In a departure from our regular software tips and tricks section we're going to celebrate April Fools Day (1st April 2010) with the my top 5 April Fool's Day hoaxes (so far...)

Please do add your own favorite April Fool's Day jokes in the Comments section below!

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#1 - The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest

Back in 1957, Panorama, a highly respected news based TV show on the BBC, highlighted how Swiss Farmers were having a particularly good harvest of Spaghetti that year. This was attributed in part to the elimination of the supposed Spaghetti Weevil. Footage showed farm workers in Southern Switzerland picking the spaghetti from trees! After this three minute programme, the BBC received hundreds of calls from viewers asking how they could grow their very own spaghetti trees. It's reported the BBC replied, "Place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best."

Click this link to view the original broadcast:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27ugSKW4-QQ

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#2 - Guardian Newspaper goes Twitter only

The Year is 2009 and Twitter has officially become a world-wide phenomenon. The respected daily UK based newspaper, The Guardian, announced it would be scrapping it's print edition in favor of a "Twitter-only" news feed. Furthermore, they promised to reduce their archived articles to 140 characters!

Here's an excerpt from the article linked below:

"For example, Martin Luther King's legendary 1963 speech on the steps of the Lincoln memorial appears in the Guardian's Twitterised archive as "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by", eliminating the waffle and bluster of the original."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/apr/01/guardian-twitter-media-technology

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#3 - Convert Black & white Tv to Color

The Year: 1962. TV Broadcast in Sweden was restricted to black & white only. However, on April 1st, an announcement informed viewers that new technology advancements would allow them to convert their existing black & white sets to display in color... Thousands of viewers followed the advice given... to put a nylon stocking over the screen!

http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/Hoaxipedia/Instant_Color_TV/
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#4 - Toshiba's New Inflatable Laptop

The world has gone gaga over practically every Apple product released in the past 5 years... Apple are most renowned for revolutionizing the way we use computers, listen to our music and where and how we can use our smart phones... but this new product from Toshiba is sure to turn heads and bring computing to us, well, wherever we may be!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45Btn3zKB2I&feature=player_embedded
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#5 - Surf the web with gesture controls

I'm saving my favorite to the end... Opera (the small independent Web Browser) released details in 2009 for their new 'web browser with facial controls system'. I'll let the video do the talking!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkNxbyp6thM&feature=player_embedded#

If you've enjoyed these or have your own April Fool's Day favorites to share, let us know in the comments below!