Skip to main content

Examity's Garbage Software Is Failing Its Partners

I was helping a friend install the "Examity SB" software for proctored exam taking. What a mess! I'm not complaining about the concept of the proctored online examines. It is the quality of Examity's client software implementation and associated process that is nothing short of an embarrassment. Examity's software and process design flaws can turn the test-taking process from "stressful" to "idiotic nightmare". "Examity SB" is one of the worst "professional", publicly distributed software packages I've seen in years.

A Rant for the Ages.

Adobe Flash? Please!

First, Examity's website suggested that I download and install the obsolete Adobe Flash software system. Since Adobe Flash is dangerous from a computer security perspective and unavailable, I decided to download the native SB application. Just as a data point, my organization decided to sunset our use of Adobe Flash for user-facing pedagogical software development in 2008. Here we are, more than a decade later, and Examity is suggesting the use of Flash. Ug.

Unsigned Software

The downloaded Examity SB application is an unsigned 180 MB package. Being unsigned, users need to give the software special permission. SB fails to inform the user how it is modifying their computer's configuration. If and when thing don't go the way the SB software expects, SB sloppily spits out useless error messages boxes like "Press Run to run this Script or Quit", or "fix me". And every action from there seems to fail.

Such poor software was unacceptable in 1995, and it continues to be unacceptable today. Examity's software is fixable, but only if Examity properly manages the software development process.

Examity's partners (those people offering exams) must start considering how Examity's poor software implementation negatively represents their business. The fact that Examity's partners accepts Examity's poor user-facing software shows that the proctored on-line exam market is ripe for competition.

Untestable after Installation

Now it is installed, let's fire it up to make sure it works. Right? After all, you don't want to show up to an exam and find out in the heat of the moment that the software has a problem.

Nope! Examity can not function at all before the exam. If you try it, it doesn't even display a useful warning or error message. It just kind of dumps. There is simply no way for the user to validate that the software works until exam time. The reasoning? None given.

Update: Examity Fails the Exam.

As predicted, my friend's Examity-centric exam process failed due to hidden problems with the software installation. It likely had something to do with the idea that my friend is a professional and was using her IT managed office computer, and Examity simply couldn't cope or provide useful self-diagnotics.

Without a proper way for customers to validate the operation of the software before exam time, hours of time can be lost. Idiotic.

Due to Examity's failure, she needed to reschedule the exam using a borrowed a laptop that had a brand new OS install. Not everyone is so lucky. She killed it, with thanks to her privilege of time to reschedule and deep tech resources. And no thanks to Examity.

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Fixing a SodaStream Jet, part 1: Disassembly Guide

I've had my SodaStream Jet for years, and once in a while something has gone wrong. Disassembly is the first step to repair.  Start with this article to see how to disassemble the SodaStream, and then once you have that down, scroll through my other articles to see how I repaired specfic SodaStream problems. SodaStream Jet Disassembly Guide Tools Required Flat head screwdriver Phillips head screwdriver 1. Remove the Carbonator.  Duh. 2. Remove the black panel lever The front big black tilt lever needs to be removed first. Removing this panel is tricky, but it isn't impossible. Looking up at the bottom of the black panel, there are two tabs, one on the left and one on the right. These tabs fully secure the panel in place. The trick is to use a flat-head screwdriver under the plastic to gently lever the tabs out of the way.  Note in the pictures how I approach these tabs with my screwdriver.  I usually release the left side first, and then I release ...
Read more

Macintosh: Upgrading an eMac

It's been a long time since I wrote this article, but the fact remains: The good old eMac can still be useful if you take the simple steps to keep it as good as it can be.  All can run Tiger, and most can run Leopard - great operating systems for their day with a bit of useful life.  This article describes the procedure I used to upgrade my old eMac, including: Replacing the internal hard disk with a large capacity drive. Increasing the memory for performance Upgrading the operating system Here I'm upgrading a 700 MHz eMac, but the procedure and tasks for upgrading other eMac models should be almost identical. Upgrading versus Replacing My sister's eMac is of the 700 mhz variety, with 256 MB of memory. The machine seemed to be getting "slower", and the original 40 GB disk was becoming jammed packed with photos and iTunes, and within a few months she'd be out of disk space. There were two options to address the problems: upgrade the eMac, or go o...
Read more

Adding a Water Flood Sensor to my Vista-20p alarm system

My Honeywell Vista 20p alarm system is fairly comprehensive, but I want one more feature: an alarm that lets me know when my sump pump isn't working properly. Here is how I added one for about $8 in special parts.   I'm afraid of a flood in my finished basement. I'm fortunate - my basement sump pump system is already redundant, with two independent pumps and two outflow pipes. The primary pump kicks in when the water level reaches 6 inches, and if that doesn't work, then the backup pump kicks in when the water level reaches 7 inches.  The backup pump should never kick in unless the primary pump is having a problem pumping.   But there is a problem with this setup: I might never know if my primary pump has failed, leaving me with no redundancy.  I want to be informed when I have one (or god forbid, two) pump failures. My goal is to have my Vista 20p alert me when the sump's water level is ever beyond the point where my primary pump should have kicked in, alertin...
Read more

Using a Garmin eTrex with a Macintosh or Linux

The Garmin eTrex series consists of decent, full featured handheld GPS units. The cheaper monochrome eTrex models have a basic RS-232 serial interface, and the color eTrex models sport USB connectivity. In this article I'll talk about my experience with connecting both USB and serial port versions of the eTrex series to my Mac and to my Linux-based PC. I personally use the Garmin Vista HCx GPS now, but the other Garmins in the eTrex series, including the inexpensive but well specified Garmin eTrex Venture should work the same way. Dealing with the eTrex Series with USB Most of the eTrex units with a color screen have a USB port on the back. Happily, this USB port uses a common USB connector, so it is easy to physically connect a USB eTrex to a Mac or a PC running Linux. The USB Port on an eTrex I have found two pieces of software perfect for use with a USB eTrex, without the need for special drivers: GPSBabel+ and Google Earth . The Mac version of the freeware program ...
Read more

Transitioning to Comcast Now!

I've transitioned to Comcast NOW, a lower speed, lower cost alternative.  The kids have grown up and moved out.  I'm spending much more of my time traveling.  I don't need the high speeds at home like I used to. This transition promises to save me $240 dollars a year versus my old "discounted" plan. Xfinity to Comcast Now transitioning process I went to the Xfinity store and told them I was cancelling two weeks out.  This isn't weird - people move all the time, so they do have a process for cancelling at a future ("move-out") date. Later the same day, I was able to go to the Comcast website and order the NOW modem for the new service. Note that Comcast didn't let me do this until I had a future cancel order in place.  Three days later, the modem arrived via FedEx. The cancel date came and went - Xfinity seems to have a grace period, so the old modem wasn't unceremoniously yanked out of service at midnight.  This made the transition smooth.  ...
Read more

Excellent DD-WRT Router for Me: Netgear WNDR3400 / N600

My WiFi performance was suffering, and so I decided to do something about it and upgrade my router. When I say my WiFi performance was suffering, I really mean it:  I live in a large high-rise apartment building and there are 100+ WiFi access points visible from my home office.  All of the contentious traffic was severely curtailing my WiFi reliability.  I was lucky to get 1 Mbit/second throughput.  Sometimes I was lucky to stay connected even with my WiFi router in the same room. I decided it was time to go for 5 GHz, which is a WiFi band which is used less frequently and which has a tougher time traversing walls.  And of course I wanted DD-WRT support.  The set of features I was looking for included: Trouble-free DD-WRT support 5 GHz 802.11n Support Simultaneous dual band capability Inexpensive.  Maybe even cheap.  For me this means under $50.  Under $35 is even better! It sounds like an easy task to bring all this together: A...
Read more

Other Posts

Show more