Atomic Mist Invades Eindhoven!
Apr 1, 2017 10:25:09 #
Now here's an April Fools joke worth the effort!
March 31, 1947: "Een zwarte dag voor Eindhoven" declared the headline on the front page of the Eindhovensch Dagblad (Translation: "A black day for Eindhoven"). The accompanying article reported that the Dutch town might be destroyed the next day (April 1) by an "atomic mist" blowing into the town because of an accident at the nearby N.V. Philips factory, unless the situation could be contained. The article proceeded to offer nonsensical advice in case the worst should occur, such as to sit on a thin pole with your arms and legs stretched out in front of you. But most people didn't read beyond the headline, and the result was widespread panic. Thousands of people attempted to flee. Even the RAF base at The Hague phoned the police, wanting to know if they should avoid flying over the area. The situation only began to calm down when the mayor went on the radio, emphatically assuring everyone that the story was false. The event is remembered as one of the more notorious media-created panics in the history of the Netherlands.
Then there's this little gem:
The Interfering Brassieres
April 1, 1982: The Daily Mail reported that a local manufacturer had sold 10,000 "rogue bras" that were causing a unique and unprecedented problem, not to the wearers but to the public at large. Apparently the support wire in these bras had been made out of a kind of copper originally designed for use in fire alarms. When this copper came into contact with nylon and body heat, it produced static electricity which, in turn, was interfering with local television and radio broadcasts. The chief engineer of British Telecom, upon reading the article, is said to have immediately ordered that all his female laboratory employees disclose what type of bra they were wearing.
Want more? Oh, yes...
Kremvax
April 1, 1984: A message distributed to the members of Usenet (the online messaging community that was one of the first forms the internet took) announced that the Soviet Union was joining the network. This generated enormous excitement, since most Usenet members had assumed that cold war security concerns would forever prevent such a link-up. The message purported to come from Konstantin Chernenko (from the address chernenko@kremvax.UUCP) who explained that the Soviet Union wanted to join the network in order to "have a means of having an open discussion forum with the American and European people." The message created a flood of responses. Two weeks later its true author, a European man named Piet Beertema, revealed it was a hoax. This is believed to be the first hoax on the internet. Six years later, when Moscow really did link up to the internet, it adopted the domain name 'kremvax' in honor of the hoax.
Whistling Carrots
April 1, 2002: The British supermarket chain Tesco ran an ad in The Sun announcing the successful development of a genetically modified 'whistling carrot.' The ad explained that the carrots had been specially engineered to grow with tapered airholes in their side. When fully cooked, these airholes caused the vegetable to emit a "97 decibel signal" indicating they should be removed from the stove. (97 decibels is roughly equivalent to the noise level of a jackhammer or pneumatic drill). Opponents of their carrots envisioned "a nightmare scenario for future generations becoming as deaf as a post, albeit with improved vision."
Gmail Motion (Oh yes they did!)
April 1, 2011: Google announced the introduction of Gmail Motion, a new technology that would allow people to write emails using only hand gestures. Gmail Motion, the company explained, used a computer's webcam and a "spatial tracking algorithm" to track a person's gestures and translate them into words and commands. For instance, a person could 'open a message' by making a motion with their hands as if opening an envelope. Or they could 'reply' to a message by pointing backward over their shoulder. By 2011, Google had become well-known for making spoof announcements every April first, with its annual spoofs both highly anticipated and widely shared. (The company earns a place in the Top 100 largely on the basis of that alone). But Gmail Motion was one of its more believable jokes. In fact, within a few days programmers had demonstrated that it was possible (if not practical) to create a working, gesture-based email system like Gmail Motion using existing, off-the-shelf technology.
And finally, Google Gnome, the smart Yard!
https://store.google.com/magazine/gnome?utm_source=google&utm_medium=HPP&utm_campaign=gnome_aprilfools_2017
March 31, 1947: "Een zwarte dag voor Eindhoven" declared the headline on the front page of the Eindhovensch Dagblad (Translation: "A black day for Eindhoven"). The accompanying article reported that the Dutch town might be destroyed the next day (April 1) by an "atomic mist" blowing into the town because of an accident at the nearby N.V. Philips factory, unless the situation could be contained. The article proceeded to offer nonsensical advice in case the worst should occur, such as to sit on a thin pole with your arms and legs stretched out in front of you. But most people didn't read beyond the headline, and the result was widespread panic. Thousands of people attempted to flee. Even the RAF base at The Hague phoned the police, wanting to know if they should avoid flying over the area. The situation only began to calm down when the mayor went on the radio, emphatically assuring everyone that the story was false. The event is remembered as one of the more notorious media-created panics in the history of the Netherlands.
Then there's this little gem:
The Interfering Brassieres
April 1, 1982: The Daily Mail reported that a local manufacturer had sold 10,000 "rogue bras" that were causing a unique and unprecedented problem, not to the wearers but to the public at large. Apparently the support wire in these bras had been made out of a kind of copper originally designed for use in fire alarms. When this copper came into contact with nylon and body heat, it produced static electricity which, in turn, was interfering with local television and radio broadcasts. The chief engineer of British Telecom, upon reading the article, is said to have immediately ordered that all his female laboratory employees disclose what type of bra they were wearing.
Want more? Oh, yes...
Kremvax
April 1, 1984: A message distributed to the members of Usenet (the online messaging community that was one of the first forms the internet took) announced that the Soviet Union was joining the network. This generated enormous excitement, since most Usenet members had assumed that cold war security concerns would forever prevent such a link-up. The message purported to come from Konstantin Chernenko (from the address chernenko@kremvax.UUCP) who explained that the Soviet Union wanted to join the network in order to "have a means of having an open discussion forum with the American and European people." The message created a flood of responses. Two weeks later its true author, a European man named Piet Beertema, revealed it was a hoax. This is believed to be the first hoax on the internet. Six years later, when Moscow really did link up to the internet, it adopted the domain name 'kremvax' in honor of the hoax.
Whistling Carrots
April 1, 2002: The British supermarket chain Tesco ran an ad in The Sun announcing the successful development of a genetically modified 'whistling carrot.' The ad explained that the carrots had been specially engineered to grow with tapered airholes in their side. When fully cooked, these airholes caused the vegetable to emit a "97 decibel signal" indicating they should be removed from the stove. (97 decibels is roughly equivalent to the noise level of a jackhammer or pneumatic drill). Opponents of their carrots envisioned "a nightmare scenario for future generations becoming as deaf as a post, albeit with improved vision."
Gmail Motion (Oh yes they did!)
April 1, 2011: Google announced the introduction of Gmail Motion, a new technology that would allow people to write emails using only hand gestures. Gmail Motion, the company explained, used a computer's webcam and a "spatial tracking algorithm" to track a person's gestures and translate them into words and commands. For instance, a person could 'open a message' by making a motion with their hands as if opening an envelope. Or they could 'reply' to a message by pointing backward over their shoulder. By 2011, Google had become well-known for making spoof announcements every April first, with its annual spoofs both highly anticipated and widely shared. (The company earns a place in the Top 100 largely on the basis of that alone). But Gmail Motion was one of its more believable jokes. In fact, within a few days programmers had demonstrated that it was possible (if not practical) to create a working, gesture-based email system like Gmail Motion using existing, off-the-shelf technology.
And finally, Google Gnome, the smart Yard!
https://store.google.com/magazine/gnome?utm_source=google&utm_medium=HPP&utm_campaign=gnome_aprilfools_2017
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