Assembly was quick and tool-free, requiring only a handful of included knob screws. I also like that it included both fence- and pole-mounting options, the latter of which is critical for preventing squirrel damage.

Smart feeder companies continue to upgrade their cameras’ quality with each new model, but the general range still seems to be anywhere from 1080p photos and 2K video on the low end (as with the Birdfy Lite), all the way up to 32-MP photos and 4K video (as with Camojojo’s new Hibird Pro). The Aura falls somewhere in the middle of this range, with 4-MP photos and a respectable 2.5K Ultra HD video.

The camera’s 150-degree field of view is wider than that of a typical bird feeder camera, and it helps to capture all angles of what’s really the Aura’s signature feature—a wraparound perch with little platforms on the left and right sides, where you can position the camera upright (which shows pictures in a horizontal “landscape mode”) at the angle you prefer. If you want the camera to be on its side (vertical “portrait mode”), there’s a little adapter that connects to the back and screws into the platform. Do note, though, that despite some marketing photos showing the Aura with two cameras, it only comes with one camera, and when it’s on its side, it can only be mounted on the right side of the perch.

Portrait mode (the camera mounted on its side) allows for greater detail in photos, but it wasn’t always successful at capturing all the action, depending on where a bird stood. The biggest issue with this camera orientation, however, is that the app’s AI identification doesn’t work with it. I asked Coolfly if this was an error, but it turns out it’s how the camera was designed.

“To offer users ‘Limited Free AI’ without monthly subscription fees, our bird ID algorithm is hardcoded directly into the device’s hardware,” Coolfly’s rep told me. “Because this on-device neural network was trained exclusively on horizontal datasets, physically flipping the camera … disrupts the local algorithm’s spatial mapping.”

The solution? “If our users shoot vertically and spot an unknown bird, they can simply take a screenshot and send it to our in-app ChirpChat feature. Our interactive AI assistant will identify it perfectly from the image,” Coolfly’s rep said.

Though this step was cumbersome, it did correctly identify nearly all of the birds I proffered (as did the built-in AI ID). I liked seeing the birds slightly closer up with the side camera orientation, but it wasn’t a dramatic difference between the views. Certainly not dramatic enough to justify the hassle of losing the AI ID or of having to go out and fiddle with taking the camera on and off its little mount to switch modes. So for the majority of testing, I kept the camera in its default upright position.

Birds on Film

The Aura uses the Coolfly app, which isn’t as intuitive as some of the bigger brands’ apps, like Birdbuddy’s, but it was perfectly usable. There’s the ChirpChat, a bird search, and a Facebook-esque “social feed” where you can follow other Coolfly feeder users and see their posted videos and images. (Note that there were only about 10 users total at the time of my test.)

What I liked the most about the app was that it immediately IDs all the bird captures in the album with a little bird-head icon of that species. It helped me visually sort at a glance which visitors were new and noteworthy that day, and clicking the icon leads to an informational page on the bird, as well as a sound clip of the species’ typical call, so you can see if you’ve heard it around. What I liked the least, however, was the number of marketing push notifications the app would send, for sales and other irrelevant topics. It became so irritating, in fact, that I ended up turning off notifications altogether, which meant I was only aware of bird activity if I went into the app.

If those posts could be interpreted in any way as threats, Eversole would contact their hometown police, multiple security team sources say. “He would take it upon himself to reach out to someone somewhere and introduce himself as the CSO of Madison Square Garden and demand that the local PD take action,” the security veteran adds.

One teenager posted a tweet, and MSG security asked local law enforcement to visit him. “They scared the crap [poop emoji] out of some 14 year old kid in Colorado,” one MSG security staffer texted in a message we reviewed. Cops would at times ignore Eversole’s demands. He and his deputies would then “freak the fuck out when a PD somewhere would not play ball,” the second veteran continues.

Eversole would also allegedly push his subordinates to act more like municipal cops. He’d urge them to patrol the streets surrounding MSG, which is located in one of Manhattan’s more derelict neighborhoods, functionally acting as a second, ersatz police force—without formal permission of New York’s real one. “On many occasions, I was ordered to stop traffic, close sidewalks, and unlawfully detain individuals in the venue and demand identification,” Munn, the former security worker, wrote in his filing. Munn added that these orders were “against NY State/City laws without proper permits or NYPD’s authorization, which MSG did not maintain.” An NYPD spokesperson confirms that such authorization was never given.

Eversole would tell his teams to bust the guys selling knockoff merchandise and “remove scalpers and drug dealers daily, in areas outside and around MSG properties, without back up, communication, or assistance from MSG venue security or NYPD paid detail,” Ingrasselino alleged in his lawsuit.

Ingrasselino’s former colleagues emphasize that the work could be dangerous, possibly illegal, and in no way a normal task for a private security force. Ingrasselino, among others, claimed that a former NYPD assistant chief now working for MSG was once attacked by scalpers and sent to the hospital. In his filing, Munn claimed that during his time “overseeing all security aspects” of several Dolan properties, he had been “ordered to do many things I felt were unsafe, unethical, and illegal, all at the direction” of Eversole.

Ingrasselino also alleges in his suit that he was ordered to embed “in the middle of pro-Palestine or anti-Israel protests” that happened to be passing a Dolan venue. Other security sources say that they were not ordered to insert themselves into any demonstrations. But they confirm that they were asked to observe protests that went anywhere near a Dolan venue. Given those venues’ central location, it happened a lot.

Some protests would get special scrutiny. When the Professional Bull Riders tour came to the Garden, animal rights activists would at times gather outside, or in front of the MSG president’s apartment building. The leaders felt they were being singled out and surveilled.

Even people working for the state government found themselves in MSG’s sights.

In late 2022 and early 2023, when word about the lawyer bans began to spread and uproar over the face-recognition program was hitting a peak, the State Liquor Authority decided to look into it; per state law, according to the SLA, you’re not allowed to both serve booze and arbitrarily lock people out of your place. Dolan’s response may have been a touch over-the-top. He went on TV, held up a photograph of the then head of the liquor authority with the man’s phone number and email underneath, and told the audience to reach out to him, and “tell him to stick to his knitting.”

It’s called Minamitorishima, and it’s a small atoll in the Pacific Ocean. It is one of the most remote islands in Japan’s vast archipelago, so much so that it lies nearly 2,000 kilometers southeast of Tokyo. Yet from the depths of the surrounding seas may come a tremendous gift for the country’s economy.

It is there, as deep as 6,000 meters undersea, that a group of Japanese researchers succeeded in a veritable mission impossible: the recovery of sediments containing rare-earth elements from one of the most promising underwater deposits discovered in recent years.

The feat is set to strengthen Japan’s role in the increasingly crucial rare earths sector, a central element in the trade war between China and the United States. Indeed, Japan is the only major industrial country that, while remaining partially exposed, has managed to significantly reduce its dependence on Beijing.

The “Mission Impossible” in the Pacific Seabed

The Minamitorishima operation, conducted with the scientific deep-sea drilling vessel Chikyu, represents the world’s first attempt to sample at such depths.

The Japanese government called the result “a significant milestone in terms of economic security and overall maritime development,” stressing that ongoing analysis will now have to determine the precise quantity and quality of elements present in the extracted samples. But beyond the technical aspect, the value of the undertaking is above all strategic.

Rare earths are a group of 17 metals critical to advanced technologies. They go into the production of high-strength magnets for electric vehicles, wind turbines, electronic devices, semiconductors, radar systems, missiles, and more. Elements such as dysprosium and yttrium, of which the area around Minamitorishima contains estimated reserves of 730 and 780 years of consumption, respectively, have become critical materials for modern industry and defense. According to some estimates, the Japanese submarine deposit could contain more than 16 million tons of rare earths, shaping up as the world’s third-largest reserve.

The Shock of 2010 and the Strategic Shift

Tokyo’s race toward mining self-sufficiency didn’t begin today. It has its roots in 2010, when a diplomatic crisis with Beijing bluntly exposed Japanese vulnerability.

After an incident between a Chinese fishing boat and two Japanese coast guard units near the Senkaku Islands, China blocked rare earth exports to Japan for about two months. At the time, Tokyo was dependent on Beijing for more than 90 percent of its imports of these materials. The embargo caused panic across industries, particularly in the automotive sector, and global prices of rare earths increased tenfold within a year.

That crisis represented a strategic shock. Unlike other industrial countries, which viewed the episode as a circumscribed or temporary strain in those years, Tokyo interpreted it as a structural signal. Overdependence on a single supplier, a regional rival to boot, constituted an existential risk for an advanced and highly industrialized economy.

Since then, Japan has radically changed its strategy. The government launched an extraordinary package of measures: investment in technologies to reduce the use of rare earths, development of alternative materials, enhancement of recycling, the acquisition of stakes in mines abroad—particularly in Australia, with support for the Lynas Group—and creation of strategic stockpiles.

As a result of this policy, Japan’s dependence on China has steadily declined. It has reached about 50 percent in recent years, a level that no other country has been able to match. The decisive factor for the strategy’s success was its integrated approach.

Japan has not only sought new suppliers but has also worked simultaneously on multiple fronts. Japanese companies, with government support, have invested in developing magnets that use less dysprosium. At the same time, research programs on alternative materials have been promoted. This aspect is crucial: Reducing dependence means not only changing suppliers but also reducing structural needs.

Inventory, Innovation, and Competitive Advantage

Another key factor, according to analysts, is inventory. The Japanese government has created strategic reserves of rare earths to mitigate any temporary supply disruptions. This seemingly simple choice, however, requires a long-term vision and capital availability that not all countries have been willing or able to mobilize. Stockpiles do not eliminate dependence, but they provide precious time in the event of a shock, allowing industry to adapt without immediate shutdowns.

Added to these elements is a structural characteristic of the Japanese economy: high technological integration. Japan is not only an importer of rare earths, but an advanced player in their transformation into high-value-added components. This expertise has facilitated innovation and reduction in the intensity of use of critical materials. In other words, the ability to do more with less has become a competitive advantage.