OK, buoys and gulls. It’s Tuesday. Time to clean out those browser bookmarks. You can just erase yours, but I have much more fun inflicting mine on the general public through these roundups. And then erasing them, with extreme prejudice, natch.

A computer can never be held accountable.

It was found by someone going through their father’s work documents, and subsequently destroyed in a flood. I spent some time corresponding with the IBM archives but they can’t locate it. Apparently it was common for branch offices to produce things that were not archived.

Whoever produced that document adumbrated the big question in today’s computing. Who’s responsible for what a computer tells you when you ask it a question? Also, whoever produced that document never worked in an office with women: My computer totally hates me!

The Nation Needs a Shipbuilding Revolution

Four public shipyards that perform maintenance on nuclear-powered submarines are understaffed, and only a third of maintenance across the fleet is completed on time. Growing the fleet will place added strains on overworked shipyards and exacerbate the past-due modernization of its 17 existing dry docks, that—unless more are built—will not be able to sustain even the current too-small fleet. New shipyards and workers are needed, but only a revitalized industry will attract the necessary investment and people.

I’m sure preparing to fight World War II again will work out in the end.

Costa Rican Supermarket Wins Trademark Battle Against Nintendo

A small Costa Rican supermarket has emerged victorious from a legal battle against the renowned video game giant, Nintendo. José Mario Alfaro González, owner of “Super Mario” in San Ramón de Alajuela, found himself in an unexpected legal showdown when he attempted to formally register his store’s name. In Costa Rica, the term “super” is often used as shorthand for “supermarket.”

Do they have Super Mario Karts with one hinky wheel?

Near-complete ban on agricultural burning finally takes effect in California’s San Joaquin Valley

The near-complete prohibition on mass burns of agricultural prunings and field crops, as well as orchards and vineyards removed from production, marks a major shift for the San Joaquin Valley, an agricultural powerhouse that is home to some of the worst ozone and particulate pollution in the nation. The state has pushed for years to curtail open burns, citing the region’s high rates of respiratory illness and other health concerns associated with poor air quality.

When enough Modern Farmhouses get built in your town, actual, icky farming always gets banned.

US military C-17 aircraft used to deport 205 Indian migrants under Trump’s immigration crackdown; destination unclear

Speaking to ANI, the spokesperson said, “I have received a number of inquiries on reporting of a deportation flight to India. I can’t share any details on those inquiries, but I can share, on the record, that the United States is vigorously enforcing its border, tightening immigration laws, and removing illegal migrants. These actions send a clear message: illegal migration is not worth the risk.”

Two entire Motel 6’s will have to close down.

I bought a container full of Chinese electric excavators. Here’s what showed up

First of all, any one of these containers takes months to set up. It starts with working with the factory designers and engineers, then negotiating pricing, fronting the production, dealing with inevitable production delays, quality inspections before shipping, booking sea freight, working through customs and handling tariffs, setting up incoming freight, and finally landing the container at your doorstep.

They’re kinda cute. There are places you don’t want to use a diesel machine for moderate work, like demo inside a building. But forklifts have run on bottled gas for interior work like that for ages, and don’t stink up the air. Unions and teenaged sons will like the four-hour battery life of these electric models, though.

When Doctors With A.I. Are Outperformed by A.I. Alone

Our op-ed in today’s NY Times explores an unexpected finding. A series of recent studies compared the performance of doctors with A.I. versus A.I. alone, spanning medical scans, diagnostic accuracy, and management reasoning. Surprisingly, in many cases, A.I. systems working independently performed better than when combined with physician input. This pattern emerged consistently across different medical tasks, from chest X-ray and mammography interpretation to clinical decision-making. In some of the studies, summarized in the Table below, the gap for performance favoring A.I. alone was large.

“Unexpected”? Have you talked to a doctor lately? If you go in there with a limb hanging off by its last tendon, you’ll get nothing but 30 minutes of questions about whether you’re depressed, abused, unsure of your gender, and would you like a fifth booster while they shove a GoPro up your bottom. Of course I’m depressed, doctor. I’m talking to you.

An ex-deep-sea treasure hunter jailed for nearly 10 years scores a legal win but won’t be freed

Thompson’s case dates to his discovery of the S.S. Central America, known as the Ship of Gold, in 1988. The gold rush-era ship sank in a hurricane off South Carolina in 1857 with thousands of pounds of gold aboard, contributing to an economic panic. Despite an investor lawsuit and a federal court order, Thompson still won’t cooperate with authorities trying to find 500 coins minted from some of the gold, according to court records. He has previously said, without providing details, that the coins — valued at about $2.5 million — were turned over to a trust in Belize.

Ten years in prison for civil contempt of court. Now he gets to serve two years for criminal contempt of court. I suspect that his contempt for the court hasn’t diminished much. Mine didn’t after reading that.

Women speak 3,000 more words daily than men during midlife, study shows

Researchers found that women between the ages of 25 and 65—the life stages of early and middle adulthood—spoke on average about 3,000 more words per day than their male counterparts. Significant gender differences did not appear in the study’s other age groups: adolescence (ages 10 to 17), emerging adulthood (ages 18 to 24) and older adulthood (65 and up).

Well, in our household, the extra 3,000 words a day are spent arguing with the imaginary woman in the GPS device.

For just $763, you can make a lot sit empty for 5 years!

In a sane world, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors would do everything in its power to approve new grocery stores. The legislators would put up a huge fight against the closure of the Fillmore’s Safeway, which is expected this Friday and is the topic of a public hearing this afternoon. And they wouldn’t allow a new Whole Foods to be delayed and obstructed through the hijacking of an environmental appeal process.

“In a sane world” is the lede in a story about San Francisco. Sometimes, the jokes write themselves.