A DirecTV access card is a type of electronic card, roughly the size of a credit card, which provides programming to subscribers. DirecTV access cards may be provided to a customer along with his/her receiver box or separately, but must be activated before any programming can be used. When the user chooses a package and provides DirecTV with a payment method, DirecTV will activate the access card, which can then be inserted in the top-right corner of the DirecTV receiver box in order to provide programming to the subscriber.   Read More

Folding DNA to create different two or three dimensional shapes while at the nano level of size is known as DNA origami. By relying on the interactions between complementary base pairs, one is able to manipulate a long strain of DNA and force it to fold and twist in such a way as to create different designs. The original project required a process of taking a long strain of viral DNA and bending it and twisting it with the help of staple strands. These strands would bind to the long Read More

SRT is the file extension for subtitle files. Subtitle files are simple text files that have been synchronized with a video file so that viewers can read what is being said while they are watching the movie. SRT files are especially useful for viewers who have hearing disabilities or like to keep the sound low. SRT files can be made for any movie in any language and can be modified in a standard text editor such as Notepad. Subtitle files are easy to create. Each subtitle line only consists of Read More

MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) is an International Standards Organization (ISO) group which sets standards for compressing and storing video, audio, and animation in digital form. Moving Picture Experts Group’s first meeting was in Ottawa, Canada, in May of 1988. Over the years, MPEG has developed to include around 350 members per meeting from several industries, research institutions, and universities. The official designation of Moving Picture Experts Group is ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29 WG11. Pronounced “m-peg”, the term MPEG represents the entirety of digital video compression techniques and the digital file formats Read More

A common practice in modern society is the use of file sharing programs and applications. These file sharing programs have been shrouded in controversy, scrutiny, and criticism since their inceptions. Despite that, however, file sharing programs are used by millions of people worldwide on a daily basis and that number is only growing. This article will examine what exactly file sharing is and explore some of the most popular P2P programs and file hosting sites that support the file sharing community. What is File Sharing File sharing involves many different Read More

Faster connections to the Internet from phone lines are possible through a Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer (abbreviated to DSLAM).  The role of this network device is located in the telephone exchanges of providers for the services.  The service works by taking advantage of the multiplexing techniques used to connect several Digital Subscriber Lines to a high speed connection which they share.  These can be placed along remote areas to provide DSL services to once out of reach locations.  These additions may be costly to the telephone companies, but it Read More

Malleability refers to metals’ (and other hard materials’) ability to be stretched, shaped, or molded through applied pressure. While not all objects are malleable, most metals are. This is the reason that metals such as gold, silver, and platinum, are used to make jewelry and electronic circuits. Malleable objects can usually be reshaped and molded around other objects when pressure is applied to them via a hammer or roller.   How Malleability Works Physical changes in metal are responsible for its deformation. When a malleable metal is compressed, individual molecules Read More

Symmetric Cryptographic Algorithms DES (Data Encryption Standard) is perhaps the most widely used cryptographic algorithm. DES is based upon IBM’s Lucifer algorithm. The NBS (National Bureau of Standards) and the NSA (National Security Agency) adopted DES as a federal standard in 1977. DES is a symmetric cipher with an effective key length of 56 bits. Triple-DES is a variant of DES which encrypts the plaintext with the DES algorithm three times. IDEA (International Data Encryption Algorithm) is a commercial symmetric cipher developed in 1990 which uses 128-bit keys. Blowfish is Read More

Reducing Signal Theft by Blacklisting Access Cards DirecTV maintains a list of cancelled access cards. If an access card with a blacklisted CAM ID is utilized, you will receive the “Call Extension 745” error message. Reducing Signal Theft with ECM (Electronic Counter Measures DirecTV and Dish Network engineers also broadcast hostile signals that instruct the satellite receivers to cause unauthorized access cards to stop working. These attacks are commonly known as ECM (Electronic Counter Measures). Common ECM attacks are: Datastream updates Datastream updates are new software which is sent to Read More

The following steps elaborate on how to use the Ping utility to perform progressively more distant tests on network connectivity. Ping the Loopback Address – Type Ping 127.0.0.1 Successfully pinging the loopback address verifies that TCP/IP is both installed and configured correctly on the local client. If the loopback test fails, it means IP stack is not answering. If any TCP drivers get corrupted, the network adapter is not functioning properly, or any other service is interrupting IP , then lack of response might occur. Open event viewer and look Read More