During lunch today at the always delicious Banzai I tried Enviga – a new calorie burning green tea energy drink from Nestea.

I thought it was just your basic energy drink (sparkly sweet berries with a hint of poison aftertaste), until I read the mission statement on the can:

“Nestea is combining global resources and Nestle expertise in nutritional science for the advancement of health and wellness beverages.”

I don’t feel any skinnier, but it did get rid of my headache. Might also be delicious with vodka.

You probably hear a lot about the hookers and blow at Macworld, but today for me was full of the part they don’t tell you about: career development.

After a fortifying continental breakfast and walking coffee, I rolled up to the Moscone Center this morning and got in the 30-minute plus registration line. Fortunately, I bumped into possibly the only two people I know at the conference, so we spent the time catching up.

After that it was all blah-di-blah-di-LDAP-di-config-di-port 667-DNS-dscl-di-blah for the next 8 hours. (There’s an unintentional geeky joke contained in that sentence. I hope you missed it.)

Well, I did pick up a few pointers here and there. I actually bailed on my scheduled class and moved to the remedial version for a while, which was a lot more fun and crowded.

But the key event of the day came on my way back to the hotel after I bought my street car pass and went to get on a car to take me back up the hill. The conductor told me to go around and get on the other side, just as the car started to move.

Yes, I actually had to run alongside and jump on, all holding on with one hand with one leg trailing jauntily behind. I just need to eat some sourdough and have an earthquake and I’ll be done with this town.

You think I’m starting political discourse and you are only partially correct. I am simply putting to bytes the thoughts I have expressed verbally to anyone willing to listen (or who feels some obligation to pretend to care about my opinion) on the subject of Blu-Ray versus HD-DVD. As a healthy consumer of electronics I feel my ideas on the matter might carry some weight (as opposed to KMc whose trip to MacWorld is practically wasted, I tell you!.)

Before CES I held the line that the market would support two platforms. Take a look at the video game market which may have wider margins but has a smaller market. There are currently three very active platforms, only one of which is struggling but appears to be approaching profitability. That competition has held for over a decade and three big players have stayed committed. In the more populated home video market there is plenty of room for two formats.

Now that CES 2008 is history, it is easy for the armchair consumer to predict the Blu-Ray victory. Take a look through the Engadget posts about the format war (paying close attention to the CES timeframe, January 7-10). During that time two studios (albeit from the same mega-conglomerate parent company) ceased their relationship with HD-DVD, several rumors had to be contractually denied, and if booth attendance is an indicator then the war is over. Of course, Engadget may be biased like some movie pundits who gave away HD-DVDs on their birthdays…

I think the format war will drag on for another year, but come next Christmas I bet it will be clear that Blu-Ray is dominant.

p.s. I admit that I went Blu — with a PS3 purchase — before I went Red — with an HD-DVD add-on for my XBox 360 — and even though both are game platforms, they were purchased for the primary purpose of movie-watching.

I had a little problem with my AT&T phone bill this month so I went online to review my account. While I was wholly unsuccessfully flailing around their website trying to figure out what package deal I could get for local phone service and DSL, a window popped up offering me a live chat session to help me figure out how best they could meet my needs. Here’s a transcript (with a few editorial comments):

Chat InformationAT&T product specialists are happy to assist you with your questions. Click below to begin your live text chat. Chat representatives will not have access to your personal account. This service is provided to you under AT&Ts Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.
Chat Information
Welcome to AT&T. My name is Ricky. How may I help you today?
Ricky: I am happy to answer your questions on AT&T services. I specialize in setting up new phone accounts and High Speed Internet service.
Ricky: Hello how can I assist you today?
you: apparently my package deal expired and i’m being charged a large amount this last month.
Ricky: ok
you: i need high speed internet and local service, so i’m trying to find the best deal.
Ricky: Ok
[ 15 minute pause ]
you: you still there?
Ricky: Yes
[ 5 minute pause ]
you: grande can offer me 12mbps internet and local phone service for 67.88. what can at&t offer?
Ricky: 6.0 Mbps at 34.99 if the service is available to you.
you: i have at&t (formerly sbc) DSL at 6M right now. my last bill switched from a bundle price around $80 for DSL and local to $105. do you have a package deal for DSL and local?
Ricky: Yes the Double pack .
[ 10 minute pause ]
you: thanks for being so helpful, ricky. /sarcasm i’ll be calling Grande now.

In an online fast-paced age, you can lose an account this quickly.

Today I arrived for my first real visit to San Francisco. I was here for half a day in 2003, having driven up from a conference in San Jose in a rented Mustang convertible. But the city that day was more of an afterthought to a beautiful top-down drive up highway 1 with a photo-op at the Golden Gate and a lot of worrying about bottoming out on hilly intersections. Read more!