@heartny People with more money than brains. (There is widespread misunderstanding among the miseducated that rich people are rich because they’re smart. This is seldom true. Rich people are rich mostly because they started off with a fair bit of money and they’re assholes enough to steal everything the law allows from everyone that they sucker into doing business with them.)
@heartny@werehatrack While true to an extent, you get far more precision if you also include proximity to whoever has the money and power, and the character of the relationships (social peers vs. the abused). That provides a little more wiggle room for smart people to, let’s say, squirrel away some of the seed without drawing blood.
@jandrese I resemble that remark. Some say you can’t have one without the other. Or else the genius causes depression and psychoses. So the stupidity seems like a better deal.
@jandrese@pmarin I can think of some counterexamples. I suspect it more goes, genius is difference, and extreme difference can create loneliness, which leads to the other issues. (Thus, cherish the institutions that bring those different geniuses together to ameliorate that…)
@PeteJolicoeur@tinamarie1974 Subscription is also required for storage of the videos on the cloud (as opposed to an SD card), if I’m reading correctly. That raises the question of whether fetching/watching video from the SD card works with their app.
@AySz88@PeteJolicoeur@tinamarie1974 No idea, but almost certainly not. Wyze learned their lesson & now gouges everyone for the unforgivable crime of glancing in their general direction.
I’ve got a Bird Buddy and like it a lot. I’ve got it hanging from a shepherd’s hook in my yard. I mostly get house sparrows, but I also get cardinals and other birds.
If I had it mounted to a tree, I think it would be a squirrel feeder. I’ve only had a couple of squirrel visits where it is. My neighbor’s cats like to hang out in my yard, which may help.
The solar cells kept it fully charged all summer, but they sun has dropped below the tops of the neighborhood trees, and we’ve had some rainy days, so I’m charging it right now. I hope that improves when the leaves fall. I anticipate a better mix of birds in the winter, once the supply of free insects dries up.
The subscription for this one is, according to their Web site, free for the first year, then $40 a year after that. Assuming they are still in business. Dumping these here isn’t a good sign of company health, unless they have a new model coming out.
It’s got an SD card slot, so it should have some basic functionality without a subscription.
I may get one of these as a secondary feeder. I like that it can be hung from the top. I don’t like that it must be facing south for the solar charging to work.
@craigthom My Bird Buddy experience was about the opposite: even though it was hanging from a shepherd’s hook in a sunny spot in the yard and the solar panel was plugged into the camera module, it would run out of juice after a few days and require recharging inside. Also, the small bird-seed holding tank required more frequent refills than any of my other feeders.
After a few months of that, I eventually took them down and now when I walk by them, I say to myself, “I should probably put those back up sometime…”
Still, I dunno how I feel about these vague possibility that a company might flip the product and cloud user base to some unsuspecting equity manager desperate to own some “AI”, who might not notice how the users’ continued subscriptions would be tied to the lifetime of the perhaps-flimsy equipment (and so, would churn more than usual customers to something like Netflix).
If you scroll down in this Wired review of smart bird feeders you’ll find this one. He says it’s usable without a subscription, but the picture quality and solar charging suck.
@adityanambiar Huh, it seems like it was com.hellobirdie.app but it’s gone, not even an APK from a reputable archive. Is this stripped of cloud stuff entirely, then? What’s the “internal AI” thing, and was it confirmed working?
If it recognized & released food only to birds, and then recognized squirrels & didn’t release food to them - that would be something. I thought that’s where this was going, but didn’t see that was the case???
Specs
Product: Hello Birdie Solar Roof Smart Bird Feeder and Accessories
Model: E311311172000, E311726240000
Condition: New
What’s Included?
Price Comparison
$299.99 at Limitless
Warranty
90 days
Estimated Delivery
Thursday, Nov 6 - Monday, Nov 10
-no one
@sproinky You must be new here
Nice tit pic snuck in there, meh
@zippyzeb You would prefer one of these?
Who’s paying $300 for this?
@heartny People with more money than brains. (There is widespread misunderstanding among the miseducated that rich people are rich because they’re smart. This is seldom true. Rich people are rich mostly because they started off with a fair bit of money and they’re assholes enough to steal everything the law allows from everyone that they sucker into doing business with them.)
@heartny @werehatrack While true to an extent, you get far more precision if you also include proximity to whoever has the money and power, and the character of the relationships (social peers vs. the abused). That provides a little more wiggle room for smart people to, let’s say, squirrel away some of the seed without drawing blood.
@heartny @werehatrack We still talkin bout a bird feeder?
This seems like a science fair project turned into a product. It has that weird combination of genius and stupidity.
@jandrese I resemble that remark. Some say you can’t have one without the other. Or else the genius causes depression and psychoses. So the stupidity seems like a better deal.
@jandrese @pmarin I can think of some counterexamples. I suspect it more goes, genius is difference, and extreme difference can create loneliness, which leads to the other issues. (Thus, cherish the institutions that bring those different geniuses together to ameliorate that…)
These things usually require a subscription for the app and bird identification feature. Keep that in mind before you buy
@PeteJolicoeur thanks for that. Membership is required for the AI functionality/bird identification features
@PeteJolicoeur @tinamarie1974 Subscription is also required for storage of the videos on the cloud (as opposed to an SD card), if I’m reading correctly. That raises the question of whether fetching/watching video from the SD card works with their app.
@AySz88 @PeteJolicoeur @tinamarie1974 No idea, but almost certainly not. Wyze learned their lesson & now gouges everyone for the unforgivable crime of glancing in their general direction.
@PeteJolicoeur The app also looks to have been pulled from the android store. Wonder if it’s abandonware… Found the manual and the QR code for the app takes you to a pulled app. https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0264/0143/9806/files/hello-birdie-user-manual_f733c017-1805-453a-a2bc-621ff880bb64.pdf
Can the solar power be rigged up to zap squirrels without frying the birds? (I have an air fryer for that.)
@phendrick this is the only question that matters here.
Why does the name sound like an appropriate cat toy: Hello Birdie / Hello Kitty.
/image hello kitty with birds
Sold on QVC previously. Video overview on YouTube.
[YT video of this being sold on QVC.
I’ve got a Bird Buddy and like it a lot. I’ve got it hanging from a shepherd’s hook in my yard. I mostly get house sparrows, but I also get cardinals and other birds.
If I had it mounted to a tree, I think it would be a squirrel feeder. I’ve only had a couple of squirrel visits where it is. My neighbor’s cats like to hang out in my yard, which may help.
The solar cells kept it fully charged all summer, but they sun has dropped below the tops of the neighborhood trees, and we’ve had some rainy days, so I’m charging it right now. I hope that improves when the leaves fall. I anticipate a better mix of birds in the winter, once the supply of free insects dries up.
The subscription for this one is, according to their Web site, free for the first year, then $40 a year after that. Assuming they are still in business. Dumping these here isn’t a good sign of company health, unless they have a new model coming out.
It’s got an SD card slot, so it should have some basic functionality without a subscription.
I may get one of these as a secondary feeder. I like that it can be hung from the top. I don’t like that it must be facing south for the solar charging to work.
@craigthom My Bird Buddy experience was about the opposite: even though it was hanging from a shepherd’s hook in a sunny spot in the yard and the solar panel was plugged into the camera module, it would run out of juice after a few days and require recharging inside. Also, the small bird-seed holding tank required more frequent refills than any of my other feeders.
After a few months of that, I eventually took them down and now when I walk by them, I say to myself, “I should probably put those back up sometime…”
@andymand I bought an expanded see hopper and a grid to put over the seed tray to keep them from throwing as much out.
Did the app show that it was charging? Maybe the solar cable wasn’t plugged in securely, or maybe it was defective.
Also, a variation of this with a bird bath still sold on QVC. Website includes FAQ, manuals, etc. Bird bath version on QVC
Feels like regular price should be $50 and $25 on Meh. Then I’d be a buyer.
Does the camera have an SD card slot for storing photos & videos? If so, does this come with an SD card?
@hiddenwoodsman According to the FAQ I found, unless it’s changed for Meh, “It’s also an option to use an SD Card for storage by inserting an SD card (not included) into the slot on the back of the Camera.” https://limitlessinnovations.onsitesupport.io/hellobirdie/knowledge-base/article/where-does-my-data-go
Wow, just what I needed! …no really, it’s a tempting off-season “Xmas” splurge for anyone you noticed scowling at the price tags in-season.
Don’t love the Waze-style cloud-based subscription these all want for the nicer sounding features ($4/mo or $40/yr). One thing to clarify: the help docs at Limitless suggest they had 1 year of the cloud services free to start, but there’s no mention of it here…so, no first hit free then? https://limitlessinnovations.onsitesupport.io/hellobirdie/knowledge-base/article/choose-a-membership-to-continue-use-of-the-hello-birdie-apps-smart-features
Still, I dunno how I feel about these vague possibility that a company might flip the product and cloud user base to some unsuspecting equity manager desperate to own some “AI”, who might not notice how the users’ continued subscriptions would be tied to the lifetime of the perhaps-flimsy equipment (and so, would churn more than usual customers to something like Netflix).
If you scroll down in this Wired review of smart bird feeders you’ll find this one. He says it’s usable without a subscription, but the picture quality and solar charging suck.
The android app doesn’t exist! Wtf
@adityanambiar Huh, it seems like it was com.hellobirdie.app but it’s gone, not even an APK from a reputable archive. Is this stripped of cloud stuff entirely, then? What’s the “internal AI” thing, and was it confirmed working?
@adityanambiar I’m all android…and I really wanted this! Argh!
@adityanambiar @lomerson2 I guess that you could write one,
@adityanambiar @AySz88 without the app there’s no way to configure it or communicate with it.
Looks seedy
My squirrels are begging me to buy this.
If it recognized & released food only to birds, and then recognized squirrels & didn’t release food to them - that would be something. I thought that’s where this was going, but didn’t see that was the case???
Interesting squirrel feeder.