== May 2007 ==
-'''Tip:'''' as always, start from the bottom and proceed bottom up to keep time flowing in one direction.
+=== Fri, 25th ===
-'''T5p^2''': Think fourth-dimensionally!
+==== 60 Minutes ====
+
+In this episode of the popular American show SixtyMinutes,
+our founder NicholasNegroponte reveals a lot of details
+about the humanitarian role of the OneLaptopPerChild project:
+
+ http://bender.codewiz.org/wikidata/60_minutes_2007-05-20.avi
+
+The part about us starts approximately at 1/3 of the show.
+
+You may also find the last part interesting as it specifically
+addresses the controversial problem of private medical centers
+trying to save on assistance to homeless people. Marco, you
+should see it!
+
+
+==== GreenishBitmaps ====
+
+'''Warning''': This article is rated PG0xF00F, parents discretion *not* advised.
+
+I've been struggling for the last few days on a the damn X server.
+
+In the RedHat builds, we're still using a pre-release of 1.2,
+labelled 1.1.99. Now, we need to leverage some upstream work
+for input rotation that is landing on the Xorg tree right now.
+
+Backporting is not an option, and we want to stay up to date
+anyway. We'll soon be moving to Fedora 7 anyway. But even
+the just-released 1.3 that will be in Fedora 7 is not enough,
+because it has been branched some time ago, we must work
+from the tip of the git tree, which of course has become
+very unstable recently.
+
+I've been fighting all the week against all sort of bugs
+and build problems and, believe me, it's a very energy
+consuming exercise.
+
+The funniest thing I'm still trying to track are
+these GreenishBitmaps that nobody else except me
+is seeing.
+
+It's probably a miscompilation of some kind, but I've
+long ago ran out of obvious and less obvious ideas to try
+and I'm now far in the land of impossible things.
+
+All this time I've been in contact with a few X
+hackers on IRC, including the author of the AMD
+driver, but even them couldn't come up with a
+magical solution.
+
+
+==== Chat Line ====
+
+ Bernie, I'm Easy...
+
+'''Bernie''': Hello Easy!!! It's good to be chatting here in the blog!
+
+I saw this two photo some row below...
+
+ But all those OLPC at the roof, what doing?? Only for furnishing or for specific utility?? :)
+
+'''Bernie''': Hehe... they're part of the WirelessMesh, for testing
+purposes. An hispanic guy called Miguel (not the same of De Icaza)
+sometimes fiddles with them. He's lucky because he's very tall.
+I'd need a ladder :-)
+
+ The office is very beautiful and the Apple Cinema Display is really very big...
+
+'''Bernie''': Yeah, that's the personal screen of my boss/team-leader ChrisBall.
+It's 30". One day or another I'll bring here my 24" wide-screen from home.
+
+ Do you have some new news about your new work??
+
+'''Bernie''': Sorry for not updating the blog... I've been *extremely*
+busy. I will do it shortly... Promised.
+
+=== Sat, 19th ===
+
+==== Trip to work ====
+
+I still couldn't solve the problem of getting to work
+quickly. I can't afford to waste over 2 hours every
+day like this.
+
+By now, I've tried any possible solution:
+
+ * Car: the office doesn't have a parking lot and there's
+ no way to park within one mile from KendalSquare for less
+ than $18/day. Monthly fees start from $250.
+
+ * Bus: I need to commute in Dudley and take line no. 1 to
+ MassachusettsAvenue, then walk 15 minutes to KendalSquare.
+
+ * Bus + subway combo: The red line would get me directly
+ to KendalSquare, and there are several routes to get there,
+ but all of them require commuting at least twice. The
+ monthly link pass costs $75.
+
+ * Car + subway combo: there are some cheap parkings next
+ to the terminal subway stations where you can leave your
+ car for $5/day. Unfortunately, to get there I must
+ travel in the opposite direction. And the whole thing
+ will cost $75 + $5*30, about the same of the monthly
+ parking fee.
+
+ * Taxi: Costs $11-$14 * 2 every day, which makes the
+ monthly parking cheap in comparison.
+
+And even worse, the red line stops running at midnight
+and bus no 1 at 1AM. Which forces me to leave from
+the office very early (for my standards).
+
+If you want to play with the possibilities, I just
+discovered that the transportation company has a very cool
+web service that would have saved me a lot of time:
+
+{{{
+ http://www.mbta.com/rider_tools/trip_planner/default.asp
+ From: 66 Maywood st., Roxbury MA
+ To: Kendall/mit Station, Cambridge
+}}}
+
+At the end of the day, the ultimate solution is moving
+closer to the office or at least close to the red line.
+Maybe I could afford to spend $600 for a room, but I
+don't feel like moving right now. I already have enough
+things on my hands.
+
+''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''
+
+==== Awful Weather ====
+
+Today it's raining lightly. Yesterday I took an extra shower
+in the evening :-(
+
+The WikiPedia was definitely right: weather in Boston can
+change very rapidly. Must remember to buy a raincoat like
+RichardStallman's and keep it in my backpack.
+
+
+==== What Next? ====
+
+{{{
+1. Get employed at OLPC
+2. ???
+3. World domination!
+}}}
+
+Just joking, but the truth is that I still need
+to face a lot of new challenges now.
+
+My next problem will be improving my communication skills.
+After one month of full immersion, I can still barely
+understand people talking quickly to each and I clearly
+express myself using an inadequately poor vocabulary and
+too slowly in some cases.
+
+These things will improve over time, while my strong
+Italian inflection is likely to remain forever. If
+only I could find one, I'd attend to a course to
+correct my diction now. Actors do them.
+
+Another crucial problem I need to solve quickly is
+getting a visa that allows me to work here permanently.
+There are many possibilities, but none guaranteed to
+succeed. For now, I'm not thinking about it: my
+employer knows better than me and will help as much
+as possible.
+
+Last but not least, my job is not easy and requires a
+good amount of commitment. All my colleagues are extremely
+smart and more experienced than I am. So I need to work
+twice as hard to keep up with them.
+
+A very nice workplace and very interesting assignments helps.
+And, most importantly, I know that what we're doing here is
+going to have a huge impact on the world.
+
+'''Andrea Grandi''': Your words give me no hopes for my future :(
+
+'''Bernie''': Are you planning to come here? Cool! :D
+
+> All my colleagues are extremely smart and more experienced than I am
+
+More than you? It's not a place for me then :D
+
+'''Bernie''': It's worth trying even if you currently think you're
+not up to the job. It's a very valuable experience even if you
+end up returning to your home country for some reason.
+
+'''Rasky''': But can you get a perm visa even without an university
+degree? I thought that was absolutely out of question... I knew that
+people without a degree could just get some 1-year temp visa.
+
+
+=== Thu, 17th ===
+
+==== More Pics ====
+
+Here are some more pics of MyOlpcDesk.
+
+=== Wed, 16th ===
+
+==== Office Space =====
+
+Here are a few pictures of the OlpcOffice!
+
+==== Hack Hack Hack ====
+
+I've been assigned a problem with an invalid serial port baud
+rate after resume from software suspend.
+
+I started investigating the hard way, until ChrisBall pointed
+me on IRC to talk with the KernelHacker DavidWoodhouse, who
+obviously had a solution in a few seconds. Unfortunately,
+it didn't work as we expected and MitchBradley of OpenFirmware
+joined the conversation to help.
+
+Having all the subsystem gurus available to fix your bugs makes
+things a lot easier... Hehe, I think I like it ;-)
+
+And so tomorrow I'll get back to work on a MandelBug with the Xorg's
+driver for the AMD chipset. When XVIDEO is enabled and you
+rotate the display with XRANDR, sometimes the X server crashes,
+sometimes it just hangs and sometimes it survives with a corrupted
+display. And the bad news is that gdb also hangs.
+
+How will I fix this? Easy: I'll go looking for the driver authors
+first thing tomorrow and beg them to send me a fix :-)
+
+By the way, lately I've been hanging regularly in #olpc on FreeNode.
+My nick is _bernie. Come over to see what's going on!
+
+
+=== Mon, 14th ===
+
+==== All Night Long ====
+
+At 9PM, I'm still here and plan to stay as long as I can :-)
+
+<please link to the song "All Night Long" here>
+
+
+==== Buried In Work Already ====
+
+'''WARNING''': Technical AbraCadabra ahead!
+
+Today I met most of the team members and bothered a few of them,
+starting from DanWilliams who helped me debug a problem with a
+simple mesh networking scenario involving three laptops.
+
+Today I've also been assigned some work from ChrisBall, who also
+helped me out with many small things such as a dead battery,
+accessing the serial console, etc. I'm currently adding a
+KernelDebugger command to display the ModelSpecificRegister's
+of the AmdGeodeCpu.
+
+But it seems like I will also refer to RedHat's ChrisBlizzard
+to be assigned more work. We talked about optimizing the
+video driver for the AmdGeodeCpu, getting the resistive
+tablet to work and maybe adding "tapping" support to the
+capacitive touchpad.
+
+As you know, I like it even more when I'm allowed to ramble
+through a zillion different things like this!
+
+
+==== Sneaky Preview ====
+
+I'm writing this from within the OLPC headquarters. I came today for
+a second interview and to get a few tasks assigned to me :-)
+
+I have no time to be more specific. Will tell you the details a little later.
+
+
+=== Sun, 13th ===
+
+ '''TODO''': will tell you later
+
+=== Sat, 12th ===
+
+ '''TODO''': will tell you later
+
+=== Fri, 11th ===
+ >MUM< creepy mummy virus it's taking control here.... :-) WRITE SOON OR IT/SHE WILL DESTROY EVERYTHING!
+==== Quite a Trip ====
+
+Today I'm leaving the safe and familiar BostonCity to boldly go where I've
+never been before.
+
+The current plan is to drive south to ProvidenceCity, BrdigeportCity, NewYorkCity,
+PhiladelphiaCity, BaltimoreCity and, finally, WashingtonCity. Maybe I'll even
+push myself down in FloridaState to go see the SpaceShuttle!
+
+I could use a GPS. I've seen a few TomTom's, but $299 seems way too
+much to me for a talking map. Maybe I'll buy a traditional map for
+$10.
+
+Ah, and I will sleep frugally, of course. Hostels and motels when I find
+them. So, over the next few days I'll be lucky if I have intermittent
+Internet access and, consequently, I won't probably be able to sync the
+BrainDump.
+
+
+=== Thu, 10th ===
+
+ '''Babbo''': Ma fino ad oggi con quali danari hai vissuto dato che sei partito con 10€ liquidi?
+
+ '''Bernie''': Ho prelevato i soldi dall'ATM... con il bancomat delle poste! E vedo dai movimenti
+ sul conto che hanno applicato un buon cambio e nessuna penale strana.
+
+==== Car Rental ====
+
+Today I finally rent a car. It's a SaturnIon, a brand and model I never heard
+of before.
+
+http://www.edmunds.com/media/seo/500/2006.saturn.ion.jpg
+
+I felt very comfortable driving all over Europe: Italy, Swiss, Spain, France,
+Germany, Belgium, and even Greece... But, for some reason, I was quite afraid
+of driving a car here in the States.
+
+Maybe it's because the road signs are somewhat different and there are a few
+subtly different rules, such as turning right on red, not parking in front
+of hydrants, etc. Most probably, it's because I've seen way too many movies
+where people get stopped by police and thrown in jail quite easily!
+
+Well, so far everything went very well. I mean, except for parking. Parking
+in downtown is easy if you're willing to pay $10-12 for a few hours.
+It's a big pain in the ass otherwise... The best way I've found so far
+is to park near a minor T station and then get the T to downtown :-(
+
+And, of course, the car has AutomaticTransmission, which I managed to learn
+quickly: the trouble comes when you switch the other way around ;-)
+
+Ok, today I've driven all around Boston just to get used to it. Tomorrow
+I'll probably dare getting on the highway to see around.
+
+
+==== Business Visa? ====
+
+Today I've re-read detailed information on the
+available US visa options:
+
+ http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_1262.html
+
+Looks like a ''B-1'' Business Visa would do. To get one,
+I should go to a US ambassy, and ambassys are usually
+located abroad. Instead of returning to Italy, maybe
+I could get an appointment in MontrealCity, which is
+near to the border and also an interesting place to see.
+
+
+=== Wed, 9th ===
+
+==== Zip Car ====
+
+Yesterday I applied for this great service: http://www.zipcar.com/ .
+Isn't it a good idea? Costs less than renting a car and is almost
+as versatile.
+
+<rasky> http://www.carsharingfirenze.it/ :)
+
+Today I walked to their offices to give them my documents
+and get the magnetic card. They said they will enable it
+first thing tomorrow *if* the "insurance risk declaration"
+I got from Italy suffices.
+
+
+==== Simple shopping ====
+
+Consumers must be very simple minded here. First, most
+shop names are simply dumb: '''Pay Less''', '''Save-A-Lot''',
+'''Big Deal''', and so on.
+
+''Sounds very '''meno tasse per tutti''' to me... -- PiroPiro''
+
+Second, they try to subtle deceptions such as: "take 2 for $24.xx",
+and, next to it: "take 3 for $21.xx", Which of course is
+impossible. It's a trap! The little figures placed
+exactly where you would expect to see the cents, are
+indeed a small notice: ''EACH''.
+
+Today I bought a dozen of razor blades ($1.50), a
+bottle of shampoo ($1.50) and shower gel ($1.50).
+But I spent $12 for adjusting the two pair of
+trousers I had bought a few days ago in the mall!
+$12 ''EACH'', I mean.
+
+
+==== Bad Neighborhood ====
+
+Walking home alone in the night, I may encounter some ''bad'' guys:
+
+http://bender.codewiz.org/wikidata/text/FunWithWeapons.jpg
+
+Better be careful :-)
+
+
+=== Tue, 8th ===
+
+==== Veni, Vidi, ???? ====
+
+This morning I shown up at OneLaptopPerChild's headquarters. It's again next to KendallSquare,
+in OneCambridgeCenter.
+
+JimGettys was very kind: he took me to LegalSeaFood for lunch, repaired my ExOh's keyboard (two
+keys were dead) and introduced me to the team members.
+
+They left me with the usual Hollywood formula: "don't call us, we'll call you".
+But in this particular case, I felt they were sincere :-)
+
+I hope to be soon a member of the OLPC core team!
+
+
+=== Mon, 7th ===
+
+==== Alea Iacta Est ====
+
+As promised... Yes, indeed. Everybody please cross their fingers.
+
+Babbo:Pregherò perchè tu possa ottenere quello che cerchi.
+
+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.
+A dire il vero anch'io sto in ansia per lui :-) speriamo bene...
+
+Bernie: Via, non fatemi venire il magone voi due :-)
+
+=== Sun, 6th ===
+
+==== International Dinner ====
+
+FedericoLucifredi and his wife Irena were so kind to invite me at their place for a
+fine dinner with appetizers, SirloinSteak (see pic below), several side
+dishes and... Even a PinotNoir!
+
+http://www.fairburysteaks.com/images/bci-sirloin-round-bone.gif
+
+There were also Mauro -- Federico's colleague at Ximian -- and Irena's
+friend who's a physics professor from Providence and could speak perfect
+French and, surprisingly, even Italian!
+
+What can I say? I think I got a pound or two that night, but it was
+worth it! :-)
+
+
+=== Sat, 5th ===
+
+==== Cinema ====
+
+There's a cinema in building 26 @ EmAiTee, and it's cheap.
+I'm going tonight.
+
+==== Cursious? ====
+
+If you're curious, my room rent is $500 per month. Utilities,
+ forniture and DSL Internet access are included.
+
+It's not cheap, but it's also not too expensive for Boston.
+They told me that only Manhattan is more expensive here on
+the east coast.
+
+==== CurriculumVitae ====
+
+...is almost ready. A friend told me that I'd better have
+also a synthetic resume of 1-2 pages for the impatient.
+I think he's right.
+
+Well, I said I'd be finished by last Monday, but then I
+managed to slip past my own deadline visiting NewYorkCity,
+moving in my current room and in other frivolous ways.
+
+Now I have no excuses: the time has come. Next Monday I
+''will'' write my proposal. Seriously.
+
+=== Fri, 4th ===
+
+==== Exchange Rates ====
+
+Looks like I'd better convert all my money to dollars *now*:
+
+ http://www.x-rates.com/d/USD/EUR/graph30.html
+
+What do you think about it?
+
+Babbo:penso che $ continuerà a svalutare. Perderai soldi.
+
+==== StataCenter ====
+
+I forgot to tell you about the kewlest building in EmAiTee:
+
+ http://www.eecs.mit.edu/images/big-stata12.jpg
+
+See also: http://www.eecs.mit.edu/stata-link.html
+
+==== Fast night ====
+
+After a long time, I finally get to (ab)use MIT's wi-fi and
+barf my short-term brain buffer into my BrainDump.
+
+Tonight we went to an Irish pub next to Kendall, where I got
+to know a few more Ximian employees. I got rumors that
+the famous kernel hacker RobertLove would be there, so after
+a while I turned to the guy next to me and asked: "Is
+RobertLove really going to come?". And he replied: "Speaking."
+
+Another guy told me: "Hi, I'm BAHB". "Pardon?". "BAHB!".
+"What???". Federico promptly helped me out: "Ha detto che si
+chiama BOB :-)"
+
+The beer was good. I discovered that a BlueMoon is the
+nearest approximation of a WeisseBeer I can find here,
+and I'm not at all displeased by its taste.
+
+==== Slow day ====
+
+My landlord has recently switched DSL provider and Internet
+doesn't work any more: the sync light on the modem flashes.
+It seems that crappy ISPs are a common disease in the States
+as well.
+
+Yesterday, he called for service and, finally, they told him
+they would send a tech today from 8AM to 18PM. They refused
+to be more specific. And so I've agreed to wait here to let
+the guy in... I care about it for myself too!
+
+==== Weight ====
+
+By the way, today I'm exactly 150 pounds (use GoogleCalculator
+to get it to SI units).
+
+150 pounds = 68.0388555 kilograms
+
+=== Thu, 3rd ===
+
+==== Roxbury ====
+
+They told me Roxbury is quite an infamous suburb of Boston.
+And my first impression confirms that: shops are uglier,
+parks and streets are somewhat dirtier (but not as much as
+in NewYorkCity!) and, most importantly, some of the neighbors
+look creepy. Especially in the night, streets are crowded by
+people with criminal faces and many homeless.
+
+You know I'm not the type who's easily scared off by a bunch
+of zombies, but I'll feel much better when I'll drive a car.
+
+==== Moving In ====
+
+I've finally settled in my room. There's no need to describe the house
+in detail, as it's the most typical colonial design: two floors plus
+basement, front and back yards, sliding windows, wooden floors
+everywhere. You've come to know them very well from the movies.
+
+Today I went to the mall to gather the essentials: a blankets,
+a pillow case and some bath towels. The bed is comfortable and
+I was quite tired already, therefore I fell asleep early in the
+evening and kept on until 8 AM.
+
+'''WARNING: TIME WARP OCCURRED'''
+
+-----
+
+'''WARNING: TIME WARP IMMINENT'''
+
+=== Fri, 4th ===
+
+Alberto: Attento a convertire € in $ perchè € si sta apprezzando,e quindi $ svalutando rispetto a €.
+
+Belle le foto scovate da Massimo. Have a good stay in Btn.
+
+Massimo: Bernie, you taught me: http://www.google.com/search?q=100+USD+in+EUR
+
+
+Massimo: Since Bernie could not give us any picture, I had to use flickr: here they are!
+
+http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=bernardo+innocenti
+
+Piro: what in the heaven is RMS doing dressed like a camp tent? :D
+
+=== Wed, 2nd ===
+
+==== BankOfAmerica ====
+
+I went to BankOfAmerica and opened a bank account. I went there wearing a yellow T-shirt
+and a weary pair of jeans. In the beginning, they referred me to a young guy who quickly
+tried to offer me a student's saving account. When I queried for interest rates, credit
+cards, and dollar/euro conversion rates, they finally realized that I was going to move
+a bit of money.
+
+When I've shown them my balance, they immediately switched me to a very polite girl who
+took all the time to explain me everything in detail until after their closing time and
+recommended me to open *3* different accounts to get a rate of 4.80% with no fees!
+I totally hate when people judge you by your wealth, dressing, or other stupid status
+symbols, but maybe a bank is the only exception where it makes sense to do so.
+
+Banking appears to be far, far simpler here. I already feel like I know
+everything while in Italy I still can't read most of the paperwork I get from
+my banks.
+
+Batt: Or maybe american bankers are so skilled that you are happy while, in truth, they have stolen your money forever :-P
+
+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.
=== Tue, 1st ===
+==== Good News, Everyone! ====
+
+'''After a long struggling, I've finally found a room!'''
+
+And I'll be moving in *today*! But I'm writing on Thursday the 3rd, actually (aren't you thinking fourth-dimentionally yet?).
+
+The room is nice and comes with some forniture, including a desk. It's on the second floor
+of a house where the landlord lives with her wife and a very friendly puppy.I like it
+that way: all those houses shared by students I've seen so far tend to become unmaintained
+and dirty quite quickly, while this one is a real house with a fully operational kitchen,
+bathroom and even a clean back garden!
+
+My landlord is Armenian, but have been living here in Boston for a long time. My first
+impression is he's a very nice person, honest and easy going. I haven't met his wife yet --
+she'll be back on Sunday.
+
+I'm afraid the house is a bit far away from MIT, in southern Boston. But that won't
+be a problem as soon as I buy a car. There may even be a chance to rent or buy the
+car readily from my landlord's son.
+
+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 :-)
+
+
+'''Camy''': the landlord lives with '''his''' wife
+
==== Do You Speak English? ====
Some of you will be pissed off by this change, but I'm starting to make
-some international friends here and non of them could read Italian.
+some international friends here and none of them could read Italian.
Writing in English is also what I need to improve my writing skills.
For the few of you who barely know English, some more reading surely won't hurt!
If you're real lazy,
-[[http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fbender.codewiz.org%2Fwiki%2FMayBlog&langpair=en%7Cit&hl=en Google Translator]]
+[[http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fbender.codewiz.org%2Fwiki%2FMayBlog&langpair=en%7Cit=en Google Translator]]
is your friend.
-As always, I'd very much appreciate being told of any mistake I make.
+As always, I'd very much appreciate being told about any mistake I make.
+
+''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!''
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