Criminal Minds

I just realized that Kirsten, who plays Penelope Garcia in the TV show Criminal Minds, had updated her blog last July 31 (Link on the right side of this blog).

'Sniff!' Reading it reminded me that Mandy Patinkin has left the show.

His character, Jason Gideon, wasn't really my favorite, (I like watching Morgan and Reid annoy each other), but Gideon has been essential to the chemistry of the cast. He is Reid's mentor, he got on Garcia's nerves once, and I like the fact that I don't know when he will suddenly step out of his serious demeanor and do something funny.

The show's just two seasons old and two original cast members have already left the show.

Joe Mantegna is replacing Patinkin. Am looking forward to see how the cast chemistry is changed by this.

Sector Seven at Second Life

I know it's been over a month since Transformers the movie was released. I have just decided to try recreating the Sector Seven headquarters in Sims 2, which means I have to go back to http://www.sectorseven.org/ (password is "deceptibot") to get the building's supposed schematics.

Hours later, when I've cut and pasted the images in a Powerpoint document (it's easy to manipulate images there than in Word or Excel), complete with annotations, I realized I have to figure out how it should look from the outside. After all, it is supposedly inside the Hoover Dam. Sectorseven.org doesn't have that on their site.

The next stop? Second Life - that virtual world where even advertisers have a presence. I don't hang around Second Life. I think I've been there only around thrice ... twice because of sector seven, with the second visit being today. Second Life has little appeal for me, but the account I opened out of curiousity has come in handy when I wanted to visit promo sites... like the Sector Seven region.

How do you get to Sector Seven in Second Life? Search for "Sector7" in the map in order to teleport there. Once you get to the area, you'll find yourself on "Hoover Dam".

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

You take the stairs leading down into the dam.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

You'll find yourself in a tunnel. Follow it.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

The end of the tunnel is perpendicular to another passage.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

Ignore the door on the left. It doesn't open.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

Go to the right.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

You'll see blue rays go off when you enter the portal. That's because this is supposedly the "X-ray scanning area".

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

The passage way continues on the other side of the portal.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

Although you may find another door at the end of this tunnel

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

Don't bother going there because it won't open either.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

Go back to the big steel door. This is the elevator. On the left is a button you may push to wait for the elevator to open.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

However, it may take forever waiting for the elevator to open. It is best to use the teleport pad.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

If you wait too long, you may see someone who looks like Bumblebee come along. He's a guide.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

This guy will hang around just in case you need help.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

Once you've taken the elevator or teleported, you'll find yourself at the bottom level of the structure. That's the only level you can explore in Second Life.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

Just outside the elevator is another billboard that encourages you to join the Sector7 group. You'll find the teleport pad beside the elevator door again.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

This is a very wide passageway.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

Best navigated when flying.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

There's not much to see in this area. So it's best to just fly to the end of the hall where you'll find the "round tunnels".

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

Don't enter the tunnels just yet because near it you'll spot a box.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

You can get free Transformer t-shirts for your avatar by "buying" the item.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

After collecting the t-shirts, you can enter one of the tunnels. They all lead to the same room so it doesn't matter which one you take.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

You'll next find yourself in the "Megaman" hangar where Megatron is cryogenically frozen.


You can lounge in the seats in the room. It even has a window.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

On the side opposite the window, you'll notice a door. But let's go in that later.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

Nearer Megatron are two more boxes.

One box gives you a Bumblebee avatar. The other box gives you a Barricade avatar.
.

You can best appreciate Megatron up close by flying upward.


Let's now enter the door we saw earlier.


You'll find lots of equipment here.



This is the machine where they tested the All-spark.


You'll find a stack of boxes with documents. Amongst them is a box with more free t-shirts for your avatar.


Looking around you'll find that this corner has an opening leading to a flight of stairs.


This room is full of shelves stacked with "classified" documents lining the wall.


Looking down from the top of the stairs, notice that the design on the floor is Sector Seven's logo.


At the foot of the stairs, you realize that this area is a gallery of posters and stills from the movie.





More sofas to lounge on.


Nearby is a another flight of stairs.


Just more "classified documents" lining the walls here.


When you climb up the stairs that led into this room, you'll see there's a door leading out to the Megaman hangar.


You realize that's all that can be seen. To go back out, you exit the hangar.


You don't need to go back through the "round" tunnels though because near the tunnels there is a teleport pad.


This pad teleports you back outside the elevator at the upper level ... the one near the X-ray scanning area.


This is the end of this trip.

I did realize that the interior of the dam is different from the Facility Map available from sectorseven.org.