April springs a few surprises

1 April 2008

Websites across the world have marked April Fools' Day with a series of jokes and hoaxes.

Among the most high-profile and elaborate pranks, the BBC produced footage of 'recently discovered' penguins avoiding cold weather by flying to "the rainforests of South America".

Google and Virgin teamed up to announce Project Virgle, with the goal of establishing "a permanent human settlement on Mars". Visitors to the Virgle website can fill in an application form, which probes their aptitude for experiences such as eating algae, and undergoing long space journeys with only backgammon for entertainment.

Aprilfoolsdayontheweb has a five-year archive of April fools' jokes, including nearly 400 from 2008 alone. Meanwhile, Wired has compiled a list of 10 vintage internet hoaxes, including 1997's "Web closed for cleaning" classic.

One comparatively convincing 2008 story was posted by TechCrunch publisher Michael Arrington. The story, "Why we're suing Facebook for $25 million in statutory damages", explains that Arrington is taking action to counter the use of his image on Facebook to "endorse... products without [his] explicit permission."

"My own personal brand has risen over the years as well to the point where I believe I can say without hubris that I am a very important person," he added.

As Reuters' media file blog explains, the hoax stems from a discussion between Arrington and Facebook representatives about the Facebook Beacon controversy.

Category: Google, Other, Social media