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An old Instagram hoax is back, and it's duping celebrities
An Instagram hoax that first circulated in 2012 is back, and celebrities from Usher to Waka Flocka Flame, Julianne Moore, Julia Roberts and Rob Lowe have allegedly fallen for it. The post claims Instagram is changing its rules and everything you've ever posted will become public, NBC News reports.
Who are you and why are you leaving old TVs on porches in Virginia?
Residents in Virginia remain bewildered after a mysterious person with a TV on their head placed out-dated televisions on the doorsteps of more than 50 homes in Henrico County. The bandit (of sorts) struck this weekend, The Washington Post reports. Police have yet to identify the person behind the screen, even though he (or she) was spotted in action by several doorbell cameras.
Microsoft mercifully puts an end to April Fools' Day gags
Do you hate tech companies' forced attempts at humor on April Fools' Day? So does Microsoft. The Verge has learned that company marketing chief Chris Capossela told employees not to indulge in any public April Fools' Day gags through a company memo. Data suggested that these pranks not only have "limited positive impact" but can result in "unwanted news cycles," Capossela said -- to put it another way, they can frequently backfire.
Banksy's 'Girl with Balloon' was meant to be shredded completely
Banksy's latest performance piece -- which saw him remotely shred his $1.1 million Girl with Balloon canvas seconds after it sold at auction -- captivated the world. What was he trying to say? What did it all mean? Was this a comment on capitalism? On the fickle nature of the art world? The essential meaninglessness of life as we know it? Hard to say, although we do know that the half-shredded canvas is now worth considerably more as a result of the stunt. However, it seems that the trick went wrong –- the canvas was supposed to be destroyed entirely.
Why are people pretending to be dead on Instagram?
Ahmed Simrin, 15, is one of the millions of teenagers who uses Instagram. He doesn't post pictures on his page every day (there are two total), yet somehow he's managed to get nearly 3,000 people to follow it. That doesn't make him a social media influencer, by any means, but his Instagram page quickly stands out when you realize one of the photos has over 22,000 comments and 4,000 likes. This type of engagement is typically only seen on accounts from celebrities. His viral picture, posted in October 2017, isn't anything out of the ordinary, either: It's Simrin simply standing next to his friend, each staring directly into the camera, with a caption that reads "Fresh out the oven." But then you look at the comments, and it would appear that poor Simrin is no longer with us. There are thousands of users telling him to rest in peace. "RIP, you'll be missed." "RIP, bro." "You died way too young." "I can't believe you're gone." The list goes on and on.
Cruel pranksters made NYC internet kiosks play ice cream truck tunes
New York City is in the midst of a heatwave, and some pranksters are taking advantage of technology to twist the knife a little more. LinkNYC has confirmed to Motherboard that someone is making its internet kiosks play ice cream truck music, taunting hapless New Yorkers looking for a cold treat on a hot day. It's incredibly cruel (or wonderfuly clever, if you're the mischievous sort), but there's no hacking involved. The perpetrators phone a kiosk, play the mouthwatering tunes from their phone, and switch to the kiosk's home screen to hide that there's a call in progress.
British YouTubers jailed for faking an art gallery heist
Four members of the YouTube channel Trollstation have been jailed staging hoax raids on two prestigious London galleries. The group pleaded guilty to two counts of using threatening words or behaviour after they performed a fake kidnapping and caused mass panic at the National Portrait Gallery and Tate Britain in July 2015.
No, SoundCloud didn't remove a silent track for violating copyright
On November 22nd, artist collective DJ Detweiler posted a screenshot of a message from SoundCloud that said its track, "John Cage - 4'33 (DJ DETWEILER REMIX)," had been removed because it appeared to contain copyrighted content. The joke here is that the original "4'33"" is completely silent and a remix would supposedly be just as soundless. DJ Detweiler shared the image with the caption, "MADE A NEW REMIX TODAY, SOMEHOW THIS HAPPENED," and tagged a handful of music publications. The story was picked up online with headlines decrying SoundCloud's over-reach of copyright law and the absurdity of content-protection algorithms.However, DJ Detweiler's "remix" wasn't silent at all, according to SoundCloud. "The upload referenced in the screenshot was not a track of silence and was taken down because it included Justin Bieber's 'What Do You Mean' without the rightsholder's permission," the company says.
Google suspends Map Maker service after digital vandalism
Google is suspending Map Maker, the service that allows anyone to contribute to Google Maps, following a prank submission that showed the Android mascot urinating on an Apple logo. When the mapping mischief was first discovered, most of us had a good chuckle and wondered who was responsible. Inevitably, Google took it down and later confirmed that it was a user-created edit, which raised questions about Map Maker's review policies.
An Android is urinating on the Apple logo in Google Maps (update)
Google and Apple have always had their differences, but a new Easter egg inside Google Maps has just taken their rivalry to a whole new level. As spotted by Team Android, if you head to these coordinates with the regular Map view enabled, you'll see Google's iconic Android mascot taking a leak on the Apple logo. At the moment, it's unclear who created this little piece of mischief and whether Google is taking action. But if this hidden message is any indication, it was snuck through by a member of the public using Google's Map Maker service, rather than a Google employee. Regardless, it's a crazy (and pretty hilarious) addition that's sure to rile some of the employees in Cupertino. Shots fired!
This goofy fake iPhone can turn off any TV, and even put your Mac to sleep
I'll admit I have a mischievous streak. Because of that, I've had my eye on a TV-B-Gone for a while now. A company called Cornfield Electronics makes the gadgets, which come in a few different shapes and sizes, and all of them serve a single purpose; to shut down almost any screen that is controlled by a remote. After months of convincing myself I didn't need one, I decided to place an order for the TV-B-Gone Pro SHP. The "SHP" stands for "Super High Power," and the device has a claimed range of up to 100 meters. It also happens to look like an older model iPhone, so you can use it in public without anyone suspecting a thing. Pressing the mock "Home" button prompts the device to begin cycling through dozens of remote codes, giving it the ability to power down many, many displays. As the name would suggest, it's primarily targeted at TVs, but as the gadget runs through its long list of remote codes it also hits on the ones Apple uses for the Apple remote. This means it'll put Macs to sleep as well, and it worked splendidly with both my Mac mini and MacBook Pro. Essentially any newer Apple product with an IR port is vulnerable, meaning that you could turn off an entire coffee shop's worth of MacBook Pros with a single button press. If you work in an office full of Mac users, you could have some fun with this. I haven't personally tested it out on anyone poor soul's shiny Apple laptop in public, but the temptation is definitely strong.
Perfect Ten: My favorite MMO April Fools' pranks of all time
There are two types of people on April 1st: those who are annoyed and indifferent to the tomfoolery going on all around them, and those who gleefully embrace the zany antics and baldfaced lies. For the record, I am of the latter crowd. I love April Fools' Day and the humor and creativity that it inspires. While this day is by no means contained to our neck of the woods, MMOs have a long-running streak of trying to pull the wool over our eyes. I think a good goof has to have several qualities to make it truly memorable. It needs to be original. It needs to be actually amusing, whether or not you "fell for it." And it needs to tweak our expectations and understanding of how MMOs work. Sometimes there are even important ideas that emerge from these jokes that could, indeed, make these titles better. So let's go through my favorite MMO April Fools pranks of all time, as catalogued by yours truly!
The Daily Grind: What was your favorite April Fools' Day prank?
You might not have noticed, but yesterday was April Fools' Day, and in the MMO industry that means a lot of studios blowing off steam by being abnormally silly and trying to trick players with weird promises. Some people like the goofs, some don't, but I'm willing to bet that there was at least one that got your nod of approval. So what was your favorite April Fools this year? Did you get genuinely tricked by anything or find yourself laughing in delight at the cleverness of developers? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Guild Wars 2 inflates your character's head
So everyone thought that Guild Wars 2 was just going to do Super Adventure Box again. But no, this year is going a different route. After all, you're super important in the game, aren't you? So why not let all of that importance go straight to your cranium? The designers have turned on the game's big head mode, and it's probably going to significantly improve your experience within the game as a whole. Maybe. Who knows, it could happen. The point is that the super adventure is now in your skull, which is greatly engorged, and you can log into the game right now to start playing with the biggest head your character has ever had in Tyria. Bigger even than Trahearne's head! Check out the full infographic on the update just past the break (click for a larger version) and enjoy the new visuals as you head into battle. [Source: ArenaNet press release]
This is not a prank: ThinkGeek and the business of April Fools'
Snow was falling in the form of those soft white, potato-flake chunks you usually see in films. I'd barely finished my morning cup of coffee and without that crucial mental aid, I was having a hard time finding the entrance to ThinkGeek's ranch-style headquarters in Fairfax, Va. In the blur of 8:57 AM on a Tuesday in this winter-like spring, every window of the sprawling complex looked like a door to me. So I chose one and, miraculously, was spotted by Chris Mindel, a senior buyer for the company, who let me and my videographer inside the toy-filled halls. It was then I noticed the sign on the open door and burst out laughing. It read: "This is not the door you're looking for." I'd had Willy Wonka on the brain before, but it was clear now I needed to switch, or at least integrate, gears. This was well-informed geek territory I was treading upon -- hallowed Star Wars-quoting superfan territory -- and I'd just been granted a one-day golden ticket to explore it.
PSA: Xbox One is not backwards compatible in dev mode
Enabling developer mode on your Xbox One can lead to bad news bears, so doing so is generally ill-advised. Dev mode also doesn't suddenly make your Xbox One backwards compatible, no matter what some picture you saw on the Internet tells you. An image that has been circulating around the Interwebz - which we've posted below the break - claims that by following six simple steps, your Xbox One will allow you to play Xbox 360 games. In reality, following these six simple steps is more likely to result in allowing your Xbox One to play the part of "paperweight" in your new one-man/woman play, "O! Technology." Should you follow the steps listed below, the Xbox One will get caught in an infinite boot cycle, thus rendering it inoperable.
Phantasy Star Online 2 hacked, NPCs clock flight time
There's out of reach, and then there is literally out of reach. Players trying to talk to NPCs in Phantasy Star Online 2's ship02 area were unable to do so yesterday because of an alleged prank by hackers that put the NPCs out of reach. Some NPCs in the free-to-play game were dangling high above players' heads, while others were placed behind glass barriers or atop high structures, preventing player interaction. Sega stated it knows of the hack and is currently investigating; it assures customers that no player data were leaked in this hack. However, the company does ask players to move to another area if they notice NPCs moved to strange locations. Players can also report any cheating they discover in game.
Tetris takes over MIT building in case of hack as high art (video)
College pranks usually involve livestock, panties, the use of permanent marker on an unconscious, not-so-innocent partygoer or a combination thereof. But when you gather the cream of the geek crop at a hallowed higher learning institution like MIT, those playful tricks turn into wide-scale works of technical wonderment. Unbeknownst to members of the Earth and Planetary Science departments that inhabit the site of this larger-than-life hack, their building -- long a target for the university's mischievous overachievers -- had its grid-like layout of windows converted into a fully workable version of Tetris, complete with colored "pieces" and increasing levels of difficulty. So, is this merely a case of public performance art or just high-minded shenaningans from some very capable, idle hands? Check out the video below to view this Cambridge, MA-based tomfoolery and decide for yourself.
April Fools' Day roundup: the big toys, the small toys and the cats
Depending on where you are right now, you're either pretty much done with April Fools' Day (hence our bloated inbox thanks to all you lovely tipsters!) or it's just about to start on your side of the world. In fact, some of this year's submissions already got a head start, including the excellent 8-bit quest mode in Google Maps. Oh, don't worry, there's plenty more from Mountain View and the usual participants this year -- we've rounded up the best of the lot right after the break for your amusement. Keep an eye on this as we will be adding new goodies to the list throughout the day. [Thanks to everyone who sent these in]
Windows logo planted on upcoming Apple Store in Germany (video)
A quick glance at the above photo might have you believing that's the site of a Microsoft Store being constructed; actually, it's an Apple Store. Yesterday, in the Jungfernstieg section of Hamburg, Germany, a group going by the name of ".WAV Collective" apparently vandalized the soon-to-be Apple retail location. They casually went up to the building posing as a team of construction workers, cordoned off a work site, and proceeded to screw pre-made panels, forming a Windows logo, to the side of the store's black veil -- all in broad daylight. Looks like the old question of Mac vs. PC just got a bit more confusing over in Europe. Don't believe us? Have a look at the collective's own video recap of the events posted after the break. [Thanks, Toni]
