April 1, 2005

"See also" March 31, 2005 - April 2005 - April 2, 2005

----

Actual news

* Hamas and Islamic Jihad have declared, in principle, their intention to join the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO). [http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/736/fr3.htm (Al Ahram)]
* A death squad guns down at least 30 people in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro. Several teenagers and a child were among those killed in the districts of Queimados and Nova Iguacu on Thursday night. Authorities blame rogue police officers for the massacre. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4401525.stm (BBC)]
* Google doubles the storage space of its Gmail service to two gigabytes. [http://www.internetnews.com/xSP/article.php/3494491 (internetnews.com)]
* Pope John Paul II is on the verge of death as a result of his recent health problems. The Vatican announces that the pope has suffered cardiovascular collapse and septic shock. [http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/04/01/pope.health.chronology/index.html (CNN)] The Vatican denies "unsourced" media reports claiming he has already died. [http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=KD0W50ASN23AYCRBAEKSFFA?type=topNews&storyID=8064930 (Reuters)]
* The United Nations Security Council votes to refer those suspected of war crimes in Darfur to the International Criminal Court. [http://www.sudantribune.com/article.php3?id_article=8815 (Sudan Tribune)] [http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/HRW/d683f36699bb29b8486d9f7dc488dd17.htm (Reuters AlertNet)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4399487.stm (BBC)]
* Zimbabwe parliamentary elections, 2005: In Zimbabwe, the ruling Zanu-PF gains a two-thirds majority over opposition party Movement for Democratic Change amidst claims of dis-enfranchisement and fraud. [http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/Zimbabwe/Home/0,,2-11-1662,00.html (News24)] [http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=ay.W2xaTXYb4&refer=top_world_news (Bloomberg)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4399501.stm (BBC)]
* Indian security forces launch an offensive against the United Liberation Front of Assam. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4399823.stm (BBC)]
* The World Bank agrees to fund a controversial hydroelectric dam project in Laos. [http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/30185/story.htm (Planet Ark)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4399587.stm (BBC)]
* The Minuteman Project starts a month-long patrolling of the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona for illegal immigrants, with about 100 volunteers, some of them armed. [http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=633980 (ABC News)]
* The government of Argentina delays the restructuring of its debt by the exchange of old bonds for new because of a decision by a federal court judge in the United States that froze the processing of the old bonds in the possession of the Bank of New York pending a hearing before the appeals court. [http://news.ft.com/cms/s/b5a61d88-a302-11d9-b4e8-00000e2511c8.html (Financial Times)]

Hoaxes

"On the internet"

* [http://mactalk.com.au/index.php?id=5058 AppleTalk Australia] (now named MacTalk Australia) announces that Apple Legal had demanded the site stop using 'AppleTalk' as a name, as this was a trademark owned by Apple. A second 'decoy' prank was also posted which included news that Apple was to release an 'iPhone' called 'AppleTalk'. Two years later, but not as an April Fool's joke, Apple would indeed introduce a real iPhone.
* [http://mozillanews.org/?article_date=2005-04-01+06-08-31 MozillaNews] reports that Google will be acquiring the Mozilla Foundation, as a whole.
* Google launches an [http://www.googleaprilfools.com/ April Fool's Search] (although this is not in fact run by the real Google), and also announces a new line of soft drinks called [http://www.google.com/googlegulp/ Google Gulp Beta with Auto-Drink(tm)]
* [http://www.subsim.com/cnn_story_040105_bush.html Subsim.com clones a CNN report] claiming Bush takes on the terrorists in his leisure time with computer game
* The Skeptic's Dictionary front page shows an announcement that the author has given up scientific inquiry and skepticism in place of the pursuit of Veritas.
* Discovery of [http://nlamore.blogspot.com/2005/04/discovery-of-extinct-butterfly.html "extinct" butterfly]
* Locus Magazine makes announcements about [http://www.locusmag.com/2005/Features/0401_Stross.html Charles Stross] , [http://www.locusmag.com/2005/Features/0401_Anthologies.html new anthologies] , and a [http://www.locusmag.com/2005/Features/0401_Flamewar.html lethal flamewar] .
* The QuakeCon website was [http://www.quakecon.org/forums/showthread.php?t=2876 taken over] by rabid imps, killing all the staff and sparking panic in Dallas, Texas. View the carnage [http://www.quakecon.org/aprilfools.php here] .
* Utopios makes first public release while changing policy by licensing popular Free software and becoming a proprietary OS.
* Mr. Skin featured "Bea Arthur Baring All" and announced a change from all-female to all-male content. [http://www.mrskin.com/main.html Main Page] [http://www.mrskin.com/bea_arthur.htm Landing Page] [http://www.mrskin.com/Ask_Mr_Skin/index.htm Ask Mr. Skin] (Warning: some adult content)
* Microsoft to Release Visual Studio 2005 for Unix/Linux ( [http://www.theserverside.net/news/thread.tss?thread_id=33023 TheServerSide.Net] )
* [http://dpu.tigerpepband.org The Tiger Pep Band at DePauw University] changed their website design to appear as the [http://www.wabash.edu/orgs/pep/ Wabash Pep Band] from arch-rival school Wabash College. The feature news article described that DePauw was being absorbed into a new "Wabash University" and that the Tiger Pep Band -- soon to celebrate its tenth anniversary -- would become a second-tier ensemble within the Wabash Bands department.
* MSN launches a new site producing spoofed search results for April fools day, [http://www.msnsearchspoof.com/index.aspx MSNSearchSpoof] . (This isn't actually a hoax, just an aid to create a hoax.)
* AskJeeves debuts the [http://blog.ask.com/2005/04/the_future_of_s.html Jeeves9000]
* [http://www.mobilegazette.com/europhon-1.htm Mobile Gazette] reports that European cellphone standards will be needlessly harmonised.
* [http://www.booble.com/april_bible.html Booble.com] has become Biible.com, an anti-sex site.
* Star Trek had several hoaxes on their website [http://www.startrek.com StarTrek.com] including a bogus "Potucker" episode ad, funny clips, and various other articles throughout the home page.
* [http://www.spacedaily.com/news/rocketscience-05o.html SpaceDaily] reports that President Bush has cancelled the Space Shuttle Program and EADS SPACE [http://images.spaceref.com/news/2005/sd.shuttle.hoax.jpgfalls for it] .
* [http://bdgamer.net/ BDgamer.net] posts news about Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas PC version [http://www.bdgamer.net/?itemid=17164 leaked] all over the net.
*Creative Bits [http://iraszl.brinkster.net/creativebits/] Announces that the rumors were true and Microsoft has purchased the site. This popular Mac Photoshop resource would now be featuring articles on MS Windows and providing Photoshop Tutorials from the Windows version. "Sounds cool? We thought so!"
* Wikipedia announces that its parent organisation, the Wikimedia Foundation has been by the Encyclopædia Britannica. ensue on the site.
* [http://www.gamesbids.com GamesBids] announces that IOC Could Involve Public In Future Olympic Bid Decisions
* [http://planetkde.org/ PlanetKDE] and [http://planet.gnome.org/ PlanetGNOME] switched places. GNOME announce a new feature where users are [http://davyd.livejournal.com/139147.html forced to donate] to GNOME to use their desktop.
* New RFCs:
** RFC 4041, Requirements for Morality Sections in Routing Area Drafts (A. Farrel)
** RFC 4042, UTF-9 and UTF-18 -- Efficient Transformation Formats of Unicode (M. Crispin)
* New IETF Working Group: [http://rtg.ietf.org/misc/pride_wg_creation pride] , PRactically IDEal Working Group
* Microsoft to put P2P software [http://dotget.net/ .GET] into next version of Windows
* [http://www.beejaysworld.de/archives/21-Livecds-for-x86-to-be-dropped.html Gentoo to drop x86 Live CDs]
* [http://www.nature.com/news/2005/050328/full/050328-10.html Nature.com] reports that bacteria from the Apollo missions is destroying the moon.
* [http://istlab.dmst.aueb.gr/Athens-2006/ The DARPA Grand Challenge 2006 to take place in Athens, Greece]
* NASA's "Astronomy Picture of the Day" featuring a picture of [http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050401.html "Water on Mars"]
*Ubuntu Linux users who ran an apt update had their normal gdm login screen replaced with a picture of three people, including Mark Shuttleworth, replicating the original picture.
* Dropline GNOME announced SlackLine, a new SRPM based Slackware distribution with 1000 GNOME packages.
* "Dr. Mario" to be banned from further Nintendo products after parents' complaints about his association to a drug dealer. Local Toronto physician Dr Pablo N. Mario is outraged and sues Nintendo.
* "Sonic CulT" announces a merger with Sonic Classic, a site with whom they have had a long-standing hatred of.
* Opera Software announced " [http://www.opera.com/pressreleases/en/2005/04/01/ Opera SoundWave] ", a "platform-independent speech solution for short- and medium-range interpersonal communication".
* GMTV reported on [http://www.gm.tv/index.cfm?articleid=13912 "Fruitshakes"] , milkshakes produced by feeding cows fruit.
* [http://locusmag.com/2005/Features/0401_Flamewar.html Locus Online] carried a fake news story announcing that 12 members of SFWA had been killed in a flamewar.
* LiveJournal's Brad Fitzpatrick announced [http://www.livejournal.com his departure and new corporate policies] , including the introduction of banner ads. LiveJournal's web client's "Update Journal" button bounces when moused over, switches with "Check Spelling", and when finally clicked changes text to "Processing Whining".
* OverClocked ReMix states that is taken over by Electronic Arts. Later that day, OC ReMix received a letter from representatives of EA threatening legal action for the hoax. Later still, the legal threat turned out to be a second hoax. The site has since been changed back to its original layout.
* Homestar Runner displayed a hoax message purporting that the popular (and free) animation website would begin charging money for access. A comically mediocre "tour" of pay-site features was also presented.
* Ambrosia Software invited its mailing list subscribers to visit their site and download "Screen Cleaner Pro!," a hoax application which seems to brighten the user's computer monitor with an animated graphic of a cloth being dragged across the screen- the effect is achieved by gradually darkening the monitor before executing the animation.
* IGN carries Microsoft's announcement of " [http://pc.ign.com/articles/600/600527p1.html World of Wordcraft] "
* BeyondUnreal announces Epic Games' latest project: " [http://www.beyondunreal.com Unreal 3: Slug Saga - The Adventures of Ne'Ban] "
* ThinkGeek listed a number of strange and unique items for sale, including a USB Desktop Fondue Set, iCopulate, and Xbox 2.
* "Duck Hunt" coming to Nintendo DS with special edition stylus! [http://ds.ign.com/articles/600/600415p1.html]
* Fark.com had several different pages rotating as index.html, including fake hacker attacks, and a control panel that appeared to log visitors in as Fark's owner Drew Curtis. ( [http://www.fark.com/aprilfools05-1/] [http://www.fark.com/aprilfools05-2] [http://www.fark.com/aprilfools05-3] [http://www.fark.com/aprilfools05-4] [http://www.fark.com/aprilfools05-5] [http://www.fark.com/aprilfools05-6] [http://www.fark.com/aprilfools05-7] [http://www.fark.com/aprilfools05-8] [http://www.fark.com/aprilfools05-9] )
* " [http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa006&articleID=000E555C-4387-1237-81CB83414B7FFE9F&colID=2 Scientific American] " "gives up" on science and vows to give equal acknowledgement to Creationist theories. [http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=144551&cid=12110915 (full article on Slashdot)]
* [http://www.planetcricket.net Planetcricket.net] reported that Swordfish Studios had announced a new game officially licensed by New Zealand cricket & rugby union international Jeff Wilson called "Jeff Wilsons International Rugby versus Cricket 2005". Features included playing cricket with a rugby ball and rugby with cricket bats. [http://www.planetcricket.net/modules.php?name=News&file=showarticle&threadid=9688 (full article)]
* [http://gentooexperimental.org/nt/ GeNToo] : Gentoo Linux on the NT kernel. Screenshots to confirm this: http://gentooexperimental.org/nt/gentoo-nt-screenshots.html
*Several comic strip cartoonists make Ouija board jokes at the same day, with roughly the same dialogue. Strips involved include "FoxTrot", "Get Fuzzy" and "Pearls Before Swine".
* Tibia is supposedly searching for players to coordinate game events. They would get a special character with power to summon monsters and create items, and "of course" they would be paid for the job. [http://www.tibia.com/news/?subtopic=newsarchive&id=309]
* [http://www.2600.com/ 2600] requires meeting attendees to wear [http://www.2600.com/news/view/article/2200 formal attire] .
* Blizzard Entertainment announces the [http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/underdev/pandaren-xpress.html Pandaren Xpress] , a service in "World of Warcraft" that allows you to order Chinese Food by typing /panda! (A parody of similar service from Everquest 2)
**Also in "World of Warcraft", Blizzard announce that they are to scrap the currently planned "Battlegrounds" system in favour of an in-game playable version of Warcraft III.
**In addition, the avatars on the US forum were all changed to Murlocs, and the Murloc attack sound from the game was played in the background.
* Everything2 bought out by Google; the new owners rebrand it [http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node=Google%20Communities Google Communities]
* [http://www.codeproject.com/ The Code Project] is now concentrating on VB6 development
* [http://www.sonicstadium.org The Sonic Stadium] releases a fake [http://www.sonicstadium.org/ssc/ card battling game] at 4pm that fails when trying to start a game, and keeps members in suspense for three hours claiming to be fixing the program. The final error message at 8pm had a category of "April Fool".
* IPodLinux gives up and becomes iPodXP, iPod firmware based on Windows XP. Screen shots: [http://ipodlinux.org/screens.html] [http://www.skynet.ie/~leanaht/ipodxp.jpg]
* Microsoft announces SQL Server for Linux, Unix, and Xbox. [http://www.sswug.org/columnists/editorial.asp?id=623 (Weblink)]
* [http://deathfall.com/article.php?sid=5035 Deathfall.com] posts an interview with filmmaker George Lucas announcing the death of Jar Jar Binks.
* The [http://www.vgcats.com/ VGCats] website was replaced with an eBay auction for Ms. Pac-Man's slightly soiled bow tie.
* [http://www.mirc.net mIRC.net] reported on an [http://www.mirc.net/news/?id=215 mIRC 6.2 Preview]
* The EFF sends an issue of the "EFFector" ( [http://www.eff.org/effector/18/11a.php the "10,001st" issue, Vol. 18, No. 11.a] ) to their mailing list with several humorous falsifications of current events.
* [http://www.kongisking.net/index.shtml Peter Jackson's "King Kong" video production diary] announces the upcoming "Son of Kong", where the son of Kong battles WWII Nazi mutant monsters.
* [http://www.googolplextheaters.com/ Googolplex Theaters] , a movie theater chain that does everything in Virtual Reality.
* [http://www.sonichq.org/ Sonic HQ] , a "Sonic the Hedgehog" fansite changes his name to Shadow HQ
* Digit Online announces that the [http://www.digitmag.co.uk/news/index.cfm?NewsID=4799 European Union has banned sales Apple Macintosh computers] .
* Pokey the Penguin goes on the auction block.
* [http://www.portalsonic.com Portal Sonic] , a Brazilian "Sonic the Hedgehog" fansite, announces that CoroCoroComics is going to release a new "Sonic" manga, "Team Chaotix".
* [http://www.timedoctor.org Time Doctor Dot Org] , a Linux gaming humor site goes down for EU patent infringement of "Funny Patents".
* Spatial Abiword Word Processor is [http://www.abisource.com/mailinglists/abiword-dev/2005/Apr/0017.html announced] .
* [http://www.gamestay.com/2005/04/01.html Gamestay.com] reports Sony is introducing the DVD into PSP (DiP) ultra-thin DVD player for the PlayStation Portable.
* [http://filmforce.ign.com/starwars/articles/600/600586p1.html IGN Filmforce] announces information on "Star Wars" episodes VII, VIII, and IX.
* The official [http://www.wizards.com/magic homepage] gets premium content.
* 4chan adds a furry image board.
* The Best Page In The Universe replaced by TerriAngel's Xanga Site. [http://maddox.xmission.com]
* [http://www.wilsonminer.com/share/photos/0503_when_soft_voices_die/ Wilson Miner] and [http://robertjosiah.com/galleries/D_0503/ Robert Bingaman] posted their photos on each others' sites. No one noticed.
* IGN add a [http://ps2.ign.com/articles/600/600555p1.html video trailer] of "Grand Theft Auto 4".
* GameSpot news: EA announces " [http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/04/01/news_6121441.html Medal of Honor Street] ".
* Noted entertainment reporter Kristin Veitch announces that she is leaving E!. [http://www.eonline.com/Gossip/Kristin/Archive2005/050401.html]
* Valve Software announces an [http://www.steampowered.com/Steam/Marketing/April1.2005/?l=english update] for the game Counter-Strike: Source via Steam
* GameSpot announces that John Woo will direct a movie based on "Katamari Damacy;" The Rock will star. [http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/04/01/news_6121444.html]
* Gamerevolution reviews the [http://gr.bolt.com/articles/gpod/gpod.htm gPod] , a handheld gaming device entry by Apple.
* Mozilla announced that the new name for the Application Suite would be [http://www.allizom.org Allizom] .
* Mess with MSN Messenger reports one of its visitors discovered an ancient rock formation in Big Bend National Park that looks suspiciously a lot like the MSN Messenger mascot [http://www.mess.be Mess.be] .
* [http://www.bmezine.com BMEzine] posted an [http://www.bmezine.com/news/pubring/20050401.html article] about a couple cutting off their ringfingers in the name of romance.
* Apple announces that they will release the "Gpod" handheld console this year to compete with the Sony PSP.
* [http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/ BostonBusinessJournal] reports that MIT will move to NCAA Division I and all financial aid will be converted to athletic scholariships ( [http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2005/04/04/newscolumn1.html article] )
* [http://gallery.sf.net Gallery] and [http://coppermine.sf.net Coppermine] [http://www.coppergallery.org announce their merger]
* Bungie Studios [http://www.bungie.net/News/TopStory.aspx?story=put reports] that they will be making unusual downloadable content for "Halo 2".
*Bonus Stage made a fake update that led to [http://bonusstages.com/bs62.html Mario Average Man.]
* Visual IRC announced a [http://www.visualirc.net/index.vmirc.php new version] that appeared to be a merger with mIRC.
* Caravel Games announced that their game "" was "not" released, while in reality it was.
*A site claiming to be BBC [http://65.127.124.62/south_asia/4483241.stm.htm reports] "zombie" virus in Cambodia.
* CBBC's "Newsround" website reports that [http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_4390000/newsid_4392900/4392923.stm brainbands help children pass exams] .
* [http://www.ddruk.com DDR:uk] reports that it has been taken over by Konami and will be presenting the new Dancing Stage Fusion game.
* [http://www.comingsoon.net/news/topnews.php?id=9011 ComingSoon.net] reports that John Hughes is prepping a sequel to his 1986 film "Pretty in Pink".
* [http://www.battleroyalefilm.net/af.html BattleRoyaleFilm.net] reports that Rachael Leigh Cook has landed the title role in an American remake of the South Korean romantic comedy film "My Sassy Girl".
* [http://www.movietome.com/movietome/servlet/MovieMain/movieid-99486/XMen_3/ Movie Tome] reports that Daniel Radcliffe, Whoopi Goldberg, Lindsay Lohan, Sarah Michelle Gellar, David Boreanaz, Julianne Moore and Bruce Willis have all joined the cast of "X-Men 3".
* [http://www.uncubed.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=127 UnCubed.com] reports that a fourth sequel to the 1997 sci-fi film "Cube" has entered production.
*Making Fiends had the eighteenth episode in the Bulgarian language.
*Tool (band)/A Perfect Circle vocalist Maynard James Keenan claimed on the band's official website to have "found Jesus", which MTV reported, believing it to be true. [http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1499613/20050405/tool.jhtml?headlines=true Maynard And Jesus Split: The Conclusion]
*Steve Jackson Games announced a Girl Genius roleplaying game, but phrased the announcement to sound like an obvious hoax, when it was in fact true.
*Tupac Shakur, probably the most notorious rapper who was shot down at Las Vegas in 1996, was said to be alive and well on the CNN website.
*WrestleCrap announced that they were going to be bought by Vince Russo and renamed "Vince Russo presents WrestleCrap".
*howstuffworks.com has an article about How Hydro-Ordnance Works, simply it's about the military replacing all current arms with water firing weapons.
* [http://www.malakh.com/ Malakhim] replaced its site with a fake site for the cult of Malakh.
* [http://www.metalunderground.com Metalunderground.com] posted a handful of fake stories including " [http://www.metalunderground.com/news/details.cfm?newsid=12898 Hatebeak Guitarist Bites Head Off "Singer" At Show] ," " [http://www.metalunderground.com/news/details.cfm?newsid=12903 Lars Ulrich Makes Hostile Takeover of Beatallica] ," " [http://www.metalunderground.com/news/details.cfm?newsid=12902 Fred Durst's Sex Tape Scheme Unveiled] ," " [http://www.metalunderground.com/news/details.cfm?newsid=12901 Slipknot To Launch New Line Of Official Merch] ," and " [http://www.metalunderground.com/news/details.cfm?newsid=12899 ex-Static-X Guitarist Tripp Eisen Joins Korn] ."
*www.Hackthissite.org had a message on the front page, claiming that Microsoft had bought it.

"In Australia"

* The Sunrise breakfast show on Channel 7 Australia broadcast a redo of the BBC's smell-o-vision April fools day joke.
* Whirlpool in Australia report that Former Senator Richard Alston will be Telstra's next CEO ( [http://whirlpool.net.au/article.cfm/1462 original article] ) .
* The "Sydney Morning Herald" reports the new SMEGmail service, offering 1 terabyte of e-mail storage space ( [http://smh.com.au/articles/2005/03/31/1111862522200.html original article] ); and the recruitment of Paris Hilton to increase the exposure of Linux ( [http://smh.com.au/articles/2005/03/31/1111862521987.html original article] )
* [http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/03/31/1080544546727.html Interplanetary spam responsible for crippling the onboard computer of the Spirit rover]
* Virgin Group's Australian Finance Division announced the introduction of a 'scratch and sniff' sausage credit card. [http://www.virgincreditcard.com.au/sausage Website link]
* A radio station in WA, played "You Promise Me" over 10 times in a row on the radio. Saying that other songs were coming up next, they played the same song over. Listeners were tuning in and rang up, but then figured it was April the 1st!

"In Canada"

*In The Globe and Mail, BMW offered a free pair of "314t" cross-trainers to anyone who purchased a new 3-Series.
* The Toronto Star reports that Ashton Kutcher and Paris Hilton to star in a 2005 remake of [http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1112353685662&call_pageid=968867495754&col=968705925735 Casablanca]
* Campus Security at Queen's University in Kingston reported [http://www.queensu.ca/security/hogwarts.html Hogwarts Castle was acquired by the University] and reported a number of Security incidents that resulted from the influx of Hogwarts "exchange students". Features Photoshopped pictures of characters from the Harry Potter movies along with well known University landmarks.
* The Canadian site Urban Exploration Resource (UER) posted a mock up of the images posted by the MPAA when popular Bittorrent site Lokitorrent.com was shut down. [http://www.uer.ca Urban Exploration Resource] [http://www.lokitorrent.com Lokitorrent, after MPAA takeover]

"In Denmark"

*The Danish tabloid Ekstra Bladet reports that the film "Indiana Jones 4", will be filmed this year in Denmark, partly in Copenhagen and partly on the island of Bornholm. [http://ekstrabladet.dk/VisArtikel.iasp?PageID=288324]

"In Germany"

* In football, Bayern Munich announces on its website that it is set to sign Real Madrid and England superstar and cultural icon David Beckham. [http://www.fcbayern.t-com.de/de/aktuell/news/2005/03559.php?fcb_sid=f9798a24461379aa5e8028a083a1b97d Weblink (in German)] [http://www.fcbayern.t-com.de/en/news/news/2005/03566.php?fcb_sid=0fa61d458a96a7c9de7d875ab8a3d908 Weblink (in English)] [http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news;_ylc=X3oDMTBpYjk0aWtjBF9TAzk1ODYzNTkwBHNlYwN0aA--?slug=reu-beckham&prov=reuters&type=lgns (Reuters/Yahoo!)]

* German's biggest newspaper BILD teams up with beer brewer Veltins to create [http://www.veltins.de/content/friendfresher.php personalized fake BILD headlines] .

"In India"

* The Times of India says Dan Brown reveals that Kashmir actually belongs to the US in his new upcoming book. [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1066268.cms]

"In Malaysia"

* Malaysian radio station [http://www.hitz.fm Hitz.FM] 's Morning Crew, Rudy and JJ (famous for their Gotcha pranks), announce that they have been fired for coming in late the day before, and take hostage of the station. The drama went on for their entire morning shift. Malaysian newspaper [http://mmail.com.my The Malay Mail] carried the story thinking that it was for real. They carried the story the day after, announcing that it was an April fool's prank.

"In the Netherlands

* [http://www.nos.nl/jeugdjournaal/artikelen/2005/4/1/msnverboden.html NOS Jeugdjournaal] , Dutch Journal for Kids announced that the government wants to prohibit using MSN Messenger for children under the age of 14. Thousands of children called a special telephone number to vote against the plan, and were told it was a joke.
* A Zoo in Emmen announced the birth of a zebra whose patterning was chequered, as opposed to the conventional stripes. Readers were invited to visit the zoo.
* [http://tweedehandsmac.nl/ TweedehandsMac] , a website to sell and buy 2nd hand Macs inverted all words on their website, making their new title: "caMsdanhedeewT"

"In New Zealand"

* Telecom New Zealand published a full-page advertisement in the New Zealand Herald publicising the reintroduction of the first-generation cellphone, the brick.
* The "Otago Daily Times" newspaper announced a breakthrough link between an additive in printing ink and obesity, urging its readers to soak their newspaper in water and wrap themselves in its pages to test the results for themselves.
* Campbell Live (TV3's recently launched current events programme) exposed advanced Government plans to sell much of the national park on Stewart Island/Rakiura to the United States for use as an air base supporting their operations in Antarctica.

"In the United Kingdom"

* BMW printed a full page ad in a number of national UK newspapers (including "The Times", "The Guardian", "The Independent", and the "Daily Mail") saying that in 2007 the EU was to ban right-handed cars being driven in mainland Europe (effectively banning every British car), and that they had invented steering wheel-less technology. The ad can be seen [http://www.bmweducation.co.uk/coFacts/linkDocs/bmwWheel.asp here] .
* [http://www.mugglenet.com Mugglenet] is replaced with a page stating that J.K. Rowling has taken legal action against the site, causing it to be shut down. (It also contained a fake countdown to "Harry Potter 5: The Pillar of Storgé")
* The [http://www.bbc.co.uk/ouch/features/tv_watershed.shtml BBC report] that a think-tank has suggested that disabled people should not appear on television until after the 9pm watershed.
* [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/04/01/bush_twins_volunteer/ Bush twins to join Air Force tech unit in Iraq]
*The Independent: Jamie Oliver is to be the new Conservative candidate of the Arundel and South Downs after the saga of Howard Flight.
* King Arthur Pendragon claimed that English Heritage had handed ownership of Stonehenge to the Druids, as part of a project to place a roof and restore the ancient temple to its former glory [http://www.warband.org/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=Stonehenge;action=display;num=1112280194]
*The "Today" programme on BBC Radio 4 reported that, as a result of an obscure 19th century rule of succession of the House of Saxe-Coburg, Camilla Parker-Bowles's son, Thomas Parker-Bowles, who is older than Prince William, will become second in line to the British throne following the wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla on 8 April 2005.
*"The Guardian" reported that Charles, Prince of Wales had been appointed 'Countryside Tsar' by Tony Blair in the run-up to the imminent general election. The ban on foxhunting will be revoked, as long as it is made into a sport of the people.
*"The Sun" reported that EU bureaucrats wanted to ban April Fools' Day because of physical and mental injury caused to the victims of jokes; and that Gypsies had camped in Windsor Castle, claiming a centuries-old right to pitch tents there.
*"The Times" Sports section claims that the Premiership is to covert into an NFL-style 32-team play-off system.
*" BBCNorthern Ireland airs a fake documentary - Provinceworld - suggesting that Las Vegas businessmen were trying to buy up Northern Ireland tourist attractions to create a new casino.

"In the United States"

* claims to be forbidden by the Department of Homeworld Security. [http://www.nationstates.net/hws.html] (also contains a reference to "1984")
* National Public Radio's news program "All Things Considered" reports on New England's maple syrup industry downturn and the dangers of leaving maple trees untapped. [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4571982]
* The Manhattan College "Quadrangle" reports that campus food-service operator, Sodexho, has replaced food service workers with strippers. [http://www.mcquadrangle.org/news/2005/03/30/TheTriangle/Strippers.Help.The.Food.Taste.Good-906957.shtml]
* [http://www.miceage.com/allutz/al040105a.htm MiceAge.com] posts a spoofed article about "Disney Casino Adventure," a Vegas-style makeover of the Disney California Adventure theme park at Disneyland.
* Peter Gammons announces on the Dan Patrick [http://espnradio.espn.go.com/espnradio/show?showId=1058217 radio show] that Pete Rose is now eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame.
* CollegeHumor sold to Philip Morris USA. [http://www.collegehumor.com CollegeHumor.com]
* [http://songzilla.blogspot.com/2005/04/confirmed-cassette-prosecutions-fbi.html FBI Crackdown on VCR use] is a ruse based on P2P legal proceedings and paranoia.
* A&W Restaurants announce new deal of "Two grandpas for five dollars".
* Santa Fe Institute [http://www.santafe.edu/] changed their splash page to Greek fonts. Ouija Board Comic Strips: In 2005, the comic strips FoxTrot, Pearls Before Swine (comic strip), and Get Fuzzy all ran essentially the same gag involving a Ouija board telling one character to punch another. [http://blogs.sun.com/roller/comments/kevin/Weblog/art_imitates_art_april_fools]

In Sport

* AFL: Carlton defeated fierce rivals Essendon by just four points on the first Friday Night Football match of the 2005 AFL season.
* NRL: The Parramatta Eels defeated the Penrith Panthers 26-16 in round four of the 2005 season. The following week, Penrith would thrash the Melbourne Storm 36-16 whilst Parramatta would get humiliated by the Brisbane Broncos 54-14 in Brisbane.

ee also

* about the April Fool's Day edits on Wikipedia
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4400535.stm BBC list of ten news stories from the day which sounded like - but weren't - hoaxes]

External links

* [http://AprilFoolsDayOnTheWeb.com/2005.html A long list of supposed 2005 April Fool's]