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One way to get around that is changing the user agent. I’ve never changed the user agent and had a loss of functionality, it always seems like they have a stupid user agent check just to make sure you’re using windows/chrome.
They have a really weird definition of “upgrade”
man i hate those online content that you MUST pay to do homework for the courses. They were over priced and back when i use them, they didnt even grade the homework correctly. E.g. the stupid Mastering series Mastering Physics, Mastering Chemistry and Cengage. I once spent 3 days on a problem because the system didnt like how I wrote the answers. So something like
- coordinate (3x,space herey)
instead of what they want:
- coordinate (3x,y)
pirate the book, they clearly don’t deserve your money
The problem is most courses require a code that costs about ten dollars less than the book. Pearson did this to destroy the used book market.
The ONLY money I spent during my entire time at uni has been on these stupid Cengage and Connect courses. I blame the teachers, more than anyone, for using these awful services. I also blame the Uni for not advertising that it would be required for the coursework. The teachers are either too lazy or too overworked to make their own materials or teach from an analogue book which doesn’t spoon-feed the lessons and grade things for them. It’s a shit system and nothing made me madder than a required class using these services.
For a few of them, I just lobbied the department to pay for it saying I wasn’t able to afford it, and they paid for my license or whatever.
I also blame the Uni for not advertising that it would be required for the coursework.
Just like Steam now says "REQUIRES KERNEL LEVEL ANTICHEAT" like a big ugly Surgeon General’s warning, I think college courses should say stuff like this too.
Along with “REQUIRES INVASIVE KERNEL LEVEL REMOTE ACCESS MALWARE BROWSER TO TAKE EXAMS”
100% agree on both counts
Pearaon also has homework on their site these days. I’ve only used pearson for physics homework, because I didn’t have the need to read the book. I needed to buy the book for the homework though
The homework code is what I meant. Sorry for not being clearer in my comment.
DRM - the bane of good user experience.
GOG nailed it - no DRM, low prices, convenience.
If most book publishers released their texts with new features (e.g. linking references, or adding additional notes to proofs/solutions) they’d get their sales. Instead they just slap DRM on and…
Low prices end GOG ? Yea nah, not really. Sorry but their UI is kinda shitty, hasn’t improved in years, they don’t have a client of Linux, they take 30% just like Steam, and from my experience easily 25% of recent games there get updates far later than Steam, if they ever receive them… The Escapists is a good example of that.
I use the Heroic launcher with GOG and it works fantastic. Official apps are less needed if the open source ones are great.
Heroic is so aptly titled. Combined with one of those helper apps to install “Proton GE”, it makes you just about unstoppable.
I’m finding that Linux has given me better compatibility with my game library as a whole!
For real legacy stuff, Bottles also works a treat. Never thought I’d get Sims 1 working again with so little hassle.
It’s a wonderful time.
easily 25% of recent games there get updates far later than Steam, if they ever receive them
Blame the publishers, not GOG
Pearson is indirectly asking you to pirate their courses.
They did a long time ago. Overpriced books that only changed layouts yearly just so that they can charge you for it again. Like having to keep up with the editions so that you can follow the lessons.
Yarrrrrr
Nah, its pretty direct
Pearson, HMH, and all the major for-profit educational resource providers (and much of the not-for-profits, too) are literally actually evil.
Gemini asking: how/why?
“Upgrade”
“Operating”
“System”
"Win"dows
“Pornography-related virus”
Just like they asked you to upgrade to ie in the 90s a d early 00s.
🏴☠️🏴☠️🏴☠️
Maybe they should upgrade to support other OSes?
“upgrade” no you mean emulate/switch.
I call it the “shame box.”
My bank blocks it completely. I can never log in without changing the user agent.
Change banks.
Oh absolutely not. Lmao. Do you know how much work that would need after being with them for 15 years?
It’s easier to spoof user agents.
I have this exact problem when I have to manage Apple devices for work. Nothing that user agent switcher can’t fix.
Pearson is a testing company. They use all sorts of sketchy shit under the guise of anti-cheating. Much of that requires specific plug-ins and stuff that only work in Windows.
Even if you could get it working, but they’ll likely just say you were cheating, and take the $300+ you paid to take that required test.
Pearson using all sorts of extremely invasive and questionable kernel-level access plugins to make sure people don’t open notes to cheat on their test on their computer. People just open their notes on another device. Or, you know, paper.
They use massively privacy-invading measures to ensure that you don’t do that. I don’t know about Pearson specifically, but there are horror stories from the “proctoring” industry about what people have to put up with.
For example: “facial detection, eye tracking, and algorithms that measure “anomalies” in metrics like head movement, mouse clicks, and scrolling rates to flag students exhibiting behavior that differs from the class norm” As is widely known, facial detection doesn’t work as well for dark-skinned people, and eye and head movement of so-called “normal people” is not fair to people who are not cheating, but not “normal”.
And you can’t leave your desk because you might have something out of camera sight to help you cheat. Straightforward right? Not really: “A University of Florida student felt forced to vomit at her desk when the proctor threatened to fail her if she left the screen (Harwell, 2020). She vomited at her desk in front of the stranger.”
Maybe you can get away with hiding notes on another device or paper, but they try hard to make that impossible. They want to you to get up and show them everything in the room before you start your test. They want to see your hands at all times, and even track your eye movements. If your eyes are always darting to a certain area off screen where you might have notes, they might interrupt your test and demand to be shown what you’re looking at. If you look up or off to the side when you’re thinking, they’re going to demand that you show them what you’re looking at too. If you think you can scroll through notes on your phone… maybe. But, they often demand that your hands be visible on-camera at all times.
It’s an arms race, and sometimes people do manage to cheat, but when that happens the proctoring companies just implement more and more outrageous surveillance.
Or, you know, paper.
- That’s what desk/workspace scanning in the most extreme cases is meant to detect. This is why I really don’t like online schooling, because in the absolute worst case, your school will literally scan your place.
You know what would be a really good way to show if your students learned your course material? Let them show it with a practical test of some kind…
My daughter had to write a university paper once. They required two cameras to be running. One atop the screen like you use for meetings, and one showing the whole desk and the tested person.
Redhat would randomly interrupt your test and ask you to stand up, pick up the camera and show the room
Privacy invasion. I doubt that would hold water in the EU.
Also, do we really want to normalize mandatory cameras broadcasting from people’s homes? Where’s the outrage?That was in the EU
It’s really useless too. If I wanted to cheat on a test so fucking bad, I’d learn to read braille and just stick reference material under my desk.
I’d clone my monitor to a second monitor in another room and then use an AirPod or something similar to communicate with someone searching for the answers using the second screen and a second device.
Easy enough to put notes or a phone on the backside of your monitor. Pearson doesn’t check there during their room scans
Source: Took dozens of exams through them
Mine had an external webcam that had to be purchased, and you had to have the laptop webcam on. It was ridiculous.
Thats not necessary for online teaching. I just got my degree and there were some online courses too, never had to deal with any of this anti cheating crap.
We just have open book exams, problem solved
The only solution for that is to proctor exams in person on their equipment. Miss me with all that nonsense. Makes me glad I’m done with schoolin’ for now…
Oh Pearson definitely does thst as well. But not everyone lives near or has reliable transit to a testing facility. Online testing is essentially a requirement for those people.
They actually already do that. Many schools will have dedicated exam rooms setup (some are even certified by Pearson) where you empty your pockets before entering, cameras are trained on you while you take the test, recorded for future review if needed, the computer is configured to be locked down to only the test site and there’s a test proctor actively monitoring as well.
Honestly just give me a printed packet in a classroom with a teacher watching the test takers any day
Linux will never become relevant on the desktop until its has better spyware support.
All it takes is one class action suit. Wait for it
This is probably just user-agent sniffing, right? I’d say swap it out to one that claims you’re on windows and see if that fixes it. Good luck :)
I do, my usual go to is windows 10 chrome latest
Seriously, fuck Pearson. Garbage company.
Hey now, garbage companies actually do something productive for society. :p
It’s kinda wild that an IT Certification company can’t handle Linux, but I’m sadly not surprised.
