Comments on: April Fools’ Day

By: Tomi Engdahl

Tomi Engdahl — Thu, 14 Apr 2022 17:12:47 +0000

Study Finds Processing Power Wasted Mining Bitcoin Only Thing Preventing Sentient Computers From Wiping Out Humanity
https://www.theonion.com/study-finds-processing-power-wasted-mining-bitcoin-only-1847665197

By: Tomi Engdahl

Tomi Engdahl — Fri, 08 Apr 2022 12:26:20 +0000

Novel Material Challenges Legacy Audio Amplification
April 1, 2022
A breakthrough in materials science defies traditional electronics by doing away with them altogether in a range of audio apps.
https://www.mwrf.com/materials/article/21237268/microwaves-rf-novel-material-challenges-legacy-audio-amplification?utm_source=RF+MWRF+Today&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS220331077&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.ident%5Bpull%5D=omeda%7C7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R

By: Tomi Engdahl

Tomi Engdahl — Wed, 08 Apr 2015 11:57:31 +0000

How Google Pulled Off Its Ingenious Pac-Man Maps
http://www.wired.com/2015/04/death-of-google-maps-pac-man/

Google Maps Pac-Man is on its deathbed. Long live Google Maps Pac-Man.

Any day now, Google will take down it’s awesome experiment, which launches Pac-Man on top of real-life city streets within Google Maps. It launched this wonderful time-suck last week as an April Fools’ Day prank, so it was never meant to stick around long. But this is the Internet, where anything can happen, and damned if the game’s mix of whimsy and nostalgia didn’t make it resonate in a way few other Google pranks ever did.

Radcliffe was a big fan of Ms. Pac-Man in college
it wasn’t technically possible.
That changed in 2010. As this Official Google Blog post explains, Google Maps started using vector graphics to draw its maps instead of a patchwork of 256×256-pixel images.
vector tiles include more-parsable data
“The vector tiles allow us to use just the road network to create the maze,”

Google worked closely with Namco (owners of the original Pac-Man game), but wouldn’t discuss particulars of the deal. From there, the entire Google Maps team got to work. The “cross-functional effort” was coded using a number of languages, including Objective C, Java, and Javascript. According to Google, the project took a couple of months to get working and running smoothly across the various screen sizes and platforms Google Maps runs on.

The result was one of Google’s finest April Fools’ Day stunts ever.

By: Tomi Engdahl

Tomi Engdahl — Tue, 07 Apr 2015 08:20:31 +0000

Pranking bosses, friends, and competitors
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/anablog/4311370/Pranking-bosses-friends-and-competitors-?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_weekly_20150402&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_weekly_20150402&elq=42e07ddef43e4a96a225d6d70224c977&elqCampaignId=22353&elqaid=25127&elqat=1&elqTrackId=a58b4cf71cb3482eb6b7a8a5f4a9a0c0

By: Tomi Engdahl

Tomi Engdahl — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 11:45:04 +0000

This was a joke: APRIL FOOLS EVERYONE!
http://torrentfreak.com/netflix-plans-free-tier-after-absorbing-popcorn-time-150401/
https://blog.popcorntime.io/popcorn-time-now-part-of-netflix/

By: Tomi Engdahl

Tomi Engdahl — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 10:10:07 +0000

10 Greatest Hoaxes in the History of Engineering
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=30&doc_id=1326197&

From faux innovations, to fake artificial intelligence, to an Internet-ready Porta-Potty, here’s a look at our favorite hoaxes throughout engineering history.

By: Tomi Engdahl

Tomi Engdahl — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 06:19:22 +0000

Amanda Connolly / The Next Web:
Roundup of April Fools’ Day gags by tech companies
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2015/04/01/roundup-the-best-and-worst-april-fools-day-pranks-in-the-tech-world/

April Fools’ Day might be dying a slow death in reality, but on the Web, it’s being taken to a whole new level every year.

While it should be about jokes and not just the publicity, it’s always fun to see huge companies like Samsung and Google testing the bounds of credibility.

By: Tomi Engdahl

Tomi Engdahl — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 14:49:02 +0000

So, YouTube decided to add an easter egg on April Fools Day! Hope you find this as funny as I did lol!

YouTube: Darude – Sandstorm April Fools Day Easter Egg!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVYs0nsF3QU

There is note button on video player that plays short piece from Sandstorm over video when pressed. In addition search will ask you “Darude – Sandstorm by Darude”

By the way the music is made by artist from Finland:
How Darude’s “Sandstorm” Became the EDM Track Everyone on the Web Knows
http://www.epanorama.net/newepa/2015/03/06/friday-fun-how-darudes-sandstorm-became-the-edm-track-everyone-on-the-web-knows/

By: Tomi Engdahl

Tomi Engdahl — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 12:19:14 +0000

April Fools’ Day 2015 – the best jokes from around the world
http://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2015/apr/01/april-fools-day-jokes-2015-the-best-from-around-the-world

By: Tomi Engdahl

Tomi Engdahl — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 12:18:23 +0000

Another tech joke:

PlayStation Flow lets you literally dive into your games
http://mashable.com/2015/04/01/playstation-flow/