2011 april fools

I suppose April 2 is a good day to look back on the ‘not-so-serious’ announcements made yesterday, although most of them where made pretty seriously. `

LinkedIn
The business-oriented social networking site filled the usual ‘People You May Know’ with some rather unusual names.

Playmobile Apple Store
This might actually have a chance of succeeding, since some Apple-fanatics are so exhilarated about the brand, they’d have this just cause it’s avaible. Includes Steve Jobs, iPads and a long queue.

Heineken
The folks of Amsterdam get a happy surprise when Heineken fools with their bikes!

Heineken Beerpad
From the Netherlands, a prank too good to be true, a nice and cool beer instead of the usual coffee.

Including a website: http://www.bierpad.nl/

Google Mail Motion BETA
Motion tracker for Google Mail.

Google
Another one from Google. Comic Sans is usually the target for type-jokes. When you searched for Helvetica you’d get this:

Razer
The American brand Razer, known for computer devices like keyboards, mouses, headsets, etc, specialised for gamers, made up a new device, the Razer Talon.

Continue reading here: http://www.razerzone.com/razer-talon

Starcraft
Starcraft is returning to the consoles, with motion-controller Kinect.

GoSquared
Google did something similar a few years ago – website in 3D.

Soundcloud
The website of Soundcloud, was, hmm, a bit different. It’s often named the MySpace successor, so it opted to go with a sort of poorly designed MySpace profile-style.

Latest

A summer’s day in autumn

A summer’s day in autumn

Set an alarm to 05:00, take a taxi to the train station, get onto the train, switch in Hangzhou, and get off in Tonglu (桐庐), take another taxi — to arrive 4 hours and 330 kilometers away from home. For a hike. Maybe it’s crazy, but the alternative is to stay home. You’ll have plenty […]
October 12, 2025
Mary in Qibao

Mary in Qibao

We’re in Qibao (七宝古镇) — an old water town swallowed by the city of Shanghai, now turned into a tourist attraction. In the center stands a moon bridge, surrounded by heavily renovated buildings that now house shops selling fridge magnets or bites such as ⁠tangyuan, scallion pancakes, red bean cake, and parts of pork or […]
October 11, 2025
Empty shops

Empty shops

If you squint your eyes, you can still see a busy little street here. The shops on Wangxin Road (王新街店铺) near Gaoqiao (高桥) in Pudong, were built in the late Qing Dynasty but now face an uncertain future. They’re not labeled for demolition (the character 拆 isn’t shown), but there are many tags of landlords […]
October 11, 2025
My favorite places in Shanghai (2025 update)

My favorite places in Shanghai (2025 update)

I saw this message from Curt about how difficult it is to love Shanghai, and there’s some truth in that. Maybe it’s too big a city to love, and I just love some specific locations of Shanghai. Let me have a go. Ye Garden Ye Garden (叶家花园), a ~100-year-old park in Yangpu, hidden behind a […]
October 10, 2025