There is a non-AI (supposedly) version of Office365 desktop applications that you can get by starting the process to cancel your Office365 subscription. It offers you a cheaper version of office without copilot. But apparently that doesn't mean all AI removed. I stumbled upon this by chance today.

So I was minding my own business this morning and was looking for some setting in my radeon software. It happens to tell me how long I've been in a play session of various games if I am currently in one. It said I had been playing Alien Isolation for 16 hours. Since I don't have that installed at the moment I dug deeper and got the directory and exe for what it was calling Alien Isolation.

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\ProgramFilesCommonX64\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE16\AI\ai.exe"

Well...that won't do. So I set about finding out why it was there, confirming that it was indeed an AI and not just a naming happenstance. Of course it wasn't a coincidence.

The dumb shit I have to do to keep MS from infecting my shit... (also inb4 "hurr durr git linux" I'm working on it...)

1. I made a separate local guest user account
2. gave it full control of the AI folder, subfolders, and files
3. confirmed the guest account could login and access the folder location
4. broke inheritance
5. removed all other account/group permissions except my main admin
6. set my main account to full deny and ensured it was applied to the folder and everything under it
7. Confirmed with process explorer x64 the exe doesn't start when I run an office app.

Just figured I would drop this in here in case anyone else is trying to make sure that the malware/spyware being masked as AI isn't infecting your computers.

If you do this, do be sure to confirm your other account can login and navigate to the folder before you remove all other permissions. Once I did, I created a shortcut and placed that on the desktop if for some reason I ever need to alter that stupid AI folder again. I plan on using that account as a way to isolate AI processes like this in applications I require. Thankfully I've been able to move to non-AI alternatives in most cases. (goodbye decade of foxit pdf reader, hello Okular)

Saw this on another sublemmy and thought you all might get a giggle out of it.

Not sure how prevalent efforts like this are, but looked like it could be a good way to spend some weekend time. Would be really cool to see more forest in the highlands.

Congrats Scotland on topping the list!

Been trying to avoid plastic containers when I can. So I'm drinking canned water when I'm not near a tap and glass.

My grandmother-in-law is taking one of my kids to get a new jacket. I'll have one less kid for an hour and a half.

I love the mashup between one of my favorite metal bands and one of my favorite synthwave bands. Works unexpectedly well.

Fantastic vocals and great synth work, this song by The Bad Dreamers is another favorite for me.

The Bad Dreamers have great vocals and Timecop1983 is always solid for Synthwave melodies. The two combined make a fantastic pairing.

This is the song that got me into the genre. And if you get a chance to see The Midnight live, it's well worth it. They put on a fantastic show!

This is my favorite album. Took me ages to get a vinyl copy but we'll worth it.