Al Williams

Houston

Embedded systems, FPGA designer, and blogger for Hackaday (@Hackaday). Author of Understanding 3D Printing http://t.co/RsOFmOwUjF

Articles

Supreme Court dismisses rapist Damin Cook’s appeal in sexsomina case

18 hours ago | nzherald.co.nz | Al Williams

The Supreme Court has dismissed Damin Cook's appeal against his convictions. Warning: This article contains distressing content. Damin Peter Cook claims he was asleep when he raped a woman. He used members of his family, former partners and expert psychiatric evidence to argue his defence - that sexsomnia was the cause of the sex attack. The woman had passed out after a night of drinking at a birthday party held at a Christchurch flat in September 2019. AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
From PostScript To PDF

4 days ago | hackaday.com | Al Williams

There was a time when each and every printer and typesetter had its own quirky language. If you had a wordprocessor from a particular company, it worked with the printers from that company, and that was it. That was the situation in the 1970s when some engineers at Xerox Parc — a great place for innovation but a spotty track record for commercialization — realized there should be a better answer. That answer would be Interpress, a language for controlling Xerox laser printers.
C64 Assembly In Parts

4 days ago | hackaday.com | Al Williams

[Michal Sapka] wanted to learn a new skill, so he decided on the Commodore 64 assembly language. We didn’t say he wanted to learn a new skill that might land him a job. But we get it and even applaud it. Especially since he’s written a multi-part post about what he’s doing and how you can do it, too. So far, there are four parts, and we’d bet there are more to come. The series starts with the obligatory “hello world,” as well as some basic setup steps.
Chch man caught importing cocaine while on community detention

5 days ago | odt.co.nz | Al Williams

You are not permitted to download, save or email this image. Visit image gallery to purchase the image. CanterburyChristchurchBy Al Williams, Open Justice reporterA man who imported methamphetamine and cocaine from Europe and Canada while on a police curfew will now be locked down around the clock after Customs intercepted his packages.
ReadPlanet - Ai, Sci-Fi, Writing, Linux

5 days ago | readplanet.substack.com | Al Williams

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Christchurch’s Jamie Richard Pope caught drug dealing, importing meth, while on community detention

5 days ago | nzherald.co.nz | Al Williams

Jamie Pope imported quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine while on community detention. A man who imported methamphetamine and cocaine from Europe and Canada while on a police curfew will now be locked down around the clock after Customs intercepted his packages. Jamie Richard Pope was serving a sentence of community detention for firearms charges when Customs contacted police to advise of two drug intercepts destined for his Christchurch address. Customs then nabbed a further three packages.
China Hosts Robot Marathon

1 week ago | hackaday.com | Al Williams

China played host to what, presumably, was the world’s first robot and human half-marathon. You can check out the action and the Tiangong Ultra robot that won in the video below. The event took place in Beijing and spanned 21.1 km. There was, however, a barrier between lanes for humans and machines. The human rules were the same as you’d expect, but the robots did need a few concessions, such as battery swap stops. The winning ‘bot crossed the finish line in just over 160 minutes.
Open Source DMR Radio

1 week ago | hackaday.com | Al Williams

While ham radio operators have been embracing digital mobile radio (DMR), the equipment is most often bought since — at least in early incarnations — it needs a proprietary CODEC to convert speech to digital and vice versa. But [QRadioLink] decided to tackle a homebrew and open source DMR modem. The setup uses a LimeSDR, GNU Radio, and Codec2. There are some other open DMR projects, such as OpenRTX. So we are hopeful there are going to be more choices.
Split congregation wants apology as Employment Court orders Bread of Life Church pastor Xi Chen be reinstated

1 week ago | rnz.co.nz | Al Williams

By Al Williams, Open Justice reporter of Following an "acrimonious and tragic church split" and years of litigation, a pastor who was unjustifiably dismissed from the role has won reinstatement, but tensions remain within the congregation. Xi Chen, pastor of the Bread of Life Christian Church in Auckland, said the ruling was a "new beginning" while those opposed to his reinstatement have accepted it, but have called for him to apologise.
Split congregation wants apology as Employment Court orders Bread of Life Church pastor Xi Chen be reinstated

1 week ago | nzherald.co.nz | Al Williams

Bread of Life Christian Church pastor Xi Chen has been reinstated as pastor. Photo / SuppliedFollowing an “acrimonious and tragic church split” and years of litigation, a pastor who was unjustifiably dismissed from the role has won reinstatement, but tensions remain within the congregation. Xi Chen, pastor of the Bread of Life Christian Church in Auckland, said the ruling was a “new beginning” while those opposed to his reinstatement have accepted it, but have called for him to apologise.