originally written for The Emory Wheel: Arts & Living(www.emorywheel.com)
As always, Google played a variety of tricks on their devoted users. They unveiled their application for Google Autocompleter, which entailed employees typing autocorrect suggestions as users typed their searches into Google. Requirements for candidates included the ability to type at 32,000 words per minute.
Google also “unveiled” Google Motion, a web-cam enabled enhancement allowing Gmail users to control their accounts entirely through gestures. They accompanied their announcement with hilarious videos showing which motion would correspond to each Gmail action. To send an email, simply lick an imaginary stamp and mime placing the letter in a mailbox.
College senior Omotola Ajibade was one of the many millions who fell for the prank, citing the fact that Gmail was unveiled on April 1, 2004. “I really did think it was real for a second because that’s when they’d announced what’s now the most popular email system in the world,” he said.
Other online giants joined the April Fool’s day parade of pranks. YouTube and Hulu took an “old school” approach. YouTube changed to YouTube 1911, with a “1911 button” that turned every video being watched into a sepia-toned silent movie.
Hulu, which added “brand new” content from the ’90s, changed its display to technology of that decade. It featured black and white scroll bars and used the always-aggravating AOL dial-up noise as viewers waited for videos to load. Also worth a mention is the Huffington Post’s one-day switch to “The Hoffingston Post,” a news website dedicated entirely to chronicling the life of “Baywatch” alum David Hasselhoff.
Company sites all over the web world announced a variety of new “products.” Toshiba unveiled their 3-D monocle, for the movie fans that feel the need to be slightly classier during their 16th viewing of Avatar.
The best contribution from the corporate world, however, came from Virgin Group CEO Sir Richard Branson. The company announced that Branson had purchased Pluto and planned to reinstate it as a planet. An article on Virgin’s website quoted Branson saying, “Virgin has expanded into many territories over the years, but we have never had our own planet before. This could pave the way for a new age in space tourism.”
Here at Emory, we are no strangers to pranks. Our beloved Dooley is frequently dressed in different costumes depending on the upcoming events. A few years ago, Oxford college students placed a zebra, aptly named Barcode, in Emory’s historic Seney Hall.
Yet while the world, particularly the World Wide Web, celebrated this day of childish trickery, campus remained oddly quiet. Dooley remained undressed as usual, no crazy signs or pranks of any kind were visible on campus, with the exception of a prank in the Wheel’s sports section on Friday.
In the wake of Wiz Khalifa and Dooley’s Week, this year’s global fun fest seemed to go almost unnoticed. Most Emory students had to be reminded it was April Fool’s Day and even when they were, didn’t seem too concerned with pulling pranks.
In an effort to keep us from losing touch with this childlike celebration, I offer this piece of advice to all campus-dwellers who forgot this day of lighthearted liberation: Even as we age and tackle the collegiate lifestyle, make sure you don’t forget your inner child. As finals are fast approaching, maybe the best way to retain some semblance of sanity is finding our funny bones again.
No comments:
Post a Comment