X-Git-Url: https://codewiz.org/gitweb?p=wiki.git;a=blobdiff_plain;f=MayBlog;h=1f790dd9f14c69c5742bb8c90b6825b2a5558f57;hp=4268aa62f18139764371480603ef05fc953bf522;hb=4895c3ada67014b74c88fb92869231913619bd5c;hpb=08cb22f808dd79ea38c6d665c23ee16ad7880e68 diff --git a/MayBlog b/MayBlog index 4268aa6..1f790dd 100644 --- a/MayBlog +++ b/MayBlog @@ -1,9 +1,210 @@ == May 2007 == -'''Tip:''' as always, start from the bottom and proceed bottom up to keep time flowing in one direction. +=== 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. + + +==== 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. + + +=== 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 :-) + + + + +==== 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 access here.... :-) WRITE SOON OR IT/SHE WILL DESTROY EVERYTHING! + >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