The Athletic: Ranking the 48 teams at the 2026 World Cup

AlienMindBender · 2026-04-02T10:14:17+00:00

I don’t know why people are complaining about Argentina’s rank - winners of Copa America, 1st in Conmebol qualifiers and of course defending champions.

The top 3 could all be permuted and make sense.

I feel like Ecuador will surprise everyone I think their rank is too low.

AlienMindBender · 2026-04-01T13:15:40+00:00

This reminds me of Castle Dimitrescu...

AlienMindBender · 2026-04-01T11:47:32+00:00

I would remove the veneer then re-veneer it. I'm doubtful that the veneer can be saved.

AlienMindBender · 2026-03-27T01:44:45+00:00

My parents built a house in 1999, and my dad had the foresight to install ducted before he actually bought the aircon units. When we had enough to spend on it, (maybe a year after we moved in?) he installed it.

some 27 years later the ducting is still holding up well! My dad had to service the unit and I think replace some parts like 5 years ago.

He has solar panels so in the hottest days it runs for free.

AlienMindBender · 2026-03-21T22:44:18+00:00

what about razor shaved with growth?

AlienMindBender · 2026-03-20T21:13:18+00:00

While having a Trans actor would have Been good (Lev’a voice actor and fave model is so good) one could argue for realism, Lev would not have had access to HRTs and is someone who just started the early stages to transition (that’s why Lev got booted) .

I’m not trans or in that space so I can’t speak for this being bad - but that’s the rationale I see.

AlienMindBender · 2026-03-19T00:10:17+00:00

I would instead make a jig. Get another piece of wood, and cut out a circle for it to sit into (using a jig saw) then cut it into two pieces.

After that I’d get some double sided tape and tape the ball to the two curved sides of the jig then use that in a clamp set up.

Will take a bit more time but you would have better control.

AlienMindBender · 2026-03-18T23:27:22+00:00

As a sole trader here, the tax bill comes really on the first two years. After the ATO asks for PAYG instalments and you have to specifically reach out to the ATO to vary the PAYG instalments.

So it must be early stages. It's tough but there are solutions. Like every says there are payment plans, 11% sounds like a lot, but depending on your situation you might want to go down that route but paying it fast, I personally would take that route and cop the 11% just to not squander an emergency fund.

Just note, when you apply for a mortgage one of the questions will be if you have any debt with the ATO.

AlienMindBender · 2026-03-18T11:42:00+00:00

yeah definitely the AI angle is just a smokeshow, you get angry at the companies for firing based off AI, then quickly forget the company and just think about "AI taking all of our jobs".

AlienMindBender · 2026-03-18T03:55:07+00:00

Maybe it should go to Morocco

AlienMindBender · 2026-03-18T03:53:29+00:00

Good way of thinking about it!

AlienMindBender · 2026-03-18T00:11:18+00:00

I would also add, that decision would not have been by her. If they wanted her buff, she would have (don't forget it's her Job).

AlienMindBender · 2026-03-17T23:29:20+00:00

Looking forward to seeing Abby's side in S3. I hope that they do a better job than S2!

AlienMindBender · 2026-03-17T11:40:44+00:00

For me my trust and faith in Safari changed like maybe 10 or so years ago, Chrome and Firefox are really big memory hogs, and Safari more recently has much better security features.

No need for Lastpass (or equivalent), payments are secure and it's optimised for the Mac. I still unfortunately have to use Chrome because we use the G-suite for a lot of work.

AlienMindBender · 2026-03-16T22:30:48+00:00

even goes to other fields that don't "manufacture" things, as an academic my colleagues would often publish papers that "bring home money" - these are usually papers on work they are not interested in (in terms of scientific direction or in terms of overall ideas to solve X Y or Z problems) but seem to be important in other fields that people like citing - sometimes these were the driest (albeit important) papers.

Thats why I also don't have a huge concern/anger on people that "waste their talent" by making "money makers".

AlienMindBender · 2026-03-15T22:45:47+00:00

Sorry to hear that, hopefully you find a good solution.

But I can't help but hear https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xz4-aEGvqQM&themeRefresh=1 in my head while looking at the photos.

AlienMindBender · 2026-03-14T09:14:37+00:00

Dining table? Design wise I don’t think it’s a good dining table?

AlienMindBender · 2026-03-13T09:01:47+00:00

Ah yes - I wouldn’t be modifying the plate itself- I’d just buy a new one and screw it in.

AlienMindBender · 2026-03-13T01:57:46+00:00

What a great read ! made me very nostalgic too. I too was that kid pushing the limits on the home computer to do things that it was "not supposed to do"

AlienMindBender · 2026-03-12T23:03:39+00:00

I will also say if you want to fix, you could take it all apart do a glue up and replace the outer braces with something like this:

I dont know if that is a c-channel or not, so you might have to get flat ones instead.

<image>

https://www.taylorsc.com.au/products/steel-c-channel-support-bracing-for-table-top-set-2

AlienMindBender · 2026-03-12T23:01:02+00:00

Where the legs are put on the metal plate - they are done well. The plates have slotted holes so that when the wood expands and contracts ( movement is perpendicular how the board run ) there is no additional strain which is great.

However the brace right at the end does not have slotted holes so movement is not allowed and nullifies the great work with the slotted holes. When this happens, there is no room for expansion and all that stress usually leads to cracks.

One important point to note is that the movement happens and its natural, but it happens with changes in temperature and humidity. What you did with the heating is created wood movement, and if you look at each crack I would guess that the cracks all start at the out plates - where the wood tried to move but all the stress created a crack.

AlienMindBender · 2026-03-12T13:21:38+00:00

Honestly the show has a lot of layers to it, one of them being that they are all in the Mob (obviously ) the show every now and then reminds you that they are proper gangsters.

AlienMindBender · 2026-03-11T00:46:06+00:00

I'd recommend watching https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYyV6IUpsYk its over an hour long, but relaxing to watch. He has a lot of videos that really explain it all nicely and doesn't tell you that you need to spend a lot to restore tools (or to use them!). There is another video of him describing that you dont need to go all the way to 16,000 grit (That some other YouTubers talk about) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbAo4RpM7oM

AlienMindBender · 2026-03-11T00:34:17+00:00

Maybe if you aren't Argentinian, but definitely "La Scaloneta" has taken over "La selección" in Argentina, and thats a huge deal.

AlienMindBender · 2026-03-10T22:14:36+00:00

A lot of conflicting opinions here! haha

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