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

File-sharing sanctions 'unfair' [Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:18:42 GMT]
Illegal file-sharers should be fined, rather than have their internet connection cut off, says the boss of BT.
Hard drive evolution could hit XP [Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:29:38 GMT]
Hard drives are about to undergo one of the biggest format shifts in 30 years but it could cause problems for Windows XP users.
Porn net domain name plan revived [Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:51:07 GMT]
A plan to create a .xxx net domain for adult content will be revisited three years after it was rejected by internet regulators.
Nanotech 'fuse' for novel battery [Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:17:28 GMT]
A never-before-seen reaction in nanotubes could make for batteries that pack a mighty punch, say researchers.
Games migrate to the social side [Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:25:58 GMT]
The merging of social networks and games is set to dominate this year's Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.
Sony eyeing June launch of 3D TV [Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:42:24 GMT]
Electronics giant Sony says its new 3D television will be on sale in Japan from June, with a cost of £2,600 for a 46-inch screen model.
Skynet satellite system extended [Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:17:11 GMT]
Skynet 5, the UK's single biggest space project, is to get a fourth satellite to up the bandwidth available to British forces.
Facebook death 'lessons to learn' [Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:48:18 GMT]
The home secretary says internet safety lessons must be learned after a convicted sex offender contacts and kills a teenager.
US eases sanctions for freer web [Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:25:15 GMT]
The US eases sanctions on Iran, Cuba and Sudan to help further the use of internet services and support opposition groups.
Dotcom Crash [Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:27:19 GMT]
10 years on from when the Nasdaq bubble burst

Science

Collider to shut for year to fix faults [Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:19:18 GMT]
The Large Hadron Collider must be shut down for a year starting in late 2011 to address design flaws, the BBC has learned.
Ring may be giant 'impact crater' [Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:26:56 GMT]
Deforestation has revealed what could be a giant impact crater in Central Africa, according to Italian scientists.
Ancient eggshell yields its DNA [Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:22:57 GMT]
The eggshells of long-dead and extinct species are a particularly good source to find preserved DNA, researchers say.
Nanotech 'fuse' for novel battery [Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:17:28 GMT]
A never-before-seen reaction in nanotubes could make for batteries that pack a mighty punch, say researchers.
Third of EU emissions 'imported' [Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:46:03 GMT]
Research shows some EU countries "import" about a third of their carbon emissions from developing countries.
Superweed predator to be released [Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:25:22 GMT]
A plant-eating predator that preys on aggressive superweed Japanese knotweed is to be given a trial release in England.
Skynet satellite system extended [Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:17:11 GMT]
Skynet 5, the UK's single biggest space project, is to get a fourth satellite to up the bandwidth available to British forces.
Lords in science investment call [Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:29:11 GMT]
Former Labour and Conservative science ministers challenge the next UK government to maintain investment in science.
Tory review urges science boost [Mon, 08 Mar 2010 23:47:05 GMT]
A Tory-backed report urges incentives for schools and tax breaks for researchers to raise the profile of science.
Tongue-lashing: Chameleon's weapon unmatched in the cold [Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:20:35 GMT]
Chameleon have a hidden advantage as hunters, a ballistic tongue that works well in the cold.

App Development

Microsoft-Sponsored CodePlex Moves Ahead []
The non-profit open source foundation looks to show it's not just an extension of its main backer, Microsoft.
Top Spot at W3C Goes to Former Novell Exec []
Jeffrey Jaffe takes over as the World Wide Web Consortium's CEO as the chief Web standards body looks ahead.
Apache Project CouchDB Taking to the Cloud []
Thanks to some commercial support from Cloudant, open source NoSQL database project CouchDB is getting ready to take to the cloud, offering an "organic" alternative to conventional relational databases.
New Ubuntu Linux CEO Aims High With Lucid Lynx []
Jane Silber, Canonical's new CEO, gives a look at what's coming for the popular Linux distro.
Twitter Surpasses 70,000 Apps []
Biz Stone, co-founder of the popular microblogging service, notes the growth of the company and the launch of its first developer event.

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