What you have heard about is a feature called “Recall”, which is something that has not actually rolled out and will only be coming to PCs with specific neural processing units. Other windows users will not be affected (although of course that will change over time as old devices are replaced with new).

Is it possible? Yes, of course it’s possible. You could say that about pretty much any operating system - including Linux distros - if the functionality turns out to be popular.

However, to be 100% clear, this is functionality that the user can disable (either entirely, or on an app-by-app basis). And data is never transacted to the cloud or with Microsoft. What’s on the device does not leave the device. It’s also really not in Microsoft’s own interest at all to try taking on that responsibility… How would they know if you paid for an app/game/song or not, even if they wanted to?

But back to your question: yes, of course it is possible. This type of technology has already been prototyped in different ways (e.g. Apple have done work about identifying CSAM on the iPhone, although not implemented).

Yes, Linux gives you a lot more control. If you were to make the switch, I would list a hundred other reasons that are far more compelling than this storm in a teacup.

That said, there’s absolutely no reason a Linux distro couldn’t also bring the same functionality, if there is consumer appetite for it.

If you are looking to truly make it “impossible”, you need to air-gap your machine and not connect to the internet anymore.

In defence of the author, there is absolutely nothing about the term “AI” that just means “LLM” in an informed context (which is what Wired portends to be). And then the words “machine learning” are literally front and centre in the subtitle.

I don’t see how anyone could misunderstand this unless it was a deliberate misreading… Or else just not attempting to read it at all…

(That said, yes, I do hate the fact that product managers now love to talk about how every single feature is “AI” regardless of what it actually is/does)

It stems from an old proverb: “there is naught so queer as folk”, essentially meaning “people are strange”. The meaning of “queer” has shifted and narrowed over time to refer to sexuality, but kept its ties to this idiom, resulting in the TV show “queer as folk” and the generic phrase “queer folk”.

There is nothing especially pretentious or mythical about the word. It may just be your own assumptions/interpretations of it. Far more people have an issue with the word “queer” than they do “folk”. If you don’t like it, don’t use it, but you should also aim to shake the stigma from it, as it’s not what 99.9% of people mean when they use it.

https://www.qld.gov.au/transport/safety/rules/schools/school-zone-speed-limits-and-signs

In short: if you don’t know if it’s an “active” school zone or not… assume it is and just slow down. General sentiment with many road rules is “ignorance is not an excuse” and that’s what applies here.

In practice, most patrol officers would probably exercise some discretion (e.g.: were there lots of children around? Was the school visibly “open” in an obvious way?). If the school looked “closed” they might be lenient. But technically, they could legally pin you if they wanted to.

If you were to appeal it, you might be able to argue your case on mitigating circumstances. You’re entitled to your day in court if you feel you’ve been treated unfairly.

But again, the default position is “ignorance is not an excuse”, and if you’re operating a vehicle that can kill someone, your responsibility is to err on the side of caution.

It would depend exactly how big/substantial this ‘gathering’ is, but I could imagine that “Grove”, “Stand” or “Thicket” might be appropriate.

They aren’t exclusive to your definition, but could be applicable.