

Show HN: April Fool's Pranks - siong1987

Instead of saturating the frontpage with April Fool's pranks, why don't we keep all the jokes under this thread?<p>It works just like a subpage for just April Fool's pranks.<p>* Submit your link with comment.
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siong1987
From Google,

* Google Nose: <https://www.google.com/intl/en/landing/nose/help.html>

* Gmail Blue: [https://mail.google.com/mail/help/intl/en/promos/blue/index....](https://mail.google.com/mail/help/intl/en/promos/blue/index.html)

Edit: Gmail Tap removed.

~~~
sevkih
<https://www.youtube.com/theyoutubecollection>

~~~
fudged71
This is also from last year, IIRC

~~~
notatoad
Yup. Youtube's prank this year is pretty great:
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H542nLTTbu0>

~~~
robflynn
I was pretty impressed with the 12 hours of non-stop youtube readings.
Dedication.

------
bhickey
I wrote a file system that gives weather reports:
<http://github.com/bhickey/cloudyfs>

~~~
bbanyc
If you did this for Plan 9 it wouldn't be a joke. Actually I wouldn't be
surprised if Plan 9 has already got this.

------
arcatek
April Fools on the Python bugtracker

#17587 Have all core library modules imported by default

<http://bugs.python.org/issue17587>

~~~
pyvek
Even though I know its a joke, a part of me still raged inside.

    
    
        And can we put an & and a $ somewhere in Python?  I think these feel very cool to use, and are easily one of >the best things I miss from more advanced languages like C and PHP.  
        Let's be honest, doesn't this:
        
            $item->method();
        
        Look a lot more professional than:
        
            item.method()

------
dbarlett
INTERCAL on Interstates <http://www.intercaloninterstates.org/>

Stackoverflow rolls out "Chat with an expert"
<https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5470570>

~~~
joshguthrie
INTERCAL on Interstates looked so close to real... Almost disappointed it's an
April Fools :(

------
dbarlett
Atlassian JIRA Jr. <http://www.atlassian.com/jirajr>

~~~
sveiss
This is slightly tempting for the teenagers I wrangle -- mostly for the
embarrassment factor.

------
vrdabomb5717
Youtube on the selection of a winner:
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H542nLTTbu0>

~~~
zarify
As always, the really good stuff is in the comments.

I'd like to think they're playing along, but...

------
EmilRehnberg
Twitter's pretty good: <http://blog.twitter.com/2013/03/annncng-twttr.html>

~~~
josephpmay
This is great. I get the impression that they are mocking app.net.

------
hkuo
If you can get access to someone's iPhone for 30 seconds you can install a web
app that looks just like the iPhone interface but with various surprises when
anything is pressed.

<http://www.iphoneception.com>

------
carlsednaoui
Google Analytics - Visits from The International Space Stations:
[http://carlsednaoui.com/post/46805160838/google-analytics-
ha...](http://carlsednaoui.com/post/46805160838/google-analytics-happy-april-
fool)

~~~
paul9290
Yeah i just submitted my newest startup via a Show HN and since then been
watching Real Time Analytics.

I had no idea what that dot in the middle of the ocean was with 41 visitors;
joke was lost on me for a bit. Cute.

------
maguay
Some awesome CSS for messing up your colleagues' browsing experience for April
Fool's day: <https://github.com/wesbos/aprilFools.css>

------
ak0s
Lambda the Ultimate is moving to Facebook: <http://lambda-the-
ultimate.org/node/4709>

------
hayksaakian
stereotypical job ad for a startup

probably by 500 startups

<http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/sof/3715368374.html>

saw it posted on YC jobs

~~~
josephpmay
Are you sure this isn't real?

~~~
hayksaakian
On second thought it could be real, but the notion of a startup needing a VP
of engineering with 5 years of rails 3 experience seems absurd given how long
rails 3 has been in existence.

edit: there are several articles about this company since 2011, so I guess it
_is_ real...

edit2: it's hard to take seriously with this line from the ad: "Yes, we
realize that the best technology leaders are highly sought after. So why
should you join us over that sexy social - local - mobile - sharing start-up?"

~~~
justinY
We specifically ask for, "5+ years of experience building and managing strong
engineering organizations," not "5+ years of rails 3..." lol

re: "edit2" - we're basically trying to convey that we're solving a real and
serious problem (helping retailers compete with amazon). it's actually
resonated with potential candidates since smart and motivated engineering
leaders don't want to just be part of "the next groupon..."

~~~
hayksaakian
Thanks for the response. You know your metrics better than I do -- the ad just
stood out to me because the tone conflicted with the message.

~~~
justinY
that's a good point...thinking of some edits...

------
pawn
I put this one together. I tried to be pretty blatantly obvious but some
people still bought it.

[http://www.cnn.com.2013.04.01.supreme.court.settles.marriage...](http://www.cnn.com.2013.04.01.supreme.court.settles.marriage.debate.ausaliwvpqqervzubufoolahahaiamwaxon.viewthesource.org/index.html)

~~~
Justsignedup
May I say, a brilliant use of domain names.

~~~
pawn
You may good sir! Fooled several friends with my use of the subdomain. Even
after I told them I wrote it, "how'd you get an article on cnn?"

------
Urgo
I've been keeping a list of every website that puts up an april fools' day
joke since 2004. Here's the 2013 list (submit to here if you like too)
<http://aprilfoolsdayontheweb.com/2013.html>

------
nitins
[http://itsfoss.com/linus-torvalds-to-join-
microsoft/?utm_sou...](http://itsfoss.com/linus-torvalds-to-join-
microsoft/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ItsFoss+%28Its+FOSS!+An+Open+Source+Blog%29)

------
milkmiruku
Charlie Stross goes into movie production

[http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2013/04/press-
re...](http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2013/04/press-release-
stross-uncloaks-.html)

------
jaredsohn
OkCupid Labs Date Courier (find dates via snail mail):
<http://www.okcupidlabs.com/blog/2013/03/30/Date-Courier.html>

------
EmilRehnberg
Google Japan has one on character input methods:
<http://googlejapan.blogspot.jp/2013/04/google-patapata.html>

And Kotaku is not late to the party either: [http://kotaku.com/tiny-nintendo-
consoles-made-out-of-lego-46...](http://kotaku.com/tiny-nintendo-consoles-
made-out-of-lego-464803244)

~~~
walt74
Kotakus Posting is real.

------
tonystubblebine
We did Goal Tracking by Mail and we're actually honoring these.

[http://blog.lift.do/post/46554731666/v0-1-goal-tracking-
by-m...](http://blog.lift.do/post/46554731666/v0-1-goal-tracking-by-mail)

People seem to want an Android version of Lift, but we thought a nice, high-
res paper version would do more to increase our reach.

------
YokoZar
Last year I uploaded an empty package to Ubuntu titled "Free Launchpad Karma"
-- the idea was that whenever an Ubuntu developer wanted more Launchpad karma
points, they could easily file a bug against it, close a bug against it,
upload a new version, provide a translation, and so on.

------
royalghost
Google Analytics - We were visited from International Space Station -
[http://www.merocampus.com/blog/2013/04/01/merocampus-
visited...](http://www.merocampus.com/blog/2013/04/01/merocampus-visited-from-
international-space-station-google-april-fool-joke)

------
elamadej
Supposedly "Wearing Unerdwear can solve EVERY SINGLE problem you can imagine"

[https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.293334650798987.10...](https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.293334650798987.1073741827.212072642258522&type=3)

------
nirvanatikku
Google Analytics: Visitors from the International Space Station - Control Room

[http://nirvanatikku.tumblr.com/post/46833558732/google-
analy...](http://nirvanatikku.tumblr.com/post/46833558732/google-analytics-
april-fools-day-visitors)

------
andrewchoi
Just found this thanks to a late night diff eq. problem set:

[http://blog.wolframalpha.com/2013/04/01/introducing-the-
wolf...](http://blog.wolframalpha.com/2013/04/01/introducing-the-wolframalpha-
handwritten-knowledge-engine/)

------
dbarlett
Wolfram|Alpha Handwritten Knowledge Engine:
[http://blog.wolframalpha.com/2013/04/01/introducing-the-
wolf...](http://blog.wolframalpha.com/2013/04/01/introducing-the-wolframalpha-
handwritten-knowledge-engine/)

------
schuyler2d
Type 'peep' at <http://www.wnyc.org/>

------
nirvanatikku
Android Dev Portal "Add New Awesome Application"

[http://nirvanatikku.tumblr.com/post/46785199420/add-new-
awes...](http://nirvanatikku.tumblr.com/post/46785199420/add-new-awesome-
application)

------
tvwonline
The Guardian has announced 'Guardian Goggles'.

[http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/video/2013/apr/01/guard...](http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/video/2013/apr/01/guardian-
goggles-video)

------
mayankj08
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_...](http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_qFFHC0eIUc)

Google's Find Treasure Mode Prank

------
lunita
Google Play - [http://www.fortechiesonly.com/2013/04/google-android-
develop...](http://www.fortechiesonly.com/2013/04/google-android-developer-
april-fools.html)

------
dbarlett
Imgur upload via Snail Mail: <http://imgur.com/blog/2013/04/01/upload-via-
snail-mail/>

------
Trezoid
deviantART launches deviantHEART, a dating site for artists:
<http://www.deviantart.com/deviantheart/>

------
moxon
Everest launches a startup within a startup, code named: Project Pink Elephant
<http://everest.com/about>

~~~
jtomasz
Hopefully they've figured out limbo.

------
1123581321
My favorite is Craigslist's new mobile site: <http://Chicago.craigslist.org>

------
sidwyn
Google Nose

<http://www.google.com/nose>

------
TallboyOne
GMail Blue... <http://www.gmail.com/blue>

------
arseniclifeform
iRoll - create fake iPhone apps to rickroll others. <http://iroll.co/>

~~~
miorel
I was expecting your link to be a rickroll.

------
tkahn6
Someone does this every year and the jokes still dominate the front page.

Some people get upset about this and some people let those people know that
it's not a big deal because it's only one day out of the year.

This discussion is repeated on every joke submission.

~~~
sharkweek
<meta>Next year, I'm going to cite your comment in the 2014 version of this
thread and say "And someone will comment ahead of time, explaining what will
inevitably happen throughout the day"</meta>

~~~
iaw
Funniest thing is that someone said _that_ in the 2011 version.

<https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2394349>

~~~
raldi
Not seeing it. Got a link to the specific comment?

~~~
iaw
Look again, I'm _sure_ you'll find it ;)

