Last Sunday, my computer’s external speaker made a loud pop and died. That’s the third electronic device to break down on me in just a few days. I’m telling myself to take it as a sign that losing a bit of money is warding off worse luck.

Instead of buying a replacement speaker of a similar size, I paired up two tiny iPhone Bluetooth speakers I already had to do the job. Once connected, they even automatically set themselves up as a stereo pair.