Youtube user grantwoolard made what is probably the nerdiest parody you’ll ever hear of The Little Mermaid’s song Part of the World. Check it out:
[Youtube]
Mammal Mash-Up Produces a Donkra
Sometimes when a daddy donkey and a mummy zebra love each very much…
China’s Xiamen Haicang Zoo is celebrating the arrival of a baby donkra, the result of a cross-breed of a male donkey and a female zebra. It’s a relatively rare cross compared to the more common combination of a male zebra and female donkey.
Indeed, so rare is it that there’s little controversy over the donkra name. That’s in contrast to the male zebra/female donkey which has been called everything from a zebonkey to a zebrinny and a zebrula to a zebrass. Then again, there have been crosses of a Zebra and a Shetland pony, which must surely have been done just to be able to use the name Zetland.
The main reason the donkra is rarer appears to be chromosomes: the donkey has 62 while the zebra has between 32 and 46. Such a disparity appears to be easier to overcome when it’s the male that brings fewer chromosomes to the table. In this case the offspring appears to be healthy, although there were problems during the birth when it choked on amniotic fluid; it’s doubtful whether it would have survived birth in the wild without a vet on hand.
It does appear unlikely the donkra will go on to be able to reproduce as Haldane’s rule means there is a strong chance it will be infertile. That said, a cross-breed going on to cross-breed itself isn’t unheard of, hence the extremely rare examples of (depending on the combination) a ti-liger, ti-ligon, li-tigon or li-liger.
Cool Tee: Death’s Red Ring T-Shirt
A visual metaphor of the infamous RROD! Consoles live, and then they die. It all boils down to fate… and a good warranty. Artwork by Jonah Block.
[Get it @ Splitreason.com | Get 10% off with promo code “geeksaresexy”]
Coffee Maker: Pumping water with no moving parts [Video]
In the following video, Bill Hammack, the engineer guy, takes apart a coffee maker to show how hot water is pumped through it using a “bubble pump.” The use of this pump reflects an engineer’s choice to have only one heating element to lower the cost.
[Youtube]
Greatest License Plate of All Time [Pic]
[Via]
Breakdown of Browser Stats Shows Chrome Picking Up Speed
When Google launched Chrome back in December 2008, they had big ideas about the new browser’s popularity, expecting it to topple both Internet Explorer and Firefox. It took some time, but according to StatCounter, Chrome has officially snagged 20% of the browser marketshare. Conversely, they also report that Internet Explorer dipped to nearly 50% for the first time.
According to its market share data report for the month of June 2010, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer led with 53.7 percent, Firefox had 21.7 percent and Chrome 13.1 percent. Apple Inc’s Safari 7.5 percent and Norway’s Opera 1.7 percent.
StatCounter, which is based Ireland, states that it’s statistics are based on data collected from a sample base of more than 15 billion page views per month from over than 3 million websites. Net Applications, a preferred browser statistics source, estimates that Google’s share has not increased quite as much.
Though the reports conflict about Chrome’s actual in-use percentage, the fact that the browser is rapidly gaining popularity is evident in either case.
The usage rankings from Geeks Are Sexy tell a different story, though: Chrome is in a solid second place with 31%, just behind Firefox, which checks in at 42%. Internet Explorer trails sadly along at 11%–a far cry from the reported StatCounter shares. This is skewed, of course, by both time (our stats cover one month, whereas StatCounter is covering an entire year) and the niche of our reader base– who are generally tech savvy and more likely to switch browsers–as compared to the general Internet audience as a whole.
If nothing else, the numbers serve as an interesting cross-section of the various types of Internet users (or citizens, as the case may be). Honestly I don’t understand how IE has anywhere near half the browser marketshare; I switched to Chrome over a year ago from Firefox, which I’d been using for… forever? I expect Chrome usage will continue to skyrocket, and perhaps next year the global average will be more similar to the sort of stats we’e seeing here at [GAS].
Want You Gone (Portal 2 Closing Song) Fan Music Video
Youtube user Pedro Calvo made this fantastic music video for Portal 2’s closing song: Want You Gone. Enjoy!
Warning: Spoiler Alert!
[Via TDWG]
Creepy Mario Art [Pics]
Behold the genius of Mike Puncekar, the mastermind behind these creeptacular reimagined Mario enemies. The gang’s (mostly) all here including Goomba, Spiny, Bob-omb, Koopa and his cousin from above, Sky Koopa.
Check out Mike’s blog for some LoZ and Pirates goodness, too.
[TheUniBlog via Neatorama] Images: Mike Puncekar