installing python modules on Linux and Windows

For trying out LLM-generated python scripts for "warping", (still works in progress)

https://github.com/hn-88/python-ffmpeg-warp

https://github.com/hn-88/realtime_video_warper

https://github.com/hn-88/realtime_warp_c

On Windows, various python modules can be installed with 

pip install modulename

where we sometimes have to do an internet search to find the exact modulename. 

Eg. How to Fix "ModuleNotFoundError: No Module Named 'PIL'" in Python

pip install pillow

On my Linux Mint machine, where I've installed python using the default deb package with apt, 

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'imageio'

and when trying to install with pip,

× This environment is externally managed

╰─> To install Python packages system-wide, try apt install

    python3-xyz, where xyz is the package you are trying to

    install.

sudo apt install python3-imageio # this worked.

proctoring plugins for Moodle

Copy-pasting from an email exchange:

 ... would require us to conduct a proctored test. Moodle has several plug-ins. They are promoting 'Proctoring for Moodle'. I also find Quilgo to be good. Can we install these 2 plug-ins (and any other plug-in recommended by you) in (our dev server) for us to test them out?

Here is a list of proctoring plugins for Moodle, probably you would have seen this already. https://moodle.org/plugins/?q=proctor

'Proctoring for Moodle' is free software, but if you want to use the automated face-recognition, they ask us to contact them. "Moodle Proctoring plugin is a Quiz Access plugin designed to capture a user's picture via webcam to identify the individual attempting the Moodle quiz."

A demo is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcrE1OIj6_Q

In that video, it is mentioned that features like capturing student's screen for "suspicious behaviour" like copy-pasting into Google etc, requires Proctoring Pro.

But the "purchase" Proctoring Pro link seems to be broken. -

https://proctoring.elearning23.com/ 
https://elearning23.com/moodle-proctoring-pro-details/
https://elearning23.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Proctoring-Pro-v2.0.0-User-Manual.pdf

(page not found etc)

"Quilgo® Proctoring for Moodle is a highly scalable plugin that allows you to include a camera, screen, track activity, and receive reports on test completion. Online assessments become easier and more reliable. Easy to use, no API customization or maintenance required." But the free plan is only for 20 tests, and the cheapest paid plan is $1200 for a year or $140 for a month.

https://quilgo.com/products/moodle 

A demo/tutorial is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pwwImIprSM

I have installed 'Proctoring for Moodle' and "Quilgo® Proctoring for Moodle" on (our dev server) now.

can QUIC be added to our dot net app

There was a request from the developers asking if we can enable QUIC support to the back end of an app for which we had disabled QUIC at cloudflare to prevent issues.

My reply was,

QUIC on Apache web server (which we use as the reverse proxy for dotnet) is experimental. 

https://www.linuxbash.sh/post/configuring-http3-quic-with-apache

We would have to use the experimental module, or shift to another web server like nginx etc. 

Since migration to a different web server is not simple, and the QUIC module is experimental on Apache, I would recommend against enabling QUIC for now. 

Also, QUIC security headaches for admins - 

https://www.networkstraining.com/what-is-quic-protocol/

handwriting recognition - ChatGPT is still the best

Uploading a page from my diary and checking how good the various LLMs are at handwriting recognition - ChatGPT is good for regular snaps.

ChatGPT -

JUN 7 FRI

 Social service instead of jogging as you're coming – making the Ashoka trees straight.

 Afternoon no class – we went to Mandir ~ 1:45, You came ~ 3:15. Vedaṁ, balloons, exerts, song – W/N pg writing & study this time Krishnamoorthy, IMI – problems in C...

Claude had done well at coding - better than ChatGPT and Gemini, but fared worse in handwriting recognition - Claude's version -

JUN 7 FRI

Bowl Service instead of dragging so forth coming - making the little trees sharply. Afternoon no class - we went to Nandu ~ 1:45, Su came ~ 3:15. Yadav, balloons, esotts, songs N/N pg writing & study his tone. Kishnamathy I/W - problems in C...

My corrected version - 

Social service instead of jogging as You're coming - making the Ashoka trees straight. Afternoon no class - we went to Mandir ~ 1:45 pm, You came ~ 3:15 pm. Vedam, balloons, escorts, song – WIN prg  during waiting at Mandir & study hours time. Krishnamoorthy, 1st MSc - problems in C...

Edit - 9 Nov - But when I edited together 5 pages to form a single long page, ChatGPT started hallucinating instead of transcribing!

Excerpt from ChatGPT's version of July 5-14 - 

JUL 5, FRI

 Toured Siddalingeshwar Plantation.

 Found good crop condition — 4½ acres of Amlan.

 Evening went to A.P.S. meeting at old students’ association.

 9:45 P.M. came home.

 Supper.

Actual corrected version,

"Pseudo heterodyning" - frustrating as could get only π phase change. Used signal analyzer to acquire data. S⁴ again seminars on 902...

Timetable again reverting to old schedule, 9 to 3, from Monday.

claude is good at coding

Pleasantly surprised to find that Claude.ai, running the Sonnet 4.5 model, with just a free plan and a single prompt, created a usable UI for a timeline editor in html / javascript, when supplied with javascript helper functions copy-pasted along with the prompt - the initial commit is at

https://github.com/hn-88/openspace-scripts/commit/79ff8dfcea16d7df944d1675f8ec3c6b4b9f3bd8

Edit - Subsequent commits were needed to make it actually functional, connect to OpenSpace, etc. using code copied from Jeff Nee,

https://github.com/hn-88/openspace-scripts/blob/main/OpenSpace-ConstellationsTonight_draft/00-readme.txt

The "finished product" is here,

https://github.com/hn-88/openspace-scripts/tree/main/OpenSpace-Keyframe-Timeline-editor

Moodle Course Completion

Extracts from an email thread, S asked the question and answered himself - 

...we have a custom report 'Course Completion Status' in one of our Moodle instances.

There is a field 'Course Completion - Completed' and this field should show 'Yes' when the course is completed and 'No' when the user is still doing the course. And then there is another field, 'Course Completion.Student Progress' and this field shows the percentage progress.

For (one particular) course many teachers have completed the course (the percentage is 100); certificates have been issued to them. However, the field 'Course completion - completed' is set to 'No' and not 'Yes'. What could be the problem? Even the system report 'Activity Completion' has all the activities ticked. 

Found out the issue - within the course, the course completion criteria weren't set up. To mark the course as completed, at least one criterion should be enabled. 

In the course page - More->Course Completion, enable one or more conditions. I have enabled 'Custom Certificate-Course Certificate'. And immediately, all the people who have received certificates have been marked as 'Completed'. 

hidden restrictions in Airtel's "unlimited 5G" plans

According to this youtube video, there are some terms and conditions which are shown only in the Airtel app, by which

1. If Airtel thinks it is being used for commercial purposes, they can restrict the "unlimited 5G"
2. If the data transferred exceeds 300 GB in a month, they can consider it "commercial"
3. Tethered use of 5G data - using a mobile hotspot - is not included in the "unlimited 5G"

And one of the comments in that video pointed out that the reason why at some times the 4G data cap gets used up even though 5G is displayed in the status area on the top right of Android phones, is because of Airtel's use of 4G infrastructure to deliver 5G - in which case, the 4G billing gets used. And apparently, the difference can be noticed on Samsung phones with the 5G logo which is displayed. 

It seems 5G with a white background = true 5G.

And 5G with white text = 4G masquerading as 5G.

And this seems to be confirmed by this page, 
https://androidsrc.net/android-samsung-phone-symbols/