Glad to see a fellow Madisonian make it to HN frontpage. Great work!
Precise geolocation via Wi-Fi Positioning System
101–110 of 124 posts
Re: Precise geolocation via Wi-Fi Positioning System
#102Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have an inside perspective on this via an academic integrity company. A couple weeks ago there was an exam in an R1 institution that double booked the facility so one section did the exam in person on campus and the other did it "from home". The score distribution of the in person exam was a typical bell curve, and the distribution of the online exam looking like a power-law curve with over half the students scorin…
Catching cheaters is easy. The problem is that incentives are not aligned. Students are also customers, and you can’t simply fire a quarter of your customers and stay in business.
I agree with the latter 100% (the biggest problem is incentives), however I don't agree catching cheaters is easy. It's an arms race, and reminds me of catching cheaters in video games.
Using every means available (multiple technologies and in-person proctored exams) cuts down cheating to probably ~2%... But online programs have serious integrity challenges.
Re: Precise geolocation via Wi-Fi Positioning System
#103Earlier quoted context omitted.
> People need to learn manners, nobody should be using video calling without headphones. OK? it still sucks even with headphones. Imagine the following scenario: You are in a meeting using your headphones as you suggest. A coworker a few seats away from you are in the same meeting using their own headsphones. When they talk you hear their real voice reach your ears first (this happens with even the best noise canceli…
This is a great answer. But I would add that while a technical solution is welcomed, an organizational one could help too: why are multiple people in the same meeting joining from nearby desks instead of a conference room?
I was in such a meeting yesterday where multiple participants were required by law to be each in same meeting from different computers in same room and with their mics and speakers on, and same law prevents use of conference room camera speakers and mic. There was a constant and annoying audio echo for everyone.
Re: Precise geolocation via Wi-Fi Positioning System
#104Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't follow how this implies mandatory attendance makes sense in one case but not the other. If you believe lack of attendance is "wasting resources", then either you think the class isn't doing its part by teaching what students need, or you believe it is and yet students are not learning the material due to lack of attendance. In the former case, the problem is poor teaching, and so attendance isn't the solution…
The logic is, nobody cares if you waste your own tuition money by not attending class, but people do care if you waste somebody else's tuition money.
You didn't answer my question at all. I understand whose money is involved, that had nothing to do with my point.
Re: Precise geolocation via Wi-Fi Positioning System
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
The SSID (name, like the article mentions) is different than the bSSID (mac address of the access point), so I don't think it would be that easy to spoof.
Minor but important correction: The BSSID is almost never the AP MAC address. The BSSID is unique per SSID, per AP. The BSSID is usually derived (usually by incrementing the last octet) from the AP MAC address, however. So an AP MAC might be 77:99:44:EE:C4:11. It has a wireless network called "Bob's SSID". It will have a BSSID of something like 77:99:44:EE:C4:12. Then, the AP may be broadcasting another called "Mary'…
I see, thanks. I've definitely seen instances where an AP is broadcasting multiple SSIDs with different BSSIDs. I suppose I just thought nothing of it... but that makes sense.
Re: Precise geolocation via Wi-Fi Positioning System
#106Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is a great answer. But I would add that while a technical solution is welcomed, an organizational one could help too: why are multiple people in the same meeting joining from nearby desks instead of a conference room?
I was in such a meeting yesterday where multiple participants were required by law to be each in same meeting from different computers in same room and with their mics and speakers on, and same law prevents use of conference room camera speakers and mic. There was a constant and annoying audio echo for everyone.
Get that law abolished ASAP, sounds ridiculous
Re: Precise geolocation via Wi-Fi Positioning System
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Explain that you expect integrity, and then watch the students raise their hands and ask how they will be tested on this. You say it's expected. Back and forth a few times, until eventually some of them start crying, and then their heads explode, because they can't figure out how to game that. This assumes that the students are untrustworthy and the faculty/institution are ultimately trusted. In a world in which th…
> This assumes that the students are untrustworthy and the faculty/institution are ultimately trusted. True. This proposal requires expecting and requiring the faculty to have integrity. And you really need the college/university as a whole to commit to this, not just isolated professors, partly so that there can be no confusion by students. (Some battle-scarred faculty and grad students could tell speak of entire de…
> True. This proposal requires expecting and requiring the faculty to have integrity.
Not just integrity, but also consistency, objectivity, absence of caprice or bias...
Re: Precise geolocation via Wi-Fi Positioning System
#108Now the question: can you spoof your location? Say you are an admin on your system (for instance you run a Linux distro), can you make your OS return the same list of SSID/BSSIDs as your friend who is in the classroom (or as you recorded the day before) to pretend you are there? Would be a fun experiment, and a nice follow-up post :-).
https://github.com/adamhrv/skylift but doesn’t use the OS, it broadcasts the necessary beacons with ESP8266 / ESP32 hardware.
Nice! Still would be cool to do it right from the computer.
Re: Precise geolocation via Wi-Fi Positioning System
#109I don't think it's appropriate for a professor to use this feature. Am I in the minority?
Re: Precise geolocation via Wi-Fi Positioning System
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is a great answer. But I would add that while a technical solution is welcomed, an organizational one could help too: why are multiple people in the same meeting joining from nearby desks instead of a conference room?
I was in such a meeting yesterday where multiple participants were required by law to be each in same meeting from different computers in same room and with their mics and speakers on, and same law prevents use of conference room camera speakers and mic. There was a constant and annoying audio echo for everyone.
That is a bonkers edge case that it never occurred to me would happen. I am glad to not be under those regulations