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It’s April Fools Day – YouTube shutting down, Google Treasure Maps, Nokia Microwaves and more

There is one day a year where the world tends to devolve back to when we were 10 years old and pulling pranks and jokes on other people is the standard policy of the day. That day is today April 1st, or otherwise known as April Fools Day for the comically inclined people out there. If you don’t have a sense of humor, this is the worst day of the year for you. For the rest of us, it is a day of launching or getting laughed at.

True to the tradition that is April Fools Day, Google has jumped on board with some creative little pranks of their own. However, they are not traveling alone in this cruel world of humor as other companies have jumped on board to catch some of the unsuspecting folks out there with a prank or two. Here is a list of the current ones that we know about.

Swiftkey Tilt

Swiftkey has been hard at work developing a new feature called Swiftkey Tilt. All you have to do is wiggle around in one form or another to type out words.

YouTube Shutting Down

Yes, Google went ahead and faked YouTube shutting down. All around the world Call of Duty trolls cried out in sheer agony.

Twttr

Twitter has changed business models and is now a two-tier service. Using Twitter for free still works, you just won’t have any vowels in your tweets. Should you not want to look like an idiot, it will cost you $5 a month to access the vowels you need.

Google Wallet ATM

Google Wallet just got a bit more useful today as there is now an attachment you can hook up to your Nexus phones. This attachment, along with Google Wallet, will act like an ATM can will produce cash when you need it. If only this were real…

Google Nose

Google has also launched a new service, currently in beta, called Google Nose. This new service will let you smell things through your Android device whether it be some nice roses or all the pollution in the air in your city.

Official Website: Google Nose Beta

Google Apps Levity Algorithm

Google has released a new formula for those of you wanting to find out how Google is just so funny. The new Levity Algorithm is now available through Google Apps for you to use in future app development.

Google Treasure Maps

Another new feature Google has rolled out but this time it is for those of you who wan to seek out fame and fortune by locating some lost treasure. You are now looking at the new Google Treasure Maps.

Official Website: Google Maps

Google Simple Complete House Makeover Internet Conversion Kit (SCHMICK)

Since you can zoom right into your house on Google Maps, you might not like how it looks. Luckily the Australian team for Google has come up with a great new feature that will let your remodel your house so it doesn’t look like crap.

Official Website: Google’s Australian Blog

Google Analytics New Traffic Sources

If you check in with your site’s analytics over on Google Analytics, you may find that you’re getting some traffic from some rather strange sources such as the ‘International Space Station – Control Room’. Youll have to do a little looking to find some of these special places in your analytics account.

Website Referenced: Carl Sednaoui

Google Fiber Poles

Google has solved the problem with everyone wanting the same Google Fiber speeds that they have at home but while on the go. The solution? Google Fiber Poles.

Official Website: Google Fiber Poles

Google+ Emoticon Photo Tagging

Google has added the ability to tag photos with emoticons on Google+ just in case the people in the photos and their facial expressions don’t portray their emotions as good as an emoticon can.

Amazon’s Kindle Zero

Amazon announced that they will be releasing a new product today called the Kindle Zero. This new e-book reader will be completely free and apparently Amazon will actually pay you to read e-books on it.

Official Website: Seth Godin’s blog

The Guardian Goggles

The Guardian newspaper and website have taken a bit of what Google has recently done with their Glasses project and made it their own. Now you’ll be fed all the news you can handle from The Guardian no matter where you are or what you’re doing with The Guardian Goggles. You’ll have to hit up their site to check out the video of the Guardian Goggles.

Official Website: The Guardian

The Shlide by The Huffington Post

The folks over in London have a new thrill ride to enjoy called The Shlide. NASA took part in its creation, developing specials mats for people to sit on as they go over 75 mph down the twisting slide, all 244.5m of it. Don’t fall off the mat though if you don’t want to get the road rash of the century. (British humor these days).

Official Website: Huffington Post

Glass-bottomed Virgin Airlines airplanes

Virgin Airlines wants to get a little more extreme it seems and offer traveler a view they would never normally get to see when flying. Soon you’ll be able to look straight down under you with their new glass bottom airplanes. Perfect for those of you afraid of flying.

Official Website: Virgin Airlines

Nokia’s new product – Windows Phone themed Microwaves

Nokia might be struggling in the mobile device marketplace but their new product may take the kitchen appliance marketplace by storm. So what is their new product? Bright yellow microwaves themed after Windows phone.

Official Website: Nokia

ThinkGeek’s Batman themed family car stickers

ThinkGeek usually comes out with a prank product every year and this year is now different. For those of you who are fans of comics, or Batman specifically, ThinkGeek’s new prank product are Batman themed family car stickers which consists of Batman along with a few tombstones. Classy indeed.

Official Website: ThinkGeek Batman family stickers

These are just a good chunk of all the pranks and jokes going on right now on this day. There are also ones like the Samsung Eco Tree, Gmail Blue and others that were a nice attempt at humor but just didn’t quite make it there. If you know of any others, let us know in the comments below.

Websites Referenced: TNW | ReadWrite

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