do digital-audio-converters sound differently based on how much they cost?

the correct answer is that they do not.

you can check stats and specs on dacs. while you may find the odd one that is particularly terrible, mostly in very low end equipment from 40 years ago, the reality is that the specs on dacs have been standardized for decades. the companies don't save money by trying to sell you dacs with low specs, but they may make money by trying to upsell you dacs with specific brand names, or trivial differences.

the reality is that the cheapest dacs on the market in 2026 sound as good as the highest end ones do. there's no difference. it's just marketing, it's not science.

i would actually like to see a stronger attempt by the political left to do outreach to hindus, and make hindu cultural concepts more central to left-wing politics.

i don't see very much appealing in islam or muslim culture. the male supremacy, the religious laws and the authoritarianism are inherently conservative ideologies. islam is foundationally, fundamentally incompatible with liberalism or with socialism. it's a definitionally conservative ideology. there's a reason that muslim democrats are always conservatives. i have a certain cultural affinity with non-practicing jews, but i'm never going to align with male supremacist conservative muslims. islam aligns far better in the north american political spectrum with the christian right than it does with the secular left.

but hinduism shares a common origin with indigenous european paganism and indians and europens share a common cultural history that jews, christians and muslims are distinctly outside of. embracing hinduism in the west could be a type of decolonization from judaism.

i would be far more likely to support a hindu or a buddhist for high office than a muslim or a jew, or a christian, for that matter.

haley stevens is on the ballot tomorrow as a representative of her district, which has a large jewish population. is it possible that she was actually trying to save her seat? does she have internal polling suggesting that the republicans are not just going to win her riding at the senate level but are going to flip her seat? if she does win the seat, could she hold it as an independent?

all of these things are entirely possible.

i'm not making a prediction as to the outcome of the house. it's not because i haven't looked at it, it's because i think it's too difficult to project. this is a very hard problem to solve; it's certainly not as easy as applying national polling over a curve. the models being deployed are very inaccurate. i will tell you that i think it's going to be close. 

it will be amusing if haley stevens does win and el-sayed doesn't, and if the democrats then need haley stevens' vote to get to a majority. oops.

they should have waited a few days before reacting. outright endorsing mike rogers may not have been the best choice for her political career, unless she thinks she can hold her district as an independent, but she might turn out to be right. the democratic party may very well be the one that ends up looking foolish, again.