7 I still couldn't solve the problem of getting to work
8 quickly. I can't afford to waste over 2 hours every
11 By now, I've tried any possible solution:
13 * Car: the office doesn't have a parking lot and there's
14 no way to park within one mile from KendalSquare for less
15 than $18/day. Monthly fees start from $250.
17 * Bus: I need to commute in Dudley and take line no. 1 to
18 MassachusettsAvenue, then walk 15 minutes to KendalSquare.
20 * Bus + subway combo: The red line would get me directly
21 to KendalSquare, and there are several routes to get there,
22 but all of them require commuting at least twice. The
23 monthly link pass costs $75.
25 * Car + subway combo: there are some cheap parkings next
26 to the terminal subway stations where you can leave your
27 car for $5/day. Unfortunately, to get there I must
28 travel in the opposite direction. And the whole thing
29 will cost $75 + $5*30, about the same of the monthly
32 * Taxi: Costs $11-$14 * 2 every day, which makes the
33 monthly parking cheap in comparison.
35 And even worse, the red line stops running at midnight
36 and bus no 1 at 1AM. Which forces me to leave from
37 the office very early (for my standards).
39 If you want to play with the possibilities, I just
40 discovered that the transportation company has a very cool
41 web service that would have saved me a lot of time:
44 http://www.mbta.com/rider_tools/trip_planner/default.asp
45 From: 66 Maywood st., Roxbury MA
46 To: Kendall/mit Station, Cambridge
49 At the end of the day, the ultimate solution is moving
50 closer to the office or at least close to the red line.
51 Maybe I could afford to spend $600 for a room, but I
52 don't feel like moving right now. I already have enough
56 ==== Awful Weather ====
58 Today it's raining lightly. Yesterday I took an extra shower
61 The WikiPedia was definitely right: weather in Boston can
62 change very rapidly. Must remember to buy a raincoat like
63 RichardStallman's and keep it in my backpack.
69 1. Get employed at OLPC
74 Just joking, but the truth is that I still need
75 to face a lot of new challenges now.
77 My next problem will be improving my communication skills.
78 After one month of full immersion, I can still barely
79 understand people talking quickly to each and I clearly
80 express myself using an inadequately poor vocabulary and
81 too slowly in some cases.
83 These things will improve over time, while my strong
84 Italian inflection is likely to remain forever. If
85 only I could find one, I'd attend to a course to
86 correct my diction now. Actors do them.
88 Another crucial problem I need to solve quickly is
89 getting a visa that allows me to work here permanently.
90 There are many possibilities, but none guaranteed to
91 succeed. For now, I'm not thinking about it: my
92 employer knows better than me and will help as much
95 Last but not least, my job is not easy and requires a
96 good amount of commitment. All my colleagues are extremely
97 smart and more experienced than I am. So I need to work
98 twice as hard to keep up with them.
100 A very nice workplace and very interesting assignments helps.
101 And, most importantly, I know that what we're doing here is
102 going to have a huge impact on the world.
104 '''Andrea Grandi''': Your words give me no hopes for my future :(
106 > All my colleagues are extremely smart and more experienced than I am
108 More than you? It's not a place for me then :D
114 Here are some more pics of MyOlpcDesk.
118 ==== Office Space =====
120 Here are a few pictures of the OlpcOffice!
122 ==== Hack Hack Hack ====
124 I've been assigned a problem with an invalid serial port baud
125 rate after resume from software suspend.
127 I started investigating the hard way, until ChrisBall pointed
128 me on IRC to talk with the KernelHacker DavidWoodhouse, who
129 obviously had a solution in a few seconds. Unfortunately,
130 it didn't work as we expected and MitchBradley of OpenFirmware
131 joined the conversation to help.
133 Having all the subsystem gurus available to fix your bugs makes
134 things a lot easier... Hehe, I think I like it ;-)
136 And so tomorrow I'll get back to work on a MandelBug with the Xorg's
137 driver for the AMD chipset. When XVIDEO is enabled and you
138 rotate the display with XRANDR, sometimes the X server crashes,
139 sometimes it just hangs and sometimes it survives with a corrupted
140 display. And the bad news is that gdb also hangs.
142 How will I fix this? Easy: I'll go looking for the driver authors
143 first thing tomorrow and beg them to send me a fix :-)
145 By the way, lately I've been hanging regularly in #olpc on FreeNode.
146 My nick is _bernie. Come over to see what's going on!
151 ==== All Night Long ====
153 At 9PM, I'm still here and plan to stay as long as I can :-)
155 <please link to the song "All Night Long" here>
158 ==== Buried In Work Already ====
160 '''WARNING''': Technical AbraCadabra ahead!
162 Today I met most of the team members and bothered a few of them,
163 starting from DanWilliams who helped me debug a problem with a
164 simple mesh networking scenario involving three laptops.
166 Today I've also been assigned some work from ChrisBall, who also
167 helped me out with many small things such as a dead battery,
168 accessing the serial console, etc. I'm currently adding a
169 KernelDebugger command to display the ModelSpecificRegister's
172 But it seems like I will also refer to RedHat's ChrisBlizzard
173 to be assigned more work. We talked about optimizing the
174 video driver for the AmdGeodeCpu, getting the resistive
175 tablet to work and maybe adding "tapping" support to the
178 As you know, I like it even more when I'm allowed to ramble
179 through a zillion different things like this!
182 ==== Sneaky Preview ====
184 I'm writing this from within the OLPC headquarters. I came today for
185 a second interview and to get a few tasks assigned to me :-)
187 I have no time to be more specific. Will tell you the details a little later.
192 '''TODO''': will tell you later
196 '''TODO''': will tell you later
199 >MUM< creepy mummy virus it's taking control here.... :-) WRITE SOON OR IT/SHE WILL DESTROY EVERYTHING!
200 ==== Quite a Trip ====
202 Today I'm leaving the safe and familiar BostonCity to boldly go where I've
205 The current plan is to drive south to ProvidenceCity, BrdigeportCity, NewYorkCity,
206 PhiladelphiaCity, BaltimoreCity and, finally, WashingtonCity. Maybe I'll even
207 push myself down in FloridaState to go see the SpaceShuttle!
209 I could use a GPS. I've seen a few TomTom's, but $299 seems way too
210 much to me for a talking map. Maybe I'll buy a traditional map for
213 Ah, and I will sleep frugally, of course. Hostels and motels when I find
214 them. So, over the next few days I'll be lucky if I have intermittent
215 Internet access and, consequently, I won't probably be able to sync the
221 '''Babbo''': Ma fino ad oggi con quali danari hai vissuto dato che sei partito con 10€ liquidi?
223 '''Bernie''': Ho prelevato i soldi dall'ATM... con il bancomat delle poste! E vedo dai movimenti
224 sul conto che hanno applicato un buon cambio e nessuna penale strana.
228 Today I finally rent a car. It's a SaturnIon, a brand and model I never heard
231 http://www.edmunds.com/media/seo/500/2006.saturn.ion.jpg
233 I felt very comfortable driving all over Europe: Italy, Swiss, Spain, France,
234 Germany, Belgium, and even Greece... But, for some reason, I was quite afraid
235 of driving a car here in the States.
237 Maybe it's because the road signs are somewhat different and there are a few
238 subtly different rules, such as turning right on red, not parking in front
239 of hydrants, etc. Most probably, it's because I've seen way too many movies
240 where people get stopped by police and thrown in jail quite easily!
242 Well, so far everything went very well. I mean, except for parking. Parking
243 in downtown is easy if you're willing to pay $10-12 for a few hours.
244 It's a big pain in the ass otherwise... The best way I've found so far
245 is to park near a minor T station and then get the T to downtown :-(
247 And, of course, the car has AutomaticTransmission, which I managed to learn
248 quickly: the trouble comes when you switch the other way around ;-)
250 Ok, today I've driven all around Boston just to get used to it. Tomorrow
251 I'll probably dare getting on the highway to see around.
254 ==== Business Visa? ====
256 Today I've re-read detailed information on the
257 available US visa options:
259 http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_1262.html
261 Looks like a ''B-1'' Business Visa would do. To get one,
262 I should go to a US ambassy, and ambassys are usually
263 located abroad. Instead of returning to Italy, maybe
264 I could get an appointment in MontrealCity, which is
265 near to the border and also an interesting place to see.
272 Yesterday I applied for this great service: http://www.zipcar.com/ .
273 Isn't it a good idea? Costs less than renting a car and is almost
276 <rasky> http://www.carsharingfirenze.it/ :)
278 Today I walked to their offices to give them my documents
279 and get the magnetic card. They said they will enable it
280 first thing tomorrow *if* the "insurance risk declaration"
281 I got from Italy suffices.
284 ==== Simple shopping ====
286 Consumers must be very simple minded here. First, most
287 shop names are simply dumb: '''Pay Less''', '''Save-A-Lot''',
288 '''Big Deal''', and so on.
290 ''Sounds very '''meno tasse per tutti''' to me... -- PiroPiro''
292 Second, they try to subtle deceptions such as: "take 2 for $24.xx",
293 and, next to it: "take 3 for $21.xx", Which of course is
294 impossible. It's a trap! The little figures placed
295 exactly where you would expect to see the cents, are
296 indeed a small notice: ''EACH''.
298 Today I bought a dozen of razor blades ($1.50), a
299 bottle of shampoo ($1.50) and shower gel ($1.50).
300 But I spent $12 for adjusting the two pair of
301 trousers I had bought a few days ago in the mall!
302 $12 ''EACH'', I mean.
305 ==== Bad Neighborhood ====
307 Walking home alone in the night, I may encounter some ''bad'' guys:
309 http://bender.codewiz.org/wikidata/text/FunWithWeapons.jpg
311 Better be careful :-)
316 ==== Veni, Vidi, ???? ====
318 This morning I shown up at OneLaptopPerChild's headquarters. It's again next to KendallSquare,
319 in OneCambridgeCenter.
321 JimGettys was very kind: he took me to LegalSeaFood for lunch, repaired my ExOh's keyboard (two
322 keys were dead) and introduced me to the team members.
324 They left me with the usual Hollywood formula: "don't call us, we'll call you".
325 But in this particular case, I felt they were sincere :-)
327 I hope to be soon a member of the OLPC core team!
332 ==== Alea Iacta Est ====
334 As promised... Yes, indeed. Everybody please cross their fingers.
336 Babbo:Pregherò perchè tu possa ottenere quello che cerchi.
338 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.
339 A dire il vero anch'io sto in ansia per lui :-) speriamo bene...
341 Bernie: Via, non fatemi venire il magone voi due :-)
345 ==== International Dinner ====
347 FedericoLucifredi and his wife Irena were so kind to invite me at their place for a
348 fine dinner with appetizers, SirloinSteak (see pic below), several side
349 dishes and... Even a PinotNoir!
351 http://www.fairburysteaks.com/images/bci-sirloin-round-bone.gif
353 There were also Mauro -- Federico's colleague at Ximian -- and Irena's
354 friend who's a physics professor from Providence and could speak perfect
355 French and, surprisingly, even Italian!
357 What can I say? I think I got a pound or two that night, but it was
365 There's a cinema in building 26 @ EmAiTee, and it's cheap.
370 If you're curious, my room rent is $500 per month. Utilities,
371 forniture and DSL Internet access are included.
373 It's not cheap, but it's also not too expensive for Boston.
374 They told me that only Manhattan is more expensive here on
377 ==== CurriculumVitae ====
379 ...is almost ready. A friend told me that I'd better have
380 also a synthetic resume of 1-2 pages for the impatient.
383 Well, I said I'd be finished by last Monday, but then I
384 managed to slip past my own deadline visiting NewYorkCity,
385 moving in my current room and in other frivolous ways.
387 Now I have no excuses: the time has come. Next Monday I
388 ''will'' write my proposal. Seriously.
392 ==== Exchange Rates ====
394 Looks like I'd better convert all my money to dollars *now*:
396 http://www.x-rates.com/d/USD/EUR/graph30.html
398 What do you think about it?
400 Babbo:penso che $ continuerà a svalutare. Perderai soldi.
402 ==== StataCenter ====
404 I forgot to tell you about the kewlest building in EmAiTee:
406 http://www.eecs.mit.edu/images/big-stata12.jpg
408 See also: http://www.eecs.mit.edu/stata-link.html
412 After a long time, I finally get to (ab)use MIT's wi-fi and
413 barf my short-term brain buffer into my BrainDump.
415 Tonight we went to an Irish pub next to Kendall, where I got
416 to know a few more Ximian employees. I got rumors that
417 the famous kernel hacker RobertLove would be there, so after
418 a while I turned to the guy next to me and asked: "Is
419 RobertLove really going to come?". And he replied: "Speaking."
421 Another guy told me: "Hi, I'm BAHB". "Pardon?". "BAHB!".
422 "What???". Federico promptly helped me out: "Ha detto che si
425 The beer was good. I discovered that a BlueMoon is the
426 nearest approximation of a WeisseBeer I can find here,
427 and I'm not at all displeased by its taste.
431 My landlord has recently switched DSL provider and Internet
432 doesn't work any more: the sync light on the modem flashes.
433 It seems that crappy ISPs are a common disease in the States
436 Yesterday, he called for service and, finally, they told him
437 they would send a tech today from 8AM to 18PM. They refused
438 to be more specific. And so I've agreed to wait here to let
439 the guy in... I care about it for myself too!
443 By the way, today I'm exactly 150 pounds (use GoogleCalculator
444 to get it to SI units).
446 150 pounds = 68.0388555 kilograms
452 They told me Roxbury is quite an infamous suburb of Boston.
453 And my first impression confirms that: shops are uglier,
454 parks and streets are somewhat dirtier (but not as much as
455 in NewYorkCity!) and, most importantly, some of the neighbors
456 look creepy. Especially in the night, streets are crowded by
457 people with criminal faces and many homeless.
459 You know I'm not the type who's easily scared off by a bunch
460 of zombies, but I'll feel much better when I'll drive a car.
464 I've finally settled in my room. There's no need to describe the house
465 in detail, as it's the most typical colonial design: two floors plus
466 basement, front and back yards, sliding windows, wooden floors
467 everywhere. You've come to know them very well from the movies.
469 Today I went to the mall to gather the essentials: a blankets,
470 a pillow case and some bath towels. The bed is comfortable and
471 I was quite tired already, therefore I fell asleep early in the
472 evening and kept on until 8 AM.
474 '''WARNING: TIME WARP OCCURRED'''
478 '''WARNING: TIME WARP IMMINENT'''
482 Alberto: Attento a convertire € in $ perchè € si sta apprezzando,e quindi $ svalutando rispetto a €.
484 Belle le foto scovate da Massimo. Have a good stay in Btn.
486 Massimo: Bernie, you taught me: http://www.google.com/search?q=100+USD+in+EUR
489 Massimo: Since Bernie could not give us any picture, I had to use flickr: here they are!
491 http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=bernardo+innocenti
493 Piro: what in the heaven is RMS doing dressed like a camp tent? :D
497 ==== BankOfAmerica ====
499 I went to BankOfAmerica and opened a bank account. I went there wearing a yellow T-shirt
500 and a weary pair of jeans. In the beginning, they referred me to a young guy who quickly
501 tried to offer me a student's saving account. When I queried for interest rates, credit
502 cards, and dollar/euro conversion rates, they finally realized that I was going to move
505 When I've shown them my balance, they immediately switched me to a very polite girl who
506 took all the time to explain me everything in detail until after their closing time and
507 recommended me to open *3* different accounts to get a rate of 4.80% with no fees!
508 I totally hate when people judge you by your wealth, dressing, or other stupid status
509 symbols, but maybe a bank is the only exception where it makes sense to do so.
511 Banking appears to be far, far simpler here. I already feel like I know
512 everything while in Italy I still can't read most of the paperwork I get from
515 Batt: Or maybe american bankers are so skilled that you are happy while, in truth, they have stolen your money forever :-P
517 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.
521 ==== Good News, Everyone! ====
523 '''After a long struggling, I've finally found a room!'''
525 And I'll be moving in *today*! But I'm writing on Thursday the 3rd, actually (aren't you thinking fourth-dimentionally yet?).
527 The room is nice and comes with some forniture, including a desk. It's on the second floor
528 of a house where the landlord lives with her wife and a very friendly puppy.I like it
529 that way: all those houses shared by students I've seen so far tend to become unmaintained
530 and dirty quite quickly, while this one is a real house with a fully operational kitchen,
531 bathroom and even a clean back garden!
533 My landlord is Armenian, but have been living here in Boston for a long time. My first
534 impression is he's a very nice person, honest and easy going. I haven't met his wife yet --
535 she'll be back on Sunday.
537 I'm afraid the house is a bit far away from MIT, in southern Boston. But that won't
538 be a problem as soon as I buy a car. There may even be a chance to rent or buy the
539 car readily from my landlord's son.
541 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 :-)
544 '''Camy''': the landlord lives with '''his''' wife
546 ==== Do You Speak English? ====
548 Some of you will be pissed off by this change, but I'm starting to make
549 some international friends here and none of them could read Italian.
551 Writing in English is also what I need to improve my writing skills.
552 For the few of you who barely know English, some more reading surely won't hurt!
554 [[http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fbender.codewiz.org%2Fwiki%2FMayBlog&langpair=en%7Cit=en Google Translator]]
557 As always, I'd very much appreciate being told about any mistake I make.
559 ''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!''