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Collect HN: Aprils Fools

294 points by daleharvey ↗ HN
Given the propensity of april fools jokes among the tech sites, I figured its probably a good idea to collect them in one thread as opposed to being individually submitted.

232 comments

[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 283 ms ] thread
gcr
I'm planning on installing a transparent proxy that rotates web pages 1-2 degrees with CSS3 transforms.

https://github.com/gcr/proxies/blob/master/rotating-proxy.js

nedwin
This is AWESOME.

Got a link to an example?

nedwin
Why was this downvoted? I'm not a developer, is there some kind of humour I've missed here?
ajaimk
It wasn't me but occasionally the mouse slips and hits the wrong button. It could also just be trolls.
mbreese
Or it could be the "AWESOME" part... Still, I'd love to see a link too.
gcr
Sure, sure.

Run the proxy with

  sudo -u nobody node rotating-proxy.js
It will start listening on your local machine. If you want to filter all output on your computer through this proxy, try an iptables redirect:

  iptables -t nat -A OUTPUT -p tcp --dport 80 -j REDIRECT --to-ports 8080 -m owner '!' --uid-owner nobody
If you want to do it on the router for a network of machines, the trick is to redirect all HTTP traffic through a dedicated box running the proxy. Pretend this machine is 10.0.2.15.

First, ensure that that machine's traffic gets through normally and isn't redirected to itself:

  iptables -t nat -A PREROUTING -s 10.0.2.15 -j ACCEPT
Then, redirect all HTTP traffic on your network (say, 10.0.2.0/24) through that machine:

  iptables -t nat -A PREROUTING -s 10.0.2.0/24 -p tcp --dport 80 -j DNAT --to-destination=10.0.2.15:8080
Finally, ensure that your packets get back to the source with a masquerade:

  iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -p tcp -d 10.0.2.15 --dport 8080 -j MASQUERADE
Here's what it looks like. http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/4035/april1.png
nilbus
Apparently you can't just run the script with node and point your browser's http proxy to 8080. I suppose transparent proxy and http proxies act differently?
nilbus
Just kidding! Follow the instructions in the script, and it works on localhost just fine. :-)
shareme
Jason Calacanis sold Mahalo to MS Bing
desigooner
how about: Jason Calcanis sold Mahalo to AOL
shareme
no you misspelled it its Calacanis
yesbabyyes
Adblock releases Adblock Freedom - augmented reality eyewear that detects and removes ads from the world in realtime. http://chromeadblock.com/freedom/
sp332
Hm, some basic AR eyewear + UnLogo software https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/816924031/unlogo-the-co... (still looks pretty rough, but it's a start) could actually do that.
yesbabyyes
Yeah, I was so happy to see it because I've been thinking about this exact thing for quite a long while. I like the idea of replacing all ads with random images from my photo albums.

I would be so much happier. One day.

nzjames
Just watched the kickstarter video but with my headphones pluggeded into 'The Prodigy: Fighter Beat' by accident. It made their video very cool. Sorry for the lack of value - I just wanted to share.
kevbin
I read that as "Adblock Freemium", i.e. Ad-supported ad-blocking.
gammarator
(Internet Annoyance Day is even more annoying when it starts at UTC-12.)
borland
UTC+13, even. We're still on daylight savings time in NZ
lachyg
I wonder how many cofounders will get fake YC interview acceptances from their partners =P
stevenashley
Duke Nukem Forever has been delayed until Mid 2012.
tokenadult
For historical interest, an all-time classic from the BBC:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/1/new...

hallmark
Would have been even more awesome if the BBC reported on a very poor harvest the next year, due to an inevitable crop pest: the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
jacques_chester
You'd need the FSM + a time machine, given that the "spaghetti harvest" gag was pulled in 1957.
mbrubeck
Opt out of April Fools Day with the "DNF" HTTP header:

https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/do-not-fool/

If you are planning an April Fools joke on your web site, I urge you to support this important new web standard. :)

brlewis
Where's the spec for the header?
moeffju
Spec: The HTTP Request Header "DNF" is set to "1" if the user opted out of April Fools' Day jokes.
brlewis
Thanks. I don't have FF4 on my Ubuntu laptop yet, but my testing with telnet says it's working. If you have the extension installed please check for me: http://ourdoings.com/2008-04-01 should redirect you to a picture of llamas ignoring April Fools Day if you've turned on DNF, otherwise it shows a fake "OpenID Support to be Removed" blog post from a prior April Fools day.

EDIT: One reply saying if it worked would be most appreciated.

nfriedly
It works - I saw the lamas!
marcamillion
In all honesty, I am struggling to figure out if this is an April's Fools Joke in and of itself, or if this is legit. The comments definitely don't help much.

Can someone just be explicit with it.

I am not running FF, if that matters.

brlewis
It's both. The "DNF" header can't be a serious proposal since it doesn't follow the convention of other HTTP headers. They're leaving "Do-Not-Fool" unused in case it later becomes a serious proposal. But it does actually send the header, so in that sense it's legit.

Announcement for our DNF support: http://ourdoings.com/2011-04-01

sid0
> The "DNF" header can't be a serious proposal since it doesn't follow the convention of other HTTP headers.

Why do you say that? The Do Not Track header (which is of course quite serious) is "DNT".

brlewis
I hadn't looked at DNT. Are there other recent http header propsals that use acronyms? Maybe I'm just not keeping with the times.
random42
I like how it is released, just one day before April 1. You know the day people are made fools.
NZ_Matt
Air New Zealand have introduced "pay what you weigh"

http://promos.airnz.co.nz/payweigh/

uvdiv
Is fair pricing such an obscure concept that this is a credible April Fool's joke? Why shouldn't people get discounts for losing weight and saving the airline fuel expenses? Is there a implicit moral norm that those who consume less should subsidize those who consume more ("to each according to his need"), or is mentioning an awkward truth like "heavy people take more energy to lift" a social taboo, or do people just avoid thinking about this entirely?

I assume this would be illegal discrimination from a private New Zealand company, even though it's dandy for the NZ government:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/5245...

spicyj
I doubt that a few dozen pounds is significant relative to the weight of the aircraft.
archangel_one
Probably not. But the airlines charge as though it is when you're over the baggage weight limit.
pyrhho
I believe that is more to do with baggage handler's unions and worker regulation. Though they certainly exaggerate it to make a profit.
dasil003
Yes, but what is the marginal difference in fuel costs based on people's weight? I'm guessing it's dwarfed by the subsidization of empty seats.
kbutler
Fair pay for the costs you incur is a great concept. Unfortunately it usually means charging tens-of-dollars (or more) for pennies difference in cost.

See charging for bandwidth use, etc.

edit: removed snark

snprbob86 

  Sorry, my bad ... It was Carl, he's new. 

  This was an April Fools prank, thanks for all the fun
  feedback. Glad that we could give (most of) you a
  laugh. Have a great weekend!
sigh political correctness sucks.
danssig
Are fatties covered by PC now? I thought that was the only group you could legitimately slag off?
mman
Everyone stop ruining April fools by expecting it