Dyma dudalen enwog o Sideburns fanzine, mis Rhagfyr 1976. Wnaeth pobol ddim yn gallu ffeindio cyfryngau gyda diddordebau eu hun. Felly dechreuon nhw gylchgronau eu hun gyda llungopiwyr. Ti’n gallu galw fe DIY, punk, ayyb. Mae bandiau DIY yn annog cyfryngau DIY yn hybu bandiau DIY…

Dyn ni ddim yn byw yn y 70au, dyn ni’n gallu cael ysbrydoliaeth. Fel Orange Juice pan gopïon nhw solo/riff o Buzzcocks.

Beth yw’r cywerthydd nawr arlein? Ti’n gallu dechrau cyfryngau dy hun gyda meddalwedd rydd, e.e. WordPress. Y band? Beth bynnag ti eisiau yn y byd. Neu dy byd. Weithiau mae’r fanzine yn dathlu ei hun, ti’n mwynhau’r fanzine ei hun.

Dw i dal yn meddwl am ffordd i hybu arlein fel teclyn defnyddiol, ar ôl Hacio’r Iaith yn enwedig. Dw i’n teimlo aflonydd.

“Dydy arlein ddim yn ddefnyddiol am bopeth” meddit ti. Ti’n gallu esbonio yn dy flog dy hun achos dw i wedi cau’r sylwadau tro yma.

I need to set myself some new challenges with my Welsh learning. The next will be book-related. That means picking one up and reading it. But it needs to be a good one with the right level of challenge. (Previous posts about learning Welsh)

Rhaid i mi fendio her newydd yn fy anturiaethau Cymraeg.

Dw i’n teimlo eitha statig ar hyn o bryd (fel dysgwr).

Dw i’n gallu cofio pob carreg filltir ar y ffordd. Dechraiais i fy ngwers gyntaf dwy flynedd a hanner yn ôl. Carreg filltir. Datrys ebostiau yn y dyddiau cynnar cyn Google Translate. Ha ha. Ac wedyn, cwrddais i rywun “yn Gymraeg” am y tro cyntaf. Dw i’n cofio’r person cyntaf. Dyn ni dal yn siarad ond dyn ni ddim yn siarad un rhywbeth ac eithrio Cymraeg. Dydy’r enw nhw ddim yn bwysig iawn am y cofnod hwn. Ond oedd y foment yn bwysig. Cychwyn newydd.

Allwn i ddweud popeth dw i eisiau dweud?

Ddylwn i amneidio, honni, pan dw i ddim yn deall?

Pryd fyddan ni dechrau siarad yn normal? Byth.

Oedd y teimlad fel cwympo mas o awyren. Freefall.

Mae llawer o bobol yn gofyn am awgrymiadau cyrsiau nawr. Ydy mwy o bobol yn chwilio am gyrsiau Cymraeg? Fel prawf, dydy’r casgliad ddim yn deg. Mae mwy o bobol yn gofyn fi achos maen nhw yn gwybod dw i wedi dysgu. Gobeithio byddan nhw i gyd yn mynd i ddysgu rhywbryd, pan fyddan nhw yn barod.

Dw i’n meddwl am bob penderfyniad da yn fy mywyd. Gyda phob peth da, dylai i wedi dechrau yn gynharach. Er enghraifft. Dechrais i Gymraeg yn 2007. Dylai i wedi dechrau yn 2003. Ond does dim ots. Dylwn i benderfynu’r peth nesaf i wneud NAWR.

Mae fy straeon a barnau yma yn bersonol. Mae termau ac amodau arferol dal yn sefyll wrth gwrs.

Nawr dw i’n gallu gweithio, cwrdd â phobol newydd, cyfieithu ychydig o feddalwedd rydd. Dw i ddim yn gallu deall areithiau neu bregethau yn dda. Dw i dal yn ddrwg yn unrhyw gyd-destun gyda llawer o bobol sy’n siarad yn gyflym – cyfarfodydd go iawn neu grwpiau yn y tafarn.

Bydd fy sialens newydd yw gorffen llyfr. Nid jyst dechrau llyfr.

Mae casgliad gyda fi o lyfrau dw i wedi dechrau (Saunders Lewis, Islwyn Ffowc Elis). Hwyl am y tro. Ond buan.

Mae’n hawdd iawn i orffen ffilm neu albwm. Eistedda ac aros. Dw i’n darganfod cyfrinachau gwahanol, manylion bach bob tro (e.e. Mwng).

Hei, dw i dal yn gwrando ar hiphop heb ddealltwriaeth am y cyfeiriadau diwylliannol weithiau.

Mae fy llyfr nesaf yw Atgofion Hen Wanc gan David R. Edwards. (Unrhyw awgrymiadau eraill? Llyfrau debyg.)

Mae diddordeb mawr gyda fi yn gerddoriaeth, 80au post punk a phethau tebyg yn enwedig. Dw i wedi nabod yr enw Datblygu ers blynyddoedd wrth gwrs. Ro’n i’n teimlo parod am gerddoriaeth Datblygu ar ddiwedd y flwyddyn ddiwethaf. Dw i ddim yn siŵr os mae’n syniad da i ddarllen y cyfieithiadau Saesneg yn Wyau/Pyst/Libertino ond dw i wedi darllen nhw yn barod, beth bynnag.

85 tudalen. Reit, dylwn i gau fy ngheg tan dw i’n gorffen y llyfr.

Llun gan Dogfael

A group of us did a free, open event in Aberystwyth on 30th January 2010 called Hacio’r Iaith. It was fun. I learned things. It was based on the BarCamp format. You can use the format to have a conference on any subject and many people do. Some people call it an unconference.

The reasons we organised an offline event should be obvious. A chance to shake hands and consume body aroma content, the only remaining experiences not yet available online.

Around 40 people came. That number seemed about right for a one-day event, I didn’t even get a chance to talk to everyone properly.

One of the main aims was to get people together to talk about shared interests, so on that basis it was almost bound to be a success after the second or third person said they’d come along. When you know people will get talking there is no need for anxiety, even if the wifi access goes down (it was fine actually), the food doesn’t arrive (it did and was splendid – thanks chefs and sponsors!) or the firewall doesn’t allow FTP access (unfortunately it didn’t, but that was a mere glitch and chance to learn something).

Keywords will be in bold here because this is getting long…

The offline component of the event is finished. For a few reasons it’s a pity you can’t access big chunks of the event now. You really had to be there maaan. Saying all that, it’s still open to an extent because we purposefully made it a hybrid of offline and online. Several web-based backchannels existed before and during the meet-up: the event wiki, the group blog, Twitter messages, videos on YouTube and photos/images on Flickr.

These backchannels persist afterwards, which increases the value of doing the event for years to come. That goes for potentially everyone on the web (especially now that Google Translate can get you the gist of the Welsh in several other languages).

These are some of the benefits of the social web. These benefits are seldom discussed by the mainstream media, incidentally!

I want other people to see all this stuff if they search for related things. I know there are other people who attended who want it to have an influence. On that note, not every problem is a problem of information. (That’s the second Neil Postman link in this post. Consider that chin thoroughly stroked.) But some problems are related to information. For instance, taking abundant information and converting it into something useful is something we can step up. It’s something that could benefit Wales, where I live and most of the attendees live.

I’d like to see more BarCamps, unconferences and so on happening in Wales. Incidentally that’s part of the reason why I’ve chosen to write this in English, to give the non-Welsh speaking people in Wales some access to the proceedings. And other people around the world who might be interested.

As far as I know, Hacio’r Iaith on Saturday was the first BarCamp-style event to be conducted in Cymraeg, the Welsh language. The subject matter? Web and technology as it relates to the Welsh language. Those things – language and subject matter – don’t necessarily follow. Naturally people discuss their language in their own language. But a group could organise a BarCamp about any subject and do it in the Welsh language. Absolutely any subject.

For nearly everyone who attended it’s their number one language for everything they do daily and has been for as long as they remember.

I can only talk about the sessions I attended. Everything is from my perspective!

The first session was about tools for Welsh learners, including a website and series of online lessons called Say Something In Welsh build with phpBB, an iPhone application called Learn Welsh and some ideas for mobile app “flashcards” suggested by a tutor. We talked about the conflicting difficulties of making apps available to all mobile users, even if they are web-based apps running on mobile. I asked Aran from Say Something In Welsh a question about open content and search engines. The site is a private “walled garden” for a number of reasons related to maintaining a community of learners, but it’s free to register to join. (UPDATE: See Aran’s comment below for more about this.)

I then stayed for the Metastwnsh podcast recording and live web stream. Metastwnsh is a web and technology blog with several contributors. There was some discussion of gadgets and some jokes. My favourite part was a discussion of how the language choice of our online posts and conversations can differ from that of our offline choice. In particular, Twitter was cited as an example of a tool which first language Welsh speakers sometimes opt to use in English, for many reasons – some understandable. It was suggested that perhaps in some cases they file it under an “English language part of their brain”, alluding to the possibility that bilingual people associate some spaces or platforms with specific languages. So the effect of the platform is not necessarily “neutral”, or doesn’t remain that way. (I’ve been building a list of Welsh speakers on Twitter, including learners. Every person who is on the list can see the list and access all the other members of the list. It’s a way of strengthening the network and thereby, potentially, the impulse to post in the Welsh language should people wish to do so. Linguistic diversity leads to other forms of diversity and improves the internet as a whole in my opinion.)

I popped next door to catch the very end of a presentation about Llen Natur, a website about wildlife and nature. It has a dictionary of species, maps and photos.

Free lunch was not something I had insisted on, especially as it increases the admin for such events. But Rhodri ap Dyfrig was convinced it was possible and fixed up catering and covered it with money from some of the sponsors. For me it was a valuable part of the event, meeting some very talented people I’d only previously known online.

It was my turn next – purely because I’d volunteered to speak, as had everyone. So the title was “FyWordPressCyntaf.com – does dim angen profiad o flaen llaw” (which translates as MyFirstWordPress.com – no previous experience necessary). I wanted to talk about WordPress as a blogging and general site CMS, downloadable from wordpress.org with no coding necessary. It gave me the chance to talk about free software (unambiguously rendered as meddalwedd rydd in Welsh, free software as in freedom) with a bit about how localised code and themes are available for Welsh (but, as I also added, we can always do with more). Unlike the audience, Welsh isn’t my first language so I had a job explaining some of the concepts. I achieved my main objective though, which was to get a bare bones installation of WordPress running to show how quick and easy it can be.

In hindsight it was a little ambitious to shoehorn the mash-up/hack session into the event plan. On the day I ended up putting my talk in the hack session, which came just to mean practical session. Even WordCamp, which I attended last year, was spread over two days – allowing space for team building, pre-planning and the hack session on the second day. At Hacio’r Iaith, I think the initiative and creativity of the attendees to do the hacks could have been there, as well as the capability. But in a day already packed with presentations and to some an unfamiliar format, it became too much to expect. Next time some more practical stuff would be good. I do think a dedicated hack event could work.

We had a quick discussion about making online how-to videos and what subjects to cover. There is plenty of room for how-to videos in Welsh, especially showing non-geeks and normal people how to get the best use of software and the web. The ideas we generated are available to take.

Finally I went to a session on the game Civilization IV and its unofficial Welsh translation, using game mods. Welsh translation of open source games like OpenTTD also came up. I’m not a big gamer but it gave me some ideas…

Video by Sioned Edwards

http://clwbmalucachu.co.uk/cmcblog/2010/01/18/welsh-rare-beat-and-galwad-y-mynydd

So Twitter Inc have decided to increase support for the world’s languages, which is an excellent move. They’ll be asking users to collaborate on translating the interface, which again is good. The language community, made up of fluent users and some professional translators, knows best. Then everyone wins.

Twitter Inc haven’t said exactly how they’ll choose the next languages. But we can ask for Welsh. Here’s how.

1. Go to http://twitter.com/translate
2. Click the link “Sign up with your username and language”.
3. Type your Twitter username.
4. Select “Welsh” from the list.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a Welsh speaker or not. Welsh can belong to everyone!

I’m calling it a “vote”. You might as well use your vote for a language you’d like to see supported, even if you’re not a speaker.

Let’s not wait months and months for Welsh to get support – we can ask now. If they receive a high number of requests, it may spur them into offering Welsh.

Facebook made a similar move a while back. The whole thing was a game, with scores and a leaderboard for contributions. This resulted in a very rapid translation, completed in around three or four weeks as I recall. Twitter will be even quicker, I think we’ll do it in mere days.

In fact, Welsh was among the first languages to be supported by Facebook. This was mainly because there was a lot of demand expressed noisily, via a group.

“The squeaky hinge gets the grease.”

Penblwydd hapus Metastwnsh. Viva’r ail blwyddyn!

Darllena cofnod llawn.

Mae Metastwnsh yn chwilio am cyfranwyr hefyd. Allet ti helpu?

Now Google Translate is instant. They changed the interface slightly and it flashes up the equivalent translation as you type. Boy.

In other words you get the same flawed “translations”, now even faster!

Try it for Welsh to English.

Example phrases:
Dw i’n cyfieithu.
Defnyddia yn ofalus.
Gwlad beirdd a chantorion, enwogion o fri

I wish there were a proper online Welsh-to-English dictionary that did instant look-ups. It would take some of the friction out of reading difficult books. Just leave the laptop open, type a difficult word and get the meaning NOW.

Having to click is too slow a method because it breaks the flow of the book. Reaching for a dictionary is even worse. The look-up needs to be as near to the speed of thought as possible.
:-)

I say “proper dictionary” because Google still gets words wrong y’see. It’s based on statistical translation and uses the “most likely” translation based on a corpus of text equivalents in both languages. It also seems to have a limited vocabulary.

And a reminder…

Don’t use it for roadsigns! But you can use it to check the gist of a professional’s translation…

Mae wythnos olaf y flwyddyn yn doniol. Dw i’n siarad am yr wythnos rhwng Dydd Nadolig a blwyddyn newydd. Mae digon o amser i sgwennu cofnodion blog.

Dw i’n meddwl am fy “breuddwydion” am y we Cymraeg neu y we cyffredinol.

Rydyn ni’n gallu defnyddio’r gair “addunedau” achos rydyn ni’n creu y we gyda’n gilydd. Er enghraifft, hoffwn i weld mwy cynnwys yn y Gymraeg (mwy nag un post dw i’n meddwl!).

Hefyd, hoffwn i darllen addunedau pobol eraill. Felly bydda i sgwennu fy “addunedau blwyddyn newydd” am y we Cymraeg. Bydda i sgwennu syniadau a meddyliau a defnyddio’r tag gwecymraeg2010 gwegymraeg2010 (diolch Nic am y treiglad cywir!).

Os ti eisiau ymuno, defnyddia’r un tag. Pa fath o bethau wyt ti eisiau weld? Neu creu?

Dw i’n cyd-trefnu Hacio’r Iaith. Gallet ti cyfrannu hefyd.

Beth yw Hacio’r Iaith? Darllena’r cofnod gyntaf ar Metastwnsh gan Rhodri ap Dyfrig. Mae drysau yn agor iawn.

Gobeithio bydd pobol yn deall pam dyn ni’n wneud y digwyddiad. Dyn ni’n trefnu Hacio’r Iaith achos dyn ni’n caru’r iaith a dyn ni’n hoffi thechnoleg defnyddiol. Dyn ni’n bwriadu i gael hwyl a datblygu pethau da ar yr un pryd.

Mae proses yn pwysig. Baswn i annog unrhyw un i dilyn y broses. Byddan ni rhannu pob manylyn. Dyn ni’n blogio a defnyddio’r wici.

Gallet ti ymuno’r digwyddiad a dysgu rhywbeth wrth gwrs. A rwyt ti’n gallu copi’r broses i wneud digwyddiad dy hun. Hoffen ni dangos bod e’n gorau i rhannu dy syniadau.

Dw i’n ffeindio rhywbeth yn aml. Pan dw i’n rhyddhau fy syniadau, dw i’n ffeindio pobol eraill ac adeiladu nhw gyda’n gilydd. Neu dw i’n ysbrydoli pobol eraill.

Dw i’n chwilio am “cystadleuaeth”. Dyma pam ro’n i’n dechrau blogio yn y Gymraeg. Ro’n i ddim yn gallu aros am blogiau newydd. Weithiau, dw i eisiau bod fel cwmni dillad chwareon. Jyst gwnaf e. Ha ha.

Es i i WordCamp yng Nghaerdydd blwyddyn yma. Daeth llawer o bobol ledled Prydain i drafod WordPress – bron pawb am eu gwaith. Mae fy nghefndir yw busnes a dw i’n meddwl bod llawer o gyfleoedd gyda ni yma. Basai’n gret i creu cyfleoedd am busnes newydd yn y dyfodol trwy pethau fel Hacio’r Iaith. Hoffwn i annog trafodaeth yn y gyfeiriad hon. Does dim rhaid i ni bod yn difrifol, gallen ni mwynhau’r sgwrs.

Ysbrydoliaeth BarCamp:

• Cyfweliad fideo bach gyda Chris Messina
• BarCamp ar Red Hat
• Enghraifft camp wici – WordCamp content ideas
• “Adre” BarCamp ryngwladol
• Adolygiad WordCamp ar Metastwnsh
• ChurchCamp

Ysbrydoliaeth hack day:

• Adre Music Hackday
• Music Hackday ar Techcrunch
• Music Hackday – fy hoff stwnsh-lan yw Music Zeitgeist (syml ac efallai gallai rhywun yn creu rhywbeth fel hwn yn Hacio’r Iaith)
• Hack The Government

(Gallet ti mynd i hack day a BarCamp ar Wicipedia.)

Byddan ni rhannu dolenni a manylion eraill ar Twitter. Dilyna Rhodri ap Dyfrig, Rhys Wynne, fi a phobol eraill…

Quick addendum to the previous post about the difference between this blog and a fully bilingual website…

It’s amazing how many people get localisation and language wrong. Even Amazon and so on.

If I were creating a truly bilingual website then I would translate every single post, page, category and tag.

I would have two user-selectable language interfaces, which would be served based on browser language selection where possible.

The browser choice could be overriden by visible options for English and Cymraeg. There would be language-specific RSS feeds. If done correctly, the number of RSS feeds would double when the second language is added.

While I’m on it, there would not be any country flags on the interface. A massive bugbear of mine! A flag does not stand for a language. Never ever. **

If I were starting my own consumer-facing organisation or company in Wales, I would consider it important to offer both languages. (I would like to start doing this for work-related things where possible.)

For large companies in particular, usually this is possible but we sometimes get excuses (about demand but usually about cost) which add up to zero really. It’s about people feeling – and being – welcomed in their own country! There is help and expertise available for this, with design, “best practice” and so on.

If done well, it’s obviously a good PR move which can give an edge over competitors and boost your bottom line.

Besides, language itself is wealth.

* Or “lleoleiddiad”. But I couldn’t make a self-referential gag out of that.

** For example, I’ve seen the Union “Jack” flag stand for the English language. Can Jamaicans click this? Or is this some kind of joke on USA web visitors who might want English language, as if we’re now calling the Declaration of Independence into question? It’s hopeless to use the Welsh flag to stand for Cymraeg, it’s a country and not everyone living here uses it. Flags do have their uses though. Please join me in saluting the flag of the North Caucasian Emirate.