Achievement Unlocked: 29 Years

Posted on May 14, 2012 by

Achievement Unlocked: 29 Years

So I turned 29 about 2 weeks ago… no big deal, it’s not like I’m 30. It’s been quite a last year, and things are looking up for the next one.

Avengers Assemble Poster

I recently enjoyed Marvel‘s latest super-hero outing with “Avengers Assemble” (I won’t give any spoilers here, as I know a few people who read this blog still haven’t seen it). Basically though, GO. SEE. IT. DOOO EEEET! It’s pretty much everything you wanted the Avengers film to be, and it’s recently cracked the $1bn in box office revenues…

You should see it… otherwise the Hulk might get angry, and you wouldn’t like him when he’s angry.

Posted in avengers, comment, fun, General, personal, web | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Sianel ’62

Posted on February 20, 2012 by

[cy]

Bu lansiad neithiwr o sianel newydd iaith Gymraeg o’r enw “Sianel ’62″ (Channel ’62) ar UStream. Mae’r enw yn cyfeirio at greu Cymdeithas Yr Iaith Cymraeg yn 1962. Mae’r sianel yn darlledu casgliad o gynnwys sydd wedi ei greu gan wirfoddolwyr, cerddoriaeth Cymraeg a promos ar gyfer bandiau Cymraeg. Ar ei uchaf, roedd dros 300 o bobl yn gwylio, gyda dros 2000 yn edrych i mewn ar y sianel trwy’r awr gyntaf (roedd ychydig o drafferthion i ddechrau, ond ddaru nhw wella tuag at y diwedd).

Ddaru’r sianel lansio am 20:00 nos Sul, gyda chymysgedd o glipiau oddi ar YouTube, fideos cerddoriaeth, a rhaglen fer ar hanes yr CYIG a’r ymdrech yn erbyn Wylfa B. Mae’n rhaid i mi ddweud fy mod i wedi synnu braidd yn gweld nhw yn neidio o fideo YouTube o ddau fachgen yn brifo ei hunain gyda swing yn y parc i raglen ddifrifol am ddyfodol yr iaith, ond dylsa pethau fel ‘na gwella dros amser tra bod nhw’n addasu’r polisi golygyddol fel bod nhw’n symud ymlaen.

Clod hefyd am ansawdd y ffilmiau byr a ddarlledwyd o ansawdd anhygoel, gwell mewn mannau na rhai sy’n cael ei greu can ei pherthnasau mwy proffesiynol… dwi’n edrych ar y chi, S4C… Cynnwys sy’n cael ei greu gan wirfoddolwyr brwdfrydig, yn hytrach na darlledwr cyhoeddus sy’n edrych fel tasant nhw ddim yn poeni rhagor.

Dyma beth mae oes y Rhyngrwyd yn dod i ni, ac mae’n dangos i’r rhai sy’n dweud bod hi ddim yn bosib creu cynnwys da am arian bach beth yn union sy’n bosib. Dwi’n meddwl bod sianel fel hon yn rhan o beth mae Jeff Jarvis yn galw “the mass of niches”. Mae’n siarad â chynulleidfa frwdfrydig ac ysgogol ar lefel ei hunain, yn blatfform i gynnwys annibynnol, ac yn gwneud defnydd llawn o’r rhwydweithiau cyhoeddus i siarad gyda’i chynulleidfa.

Er ei bod hi ddim yn hollol glir ar y foment beth yw strategaeth hirdymor y sianel, dwi’n awyddus dros ben i weld sut mae’r sianel am ddatblygu, a beth sydd ar y gorwel.

I’r rhai ohonoch sy’n deall Cymraeg, mae Sianel ’62 ar gael yma ar http://www.sianel62.com. Maen nhw’n darlledu yn fyw am 8yh pob nos Sul ac yn rhoi ei chynnwys ar gael i’w lawr lwytho wedyn.

Er gwybodaeth – Maen nhw wedi gofyn a bod diddordeb gen i gyfrannu cynnwys i’r sianel, ond dwi heb wneud eto.

[/cy]

[en]

Last night saw the launch of a new Welsh-language channel called “Sianel ’62″ on UStream. The name is a reference to the launch 50 years ago of the Welsh Language Society. The channel broadcasts a mix of user generated content, as well as music videos and promos for Welsh bands. At it’s peak, there were around 300 people tuned in, with total views pushing towards 2000 (there were some initial issues with the stream, which later stablisied).

The channel launched at 20:00 on Sunday, with a combination of YouTube clips, music videos, a documentary about the history of Welsh Language Campaigning, and the campaign against the development of a 2nd nuclear power station on Angelsey. I must confess to being a little surprised by the switch in styles from clips of two kids hurting themselves with a park swing to a serious documentary, but these issues will almost certainly resolve themselves as the channel reviews and revises its editorial policy after the launch.

The documentaries featured during the launch were outstanding, and were easily as good, if not better than some of the content generated by its more professional cousins… I’m looking at you S4C… Content that’s being put together by volunteers and enthused people, rather than being churned out by an increasingly out of touch publically-funded broadcaster.

This is what the Internet age gives us, and those who argue that it costs hundreds of thousands of pounds to produce compelling content just need to look at what’s being done by these guys (and other Internet broadcasters). I believe that the channel exemplifies what Jeff Jarvis calls “the mass of niches”. It engages with a highly motivated, politically aware audience in their own language at their level, being a platform for user generated content, and making full use of social networks to enage with its audience.

Although it is unclear at this point what the long term strategy for the channel will be, I’m really looking forward to seeing what they’ve got planned, and how it’ll evolve.

For those who are able to understand Welsh, you can find Sianel ’62 at http://www.sianel62.com. They broadcast live from 8pm every Sunday and they make their conent available as a download after the fact.

Disclosure – I’ve been asked to contribute content to the channel, although I’ve not done so to date.

[/en]

Posted in comment, haciaith, observations, tech, tv, web | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Hacio’r Iaith 2012 + S4C 2.0

Posted on February 6, 2012 by

[en]So I figured I’m past due telling you all about Hacio’r Iaith, which I <a href="wrote a short intro to a few weeks ago. The event was a stunning success, with our biggest ever crowd joining us for a day of talking tech, the web and the world though the medium of Welsh. There were some pretty cool sessions going, including a session on kinect hacking, hyper-local news media and creating iBooks. Not to mention of course the frankly marvellous Haclediad…

I obviously couldn’t waste the opportunity to climb up on a soap-box, and did a session where I shared my thoughts on applying Jeff Jarvis‘“What would Google Do?” principles to broadcasting (in the session, I asked people to imagine what an S4C 2.0 might look like, adopting Jarvis’ principles of becoming a network, sharing content and participating in the community it lives in). The talk appeared to be well-received, with some positive comments afterwards.

I was pleasantly surprised to see members of S4C’s governing body come to see what was going on. They asked some questions about what I was suggesting, and seemed to take it all on board. I had quite a long conversation with them the night before, and was pleased that they were at least saying all the right things. I’d also exchanged a few messages on Twitter with Ian Jones (S4C’s new Chief Exec), who apologised for not being able to make it, but was keen to get more input on modernising the channel (a theme he’s discussed at length in press interviews he’s done recently). I’ve actually been pleasantly surprised by Ian Jones’ level of engagement on Twitter, and he certainly seems to have a pretty good understanding of what their challenges are, and engaging with all the stakeholders.

I did however get the sense that the guys from the Authority were giving me the hard sell over Ian Jones’ appointment, which I guess is partly their job… but as I’ve said before (and to them), it’s one thing to say it, it’s quite another to actually do it, and all eyes are on the new CEO to see if he delivers on his early promise.

I’m really looking forward to seeing what comes out as a result of Hacio’r Iaith. A lot of very clever and talented people left with a lot of ideas, which should make Hacio’r Iaith 2013 even better.
[/en]
[cy]
Ro’n i yn meddwl bod hi’n hen bryd i mi ddweud wrthych chi am Hacio’r Iaith ar ôl i mi ysgrifennu’r tamaid ‘na ychydig wythnosau yn ôl. Roedd y digwyddiad yn llwyddiant ysgubol, gyda’r dorf fwyaf yn ymuno gyda ni am ddiwrnod o siarad technoleg, y we a’r byd trwy gyfrwng y Gymraeg. Roedd siaradwyr diddorol dros ben yno, gan gynnwys sesiwn ar y Kinect, newyddion “hyper local” a chreu e-llyfrau. Heb sôn wrth gwrs am sioe wych Yr Haclediad…

Yn amlwg, do ni methu gwastraffu amser i falu awyr, a ddaru mi gynnal sesiwn i mi gael rhannu fy syniadau ar sut i greu strategaeth wedi ei selio ar egwyddorion Jeff Jarvis o “What would Google Do?” (yn ystod y sesiwn, ddaru mi ofyn i bawb dychmygu beth fysa S4C 2.0 yn edrych fel yn gweithio dan egwyddor o fod yn rhwydwaith, rhannu cynnwys a chymryd rhan yn y gymuned). Ddaru’r sesiwn fynd yn dda iawn hyd y gwn i, gyda phobl yn dweud pethau da wedyn.

Mi o’n i wedi cael fy synnu gweld cymaint o aelodau Awdurdod S4C yno. Ges i sawl cwestiwn ganddynt am beth o’n i yn siarad am, ac maen nhw i weld yn gwrando. Fe gefais sgwrs reit ddifyr hefo nhw’r noson gynt, ac yn reit hapus bod nhw oeliaf yn dweud y pethau iawn. Fe ddaru mi cael pwt bach o sgwrs hefo Ian Jones (prif-weithredwr newydd S4C) dros Twitter, a ddau o ymddiheuro am beidio gallu dod, a bod o’n awyddus clywed adborth gan bobl am beth oedd angen gwneud yn y dyfodol (pwnc mae o wedi trafod yn aml yn ystod cyfweliadau i’r wasg yn ddiweddar). Mae’n rhaid i mi ddweud fy mod i’n bles gweld pa mor barod mae o i siarad gyda phobl, ac mae o i weld yn deall beth yw’r sialens mae S4C yn wynebu.

Mi o’n i yn teimlo braidd bod y bois o’r Awdurdod yn awyddus iawn fy mod i’n licio Ian Jones a bod o oedd y boi iawn ar gyfer y swydd… ac i ryw raddau, dwi’n deall pam bod nhw’n gwneud ‘ny. Y pwynt pwysig dwi wedi dweud o’r blaen (ac iddyn nhw yn ystod ein sgwrs), mae’n un peth iddyn nhw ddweud pethau, mae’n beth arall cyfan-gwbl iddyn nhw wneud y pethau iawn, ac mae pawb nawr yn gwylio’r rheolwr newydd i weld os bod o’n gallu cyflawni hyn mae o’n gobeithio gwneud.

Dwi’n rili edrych ‘mlaen gweld beth ddodith allan oherwydd Hacio’r Iaith. Ddaru griw enfawr o bobl glyfar a talentog gadael hefo amryw o syniadau newydd, sydd yn sicr i wneud Hacio’r Iaith 2013 yn well byth…
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Posted in comment, fun, haciaith, observations, personal, tech, Twitter, update | 1 Comment

Hacio’r Iaith – Hacio beth? | Hacking what?

Posted on January 23, 2012 by

[cy]Mewn ychydig dan wythnos, bydd Aberystwyth yn leoliad ar gyfer Hacio’r Iaith 2012 (28ain Ionawr 2012). Hwn fydd y trydydd digwyddiad, ac un o’r ‘barcamps’ mwyaf yng Nghymru.

Mae llawer wedi gofyn i mi esbonio beth yn union ydi ‘barcamp’… wel…

Mae bar camp yn fath arbennig o gynhadledd sy’n cael ei ddisgrifio yn Saesneg fel ‘unconference’, does dim amserlen, dim digwyddiadau na siaradwyr wedi ei drefnu… mae popeth yn cael ei drefnu ar y diwrnod.

Ydi, mae’n swnio’n wallgof, ond mae’n gweithio. Mae’r amserlen yn cael ei benderfynu ar y diwrnod gan bawb sy’n troi lan. Mae pawb yn cael ei annog i arwyddo lan a siarad ar unrhyw bwnc maen nhw eisiau. Er bod thema’r digwyddiad ydi technoleg, mae’n bosib dehongli hyn mewn sawl ffordd i siarad am unrhyw bwnc, ac mae’n bosib trafod unrhyw beth o effaith polisi’r llywodraeth ar ddefnydd y we, i hanes ‘memes’ y rhyngrwyd.

Dwi wedi bod i sawl digwyddiad o’r math ‘ma, ac mae pethau’n gallu bod mor eang â ‘ny… yn ystod Barcamp Llundain 2011, ddaru cannoedd o bobl troi lan i wrando a siarad. Mewn un ystafell, roedd dynes yn disgrifio ei gwaith hi o adolygu siocled ar ei gwefan hi (roedd hi di dod a rhywfaint o siocled hefo hi!), tra mewn ystafell arall, roedd blogiwr wisgi yn rhedeg sesiwn “Absinthe for Beginners”, tra mewn ystafell arall roedd person yn rhedeg sesiwn ar greu gemau ar gyfer yr iPhone. Y peth gwallgof? Roedd hyn i gyd o fewn yr un awr!

Ar ddechrau’r dydd, fydd y bobl yno yn ymgasglu wrth y ‘grid’ a rhoi lawr pa drafodaeth maen nhw eisiau cynnal. Fel dwi wedi sôn yn barod, mae’n bosib siarad am unrhyw beth (fel i mi ddweud, siocled ag absinthe…). Y cwestiwn nesaf yw, oes *rhaid* i mi siarad?

Wel, does dim *rhaid* i chi… ond dylsa chi gwneud. Mae pawb sy’n dod eisiau gwrando ar drafodaethau a ballu. Maen nhw *eisiau* clywed gynoch chi. Does neb yn mynd i waeddi, codi cywilydd na gwneud hwyl ohonoch. Maen nhw eisiau clywed gan bobl wybodus gydag angerdd at y pwnc dan sylw. Does dim angen creu Powerpoint, does dim angen wbath technegol, does dim rhaid paratoi dim. Yn llythrennol, dim ond angen i chi arwyddo lan am slot, a siarad. Mae’r holl beth amdanoch chi’n rhannu eich angerdd a’ch gwybodaeth.

Gallwch drafod rhywbeth sy’n eich diddori chi, dangos prosiect da chi’n gweithio arno, neu gynnal trafodaeth ar bwnc llosg. Jest angen i chi ddewis enw, amser a bant a ni!

Eisiau syniadau? Cymrwch olwg ar y tudalen ‘ma oddi ar Lanyrd.com, mae ‘na restr o bron i 1000 o sesiynau mewn cannoedd o barcamps dros y byd gan gynnwys “Fancy a Pint?” yn Barcamp Llundain (un o rhai fi! Ddaru mi gyfarfod y cyd-gyflwynydd y bore ‘na, ac erbyn y pnawn mi ddaru ni gyflwyno’r sesiwn trafod gydag ystafell lawn o bobl… dim PowerPoint na dim), neu “How to Podcast for Free” o Barcamp Lerpwl (dim un o rhai fi…). Fel ddaru mi ddweud, *unrhyw beth*.

Os eich bod chi ddim yn siŵr am wneud sesiwn, fe allwch chi gysylltu gyda fi cyn dydd Sadwrn nesaf (bryn.salisbury@gmail.com, neu @bryns ar twitter), neu ofyn i mi ar y diwrnod. Dwi wedi cael profiadau gwych yn gwneud sesiynau mewn barcamps, a dylsa chi gael hefyd. Mae’n siawns da cael ymarfer siarad yn gyhoeddus o flaen cynulleidfa sydd eisiau clywed gynoch chi, ac eisiau eich cefnogi.

Heblaw am y sesiynau, fe gewch chi gyfle i wylio Sioned (@llef), Iestyn (@iestynx) a finnau yn recordio’r Haclediad o flaen cynulleidfa fyw. Fydd y peth yn wych. Mae’r flwyddyn ‘ma yn siapio lan yn arbennig o dda, a hwn fydd y flwyddyn fwyaf erioed, a dwi wedi gwirioni. Os eich bod chi heb fod o’r blaen, mae ‘na deimlad gwych o ymgasglu gyda grŵp mawr o bobl sydd gydag angerdd dros bwnc. Fydda chi’n gadael ac eisiau dechrau tomen o brosiectau newydd yn syth bin… a chofiwch, fydd ‘ny yn rhoi digon i chi drafod yn Hacio’r Iaith 2013!

Gwnai weld chi yno bois![/cy]

[en]So, in little under a week in Aberystwyth will host Hacio’r Iaith 2012 (28th January 2012). This will be third annual event, and is one of the largest ‘barcamp’ style conference in Wales.

I’ve been asked to explain exactly what a barcamp is… so here goes…

A barcamp is known as an ‘unconference’, it has no set schedule, speakers or events planned… all that is set up on the day.

Yes, sounds crazy, but it works. The conference schedule is decided on the day, by those that turn up. People who come are encouraged to sign up and give talks about whatever topic they like. Whilst the broad theme of the event is technology, this can be interpreted loosely to cover pretty much any topic, and discussions can range from the effect of Government policy on Web usage, through to the history of Internet memes…

I’ve been to quite a few barcamps and they really are that broad… during the 2011 London Barcamp, several hundred people descended to listen and give talks. In one room, a woman gave a talk about Chocolate (she’d set up a website where she reviews chocolate… as her day job… – she’d brought samples…), whilst in the next, a Whisky blogger ran a session “Absinthe for beginners”, whilst in another room a talk was detailing how to build a game for the iPhone. All of this, at one conference, in the space of an hour…

So, at the start of the day, attendees will be asked to gather at the grid to sign up to give talks. As I said, the talks can be on virtually anything (like I said… chocolate and absinthe…). So the next question is, do you *have* to give a talk…

Well, you don’t have to… but you should. The attendees at a barcamp have come to listen to talks. They *want* to hear from you. Noone is there to shout you down, boo you or make fun of you. They’ve come to hear from people who have a passion for a given topic. You really don’t need a fancy Powerpoint, it doesn’t need to be technical, and you don’t have to prepare anything. You can just literally sign up for a slot and talk. It’s about sharing your passion and your knowledge.

You could do a talk about something that interests you, show off a project you’ve been working on, or host a discussion about a burning issue. Just name your session, pick a time slot and that’s it.

Want some ideas on talks? Have a look at this Lanyrd.com search page, it has a list of almost a 1000 talks delivered at hundreds of barcamps all over the world on topics, including “Fancy a Pint?” at Barcamp London (One of mine – my co-host was a woman I got chatting to at the start of the day, and by the afternoon we were discussing how great beer is with a room full of people… no slides, no anything), through to “How to Podcast for Free” at Barcamp Liverpool (not one of mine…). Like I said, *anything*.

If you’re unsure about giving a talk, you can get in touch with me before next saturday (bryn.salisbury@gmail.com, or @bryns on twitter), or come grab me on the day. I’ve had wonderful experiences giving talks at Barcamps, and you should too. It’s a great place to practice public speaking in front of a group who really want to hear from you, and want to support you.

Other than the talks, you’ll also get to see Sioned (@llef), Iestyn (@iestynx) and me do a live recording of our podcast (The Haclediad) there. It’ll be an absolute blast. This year is shaping up to have the most attendees ever, and I’m REALLY excited. If you’ve never been, there’s a tremendous buzz from gathering together with so many people enthused around a topic or area, you’ll want to rush off and start a dozen projects right away… and that, if anything, will give you plenty to talk about when you come along to the one in 2013!

See you in Aberystwyth guys…[/en]

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Posted in comment, fun, haciaith, observations, personal, tech, Twitter, web | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

WAG & Western Mail

Posted on November 27, 2011 by

[cy]Mae ‘na drafodaethau diddorol wedi bod yn digwydd yn ddiweddar ar ôl i Bethan Jenkins AS (bydd rhai ohonoch a fu yn fyfyrwyr yn Aberystwyth efallai yn cofio i o’i hamser fel llywydd yr Urdd Myfyrwyr yno) ysgrifennu tamaid barn ddiddorol ar gyfer Wales Home, o’r enw “Time for Radical Solutions”. Yno, mae hi’n cynnig fod y Cynulliad Cenedlaethol yn edrych i drosi’r Western Mail i fod yn gwmni sy’n cael ei ariannu yn gyhoeddus (gyda’r modd i sicrhau annibyniaeth y Papur), wedyn gadael i’r cwmni cael ei werthu allan mewn rhai blynyddoedd.

Mae’r tamaid wedi denu llawer o sylw (BBC News – Western Mail could be taken over by government, says AM, Golwg360 – Galw ar y llywodraeth i gymryd y Western Mail ac ar Twitter), ac mae’n ymddangos bod o wedi llwyddo i ddechrau’r drafodaeth ar y pwnc – fel oedd Bethan eisiau gwneud. Mae barn pobl yn amrywio ar y pwnc, gyda Trinity Mirror (perchnogion y Western Mail) yn dweud “no comment” (wedi ei fyrhau), i rai sy’n gofyn beth ddylid rôl y llywodraeth bod yn y byd y cyfryngau a’r newyddion.

Dwi’n bersonol ddim yn credu bod hi’n iawn fod y Llywodraeth yn cymryd drosodd papurau newydd (hyd yn oed gyda gwarant i sicrhau annibyniaeth olygyddol). Da ni di gweld o’r blaen fel mae’r BBC wedi cael ei gyhuddo gan wleidyddion o bob lliw am ffafrio un ochor dros y llall (yn enwedig gan y Ceidwadwyr). Mi fysa’r syniad o fod yn bapur newydd y Llywodraeth yn anodd ei anwybyddu, ac efallai fydd gohebwyr yn poeni bod nhw’n mynd i godi gwrych y bobl sy’n talu nhw. Hefyd, gan mae hi’n fyd bach yn y cyfryngau yng Nghymru, fysa’r WM wedi rhedeg stori am S4C yn brwydro gyda Phrifysgol Cymru os bod aelodau’r tîm rheoli hefyd yn eistedd ar dîm rheoli S4C?

Os bod chi’n gofyn i fi, dwi’n meddwl bod WAG angen rhoi cic fynnu pen ôl y Western Mail trwy ddefnyddio ei grym i hybu a datblygu cystadleuaeth. Mae rhai fel Wil Stephens yn cynnig bod WAG yn creu cronfa i fuddsoddi mewn cwmnïau newydd, yn hytrach na chymryd drosodd hen rhai (sy’n syniad dwi’n cytuno gyda). Hefyd, fel mae Huw Marshall yn cynnig, di’r Western Mail ddim yn union yn bapur ar gyfer Cymru i gyd (dwi’n tueddu i gytuno, o’n mhrofiad i mae’n tueddu fwy tuag at De Cymru). Mae’n rhaid dweud bod y syniad o greu cwmni newyddion dros Gymru yn syniad reit ddeniadol.

Mae’r Western Mail yn gwmni sy’n dal i wneud elw. Beth mae’r perchnogion angen yw cystadleuaeth. Mae dechrau cwmni newyddion yn ddrud dros ben (costau staff, caledwedd, cyfreithiol ayyb), ac allan o allu y rhan helaeth o bobl… Ond, os fysai WAG yn helpu i greu cwmni newydd, fysai ‘ny yn rhoi ysgytwad i’r farchnad, a fysa rhaid i’r cwmnïau yn y farchnad addasu er mwyn sicrhau ei dyfodol. Fysai aelod newydd o’r farchnad yn gallu casglu gohebyddion o’r papurau bro a’r we i greu rhywbeth newydd, a fysai rhaid i Trinity Mirror gwneud rhywbeth i gadw lan.

Felly, dylid WAG cymryd drosodd y Western Mail? Na… ond bysant nhw’n gallu helpu gwneud nhw (a’r farchnad yng Nghymru) lot yn well.[/cy]

[en]So there’s been some interesting debates going on in Wales recently after Bethan Jenkins AM (those of you who are ex-Aberystwyth students may remember her from her time as Guild President) wrote an interesting Op-Ed piece for Wales Home, called “Time for Radical Solutions” in which she advocates that the Welsh Assembly should look to convert the Western Mail into a publicly funded company (with editorial protection similar to that of S4C), then letting the company be floated a few years later to be a private company again.

The piece has drawn a lot of attention (BBC News – Western Mail could be taken over by government, says AM, Golwg360 – Galw ar y llywodraeth i gymryd y Western Mail and on Twitter), and seems to have achieved Bethan’s aim of stirring up a debate. Opinions vary from Trinity Mirror (the owner of The Western Mail) saying “no comment” (i’m paraphrasing) though to discussions on the Government’s role in media.

I personally don’t think it’s the Government’s place to be taking over media properties (even with guarantees of editorial independence). We’ve seen in the past how the BBC has drawn fire from politicians of all sides for editorial bias (particularly from The Conservatives). The perception that it’s a ‘Government’ paper would be difficult to shift, and journalists might feel weary of biting the hand that feeds it. Also, given the seemingly incestious nature of media in Wales at the moment, would the WM have ran the story about S4C’s battles with University of Wales if members of its board were also sat on S4C’s?

If you ask me, WAG should be looking to put the boot up the Western Mail’s backside and using it’s position to encourage and foster competition. Wil Stephens suggests that WAG should be looking to set itself up with a seed fund, and investing money in starting up new ventures, rather than taking over old ones (a sentiment I share). Huw Marshall also points out that the Western Mail isn’t exactly an “all Wales” property (I tend to agree, from my experience it’s almost entirely a South Wales affair). So the notion of setting up an ‘All Wales’ news organisation is quite appealing.

The Western Mail is still a profitable (if dwindling) business. What its owners; Trinity Mirror (and S4C for that matter), needs is some competition. Starting a news organisation is expensive (staffing, legal, hardware et al), and is well beyond the means of most… But if WAG helped to introduce a new player and disrupt the market, broadcast and print media in Wales would be forced to innovate in order to maintain market share. A new player could gather journalists from local papers and bring in the best of the Web’s talent and provide a new service, and Trinity Mirror would need to do something to keep up.

So, should WAG take over the Western Mail? No… but it can help us to make it (and media in Wales) much, much better.[/en]

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S4C 2.0

Posted on October 28, 2011 by

[cy]Gyda Hacio’r Iaith 2012 ar y gorwel (3 mis o heddiw fel mae’n digwydd…), Dwi’n dechrau hel meddyliau am sesiwn fyswn i yn hoffi gwneud ar beth fysa S4C ar gyfer y genhedlaeth nesaf yn edrych fel (y rheswm am yr enw S4C 2.0).

Ers i mi ysgrifennu’r tameidiau cyntaf nôl yn fis Ebrill, dwi wedi cael rhagor o syniadau. Wedi dweud ‘ny, fyswn i yn hoffi agor y drafodaeth lan i gynulleidfa llawer mwy eang (ie, chi annwyl darllenwyr!). Beth fydda chi’n hoffi gweld gan y sianel? Rhagor o wasanaethau ar-lein? Cynnwys ar iTunes/Amazon/LoveFilm? Fwy o wasanaethau amlieithog? Fwy o fanylder am beth mae’r rheolwyr yn gwneud? Ffordd haws i gyhoeddi cynnwys annibynnol? Fwy o wasanaethau i ddysgwyr?

Dwi am ddechrau rhoi hwn at ei gilydd o gwmpas y Nadolig, a fyddai’n siŵr i roi rhagor o wybodaeth i chi am sut mae pethau yn datblygu.[/cy]

[en]With Hacio’r Iaith 2012 just around the corner (3 months to today infact…), I’m starting to collect some notes on a talk I’d like to give on what a next generation S4C would look like (hence the name S4C 2.0).

Since my posts back in April, I’ve had a few more ideas. I’d like though to open it up to a much wider audience and invite you (dear readers) to join in and tell me what you all think. What would you want from the channel? More online services? iTunes/Amazon/LoveFilm access? More multi-lingual content? Greater transparency from the management? A simpler process for getting more ‘independent’ content broadcast? More services for learners?

I’ll start to put this all together around Christmas, and keep you in the loop about how it’s all going.[/en]

Lincs/Links

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Datblygu Diogel | Secure Development

Posted on October 26, 2011 by

[cy]Rhag ofn eich bod chi’n meddwl fy mod i draw yn Iwerddon ond am hwyl (Dwi yn cael hwyl, ond dim dyna yw’r unig reswm bod ‘ma), fe ges i un o’r amseroedd ‘na lle glywais i rywbeth sydd wedi gwneud i fi ail-feddwl fy marn ar bwnc yn ystod trafodaeth ar ddatblygu meddalwedd diogel.

Dwedodd un o’r bobl o’n i yn cyfweld:[/cy]

[en]Lest you think that I’m over on the Emerald Isle for fun (I’m having fun, but that’s not the primary purpose of my visit), I had one of those “wait, what? oh yeah…” moments during a discussion on secure applications development.

It centred around the this analogy (edit 21:18 – given by the interviewee):[/en]

“If we taught people to drive the same way we teach people to do secure code, then we’d have a lot more dead people and destroyed cars”

[cy]Dwi ddim yn sicr faint ohonoch sydd wedi bod ar gwrs datblygu meddalwedd diogel (fyswn i yn tybio ddim llawer), ond y tueddiad yw rhoi amser hir ar dangos beth sy’n gallu digwydd os bod chi’n gwneud pethau yn anghywir, ac wedyn treulio amser byr iawn yn dangos y ffordd gywir o wneud y peth. Yn dilyn o’r cydweddiad blaenorol, dwedodd y sawl bod ‘ny fel gadael i bobl cael damwain erchyll yn ei char, ac wedyn dweud “paid gwneud ‘ny…”.

Felly, y cwestiwn yw… ‘da ni’n dysgu’r pethau ‘ma’r ffordd gywir? Ydi hi ddim yn well dangos y ffordd gywir i ddelio gyda mewnbwn gan ddefnyddwyr, strwythur SQL, neu wallau o’r meddalwedd? Ar ôl gwneud ‘ny, dangos iddyn nhw beth sy’n gallu digwydd os bod nhw ddim yn gwneud beth da ni’n argymell. Ond hefyd, ydi’r fath beth yn dibynnu ar y dechnoleg sy’n cael ei defnyddio, a’r systemau sy’n cael ei adeiladu i adolygu’r cod wedyn? Efallai bod yr ateb ddim mor haws a dwi’n disgwyl.

Mae’n syniad diddorol i mi, ac yn un fyswn i yn hoffi datblygu yn bellach… os bod gennych chi unrhyw feddyliau, fyswn i yn hoffi clywed nhw. Dwi am geisio hefyd cynnal sesiwn ar hwn yn ystod Barcamp Llundain dros y penwythnos.[/cy]

[en]I don’t know how many of you have been on a secure coding course (I’d hazard a guess and say “not many”), their tendency is to spend most of the time showing you what goes wrong (“look at how bad SQL injection can be!”), then spend a tiny fraction of that time showing you how to do it right. If we continue from our Continuing his analogy, the Interviewee said it would be akin to letting someone crash a car, and then saying “don’t do that…”.

So, my question is this… are we teaching these things the wrong way around? Is it not better to show people the correct way to handle things like user input, SQL queries, or error handling? Once we show them the right way, we can then move to show them what happens when it goes wrong. Having said that, any of these types of training guidelines would depend on the technology being used, and the associated infrastructure for reviewing the code afterwards, so maybe the answer isn’t as clear as we’d like it to be.

It’s an interesting idea, and one I’d like to explore further… if you have any thoughts, I’d love to hear from you. If I do manage to nab some time, hoping to do a session on it at Barcamp London.[/en]

Diweddaru | Update – 29/10/11
[en]So I ran the session at Barcamp London, you can see the slides here:[/en]
[cy]Well, dwi wedi gwneud y sesiwn nawr yn Barcamp:[/cy]

Secure Coding – Are we doing it wrong
View more presentations from bryns

[cy]Sesiwn reit dda, gyda trafodaeth diddorol. Disgwyl nawr i cael rhagor o adborth dros y dyddiau nesaf.[/cy]
[en]An pretty good session, with a very interesting debate. Now to wait for some more feedback over the next few days.[/en]

Hwyl!

B

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