April Fools' Day pranks around the internet

Updated

Do not believe everything you read on the internet on April Fools' Day.

The yearly day of pranks was in full swing yesterday and we rounded up a few of the best April Fools' Day capers.

Take a look at some of the creative pranks, from milking wombats and pet wi-fi to epic Australian biopic Howard: Man Of Steel.

Google went all out again this year by mashing up Google Maps with Pokémon.

While the video shows off some fake augmented reality battles, some of it is actually very real.

Using the Google Maps app on Android or iOS you can start a quest to hunt down 150 Pokémon that are hidden all over the world. Simply tap on the search bar then press the start button.

Our second-longest-serving prime minister is set to get his own Hollywood biopic with Howard: Man Of Steel, according to The New Daily.

Romper Stomper producer Daniel Scharf is on board to produce the film and actors Russell Crowe and Anthony Hopkins are frontrunners to play the lead role.

The ABC was not immune to a few capers. ABC News Breakfast announced that hosts Michael Rowland and Virginia Trioli were quitting later in the month, indicating that poor coffee was a factor.

ABC Far North radio told listeners that due to a 10 per cent cut to the local radio budget, 10 per cent off every hour of programming had to be cut. A Mackay breakfast presenter promptly started to play elevator music for a few minutes every hour.

ABC Rural snuck in with a story about Victoria starting up a wombat cheese industry. The fictional Wombat Dairy Company boasted of having a herd of 30 wombats for milking in their wombatary. Two premium cheeses were being produced - Wombrie and Womblue.

Nothing screams refreshment like sculling a can of liquid Vegemite.

The company announced the questionable iDrink 2.1 on its Facebook page, claiming the energy drink would be good for those that want a Vegemite hit on the go.

Australian National University researchers have trained ducks on campus to use pedestrian crossings to help reduce road accidents.

The aptly named Research School of Birds and Fowl Creatures, led by Dr Donald Drake, held training exercises for the ducks after observing their road behaviour.

The team plans to share the research breakthrough at the 2014 International Feathered Friends Conference.

Telstra/Optus/iiNet: Pet connectivity devices

Telcos hit on a bit of a theme this year. Telstra, Optus and iiNet all announced devices for the home pet.

Telstra and Optus announced similar mobile devices so that you can talk to your dog while you are out of the house, including a bark-to-text feature.

Meanwhile, iiNet solved the problem of a lack of reliable mobile hotspots by turning your dog or cat into an internet wi-fi router.

If you fancy a 24-carat gold glazed doughnut, Krispy Kreme Australia have you covered.

A bargain at just $15,999 each, the limited edition collector's item should probably be eaten soon before it goes off.

Krispy Kreme were thoughtful enough to remind customers that the glaze is not edible.

Federal politics did not escape the day's pranks.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten announced that Western Australia would trial an imperial honours system that introduces Dukes and Duchesses.

Mr Shorten later tweeted that it was a bit of a joke "just like Tony Abbott's knight and dames".

Scottish drivers will get to drive on the right-hand side of the road like the rest of the European Union if the country votes for independence in the forthcoming election, The Guardian claims.

The site said the nationalist movement announced the measure to give Scots an idea of how an independent Scotland would function.

It estimated that 58,000 road signs would be replaced and 2,174 miles of road would need to be altered.

The daily NSW mid-north coast paper The Advocate played a cruel, cruel joke on gamers all over the internet.

The paper announced this morning that the rights to the massively delayed Half-Life 3 had been bought from Valve by publisher EA. Not just that, but the cult PC franchise was now in development as a free-to-play mobile game.

Incidentally, 2014 marks a decade since the release of Half-Life 2. That is quite a delay.

Classic prank: BBC reports on the spaghetti tree

In 1957 the BBC's current affairs program Panorama aired a report about harvesting the spaghetti tree in Switzerland.

The tree grew long strands of spaghetti amongst its leaves which would later be dried and served in restaurants or at home.

As the reporter said: There is nothing like home-grown spaghetti.

Your picks

Share your favourite April Fools' Day pranks with us in the comments below:

Topics: offbeat, community-and-society, australia

First posted