Internet Connection Sharing–8hrs Troubled

I tried a little setup, I have 2 PCs, one is x4 and the other in Atom, the x4 and atom are connected via crossover cable. I use broadband and that is connected via a USB RJ45 adapter.   I tried to share internet between these PCs,  I did all the process correct at the first attempt itself, well the process is simple, both the PC are connected with private IP of 192.168.137.x series and then the internet lan adapter (lets call it Local Area Network 2 or Lan 2 for ease) is set to share with lan 1 like this:

In the above pic ‘home’ is the name of my lan 1 (private network).  Then why did it take 8hrs for such simple one.  The answer is not simple, I use Zone Alarm Firewall, but still it is not the problem because I added the private network 192168.137.x to Trusted Zone, which means any activity on that network is almost ignored or say PERMITTED.

The issue was that I was using Zone Alarm Free Version and to my shock I found that free version does not support the ICS (Internet Connection Sharing) .

So I thought why not to take a trail version of Zone Alarm Pro for 30 days so that mean while I can search for an alternative.   Again another punch ,  zone alarm products are upgraded constantly like any other good product life cycle, the  issue now is the new Pro version is 10 and it does not support ICS.

After thorough research and testing, found out that ICS can work is the Internet Zone is set to Medium Security, by default it is High, but by setting it to medium we can get the ICS working.  Also, by browsing the net came to know that medium security level is sufficiently enough for home purposes.

Finally, I got my ICS along with some security.

Is cloud only for Business Entities?

It is an ambiguous issue, because, take an example of Windows SkyDrive, it is on a cloud platform, it offer 25GB of free space even to clients who use its services for free, YouSendIt.Com offer 2Gb for free, in both the cases there is a service for the client and also for the enterprises. However, the use of these are very customer psychically customized, like you cannot upload any file above 50MB into Yousendit, and you need to pay them for it, you cannot download it more than 100 times, the limitations are growing or in other words control strategies are increasing. Hence, we cannot say now itself if cloud is for individual people on internet or is it for entities looking for futurist benefits. However there is a growth in that area too likes TeamViewer services that are completely free with professional options.

Stronghold 3

I played stronghold crusader 1 and its extreme version also, hence I know some of the goods and bad of the gameplay.  Also, I have good experience playing the pharaoh and Caesar series, i.e. I love playing the city building and strategy games 

About this version: Stronghold 3, I have to say that FIREFLY STUDIOS have done a great job, it is really worth while version to purchase.  I saw a lot of comments in gamers sites like Gamespot and IGN that the game is not as expected and is somewhat bad.  let me tell you, the issue was the game is a bit more tough than its stronghold extreme version, the difficulty does not like in army firstly, but it is challenging to satisfy the population/villagers, in older version, I can take the pop count to a 100 in few mins, but in this game this is lot lot lot hard.  I am writing this blog after playing the game for more than 4 hrs and I only reached a pop of 36 at max, it is that difficult .

Talking of the graphics and sound effects, the game is awesome, apart from few mouse related glitches.

Since I have experience with earlier versions of this game, I can play it easily, however for new ones, the game is very tough as the Learning Curve is 0 or less than 1 on a scale of 10, imagine playing the game of strategy without know how to use the buildings, options that interlink the pop growth etc.  If the company release a tutorial patch it would be excellent series to play on with.

Also, in earlier version a ring of red or green color would be on fire camp building, it would tell graphically the speed at which the villagers are leaving, however this option is not given in 3, I think the company must keep this in next versions at least.

Above is pic from Stronghold 1.  Below is pic from Stronghold 3

Expecting a stronghold version 4 to cover the above.  Final verdict, stronghold 3 is tough but a good game to play.

 

However, there are some funny stuff too like the WOLFs are able to climb the wooden towers using ladders and killing archers .