43 votes

Megathread: April Fools' Day 2021 on the internet

Posted by Deimos
Tags: ask.discussion, megathread, casual, april fools day, internet

(Is it really that time again already?)

It's already started a little, but over the next day or so, the internet will be filled with jokes, pranks, fake "announcements" from companies, fun interactive activities, games, and so on. A lot of these can be quite clever and interesting so I think posting about them in general is fine, but in the interest of preventing them from completely taking over Tildes, let's try to keep as many of them restricted to this thread as possible. Ideally, a separate top-level comment for each individual item would be good.

If something particularly discussion-worthy comes up (like an ARG or activity that a lot of people want to talk about), a separate thread is reasonable, but please make sure it has the "april fools day" tag. That way, if anyone wants to avoid seeing the April Fools' Day threads, they can use the topic tag filters and filter that tag out.

I'm going to use the "official" styling for this topic (that's usually only for ~tildes.official topics) to make it stand out more to try to encourage people to notice it. If you notice people making individual topics for April Fools' Day things that don't really warrant their own topic, please (nicely) encourage them to delete and post in here instead.

45 comments

  1. [2]
    Omnicrola
    Link
    It occurred to me last night, as I'm curled up in bed feeling feverish, shivering, with body aches and some mild nausea, that I have successfully pulled an early April Fool's prank on my own...

    It occurred to me last night, as I'm curled up in bed feeling feverish, shivering, with body aches and some mild nausea, that I have successfully pulled an early April Fool's prank on my own immune system.

    got the J&J vaccine yesterday
    23 votes
    1. [2]
      Comment deleted by author
      Link Parent
      1. Omnicrola
        Link Parent
        Thanks, feeling much better this evening, now I'm mostly tired.

        Thanks, feeling much better this evening, now I'm mostly tired.

        2 votes
  2. [4]
    Deimos
    Link
    StackOverflow: Today marks a new beginning for programmers around the world. Stack Overflow is proud to unveil our first venture into hardware, The Key™.

    StackOverflow: Today marks a new beginning for programmers around the world. Stack Overflow is proud to unveil our first venture into hardware, The Key™.

    20 votes
    2. ali
      Link Parent
      I think that’s a really funny idea and I could see it as a fun gift to computer scientists

      I think that’s a really funny idea and I could see it as a fun gift to computer scientists

      2 votes
    3. Octofox
      Link Parent
      The copy/paste popup was the only thing to actually fool me today. Because I could see them actually trying this.

      The copy/paste popup was the only thing to actually fool me today. Because I could see them actually trying this.

      1 vote
  4. [2]
    spit-evil-olive-tips
    Link
    Google is canceling its famous April Fools' Day pranks for the 2nd year in a row (insert "cancel culture is out of control" joke here)

    Google is canceling its famous April Fools' Day pranks for the 2nd year in a row

    (insert "cancel culture is out of control" joke here)

    15 votes
    1. kfwyre
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      “YoU cAn’T jOkE aBoUt AnYtHiNg ThEsE dAyS!” In all seriousness, Google is straight up stealing my go-to prank! Every year, when my students bring up April Fools’, I get very serious and tell them...

      “YoU cAn’T jOkE aBoUt AnYtHiNg ThEsE dAyS!”

      In all seriousness, Google is straight up stealing my go-to prank! Every year, when my students bring up April Fools’, I get very serious and tell them “you didn’t hear? April Fools’ is cancelled this year. It’s not happening.” I really commit to this, and spruce it up with lots of “I know you probably don’t believe me, but it’s true!” and “this isn’t an April Fools’ joke — if I were going to prank you it would involve a lot more homework” and picking the one student that I know will play along and asking them if they heard about the cancellation as well (which they always confirm).

      I’m able to sell this strongly enough that, every year, some of my students are legitimately unsure as to whether or not it’s been actually cancelled, which makes it all the more fun to spring the truth on them.

      I will qualify, in case anyone reading this is judging me right now, that this is the ONLY time I think it’s morally acceptable to gaslight my students.

      25 votes
  6. [2]
    cfabbro
    (edited )
    Link
    LockPickingLawyer posted another damn funny video this year full of wonderful innuendo: My 18-Inch Long Johnson Previous years' videos: Getting In My Ex-Girlfriend’s Back Door Getting Into My...

    LockPickingLawyer posted another damn funny video this year full of wonderful innuendo:
    My 18-Inch Long Johnson

    Previous years' videos:
    Getting In My Ex-Girlfriend’s Back Door
    Getting Into My Wife’s Beaver
    Manipulating My Tiny Coq

    13 votes
  7. [2]
    petrichor
    Link
    Well, the whole Voltswagon thing counts, I guess. Haha.

    Well, the whole Voltswagon thing counts, I guess.

    Haha.

    12 votes
    1. LukeZaz
      Link Parent
      Well shit. The name change was honestly too believable (despite not sounding very good), so I'm not surprised people took it seriously. I mean, it took me a bit to be convinced that this NPR...

      Well shit. The name change was honestly too believable (despite not sounding very good), so I'm not surprised people took it seriously. I mean, it took me a bit to be convinced that this NPR article wasn't the actual April Fools joke. But nope, Volkswagen really was pulling a fast one.

      4 votes
  8. [2]
    Cypher2048
    Link
    This RTX 4090 video is pretty great. The guy seems to have put some impressive time into it.

    This RTX 4090 video is pretty great. The guy seems to have put some impressive time into it.

    12 votes
    1. Omnicrola
      Link Parent
      That's super impressive actually.

      That's super impressive actually.

      1 vote
  9. [4]
    NaraVara
    Link
    Razer releases Chroma hair dye

    Razer releases Chroma hair dye

    11 votes
    1. [3]
      Thrabalen
      Link Parent
      I hate April Fools pranks, but this one was good, in that with the slightest thought about it, you realize it's simply impossible, barring a sudden leap toward cyberpunk.

      I hate April Fools pranks, but this one was good, in that with the slightest thought about it, you realize it's simply impossible, barring a sudden leap toward cyberpunk.

      5 votes
      1. Gaywallet
        Link Parent
        I'm guessing in about 10 years this will be possible somehow. I like these kinds of April fools as well. No one is harmed, no group is really made fun of, just good fun.

        I'm guessing in about 10 years this will be possible somehow.

        I like these kinds of April fools as well. No one is harmed, no group is really made fun of, just good fun.

        4 votes
      2. NaraVara
        Link Parent
        You know if you get fiber-optic threads woven into your hair you could probably do something like it. It wouldn't look like the video but you could have it dynamically add tints of color. It would...

        You know if you get fiber-optic threads woven into your hair you could probably do something like it. It wouldn't look like the video but you could have it dynamically add tints of color.

        It would be really expensive though. You'd be better off just getting a full on wig.

        3 votes
  10. gpl
    (edited )
    Link
    As is tradition on the arXiv, people have been started posting joke papers. They get more and more creative every year - here is one notable one this year. Edit: Ok, my new favorite one is this....

    As is tradition on the arXiv, people have been started posting joke papers. They get more and more creative every year - here is one notable one this year.

    Edit: Ok, my new favorite one is this. Title:

    My cat Chester's dynamical systems analysyyyyy7777777777777777y7is of the laser pointer and the red dot on the wall: correlation, causation, or SARS-Cov-2 hallucination?

    10 votes
  11. [2]
    nacho
    Link
    The Norwegian Meteorological Institute have spent "many years" on a groundbreaking new weather-service. You can now pick your own weather. Just change the forecast from whatever it currently is to...

    The Norwegian Meteorological Institute have spent "many years" on a groundbreaking new weather-service. You can now pick your own weather. Just change the forecast from whatever it currently is to the weather you want. https://twitter.com/Meteorologene/status/1377497201706958850

    10 votes
    1. Tardigrade
      Link Parent
      It's weird how understandable the words are in the advert to an English speaker. I guess it's the classic cheesy advertising phrases.

      It's weird how understandable the words are in the advert to an English speaker. I guess it's the classic cheesy advertising phrases.

      2 votes
  12. spit-evil-olive-tips
    (edited )
    Link
    Uppestcase and Lowestcase Letters Video The accompanying paper TIL there's an entire academic-style conference of these, SIGBOVIK, put on by The Association for Computational Heresy Full PDF of...

    Uppestcase and Lowestcase Letters

    Video

    The accompanying paper

    This paper is about unshackling this dimension of human expression by introducing letterforms further along the uppercase and lowercase dimensions. Basically, we want to know what the upperercase version of uppercase T is, and a lowerercase version of lowercase t is.

    We want to machine-learn [7] two functions, make_lowercase and make_uppercase

    TIL there's an entire academic-style conference of these, SIGBOVIK, put on by The Association for Computational Heresy

    Full PDF of all the submissions: http://sigbovik.org/2021/proceedings.pdf

    I'm only reading the first one and it's already a gold mine.

    Our work can be seen as one step in a long line of similar research. Or it might not be. We didn’t check. Either way it contains new experiments so it’s roughly as novel as much modern work in artificial intelligence. While some misinformed and obstinate reviewers may disagree with this, we preemptively disagree with them.

    This is—to the best of our knowledge—the first concrete example where an artificial intelligence has beaten an animal in Chutes and Ladders.

    To ensure reproducibility, we’ve included our highly-optimized implementation of Chutes and Ladders below. To balance reproducibility with our desire to reduce the environmental impact of our work, our implementation is given here in the Whitespace programming language.

    10 votes
  13. [3]
    skullkid2424
    Link
    Theres a thread for renaming the Godot engine to Godette engine

    Theres a thread for renaming the Godot engine to Godette engine

    9 votes
    1. Apos
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      I think I'll remove it, here is a good place for discussion about it. Edit: link in case the thread can't be seen anymore (forgot how it works on Tildes) Godot has been renamed to Godette Engine.

      I think I'll remove it, here is a good place for discussion about it.

      Edit: link in case the thread can't be seen anymore (forgot how it works on Tildes)

      Godot has been renamed to Godette Engine.

      8 votes
    2. eve
      Link Parent
      It is me, the broader public. Godot really got me with that cute ass mascot. Genuinely, she's so precious and adorable, I can't handle it! Her wearing the lil robot as a hat kills me. I love this.

      Additionally, we realized that a big problem of Godot as a project name is the it's simply not cute. To attract wider audiences, a different name must be found, a more marketable one which speaks to a broader public.

      It is me, the broader public. Godot really got me with that cute ass mascot. Genuinely, she's so precious and adorable, I can't handle it! Her wearing the lil robot as a hat kills me. I love this.

      5 votes
  14. [2]
    skullkid2424
    (edited )
    Link
    Reddit's offering appears to be called Second. A guessing game where you try to guess the second place item in a group of 3. Edit: Apparently you can go to the API directly to bypass new reddit:...

    Reddit's offering appears to be called Second. A guessing game where you try to guess the second place item in a group of 3.

    Requires new reddit. Edit: Apparently you can go to the API directly to bypass new reddit: https://second-api.reddit.com/embed?fullscreen=1

    8 votes
    1. Apos
      Link Parent
      This is pretty cool. Really interesting idea. I like the rules, I can see how it makes a cool meta game. I wish more people were playing though, at the time that I'm writing this, there are only...

      This is pretty cool. Really interesting idea. I like the rules, I can see how it makes a cool meta game. I wish more people were playing though, at the time that I'm writing this, there are only ~5k votes per round. With 100k+ it would be pretty insane.

      2 votes
  16. [2]
    Comment deleted by author
    Link
    1. Adys
      Link Parent
      That's actually hilarious.

      That's actually hilarious.

      2 votes
  17. petrichor
    Link
    A German news publication announced that the recently-freed cargo ship, the "Ever Given", had became stuck again - within the Berlin Government District. Picture included. Berlin and Germany as a...

    A German news publication announced that the recently-freed cargo ship, the "Ever Given", had became stuck again - within the Berlin Government District. Picture included.

    Berlin and Germany as a whole are largely landlocked.

    6 votes
  19. [2]
    NaraVara
    Link
    Silicon Valley Startup Invents Groundbreaking New Technology That Could Change the Way We Travel

    Silicon Valley Startup Invents Groundbreaking New Technology That Could Change the Way We Travel

    5 votes
    1. nukeman
      Link Parent
      I remember Greater Greater Washington from when I was still in the DC area. Still check it from time to time, too.

      I remember Greater Greater Washington from when I was still in the DC area. Still check it from time to time, too.

      1 vote
  20. rogue_cricket
    Link
    Tumblr has introduced some kind of NFT pet called a "Tumblrcryptid". Various shapes with randomized accessories, colours, and descriptions. Each has a name, a like a dislike, and refers to a tag...

    Tumblr has introduced some kind of NFT pet called a "Tumblrcryptid". Various shapes with randomized accessories, colours, and descriptions. Each has a name, a like a dislike, and refers to a tag you've used on your blog. Here is my favourite I've generated so far, his name is Flesh and he loves [rat emoticon].

    5 votes
  22. pseudolobster
    Link
    EEVblog 1384 - Halve Your Processor Power Consumption! In this episode Dave explains the phenomenon of Diffusion Capacitance, and how you can use pulse-width modulation to power your chips at half...

    EEVblog 1384 - Halve Your Processor Power Consumption!

    In this episode Dave explains the phenomenon of Diffusion Capacitance, and how you can use pulse-width modulation to power your chips at half duty!

    I must admit it took me a while to catch on. I watched this yesterday, without the thought of April Fools in my mind at all. I forgot that Australia gets almost a whole day head start.

    2 votes
  24. [4]
    petrichor
    Link
    Discord: Announcing our partnership with Microsoft

    Discord: Announcing our partnership with Microsoft

    6 votes
    1. [2]
      babypuncher
      Link Parent
      The YouTube account associated with that video has been terminated

      The YouTube account associated with that video has been terminated

      5 votes
      1. petrichor
        Link Parent
        It wasn't much, just a Rick Roll from a convincing account with a convincing thumbnail. I saw it first as a preview from a Discord voice chat (which shows you just the name of the video playing)...

        It wasn't much, just a Rick Roll from a convincing account with a convincing thumbnail.

        I saw it first as a preview from a Discord voice chat (which shows you just the name of the video playing) which made it much more convincing, but I figured I'd post it here regardless since this April Fool's has been slow.

        2 votes
    2. Grzmot
      Link Parent
      at first I thought it was just the normal meme... But then it got better.

      at first I thought it was just the normal meme... But then it got better.

      3 votes