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Since becoming a homeowner again last November I’ve been amazed by not only how far technology has come but also how just many different products it’s crept into. 

I’ve been searching for a smart doorbell to monitor our front door and as a deterrent to porch-pirates who make their living pilfering Amazon packages. I’d narrowed the list down to a few—the [EcoBee](https://www.ecobee.com/en-us/smart-doorbell-camera-wired/) and the [Eufy](https://www.eufy.com/products/t8214111?ref=navimenu_1_1_3_1_img&variant=42629004067002). Each brand has their pros and cons but they have one thing in common, they’re damned expensive and can require subscriptions which will siphon off your cash for the lifetime of the product. 

Enter the humble [Birdsnap smart bird feeder](https://www.amazon.com/Add-ons-Outside-Identify-Species-Capture/dp/B0CJVC7WKG/ref=asc_df_B0CJVC7WKG?mcid=50f98e4c3a263029b29b8b9f487017eb&hvocijid=8657476989550974404-B0CJVC7WKG-&hvexpln=73&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=721245378154&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8657476989550974404&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9019522&hvtargid=pla-2281435180458&th=1). My wife ordered this from Amazon and I installed it in a tree in our front yard a few days ago. 

I have one word for this thing–impressive. This bird feeder has nearly every function a smart doorbell would with the added bonus of being able to watch and learn about the abundant wildlife out here on the edge of city. 

<center> https://media3.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExa3Vlbjd5ZDcwcTM5MTVrbmZjcWV2b2I4MW15MWozdXRiZHFrajA5MSZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/DCqv7CZ4b3Ywpl1uGY/giphy.gif </center>

<center> *A Male Cardinal* </center>

Not only does this smart-bird feeder allow you to watch the birds from your phone anywhere in the world but it also identifies which kind of birds are feeding. 

<center> https://media4.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExc3RrdHU5OWt0cnRlZGN3dHphYjYzcXR5dWFscjFlZHM3eTlmdmJhYSZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/Z1hSm0eOoFlsR6esyX/giphy.gif </center> 
<center> *House Finches* </center> 

<center> https://media1.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExZ3BxcnkzM2ZqZjBhYjFrdDBsdnlwYmZ5amV1emZ1MGtrMjM2bXowbiZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/cuJLqbRtCa8aX5OwG8/giphy.gif </center>

<center> *A Chickadee* </center>

Birdsnap monitors the front door as well. It has AI built-in and will send you a notification when someone is leaving a package, pulling into your driveway, or arriving at your front door. The best part about it is it comes with a solar panel to keep the camera’s battery charged by the sun. 

The birdfeeder has night vision, an alarm, a microphone, and a speaker as well. You can speak through the app or trigger the alarm to scare off the occasional raccoon or deer that might try to knock the feeder out of the tree. And, yes, the perpetual immaturity in me is itching to use the microphone/alarm to scare the crap out of unsuspecting visitors walking up to our front door. 

If you’re snowbirds like us, this comes in very handy. It’s crazy, and a bit scary, how much tech is now baked into everyday products. 

## Poems from the Edge of the Apocalypse Update ##

I'm thrilled to report that the most time-consuming part of the book creation process is done! Over the past couple of days I’ve extracted about a hundred poems I've written since 2021 from my Hive blog and compiled into book form (thank you Hive). This phase of the book production has taken a total of about eight hours of reformatting and doing minor edits along the way. 

Lubosh, my talented book-designer, was able to enhance the resolution of my childhood picture so it pairs with the Grok-created image a little better. 

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As soon as I finish the cover text and front/back matter the manuscript will be ready to hand off to the book designer. Cover design will be finalized at this point. After that last design-phase is complete I'll need to double-down on the marketing strategy. Poetry collections aren't exactly flying off bookstore shelves but I'm hoping to make at least enough off this next book to cover production costs. Marketing is always the most challenging part of launching a self-published book. 

*I've said this before and I'll say it again, blogging on Hive makes it very easy to write a book. All you have to do is write and publish your serialized subject matter in your Hive blog then extract it into book form and self-publish. I'd love to see more authors utilize their Hive blogs for book creation. This is a huge value-add for authors by adding additional review streams and it's being very under-utilized.*

*Poems from the Edge of the Apocalypse* may be published sooner than expected. More news to come! 




<center> ~Eric Vance Walton~ </center>





Be well, make the most of this day. Thank you for reading! 








 
 
 




 
<center> (Gifs are mine.)  </center>

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