Our little "prank", when posted and read properly, said:
IT'S APRIL FOOLS DAY!
Today is April 1, 2009; the day where a lot of people try to pull jokes,
"practical" and otherwise, at the expense of others.
Even some otherwise serious news sources get into the act by running fake
announcements and other material amongst legitimate items, like the BBC's Spaghetti Tree report
in 1957.
So to get into the originally intended spirit of the day, The Free
Choice e-zine thought it would do something safe, but harmless, by posting
a message only DC Comic's Zatanna the Magician could read at first
glance.
So enjoy the day and try not to get fooled!
The referenced Spaghetti Tree report was the BBC's first attempt at humour during a serious news broadcast. Since spaghetti was a relatively new food item in England at the time, many viewers were caught unawares by the report and seriously thought spaghetti did grow on trees!
In more recent years, the BBC has gone out of its way (in part thanks to advances in technology) to top itself, while still maintaining the network's charm and innocence, as represented by their 2008 report about the discovery of a new breed of penguin that actually flew to a warmer climate for the winter!
Other notable pranks of the day included:
*www.howstuffworks.com posting an article explaining rechargeable gum.
*BMW allegedly introducing a magnetic towing system.
*Fans of U2 rushing to a shopping center in Cork, Ireland expecting to hear a free concert from the band, when it turned out to be a live/free performance by the cover band U2opia.
*Former Drew Carey costar Kathy Kinney appearing on the April 1st episode of The Price Is Right.
*You Tube presented their website upside down yesterday. And...
*A J. R. R. Tolkien website reported that the forthcoming Hobbit movie was going to be filmed as a trilogy just like The Lord of the Ring was.
BUT ONE PIECE OF NEWS IS APPARENTLY NOT A JOKE!
Computer specialists are still worried that the Conflicker.C virus might still be a legitimate threat, despite it not honoring its alleged activation date April 1st.
Unlike other viruses of the past, the problem with this one is that it is not self-contained with an infected system, making it harder for anti-virus scanners to detect. It lies dormant until activated by an outside source to perform its function(s), whatever they may be.
Some website have been discovered that were prepared to launch whatever command instructions the designer(s) of this virus had planned, but it is uncertain how many activation websites remain. Thus striking the theory that it was all just an elaborate April Fools Day prank. Computer specialists do say that if your computer can access your antivirus program's update system and your operating system's update website, then you are (probably) safe.
More on this story as it develops.
No comments:
Post a Comment