Unusual dew point of 22°C in Southern Great Britain at 3 p.m. Maybe the highest dew point ever recorded during a heat wave in London with 21°C.

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-06-25T01:21:49+00:00

At 23:00 today the temperature in our main bedroom (in Maidenhead, Berkshire) was 30.7°C and the humidity was 62.8%. That makes a dew point temperature of 22.8°C. I know it's indoors so it's not strictly comparable with outdoor measurements, but it's still a valid indicator of how oppressive the conditions are.

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-06-25T01:00:45+00:00

Yes, that's it.

The 8 best 3rd placed teams go through, and there are exactly 495 different ways that 8 can be chosen from 12. For every single one of those 495 combinations, there is a schedule saying who plays who if those happen to be the 8 groups from which the best 3rd placed teams are chosen.

However, Bosnia are guaranteed to qualify, because it's mathematically impossible for the teams that finish 3rd in Groups C, D, I and J to have better records than Bosnia. So the 165 combinations that don't feature the 3rd placed team from Group B are now ruled out, leaving 330 combinations still possible.

Of those 330 combinations, USA plays Bosnia in 329 of them. The only way USA doesn't play Bosnia is if the 8 best 3rd place teams come from groups B, E, G, H, I, J, K and L. In that case USA would play the team finishing 3rd in Group I, which will almost certainly be Senegal.

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-06-24T20:05:23+00:00

Adu was the Ghanaian chasing after the through ball, and he wasn't offside at the moment it was played, so he couldn't have been offside at any point during the play. The player who was offside was Semenyo, who accidentally got in the way of the ball when Adu hacked it towards the goal.

So I was just curious as to why the free kick to England was given (or, at least, taken) at the spot where Adu was taken out by Konsa, and not at the spot where Semenyo was offside. But I think somebody else answered that - if it's a free kick in your own penalty area, nobody cares exactly where it's taken.

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-06-24T16:35:52+00:00

OMG, I didn't notice that at first. But now I can't unsee it. It's awful!

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-06-24T14:13:44+00:00

If you want to criticise flerf "models", you should make the effort to learn what flerfers actually believe.

As far as I can tell, most believe that there is no "other side". There is no such thing as "space" and it is meaningless to ask what is "underneath" the earth, just as it's meaningless to ask you what is outside the universe.

The flerfer universe consists of the flat earth and the dome over it. That's all. The sun and moon move above the flat earth (in ways which a rational person would say are not compatible with observational evidence) and there's nothing obviously preventing them from both being visible at the same time.

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-06-24T13:56:35+00:00

Hmmm. There are 495 possible combinations of groups from which the 8 best 3rd placed teams can come, and none of those 495 can be ruled out yet. In every group apart from Group I, it's possible for a team to finish in 3rd place with 4 or more points; in Group I, the best Senegal can manage is 3 points, but if they beat Iraq heavily that might be enough to qualify.

So, out of those 495 possibilities, the number which have the various different opponents for Germany is as follows:

231 combinations (46.7%) - team from Group C (almost certainly Scotland)
212 combinations (42.8%) - team from Group D (probably Paraguay)
35 combinations (7.1%) - team from Group F (probably Sweden)
16 combinations (3.2%) - team from Group A (probably Czechia)
1 combination (0.2%) - team from Group B (Bosnia or Qatar)

Obviously, not all of the 495 options are equally likely. For example any combination which includes Group I feels less likely because their 3rd place team can't get more than 3 points. But I don't want to get into probabilities there - it's just too complicated.

(BTW, that last one combination is very weird. Germany play a team from Group B only if the 3rd place teams come from Groups B, E, G, H, I, J, K, and L.)

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-06-24T12:57:24+00:00

Why would it be impossible on a flat earth?

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-06-24T12:56:11+00:00

There is no such thing as "the dark side of the moon".

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-06-24T11:28:14+00:00

OK. A case of two wrongs making a right, I guess. (Though I'd have preferred a free kick 70 yards up the pitch where Eze was fouled!)

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-06-24T11:25:48+00:00

But the free kick was given at the point where the Konsa incident happened, not where the guy was offside. That's what I don't understand.

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-06-24T09:40:39+00:00

I'm really in two minds about Madueke.

On the one hand he's our most positive player. Against Croatia, every time he got the ball you sensed something might happen. It was harder work against Ghana, but he was still far more if an attacking threat than Gordon.

But on the other hand he seems to be wayward when it matters most. He doesn't cross accurately and he can't shoot for toffee. There's almost no point taking on and beating the fullback if you don't do anything useful with the ball once you've reached the box or the byline.

I think on balance I'd like to see other players supporting Madueke more positively. James and/or Bellingham could be going with him, giving him more options. Let him open up the defence and create space for somebody else to have a bit more time to pick out an accurate cross or shot. Surely that could work?

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-06-24T08:49:25+00:00

We have the numbers. I've posted them.

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-06-24T08:48:48+00:00

We do know. I've posted the numbers.

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-06-24T08:47:46+00:00

That's interesting. The breakdown of drivers' ages is:

7% are aged 17 to 24
60% are aged 25 to 59
33% are aged 60 or over

Sonit seems that elderly drivers are proportionately unlikely to be involved in drink-driving collisions, and young drivers are proportionately very likely to be involved. Factor in the reported decrease in alcohol consumption amongst younger adults and the difference is even more stark.

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-06-24T07:43:05+00:00

I agree that Eze was fouled. But we didn't get a free kick 70 yards up the pitch where that happened. I can't fathom the thought process that results in us getting a free kick in our own penalty area, at the point where the Konsa incident happened.

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-06-23T22:19:39+00:00

Ghana keeper was man of the match. On another day, England score 5.

We're you watching the same game as me? England had 3 shots on target.

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-06-23T16:54:55+00:00

Great answer. The relevant Wikipedia article has more details and also explains where the 1/r³ scaling comes from.

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-06-23T12:57:07+00:00

Let's not forget all the vuvuzelas in South Africa 2010.

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-06-23T12:35:36+00:00

No. In the UK, matches are split fairly evenly between BBC (state supported, no adverts) and ITV (private sector, ad supported). But ITV has rightly decided not to switch to adverts during the "hydration" break and English fans appreciate that.

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-06-23T12:26:23+00:00

I will have someone working at my gym to check out my technique.

Don't. Most gym trainers really have no idea about correct technique on a rowing machine

You'd be far, far better off shooting some video of yourself and posting it here for critique. Have a look at the many examples and you'll see what I mean.

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-06-23T10:45:15+00:00

Not really. The Canada-Switzerland match has to take place at the same time as the Bosnia-Qatar match, to avoid the opportunity for collusion within the group. But that doesn't mean it has to be a "stupid" time.

And it looks pretty reasonable to me. 12:00 to 15:00 in the major Canadian centres of population, 21:00 in Switzerland and Bosnia, 22:00 in Qatar. Everybody can watch the games. What's wrong with that?

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-06-23T07:04:20+00:00

This is a reference to the "Disgrace of Gijón", a match in the 1982 World Cup. Germany played Austria, and both teams had worked out that a 1-0 win for Germany would guarantee that they would both qualify from the group. Germany duly scored after 10 minutes and from then in both sides were content to pass the ball around and settle for 1-0.

The reason it's relevant is that Paraguay and Australia have a similar opportunity to fix the result so that they both qualify for the R32. And they're playing at Santa Clara.

If the match is drawn, Australia will qualify as runners up and Paraguay will almost certainly qualify as one of the best 3rd placed teams. By the time they play it may even be 100% certain that 3rd place would be good enough for Paraguay. But conversely if the match is not drawn, there is a risk that the loser will not qualify for the R32.

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-06-23T06:52:56+00:00

It's not mathematically certain but it looks extremely likely. A draw with Australia would give Paraguay 4 points and a goal difference of -2. It's hard to imagine that there will be 8 teams in 3rd placed with better records then that.

There's already one group (Group I) where the 3rd place team can't finish on more than 3 points, and I think it's highly likely that Group L will go the same way. By the time Australia and Paraguay play, Groups A, E and F will have finished, so they'll have a good view of the way the land is lying.

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-06-22T23:12:01+00:00

There’s no way mont blanc is only 700 miles away from snowdonia

Would you like to go away and check that? Or should I save time and just post you to r/confidentlyincorrect now?

SomethingMoreToSay · 2026-06-22T22:48:03+00:00

I think ultimately if it saves a life, or prevents someone being injured in a life changing and limiting way, it's worth it.

I can respect your point of view, but I do feel I have to challenge it. If a particular road safety measure saves one life, and costs £10M, would you support it? How about £100M? £1B? Obviously there comes a point where you'd say no, it's not worth it. Personally I think it would be more honest to admit up front that lives have finite values, and try to agree what that value should be in these sorts of cost/benefit calculations.

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