ddoran

Find the greatest subject matter expert available for a given discipline. Tap their knowledge.

The greatest people I have worked with have taken the same approach. Experts are incredibly willing to share. You may have to work around their schedule, but they will share. Just ask.

"However, many consumers believe that the Organic label means ... This is not true."

He is correctly stating that consumers erroneously believe the label means. But the sentence is brilliantly constructed that the final words left me with the sense that it is a statement about organic food, not consumer's misunderstanding of the label:

"... the food has superior nutrition and is safer, especially in regard to pesticide residues. This is not true."

I love the work by Solus, a Dublin-based street artist. He does some work in Brooklyn/NYC from time to time too

https://solusstreetart.com/Outdoor/

Slightly off-topic, but I've always wondered why the wreck site of the Lusitania appears on in-flight maps. Anyone?

https://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/2015/01/rms-lusitania-wreck...

The article is from 2014.

> I'm pretty sure euthanizing a dog by gunshot ... has never legally been considered animal cruelty.

I'm horrified that anyone would think this is true. In case anyone reads this and doesn't know better, shooting an animal is only allowed when justified, typically in self-defense.

Shooting a terminally ill dog is not sufficient justification either [1].

[1] - http://www.wfla.com/national/heartbroken-pet-owner-faces-jai...

Another great book is "Ninety Percent of Everything: Inside Shipping, the Invisible Industry That Puts Clothes on Your Back, Gas in Your Car, and Food on Your Plate" by Rose George. It covers the wider world of international shipping but containers are obviously a key part of the story.

To fans of this and other British crime shows - current and classic - I'd recommend BritBox. It's a collaboration between the BBC and ITV and has some real "mystery" gems [1]. I've no affiliation.

[1] https://www.britbox.com/us/genre/mystery

I couldn't help but think of "Pigeon House" [1] in Stoneybatter, Dublin, renowned among the city's residents for the roost of pigeons that sit on its roof [2] waiting to be fed, and by the locals trying to avoid them.

https://www.dublininquirer.com/2017/11/15/in-stoneybatter-am...

https://twitter.com/ciarancuffe/status/689492575460421632

Turn away if squeamish ... I saw a very similar thing on safari. The other attraction of hunting pregnant animals, our guide told us, was that the unborn animals are nutritionally dense. We did not witness the kill, thank goodness (I am squeamish!) but did see the aftermath - which was the lions extracting and eating the fetus first, while the mother was still alive. Nature is cruel.

And incredible (in-store) after sales customer experience, in my experience. If you're visiting NYC, anyone interested in technology, photography or just wants to see an incredible retail/sales operation in action should visit.

NB - As they observe religious calendar/holidays both in store and online, make sure they're open before you visit.

I appreciate your occasional updates posted here. They're always interesting.

> "This year I didn't have as much to blog about ... The posts tend to send a lot of high-quality traffic, so the impact was bigger than you might expect. I haven't figured out how to invent posts from thin air when I simply have nothing new to share."

This obviously seems like a lost opportunity. If you want to sustain the business, you simply have to write more posts, as a start. I visit Japan for two weeks every year and find the culture endlessly fascinating. Searching here for mentions of Japan [1], the most popular is yours, but not a business update, rather your post on the Japanese writing system [2]. Ignore the news stories and look at all those other posts about Japan posted by others. These are Japan topics that this community found interesting (I hope you promote to other communities). You could write posts about coffee culture, beer culture, Izakaya's, ex-pat life, other one-person businesses, life in Japan, J-pop even k-pop, heck even the McDonald's menu in Japan vs elsewhere etc etc. Of course the link to candy is tangential but a blog on entrepreneurial life / life in Japan would attract Japanophiles who I expect would be interested in regular candy packs from Japan. But why just focus on candy as the income. Why not become a go-to guy for Japanese culture through the eyes of a Westerner? You wouldn't be the first but you have a unique viewpoint. What about adding a podcast. Building an audience, listing on Patreon. Just some thoughts.

I also have some comments about your website vs your competitor, presumably [3].

* On Safari, when I type in "candy japan", the Siri suggestion is your competitor's, despite the search term basically being your domain name. You have work to do on SEO.

* Your competitor's photos of their offerings are front and center. Personally that draws me in immediately. Your photo is at the bottom of your page. You are literally burying the lede

* Your competitor has a time-limited call to action at the top of their page "Free Shipping even to United States! Next box subscription closes in: You have 4 Days left to get the next box!"

* Your competitor has great testimonials. Do you have social media contests? Promote use of a hashtag / instagram posting so you can easily cultivate for your page?

* This is probably an error, but when I click on your home page link "Past Boxes", I expected to see great photos of your past boxes. Social media pics and videos from happy users etc. Instead the very first text on the Past Boxes page is the post linked above with the text "This was another tough year for Candy Japan, with many factors combining to a sharp decline in subscriber numbers." I wanted to check out photos of amazing Japanese candy I can order but now I'm just bummed out.

* There are so many things your competitor is doing that you are not. Check out how easy he makes it for reviewers to get a free copy. Check out the reviews on his website. Being copied sucks but fight back. Take their ideas and improve upon them. Stay one step ahead.

* We're just through the holiday season in the West. How many parents were hunting for last minute gifts for kids (or adults). This would have been amazing gift and yet I see nothing on your front page that's marketing to "last minute gifts", "last minute xmas gifts for children" etc. A number of magazine newsletters I subscribed to had features on "last minute gifts", most of which were ticket, voucher or coupon based. How much outreach did you do?

I'm not being critical. You've done a lot to get here and are now facing challenges. Meet them head on. There is so much more you can do. Not everything will work, but some will.

As it happens, I have a relation whose birthday it is in January. I'm going to prove my own point and buy her a subscription from your site. I enjoy your updates and salute your success to date. I wish you the very best going forward.

[1] - https://hn.algolia.com/?query=japan&sort=byPopularity&prefix... [2] - https://www.candyjapan.com/口 [3] - http://www.japancandybox.com

The paper was presented at United European Gastroenterology conference in Barcelona. Press release: [1].

[1] - https://www.ueg.eu/press/releases/ueg-press-release/article/...

I live a couple of blocks from Brooklyn Strategist, the "game space" featured in the article. When it first opened I didn't expect it to last a year. Instead they've gone from strength to strength and more than doubled their size, moving into an adjoining space that had been an architect's office. They have approximately six large game tables which are constantly at capacity. They also have a wall with a library of hundreds of board games that I marvel at. I love that I live in a time and place where such an endeavor can succeed. I only wish I had something like this when I was a kid. Instead, I had our school D&D club which lasted a month before a parent complained that it was devil worshipping and had us shut down (circa 1982/3).

It was (is?) big in Britain and Ireland too. Maybe it's an English-language thing?

If anyone finds themselves in the West of ireland, I strongly recommend the Flying Boat Museum in Foynes, across the estuary from Shannon Airport. This was the first port of call / refueling stop for Transatlantic Clipper flights (and also where the Irish Coffee was invented to warm incoming passengers deplaning off a long flight in an unpressurized cabin).

They have a replica Boeing 314 which you are free to walk around. It's fascinating to see the cabin out from seating to sleeping areas.

[1] https://www.flyingboatmuseum.com/boeing-314-clipper-flying-b...

I was drawn to the bar by the simplicity of the design. Seems I wasn't the only one. RXBar's packaging and design (by design firm Scott & Victor) won a 2017 Inc Magazine Award [1]. As is often the case, the redesign changed the firm's fortunes and was instrumental in getting the product into major retailers.

[1] https://www.inc.com/magazine/201706/stephanie-schomer/rxbar-...

> ... more reputable source ...

Sorry for the sidetrack, but this comment struck me as odd. perhaps it was just a poor choice of words. FWIW, the last thing I thought I'd ever do was defend the Daily Mail. While I fundamentally disagree with the Daily Mail's politics and abhor their celebrity obsession, it is a 121 year-old newspaper with the second highest circulation in the UK. I haven't heard their reputation questioned before. No more than any other news source, that is.

I fly frequently and enjoy a drink but the two definitely do not work well together for me. Even a single glass of wine, when airborne, has the potential to cause an intense sinus headache. Two to three drinks will guarantee it. On the ground, only air pressure brings on occasional sinus headaches but nothing like the intensity of air travel that combined with alcohol has on me.

Hmmm, strange headline as Nest launched an outdoor security camera last year. This "IQ" model is a new version with higher definition picture and person-recognizing features. The original is still available.

Patrick Smith, the author and eponymous "pilot" in the title, has been writing interesting articles about flying and a pilot's life for years. He is as much a traveler as he is a pilot and loves what he does. If you have any interest in flying or travel but have somehow not come across Patrick Smith before, check out his archive [1] and his book [2] Pilot Confidential, an update of his earlier book, Ask The Pilot, named for his now-defunct column at Salon.com iirc.

[1] http://www.askthepilot.com/archives/ [2] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16235130-cockpit-confide...

I am an occasional Airbnb host. I am happy for Left/Right, Gay/Straight, religious/areligious, black/white/all people to stay in my home, however I utterly reject anyone who discriminates against others for any of these reasons, particularly if they are using my house in order to exercise their discrimination.

AirBnB's Community Commitment gives me comfort and it is something I am happy to see them enforce.

While the author "looked at anthologies that collected international, American, and English-language poems", there is a leaning towards American poetry as 11 of the 20 anthologies surveyed were anthologies of American poetry (based on their titles, bottom of the page).

On OSX/safari, if I click on the link, it correctly says the referrer is YC News.

if I right click the link (which I often do) and open in new tab or window, I see:

No referer / hidden

In these cases it does not alleviate the issue flagged above.

At the risk of bing flamed, while I read this and marvel at the technology, I wince at the terrible cost - animal testing - to achieve this.

CalTech's statement on animal testing is on their website [1] though I'm always skeptical of "oversight" groups established by an industry itself, as are PETA [2].

[1]: https://iacuc.caltech.edu [2]: https://www.peta.org/blog/labs-gold-standard-seal-mean-anima...

> "His definition of “low carb” was 35% of calories. If you’re consuming 2000 calories per day, that’s 175 carbs per day. "

What's a "carb per day"? 175 of them?

I think he's trying to say: "That's 700 calories of carbs per day". If he is, his writing is really sloppy. Pass.

She said "Nunn-McCurdy breach"

cf [1]: <The Nunn–McCurdy Amendment> "requires notification to the United States Congress if the cost per unit goes more than 25% beyond what was originally estimated, and calls for the termination of programs with total cost growth greater than 50%, unless the Secretary of Defense submits a detailed explanation"

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nunn–McCurdy_Amendment

> Don't plan to drive anywhere on eclipse day

This.

I watched a total eclipse in England in 1999 parked up on the side of the road with other cars doing likewise as far as the eye could see in both directions. Traffic was at a standstill all morning.

Get to where you want to be the day before, and stay there.

My Choc Chip Clif Bar says 10 of its 65grams are protein with approx 10% of daily values of quite a few vitamins #NotADoctor

> discounting welfare issues, you can do what you want with them if you're the owner

I'm not sure what you mean when you say "discounting welfare issues". Sure, if you discount the laws that protect dogs, they're not protected, but The Animal Welfare act (2006) does exist, very much does protect dogs from people "doing what you want with them" and is enforced.

Of course, that protection is not offered at all costs. If a dog attacks a person, or invades farmland and attacks an animal, then the priority of that person/farm animal takes precedence over the dog.