Technabob » april fools

Tentanic: Camping for You and 999 of Your Closest Friends

Hazel Chua — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 20:30:22 +0000

I have never been big on camping, but the Tentanic might just change my mind. In case you’re wondering, the Tentanic is a tent of massive proportions, with a name that was drawn from one of the most well-known cruise ships in history: the Titanic.

The Tentanic is a 1:2 scale replica of the luxury liner that famously hit an iceberg and subsequently went under. It’s so huge that it can accommodate up to one thousand people in all. Or you could just invite a smaller number of people and bring along most of your luxuries from home, like your refrigerator and dining table and everything else but the kitchen sink! And speaking about sinking – they plan on releasing an iceberg tent to go along with it.

The Tentanic is currently available for pre-order on Firebox for a whopping £7,500 (~$12,000 USD). Oh yeah, and happy belated April Fools day.

[via Gadgets Matrix]

StarCraft: Supply Depot 2: Raising the Bar to a New Low in Mobile Gaming

Lambert Varias — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 20:30:01 +0000

Blizzard have dialed back on their April Fools shenanigans. This year they’ve literally scaled down their pranks. The company is promoting a mobile game set in the StarCraft universe, where we’ll get to control one of the most important figures in Terran history: the supply depot.

I must say, Blizzard really gets the idiosyncracies of mobile gaming. Supply Depot has simple controls and is perfect for a 5-minute or even 5-second burst of gaming.

You can play the first mission of StarCraft: Supply Depot 2 on Blizzard’s website right now. Get on it, it might not be there tomorrow.

The game’s a bit too gory for kids though; if you have children I suggest you check out the company’s new Blizzard Kidzz educational games.

Chrome Multitask Mode: Surf with Two Mice at Once!

Technabob — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 19:30:36 +0000

If there’s one thing we can count on Google for ever year, it’s a bunch of hilarious, geeky April Fools pranks, and this might be my favorite of 2012. It’s a new capability for Google Chrome called Multitask Mode.

Google’s crack research scientists have determined that the reason we’re not as efficient as we could be when using our computers is that we’re only using 50% of our hands at any given time. Basically, in Chrome Multitask mode, you connect two mice to your computer, so you can surf multiple websites or use two applications side-by-side – at the same exact time. The technology would also allow you and a friend to surf side-by-side on the same computer.

Brilliant! The funny thing is that I always have multiple application windows open side-by-side, since I have a big 27-inch screen, so this doesn’t look that unusual to me – other than the part where there’s a second mouse for my left hand.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Now With More Assassin’S Creed

Lambert Varias — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 12:12:15 +0000

It seems that the Snakes of MGS: Peace Walker are taking a cue from their Assassin predecessors.

Top video game producers Hideo Kojima and Patrice Desilets contracted hay fever while making this trailer for the upcoming PSP game, so you better watch this until the very end. Until the very end, you hear me?

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Now THAT’s how an assassin operates.

[via Loot Ninja]

Pad-Dock iPhone to Tablet Converter Promises to Make Your iPhone an iPad

Shane McGlaun — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 19:35:49 +0000

For any writer of tech, April 1 is a day of reckoning. This is the day when you never know if that cool item you see on another site or online is real or if it’s a fake put there to be believable enough to trick consumers into trying to buy and writers into covering it.

I ran across this Pad-dock iPhone to Tablet converter today and knew right away that it had to be a fake. Click on the buy link and my suspicions were confirmed. The thing claimed to be able to dock your iPhone in the back and show the screen on the larger dock LCD on the front.

This is actually an interesting product idea, and I bet many folks will click it and try to buy it today. I guess if you really want a larger screen for your iPhone, you could always buy a magnifying glass.

Backpedalify Restores the Truth in Politician’S Statements

Lambert Varias — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 16:37:40 +0000

The in-house nerds of online data backup expert Backupify have come up with the ultra-powerful, paradigm shifting, completely concocted Backpedalify, “a new service for government and elected officials to ensure honesty in politics.” Backpedalify takes a public official’s previous statements and restores them to what they actually mean. Here’s a sample of famous statements with their truths recovered:

Come to think of it, misconcpetualatated does sound more like ol’ Dubya.

[via The Presurfer]

Cylindrus USB Hub Makes Cables Magically Disappear

Lambert Varias — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 12:51:07 +0000

The folks at Art Lebedev Studio are having a little April Fools’ fun once again, with funny and just slightly absurd designs with neat concept art. One of their “latest designs” is the Cylindrus, a USB hub shaped like a magician’s top hat and, well, actually that’s all there is to it.

Nice cable bunny ears.

Although I must admit, it looks cool enough that I kinda wish it was a real product, unlike last year’s design, which was just too cruel. Head onto Art Lebedev Studio’s website for more April Fools designs, including a coffee mug that doubles as a flat iron.

Capcom Vs Snk 3 Battle of the Ages: More Like Joke of the Day

Lambert Varias — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 12:51:01 +0000

More April Fools fun! This time it’s from Japan. Someone at Japanese Internet forum 2chan posted what looks like a copy of a video game mag bearing this juicy newsflash:

Check out the whole screenshot at Comboadictos or at EventHubs, where commenters are pointing out that the text in the article is actually about Chrome Hounds. I don’t know if the culprit is someone from 2chan, or if it’s from Famitsu or hell even from Capcom, but whoever you are shame on you, making millions of CVS fans drool and writhe in agony.

Gridus Spreadsheet Barbecue Grid is Cruel and Unrelenting

Lambert Varias — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 11:40:44 +0000

The specialty of Art Lebedev’s design studio is in stylizing the mundane. But their idea for a grill is just plain cruel. Called Gridus, the barbecue grid copies the look of a spreadsheet, ensuring that the user’s mind will be thoroughly driven insane as the concepts of “vacation”, “relaxation” & “cookouts are fun” are shattered.

Unless of course you love working, or you’re OC and desperate to find a way of positioning the food on a grill systematically. If so, I think you’ll have to make one yourself, because according to the studio’s website, the release date for the Gridus was last April 1. I guess you can beg Art Lebedev and his team to turn this prank into a real product. Or not.

[via CrunchGear]

The Latest Device From Aperture Science: Interactive Portal Shirt

Lambert Varias — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 11:30:43 +0000

I’ve seen a lot of geeky shirts, but these ones take the cake. Or not. Think Geek‘s April Fools offering for this year are “interactive portal shirts”, that mimic the portal effect popularized by Valve’s first-person puzzler. Each $100 shirt has a wireless 5.6 GHz video camera and a portal-shaped LCD TFT screen. The camera on the blue shirt transmits its image to the screen on the orange shirt and vice-versa. Mindfrak.

Each shirt is powered by a 2190mAh Lithium-Ion battery pack, stored in a belt pack. Right.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

He already ate some of the cake and he still says it’s a lie? Okay I’m just pissed off because I haven’t played Portal yet. Stupid inside jokes.