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I put up some new photos from this weekend’s Portland Spirit cruise. We had a great time, and the weather really cooperated. I love Portland.

The criticisms of Apple’s newly announced iPad seem to coalesce around 3 points:

1. The name iPad. Most commonly it is written in some variation of MaxIpad. I agree that I don’t like the name–I prefer iTablet–it seems Jobs cannot get over the failure of the Newton MessagePad. This criticism is otherwise superficial.
2. It is expensive. The base is $499, while you can get a Netbook for $250. As always you get what you pay for. The Asus Netbook has such a high failure rate that one customer had to stop supporting them. Retailers hate them because customers hate them and return them at high rates. One naysayer on Facebook said he doesn’t actually own a Netbook because he can’t find one he wants. Apparently the rest of us aren’t supposed to buy an iPad because, in theory, we could get a Netbook with a faster processor for less money (but we won’t because they suck).
3. It single-tasks. However, the Kindle DX, at $489 also single-tasks, and the iPad will actually do more (like browse the web or play videos). Why don’t they direct their ire at Amazon’s bestseller? Do they target Apple and Jobs because he is so successful at marketing and at packaging products that (us foolish) people want? Please note I am not attacking the Kindle–I want to of them too, and in a head to head comparison the epaper is visible in direct sunlight, the unit is lighter and more durable, and ebooks on Amazon cost less than on the iTunes Bookstore.

I believe Apple will sell close to 2 million of these units within a year of introduction. However, I believe Apple will cannibalize its own products in order to do so.

This article does justice to cold brew coffee, though it neglects to mention you can buy the Toddy system for about $30, plus $10 for some extra reusable filters.

Pour 9 cups of water over 1.5 to 2 lbs of medium-ground coffee and let sit for 8-12 hours. No stirring necessary. The Toddy system includes the glass decanter for refrigerating and pouring the condensed coffee. It stays fresh for about 2 weeks. On serving mix about 1 part cold brew with 2 parts water and ice, suited to taste and served on demand.

In general cold brew is more refreshing in the summer, but it is superior to hot-brew coffee in all seasons. The Japanese call this ice coffee and offer it frequently in coffee shops, vending machines, and grocery stores without or without sugar added. The Japanese ice coffee sold in the supermarkets around Portland include only the sugar-added variety, which is inferior in taste.

Since 9/11 three changes have made a difference in security: 1) armored cockpit doors, 2) new protocols refusing to comply with hijackers, and 3) alert and active passengers. All the rest is security theater. Has the TSA searched your bag and ID at the gate lately? Theater at its best (or worst)

I am surprised there haven’t been more incidents of passengers mistakenly attacking an innocent passenger over “suspicious” activity. Apparently regular humans are better than “trained officials” at using common sense. Maybe there have been Incidents that weren’t publicized.

As if I couldn’t be any more proud of her, Aya performed wonderfully at the Ice Crystal Classic 2009 competition at Lloyd Center on Sunday and won her division of 4 skaters. She performed all her elements very well, and her program was original and exciting.

In addition we have photos of the competition.

Aya plans to enter the Love to Skate competition in Eugene, OR, currently scheduled for February 5-7, 2010. There are rumors the skating rink will close due to financial circumstances, so some local skaters, including Aya’s coach, are interested in supporting what may be the final event at that arena. Aya plans to continue with the Soaring program at the beta level by adding a backward crossover to the program. In addition she will add a technical program.

I am currently reading Jim Collins’ latest work, How The Mighty Fall. It concluded with the interesting quote:

There’s a provocative lesson: beware the hubris that can rise in conjunction with missionary zeal…Whenever people begin to confuse the nobility of their cause with the goodness and wisdom of their decisions… they can perhaps more easily lead themselves astray. Bad decisions made with good intentions are still bad decisions.

How many leaders, in business or government, have succumbed to the failings born of hubris, and is there any student of business more qualified than Jim Collins to point us in the right direction?

After a long day of packing and flying we arrived safely back in Portland. Nothing broken. Nothing lost. The kids are happy to be home.

Reon just lost Rock-Paper-Scissors to Aya, so he has to take a bath first. He is now throwing a temper trantrum.

Continuing with our theme of staying closer to the hotel, we decided to try the Jungle Tour. Several operators offer variations of this tour, which include a 45-minute ride to Punta Nizuc through the ocean jungle (marine plants), a 45-minute snorkel on the reef, and a 45-minute return ride. Our operator, Aqua World, which has a representative booth at the Hilton, offers rides on jet-ski like wave runners. Reon and Aya enjoyed the rides, though not the snorkeling. Michiko enjoyed the snorkeling though not the wave runner rides. I enjoyed both. The snorkeling was the best of the three spots we hit this week. Dozens of large coral heads were protected from boats with yellow-buoyed ropes, and around these coral heads could be found hard and soft corals, tubes, 2-3’ fans, and hundreds of fish. I did see some parrotfish, though I didn’t notice any pelagics during my brief stay there. The facilities at Aqua World were clean and nice, though the urinals were stopped up. We were disappointed that the included “lunch” consisted only of hamburgers, even though the outdoor (covered) restaurant had a couple dozen items on the menu. Tours run every 3 hours. We did the 12PM tour, though the 9AM tour would have been preferred.

For an early dinner we returned to the fish place. This time we tried the Octopus Caviche, which was even more delightful than the Shrimp Caviche. We also tried the Garlic Grilled Fish and the Breaded Fish, which I thought were better than yesterday’s fried fish. The kids also seemed to like them, though Aya didn’t like the Caviche very much. Afterwards we went to the pool and prepared, hot and sun-burned, for the return trip home.

After four hard days of travel, we decided we needed a vacation from our vacation. We decided to stay closer to the hotel. We decided to go shopping. I figured no matter where we went Michiko would be disappointed, but the most European-style shopping area would disappoint her the least. We settled on the La Isla Mall at km 12.5 on the Hotel Zone, about 5 km from the Hilton. Although we arrived after 10am many of the shops still hadn’t opened, including Zara. We walked around a little bit, Michiko looked inside a few stores, and we left in under an hour. We stopped at another mall on the way back. This mall had a coffee shop with free Wifi, where I ordered a coffee and cookies for the kids. The cookies made the kids hyper and restless, but at least I got 45 minutes of connect time for a nominal price.

One of our major goals was to find the fish restaurant Michiko discovered on the Internet. It was only 1.5 km from the Hilton, on the west (harbor) side of the Zona Hotelera, in front of the Royal Solaris Cancun hotel, right next to a Retorno (designated U-Turn lane). The restaurant, if you can call it that, consists of a single permanent covered structure, two tents where they prepare the food, several umbrellas, card tables and plastic chairs. There is no running water, electricity, or gas. The restaurant has no name and no sign in front. Tourists seldom frequent the place, and the waitresses don’t speak English. They accept only cash in Pesos.

In a nutshell, the restaurant was just what we wanted. The food was incredibly simple and fresh. The Shrimp Ceviche was delightful—for me anything with cilantro can’t fail. The fish was light and fresh. We ordered the fried fish, but they also served it grilled with a garlic sauce and breaded. The Fish Tacos were deep-fried and too oily for our taste. The grilled banana was prepared with a milky cream on top that didn’t suite my tastes very well either. But all things considered it was an interesting experience and well worth the trouble finding it.

After a brief return to the hotel, I took the kids to Wet ‘n Wild. The park is about 5 km from the hotel and contains a variety of slides, tubes, and pools. My expectations were low, so Wet ‘n Wild had no trouble exceeding them. The kids had fun, which is all I really expected. Apparently they have a pool where you can swim with a dolphin, but we never found it and the kids didn’t seem to care all that much anyway. Who cares about a dolphin when you have a wave pool?

We finally awoke before 7AM and departed shortly after 8AM. The destination for this day: Akumal. Our friend, Angie, recommended Akumal, and it is easy to see the charm. The town is small, easy-going, easy to navigate, and has wonderful opportunities for swimming, snorkeling, and diving. We arrived shortly after 10AM and went strait for Yal Ku Lagoon. Yal Ku requires an entrance fee, but is a nice starting spot for those with children to see hundreds of fish in relative ease. Because of equipment failures and time to change clothes, we didn’t enter the water until just after 11AM. Visibility was poor immediately inside the water of the lagoon, but visibility improved once we spread out a little bit. We saw a number of habitats including sandy bottoms, rocky bottoms, and plants along the shore, though the area contains no hard coral. We did see soft coral and hundreds of fish, mostly local shore and reef-dwellers but no pelagic fish. The area is famous for sea turtles, but we did not see any inside the lagoon, even though we spent nearly two hours in the water. We enjoyed it but we were tired.

At the recommendation of Angie and the local guide, we ate lunch La Vida Buena, which caters mostly to tourists. The restaurant mostly sells a wonderful view of the ocean and a chance to relax for an hour. Although a bit pricy, the food was mostly unspectacular. The Lime Soup was too salty and tasted like Minestrone, and the fish fillet plates were also too salty and contained too much flavoring.

On the way back we stopped at the Aktun Chen park for a swim in the Cenote. The park offers three different activities: walking and running a line in the canopy, walking in a cave, and swimming in the Cenote. The kids chose the latter, and despite my initial reservations I was pleasantly surprised by the experience. The water was clean and cool, and the four caverns were spacious albeit shallow in some areas. I enjoyed it more than I expected, and Aya really enjoyed it more than swimming in the ocean. Aya is still too scared to put on her mask and snorkel, so she swims along with us. I believe she preferred the Aktun Chen Cenote swim because there was more too see above the water and fewer waves. Michiko got out first, then Reon shortly afterwards when he started shivering. Even though I was cold too, I kept swimming with Aya another 15 minutes. Aya didn’t want to leave.

We drove strait back to the hotel and ate dinner at the hotel restaurant Mitachi. Although it has a Japanese-sounding name and serves some Japanese dishes, it is really an American grill. As with lunch, the restaurant was over-priced and unspectacular, but also offered a nice view of the ocean. The sushi appetizer was fine. Michiko’s Ceviche was bland and insufficient. My vegetable tempura was completely wrong (probably the batter and oil were incorrect). However, the kids meals were well-portioned and sufficient for Reon who normally eats off the adult menu. In addition Reon’s grilled chicken plate contained a lot of vegetables—a rare treat for a kid’s menu, and even more rare in Mexico.

Photos are here.