Speaker Up for Denmark

Denmark is well-known in audio markets for its brands of high-quality loudspeakers. These companies would be harmed by Trump imposing import tariffs on Danish goods in his mad wish to take possession of Greenland.

The granddaddy of Danish speakers was the now-defunct Dynaco, which also made highly regarded amps. I am the proud owner of a pair of beautiful Dynaco A25 speakers, now over fifty years old.

Dynaco A25 with “Aperiodic” port behind the non-removal grill cloth.

Here are present-day Danish manufacturers of premium loudspeakers that Trump is unknowingly threatening. Bang & Olufsen is a brand, now 100 years old, that you may have heard of before.

Bang & Olufsen
Dynaudio
Dali
Jamo
Buchardt

Also based in Denmark is a leading manufacturer of raw speaker drivers that other companies incorporate into their designs. Its woofers and tweeters were used in the original line of Dynaco speakers.

seas

And, oh yes, let’s not forget Denmark’s Ortofon, my favorite phono cartridge maker. Will Trump follow through on his reckless threat?

Ortofon Super OM 20

I’m Pixelated

My Google Pixel 4a is four years old. Software support ran out something like 18 months ago, but that wasn’t enough to motivate me to get a new phone. Today, this message came in from Google.

Hi Douglas

We wanted to let you know about an upcoming software update for your Pixel 4a that will affect the overall performance and stability of its battery. Pixel phones, like other smartphones, use rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that, over time, may experience performance, capacity, or runtime degradation.

In the coming days, your Pixel 4a will receive an automatic software update to Android 13 that introduces new battery management features to improve the stability of the battery. This update will reduce your battery’s runtime and charging performance.

To address this, we’re providing some options to consider. Please take a look and choose which one works best for you.

More details related to this change are available here. Eligibility criteria and other terms will apply.

Thank you,
Pixel team

Argh. I’ll take the update manually when it becomes available in a couple of days. There’s no point in putting it off. Once I see the effects of the change I can decide what to do. Maybe it just limits charging to 80%. That’s becoming a thing now.

Update: I called up some special 15-digit number from my phone and submitted it to see if I’m eligible for a $100 discount on a new phone from the Google store. If so, I’ll order a Pixel 8a.

From Logitech to Lyrion

Screenshot of Squeezer app for Android
My New Year’s resolution, if that’s what it is, was to give Lyrion a try. It’s the Open Source successor to the discontinued Logitech Media Server.

https://lyrion.org/

The Lyrion project is headed by, and apparently mostly programmed by, Michael Herger, who has done an outstanding job of updating the software.

It’s been fifteen years since I bought a Logitech Squeezebox Radio for the bedroom and installed the music server software on a Windows XP netbook. Later, I acquired a second radio for the kitchen, and a Squeezebox Touch for the living room stereo. I use the SqueezePlay program on several of my Windows systems.

Screenshot of Squeezeplay app for Windows.

Searching this site for references to LMS would reveal instances of frustration, and even desperation, in my efforts to keep the system running after Logitech discontinued the product line. It’s been a long road, and I’m glad I didn’t give up, because thanks to the die-hards it hasn’t ended yet.

After so many years, I wasn’t going to risk replacing my LMS installation with Lyrion until I had tested it on another system to be sure everything works. Indeed it does, and in fact it’s better than LMS in some significant ways, not the least being the user interface. I can continue using the Squeezer controller app on my Android phone, but I’m finding myself preferring the new Web browser interface. As long as the excellent old Logitech hardware continues to hold up, I’m good.

On another tech note, tastewar informs me there’s a gadget with a slight twist on the dograt name, branding it as a voice-activated garage door opener interface!

https://paulwieland.github.io/ratgdo/

This is his New Year’s project. I found this article to see what’s involved with the installation, especially the wiring. Go, tastewar!

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/09/i-home-automated-my-garage-door-finally-with-a-ratgdo/

Taking a Thermometer’s Temperature

Cold weather reduces the power in both lead acid batteries for internal combustion engines and lithium ion batteries for EV’s.

Recently, when I posted this photo of the thermometer outside of the laundry room window, I commented on the apparent need to replace the battery.

Thermometer

Now that the weather has warmed up, I see the low battery indicator is off. So it seems the thermometer’s CR2032 has more life left in it.