Mac|Life April Fools RSS Feed

Our Favorite April Fools' Hoaxes and Fun

Roberto Baldwin — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 12:05:12 -0500

Every Year the internet gets stupid with April Fools' shenanigans. This year is no different. While MacLife.com tried its darnedest to take the high ground today, we eventually succumbed to peer pressure and posted our own articles.

To help you enjoy all the April Fools' hijinks, we've compiled a list of our favorites. Enjoy!

Google Introduces CADIE: Google announces a breakthrough in neural networking. It's the first step to a Terminator/Matrix scenario in which man is taken down by machine. Ohhhhh Pandas.

Apple introduces new Mac Mini: The teeny-tiny new Mac Mini will fit in the palm of your hand. Take that netbooks.

Introducing Opera Face Gestures: Forget all that finger gesturing nonsense. Opera hopes face gestures will revolutionize the way we surf the Internet. Just don't let someone pat you on the back while your navigating. Your face really will stay that way.

Apple 1984 Commercial Flipped: OMG it's all upside down. It's MADNESS!!!

BareBones Introduces LottoCal: This iCal plugin will give you your chosen state's lotto numbers up to five days in advance. The 1.2TB download will set you back $10 and 25% of your post-tax lottery winnings.

Think Geek Teases Us: Every year ThinkGeek introduces products that we wished in our hearts of hearts were real. This year is no different. Ray is in lust with Squeez Bacon. While the rest of the staff can't wait until we get our Tauntaun Sleeping Bags for the big Mac|Life slumber party. The Interactive Portal Shirts and Unicorn Chaser round out our holiday wish list. Mmmmm cake.

Apple Bans, Allows Swearing on iPhone: Apple doesn't like swear words and has gone so far as to turn off the iPhone's phone feature to keep you from hearing them.

Conficker: Psych!

Dope New NIN Album: Oh snap, those are some fresh beats Trent. You're our hero and Strobelight will definitely make you a rich man!

NeatReceipts Origami Organizer: Forget about scanning your receipts for tax time. You can now impress your friends with flock of origami cranes or a herd of paper elephants. Slide the paper in, press Origami and you're on your way to creating the desk zoo you've always dreamed of.

Apple Bans, Allows Swearing on iPhone

Jason Whong — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 02:42:41 -0500

Millions of iPhone users were unable to make or receive telephone calls for a few hours today, after Apple temporarily disabled the phone functionality of the iPhone.

In a statement, the company said it had disabled phone calling because users might produce or listen to objectionable sounds while in conversation on the phone. It later reconsidered its decision, and restored telephone functionality.

The decision to suspend service was made by the same person that on March 10 rejected Twitter client app Tweetie 1.3 from the App Store. The reason for rejection was because the software displayed objectionable words downloaded from the Internet. The software was later approved on the same day.

Facebook Reveals Roadmap to 2010

Jason Whong — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 02:39:49 -0500

Facebook today unveiled its plans to take the popular social networking service into the next decade. Max Zuckerberg, CEO and Founder of the company, announced the roadmap at a private, catered dinner he held for journalists, investors and socialites.

The company's main plans included:

- A redesign once every six months, in which user functions would be relocated, or even hidden, just for giggles.

- The "like" feature that allows users to tell friends they like their content will be upgraded to let Facebook tell users what they like about Facebook.

- Changes in terms of service will grant Facebook ownership of users' DNA, as well as any derivative works made thereof, whether the derivatives were produced artificially, naturally, intentionally, or accidentally.

While none of the journalists attending the dinner questioned the new terms of service, one asked Zuckerberg if he was serious about forcing users to change the way they used the site so often. Zuckerberg snapped his fingers, and the waitstaff rearranged the silverware on each table, and removed plates from under the forks of hungry diners.

April Foolery iPhone Aallakazam!

Susie Ochs — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 06:24:00 -0500

Steve Jobs wants you to believe that the iPhone is in fact magic. “Isn’t that amazing? Boom!” What he doesn’t tell you is that they do actual magic tricks, besides Shazam-ing salsa hits off the taqueria jukebox or Loopt-ily stalking—um, networking with—friends.

Check these out:

Touch Trix (free, www.dothehudson.net) are magical spirits that live in your iPhone. Or, if you live in the reality-based community, they’re free videos you drop into iTunes and sync to your iPhone or iPod touch. Accompanied by some hammed-up acting by you, it’ll look like your iPhone has been shot with a bullet. Or is melting. Or was infected with a crazily spinning home screen, haunted by an animal that chomps at your fingers, and lots more.

Tricky Home Screens. Want to mess with a friend who has an iPhone? Or make a buddy who recently used yours think he broke it? (“DUDE! What did you DO?!”) Surf to itricks.com/iphone and tap the links to see images that make the iPhone look...not right. Mixed-Up Icons collapses your icons in a heap, for example, and Broken strikes fear into the heart with a horrible smashed-looking home screen. If your marks think you’re mean for tricking them, the Spinning Hypno-Spiral image should erase their memories.

Accelerometer Magic. The accelerometer inside your iPhone isn’t actually magic, but isn’t it fun to pretend it is? Several apps for the iPhone and iPod touch use the accelerometer to manipulate what’s onscreen, which can have a fun and gee-whiz effect, if you show it to those easily amazed types we all love so much. iBeer ($1.99 in the App Store) fills your phone with virtual beer that you can slosh around, watch foam and bubble, and pretend to drink. (“Astonishing realism!” promises the App Store page...well, it’s funny for at least a couple minutes.) iSteam (free in the App Store) lets you blow on your microphone to “steam up” the screen, then draw on it with your fingers and watch the water droplets roll down. You can even email steam-drawn art to someone, whose mind (we’re assuming) will be totally blown.

Wacky Photo Apps. OK, these aren’t magic, either, but they’re fun and goofy, and that’s what really counts here. mStache (99 cents in the App Store) and ’stachetastic (99 cents in the App Store) add funny mustaches to your pictures. OldBooth (99 cents in the App Store) creates instant retro-yearbook-style photos with your friends’ faces melded in there. And Haunted Pics (99 cents in the App Store) looks like a normal camera app, only your pictures will have scary ghosts lurking in the background. Spooky.

Magic iPhone Tricks, Vol. I ($7, www.magiciphonetricks.com/) is an ebook outlining three magic-slash-mentalism tricks you can do with an iPhone, but the astonishing part is this: They have nothing to do with the iPhone—any cell phone will do. (And you just paid $7 because “iPhone” was in the title! ABRACADABRA!) There are two math tricks and one “pick a random object” trick, and the payoff to each is that the person calls your voicemail and hears your prerecorded message saying, effectively, “Hi, this is Susie, leave a message, and WAS YOUR NUMBER 11?!?!?!” (We just hope you’re not expecting any calls from prospective employers at the time. Awkward.) The ebook contains some helpful tips for perfecting your delivery, and a few bonus card tricks way in the back, but just don’t expect anything actually iPhone related if you decide to buy it. Those magicians, they’re tricky,