3 '''Tip:''' as always, start from the bottom and proceed bottom up to keep time flowing in one direction.
7 ==== All Night Long ====
9 At 9PM, I'm still here and plan to stay as long as I can :-)
11 <please link to the song "All Night Long" here>
14 ==== Buried In Work Already ====
16 '''WARNING''': Technical AbraCadabra ahead!
18 Today I met most of the team members and bothered a few of them,
19 starting from DanWilliams who helped me debug a problem with a
20 simple mesh networking scenario involving three laptops.
22 Today I've also been assigned some work from ChrisBall, who also
23 helped me out with many small things such as a dead battery,
24 accessing the serial console, etc. I'm currently adding a
25 KernelDebugger command to display the ModelSpecificRegister's
28 But it seems like I will also refer to RedHat's ChrisBlizzard
29 to be assigned more work. We talked about optimizing the
30 video driver for the AmdGeodeCpu, getting the resistive
31 tablet to work and maybe adding "tapping" support to the
34 As you know, I like it even more when I'm allowed to ramble
35 through a zillion different things like this!
38 ==== Sneaky Preview ====
40 I'm writing this from within the OLPC headquarters. I came today for
41 a second interview and to get a few tasks assigned to me :-)
43 I have no time to be more specific. Will tell you the details a little later.
48 '''TODO''': will tell you later
52 '''TODO''': will tell you later
55 >MUM< creepy mummy virus it's taking control here.... :-) WRITE SOON OR IT/SHE WILL DESTROY EVERYTHING!
56 ==== Quite a Trip ====
58 Today I'm leaving the safe and familiar BostonCity to boldly go where I've
61 The current plan is to drive south to ProvidenceCity, BrdigeportCity, NewYorkCity,
62 PhiladelphiaCity, BaltimoreCity and, finally, WashingtonCity. Maybe I'll even
63 push myself down in FloridaState to go see the SpaceShuttle!
65 I could use a GPS. I've seen a few TomTom's, but $299 seems way too
66 much to me for a talking map. Maybe I'll buy a traditional map for
69 Ah, and I will sleep frugally, of course. Hostels and motels when I find
70 them. So, over the next few days I'll be lucky if I have intermittent
71 Internet access and, consequently, I won't probably be able to sync the
77 '''Babbo''': Ma fino ad oggi con quali danari hai vissuto dato che sei partito con 10€ liquidi?
79 '''Bernie''': Ho prelevato i soldi dall'ATM... con il bancomat delle poste! E vedo dai movimenti
80 sul conto che hanno applicato un buon cambio e nessuna penale strana.
84 Today I finally rent a car. It's a SaturnIon, a brand and model I never heard
87 http://www.edmunds.com/media/seo/500/2006.saturn.ion.jpg
89 I felt very comfortable driving all over Europe: Italy, Swiss, Spain, France,
90 Germany, Belgium, and even Greece... But, for some reason, I was quite afraid
91 of driving a car here in the States.
93 Maybe it's because the road signs are somewhat different and there are a few
94 subtly different rules, such as turning right on red, not parking in front
95 of hydrants, etc. Most probably, it's because I've seen way too many movies
96 where people get stopped by police and thrown in jail quite easily!
98 Well, so far everything went very well. I mean, except for parking. Parking
99 in downtown is easy if you're willing to pay $10-12 for a few hours.
100 It's a big pain in the ass otherwise... The best way I've found so far
101 is to park near a minor T station and then get the T to downtown :-(
103 And, of course, the car has AutomaticTransmission, which I managed to learn
104 quickly: the trouble comes when you switch the other way around ;-)
106 Ok, today I've driven all around Boston just to get used to it. Tomorrow
107 I'll probably dare getting on the highway to see around.
110 ==== Business Visa? ====
112 Today I've re-read detailed information on the
113 available US visa options:
115 http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_1262.html
117 Looks like a ''B-1'' Business Visa would do. To get one,
118 I should go to a US ambassy, and ambassys are usually
119 located abroad. Instead of returning to Italy, maybe
120 I could get an appointment in MontrealCity, which is
121 near to the border and also an interesting place to see.
128 Yesterday I applied for this great service: http://www.zipcar.com/ .
129 Isn't it a good idea? Costs less than renting a car and is almost
132 <rasky> http://www.carsharingfirenze.it/ :)
134 Today I walked to their offices to give them my documents
135 and get the magnetic card. They said they will enable it
136 first thing tomorrow *if* the "insurance risk declaration"
137 I got from Italy suffices.
140 ==== Simple shopping ====
142 Consumers must be very simple minded here. First, most
143 shop names are simply dumb: '''Pay Less''', '''Save-A-Lot''',
144 '''Big Deal''', and so on.
146 ''Sounds very '''meno tasse per tutti''' to me... -- PiroPiro''
148 Second, they try to subtle deceptions such as: "take 2 for $24.xx",
149 and, next to it: "take 3 for $21.xx", Which of course is
150 impossible. It's a trap! The little figures placed
151 exactly where you would expect to see the cents, are
152 indeed a small notice: ''EACH''.
154 Today I bought a dozen of razor blades ($1.50), a
155 bottle of shampoo ($1.50) and shower gel ($1.50).
156 But I spent $12 for adjusting the two pair of
157 trousers I had bought a few days ago in the mall!
158 $12 ''EACH'', I mean.
161 ==== Bad Neighborhood ====
163 Walking home alone in the night, I may encounter some ''bad'' guys:
165 http://bender.codewiz.org/wikidata/text/FunWithWeapons.jpg
167 Better be careful :-)
172 ==== Veni, Vidi, ???? ====
174 This morning I shown up at OneLaptopPerChild's headquarters. It's again next to KendallSquare,
175 in OneCambridgeCenter.
177 JimGettys was very kind: he took me to LegalSeaFood for lunch, repaired my ExOh's keyboard (two
178 keys were dead) and introduced me to the team members.
180 They left me with the usual Hollywood formula: "don't call us, we'll call you".
181 But in this particular case, I felt they were sincere :-)
183 I hope to be soon a member of the OLPC core team!
188 ==== Alea Iacta Est ====
190 As promised... Yes, indeed. Everybody please cross their fingers.
192 Babbo:Pregherò perchè tu possa ottenere quello che cerchi.
194 Camy: Mannaggia a voi due ( Bernie e Alberto ) siete cosi..."teneri". Come ho già detto tante volte a Bernie, è fortunato ad avere un babbo cosi! Lo so, lo so che non c'entra nulla con lo stile di questo blog, ma io sono cosi, impulsiva e Bernie lo sa e mi perdonerà.
195 A dire il vero anch'io sto in ansia per lui :-) speriamo bene...
197 Bernie: Via, non fatemi venire il magone voi due :-)
201 ==== International Dinner ====
203 FedericoLucifredi and his wife Irena were so kind to invite me at their place for a
204 fine dinner with appetizers, SirloinSteak (see pic below), several side
205 dishes and... Even a PinotNoir!
207 http://www.fairburysteaks.com/images/bci-sirloin-round-bone.gif
209 There were also Mauro -- Federico's colleague at Ximian -- and Irena's
210 friend who's a physics professor from Providence and could speak perfect
211 French and, surprisingly, even Italian!
213 What can I say? I think I got a pound or two that night, but it was
221 There's a cinema in building 26 @ EmAiTee, and it's cheap.
226 If you're curious, my room rent is $500 per month. Utilities,
227 forniture and DSL Internet access are included.
229 It's not cheap, but it's also not too expensive for Boston.
230 They told me that only Manhattan is more expensive here on
233 ==== CurriculumVitae ====
235 ...is almost ready. A friend told me that I'd better have
236 also a synthetic resume of 1-2 pages for the impatient.
239 Well, I said I'd be finished by last Monday, but then I
240 managed to slip past my own deadline visiting NewYorkCity,
241 moving in my current room and in other frivolous ways.
243 Now I have no excuses: the time has come. Next Monday I
244 ''will'' write my proposal. Seriously.
248 ==== Exchange Rates ====
250 Looks like I'd better convert all my money to dollars *now*:
252 http://www.x-rates.com/d/USD/EUR/graph30.html
254 What do you think about it?
256 Babbo:penso che $ continuerà a svalutare. Perderai soldi.
258 ==== StataCenter ====
260 I forgot to tell you about the kewlest building in EmAiTee:
262 http://www.eecs.mit.edu/images/big-stata12.jpg
264 See also: http://www.eecs.mit.edu/stata-link.html
268 After a long time, I finally get to (ab)use MIT's wi-fi and
269 barf my short-term brain buffer into my BrainDump.
271 Tonight we went to an Irish pub next to Kendall, where I got
272 to know a few more Ximian employees. I got rumors that
273 the famous kernel hacker RobertLove would be there, so after
274 a while I turned to the guy next to me and asked: "Is
275 RobertLove really going to come?". And he replied: "Speaking."
277 Another guy told me: "Hi, I'm BAHB". "Pardon?". "BAHB!".
278 "What???". Federico promptly helped me out: "Ha detto che si
281 The beer was good. I discovered that a BlueMoon is the
282 nearest approximation of a WeisseBeer I can find here,
283 and I'm not at all displeased by its taste.
287 My landlord has recently switched DSL provider and Internet
288 doesn't work any more: the sync light on the modem flashes.
289 It seems that crappy ISPs are a common disease in the States
292 Yesterday, he called for service and, finally, they told him
293 they would send a tech today from 8AM to 18PM. They refused
294 to be more specific. And so I've agreed to wait here to let
295 the guy in... I care about it for myself too!
299 By the way, today I'm exactly 150 pounds (use GoogleCalculator
300 to get it to SI units).
302 150 pounds = 68.0388555 kilograms
308 They told me Roxbury is quite an infamous suburb of Boston.
309 And my first impression confirms that: shops are uglier,
310 parks and streets are somewhat dirtier (but not as much as
311 in NewYorkCity!) and, most importantly, some of the neighbors
312 look creepy. Especially in the night, streets are crowded by
313 people with criminal faces and many homeless.
315 You know I'm not the type who's easily scared off by a bunch
316 of zombies, but I'll feel much better when I'll drive a car.
320 I've finally settled in my room. There's no need to describe the house
321 in detail, as it's the most typical colonial design: two floors plus
322 basement, front and back yards, sliding windows, wooden floors
323 everywhere. You've come to know them very well from the movies.
325 Today I went to the mall to gather the essentials: a blankets,
326 a pillow case and some bath towels. The bed is comfortable and
327 I was quite tired already, therefore I fell asleep early in the
328 evening and kept on until 8 AM.
330 '''WARNING: TIME WARP OCCURRED'''
334 '''WARNING: TIME WARP IMMINENT'''
338 Alberto: Attento a convertire € in $ perchè € si sta apprezzando,e quindi $ svalutando rispetto a €.
340 Belle le foto scovate da Massimo. Have a good stay in Btn.
342 Massimo: Bernie, you taught me: http://www.google.com/search?q=100+USD+in+EUR
345 Massimo: Since Bernie could not give us any picture, I had to use flickr: here they are!
347 http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=bernardo+innocenti
349 Piro: what in the heaven is RMS doing dressed like a camp tent? :D
353 ==== BankOfAmerica ====
355 I went to BankOfAmerica and opened a bank account. I went there wearing a yellow T-shirt
356 and a weary pair of jeans. In the beginning, they referred me to a young guy who quickly
357 tried to offer me a student's saving account. When I queried for interest rates, credit
358 cards, and dollar/euro conversion rates, they finally realized that I was going to move
361 When I've shown them my balance, they immediately switched me to a very polite girl who
362 took all the time to explain me everything in detail until after their closing time and
363 recommended me to open *3* different accounts to get a rate of 4.80% with no fees!
364 I totally hate when people judge you by your wealth, dressing, or other stupid status
365 symbols, but maybe a bank is the only exception where it makes sense to do so.
367 Banking appears to be far, far simpler here. I already feel like I know
368 everything while in Italy I still can't read most of the paperwork I get from
371 Batt: Or maybe american bankers are so skilled that you are happy while, in truth, they have stolen your money forever :-P
373 Massimo: Yahr yahr! He didn't realize they already got 4.80% of his balance from his pocket with a magician move! Yahr yahr! Anyway... 4-5% rate is not absurd in the US. It has always been almost like this as far as I can remember (maybe sometimes it was even 6-7%). It's useful for someone (like bernie), but tragic for someone who does not have any money and to buy a house with those mortgages it's almost impossible. Still, the US has got a very low rate in comparison with other extra-european countries.
377 ==== Good News, Everyone! ====
379 '''After a long struggling, I've finally found a room!'''
381 And I'll be moving in *today*! But I'm writing on Thursday the 3rd, actually (aren't you thinking fourth-dimentionally yet?).
383 The room is nice and comes with some forniture, including a desk. It's on the second floor
384 of a house where the landlord lives with her wife and a very friendly puppy.I like it
385 that way: all those houses shared by students I've seen so far tend to become unmaintained
386 and dirty quite quickly, while this one is a real house with a fully operational kitchen,
387 bathroom and even a clean back garden!
389 My landlord is Armenian, but have been living here in Boston for a long time. My first
390 impression is he's a very nice person, honest and easy going. I haven't met his wife yet --
391 she'll be back on Sunday.
393 I'm afraid the house is a bit far away from MIT, in southern Boston. But that won't
394 be a problem as soon as I buy a car. There may even be a chance to rent or buy the
395 car readily from my landlord's son.
397 I don't know the address yet. I should, but I forgot the sheet on the table when I went there. And I can't call my landlord either because I've stolen his cell phone by mistake also. Yeah, I reckon I mustn't a good impression, actually :-)
400 '''Camy''': the landlord lives with '''his''' wife
402 ==== Do You Speak English? ====
404 Some of you will be pissed off by this change, but I'm starting to make
405 some international friends here and none of them could read Italian.
407 Writing in English is also what I need to improve my writing skills.
408 For the few of you who barely know English, some more reading surely won't hurt!
410 [[http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fbender.codewiz.org%2Fwiki%2FMayBlog&langpair=en%7Cit=en Google Translator]]
413 As always, I'd very much appreciate being told about any mistake I make.
415 ''Massimo: ok, let's start with those horrible contractions my poor eyes had to read: '''Won't''' and '''I'd'''. Hey Bernie! You already went back home from NYC. Ain't gonna play with ya 'nymore!''