The
Call. This month's Call
follows up on the April Fool's Day alert I sent out a few weeks
ago. I've been "nailed" by a variety of April Fool's Day
hoaxes in newspapers, magazines and online sources that I read,
though with rare exceptions I usually
figure it out before the article is done. (Some of the
worst "gotcha's" have been in magazines, whose April Fool's day issues may
be printed well before April First... or may be read long
after).
However, writing the alert started me
thinking:
What are the best April
Fool's Day hoaxes online?
Google's recent article explaining its proprietary
search algorithm
is a good
example.
The Criteria.
SO, send me the best zingers you have seen
online. To be included, the hoax needs to meet the following
criteria:
- The story must be available online. I've read good April
Fool's Day pieces in newspapers and magazines, but in the end the
Library is an online site and winners in the contest must be
linkable. I will accept retellings of good April Fool's Day
hoaxes in other mediums, but these will be judged
separately.
- The story must be presented as fact. Humor
articles and satirical pieces don't count: the story must be
presented as genuine news story or opinion , except that it isn't.
- The source must have a reputation for fact. Articles in
the Onion or other humor magazines don't
count.
The Rules. "The Calls For.." are informal
contests to compile information about a topic of interest. I accept
submissions for two weeks, then collate them into a brief article
highlighting the best submissions, which will win a Library of
Dresan prize of some kind. The rules are:
- Submissions will be accepted for two weeks. That's
Midnight, April 30th.
- Submissions to the call must be sent to the Info link. Sending
entries to my home address not only disqualifies them, it puts
them at risk of my buggyfa antivirus software.
- Submissions must meet the Criteria of the Call. Each
entry must satisfy the criteria to be considered.
I look forward to seeing your entries!
See you in 15.
- The Centaur
Renaissance Engineer
