1 The story continues in [[April2008Blog]].
9 Today Rasky suggested that we could use an RSS feed to notify
10 about new articles in the blog.
12 I wanted to fulfill the same purpose, but with a totally
13 different approach: use git-send-email to notify a mailing-list
14 and tell people: "hey, just subscribe to the list!".
16 My version is surely too complicated because it employs
17 a chain of 4 different programs (pikiwiki -> git -> git-mail -> mailman).
18 But I like that it can be done without even touching the wiki
21 A middle-ground solution could be using gitweb's own
24 http://bender.codewiz.org/wikigit/wiki.git?a=rss
26 But as Rasky notes, this would send notifications
27 also for minor edits: real blog apps would only
28 bother you for new articles.
30 So, maybe we should filter only changesets that
31 contain a new level 3 header... Hmmm... This
32 can't be done with gitweb, I'm afraid.
34 We live in an era where we can make very cool
35 things with very little effort. I could hack
36 this versioned wiki engine in just 2-3 days
37 because I could pick the existing PikiPiki and
38 combine it with the existing Git versioning
41 This brings me to the point: the really hard thing
42 in software design is choosing the right ingredients
43 for your sausage. Because there are many ways to
44 bake a pizza, but only a few of them have the
45 quality of being tasty, healty, dietetic, cheap
46 or whatever. And usually, even a good design...
47 err... receipe requires you to choose a few of
48 these qualities you care more.
50 '''Q''': What do you think is the most elegant way to
51 obtain useful notification from this blog?
53 You can choose whatever technology to deliver some
54 kind of "notification". You can also use any
55 sensible definition of the words "useful" and "elegant".
60 Today I typed ##cvs up -dP## to update Gnash from CVS.
61 And I got the prompt back in less than 1s.
63 "Something must be broken!", I thought! In fact, it's
64 blazingly fast because we're just 2ms away from Savannah:
67 PING cvs.savannah.gnu.org (199.232.41.69) 56(84) bytes of data.
68 64 bytes from cvs.savannah.gnu.org (199.232.41.69): icmp_seq=1 ttl=58 time=2.31 ms
69 64 bytes from cvs.savannah.gnu.org (199.232.41.69): icmp_seq=2 ttl=58 time=2.21 ms
70 64 bytes from cvs.savannah.gnu.org (199.232.41.69): icmp_seq=3 ttl=58 time=2.00 ms
73 And it's not even in MIT:
76 traceroute to cvs.savannah.gnu.org (199.232.41.69), 30 hops max, 40 byte packets
77 1 passport-9-16.media.mit.edu (18.85.46.1) 1.756 ms 1.695 ms 1.845 ms
78 2 amtgw.media.mit.edu (18.85.0.1) 2.230 ms 1.248 ms 1.150 ms
79 3 EXTERNAL-RTR-1-BACKBONE.MIT.EDU (18.168.0.18) 1.409 ms 1.435 ms 1.374 ms
80 4 EXTERNAL-RTR-2-BACKBONE.MIT.EDU (18.168.0.27) 1.391 ms 1.389 ms 1.426 ms
81 5 207.210.143.109 (207.210.143.109) 1.428 ms 1.505 ms 1.414 ms
82 6 207.210.143.138 (207.210.143.138) 12.756 ms 2.162 ms 1.998 ms
83 7 ge-2-1-0-000.ar1.qcy1.ma.gnaps.NET (199.232.44.142) 4.879 ms 2.592 ms 2.485 ms
84 8 cvs.savannah.gnu.org (199.232.41.69) 2.713 ms 7.476 ms 13.328 ms
87 Boston sure has a very fast WAN backbone!
92 Ciao Berni!!! Te tu sei un grande, qui dalla OTE ti si saluta con affetto!!!
94 Grazie ragazzi! Il sentimento e' reciproco! Uno di questi giorni
95 dovete proprio venire a bere una birra qua a Boston!
97 ==== More Graphics Headaches ====
99 Hehe, more graphics problems keep sprinkling: XorgGraphicsCorruption.
100 CosmicPenguin was kind enough to offload me of the graphics related bugs.
107 And if you really have too much time on your hands, try helping me out on some of
111 * http://dev.laptop.org/query?status=new&status=assigned&status=reopened&status=closed&owner=bernie&order=priority
114 ==== Weekly OLPC Reports ====
116 If you're interested in our progess at the OLPC lab, we
117 publish weekly executive summaries here:
119 http://laptop.media.mit.edu/laptopnews.nsf/latest/news
121 This is the report that mentions me volunteering for
124 http://laptop.media.mit.edu/laptopnews.nsf/2e76a5a80bc36cbf85256cd700545fa5/6709ac0696003ee3852572e00083567f?OpenDocument
131 In this episode of the popular American show SixtyMinutes,
132 our founder NicholasNegroponte reveals a lot of details
133 about the humanitarian role of the OneLaptopPerChild project:
135 http://bender.codewiz.org/wikidata/60_minutes_2007-05-20.avi
137 The part about us starts approximately at 1/3 of the show.
139 You may also find the last part interesting as it specifically
140 addresses the controversial problem of private medical centers
141 trying to save on assistance to homeless people. Marco, you
145 ==== GreenishBitmaps ====
147 '''Warning''': This article is rated PG0xF00F, parents discretion *not* advised.
149 I've been struggling for the last few days on a the damn X server.
151 In the RedHat builds, we're still using a pre-release of 1.2,
152 labelled 1.1.99. Now, we need to leverage some upstream work
153 for input rotation that is landing on the Xorg tree right now.
155 Backporting is not an option, and we want to stay up to date
156 anyway. We'll soon be moving to Fedora 7 anyway. But even
157 the just-released 1.3 that will be in Fedora 7 is not enough,
158 because it has been branched some time ago, we must work
159 from the tip of the git tree, which of course has become
160 very unstable recently.
162 I've been fighting all the week against all sort of bugs
163 and build problems and, believe me, it's a very energy
166 The funniest thing I'm still trying to track are
167 these GreenishBitmaps that nobody else except me
170 It's probably a miscompilation of some kind, but I've
171 long ago ran out of obvious and less obvious ideas to try
172 and I'm now far in the land of impossible things.
174 All this time I've been in contact with a few X
175 hackers on IRC, including the author of the AMD
176 driver, but even them couldn't come up with a
184 '''Bernie''': Hello Easy!!! It's good to be chatting here in the blog!
186 I saw this two photo some row below...
188 But all those OLPC at the roof, what doing?? Only for furnishing or for specific utility?? :)
190 '''Bernie''': Hehe... they're part of the WirelessMesh, for testing
191 purposes. An hispanic guy called Miguel (not the same of De Icaza)
192 sometimes fiddles with them. He's lucky because he's very tall.
193 I'd need a ladder :-)
195 The office is very beautiful and the Apple Cinema Display is really very big...
197 '''Bernie''': Yeah, that's the personal screen of my boss/team-leader ChrisBall.
198 It's 30". One day or another I'll bring here my 24" wide-screen from home.
200 Do you have some new news about your new work??
202 '''Bernie''': Sorry for not updating the blog... I've been *extremely*
203 busy. I will do it shortly... Promised.
207 ==== Trip to work ====
209 I still couldn't solve the problem of getting to work
210 quickly. I can't afford to waste over 2 hours every
213 By now, I've tried any possible solution:
215 * Car: the office doesn't have a parking lot and there's
216 no way to park within one mile from KendalSquare for less
217 than $18/day. Monthly fees start from $250.
219 * Bus: I need to commute in Dudley and take line no. 1 to
220 MassachusettsAvenue, then walk 15 minutes to KendalSquare.
222 * Bus + subway combo: The red line would get me directly
223 to KendalSquare, and there are several routes to get there,
224 but all of them require commuting at least twice. The
225 monthly link pass costs $75.
227 * Car + subway combo: there are some cheap parkings next
228 to the terminal subway stations where you can leave your
229 car for $5/day. Unfortunately, to get there I must
230 travel in the opposite direction. And the whole thing
231 will cost $75 + $5*30, about the same of the monthly
234 * Taxi: Costs $11-$14 * 2 every day, which makes the
235 monthly parking cheap in comparison.
237 And even worse, the red line stops running at midnight
238 and bus no 1 at 1AM. Which forces me to leave from
239 the office very early (for my standards).
241 If you want to play with the possibilities, I just
242 discovered that the transportation company has a very cool
243 web service that would have saved me a lot of time:
246 http://www.mbta.com/rider_tools/trip_planner/default.asp
247 From: 66 Maywood st., Roxbury MA
248 To: Kendall/mit Station, Cambridge
251 At the end of the day, the ultimate solution is moving
252 closer to the office or at least close to the red line.
253 Maybe I could afford to spend $600 for a room, but I
254 don't feel like moving right now. I already have enough
257 ''Have you considered to put a bicycle in your combo? You may replace a 10 km walk with it and open up new combinations (and ways to get wet...) -- PiroPiro''
259 ==== Awful Weather ====
261 Today it's raining lightly. Yesterday I took an extra shower
264 The WikiPedia was definitely right: weather in Boston can
265 change very rapidly. Must remember to buy a raincoat like
266 RichardStallman's and keep it in my backpack.
272 1. Get employed at OLPC
277 Just joking, but the truth is that I still need
278 to face a lot of new challenges now.
280 My next problem will be improving my communication skills.
281 After one month of full immersion, I can still barely
282 understand people talking quickly to each and I clearly
283 express myself using an inadequately poor vocabulary and
284 too slowly in some cases.
286 These things will improve over time, while my strong
287 Italian inflection is likely to remain forever. If
288 only I could find one, I'd attend to a course to
289 correct my diction now. Actors do them.
291 Another crucial problem I need to solve quickly is
292 getting a visa that allows me to work here permanently.
293 There are many possibilities, but none guaranteed to
294 succeed. For now, I'm not thinking about it: my
295 employer knows better than me and will help as much
298 Last but not least, my job is not easy and requires a
299 good amount of commitment. All my colleagues are extremely
300 smart and more experienced than I am. So I need to work
301 twice as hard to keep up with them.
303 A very nice workplace and very interesting assignments helps.
304 And, most importantly, I know that what we're doing here is
305 going to have a huge impact on the world.
307 '''Andrea Grandi''': Your words give me no hopes for my future :(
309 '''Bernie''': Are you planning to come here? Cool! :D
311 > All my colleagues are extremely smart and more experienced than I am
313 More than you? It's not a place for me then :D
315 '''Bernie''': It's worth trying even if you currently think you're
316 not up to the job. It's a very valuable experience even if you
317 end up returning to your home country for some reason.
319 '''Rasky''': But can you get a perm visa even without an university
320 degree? I thought that was absolutely out of question... I knew that
321 people without a degree could just get some 1-year temp visa.
328 Here are some more pics of MyOlpcDesk.
332 ==== Office Space =====
334 Here are a few pictures of the OlpcOffice!
336 ==== Hack Hack Hack ====
338 I've been assigned a problem with an invalid serial port baud
339 rate after resume from software suspend.
341 I started investigating the hard way, until ChrisBall pointed
342 me on IRC to talk with the KernelHacker DavidWoodhouse, who
343 obviously had a solution in a few seconds. Unfortunately,
344 it didn't work as we expected and MitchBradley of OpenFirmware
345 joined the conversation to help.
347 Having all the subsystem gurus available to fix your bugs makes
348 things a lot easier... Hehe, I think I like it ;-)
350 And so tomorrow I'll get back to work on a MandelBug with the Xorg's
351 driver for the AMD chipset. When XVIDEO is enabled and you
352 rotate the display with XRANDR, sometimes the X server crashes,
353 sometimes it just hangs and sometimes it survives with a corrupted
354 display. And the bad news is that gdb also hangs.
356 How will I fix this? Easy: I'll go looking for the driver authors
357 first thing tomorrow and beg them to send me a fix :-)
359 By the way, lately I've been hanging regularly in #olpc on FreeNode.
360 My nick is _bernie. Come over to see what's going on!
365 ==== All Night Long ====
367 At 9PM, I'm still here and plan to stay as long as I can :-)
369 <please link to the song "All Night Long" here>
372 ==== Buried In Work Already ====
374 '''WARNING''': Technical AbraCadabra ahead!
376 Today I met most of the team members and bothered a few of them,
377 starting from DanWilliams who helped me debug a problem with a
378 simple mesh networking scenario involving three laptops.
380 Today I've also been assigned some work from ChrisBall, who also
381 helped me out with many small things such as a dead battery,
382 accessing the serial console, etc. I'm currently adding a
383 KernelDebugger command to display the ModelSpecificRegister's
386 But it seems like I will also refer to RedHat's ChrisBlizzard
387 to be assigned more work. We talked about optimizing the
388 video driver for the AmdGeodeCpu, getting the resistive
389 tablet to work and maybe adding "tapping" support to the
392 As you know, I like it even more when I'm allowed to ramble
393 through a zillion different things like this!
396 ==== Sneaky Preview ====
398 I'm writing this from within the OLPC headquarters. I came today for
399 a second interview and to get a few tasks assigned to me :-)
401 I have no time to be more specific. Will tell you the details a little later.
406 '''TODO''': will tell you later
410 '''TODO''': will tell you later
413 >MUM< creepy mummy virus it's taking control here.... :-) WRITE SOON OR IT/SHE WILL DESTROY EVERYTHING!
414 ==== Quite a Trip ====
416 Today I'm leaving the safe and familiar BostonCity to boldly go where I've
419 The current plan is to drive south to ProvidenceCity, BrdigeportCity, NewYorkCity,
420 PhiladelphiaCity, BaltimoreCity and, finally, WashingtonCity. Maybe I'll even
421 push myself down in FloridaState to go see the SpaceShuttle!
423 I could use a GPS. I've seen a few TomTom's, but $299 seems way too
424 much to me for a talking map. Maybe I'll buy a traditional map for
427 Ah, and I will sleep frugally, of course. Hostels and motels when I find
428 them. So, over the next few days I'll be lucky if I have intermittent
429 Internet access and, consequently, I won't probably be able to sync the
435 '''Babbo''': Ma fino ad oggi con quali danari hai vissuto dato che sei partito con 10€ liquidi?
437 '''Bernie''': Ho prelevato i soldi dall'ATM... con il bancomat delle poste! E vedo dai movimenti
438 sul conto che hanno applicato un buon cambio e nessuna penale strana.
442 Today I finally rent a car. It's a SaturnIon, a brand and model I never heard
445 http://www.edmunds.com/media/seo/500/2006.saturn.ion.jpg
447 I felt very comfortable driving all over Europe: Italy, Swiss, Spain, France,
448 Germany, Belgium, and even Greece... But, for some reason, I was quite afraid
449 of driving a car here in the States.
451 Maybe it's because the road signs are somewhat different and there are a few
452 subtly different rules, such as turning right on red, not parking in front
453 of hydrants, etc. Most probably, it's because I've seen way too many movies
454 where people get stopped by police and thrown in jail quite easily!
456 Well, so far everything went very well. I mean, except for parking. Parking
457 in downtown is easy if you're willing to pay $10-12 for a few hours.
458 It's a big pain in the ass otherwise... The best way I've found so far
459 is to park near a minor T station and then get the T to downtown :-(
461 And, of course, the car has AutomaticTransmission, which I managed to learn
462 quickly: the trouble comes when you switch the other way around ;-)
464 Ok, today I've driven all around Boston just to get used to it. Tomorrow
465 I'll probably dare getting on the highway to see around.
468 ==== Business Visa? ====
470 Today I've re-read detailed information on the
471 available US visa options:
473 http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_1262.html
475 Looks like a ''B-1'' Business Visa would do. To get one,
476 I should go to a US ambassy, and ambassys are usually
477 located abroad. Instead of returning to Italy, maybe
478 I could get an appointment in MontrealCity, which is
479 near to the border and also an interesting place to see.
486 Yesterday I applied for this great service: http://www.zipcar.com/ .
487 Isn't it a good idea? Costs less than renting a car and is almost
490 <rasky> http://www.carsharingfirenze.it/ :)
492 Today I walked to their offices to give them my documents
493 and get the magnetic card. They said they will enable it
494 first thing tomorrow *if* the "insurance risk declaration"
495 I got from Italy suffices.
498 ==== Simple shopping ====
500 Consumers must be very simple minded here. First, most
501 shop names are simply dumb: '''Pay Less''', '''Save-A-Lot''',
502 '''Big Deal''', and so on.
504 ''Sounds very '''meno tasse per tutti''' to me... -- PiroPiro''
506 Second, they try to subtle deceptions such as: "take 2 for $24.xx",
507 and, next to it: "take 3 for $21.xx", Which of course is
508 impossible. It's a trap! The little figures placed
509 exactly where you would expect to see the cents, are
510 indeed a small notice: ''EACH''.
512 Today I bought a dozen of razor blades ($1.50), a
513 bottle of shampoo ($1.50) and shower gel ($1.50).
514 But I spent $12 for adjusting the two pair of
515 trousers I had bought a few days ago in the mall!
516 $12 ''EACH'', I mean.
519 ==== Bad Neighborhood ====
521 Walking home alone in the night, I may encounter some ''bad'' guys:
523 http://bender.codewiz.org/FunWithWeapons.jpg
525 Better be careful :-)
530 ==== Veni, Vidi, ???? ====
532 This morning I shown up at OneLaptopPerChild's headquarters. It's again next to KendallSquare,
533 in OneCambridgeCenter.
535 JimGettys was very kind: he took me to LegalSeaFood for lunch, repaired my ExOh's keyboard (two
536 keys were dead) and introduced me to the team members.
538 They left me with the usual Hollywood formula: "don't call us, we'll call you".
539 But in this particular case, I felt they were sincere :-)
541 I hope to be soon a member of the OLPC core team!
546 ==== Alea Iacta Est ====
548 As promised... Yes, indeed. Everybody please cross their fingers.
550 Babbo:Pregherò perchè tu possa ottenere quello che cerchi.
552 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.
553 A dire il vero anch'io sto in ansia per lui :-) speriamo bene...
555 Bernie: Via, non fatemi venire il magone voi due :-)
559 ==== International Dinner ====
561 FedericoLucifredi and his wife Irena were so kind to invite me at their place for a
562 fine dinner with appetizers, SirloinSteak (see pic below), several side
563 dishes and... Even a PinotNoir!
565 http://www.fairburysteaks.com/images/bci-sirloin-round-bone.gif
567 There were also Mauro -- Federico's colleague at Ximian -- and Irena's
568 friend who's a physics professor from Providence and could speak perfect
569 French and, surprisingly, even Italian!
571 What can I say? I think I got a pound or two that night, but it was
579 There's a cinema in building 26 @ EmAiTee, and it's cheap.
584 If you're curious, my room rent is $500 per month. Utilities,
585 forniture and DSL Internet access are included.
587 It's not cheap, but it's also not too expensive for Boston.
588 They told me that only Manhattan is more expensive here on
591 ==== CurriculumVitae ====
593 ...is almost ready. A friend told me that I'd better have
594 also a synthetic resume of 1-2 pages for the impatient.
597 Well, I said I'd be finished by last Monday, but then I
598 managed to slip past my own deadline visiting NewYorkCity,
599 moving in my current room and in other frivolous ways.
601 Now I have no excuses: the time has come. Next Monday I
602 ''will'' write my proposal. Seriously.
606 ==== Exchange Rates ====
608 Looks like I'd better convert all my money to dollars *now*:
610 http://www.x-rates.com/d/USD/EUR/graph30.html
612 What do you think about it?
614 Babbo:penso che $ continuerà a svalutare. Perderai soldi.
616 ==== StataCenter ====
618 I forgot to tell you about the kewlest building in EmAiTee:
620 http://www.eecs.mit.edu/images/big-stata12.jpg
622 See also: http://www.eecs.mit.edu/stata-link.html
626 After a long time, I finally get to (ab)use MIT's wi-fi and
627 barf my short-term brain buffer into my BrainDump.
629 Tonight we went to an Irish pub next to Kendall, where I got
630 to know a few more Ximian employees. I got rumors that
631 the famous kernel hacker RobertLove would be there, so after
632 a while I turned to the guy next to me and asked: "Is
633 RobertLove really going to come?". And he replied: "Speaking."
635 Another guy told me: "Hi, I'm BAHB". "Pardon?". "BAHB!".
636 "What???". Federico promptly helped me out: "Ha detto che si
639 The beer was good. I discovered that a BlueMoon is the
640 nearest approximation of a WeisseBeer I can find here,
641 and I'm not at all displeased by its taste.
645 My landlord has recently switched DSL provider and Internet
646 doesn't work any more: the sync light on the modem flashes.
647 It seems that crappy ISPs are a common disease in the States
650 Yesterday, he called for service and, finally, they told him
651 they would send a tech today from 8AM to 18PM. They refused
652 to be more specific. And so I've agreed to wait here to let
653 the guy in... I care about it for myself too!
657 By the way, today I'm exactly 150 pounds (use GoogleCalculator
658 to get it to SI units).
660 150 pounds = 68.0388555 kilograms
666 They told me Roxbury is quite an infamous suburb of Boston.
667 And my first impression confirms that: shops are uglier,
668 parks and streets are somewhat dirtier (but not as much as
669 in NewYorkCity!) and, most importantly, some of the neighbors
670 look creepy. Especially in the night, streets are crowded by
671 people with criminal faces and many homeless.
673 You know I'm not the type who's easily scared off by a bunch
674 of zombies, but I'll feel much better when I'll drive a car.
678 I've finally settled in my room. There's no need to describe the house
679 in detail, as it's the most typical colonial design: two floors plus
680 basement, front and back yards, sliding windows, wooden floors
681 everywhere. You've come to know them very well from the movies.
683 Today I went to the mall to gather the essentials: a blankets,
684 a pillow case and some bath towels. The bed is comfortable and
685 I was quite tired already, therefore I fell asleep early in the
686 evening and kept on until 8 AM.
688 '''WARNING: TIME WARP OCCURRED'''
692 '''WARNING: TIME WARP IMMINENT'''
696 Alberto: Attento a convertire € in $ perchè € si sta apprezzando,e quindi $ svalutando rispetto a €.
698 Belle le foto scovate da Massimo. Have a good stay in Btn.
700 Massimo: Bernie, you taught me: http://www.google.com/search?q=100+USD+in+EUR
703 Massimo: Since Bernie could not give us any picture, I had to use flickr: here they are!
705 http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=bernardo+innocenti
707 Piro: what in the heaven is RMS doing dressed like a camp tent? :D
711 ==== BankOfAmerica ====
713 I went to BankOfAmerica and opened a bank account. I went there wearing a yellow T-shirt
714 and a weary pair of jeans. In the beginning, they referred me to a young guy who quickly
715 tried to offer me a student's saving account. When I queried for interest rates, credit
716 cards, and dollar/euro conversion rates, they finally realized that I was going to move
719 When I've shown them my balance, they immediately switched me to a very polite girl who
720 took all the time to explain me everything in detail until after their closing time and
721 recommended me to open *3* different accounts to get a rate of 4.80% with no fees!
722 I totally hate when people judge you by your wealth, dressing, or other stupid status
723 symbols, but maybe a bank is the only exception where it makes sense to do so.
725 Banking appears to be far, far simpler here. I already feel like I know
726 everything while in Italy I still can't read most of the paperwork I get from
729 Batt: Or maybe american bankers are so skilled that you are happy while, in truth, they have stolen your money forever :-P
731 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.
735 ==== Good News, Everyone! ====
737 '''After a long struggling, I've finally found a room!'''
739 And I'll be moving in *today*! But I'm writing on Thursday the 3rd, actually (aren't you thinking fourth-dimentionally yet?).
741 The room is nice and comes with some forniture, including a desk. It's on the second floor
742 of a house where the landlord lives with her wife and a very friendly puppy.I like it
743 that way: all those houses shared by students I've seen so far tend to become unmaintained
744 and dirty quite quickly, while this one is a real house with a fully operational kitchen,
745 bathroom and even a clean back garden!
747 My landlord is Armenian, but have been living here in Boston for a long time. My first
748 impression is he's a very nice person, honest and easy going. I haven't met his wife yet --
749 she'll be back on Sunday.
751 I'm afraid the house is a bit far away from MIT, in southern Boston. But that won't
752 be a problem as soon as I buy a car. There may even be a chance to rent or buy the
753 car readily from my landlord's son.
755 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 :-)
758 '''Camy''': the landlord lives with '''his''' wife
760 ==== Do You Speak English? ====
762 Some of you will be pissed off by this change, but I'm starting to make
763 some international friends here and none of them could read Italian.
765 Writing in English is also what I need to improve my writing skills.
766 For the few of you who barely know English, some more reading surely won't hurt!
768 [[http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fbender.codewiz.org%2Fwiki%2FMayBlog&langpair=en%7Cit=en Google Translator]]
771 As always, I'd very much appreciate being told about any mistake I make.
773 ''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!''