Welcome to Argalax

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

PS3 hack escapes court challenge [Fri, 03 Sep 2010 10:43:40 GMT]
Sony has won a permanent ban in Australia of a hack for its PS3, but the code behind it has been released for free on the web.

Memristor revolution backed by HP [Thu, 02 Sep 2010 15:33:44 GMT]
A potentially revolutionary circuit component, once a laboratory curiosity, is to be mass-produced for the first time.

Global broadband divide revealed [Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:45:35 GMT]
The global disparity in access to broadband around the world and the cost of a connection is revealed by UN figures.

Samsung releases iPad competitor [Thu, 02 Sep 2010 10:15:53 GMT]
Samsung has become the latest manufacturer to enter into the tablet computer market with its Galaxy Tab.

Apple creates a social network [Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:48:35 GMT]
Apple launches a music-based social network called Ping as part of its latest upgrade to the iTunes music software.

US seeks input on net data rules [Thu, 02 Sep 2010 09:34:59 GMT]
US net users are being asked for their opinions about what ISPs should be allowed to do with web traffic flowing through their networks.

Dell pulls out of battle for 3Par [Thu, 02 Sep 2010 15:49:13 GMT]
Dell withdraws its bid for 3Par after rival Hewlett-Packard raises its offer for the data storage company to $2.1bn.

Sony rolls out rival to iTunes [Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:33:35 GMT]
Sony has unveiled its own music and video download service in an announcement timed to coincide with an Apple media event.

Roaming iPhone glitch continues [Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:04:19 GMT]
Mobile operator O2 and Apple are still resolving a months-old data roaming issue, with customers complaining of charges they didn't incur.

Rival benefits from Digg revamp [Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:56:29 GMT]
A revamp of the social-news site Digg has unexpectedly backfired on its owners after members redirected traffic to a rival site.

Science

Plans for solar 'close encounter' [Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:44:59 GMT]
Nasa is aiming to get closer to the Sun than ever before, with plans to plunge a car-sized unmanned spacecraft into the star's outer atmosphere.

Reading Arabic 'hard for brain' [Fri, 03 Sep 2010 23:56:38 GMT]
Israeli scientists believe they have identified why Arabic is particularly hard to learn to read.

Wolves fail to halt aspen decline [Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:20:39 GMT]
The re-introduction of wolves to a US National Park has not helped re-establish quaking aspens, as many researchers had hoped.

Technique to trace persistent CFCs [Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:49:58 GMT]
Ultrafine measurements of atmospheric gases could help scientists track down the last sources of CFCs thought to be slowing the recovery of the ozone layer.

Openness urged on UK's emissions [Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:49:34 GMT]
The government's chief environment scientist calls for more openness in admitting the UK's cuts in greenhouse gas emissions are an illusion.

'Lights out' help migratory birds [Thu, 02 Sep 2010 17:52:21 GMT]
A growing number of New York sky-scrapers switch off their lights at night to help reduce the number of migratory birds hitting the buildings.

Ants protect trees from elephants [Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:34:46 GMT]
A species of acacia tree found in Eastern Africa seems to be protected from elephant damage - by the ants that live on it.

BP says oil spill cost up to $8bn [Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:28:42 GMT]
BP says the cost of its Gulf of Mexico oil spill has risen to $8bn - a rise of more than $2bn in the last month alone.

Amazon river level at 40-year low [Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:49:24 GMT]
The River Amazon has dropped to its lowest level in 40 years in north-eastern Peru, leaving boats stranded.

Memristor revolution backed by HP [Thu, 02 Sep 2010 15:33:44 GMT]
A potentially revolutionary circuit component, once a laboratory curiosity, is to be mass-produced for the first time.

App Development

Microsoft Claims Android 'Gotchas' Raise Its Cost []
Google makes its Android software freely available, but Microsoft argues there are other costs related to making the open source software available on mobile devices.

Btrfs Linux Filesystem Nearing Mainstream []
For at least two years, excitement has surrounded the Btrfs Linux filesystem as a successor to current systems, but new improvements could take it over the top.

Say What? The Week's Top Five IT Quotes []
Why develop for Android, the battle over 3PAR heats up, the U.S.'s cybersecurity shortcomings, and more.

Red Hat Talks Cloud App Management Tech []
The Linux player says the cloud should be open and apps able to move between the cloud and the enterprise data center. And it thinks it has the technology that can help.

Microsoft: Developers Flock to Windows Phone 7 []
Company claims more than 300,000 downloads of the new Windows Phone 7 SDK. Is it a sign that Microsoft's poised for a strong launch?