Sharing files between Windows XP and 7

Transferring files between two Windows XP computer was relatively easy. All you had to do was to ensure the workgroup was setup to be the same. And the option was rather easy to find in the control panel.

In Windows 7, they had this thing called the homegroup and between two Windows 7, it was similar to the workgroup for Windows XP.

The problem came when trying to transfer files between Windows XP and Windows 7. Windows 7 comes with workgroups as well as the homegroup mentioned.

Accessing files that were shared on Windows XP from the Windows 7 side were rather painless and typical for me.

However, when trying to retrieve files from the Windows XP side, nothing popped up. The connection was there when I tried to connect to the Windows 7 computer directly by typing "\\computer_name" in run, but the shared folder on the Windows 7 side refused to appear.

So, I went to google the problem and as usual, a thousand and one different solutions appear. However, I found one that somehow managed to solve my particular case.

Basically, here are the steps:

1. On the Windows 7 computer, go to Network and Internet in the Control Panel and select HomeGroup
2. Next, select Change advanced sharing settings...
3. Network discovery should be turned ON
4. File and printer sharing should be turned ON
5. Public folder sharing should be turned ON
6. And finally, Password protected sharing should be turned OFF
7. The rest of the options should be left untouched
8. Now, go to the folder that you want to share, Right-click and select Properties
9. Select Advanced Sharing... under the Sharing tab
10. Ensure that there is a tick in the checkbox beside Share this folder
11. Close this dialog box with OK
12. Now, click on the Security tab and click Edit
13. Click Add and type in "Everybody" exactly without the quotes. 
14. Click Ok thrice to close the dialog boxes. You're done.

You can try to access the folders through My network places on the Windows XP computer. If the folder did not appear, click on View Workgroup Computers  and select the Windows 7 computer. You should then be able to see the folder.

The online help that I found: Microsoft Forums

Team Fortress 2 Free!

Was playing Left4Dead 2 at a LAN shop when I noticed the announcement that Team Fortress 2 is now free to play! Check out the Steam press announcement:

June 23, 2011—Valve, creators of bestselling game franchises (such as Half-Life, Portal, Left 4 Dead, and Counter-Strike) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), announced today that after four years and over 200 updates, its popular and critically-acclaimed online action game Team Fortress 2 (TF2) is now Free To Play (F2P).
The F2P announcement comes as part of the "Über Update". Released today, it is the largest content pack delivered to TF2 since it shipped in 2007.

New players interested in experiencing what PC Gamer calls "the most fun you can have online" will have access to training and offline practice modes, so they can hone their skills before jumping into the ever-expanding TF2 universe.
To celebrate the launch of the Über Update, Valve has released "Meet the Medic," the latest in its series of TF2 animated shorts.

TF2 is now Free to Play for PC & Mac players via Steam.

For more information on Free to Play, please visit http://www.teamfortress.com/freetoplay.

For more information on the "Über Update" and "Meet the Medic", please visit http://www.teamfortress.com/uberupdate.

The official Steam page to download: Team Fortress 2 Steam Page

Might be a little late, but as they say, better late than never.

Wallpaper

My new desktop wallpaper

Got myself a new wallpaper from deviantart.

No idea who's that gal but really like the effect.

The designer's page: frozenbee @ tumblr

Call of Duty: Black Ops

Couldn't get to sleep after knowing my results. What better to do when you can't sleep? Complete Call of Duty: Black Ops of course.

Well, I stink at multiplayer so I'm talking about singleplayer here anyway.

I think the singleplayer mode is quite cool. But why did they have to make the controls at the main menu so.. console? Maybe they thought that having a cursor there would spoil the immersion level of the player but there's a pointer visible (and a very prominent one at that) in the cutscenes!

I mean come on, obviously we are not playing as the protagonist when we are at the main menu screen, if we are, there must be a Kinect somewhere built in to detect his head movement or something...

Right, just wanted to whine a little(maybe a bit more than that) now lets get to the part I like.

I like the story. Basically, you are Capt. Alex Mason, a SOG operative. In the main menu screen, Mason is shown to be bound to a medical-looking chair with all those computer screens surrounding him which he seem to be hooked up to. There's even an IV pack beside him. Now the game carries on from here when you select to start a new campaign.

The story is told through the memories of Mason and sometimes of his handler, CIA agent Chris (? Can't remember) Hudson. He is shown to have been through many missions all over the world, most of them being clandestine in nature.

One feature I liked about Black Ops is that the loading screen is some sort of cutscene without any sort of loading bar. It took me a few missions before I realised that that video I've just watched is the loading screen.

I was a little bit disoriented at first with the aiming system of Black Ops. It might be similar to other Call of Duty games but my memory is failing me. However, it does make the game that more realistic.

That might be realistic but being unable to take out a squad of 20 soldiers at one mission then being able to take out a building full of them does not sound(or look) realistic to me. Oh yes, and being ordered around by your sergeant just makes you look incompetent and having bought your rank from the beach road over at the USA.

Now to finally start on Dragon Age..

Results out..

Thought I would have done worst (even though there was a little lining of hope). Well, I thoroughly deserved this result for my relax attitude this semester. Let's get to the results shall we..

Course	Grade
CSC105	B+
CSC106	B
CSC110	B+
CSC201	A+
CSC207	A
CSC279	B+

Semester GPA = 4.27

Which brings my CGPA down to 4.45. Hope this serves as a good wake up call to me ('cause nothing's going to work if this doesn't).

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Anyway, GPA is calculated in this way:

Sum(Module grade score x module AUs) / Sum(module AUs)

So to calculate my scores for this semester(in order presented):

(4 x 4 + 3.5 x 4 + 4 x 2 + 5 x 4 + 5 x 4 + 4 x 4) / (4 + 4 + 2 + 4 + 4 + 4) = 4.27

Now CGPA is calculated in the same way but for all modules taken from the start.