisco to check in to the conference (I already have things I want to buy!), went to the Apple Store to get a USB to ethernet connector for my MacBook Air (we surprised Josimar as he was giving a class even though he TRIED to ignore us at every turn, and when I introduced Wayne and me as geeks, the saleswoman on the floor countered that she worked at Apple, so she had the market cornered on geek), and met Ivan Samuels for dinner at Buca di Beppo.

As we were walking around the city, I was remembering when we last stayed here with the family, and I punked dad at the airport in Vegas.  Ask him if he remembers some time...and we went back to Westfield Shopping Center to check out what we remembered as dining options in the basement.  They were still there, and there is now a booth where I will take my iPhone and iPad for armor covering to help prevent dings, scratches, and oily fingerprints.  It will be worth its weight in gold if it really works.

MacWorld/iWorld is a trade-show with conference tracks dedicated to the Apple platforms, and is held annually dating back to 1985.  There are hundreds of displays in addition to conference tracks taught by leaders in their fields (Wally and Don will be there this go round). The first Macworld Expo occurred in 1985 in San Francisco, where it has always been held at the Moscone Center. The Expo was also held in Brooks Hall near the San Francisco Civic Center from 1985 until 1993, when the expansion of Moscone Center allowed the show to be consolidated in one location.

The show has also taken place in other cities:

A Tokyo show, produced by IDG World Expo Japan, was held at Makuhari Messe and moved to Tokyo Big Sight in 2002. Macworld Expo Summit, a version of the show targeted at U.S. government customers, was held at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. as late as 1994. And in 2004, Macworld UK, part of the IDG UK division of IDG, created two Macworld Conference events on its own: one standalone conference, and one conference adjoining the MacExpo trade show in London.

From 1997-2008, the show was known for its keynote presentations (sometimes called "StevenNotes") by former Apple CEO, Steve Jobs.  Phil Schiller gave the last keynote address by Apple in 2009, after which Apple no longer presented at the conference, which has always puzzled me.  I am guessing that Steve was the dynamic face of Apple, and having someone else do the keynotes in his absence would be detrimental to the company brand and profit margin.

All that aside, I have to say that two things jump out at me about San Francisco.  First off, I have noticed that the lights change and pedestrian walk signs change VERY quickly.  I noticed this because that inadvertent change of foot of the brace last night had a bit of a painful impact upon walking today, and rushing across the street hurts more than a wee bit.  Second, the smell of cannabis oozing out of people’s pores is stronger and more frequent here than anywhere else I have been, with the exception of the drug park in Amsterdam.  And yes, I did go to college.  And I was in the Army.  Just sayin.

Anyway, we are here, have our badges (yes, we do need stinkin’ badges), have had dinner with fellow Mac Geek Ivan, and are now safely ensconced in our hotel in Oakland, looking forward to the conference tomorrow, in addition to a 6-8 happy hour with Eileen Lehmann, high school friend of mine, at the Science Academy in Golden Gate Park tomorrow night.