Because my upcoming C++ test is hard I want to be able to alt tab into VSCode to test things. Obviously, safe exam browser doesn't let you do this. Any of you with first hand experience in getting around this? Hypothetically.
Holy shit, I am shocked by not letting you test the code as you write it. I taught myself how to use VBA to what I feel is a high level trying to automate my job at the adrenachrome factory. I cannot imagine the practical application of being able to memorize code. That's what G*ogle is for. They want you to imagine what your code does? There are literally pictures in the dev notes! What do you mean???
I feel like 8/9ths of the job is testing, debugging, g*ogling, and contemplating while a small minority is writing shit like that. Can you confirm? That seems bonkers that you would test memory under pressure as the primary attribute of ability to code.
Thanks, mao. When you're not busy, can you do something about landlords, please?
It seems as though the punishment for getting caught is only a temporary suspension from the university, something like 2-4 weeks. I have also been studying plenty though. I may attempt to cheat without modifying the SEB, something like hiding notes in an angle the zoom call won't reveal.
it’s honestly horrible to me to see programming taught this way. same goes for those dogshit C#/Java courses that introduce students to programming with a boatload of GUI dev shit on top of it all
To be fair, most of our grades comes from assignments, we only have 1 test here at the end of the course.
if most of your grade comes from assignments, why are you determined to do well on this test, even to the point of risking punishment? If i were you id just do the test, and if i suck at it ill still end up at like an 80 for the class. Unless of course you really need this grade to pass the class, in that case i understand. but if youre just trying to be a perfectionist and get perfect grades, dont bother, its a toxic mindset to have and ive seen it first hand.
Oh, sorry, it's not really a grading system. It's moreso we either pass or don't pass every assignment, and we need to pass every assignment (Not necessarily at an A-level) and every test to pass the course.
Run that malware in a VM ? it won't be able to detect you switching focus. Alternatively, when making sure you use their shitty browser they likely simply check the user agent on the server side, so copy theirs and use your usual browser.
I think they make you download some software to take their tests. I've done what you said now, will that mean I can just open a test straight up in firefox, and they'll think I'm using the software (and have gone through the process of PC lockdown, clearing clipboard etc)?
EDIT: I ask specifically because, both in my modified firefox and in my chrome browser it looks the same and says "Your browser is accepted" all the same.I’ve done what you said now, will that mean I can just open a test straight up in firefox, and they’ll think I’m using the software
Possibly. I do not have their software to check, but say, for example, that their custom browser is wired to detect you're in a test, and then calls a webservice in the background every N seconds to confirm it. Your own traditional browser won't do that, which might trigger detection. It unlikely but who knows; only way to be sure would be to, for example, dump the network traffic of their custom browser while doing a test to make sure.
That's why my first recommendation was to use a VM instead: it'll be much more certain this way.
Edit: saw the article someone else posted and it seems that your changer the UA should be enough ? moreover, running it on a VM would involve hiding the fact it's a VM from the software - not really hard to do but more time consuming.
Do you think there's plausable deniability with the user agent switcher? Like if a professor says I cheated, can I say "I don't know, I just started the program like I thought we were supposed to? I didn't make any changes"? On second thought, considering we're IT students, they can reasonably assume we're smart enough to install and cheat SEB.
I mean, they can hardly prove you did this after the fact, and their software could have bugs. In your shoes I'd still go the VM route just in case but I'm paranoid when it comes to opsec.
I’ve been wondering if you could say record a loop of yourself staring at the screen and have that as the webcam feed but never cared enough to see if its possible.
On Linux at least (and I'd guess on Windows and Mac OS too), it is.
That first method I've now installed. It's what /u/TheCaconym suggested aswell, but is that safe? It's kind of the only thing I'm technologically literate enough to install, too, so I've not got much of a choice.
Some test software require peripheral device use and privs, such as access to a webcam/mic. I'm sure some varieties could get sandboxed with a VM tho but that adds its own socioeconomic problems since not everyone has a machine that's beefy enough for such tasks, and poor people are likely limited to the devices that are leased to them (and thus might not be legally able to install things without jeopardizing access).
if you are able to set another computer up, you may be able to have a copy+paste handoff to the other pc and do the testing there
If you have to be in an exam room I think you just gotta study, but if its at home you can just have a second device nearby like a laptop or tablet or phone to read off of
a lot of these things track eye movement and whatnot.
What a distopian nightmare. Does that mean you can't even use a piece of paper lol?
Some of those programs are definitely way way worse than others. I was lucky that my last courses ended in April so I was only on the old infrastructure which just locked your computer into that browser window, removed your clipboard, and wouldn't launch with certain programs or browser plugins running. My course ended just before everything moved to online only with webcams so I wouldn't be surprised that now the cameras are being bundled into the software.
I would have been pretty boned if I had to use that sort of thing: ADD always has me looking around and staring at walls and zoning out to think, at least in class my profs can talk with me and see that I can't see anyone else's papers but on webcam that just looks like I'm reading off another monitor.
Pretty predictable that they forced software that doesn't work properly, very questionable that it specifically fucked up black students, but also creepy that they didn't inform them what inputs it was capturing.
I'd really recommend reading up on the facial recognition issues faced by black people, it's been a pretty consistent issue. I remember reading about the Xbox Kinect camera not picking up people with dark skin, and more seriously, there's been at least three false positives that lead to innocent black people being arrested.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/29/technology/facial-recognition-misidentify-jail.html
fun fact: if you are using laptop's camera for the test, it can't see if you have post-it notes on the sides of your display
