It's that day again.
Twitter identity ABCNewsIntern sums it up:
Once you remember what day it is, it feels safer to not believe anything you read. How do you know what news is a joke when truth is stranger than fiction, right?
As April 1 dawns around the globe, people everywhere are getting in on the fooling, or getting fooled.
The bar is set high -- in 1957 the BBC ran a documentary about “spaghetti harvesters”.
According to the British broadcaster, they received hundreds of calls “asking where they could get hold of a spaghetti bush so they could grow their own crop.”
In 2000, Triple J breakfast hosts Adam Spencer and Wil Anderson convinced listeners -- and Richard Wilkins -- that Sydney had been stripped of the Olympic Games. The announcement was made in a terrible French accent, and they even got Premier Bob Carr in on the act.
But now Australia has the freedom midday brings on this April Fool's day, here's a round-up of some of the biggest and best pranks so far.
Google, armed with the world's greatest pranking weapon (themselves), had several jokes on the go.
The most subtle found so far was aimed at website administrators. People logging in to check Google Analytics would have noticed an unusual bump in their audience - 41 viewers from space.
“We realised there was an important part of the search experience that we'd overlooked”, says Google Product Manager Jon Wooly, before going on to introduce “Google Nose”, a search function based on smell.
“Street Sense vehicles have inhaled and indexed millions of atmospheric miles.
Android Ambient Odor Detection collects smells via the world's most sensible mobile operating system.”
They weren't the only Google department to have fun. This clip explaining "treasure mode" of Google Maps is less of a prank than an excuse to have fun playing at pirates.
They also released "Gmail Blue". Apparently because "brown was a disaster".
TV Tonight blog also made a pretty obvious attempt at a prank, and Australian Geographic went with the Aussie trickster's reliable drop bear.
In media circles, there was surely some chortling going on when the Australian Financial Review announced they were moving to broadsheet format after 60 years, just as other Fairfax mastheads are shrinking their size.
The Ballarat Courier was already compact so they had to announce they're going pocket-sized.
“From Monday to Friday, The Courier will be able to fit easily in your pocket or handbag,” said News Director Andrew Ramadge.
Australia's media weren't just making jokes -- they were also falling for them.
The Australian's Chris Griffith reported a press release from tech retailer Kogan, saying the online store would be opening up a “bricks and mortar” shop front in Chadstone Shopping Centre.
A few savvier reporters on Twitter noticed the address was already occupied -- by a Harvey Norman store.
But the best pranks aren't always the biggest. Pity the parents of ABC journalist Lucy Carter, who spent a worried morning thinking their daughter was heading to North Korea.
Have you fallen victim, or pulled your greatest prank ever? Tell us about it in the comments below.
