tombeardshaw

A site monitoring online conversations about learning Welsh, built on Netvibes for the Welsh Assembly

Blog site of Radio 1 Wales DJ Jen Long

A site monitoring web conversations about National Theatre Wales, built on Netvibes.

A netvibes site for monitoring online activity relating to National Theatre Wales and it's productions.

Yes, we spell it “localisation” round ‘ere. * 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 should be double that of one language. 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.

Cardiff Characters took the city by storm at it's 2008 exhibition in the Hayes. Now Dan Green has an even bigger vision. NativeHQ has been working with Dan to develop his web presence. Big Little City is just starting.

National Theatre Wales has a new online community website - by NativeHQ

dangreen

Can be regularly seen on Queen Street (city centre) wailing reggae tunes. He always brings a smile to my face - he's a Top man.

carlmorris

Fake Sleeveface picture initially made without the subjects' knowledge, by the devious Llyr Williams http://www.sleeveface.com

I was DJing there only last Friday, now it’s finished. :-( Full statement from The Point. The Point has been a terrific place for the music scene in Cardiff. I have witnessed and participated in so many awesome gigs and events there. Just off the top of my head, who remembers Polar Bear, Johnny Clarke, Candi Staton, Euros Childs and Threatmantics, Roy Ayers, Mary Anne Hobbs and Virus Syndicate, Richard James, Devendra Banhart, Oxjam, Super Furry Animals, Faust, Horace Andy, Bounceathon (twice), Secret Garden (several), Beirut and David Holmes, Swn Festival (twice), Soft Hearted Scientists, Josephine Foster, Battles and Truckers Of Husk, Lightning Bolt and DJ Scotch Egg, Iron and Wine, The Fall…? That’s just a few. It’s such a shame to see that they now have to close, brought on by extremely short-sighted planning of nearby apartments - which led to noise complaints and unexpected costs in already tight economic conditions. This kind of situation is not unique for a gig venue in the UK either.

WordPress has become the platform of choice for many people, for conventional blogs and also as a fully-fledged, customisable CMS. It’s a seriously good piece of software. If you don’t care about the technical reasons, it’s very easy to use. In my opinion, that’s what a blog should be - as simple as possible so you can jot out your thoughts freely and unencumbered. It’s for normal people. But if you want something customisable and extensible, it allows that too. This blog is powered by WordPress - as is Sleeveface. If you’re not familiar with it and you want to test it out you could start with the hosted version - just open an account at Wordpress.com And so to WordCamp. WordCamp is an annual event for people interested in WordPress, whether they be developers, designers, bloggers, users or half-curious bystanders. This year’s UK edition of WordCamp will be held in Cardiff on 18th and 19th July. It’s just recently been announced but already you can signal your interest in attending. The whole thing is run by volunteers so the ticket price will be low, just to cover costs. The ethos of the event is fairly in keeping with WordPress as a piece of open source software. People are happy to contribute their time, energy and skills to the effort because they will all get more value back. Cymry! This is a massive opportunity for WordPress enthusiasts in Cardiff and wider Wales to exchange notes and learn stuff, not only with each other but with other people from many parts of the world. Personally I’m really keen to see usage of the Welsh language - on the event website, press relations and around the site. So I’ll be working with other volunteers to make this happen. I’m also working on a group effort to get the WordPress 2.7 software available in Welsh, as well as the extra stuff that comes on the hosted version at Wordpress.com. So this spring will be translation-a-go-go for me. What do I get? I get good practice with the language, chats and co-operation with other people and the chance to watch a significant part of the Welsh language online world bloom and flourish. Plus there are a couple of projects I’d like to start which would be aided greatly by this… With WordCamp coming, I might have said that an up-to-date WordPress in Welsh will be good timing. But it’s actually been a long time since the software was last translated. I know there are people who want to see this and use it. It just needs a smidgen of activation energy.

tombeardshaw

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Here's Decimals playing in Dan Tyte and Jen Long's kitchen

Our trip to the Museum of Wales, Cardiff

Sleeveface the book is out now! Sleeveface has a dedicated blog of its own, so I’ll try not to duplicate too much here. It also has more info about the book. At the moment we are doing a real mixed bag of press and radio interviews. Sunday Times magazine carried a feature recently, this afternoon I’ve just been speaking to the Irish Examiner, then soon it’s National Public Radio in the USA. It’s particularly been a joy to chat to the Welsh language media. Recently I’ve met with Wedi 7 and Bandit which are cultural TV shows on S4C and the C2 show on BBC Radio Cymru. If I made any grammatical mistakes with the Welsh, I hope they at least made you laugh. People have asked if I predicted this would happen with Sleeveface. Well I knew I liked it and I could easily imagine the record and photo geeks getting into it. But this is ridiculous. And great. So I was glad that David Bowie, the ultimate chameleon, likes it. It was great to read a comment from fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld. But it’s just as fun to see ANYBODY enjoying it. As former Pistols manager Malcolm McClaren put it: Sleeveface is the most brooding, sullen, sexy as hell way to prolong the death of our culture. Long live the record! Resurrection is part of the hero’s journey. Renewing, revitalizing, reappraising pop culture in ways no industry could ever dream of. Hats off to these Rock ‘n’ Roll creeps from Wales! DIY adulation and worship of these now ancient deities deserve all our most fashionable darlings’ attention and all art crazies desperate to be the next big thing at the Biennale. Unfathomable!!! Unquestionably this attitude gets all those pop legends back from the dead and inside, on top, to the left and right of the liver and kidney body parts of the next generation. Who says they are not Patti Smith? Elton John? David Bowie? Tim Buckley? Elvis? Who says? Who says? At the beginning I thought Sleeveface was daft. And I still think it’s daft! The new pics that I get still have the capacity to make me laugh out loud. Thanks to John, the gang and everyone who helped with the book, especially those who sent photos. If you’re one of those people who contributed, I’ve emailed you personally.

tombeardshaw

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tombeardshaw

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