7 Here are some more pics of MyOlpcDesk.
11 ==== Office Space =====
13 Here are a few pictures of the OlpcOffice!
15 ==== Hack Hack Hack ====
17 I've been assigned a problem with an invalid serial port baud
18 rate after resume from software suspend.
20 I started investigating the hard way, until ChrisBall pointed
21 me on IRC to talk with the KernelHacker DavidWoodhouse, who
22 obviously had a solution in a few seconds. Unfortunately,
23 it didn't work as we expected and MitchBradley of OpenFirmware
24 joined the conversation to help.
26 Having all the subsystem gurus available to fix your bugs makes
27 things a lot easier... Hehe, I think I like it ;-)
29 And so tomorrow I'll get back to work on a MandelBug with the Xorg's
30 driver for the AMD chipset. When XVIDEO is enabled and you
31 rotate the display with XRANDR, sometimes the X server crashes,
32 sometimes it just hangs and sometimes it survives with a corrupted
33 display. And the bad news is that gdb also hangs.
35 How will I fix this? Easy: I'll go looking for the driver authors
36 first thing tomorrow and beg them to send me a fix :-)
38 By the way, lately I've been hanging regularly in #olpc on FreeNode.
39 My nick is _bernie. Come over to see what's going on!
44 ==== All Night Long ====
46 At 9PM, I'm still here and plan to stay as long as I can :-)
48 <please link to the song "All Night Long" here>
51 ==== Buried In Work Already ====
53 '''WARNING''': Technical AbraCadabra ahead!
55 Today I met most of the team members and bothered a few of them,
56 starting from DanWilliams who helped me debug a problem with a
57 simple mesh networking scenario involving three laptops.
59 Today I've also been assigned some work from ChrisBall, who also
60 helped me out with many small things such as a dead battery,
61 accessing the serial console, etc. I'm currently adding a
62 KernelDebugger command to display the ModelSpecificRegister's
65 But it seems like I will also refer to RedHat's ChrisBlizzard
66 to be assigned more work. We talked about optimizing the
67 video driver for the AmdGeodeCpu, getting the resistive
68 tablet to work and maybe adding "tapping" support to the
71 As you know, I like it even more when I'm allowed to ramble
72 through a zillion different things like this!
75 ==== Sneaky Preview ====
77 I'm writing this from within the OLPC headquarters. I came today for
78 a second interview and to get a few tasks assigned to me :-)
80 I have no time to be more specific. Will tell you the details a little later.
85 '''TODO''': will tell you later
89 '''TODO''': will tell you later
92 >MUM< creepy mummy virus it's taking control here.... :-) WRITE SOON OR IT/SHE WILL DESTROY EVERYTHING!
93 ==== Quite a Trip ====
95 Today I'm leaving the safe and familiar BostonCity to boldly go where I've
98 The current plan is to drive south to ProvidenceCity, BrdigeportCity, NewYorkCity,
99 PhiladelphiaCity, BaltimoreCity and, finally, WashingtonCity. Maybe I'll even
100 push myself down in FloridaState to go see the SpaceShuttle!
102 I could use a GPS. I've seen a few TomTom's, but $299 seems way too
103 much to me for a talking map. Maybe I'll buy a traditional map for
106 Ah, and I will sleep frugally, of course. Hostels and motels when I find
107 them. So, over the next few days I'll be lucky if I have intermittent
108 Internet access and, consequently, I won't probably be able to sync the
114 '''Babbo''': Ma fino ad oggi con quali danari hai vissuto dato che sei partito con 10€ liquidi?
116 '''Bernie''': Ho prelevato i soldi dall'ATM... con il bancomat delle poste! E vedo dai movimenti
117 sul conto che hanno applicato un buon cambio e nessuna penale strana.
121 Today I finally rent a car. It's a SaturnIon, a brand and model I never heard
124 http://www.edmunds.com/media/seo/500/2006.saturn.ion.jpg
126 I felt very comfortable driving all over Europe: Italy, Swiss, Spain, France,
127 Germany, Belgium, and even Greece... But, for some reason, I was quite afraid
128 of driving a car here in the States.
130 Maybe it's because the road signs are somewhat different and there are a few
131 subtly different rules, such as turning right on red, not parking in front
132 of hydrants, etc. Most probably, it's because I've seen way too many movies
133 where people get stopped by police and thrown in jail quite easily!
135 Well, so far everything went very well. I mean, except for parking. Parking
136 in downtown is easy if you're willing to pay $10-12 for a few hours.
137 It's a big pain in the ass otherwise... The best way I've found so far
138 is to park near a minor T station and then get the T to downtown :-(
140 And, of course, the car has AutomaticTransmission, which I managed to learn
141 quickly: the trouble comes when you switch the other way around ;-)
143 Ok, today I've driven all around Boston just to get used to it. Tomorrow
144 I'll probably dare getting on the highway to see around.
147 ==== Business Visa? ====
149 Today I've re-read detailed information on the
150 available US visa options:
152 http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_1262.html
154 Looks like a ''B-1'' Business Visa would do. To get one,
155 I should go to a US ambassy, and ambassys are usually
156 located abroad. Instead of returning to Italy, maybe
157 I could get an appointment in MontrealCity, which is
158 near to the border and also an interesting place to see.
165 Yesterday I applied for this great service: http://www.zipcar.com/ .
166 Isn't it a good idea? Costs less than renting a car and is almost
169 <rasky> http://www.carsharingfirenze.it/ :)
171 Today I walked to their offices to give them my documents
172 and get the magnetic card. They said they will enable it
173 first thing tomorrow *if* the "insurance risk declaration"
174 I got from Italy suffices.
177 ==== Simple shopping ====
179 Consumers must be very simple minded here. First, most
180 shop names are simply dumb: '''Pay Less''', '''Save-A-Lot''',
181 '''Big Deal''', and so on.
183 ''Sounds very '''meno tasse per tutti''' to me... -- PiroPiro''
185 Second, they try to subtle deceptions such as: "take 2 for $24.xx",
186 and, next to it: "take 3 for $21.xx", Which of course is
187 impossible. It's a trap! The little figures placed
188 exactly where you would expect to see the cents, are
189 indeed a small notice: ''EACH''.
191 Today I bought a dozen of razor blades ($1.50), a
192 bottle of shampoo ($1.50) and shower gel ($1.50).
193 But I spent $12 for adjusting the two pair of
194 trousers I had bought a few days ago in the mall!
195 $12 ''EACH'', I mean.
198 ==== Bad Neighborhood ====
200 Walking home alone in the night, I may encounter some ''bad'' guys:
202 http://bender.codewiz.org/wikidata/text/FunWithWeapons.jpg
204 Better be careful :-)
209 ==== Veni, Vidi, ???? ====
211 This morning I shown up at OneLaptopPerChild's headquarters. It's again next to KendallSquare,
212 in OneCambridgeCenter.
214 JimGettys was very kind: he took me to LegalSeaFood for lunch, repaired my ExOh's keyboard (two
215 keys were dead) and introduced me to the team members.
217 They left me with the usual Hollywood formula: "don't call us, we'll call you".
218 But in this particular case, I felt they were sincere :-)
220 I hope to be soon a member of the OLPC core team!
225 ==== Alea Iacta Est ====
227 As promised... Yes, indeed. Everybody please cross their fingers.
229 Babbo:Pregherò perchè tu possa ottenere quello che cerchi.
231 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.
232 A dire il vero anch'io sto in ansia per lui :-) speriamo bene...
234 Bernie: Via, non fatemi venire il magone voi due :-)
238 ==== International Dinner ====
240 FedericoLucifredi and his wife Irena were so kind to invite me at their place for a
241 fine dinner with appetizers, SirloinSteak (see pic below), several side
242 dishes and... Even a PinotNoir!
244 http://www.fairburysteaks.com/images/bci-sirloin-round-bone.gif
246 There were also Mauro -- Federico's colleague at Ximian -- and Irena's
247 friend who's a physics professor from Providence and could speak perfect
248 French and, surprisingly, even Italian!
250 What can I say? I think I got a pound or two that night, but it was
258 There's a cinema in building 26 @ EmAiTee, and it's cheap.
263 If you're curious, my room rent is $500 per month. Utilities,
264 forniture and DSL Internet access are included.
266 It's not cheap, but it's also not too expensive for Boston.
267 They told me that only Manhattan is more expensive here on
270 ==== CurriculumVitae ====
272 ...is almost ready. A friend told me that I'd better have
273 also a synthetic resume of 1-2 pages for the impatient.
276 Well, I said I'd be finished by last Monday, but then I
277 managed to slip past my own deadline visiting NewYorkCity,
278 moving in my current room and in other frivolous ways.
280 Now I have no excuses: the time has come. Next Monday I
281 ''will'' write my proposal. Seriously.
285 ==== Exchange Rates ====
287 Looks like I'd better convert all my money to dollars *now*:
289 http://www.x-rates.com/d/USD/EUR/graph30.html
291 What do you think about it?
293 Babbo:penso che $ continuerà a svalutare. Perderai soldi.
295 ==== StataCenter ====
297 I forgot to tell you about the kewlest building in EmAiTee:
299 http://www.eecs.mit.edu/images/big-stata12.jpg
301 See also: http://www.eecs.mit.edu/stata-link.html
305 After a long time, I finally get to (ab)use MIT's wi-fi and
306 barf my short-term brain buffer into my BrainDump.
308 Tonight we went to an Irish pub next to Kendall, where I got
309 to know a few more Ximian employees. I got rumors that
310 the famous kernel hacker RobertLove would be there, so after
311 a while I turned to the guy next to me and asked: "Is
312 RobertLove really going to come?". And he replied: "Speaking."
314 Another guy told me: "Hi, I'm BAHB". "Pardon?". "BAHB!".
315 "What???". Federico promptly helped me out: "Ha detto che si
318 The beer was good. I discovered that a BlueMoon is the
319 nearest approximation of a WeisseBeer I can find here,
320 and I'm not at all displeased by its taste.
324 My landlord has recently switched DSL provider and Internet
325 doesn't work any more: the sync light on the modem flashes.
326 It seems that crappy ISPs are a common disease in the States
329 Yesterday, he called for service and, finally, they told him
330 they would send a tech today from 8AM to 18PM. They refused
331 to be more specific. And so I've agreed to wait here to let
332 the guy in... I care about it for myself too!
336 By the way, today I'm exactly 150 pounds (use GoogleCalculator
337 to get it to SI units).
339 150 pounds = 68.0388555 kilograms
345 They told me Roxbury is quite an infamous suburb of Boston.
346 And my first impression confirms that: shops are uglier,
347 parks and streets are somewhat dirtier (but not as much as
348 in NewYorkCity!) and, most importantly, some of the neighbors
349 look creepy. Especially in the night, streets are crowded by
350 people with criminal faces and many homeless.
352 You know I'm not the type who's easily scared off by a bunch
353 of zombies, but I'll feel much better when I'll drive a car.
357 I've finally settled in my room. There's no need to describe the house
358 in detail, as it's the most typical colonial design: two floors plus
359 basement, front and back yards, sliding windows, wooden floors
360 everywhere. You've come to know them very well from the movies.
362 Today I went to the mall to gather the essentials: a blankets,
363 a pillow case and some bath towels. The bed is comfortable and
364 I was quite tired already, therefore I fell asleep early in the
365 evening and kept on until 8 AM.
367 '''WARNING: TIME WARP OCCURRED'''
371 '''WARNING: TIME WARP IMMINENT'''
375 Alberto: Attento a convertire € in $ perchè € si sta apprezzando,e quindi $ svalutando rispetto a €.
377 Belle le foto scovate da Massimo. Have a good stay in Btn.
379 Massimo: Bernie, you taught me: http://www.google.com/search?q=100+USD+in+EUR
382 Massimo: Since Bernie could not give us any picture, I had to use flickr: here they are!
384 http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=bernardo+innocenti
386 Piro: what in the heaven is RMS doing dressed like a camp tent? :D
390 ==== BankOfAmerica ====
392 I went to BankOfAmerica and opened a bank account. I went there wearing a yellow T-shirt
393 and a weary pair of jeans. In the beginning, they referred me to a young guy who quickly
394 tried to offer me a student's saving account. When I queried for interest rates, credit
395 cards, and dollar/euro conversion rates, they finally realized that I was going to move
398 When I've shown them my balance, they immediately switched me to a very polite girl who
399 took all the time to explain me everything in detail until after their closing time and
400 recommended me to open *3* different accounts to get a rate of 4.80% with no fees!
401 I totally hate when people judge you by your wealth, dressing, or other stupid status
402 symbols, but maybe a bank is the only exception where it makes sense to do so.
404 Banking appears to be far, far simpler here. I already feel like I know
405 everything while in Italy I still can't read most of the paperwork I get from
408 Batt: Or maybe american bankers are so skilled that you are happy while, in truth, they have stolen your money forever :-P
410 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.
414 ==== Good News, Everyone! ====
416 '''After a long struggling, I've finally found a room!'''
418 And I'll be moving in *today*! But I'm writing on Thursday the 3rd, actually (aren't you thinking fourth-dimentionally yet?).
420 The room is nice and comes with some forniture, including a desk. It's on the second floor
421 of a house where the landlord lives with her wife and a very friendly puppy.I like it
422 that way: all those houses shared by students I've seen so far tend to become unmaintained
423 and dirty quite quickly, while this one is a real house with a fully operational kitchen,
424 bathroom and even a clean back garden!
426 My landlord is Armenian, but have been living here in Boston for a long time. My first
427 impression is he's a very nice person, honest and easy going. I haven't met his wife yet --
428 she'll be back on Sunday.
430 I'm afraid the house is a bit far away from MIT, in southern Boston. But that won't
431 be a problem as soon as I buy a car. There may even be a chance to rent or buy the
432 car readily from my landlord's son.
434 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 :-)
437 '''Camy''': the landlord lives with '''his''' wife
439 ==== Do You Speak English? ====
441 Some of you will be pissed off by this change, but I'm starting to make
442 some international friends here and none of them could read Italian.
444 Writing in English is also what I need to improve my writing skills.
445 For the few of you who barely know English, some more reading surely won't hurt!
447 [[http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fbender.codewiz.org%2Fwiki%2FMayBlog&langpair=en%7Cit=en Google Translator]]
450 As always, I'd very much appreciate being told about any mistake I make.
452 ''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!''