Welcome to Argalax

Hi

Hi, my name is Alexander and this is my website.

It describes my work, hobbies, various projects, intellectual pursuits, current interests, and whatever else seems important and/or interesting at the moment.

I live in Canada, just east of Toronto, and work as technical team leader in the IT industry.

In spare time I enjoy writing some code, developing web applications, working on my robot, and FreeBSD/Linux projects, reading sci-fi, finance and technical books, building my cabin in the wilderness and travel when I can.

Here are some technical news to read...

Technology

Cash for Pirate Bay file-sharers [Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:33:18 GMT]
New owners of file-sharing website The Pirate Bay say users will be paid for sharing files.
Innocents accused of net piracy [Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:16:58 GMT]
The crackdown on illegal file-sharers is catching innocent people alongside the pirates.
Cost of texting abroad comes down [Wed, 01 Jul 2009 06:20:01 GMT]
A cap on the cost of sending a text message while abroad in the European Union comes into force for the first time.
Cyber bullying case sentence due [Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:56:36 GMT]
The woman tried in the US's first federal cyber bullying case, which led to a teenager's suicide, faces sentencing.
Workplaces set to get 'smarter' [Wed, 01 Jul 2009 08:17:12 GMT]
Technology will ensure that the office of the future is full of sensors that help workers be very productive, suggests a report.
China delays internet filter plan [Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:48:25 GMT]
China delays a plan requiring new computers to be equipped with internet filtering software.
ID scheme is an 'embarrassment' [Wed, 01 Jul 2009 08:35:05 GMT]
The government's handling of ID cards is a "national embarrassment", says ex shadow home secretary David Davis.
Pirate Bay site sold to game firm [Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:41:58 GMT]
Popular file-sharing site The Pirate Bay has been sold to a Swedish gaming company GGF.
Mobile pollution sensors deployed [Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:37:50 GMT]
Cyclists, buses, cars and even pedestrians become mobile pollution detectors in a UK initiative.
MPs to investigate UK net speeds [Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:52:11 GMT]
The Commons Business and Enterprise Committee is to investigate if government broadband pledges go far enough.

Science

Tags to help solve puffin decline [Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:50:55 GMT]
Scientists hope hi-tech tags will help reveal why puffin numbers at one of the UK's key colonies have fallen by a third.
Chimpanzees learn from video demo [Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:38:39 GMT]
Copycat chimps build their own tools after watching a video demonstration, say scientists.
Ariane lofts biggest 'space bird' [Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:23:19 GMT]
TerreStar-1, the world's biggest commercial telecommunications satellite, is put into orbit.
Herschel captures galaxy image [Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:21:56 GMT]
The European Space Agency releases a stunning image of the spiral "Whirlpool Galaxy".
UK 'yet to embrace space tourism' [Wed, 01 Jul 2009 03:18:19 GMT]
Virgin Galactic boss Will Whitehorn says the UK needs a proper regulatory framework to expand private spaceflight activity in the country.
Mobile pollution sensors deployed [Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:37:50 GMT]
Cyclists, buses, cars and even pedestrians become mobile pollution detectors in a UK-based scientific project.
Wind 'can revolutionise UK power' [Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:20:00 GMT]
Britain can massively expand wind power by 2030 without suffering power cuts, a report says.
Most complete Earth map published [Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:07:49 GMT]
The most complete terrain map, covering 99% of the Earth's surface, has been published and will be free to use.
Is this ant mega-colony set for world domination? [Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:41:35 GMT]
Argentine ants living on three continents belong to the same colony, the largest of its kind ever known.
A dinosaur mummy reveals its remarkable secrets [Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:59:02 GMT]
A beautifully preserved dinosaur found in the US retains remarkable detail of skin cells.

App Development

iPhone 3GS: Overheating Fears, OS Update Nears []
As buzz grows around reports of unexpectedly high temperatures and shortages in the store, the Apple smartphone inches closer to a software update.
PostgreSQL 8.4 Revs Up Database Admin, Security []
New open source database release adds 293 enhancements.
PHP 5.3 Accelerates PHP []
New release of open source dynamic language adds new functions and speeds up PHP.
Sun Releases NetBeans 6.7 IDE for Java, PHP []
Sun's Java IDE is not just for Java anymore.
Why Firefox Doesn't Take Google Chrome Features []
Google's Chrome introduces a number of new features to browsers, but don't expect Mozilla to be adopting them any time soon.

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