April Fools has no Place in Technology

Depending on how much of a "Geek" you are, you probably woke up today feeling like any other day. Most likely as you lay there in bed, it never crossed your mind that today was the beginning of a new month, or anything of that sort (unless you had exams today like I did…).

But do not be fooled, there are people that spend all year looking forward to this day, and planning for it. One is my brother, whose birthday is today (Happy Birthday!), but the greater majority spend forever planning on what false information can they successfully spread… Most are evil, but quite a few aren’t. 

The biggest problem is knowing who to believe. Last year the homepage of Gmail.com showed a doodle pad with plans for an unlimited space email system (infinity plus 1) and though everyone believed it to be a joke, 24 hours later Gmail was at 2GB and still, 365 days later, counting. Today we hear rumors of a "Google Rooms" at the moment poking fun at the (lack of) life in Larry Page’s day.. Could this be a new social community coming up on the Google front?

Is this report about electrocuting depression patients as a cure real? Normally no one would doubt the news, and the Guardian is a good source… But then again, today is April Fools..
Is nUbuntu really being shut down on a request from Canonical? No one knows.. Though the word comes straight from the horse’s er.. developer’s mouth, is it true?
Are cockroaches sentient beings (nope, you read it right!)? Is there really a "hit" video game about chemistry and math coming out aimed at mainstream gamers? Are Unix users really switching to Windows in droves?

I have no idea, and if you do, please share your info below! But that is really not the point…

The real point is, technology and foolish pranks and pop-culture should not mix the way they did/do today. Technology serves pop-culture and the mainstream media, it can be used to make amazing pranks and to pull off tricks that would not have been possible otherwise.. But the other way around? Pranks making the technology? It’s just not right.

At any rate, if the fools insist on having their pranks, then let’s set some ground rules:

• Die-hard geeks may not participate (unless they are planning something like Google);
• The stock exchanges worldwide should not be open today… To many pranks mean too many ill-informed transactions;
• It should be part of its own month, April should be a 29 day month, starting at April 2nd and ending on the 30th.
• It must be made illegal for news services to provide false news as a "prank;"
• Anyone choosing to participate in April Fools must register with the local police and Interpol;
• Said registrants may not post articles on Digg, Slashdot, Google News, or any such site.

That said, enjoy your April Fools day, but if you participate, remember, you are not allowed to comment below… keep to yourself; after all, there are only a couple of hours left in this ridiculous day.

Update: Please, PLEASE, tell me this is a hoax… I beg you! Google ROMANCE ???