What the PKM? --- Second Brain or Cyber Headache?

Excerpt from Four Talks exhibition at Hirshhorn Museum
of Modern Art, Washington DC [photo B.D. Matt]

 

My agonizing re-appraisal of personal knowledge management (PKM) was prompted by a change of life circumstances combined with upgrade of computer and cellular phone. While I was comfortable with my prior customary operating procedure, I suspected that I was not better exploiting capabilities at my finger tips.  Following the advice of Tiago Forte, I discerned my PKM style(s), what features were important to me, evaluated my prior methods and was open to considering alternatives. Alas, this was not an simple choice. And to complicate matters, social media influencers demonstrating their application of choice often trash talked the alternative.

I was accustomed to using several unconnected software to manage my personal knowledge.  I heavily used Microsoft OneNotes for digital notetaking and some web capture.  For the family digital calendar, I used Google Calendar.  I used various software for word processing, email clients and graphics capture.  Previously, I had not done daily journaling even for memorializing activities.  Circumstances and deficient training certainly caused me to not better utilize the resources.  I did not have a task manager.   However, some things needed to change for me.

After finishing an intense six month IT curriculum, I needed to seriously study for certification while also getting hands on professional experience.  This definitely called for task management, calendars and notes that are mobile but would enhance linkages.   I had sporadically  used The Brain mind mapping,  but I had old versions which were locked to one host.  I knew that new versions could have cloud capabilities and could act as a PKM, but that was a significant yearly expense.  Still, I was willing to try new versions of The Brain but administrative difficulties caused a delay in upgrading.  So I looked to other options for a second brain.  And what a cyber-headache that produced.

Personal Knowledge Management applications seem to be the rage of productive millennials. That market seems to want to do data dumps and have one app to essentially rule all of the data. But popular PKMs use different organizational schemes, such as: hierarchical (The Brain), files and databases (Notions), object based (Capacities), “Electron” (Obsidian), Office adjunct (OneNotes) et ali.  Consequentially, these PKMs seem optimized to different audiences. 

Marketing PKMs also shows the changes in IT.  The major newcomer notetaking apps (Notions, Obsidian and Capacities) are freemium apps, which is free for personal use but subscription for pro features.  Rather than dropping a load of money on advertising and traditional market presence, this shareware is looking to hook personal consumers with shareware and betting that it becomes so essential that their businesses need to subscribe for the premium level.  Apparently, Notions is well position for team collaboration.

Something to consider when choosing PKMs is the level of freedom within an app and the learning/setup curve.    Both Notions and Obsidian start with a blank slate so a user’s experience on the app can be highly personalized and augmented with plug in apps.  The downside of this freedom is that mastering the PKM can be complicated.  Some users gave the impression that they spent significant time getting the aesthetic right (for them) instead of concentrating on knowledge linkage.

Generally, my PKM style is “librarian” with a elements of “student”. My use case will still entail several software applications.  It has been a struggle to get my spouse accustomed to having a joint household calendar (even though I am the one updating it) so it is dubious that I would have buy in for a new system.   Although PKMs do have elements of word processing (although some may  require Markup for text augmentations), it may work for note taking but for me lacks on composition.  Hence I suspect that I will use my traditional office/word processing type software.  

I see great potential using a PKM for personal task management, but it is important that this information is available for “out of pocket” use (but not necessarily for mobile apps). I am gladdened to know several apps that I am evaluating have web based components–but I will need to be mindful about data security and confidentiality for some topics. Most of the PKMs invite vigorous web capture. Experimentation and experience will be instructive.

Generally, I appreciate the freedom to personalize, but surveying Notions and Obsidian, setup and optimization look like a major time suck.  I will try Notions as it is touted for business and team collaboration but also for the IT cert study project.   I find Capacities PKM to be easy for daily journaling and proto-“Rolodex” (still remember those?) management. I hope to try updated versions of TheBrain to discover if Mind Mapping would be a good second brain for PKM productivity. 

A sagacious suggestion from Tiago Forte which I will take to heart is to commit to apps for a month, even if they are the wrong ones --as a little progress (and wisdom) is better than stillborn trials.  So perhaps in a month I will for know which PKMs I should be thankful and those who might are just cyber headache turkies for me. 

Inking Up Black Friday Printer Deals

 Is it time for you to get a new printer?  If so, you may find some good deals through merchants' extended Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.  

Other sites may leak the Black Friday ads or give hyperlinks to specific deals.  Those may be great resources, but it helps to understand the market as well as what you want before rushing off ink up Black Friday printer purchases.

It used to be that bargain hunters would have to camp out all night after their turkey dinners to try to get great  prices to kick off the Christmas shopping season.   But a confluence of circumstances seems  has shifted that business model. 

 Incidents of unruly customers fighting to get door buster deals began to give Black Friday a black eye.  Consequently,  many brick and mortar stores began to extend the "Black Friday" sales throughout November.   While there were no longer the incredible door buster prices, the change offered good deals that weren't the extremely limited adverteasing (sic) come ons. 

In addition, increasing numbers of consumers ditched going to stores and shopping online (and not just on Cyber Monday). 

COVID social distancing certainly did not make hanging out for hours any more attractive.

But before you break out your wallet for these pre-Black Friday deals, a thrifty techie ought to discern:

1.  What features do you want with a printer?
2.   What is your comfortable purchase price point?  
3.   Consider the associated future costs with your selection

A simple choice is with one wants a monochrome or color printer.   Another distinguishing choice is whether one wants just a printer or a multi-function printer which also allows for scanning and copying.  A third determination is whether to get an ink jet or a laser printer. A fourth factor is how you connect devices to the printer.

Many SOHO (Small Office/Home Office) consumers choose an ink jet computer.  It can seem as if companies are giving away their printers as they are so inexpensive.  That's close but not quite true.  Ink Jet Printer manufacturers know that once you buy their product, you are locked into constantly buying replacement ink from them.  Ironically, the replacement cartridges can cost close to the initial purchase price of the ink jet printer.  Part of the reason is that the replacement cartridges have sophisticated components to make the unit work along with the resupplied ink.  But naturally the manufacturers have a captive audience so there is generally not price competition on the replacement ink.

Supposedly, ink jet cartridges can last for a couple of years before the sponge dries out on the cartridge.  Anecdotally,  it seems like consumers not in an enterprise environment have to replace their ink jet cartridges every few months.  

Many ink jets offer color capabilities, so they will have cyan, magenta, yellow and black ink wells or cartridges.  But print heads often won't operate if one color bay runs low, even if you just print monochrome (black).  So weighing how important important color commentary may sway the decision making.

Nowadays, many ink jet printers are all in one, which includes scanning and copying. These can be quite handy features but may be more tech whistles and bells for consumers who just want to print.  Alas, copy and scan functions are not really features on entry level laser printers.  Generally, multi function laser printers are double the price of a bargain laser printer. 

Some companies have tried to make print supply replacements easier.  For Black Friday, HP is pushing six to nine  of free unlimited ink through the HP+ via an InstantInk subscription  As long as you have an internet connection, HP printers are smart enough to deliver more ink to you.  

One can print 10 pages a month for free and you can roll over your unused printed pages.  A printer with cloud computing capabilities brings a metered printing solution with a subscription model to the consumer. Do you want a monthly  charge for printing to be stacked up amongst your bills so as to supposedly never run out of ink (or toner)?

Epson has gone a different way on ink jet printers.  Rather than selling a consumer an inexpensive ink jet which forces you to buy expensive ink cartridges every few month, Epson designed the Eco-Tank system, which allows consumers to refill their cartridges.  

Theoretically, printer ink is not as expensive as the built in cartridges, so if a consumer can refill empty tanks, that SHOULD save them money AND be more enviromentally conscious.  Alas, Eco-Tank printers are currently several times more expensive than the older, wasteful models.  

Prima facia, it does not look like the ink is much cheaper than the regular ink jet cartridges.  And if you are only printing monochromatically with a color ink jet, it seems one still has to buy all of the colors (or temporarily print in grayscale). In the Thrifty Techie's estimation, it is great idea who's time has not yet come. Caveat emptor. 

Laser printers print quickly and allow for duplexing (printing on both sides of the page).  You will initially pay more for a laser printer but generally toner cartridges last a lot longer. It is important, however, to read the fine print to see the print capacity for the starter cartridge as well as the replacement costs.   Amazon features a laser printer from an off brand for under $100 but the starter cartridge only prints 700 pages AND the replacement costs nearly as much as the laser printer but would only be good for another 1600 pages.   

If one is willing to commit to an HP laser printer and is doing a lot of monochromatic printing, it might make sense to take advantage of their Black Friday HP+  six months of free printing, as it allow for up to 1500 pages a month.  Afterwards, that subscription level would cost $25.99.

 However, consider that toner refills from other manufacturers would cost double that price. It is unclear how many laser print copies one can roll over during the HP+ introductory subscription. These were questions beyond the ken of the HP virtual assistant

While there are some prosumer color laser printers, they cost significantly more than a monochromatic laser printer.  Also be aware the eventually one needs to replace the drum on a laser printer, but assuredly it is not as often as switching in replacement ink jet cartridges.

With the proliferation in cloud computing and consumers relying on mobile devices, it is worth considering the importance of wireless connections versus wired hook ups.  Thankfully, we no longer have to deal with clunky and slow parallel port connections.  USB makes it simpler to connect a desktop or a laptop with a printer, often using a USB A to USB B (printer) jack.  However, this isn't possible for printing from a handheld device  such as a cell phone or files stored in the cloud (e.g. Dropbox).  Thus many manufacturers have included wireless connections for printers.

So if  someone need not worry about connecting a wire to a device, why wouldn't one want a wireless printer.   Obviously, printing from a mobile device requires installation of some sort of connection software, which further eats of space on your phone.   Presumably, consumers might get bargain pricing for printers which lack the latest and greatest features such as WiFi or Cloud printing. 

If one is interested in a photo printer, major retailers were not offering pre-Black Friday discounts. But there some of these reasonably priced thermal printers.  But realize that one will have to use special glossy paper that is specific to the manufacturer.  The glossy paper is sold in lots of 25 and it works out to paying  0.50 cents a print   Personally, for the few 4x6" prints that I want to physically have on-hand, I would rather get them printed at the store for   12 cents a copy.  But you do you.

Switching Cellular Services in 2021

 

It’s been over a decade since it has been propitious for me to “go mobile” with cellular services.  My household has remained with Boost Mobile because it offered the most bang for the buck with unlimited talk and texting along with a generous hotspot capability gratis.  The handsets were mostly one generation behind, but they were affordable for replacement, thus obviating the expensive and unsatisfying “phone insurance racket.”

Alas, there have been shifts in the cellular marketplace which prompt a change.  As a thrifty  android aficionado, I regretted that LG decided to leave the cell phone market in July as I owned several iterations of the Stylus.  I had not heard good reviews of the LG Stylo 6 and I hoped that its successor would be worth procuring, but in the US the LG Stylo 7 was not  to be released.  

Boost does offer a Motorola Moto Stylus 5G but it has a higher price point.   I was considering getting a Moto Power, which has most of the features, aside from the stylus and massive built in 128GB RAM, but for less than half the cost.  But handsets are not the only thing in flux.

When T-Mobile merged with Sprint in 2019, federal regulators required the merged company to spin off Sprint’s house MVNO Boost Mobile so that there would be a viable fourth major cell competitor and lessen the likelihood of monopolistic price gouging.  

After some ado, Dish Network acquired Boost Mobile and the feds required T-Mobile to provide seven years of network sharing which would allow Boost could build its own celllular network. Prior to he merger, Boost relied on Sprint’s CDMA old network; however, T-Mobile relies on GSM networks (like much of the world).   Even though the trend amongst cell providers is to create 5G networks, it takes time to transition, especially for Dish’s Boost Mobile as it needs to start from scratch.  

T-Mobile decided to scrap the old CDMA 3G networks.  T-Mobile had sought to decommission the old CDMA network by the end of 2021.  But in pointed T-Mobile press release from  October 21, 2021, it announced that it was delaying the CDMA sunset until March 31, 2022 because its partners had not sufficiently followed through on customer migration to the new network.  Boost Mobile claims the tardy telephone services are post paid and not pre-paid like Boost. 

Despite the network sharing agreement, it requires new SIM cards for Boost’s “Expanded Network” which essentially means switching to 5G capable network.  Some Boost i-Phone customers, may just be able to upgrade their SIM cards.  But for the rest of the low budget customer base, that means new handsets. Although Boost Mobile offered some discounts, they are not remarkable incentives.

Despite being longtime customers, our loyalty is being shaken by provisions when switching from Boost’s “Nationwide Network” (CDMA) to “Extended Network” (a.k.a. GSM towers).  Aside from basically requiring new handsets for Android customers, whenever a retained customer Boosts up to the new network, they must join a new plan.  

Well we have a heritage Family Plan that was grandfathered in at two lines with unlimited talk and text and unlimited (really around 32 GB) data plus 12 GB separate of hotspot data for $80 a month flat (no extra taxes or fees).  It was not clear if two person family plans are available on the “Expanded Network”.  This could mean a $20 “boost” to our bill. 

After several frustrating webchats, a Boost CSR shared a webpage which indicates that a customer can change family plans, which presumably would extend into the new Extended Network.  But this information is contradicted by fine print on Boost’s webpage and frankly many opinions which contradict each other impeaches confidence in this assertion. 

So I considered other carriers.  The major carriers like Verizon, T-mobile and AT&T supposedly have migrated away from iron clad two year contracts with substantial early withdrawal penalties (up to $350).  Instead, this system has been replaced with expensive phones with installment plans over 22 to 36 months, which makes handsets seem so much more affordable, although this is on top of the cost for your phone plan. Taxes needed to be paid up front for the full value of the handset.  Moreover, if a customer switches before the phone is paid off, their contract is only released if the balance is paid off.  On the bright side, at least one can keep the device, but at a high price.

Then I looked at the pre-paids, which are MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operators), which tend to offer good value for money, albeit with some cost cutting.  These savings can derive from not having brick and mortar stores, significantly automating customer contacts, offering older model new phones or encouraging customers to bring their own devices.   Boost is an MVNO which offered curtailed customer service and prior generation devices.  Now that Boost is switching to GSM, it seems that they may be dissuading data driven current customers from remaining to bring in new blood which is interested in inexpensive cellular plans that have less data attached to it.

As this analysis is being written, MetroPCS, a MVNO subsidiary of T-mobile since 2013, has an aggressive pricing plan to lure Boost Mobile and Cricket Wireless customers by offering a $25 a month cellular plan with unlimited talk, text and smartphone data.  This is half the cost of the comparable Boost Mobile plan.  The major difference is that Boost offers a hotspot whereas MetroPCS does not. Plans with hotspots start at $50 with an additional $20 a month surcharge.

To sweeten the deal in switching from Boost or Cricket, MetroPCS offers a free phone, a Samsung Galaxy A32 which on paper has good specs (6.54" screen, 64 GB internal memory, 4 GB ROM, and a 5000 Mah non removable Lith io battery, a quad rear camera with 48/8/5/2MP).  Boost Mobile offers this for $139.  

Frankly, I have my eye on the Motorola Stylus 5G, which has 218GB internal memory but otherwise similar specs for an additional $19.99 with the switch from Boost, whereas Boost Mobile wants $199 for the same handset.

To be fair, Boost is trying to retain customers with the Celero 5G for $49 online if one is invited (actually it rings up at $89.99).  The specs look good but there are some real question marks. Even in pre-order it seems out of stock, yet Boost will immediately charge the customer. Aside from the less discounted price, the manufacturer is not known, so it is buying a pig in a poke (but from my poking around, it’s FCC filings stem from Wingtech, a Hong Kong based company).  If my memory serves correctly, some handset providers from that area had problems with customers’ personal information surreptitious being sent to the Middle Kingdom. No thanks.

Boost Mobile consistently offers contradictory information about those switching to the Extended Network both in stores, on the website and through website chats.  It seems that the emphasis is to sell new handsets, even though the mid and lower priced models are two generations behind competitors, and push their BoostUp program which effectively locks customers in for 18 months.

From a market analysis standpoint, T-mobile through its subsidiary MetroPCS is leveraging its size with loss leaders (such as heavily subsidized handsets and half priced cellular plans) to drive away Boost customers.  This move may deprive DISH Network from having ample capital to build its own 5G network during the remainder of the T-mobile network sharing.  In doing so it may stifle Boost’s nascent attempts to become a fourth major US cell carrier.  

The handsets which MetroPCS has deeply discounted may not be the latest and greatest phones, but they provide plenty of value for money for most customers.  For my desired phone, it would be $180 savings vis-a-vis Boost Mobile website (or $226 via the BoostUp option).  And MetroPCS’s  presumably temporary promotion pricing would save a consumer $720 over two years. 

It is wise to consider what features cellular plan or a handset are crucial when discerning a cellular choice.  My household has prized hotspot tethering because we are often traveling to a place that has no household internet.  That may give Boost an edge.  But there are economic alternatives.  Rather than opt for a pricier plan with MetroPCS, one account could stay with Boost and share the signal while traveling.  There are also cheap prepaid carriers which are al a carte and could be turned on and off when tethering data is needed. There might also be other ways to achieve the occasional objective.   But saving $30 a month for two years is appealing to a thrifty techie.  And good customer service is priceless.  

Mark Zuckerberg = Mr. Data Accumulator?

Mark Zuckerberg, the 33 year old founder and CEO of Facebook, has developed a reputation of being stiff when forced to present himself as a typical corporate executive.

In order to prepare for the ten hours of questioning on Capitol Hill concerning data proliferation and privacy concerns in social media, Zuckerberg was prepped by K Street public relations people to look professional and less robotic.  

 


Alas, that effort was only partially  effective.   Zuckerbook lost his typical grey hoodie for a suit which helped.  But his scripted replies  seemed synthetic and akin to an android.  So much so, wags wondered if Mark Zuckerberg ought to be called Mr. Data Accumulator, an estranged relation of Data from Star Trek The Next Generation.

Diamond and Silk on Social Media Censorship

Prominent conservative voices in social media, such as Diamond and Silk and Dan Bongino, have vociferously voiced outrage that Big Internet has banned them as being unsafe for the social media  community because of their outspoken ideological opinions. This parallels YouTube demonetizing many of Dennis Prager's popular Prager U videos because the conservative views expressed did not sync with the progressive views of their internet overlords. And Twitter is infamous for shadow banning conservatives, even Senator Ted Cruz, without recourse or equal application against outrageous leftist Twits.

Diamond and Silk, who gained fame through their vigorous defense of then Presidential candidate Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign, did not silently take this rough trade from Facebook. On Fox and Friends, Diamond and Silk postulated that Mark Zuckerberg needed to "[S]uck it up, buttercup" and accept diverse viewpoints and freedom of speech on its social network, just as the small Indiana pizzeria would be forced to cater a same-sex wedding despite their religious objections to the ceremony.




Alas, Diamond and Silk have a weak case in a court of law.  Without meandering into the details of RFRA and First Amendment religious liberty, same-sex marriage proponents could point to civil rights legislation which the Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Harris claim a right to dignity for that class.  What protected class can Diamond and Silk rightfully claim against Facebook?

However, in the court of public opinion, Facebook engaging in ideological viewpoint discrimination could be a compelling case for action.  Does MySpace mean anything to Mark Zuckerberg?  That was a social media precursor to Facebook, but when it stopped being cool, it became ghost of itself and a dark web conduit.  Facebook is much bigger and is receiving congressional scrutiny.  Between viewpoint discrimination and revelations of data mining, shareholders should be concerned if Facebook were to become a fraction of its former self.

Facebook has ceased to be a mainly youth oriented site.  Adults may well chafe at having their lives data sold by the social media company.  But for motivated conservatives, this cyber censorship may well have this active demographic find alternatives to speak freely, like on GAB.

Ted Cruz on Social Media Censorship

Mark Zuckerberg on Hate Speech on Facebook