APRIL FOOLS DAY

                   Whether you paste a Kick Me sign on some poor slob's back or pull off an elaborate corporate hoax, April 1 is a day when it's acceptable to play practial jokes on your family, neighbors, colleagues, friends, and enemies.  What are you waiting for?
Fishy story
                   Although not all April Fools' experts agree (yes, they exist), some argue the day originated in 16th-century France, when Pope Gregory XIII mandated that the new year begin on January 1 instead of the end of March.  Those who failed to follow the new calendar were dubbed April fish.  Others claim it originated from ancient spring festivals that included mischief making.
Spaghetti Harvest Causes a Stir
                   Arguably, the greatest prank ever perpetrated was pulled off a half-century ago by BBC TV. In 1957, the news show Panorama reported that thanks to a mild winter, Swiss farmers enjoyed a bumper crop of spaghetti.  To prove this, it broadcast a three-minute report of field hands carefully plucking, or "harvesting," strands of spaghetti from trees.  Legions of viewers were duped, and many called the BBC wanting to know how they could grow their very own spaghetti trees.  The BBC advised each caller: "Place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce, and hope for the best."
Bored at Work?
                   Try pulling these pranks.
        Make a dozen photocopies of a paper clip and put them in the machine's paper tray so future  copies will include a paper clip.  Your colleagues will go crazy looking for the "lost" clip in the copier.
        On a friend's computer, open Microsoft Word, click on Tools, and choose AutoCorrectOptions.
                               Type in a common word like then and replace it with something odd like hyper giraffe.   Every time someone types then in Word, it will be replaced with hyper giraffe.
YOUTUBE FLIPS OUT
                   On April 1,2009, YouTube turned some of its videos upside down.  A page on "Tips for Viewing the New Layout" suggested users hang their monitors upside down from the ceiling.
CHIMES OF TIME
                    In 1980, those serial pranksters at the BBC announced that Big Ben, London's historic clock tower, would undergo a face-lift and become digital to keep up with the times.  Enraged callers flooded the station with complaints.
CORPORATE CAPERS
                    Reasoning that a well-executed prank can result in valuable publicity, firms such as Google, Microsoft, BMW, Guinness, and Virgin regularly try to get in on the fun.  In 1996, fast-food chain Taco Bell, which it claimed it was renaming the "Taco Liberty Bell" and relocating from Philadelphia to its headquarters in California.  The company claimed publicity from the hoax increased sales by $1 million over a 24-hour period.  Google is another chronic hoaxer.  It once insisted that it was launchinga broadband service using cables that would run through the sewer system.  In fact, its reputation for pranking was such that when the company launched its Gmail service on April 1, 2004, few believed them.