SL Living - My virtual life

Nemo 2 Training Video

2011-12-20T16:30:00.000-06:00

The Nemo 2 was recently released in Second Life. It is a great sailboat and perhaps the best is that it is FREE. Take a look below.

Relay for Life: Harmony of Hope

2011-07-28T16:49:00.001-05:00

I've posted a new video of the Harmony of Hope campsite at the Relay for Life in Second Life. A very moving message and I hope a good video.

Link is HERE.

THIS changes everything in #SL....

2011-07-20T07:00:00.002-05:00

... well, maybe not everything. I bet we still have lousy sim crossings. The new SL Viewer 2.8 has the ability to hide avatars and their activities and conversations from those outside a parcel and vice-versa. This feature appears to work flawlessly in the short period of testing that I gave it yesterday. You have to use the new 2.8 viewer to make the appropriate setting, however it is supposed to effect all other viewers. I tried this out with a couple of avatars using Imprudence Experimental and a Dolphin viewer. Instructions and details on how to do it are HERE. I stood inside the parcel and another avatar was 3 meters away. Neither avatar could see the other and could not hear open chat. As SOON as an avatar crossed over the parcel line, they came in to view. Both avatars appeared on the mini-map.

What I DON'T understand is the following comment from the wiki with a big WARNING sign: "Warning: Adult activities are not allowed on parcels in General regions, regardless of whether the parcel has hidden avatars. On Moderate land, such activity is only permitted privately, behind closed doors." Uh?

New Website for My Videos and Images

2011-07-05T12:25:00.002-05:00

I have published a new web site where I will post my Videos and Images from Second Life and InWorldz. The WordPress publishing tools allow me to have much more flexibility with what I do. I will still maintain this blog, but will use it more for writing about SL rather than filming SL. Also, I have recently logged in to InWorldz as Nber Medici and will be reporting and filming there as well. Take a look at the new site! Thanks.

http://www.medicimedia.net/

Paddle Boat Race in Holly Kai Estates

2011-03-28T10:08:00.000-05:00

There is now a Paddle Boat Rezzer in Holly Kai Estates. After the RC-Sailboat Races on Saturday, we had some fun by racing our Paddle Boats on the same course that our sailboats had just used. What a hoot!

Blake Diego: Home of Puerto Diego

2011-02-01T22:05:00.002-06:00

Watch live video from Medici Media on Justin.tv

MakeOver Magic Fashion Show in Second Life

2011-01-08T14:59:00.000-06:00

I made this video for the American Cancer Society in Second Life. Please watch and rate.

Greenhouse in Fall

2010-11-26T09:47:00.001-06:00

This video is a SMALL depiction of the lovely sim "Greenhouse", which is owned by our good friend Transparent Banshee. Transparent recently changed his sim to a fall season and I made this video to memorialize it. Greenhouse is part of the United Sailing Sims and has connection to the Blake Sea. Transparent welcomes visitors to the ground level of his sim.

"Bottle" by Kirsten Lepore (Official video)

2010-11-02T19:32:00.000-05:00

What an awesome video! Two "people" separated by an ocean... this brought a tear to my eye.

Ex-Linden Qarl...Align Tool

2010-10-22T09:54:00.001-05:00

WOOOOOOOOOOT... please please please put this in Imprudence! I WANT this building tool.

Unending Love

2010-10-13T14:00:00.000-05:00

Below is part of a poem by Rabindranath Tagore. It is one of the most beautiful love poems I have read. Thank you :)

"I seem to have loved you in numberless forms, numberless times…
In life after life, in age after age, forever.
My spellbound heart has made and remade the necklace of songs,
That you take as a gift, wear round your neck in your many forms,
In life after life, in age after age, forever.

Whenever I hear old chronicles of love, it's age-old pain,
It's ancient tale of being apart or together.
As I stare on and on into the past, in the end you emerge,
Clad in the light of a pole-star piercing the darkness of time:
You become an image of what is remembered forever.

You and I have floated here on the stream that brings from the fount.
At the heart of time, love of one for another.
We have played along side millions of lovers, shared in the same
Shy sweetness of meeting, the same distressful tears of farewell-
Old love but in shapes that renew and renew forever."

--Rabindranath Tagore

Exerpted from "Unending Love" by Rabindranath Tagore

Tugby in Santa Rosa

2010-09-13T10:34:00.000-05:00

This is a video of Tugby, filmed on location in Santa Rosa sim in Second Life. Some of the BEST fun that you can have on the water. For more information about Tugby visit the Starboards Yacht Club web site at: https://sites.google.com/site/starboardsyachtclub/

Come play with us on Sunday mornings at 8 am PST.

Around the world backwords!

2010-09-09T15:06:00.001-05:00

Steve White will be sailing from west to east against the prevailing winds and currents!

"Fast, Easy, Fun" with Second Life founder Philip Rosedale - Computerworld Blogs

2010-09-08T11:28:00.000-05:00

"Fast, Easy, Fun" with Second Life founder Philip Rosedale - Computerworld Blogs

Sept 11, 2001

2010-09-08T09:44:00.000-05:00

Tugby TEAM League Being Formed

2010-08-28T14:09:00.000-05:00

Starboards Yacht Club is happy to announce the formation of a Tugby TEAM League. Captains can begin to sign up tomorrow (Sunday August 29th). For the details, please visit the SYC WebSite and navigate to SYC Announcements. If you have questions, please contact Nber Medici.

Regular play will continue on Sunday mornings at 8 am in Santa Rosa Sim. Come join us... watch the action from the Observation Platform in Santa Barbara or come to the Tugby Dock in Santa Rosa to play. All skill levels welcome!

Norah Jones - Come Away With Me

2010-08-27T15:59:00.002-05:00

I was cruising around in YouTube and came across this LOVELY Video. Very nice... very peaceful. You will have to go over to YouTube to watch it...but it is worth it.

Puerto Diego Drama

2010-07-17T13:17:00.001-05:00

MarkTwain White published earlier this morning a new video featuring a Navy vs. Pirate Battle in the Blake sims (not to be confused with the Blake SEA sims which Linden Lab owns). We used this short video as the starting point for a new event we are calling Blake Bazaar: at eight am SLT every OTHER Saturday morning. After the video this morning, I entertained the crowd with my WAND from Starax Statosky (miss you Starax!) and then we had a pick-up game of Tugby (or rather a FORM of Tugby). Afterwards we all joined at the tavern in Puerto Diego and knocked back some Tequila and rum. (IMPORTANT NOTE: If you like the video - please go to YouTube and comment or give it a thumbs up.)

On a far more serious note: this morning is the beginning of Relay for Life. Let's go over to those sims, and walk the track... or sail the course. GO RELAY.

Chronicles of Puerto Diego

2010-07-07T12:45:00.000-05:00

Recently the site "Chronicles of Puerto Diego" was launched. If you have any interest in the pirate, navy, or Ironclad side of "water sports" in SL...then you should check this out. I am especially pleased with the gallery of photos there. Let me know what you think. There is also a Forum associated with this site.

June 6, 1944 - Invasion of Normandy

2010-06-04T16:27:00.000-05:00

In preparation for selling my mother's home, I have been combing through it looking for things that needed to be saved. Recently I came across a small gem. It is a small U.S. Government issue notebook in which my father recorded important events in his WWII US Navy service. As I was thinking of the upcoming anniversary of the invasion of Normandy, I started to wonder what HE was doing on the other side of the world at the time of the invasion. His initial records in his log book read:

April 28 1944 - Left San Francisco Calif.
May 5 - Crossed Equator
May 9 - Crossed Date Line
May 13 - arrive Noumea New Caladonia (sic)
........
May 31 Frichshaven
June 10 - Left Frichshaven - assigned LCI-28

If you don't know what a Landing Craft Infantry (LCI) is, take a look here at the USS Landing Craft site.

ARMY.MIL provides an excellent overview of D-Day,

On June 6, I will take some time to stop and remember.

Leadership in Second Life Sailing

2010-06-01T19:37:00.001-05:00

After a particularly nasty little spat on the SLSailing.net Forum, I made this post. I rather liked it even if I do say so myself.

"In a previous post on this forum, Armano Xaris made some VERY good comments which I have quoted from below:

'I think we need better communications in second life sailing to at least try to stop drama.'

...and ..................

'Sometimes if a community grows large the way people communicate should be discussed (again) though in my opinion to keep things: effective, clear, to avoid problems and to make further growth possible. I can't imagine we don't want this to happen in a solid way for us ALL.'

Armano’s post made me start thinking about “leadership”, and in particular thinking about it in the context of Second Life. A virtual world like ours and a community like the sailing community in Second Life needs a variety of types of leaders and these different types need different skills. However, overall leadership and in particular leadership that transcends the boundary between the virtual world and the “real” world needs people who exhibit (in my opinion), the following characteristics.

1. Integrity - In short - say what you mean and do what you say. Be willing to talk openly and honestly with people. Share your real thoughts, not what you think the individual wants to hear. This should be tempered with communicating in ways so that others are not demeaned or ridiculed, even if what you are saying is critical of them.

2. Clarity of thought and communication - In a virtual world where many (although not all) primarily use text-based communication, good leaders are adept at clear communication. It is not necessary to always be grammatically correct. This is especially true since we share our “world” with many that do not have English as their first language and with people from a wide variety of educational and social backgrounds. What IS necessary is that clear communication should reflect clarity of thought. Your thoughts are, of course, probably always perfectly clear to you, the challenge is to articulate them in such a way that OTHERS see exactly what you mean. If someone has to read and reread what you have written to attempt to understand your point, then your communication has failed.

3. Organization - A good leader (again in MY opinion) is organized. He or she makes plans that consider the possibilities and the capabilities of our “world”. These plans are carefully thought out and (again) carefully communicated to people. A good leader modifies plans on the basis of reasoned, rational feedback.

4. Passion - I am torn on this. Part of me says that YES... a good leader is passionate about what he or she does. Passionate leaders are able to move the community forward. Another part of me says NO... passion gets in the way more often than not. It clouds people’s perceptions and it clouds their ability to communicate clearly. I suppose what would be BEST would be a leader that is passionate about their vision, BUT is able to clearly set their passion aside or control it.

My opinion - These are the types of leaders that the SL Sailing Community deserves and needs. We have some of these leaders. I would submit that THESE are some of the characteristics of those people that we want to represent us to the “real” world."

Facebook and Privacy

2010-05-13T10:12:00.001-05:00

I have become concerned in my RL Facebook page about Facebook Privacy. Take a look at the link that I have provided for a neat way of demonstrating the changes in Facebook's default privacy options. I may decide to delete my account. I haven't decided.

Facebook Privacy Policy Changes Over Time

Evernote

2010-05-11T14:30:00.000-05:00

I have started using this service and really like it. "Use Evernote to save your ideas, things you see, and things you like. Then find them all on any computer or device you use. For free." I've upgraded to the premium version, but I don't really think that is necessary. The thing that I really like about this in the ability to access my "memory" from a WIDE variety of devices. I haven't gotten it to work well on my Blackberry yet, but I'm OK with that. You have to be out of touch SOMETIMES you know. :)

I also LOVE the logo (hope I don't get in trouble for showing it to you.

Hollywood and Sailing in SL in the news!

2010-05-05T08:27:00.000-05:00

Recently the Sailing Scene in SL was featured in two articles in the Examiner. Links to the two articles are below. In addition, a music video featuring Craig Lyons in the Hollywood Bowl has ben released. For your reading and viewing pleasure!

First Article:
http://www.examiner.com/x-34056-Harrisburg-Second-Life-Examiner~y2010m4d19-The-United-Sailing-Sims-of-SL--where-sailing-is-serious-fun
Second Article:
http://www.examiner.com/x-34056-Harrisburg-Second-Life-Examiner~y2010m5d3-Sailing-in-SL-Style

Craig Lyons Music Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zw5iwrEOBRg

Avatars United

2010-05-04T12:24:00.000-05:00

Feel free to UNITE with me on Avatars United.Now that Second Life seems to be committing to upgrading Avatars United, I will be spending more effort here. I have two groups there that you might be interested in following. One is the group for Starboards Yacht Club and the other is Hollywood Real Estate. The links to each are below:

Starboards Yacht Club

Hollywood Real Estate

More from Eyjafjallajokull - The Big Picture - Boston.com

2010-05-03T08:41:00.000-05:00

While this has nothing to do with Second Life, I found these pictures fascinating. Brought to you from the volcano with the unpronounceable name (at least to Westerners).

Starboards Yacht Club in Second Life

2009-12-10T17:12:00.004-06:00

As you can see on the right hand side of this blog, I now have a page on Facebook for Starboards Yacht Club. Join Facebook and become a FAN of SYC. How things have changed!

Starboards Yacht Club (SYC) was founded by MarkTwain White on August 18th of 2005. It was the first “yacht” club in Second Life, and the first dedicated venue for sailing. MarkTwain had owned the Theater District Sim with a couple of others. The original intention of the Sim was to celebrate movies and the theater. Well, things changed and Mark bought his partners out. I invested my life savings in the Sim with MarkTwain and Starboards Yacht Club and Hollywood Sim came into existence. Below is the announcement that appeared in the SL Forums.

Announcing STARBOARDS YACHT CLUB
________________________________________
SLSF Skippers and friends are invited to check out the new Starboards Yacht Club in the THEATER DISTRICT sim (soon to be renamed the Hollywood sim). Starboards Y.C. and the adjoining pub and marina will be a gathering place for SLSF skippers and all in SL who love sailing.

11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month

2009-11-09T08:48:00.004-06:00

Poppy Field
Originally uploaded by Nber Medici

Eleven AM on November 11th 1918 marked the official beginning of the Armistice that ended conflict in WW I. Roughly 20 million people died world wide in this conflict. This is one of those events that is commemorated in a number of countries with various names. In the US, it has been named Veteran's Day.

I have planted a field of poppies at Union Passage Sim in Second Life to mark the day. Why are poppies appropriate to mark this day? Because of this poem by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918) who served in the Canadian Army.

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

"Til Death Do Us Part" !

2009-11-02T10:07:00.003-06:00

Here is an interesting piece about what happens after death to our virtual "possessions". A good read on the New York Times. http://bit.ly/1KptMD

Computer Weekly weighs in on content theft lawsuit

2009-10-11T12:07:00.000-05:00

ComputerWeekly.com has a good piece HERE on the lawsuit filed against Linden Lab, the owner of Second Life. "Over in Second Life, trade remains robust. The value of transactions between residents in the second quarter of this year was $144 million, a year-on-year increase of 94 per cent. With its users swapping virtual goods and services worth around $600 million per year, Second Life has the largest economy of any virtual world - which exceeds the GDP of 19 countries, including Samoa." At issue is how much the Second Life is liable for alleged IP rights violations by other users. Should be interesting to follow this.

Young Sailor Attempts Round the World Voyage!

2009-10-09T14:24:00.000-05:00

Jessica Watson, 16, plans to leave next week on sailing voyage around the world

Watson is attempting to become the youngest person to sail around the world alone and without stopping or receiving assistance!

Pink Poodle Skirt

2009-09-30T08:49:00.002-05:00

Pink Poodle Skirt
Originally uploaded by Nber Medici

This is a picture of MarkTwain White at a Relay for Life Fundraiser in 2007 in Second life. MTW said that if folks exceeding 50,000L in donations, then he would dance in his Pink Poodle Skirt. This coming Saturday (October 3rd, 2009), you will have the opportunity to see MTW wear his PPS and dance with Quirky Torok wearing his "mankini".

http://slsailing.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=17007#17007

Microsoft Courier

2009-09-23T08:00:00.004-05:00

I'm not sure if I would really get one of these, but the interface looks rather cool.

http://bit.ly/F6dF4

HollyWood Real Estate

2009-08-13T11:33:00.001-05:00

If you are interested in land in the virtual world of Second Life..check out the ad below for HollyWood Real Estate. All of the parcels mentioned here have direct access to the Blake Sea.

Vacation - June 2009

2009-06-20T12:21:00.003-05:00

I haven't been very good at keeping this blog up to date, but I did want to share with you some pictures and a brief video from a recent vacation to Charleston, South Carolina. This is a beautiful area and I would love to go back someday. Links below are to my Flickr page and a video on YouTube. This is my first video from real life that I have posted. I am learning Adobe Premiere Elements. Hope you enjoy!

Flickr pictures are here and a YouTube video here.

Valentine's Day Gift

2009-02-17T16:00:00.004-06:00

Because of some RL commitments, I had to miss a GREAT party at Union Passage on Valentine's Day. Chad, Aislin, and Mark carried on and made sure that the 40+ people who came had a great time. Thanks!

When I finally was able to log in to Second Life, MTW and I went to OUR hill in Hollywood. Mark gave me the most wonderful gift: he had commissioned a song especially for me. Listen to it here. Thank you so very much.

Black Monday, the USS, and the Blake Sea

2009-02-17T15:55:00.000-06:00

On Monday October 27th, MarkTwain White and I were relaxing in Union Passage when an old friend, Chase Speculaas, sent us an IM asking how the new OS Policy from Linden Labs would impact us. We had not yet seen the blog post and immediately went to the LL Blog to read. After digesting the news, I felt sick to my stomach. My initial reaction,to be honest, was to just abandon the vast majority of my sims and move the remainder away from the USS-SL. It felt as if Linden Lab had kicked me in the stomach. THEN on November 11th, I was walking in the Garden in Holly Kai Estates admiring the art exhibit, when out of the blue I got a "ping" from Jack Linden. After some short pleasantries he indicated that he had been thinking a lot about all things sailing related, and thought that would be good to get MarkTwain and me together for a chat. He had some ideas to bounce off of us. A LOT has happened since then. Today (Feb 17th, 2009) I am standing on the bluff in Union Passage Sim overlooking the BLAKE SEA. Water as far as I can see!

It has been a long and sometimes unpleasant process. Tempers have flared and we have had to work hard to keep the process moving forward. But now we see at least a part of the results of the community effort. The USS-SL (United Sailing Sims) have been relocated around an open expanse of Linden owned water named the Blake Sea.

A stroll down memory lane....

2008-10-21T11:36:00.019-05:00

Jane Fossett posted an article on SLSailing.com about me (Art and Architecture of the Medici - header of the article is Monday dockside). I want to thank Jane for the article and it caused me to do a stroll down my SL memory Lane. FYI, I was "born" into SL in February of 2004. My first passion in Second Life and the reason that I joined was to help build a reconstruction of Myst Online. Fairly soon after I joined SL and found the group, I was asked to help build the reconstruction of parts of that fantasy online world on Telador Isle. Woody Blair and Rizpah Galatea taught me how to build. The picture here is from those days... I am the avatar in the red dress and MTW is sitting to my left. He appears to have not changed much from those old days. I'm not exactly sure of the date of this picture...but I believe it is in early 2005.

My passion for building meshed with my interest in Frank Lloyd Wright to lead me to do a build of Fallingwater and another of the Allen Lambe house (a much less famous FLW build). My version of Fallingwater was orginally on my property in Hooper as was my version of the Allen Lambe house. When MTW and I became partners in Hollywood, I moved Fallingwater to Hollywood (approximately where the Holly Kai Golf Club is now). The Allen Lambe House was then built on my property in Hooper which I have now sold.

NOW for something you might have more interest in... and that would be photos from old sailing events. Including ONE which actually has MTW SAILING!! Yes it is true. This photo is September of 2005... it was probably one of the very early SYC Regattas. I believe that I am flying over the end of the startline. The building behind the boats on the right was the original SYC clubhouse. Some of you may remember it. The building to its left is the Admiral's Daughter Pub. In the sky on the far right side of this picture, you can see the floating MarkTwain Manor. I have rebuilt this and it is now our home in Union Passage. I have more pictures that I will post here as I have time.

"Nuking" in Santa Rosa

2008-09-24T11:20:00.003-05:00

Yesterday evening in Santa Rosa sim, a "nuking" party took place. MarkTwain and I had determined that the small island in Santa Rosa was hampering starts at the new SYC startline. Santa Rosa Island tenant Rikk Lovell moved to Santa Cruz sim. With an empty island and a suitcase nuclear bomb the rest is history. Read the full story here.

A fun... although radioactive... time was had by all. Thanks to Delinda for taking some snaps.

Trudeau Twenty

2008-09-17T12:40:00.005-05:00

I started sailing in Second Life (as many many others have) in the venerable Flying Tako. I loved that boat and loved even more the Wee Tiny Tako. Since then I have tried out almost every boat that has come on the scene and have enjoyed most of them. But none has captured my heart like the Trudeau Twenty. The picture to the right was taken after an informal series of races that we held at Starboards Yacht Club on Sunday night (September 14th). It was a wild and wacky ride as folks were trying to learn how to sail a new boat. We decided that it might be fun to have a race in which you had to sail BACKWARDS to win. I think that this might be a fun thing to think about but I don't want to encourage bad sailing habits. I like the Fizz, I still love my Wee Tiny Tako, but my heart is being stolen. Kudos to Jacqueline Trudeau!!

9/11 Memorial in Second Life

2008-09-12T20:22:00.009-05:00

On September 11th there was a memorial service in Second Life. The names of all of those that died that fateful day were read. This is the memorial to the first responders that was unveiled after that service.

The text on the relief reads "Dedicated To Those That Fell and To Those Who Carry On....May We Never Forget".

If you want to visit the memorial inside Second Life, use the SLURL here.

None of us will forget Sept 11th, 2001.

Machinima in SL

2008-09-12T09:03:00.002-05:00

I am very slowly dipping my toes into the world of machinima - making videos in Second Life. Someone who is teaching me and showing me the way is MarkTwain White. You can see his latest YouTube video HERE.

I would encourage you to subscribe to his YouTube Channel....and please rate!

Art in the Garden - Bob Gates Photography

2008-09-04T14:14:00.006-05:00

I would like to invite you to the third in a series of art exhibits in the lovely Holly Kai Garden in the Holly Kai Estates sim.

Photographs with a Nautical Theme
Bob Gates Photography
August 23 through September 6
Celebration with the artist and music by Bara Johnson
Saturday September 6th from 1:00 to 1:30 pm SLT

Holly Kai Estates is part of the United Sailing Sims of SL, a group of 126 connected sims with extensive water area supporting the sailing lifestyle. Part of Holly Kai Golf Club's nine-hole Shore Course surrounds the Holly Kai Garden.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Holly%20Kai%20Estates/142/109/25

SLim Announced at the Virtual Worlds Expo

2008-09-03T16:40:00.001-05:00

This came across the wire... this COULD be cool or it could ruin my day job. Go here.

To Golf or Not to Golf: That is the Question

2008-09-03T11:06:00.005-05:00

A bit of "drama" is playing out in the Holly Kai Golf Club in Second Life. MTW is considering abandoning golf in light of the reaction of some players to the changes in the Points Competition. Stay tuned for an update of what he decides to do. I am personally torn on the decision, as I know that he is. The bottom line is that if you hate to log on because you know you will have to face a new "crisis" or if you hate to log in to the Golf Forum because you don't want to have to read what someone has said - then it might be time to do something else. It is too bad....because GOLF is fun. "sigh"

Whatever MTW decides to do though... I'll be in his corner!

More about me and Second Life

2008-08-29T13:25:00.008-05:00

I entered my Second Life in February of 2004. I learned about it from the online game Myst / Uru. That game was discontinued and a number of the individuals involved with it migrated to Second Life. There I joined them and I soon became involved in helping to build a recreation of parts of Uru on Telador Isle. My name in Uru was N'ber. I chose Nber for my name in Second Life to be consistent. I have chosen to pronounce Nber as if it were NEVER with a B.

Now I live in the United Sailing Sims of Second Life, a 126 (maybe more) sim continent that is devoted to the nautical lifestyle. MarkTwain White (MTW) and I jointly own a number of sims in the USS-SL, but my home is the Union Passage Sim. Second Life is the first (and for now only) virtual world that I have been involved in (I really don't consider Myst / Uru a true virtual world). In Second Life I can do things that I could never do in RL. I am very involved in the sailing community and the golf community.