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Jason Piper

@jv8p.bsky.social

320 followers 540 following 1.7K posts

Same mostly harmless tax nerd, cynic & petrolhead; same character-lite handle. Occasional music & cat content.

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Jason Piper @jv8p.bsky.social · 53m

I’m old and probably atypical but yes, nearly all the time. And elder teen daughter does too; avid collector of CDs (when not pinching mine; Appetite for Destruction is a fave, & also Full Moon Fever)

Jason Piper @jv8p.bsky.social · 20h

(tbf, anything with Rob Brydon and Anna Chancellor has to be wotrh a try)

Jason Piper @jv8p.bsky.social · 20h

Especially once you get into the 3d printing scenario - is it a good, or is it a service? And where is the place of supply?

*VAT nerd slinks into the shadows and watches normal human beings find themselves inexorably drawn into the quicksand...*

Jason Piper @jv8p.bsky.social · 21h

Well, I mean if John Major and Edwina Currie...

Ah...

Yup, nope. As you were.

Jason Piper @jv8p.bsky.social · 21h

The first episode felt deliberately "edgy" (like Mozart In The Jungle, another good watch) but it settled into a genuinely enjoyable series.

Jason Piper @jv8p.bsky.social · 21h

You are already lost to us.

(Have always had a really visceral reaction to the whole 'being deliberately dishonest for gain' thing, especially when it causes pain to others)

Jason Piper @jv8p.bsky.social · 21h

Probably quite a different genre, but I really enjoyed "My Lady Jane", which had loads of trails for Season Two. And was cancelled after One.

Y'know, I'm thinking that although my Tobias Smollett obsession may be a bit niche, at least I know what I'm letting myself in for.

Jason Piper @jv8p.bsky.social · 21h

I wish there was a silver bullet, but so often it's down to finding a human being prepared to take responsibility. Which is why we shouldn't just entrust it all to digitalised processes.

Jason Piper @jv8p.bsky.social · 21h

(Doing a piece on circular economy & the impact of the body corporate, limited by share capital, in the new year - and what models might work better for society, as opposed to shareholders.)

Jason Piper @jv8p.bsky.social · 21h

Hmm... looking at the low grade 'product' which ships around the world from low-cost economies via online platforms I wonder if you need to factor "digitalisation" into the globalisation aspect? But definitely something worth thinking about.

Jason Piper @jv8p.bsky.social · 21h

Not to mention OPG (and bits of HMRC)

Jason Piper @jv8p.bsky.social · 21h

In not entirely unrelated news, does anyone know how to build an Ubuntu boot disk that'll work with an HP210x convertible? (I've been trying for a while, but something in the boot menu settings seems to be falling over)

Jason Piper @jv8p.bsky.social · 22h

(Entirely unlike the time my dad bought a works development car that had just been reimported from overseas and didn't have an actual chassis number stamped in where it was supposed to be... still causing twitches, 25 years later)

Jason Piper @jv8p.bsky.social · 22h

Was pleasantly surprised last time I sold a car that betwen DVLA and online banking the whole thing was demonstrably settled in seconds online; no walking to the post-box together to put the relevant bits of the V5C into the system, or demanding banker's drafts instead of cheques.

Jason Piper @jv8p.bsky.social · 22h

Not sure whether to blame HP or MS for my perfectly serviceable 210x suddenly going into bitlocker recovery mode, but I definitely blame MS for the blatant lie that it's not linked to my MS account. Useless thieving shysters.

Jason Piper @jv8p.bsky.social · 1d

I saw a Celestion engineer get perfect hi-fi out of a station tannoy speaker over 30 years ago using software processing in a ZX80 - IIRC it measured the speaker's profile & applied frequency boosts to overcome its shortcomings. Introduced a half second lag back then, but on modern processors...

Jason Piper @jv8p.bsky.social · 1d

Misread it first time round and thought the 12th defendant was listed as self-representing...

Jason Piper @jv8p.bsky.social · 1d

I used to think of "smart" as a synonym for "clever".
These days though it just seems to mean "unable to operate without an internet connection". Which in the case of most household goods, appliances etc is irredeemably stupid.

Jason Piper @jv8p.bsky.social · 1d

So after Cardle (UK) having the car's name on a poster in its window the other day, Unzoomed are now going with "Post a pic where one of the buildings has the city's name painted on its roof in 8' long letters".
*Grits teeth and tries not to do a middle-aged rant about dumbing-down*

Jason Piper @jv8p.bsky.social · 1d

Originally I guess it was about a sort of collaborative cooperative operation, establishing a community. Now many of the platforms appear to be entirely about consumption, with users’ “contributions” limited to like & share. Like watching low grade TV, only with less chat about it at work next day.

Reposted by Jason Piper

Felicity Hannah @felicityhannah.bsky.social · 2d

Looking to talk to a first-time buyer who is overpaying their mortgage - please email [email protected]
Shares gratefully received.

Jason Piper @jv8p.bsky.social · 2d

Are there any cars out there with electric transmission (which is a good idea) that aren't riddled with this sort of software dependency?

Jason Piper @jv8p.bsky.social · 3d

You haven’t changed a bit.

Reposted by Jason Piper

Bouba's Delivery Service @fernmonkey.bsky.social · 4d

My friend Sascha is a professional musician and he's lost a viola bow on the way to Heathrow. Please signal boost to help him get it back.

Lost viola bow on the way from Honor Oak Station to Heathrow Terminal 2. The bow slid from its bow case somewhere along the way, possibly on the train. TFL contacted already.
It weighs 68.2 grams and has got a stamped DODD next to the frog. If any info on this, please pm me.

Jason Piper @jv8p.bsky.social · 5d

That one’s Swiss. Although an Erasmus year in Leuven has given me a taste for the Belgian stuff too…