UPDATED 10:16 EDT / APRIL 01 2013

Beware of Google’s Bag of Gags : April Fools for Geeks

Though we at SiliconANGLE love pranks, we’re not about to pull one on you guys even if it’s April Fools’ Day.  There are already tons of pranks going around the web and we don’t want to be the ones to drive you insane.

Instead, we’ll be giving you a list of pranks going on today so you can avoid looking the fool — after all, you can’t believe everything you read on the Internet.

Google’s bag of gags

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The search giant is known for its April Fools pranks and Easter Eggs hidden in many of its products and services.  But it seems Google has gone all out this year, as a number of pranks were launched today.

The treasure map

One blog post today stated that the Google Maps team unearthed a treasure map which belongs to the infamous  William “Captain” Kidd – a Scottish sailor accused of being a pirate.  The treasure map was allegedly discovered during a recent expedition in the Indian Ocean as part of its deep-water exploration to expand Google’s underwater Street View collection.

Also, Google Maps on the web has been transformed into an old-looking map, Jack Sparrow style.

YouTube shutting down

YouTube is known as the go-to site for finding music videos, trailers and even funny clips uploaded by its users.  But according to a YouTube announcement this morning, it’s been one very long contest to find the best video of all time.  Once the best video has been crowned, YouTube will be shutting down.

A nosey feature

Google Nose Beta is a new feature from Google that would allow internet users to smell things they find on the web.  So if you have no idea what a wet dog smells like, Google Nose delivers the scent right to you.  Google has 15 million scentibytes or odorous files on its Google Aromabase  collected by Street Sense vehicles, and it even has its own mobile operating system called the Android Ambient Odor Detection.

Of course, you won’t be able to smell anything if your device isn’t equipped with the latest SMELLCD™ 1.8+, a high-resolution screen that lets you smell the stuff on the web.

Google+ + Emotions

If you can’t be with someone and you want to show him/her how you feel, you can simply send a photo to convey emotion.  But if photos aren’t enough to tell how you really feel, maybe putting emoticons on your photos would.  On Google+ you can now add +Emotion by simply opening a photo in the lightbox and clicking on “Add emotion” button or the smiley face button to add depth to your photos.  Google+ will be the one determining what +Emotion to put on each face in a photo.

Smurfed on

If you’re tired of what your Gmail account looks like, then Gmail Blue is for you.  Google has revamped its e-mail service to look bluer than usual –  as in blue buttons, blue characters and blue menu – everything looks like a Smurf smurfed on it.

Visitors from outer space

According to Google Analytics, the International Space Station – Control Room has been busy visiting sites.  If you’re fond of using Google Analytics, you’ve probably noticed that some of its active visitors are from the Control Room.  Why?  Because Google just wants to mess with you.

Pimp your house

If you’re tired of what your house looks like on Google’s Street View, you can use Google SCHMICK (Simple Complete House Makeover Internet Conversion Kit) to spice things up.  You can add your country’s flag, a kangaroo or other animals, some yard fixtures and other whatnots to make your house more interesting to Street View users.  You can also use this to camouflage your house so if you have a stalker, your real house won’t look like the one found on Street View.

Google Fiber to the Pole

Google is said to be bringing its high speed internet connection, Google Fiber, to utility poles.  All you have to do is download the app to start enjoying Google Fiber speeds.  If only this was real!

Levity Algorithm

Google apps are made exciting with Levity Algorithm.  Just by clicking on Levity on the menu, things get more interesting.  Serious things appear fun, boring headlines now piques the reader’s curiosity, and even your e-mail’s content becomes fun to read with caricatures of unicorns puking rainbows.

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Other geeky pranks

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Google isn’t the only one pulling pranks today.  Nokia released photos of a Lumia touchscreen microwave, while Twitter pranked tweeters with its “charge them for vowels policy” which includes A, E, I, O, U and sometimes Y.  Then there’s Ikea’s “fully flat-pack GRÄSSAX lawnmower,” a Play-Doh 3D printer, Virgin Atlantic’s glass-bottomed plane, BMW’s P.R.A.M. (Postnatal Royal Auto Mobile), and Sony UK’s Animalia line, which features headphones for cats, TVs for dogs, and speakers for hamsters.  The Guardian and Lomography both unveiled photos of augmented reality glasses that would go head-to-head with Google Glass.

Hear more about today’s April Fools’ gags – watch this morning’s NewsDesk roundup with Kristin Feledy below:


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