I realize I’ve fallen into another cycle of despair over what Donnie Convict and his gang of malevolent idiots are doing to the country. On one hand, what else should one write about? It’s the news of the century, a series of events that will haunt my grandsons for most or all of their lives. On the other hand, life goes on, mostly. Letting Donnie and his minions drive us into despair is a win for the bad guys.

So I’ll try hard to write about something else, anything else. Today it’s Bluetooth 5.3. In 2024 I bought a couple of 1Mii Bluetooth DACs to bring the KY and CA stereo systems into the modern age of wireless streaming. Turns out I didn’t do enough research – they’re good, but they’re not state of the art. Each of them supports Bluetooth 5.1, which is solid, but BT 5.3 has improved audio features that I want. Better audio streaming, lower power consumption, better channel synchronization, longer range. This table is a good summary.

And it turns out that my model iPhone supports BT 5.3, so that end of the connection is as it should be. Soooo, it’s time to upgrade the stereo end of the link. Fortunately, the 1Mii devices aren’t expensive. The ones previously purchased were about $70 each. The new BT 5.3 compatible version is $80, so no big deal.

Who knows, I may not be able to hear the difference between the 5.1 and 5.3 wireless links. We’re at a moment where digital music fidelity often exceeds the ability of the human ear to discern. But I’m an engineer, and better is better.

And one last nod to politics, in the spirit of doing something to push back on the forces of darkness, I donated to Louisville Public Media today. All PBS-adjacent outlets are under attack by DOGE, so donating to them makes sense. Independent public media is likely to turn out to be critical to fighting against The Big Lies that Donnie and his minions constantly toss out there. Supporting LPM just makes sense.