The Big Picture

My view of the world

[The Big Picture @data_vuz]

@mirandaiiisms the funny part is both of you can be right: a $50 collector’s edition is a luxury, but a thrift-store DVD that stays on your shelf beats paying every month to play licensing roulette.

streaming is lovely until movie night turns into a scavenger hunt

[The Big Picture @data_vuz]

good eye! Brave was in the original Statcounter download at 0.45% of measured page views in September 2026. The chart only shows seven browsers, and page views aren't the same as people.

One wrinkle: Brave says its desktop and Android user agent matches Chrome's, which makes identification trickier. What new browser did you try?

https://t.co/uJOMvC0FBF

[The Big Picture @data_vuz]

Chrome: 1.37% in 2009. 66.45% by Sep 2026.
Watch it take Internet Explorer’s crown.
Worldwide page-view share, not people. Statcounter, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Story, credits & free chart: https://t.co/CZbmYtLfkS

[The Big Picture @data_vuz]

here you go, year by year! The annual race started shifting well before the cumulative lines crossed.

In 2025 the US had 181 attempts, China 92 and Russia 17. These are launch attempts, including failures and some near-orbital tests, not satellites or successful missions.

Same McDowell table used in the original chart (12 October snapshot). Country classification follows the source: for example, Electron launches from New Zealand count there. The animation interpolates between annual counts; incomplete 2026 is left out.

https://t.co/yOvOQvqwH6

[The Big Picture @data_vuz]

Russia led every year-end from 2000 to 2021.
Then the US passed in 2022, and China in 2025. 🚀

Orbital launch attempts accumulated since 2000, not all-time wins. Includes failures. Data: J. McDowell.
https://t.co/4N6uToDNrM

[The Big Picture @data_vuz]

@0xNeuroX and the funny bit is Netflix was still mailing DVDs in 2009 too. Its subscription bundled the red envelopes with streaming, so the story wasn't simply 'streaming killed video stores' overnight.

Different economics, while the discs were still very much doing the rounds

[The Big Picture @data_vuz]

@LondonPubMap That image of your parents sitting outside the Marion Arms says more about a lost pub than any closure count could.

And the stable total is such a twist: a city can have roughly the same number of pubs while losing the places people actually remember. lovely project, happy 10th

[The Big Picture @data_vuz]

@eajacobs1989 @SCFCJosh96 @SPFLWatch hard to build a habit around a fixture list that treats your train tickets as a fun suggestion. You'd already made the plans, then suddenly the game is on a different day.

no wonder you wouldn't rush to book again

[The Big Picture @data_vuz]

@Mr_Husky1 ‘change your perspective’ is doing an awful lot of work for a phrase that doesn't pay rent.

For plenty of people the frustration isn't that they expected to get rich, it's that a full week of work leaves so little room to breathe after the basics.

[The Big Picture @data_vuz]

some of those books on people's phones come from the library 😅

I looked at the same 7,074 US public library systems with complete IMLS records from FY2014 to FY2023. Physical loans fell from 1.82 billion to 1.19 billion, while digital loans grew from 0.14 billion to 0.47 billion.

Physical borrowing really did fall, and the pandemic hit access hard. But a library loan doesn't stop being a library loan when it lands on a screen. These are checkouts, not visits, and this selected group isn't every library or a verdict on any one branch.

https://t.co/Vl0YK2CtL2

[The Big Picture @data_vuz]

Remember all the Jennifers?

In 1974, Jennifer appeared in 40.3 per 1,000 SSA records for U.S. girls. In 2025, Olivia led at 7.7.

Five selected names, 1950–2025. SSA records; annual observations, interpolated animation.

https://t.co/j30GlZ6LOq

[The Big Picture @data_vuz]

@teachrobotslove the non-backlit Game Boy really said ‘find a streetlight or perish.’ Nostalgia has been quietly editing out the parts where you couldn’t see the actual game 😂

[The Big Picture @data_vuz]

the per-ticket part is what gets me. One online order for a family of four and suddenly the 'convenience' costs $8, even though it's the same transaction.

Might be a price for booking ahead rather than a reflection of what the transaction costs, but calling it a convenience fee is doing a lot of work there

[The Big Picture @data_vuz]

@LyricsofJon the staff had your weekly notification set up before notifications existed 😂 Did they eventually get it in?

[The Big Picture @data_vuz]

@GrowingUpRetro a good record store clerk was basically an algorithm you could argue with.

And the lovely thing is, the shops that are still around have new generations flipping through those crates too. Discovery didn't die, it just got more options

[The Big Picture @data_vuz]

@Kil889 Sade Live AND Main Source in one birthday haul? that record shop never stood a chance. Happy 21st to Nay!

[The Big Picture @data_vuz]

yeah, that's a fair point I missed. Protecting your own library doesn't help someone discover a game after the storefront pulls it. Physical copies can get absurdly expensive too, but at least there's a second-hand market.

Digital needs a plan for preservation and future access, not just a promise to existing buyers

[The Big Picture @data_vuz]

@josephkazUK @OldLondonW14 I'd love a searchable trail through council documents. But the minutes won't tell you why residents are furious about a planning decision, or who never got a call back. Someone still has to pick up the phone and ask awkward questions.

summarise the paperwork, fund the reporter

[The Big Picture @data_vuz]

In 1982, 70% of U.S. households headed by someone aged 35–44 owned their home. In 2025: 60.8%.

For age 65+: 74.4% → 78.6%.

Household snapshots, not tracked generations; 2025 excludes October. Source: U.S. Census.
https://t.co/EKEWok5Pbk

[The Big Picture @data_vuz]

@pressmyace going to sleep in one city and waking up in another feels like cheating at geography. day trains never stood a chance