You can still block it easily with the command prompt (Shift+F10 during the install) as mentioned. But don't let that stop you from switching to Linux if you feel like it.

Are there any cases of such payout actually happening...? I'm not buying it. (Literally and figuratively.)

I wouldn't say it's the definition, but I agree this is not surprising.
Toxic masculinity is much more though. Men bullying men because they do something "not manly" is toxic masculinity. It can be anything from not enjoying sports to showing emotion for any reason (even crying if a family member died).

Yeah, I see a ton of this under random.
Here's my front page at this very moment: https://i.imgur.com/4IsJ68f.png

I don't think I've ever made a "clean upgrade" on Linux. I've done the opposite though, that is, bring an old install over to a new computer.

Always use /dev/disk/* (I use by-id) for RAID, as those links will stay constant even if a disk is renamed (for example, from sdb to sdd).

Ah, that makes more sense. I looked up the original abstract and indeed it looks more like what you'd expect (hard to comprehend for someone that's not in the field).

Though to clarify (for others reading this) they still did use generative AI to (help?) write the paper, which is only part of why it was withdrawn.

Same here. I switched to DDG last year, but had to go back within two weeks; it was just too annoying.
Google search results have indeed gotten pretty bad, but I've yet to see anyone surpass them.

The entire abstract is AI. Even without the explicit mention in one sentence, the rest of the text should've been rejected as nonspecific nonsense.

Not obvious at all. Motion blur at high movement speeds makes things unreadable even at 540 Hz, proving that even at 540 Hz there is still plenty of motion blur that the human eye can see.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV7EMnkTsYA&t=682s

As the video says: "Yes, your eyes really are capable of seeing this in real life"

Did you post evidence 20 years ago? Otherwise it's not worth much more than "jet fuel can't melt steel beams".

If you truly do separate the art from the artist there's no need to defend the artist.
I sometimes listen to a few black metal albums made by completely insane people, but I'd never defend their actions; quite the opposite.