1 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:12,239 Speaker 1: Welcome to Tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey there, 2 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:16,040 Speaker 1: and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. 3 00:00:16,079 --> 00:00:19,000 Speaker 1: I'm an executive producer with iHeartRadio and how the tech 4 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:25,360 Speaker 1: are you? So? April first, April Fools Day fell on 5 00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:29,680 Speaker 1: this past Saturday. So falling on a Saturday, I didn't 6 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:33,400 Speaker 1: see quite the same amount of shenanigan's within the tech 7 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:38,200 Speaker 1: sector that usually pop up that time of year. And 8 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:43,320 Speaker 1: of course, since the pandemic, things have been relatively calm 9 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:46,720 Speaker 1: as far as April Fools gags go. It seemed like 10 00:00:46,760 --> 00:00:50,360 Speaker 1: it was in bad taste to do it when the 11 00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:54,320 Speaker 1: pandemic first began back in twenty twenty, and generally speaking, 12 00:00:54,520 --> 00:00:58,520 Speaker 1: I think companies have sort of cooled off a bit 13 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:02,480 Speaker 1: on going hard on April Fools. But I figured we 14 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:05,840 Speaker 1: could take a look at a few jests, japes and 15 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:10,160 Speaker 1: outright lies that various brands and cities and whatnot presented 16 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:14,560 Speaker 1: this year. But keep in mind, it was pretty quiet. 17 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:17,200 Speaker 1: I mean, I looked around a lot, and I saw 18 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:20,639 Speaker 1: some stuff that was probably not even worth talking about, 19 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:26,360 Speaker 1: like jokes that we're so lame that even I couldn't 20 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:28,680 Speaker 1: get behind them. That's saying something because I am like 21 00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:33,080 Speaker 1: a dad joke connoisseur type person. But I think a 22 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:35,640 Speaker 1: lot of companies in general have decided to back off 23 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:39,000 Speaker 1: on foolishness for the time being, maybe due to the 24 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:41,920 Speaker 1: fact that, you know, economic uncertain DA has created a 25 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:44,760 Speaker 1: lot of anxiety in the public and we're also seeing 26 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:50,639 Speaker 1: companies holding wide layoffs in the tech sector. Doesn't quite 27 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:54,800 Speaker 1: come across as the perfect time to be josh and around, 28 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:59,440 Speaker 1: but we still saw some and you know, as a rule, 29 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:05,160 Speaker 1: tech journalists hate April Fools. Some of them look at 30 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:08,760 Speaker 1: it as its amateur hour, you know, when various PR 31 00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:13,440 Speaker 1: departments and tech companies are doing their best to appear 32 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:19,760 Speaker 1: to be spontaneous and original and you know, wacky and buzzworthy, 33 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:23,760 Speaker 1: but frequently they fall well short of those goals and 34 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:26,840 Speaker 1: it becomes you know, what the kids like to call cringe. 35 00:02:27,840 --> 00:02:31,320 Speaker 1: Other folks say, it's just irritating to have to cover 36 00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:35,360 Speaker 1: news when the stories you're coming across are likely to 37 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:38,160 Speaker 1: be fake. You know, as much as we talk about 38 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:42,720 Speaker 1: fake news, journalists don't typically like covering a story that 39 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:45,840 Speaker 1: turns out not to be real because you put in 40 00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:50,520 Speaker 1: real work when you're a journalist, right, real research, real effort. 41 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:53,920 Speaker 1: You're putting words to paper or words to a screen, 42 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:57,000 Speaker 1: as the case may be, and it is not much 43 00:02:57,040 --> 00:03:00,640 Speaker 1: fun to go through all of that and then find 44 00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:02,960 Speaker 1: out that the story you just filed turned out to 45 00:03:02,960 --> 00:03:06,560 Speaker 1: be a joke and not an actual story, and then 46 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:08,800 Speaker 1: you have to go back and write a whole new 47 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:11,959 Speaker 1: take or just scrap it and get rid of the 48 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:15,680 Speaker 1: work you've just done. That is frustrating. It stinks, and 49 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:20,120 Speaker 1: I get it, and it can be hard. Like sometimes 50 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:22,480 Speaker 1: it's very clear that it's a joke and everyone's in 51 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:25,400 Speaker 1: on it, it's fine. You know. You could argue that 52 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:27,119 Speaker 1: it's a waste of time and that the company could 53 00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:31,400 Speaker 1: be spending its time doing something else, but otherwise, no harm, 54 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:35,600 Speaker 1: no foul. In other cases, the quote unquote joke might 55 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:39,920 Speaker 1: be structured so poorly that it comes across as a legitimate, 56 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:45,040 Speaker 1: you know, pr announcement. And while you would think that 57 00:03:45,080 --> 00:03:48,040 Speaker 1: people would be able to tell a joke from reality, 58 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:53,440 Speaker 1: the truth is companies do such crazy stuff occasionally that 59 00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:57,960 Speaker 1: you can't be sure about that. So yeah, it's hard 60 00:03:58,040 --> 00:04:01,280 Speaker 1: to craft a really good April Fools prank. Ideally, you 61 00:04:01,320 --> 00:04:05,040 Speaker 1: want something fun and cheeky, but not too misleading. You know, 62 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:07,080 Speaker 1: you would like your audience to say, wait, is this 63 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:10,040 Speaker 1: real and then say no, it can't be. And you 64 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:13,280 Speaker 1: don't want to cause genuine confusion or upset folks ideally, 65 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:17,320 Speaker 1: and hitting that ideal is challenging personally. I actually like 66 00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:21,080 Speaker 1: at least some April Fools gags. I've found some of 67 00:04:21,080 --> 00:04:23,479 Speaker 1: them to be funny, not all of them, but some. 68 00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:27,799 Speaker 1: Google has done a lot that I actually enjoyed where 69 00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:31,680 Speaker 1: they had some April Fools gags that I thought were 70 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:36,080 Speaker 1: just fun or distracting. Google did one where you could 71 00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:39,040 Speaker 1: find Pokemon on Google Maps. There was another one that 72 00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:43,360 Speaker 1: turned Google Maps into Pacman, like you could play pac 73 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:48,400 Speaker 1: Man on the streets of downtown Atlanta, for example. Those 74 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:50,520 Speaker 1: I thought were really cool. I even liked stuff like 75 00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:54,440 Speaker 1: Google Knows in osc where Google was claiming that you 76 00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:57,360 Speaker 1: could use like an Android phone to identify Sense, kind 77 00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:01,960 Speaker 1: of like how other other apps can identify a song 78 00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:05,840 Speaker 1: by just listening in for a few seconds. This app 79 00:05:05,880 --> 00:05:09,680 Speaker 1: would supposedly identify a smell that you encountered, or it 80 00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:12,520 Speaker 1: could actually generate smells. So if you were doing a 81 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:15,360 Speaker 1: search on something, you could hit a little button and 82 00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:18,919 Speaker 1: it would generate a smell from whatever that thing is, 83 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:22,960 Speaker 1: so search carefully. Obviously, that was a joke too, and 84 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:24,920 Speaker 1: I think most people got it. I just thought, Oh, 85 00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:28,800 Speaker 1: it's just people being creative and being silly, and I 86 00:05:28,839 --> 00:05:33,080 Speaker 1: think that sort of thing should be celebrated, not condemned. However, 87 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:36,320 Speaker 1: if I were covering the news and I was getting 88 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:42,039 Speaker 1: just total junk on April first, I guess I would 89 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:46,440 Speaker 1: find it a little frustrating as well. Anyway, let's start 90 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:50,080 Speaker 1: off with what was my favorite April Fool's joke this year. 91 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:55,599 Speaker 1: It's not that tech related. It does call out artificial intelligence, 92 00:05:55,640 --> 00:05:59,280 Speaker 1: but that is literally just a gag. There's no actual 93 00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:03,920 Speaker 1: AI involved at all. So NPR had a little radio 94 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:07,719 Speaker 1: piece that reported that archaeology students had uncovered an ancient 95 00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:13,919 Speaker 1: Roman scroll that was filled with dad jokes or potter iokus, 96 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:17,760 Speaker 1: as the piece claims. And the piece claimed that during 97 00:06:17,760 --> 00:06:22,000 Speaker 1: gladiatorial displays, a comedian would have to come out, you know, 98 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:25,240 Speaker 1: after one gladiator strikes down another, the comedian would be 99 00:06:25,279 --> 00:06:28,599 Speaker 1: sent out to keep the crowd entertained, while custodians would 100 00:06:28,640 --> 00:06:30,839 Speaker 1: come out and you know, dispose of the body or 101 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:33,760 Speaker 1: body parts or what have you and cart them out 102 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:37,480 Speaker 1: of the way for the next clash to begin. And 103 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:41,560 Speaker 1: I just love that image. I just this idea of 104 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:45,600 Speaker 1: like a toga clad character coming out right after Russell 105 00:06:45,640 --> 00:06:49,600 Speaker 1: Crowe has struck down an enemy and thesays, how about that, 106 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:51,800 Speaker 1: folks give him a hand, but not the one on 107 00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:55,520 Speaker 1: the ground. We gotta throw that one away. Say you 108 00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:59,360 Speaker 1: ever noticed how galls walk like this while Romans walk 109 00:06:59,480 --> 00:07:04,039 Speaker 1: like this? You know, I like, you'd really get behind that. 110 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:06,760 Speaker 1: I'm surprised if that's not in History the World Part 111 00:07:06,760 --> 00:07:09,479 Speaker 1: two it should be. I wouldn't know. I haven't watched 112 00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:15,160 Speaker 1: it yet. Anyway, there is one little bit of fake 113 00:07:15,280 --> 00:07:19,520 Speaker 1: tech involved in this NPR joke, and the piece claims 114 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:23,440 Speaker 1: that the research students were somehow able to identify the 115 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:29,720 Speaker 1: author of the jokes as a Roman named Clownius Bozolius, 116 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:34,600 Speaker 1: so Bozo the Clown, and further that they were able 117 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:39,880 Speaker 1: to somehow create an AI recreation of this otherwise forgotten 118 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:43,800 Speaker 1: giant of history. Of course, it's all a gag. There 119 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:48,680 Speaker 1: is no AI generated comedian based off an ancient Roman, 120 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:54,680 Speaker 1: and the supposed AI generated Clownius is just as goofy 121 00:07:54,880 --> 00:07:58,080 Speaker 1: or cringey as you would imagine him to be. He 122 00:07:58,320 --> 00:08:02,000 Speaker 1: actually did sound a little bit modern day comedian Lewis Black. 123 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:04,559 Speaker 1: I don't know who they got to do the voice 124 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:09,320 Speaker 1: for Clounius Bozolius. It was not Ai though. Anyway, the 125 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:11,920 Speaker 1: NPR bit was obviously a joke, and it was very 126 00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:17,640 Speaker 1: silly and harmless and had some truly truly atrocious puns 127 00:08:17,680 --> 00:08:20,040 Speaker 1: in it, So I give it a thumbs up. You 128 00:08:20,040 --> 00:08:22,000 Speaker 1: can actually find that audio online if you want to 129 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:25,800 Speaker 1: hear it. It's called archaeology Students found Dad Jokes from 130 00:08:25,880 --> 00:08:29,720 Speaker 1: Ancient Rome, And yeah, I mean it's short, it's like 131 00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:33,960 Speaker 1: six minutes. It's a cute, little fluffy joke piece, and 132 00:08:34,040 --> 00:08:37,120 Speaker 1: there's nothing wrong with that. All right. Now, let's turn 133 00:08:37,160 --> 00:08:39,360 Speaker 1: our attention to the tech world for real zs. So 134 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:44,320 Speaker 1: first up, it's Tender, the dating slash hook up app 135 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:47,840 Speaker 1: that I am really glad did not exist back when 136 00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:51,560 Speaker 1: I was single. Now that's not me throwing shade at Tender. 137 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:54,520 Speaker 1: It's not throwing shade at the folks who use Tender. 138 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:58,560 Speaker 1: It's more that I think I would have been thoroughly 139 00:08:58,800 --> 00:09:02,480 Speaker 1: unsuited or that app it would have I would have 140 00:09:02,480 --> 00:09:06,040 Speaker 1: had the worst time in the world in an environment 141 00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:09,160 Speaker 1: where Tinder was like a major way for people to 142 00:09:09,200 --> 00:09:12,480 Speaker 1: meet one another and get to know each other. So 143 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:17,480 Speaker 1: I'm glad that my dating life predates Tender. But anyway, 144 00:09:17,559 --> 00:09:21,000 Speaker 1: Tender had its own April Fools gag this year, and 145 00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:24,800 Speaker 1: it had to do with photos. Photos that featured something that, 146 00:09:24,960 --> 00:09:28,959 Speaker 1: as of April first, would be against Tender's policies. I am, 147 00:09:28,960 --> 00:09:33,800 Speaker 1: of course talking about fish picks. Yeah, Tender announced it 148 00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:38,880 Speaker 1: was actively flagging and deleting fish picks. Tender posted on 149 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:42,200 Speaker 1: Instagram that the app would be fish free within twenty 150 00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:45,720 Speaker 1: four hours. No, obviously, this is both a joke and 151 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:50,600 Speaker 1: a sly reference to the fact that some prospective mates 152 00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:55,640 Speaker 1: have used Tender to send pictures of you know, their 153 00:09:55,800 --> 00:10:02,480 Speaker 1: nude forms or their downstairs business. You might say to people, which, y'all, 154 00:10:02,559 --> 00:10:05,480 Speaker 1: if no one asked for that, then, for goodness sakes, 155 00:10:05,600 --> 00:10:10,360 Speaker 1: just don't do it. It's terrible. Anyway, it was a 156 00:10:10,400 --> 00:10:14,400 Speaker 1: goofy little joke that is delicately perched on top of 157 00:10:14,440 --> 00:10:19,319 Speaker 1: an actual serious problem. In fact, reportedly, guys at one 158 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:22,760 Speaker 1: point were so eager to send unsolicited nude photos to 159 00:10:22,880 --> 00:10:26,199 Speaker 1: Tender matches the Tender actually saw a decline in women 160 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:29,280 Speaker 1: users because, honestly, I mean, who wants that kind of thing, 161 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:35,400 Speaker 1: So yeah, fun to joke about it again. If someone 162 00:10:35,480 --> 00:10:38,800 Speaker 1: asks and you are amenable to sending it, that's one thing, 163 00:10:39,440 --> 00:10:43,160 Speaker 1: But unsolicited sending of nude photos is just that's a 164 00:10:43,240 --> 00:10:49,239 Speaker 1: bad idea. All around the city of Miami, or more specifically, 165 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:53,959 Speaker 1: Mayor Francis Suarez, joke that Twitter would be relocating its 166 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:59,480 Speaker 1: headquarters to Miami, Florida. I'm not really sure what prompted 167 00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:01,959 Speaker 1: the joke. This seemed like one of those jokes that 168 00:11:02,080 --> 00:11:07,600 Speaker 1: just was kind of random, and maybe there's some local 169 00:11:08,040 --> 00:11:11,240 Speaker 1: news and local politics type stuff going on that I'm 170 00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:13,640 Speaker 1: just not familiar with because I don't live in Miami. 171 00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:17,600 Speaker 1: But yeah, that was a joke that happened this past weekend, 172 00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:25,439 Speaker 1: and no, Twitter is not relocating to Miami. Tesla, another 173 00:11:25,800 --> 00:11:32,400 Speaker 1: Elon Musk related company, was tweeting out a video that 174 00:11:32,559 --> 00:11:37,840 Speaker 1: was supposed to show the Cybertruck, the long delayed cyber 175 00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:42,520 Speaker 1: truck product from Tesla, and show its crash test results. 176 00:11:43,040 --> 00:11:46,560 Speaker 1: Only if you play the video, the cybertruck never actually 177 00:11:46,559 --> 00:11:49,000 Speaker 1: gets to the point where it hits the crash barrier. 178 00:11:49,160 --> 00:11:51,839 Speaker 1: The video is edited in such a way that has 179 00:11:51,880 --> 00:11:55,120 Speaker 1: lots of cuts and loops, and it'll go into slow 180 00:11:55,160 --> 00:11:58,920 Speaker 1: motion and reaction shots and use other tricks to feel 181 00:11:58,960 --> 00:12:02,280 Speaker 1: like it's leading up to the collision that you are 182 00:12:02,360 --> 00:12:06,880 Speaker 1: going to see this cybertruck collide with a barrier wall, 183 00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:11,640 Speaker 1: but the collision never actually happens. It's kind of like saying, 184 00:12:11,760 --> 00:12:14,440 Speaker 1: if you were to start walking towards your front door, 185 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:17,760 Speaker 1: but with every step you are going at half the 186 00:12:17,840 --> 00:12:20,000 Speaker 1: distance you did with the step before, you would never 187 00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:24,320 Speaker 1: actually reach your door, because you'd always just be approaching it, 188 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:26,560 Speaker 1: but you would never actually reach it. That's kind of 189 00:12:26,559 --> 00:12:31,560 Speaker 1: what this video feels like. And I don't know, I 190 00:12:31,679 --> 00:12:33,920 Speaker 1: just found it frustrating. It's kind of like those videos 191 00:12:33,920 --> 00:12:36,640 Speaker 1: where people do things wrong on purpose to just get 192 00:12:36,440 --> 00:12:39,360 Speaker 1: to have a reaction. It felt like that, and maybe 193 00:12:39,360 --> 00:12:42,440 Speaker 1: that was That's probably the point. But I also noticed 194 00:12:42,880 --> 00:12:45,920 Speaker 1: that because Tesla posted this on Twitter, they had a 195 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:50,560 Speaker 1: gold checked verification mark on their account, and I am 196 00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:53,080 Speaker 1: curious if Tesla had to pay the same fee that 197 00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:56,920 Speaker 1: Musk is demanding other businesses cough up if they want 198 00:12:56,960 --> 00:13:01,400 Speaker 1: to stay verified. I suspect Tesla is an exception to 199 00:13:01,480 --> 00:13:07,199 Speaker 1: that rule. Okay, we've got some more tech based jokes. 200 00:13:07,480 --> 00:13:10,319 Speaker 1: We'll put those in air quotes. But first, let's take 201 00:13:10,679 --> 00:13:23,400 Speaker 1: a quick break. We're back. So there were a couple 202 00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:25,640 Speaker 1: of jokes that I saw in the tech space that 203 00:13:25,679 --> 00:13:28,960 Speaker 1: I actually thought were kind of cute and clever. Our 204 00:13:29,040 --> 00:13:31,680 Speaker 1: roast Benelux, and I have no idea if I'm saying 205 00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:35,160 Speaker 1: that company's name correctly. Anyway, this company posted a joke 206 00:13:35,240 --> 00:13:39,280 Speaker 1: for serious PC desktop owners, like you know, your power 207 00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:44,920 Speaker 1: gamers who buy those high end desktop gaming rigs, who 208 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:49,840 Speaker 1: also happen to have one or more housecats. Because we 209 00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:56,120 Speaker 1: know kitty cats like to perch on elevated surfaces, particularly 210 00:13:56,160 --> 00:14:00,360 Speaker 1: if that surface is a warm one. So you think, oh, 211 00:14:00,440 --> 00:14:03,480 Speaker 1: if you have a desktop, like it's a wide desktop 212 00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:07,560 Speaker 1: computer and it's getting nice and toasty, then obviously a 213 00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:09,560 Speaker 1: cat's gonna want to perch on top of it. But 214 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:12,560 Speaker 1: that's a problem, right because, like you've got a device 215 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:17,120 Speaker 1: that doesn't really react well if dust and fur and 216 00:14:17,200 --> 00:14:20,880 Speaker 1: that sort of stuff gets into it. Plus, if you 217 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:24,040 Speaker 1: got a cat laying across the top of your desktop computer, 218 00:14:24,120 --> 00:14:25,880 Speaker 1: it might be on top of some vents which will 219 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:30,000 Speaker 1: have a serious impact on airflow. So this company introduced 220 00:14:30,480 --> 00:14:35,240 Speaker 1: the cat Master. It's meant to fit on top of 221 00:14:35,280 --> 00:14:40,400 Speaker 1: a desktop tower. PC, and it's essentially a cat hammock, 222 00:14:41,320 --> 00:14:43,800 Speaker 1: and it gives the cat the ability to lounge in 223 00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:47,440 Speaker 1: a hammock perched above the computer itself, still enjoying the 224 00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:51,960 Speaker 1: warmth being given off by the gaming rig. Plus the 225 00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:58,080 Speaker 1: cat master itself has integrated r GB LEDs. This is 226 00:14:58,160 --> 00:15:01,320 Speaker 1: obviously just a joke, but I do know a few 227 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:05,240 Speaker 1: gamers who are also cat owners, and I suspect they 228 00:15:05,240 --> 00:15:08,760 Speaker 1: would really PLoP down some cash for a cat bed 229 00:15:08,840 --> 00:15:12,920 Speaker 1: with RGB lighting, particularly if they could synchronize the lighting 230 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:17,360 Speaker 1: of the cat bed with their PCs fan lights and 231 00:15:17,560 --> 00:15:20,680 Speaker 1: internal lights so that you know, if it's going from 232 00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:23,920 Speaker 1: red to green to blue, then so would the cat bed. 233 00:15:24,040 --> 00:15:27,200 Speaker 1: So maybe one day this will actually become a thing, 234 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:30,240 Speaker 1: because that's actually a long tradition in tech. April fools 235 00:15:30,280 --> 00:15:33,920 Speaker 1: gags as well. Sometimes a company will float an idea 236 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:37,160 Speaker 1: as a joke, but they're also keeping an eye out 237 00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:40,000 Speaker 1: to see if there's enough interest to actually make the 238 00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:43,440 Speaker 1: thing and go from joke to real product. See also 239 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:48,160 Speaker 1: the ton Ton sleeping bag that Think Geek teased many 240 00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:51,520 Speaker 1: many years ago and then turned into a real product. 241 00:15:52,160 --> 00:15:55,920 Speaker 1: Also rip Think Geek, I still miss you. Speaking of 242 00:15:55,920 --> 00:15:59,800 Speaker 1: computer accessories, I got a couple more jokes that are 243 00:15:59,800 --> 00:16:03,120 Speaker 1: in that line. So Razor a company that's known for 244 00:16:03,240 --> 00:16:08,200 Speaker 1: creating various tech equipment, including stuff like like gaming laptops, 245 00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:12,800 Speaker 1: gaming desktops, keyboards, mice, that sort of stuff. They announced 246 00:16:12,840 --> 00:16:16,600 Speaker 1: their own April Fools product this past April Fools. It 247 00:16:16,720 --> 00:16:21,640 Speaker 1: is the Razor Razor, a computer gaming mouse that doubles 248 00:16:21,680 --> 00:16:26,640 Speaker 1: as an electric razor. Now. Razor published a video showing 249 00:16:26,640 --> 00:16:30,760 Speaker 1: this supposed new product in use as a scruffy nerve 250 00:16:30,800 --> 00:16:33,760 Speaker 1: herder of a gamer use the mouse to trim and 251 00:16:33,840 --> 00:16:38,200 Speaker 1: shape facial hair, including some truly outrageous eyebrows. The company 252 00:16:38,280 --> 00:16:42,200 Speaker 1: said that beta testers were wanted and included a sign 253 00:16:42,280 --> 00:16:44,440 Speaker 1: up form which I think actually puts you in the 254 00:16:44,520 --> 00:16:48,760 Speaker 1: running for like a little sweepstakes giveaway of Razor products. 255 00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:52,640 Speaker 1: But Razor said the shaving mouse works at three hundred 256 00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:58,600 Speaker 1: sixty fps. FPS in this case refers to follicles per second, 257 00:16:59,400 --> 00:17:03,960 Speaker 1: And yeah, very silly joke. Obviously a gag. This is 258 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:06,159 Speaker 1: the kind where I feel like the joke is obvious 259 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:09,960 Speaker 1: from the get go, and it's still pretty entertaining, particularly 260 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:13,440 Speaker 1: when you know that Razor is a company that has 261 00:17:13,480 --> 00:17:17,760 Speaker 1: made all sorts of gear ranging from pretty cool stuff 262 00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:21,400 Speaker 1: to why would I ever need that kind of stuff? 263 00:17:21,840 --> 00:17:24,400 Speaker 1: And I think this one was just outside of being 264 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:27,879 Speaker 1: credible based on the kinds of products we've seen from Razor. 265 00:17:28,320 --> 00:17:32,960 Speaker 1: This includes stuff like vaporware products that were shown off 266 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:36,480 Speaker 1: at CES but they never actually made it into production. 267 00:17:36,680 --> 00:17:39,320 Speaker 1: I've had that happened a few times, where I saw 268 00:17:39,359 --> 00:17:45,440 Speaker 1: a really cool Razor concept that never became reality. Then 269 00:17:45,640 --> 00:17:49,280 Speaker 1: there was a new product from be Quiet, which is 270 00:17:49,320 --> 00:17:53,119 Speaker 1: a company known for producing computer gear that is no 271 00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:58,040 Speaker 1: big surprise here, meant to minimize superfluous noise. You'll often 272 00:17:58,119 --> 00:18:02,960 Speaker 1: hear gamers talk about how they'll build this crazy computer 273 00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:06,560 Speaker 1: rig and in an effort to keep it operating at 274 00:18:06,560 --> 00:18:10,240 Speaker 1: the right temperature, they'll have these fans that are going 275 00:18:10,240 --> 00:18:12,399 Speaker 1: on full blast and they create a lot of noise. 276 00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:16,399 Speaker 1: So it ends up being kind of a downside to 277 00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:20,880 Speaker 1: those sorts of rigs. Be Quiet makes cases and fans 278 00:18:20,920 --> 00:18:24,040 Speaker 1: and that kind of stuff meant to create the minimum 279 00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:27,040 Speaker 1: amount of noise while still being effective. Well, the company 280 00:18:27,080 --> 00:18:30,720 Speaker 1: claimed to be launching a bladeless computer fan, and in 281 00:18:30,760 --> 00:18:35,160 Speaker 1: the video these fans look like just a little white 282 00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:39,879 Speaker 1: square frame made out of plastic and there's a round 283 00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:42,400 Speaker 1: opening where a fan would normally go. You know, it's 284 00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:45,879 Speaker 1: essentially the housing for a fan, but there's nothing in 285 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:48,639 Speaker 1: the middle. It's just a hole, right, there's no fan 286 00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:51,200 Speaker 1: sitting there, And I said, well, this is the bladeless 287 00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:54,720 Speaker 1: fan that'll move air through your computer case. Be Quiet 288 00:18:54,760 --> 00:18:58,240 Speaker 1: also said that these fanless fans would use a purpose 289 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:03,000 Speaker 1: built artificial inteligence to control airflow, which would be super 290 00:19:03,240 --> 00:19:06,320 Speaker 1: interesting if that were true. The name of the AI 291 00:19:06,560 --> 00:19:10,480 Speaker 1: was Fanos, of course, which makes it sort of a 292 00:19:10,520 --> 00:19:15,080 Speaker 1: gladdose kind of reference from the Portal Games. And while 293 00:19:15,080 --> 00:19:18,800 Speaker 1: the thought of an AI directed ventilation system is really neat, 294 00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:22,200 Speaker 1: I mean, imagine you've got a computer system that could 295 00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:26,320 Speaker 1: actually identify hot spots in the case and then direct 296 00:19:26,359 --> 00:19:29,439 Speaker 1: airflow to try and pull some of that heat away 297 00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:32,840 Speaker 1: and do that dynamically, so instead of just having an 298 00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:36,480 Speaker 1: overall cooling system, you would have a reactive one that 299 00:19:36,520 --> 00:19:40,840 Speaker 1: would be able to optimize performance. That would be really 300 00:19:40,880 --> 00:19:44,600 Speaker 1: awesome if it were true. The video is actually a 301 00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:47,320 Speaker 1: very fun one to watch. You can check it out. 302 00:19:47,680 --> 00:19:50,919 Speaker 1: The spokesperson demonstrates the fan at one point holding it 303 00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:54,640 Speaker 1: in front of his face, and it subsequently is powerful 304 00:19:54,760 --> 00:19:58,280 Speaker 1: enough to blow his hat off. Sure, the top of 305 00:19:58,280 --> 00:20:01,440 Speaker 1: his hat is suspiciously out of frame, so you can't 306 00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:04,520 Speaker 1: see that. Something is probably attached to it to pull 307 00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:07,400 Speaker 1: the hat off at on Q. But if you can't 308 00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:10,480 Speaker 1: trust a video, whom can you trust. And of course 309 00:20:10,800 --> 00:20:14,760 Speaker 1: the circumference of the fanless fan is a ring of 310 00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:17,720 Speaker 1: RGB lights, because let's not be silly about these things. 311 00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:20,080 Speaker 1: You still have to have it light up, because that's 312 00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:22,600 Speaker 1: like part of the big deal with these gaming rigs. 313 00:20:22,960 --> 00:20:25,320 Speaker 1: When I was last thinking about building a gaming rig 314 00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:29,480 Speaker 1: for myself, I was the crazy person looking at just 315 00:20:29,560 --> 00:20:32,240 Speaker 1: regular fans. I didn't care about the RGB stuff because 316 00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:36,040 Speaker 1: in my mind, the cool thing is what is going 317 00:20:36,040 --> 00:20:41,040 Speaker 1: on on the screen, not the lights emanating from my 318 00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:45,640 Speaker 1: computer case. Now, blameless fans really are a thing. I'm 319 00:20:45,640 --> 00:20:48,880 Speaker 1: sure most of you have seen them. You've probably seen 320 00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:52,240 Speaker 1: Dyson's example. That's sort of the flagship of that particular 321 00:20:52,280 --> 00:20:54,639 Speaker 1: type of product. Dyson, as far as I know, was 322 00:20:54,680 --> 00:21:00,080 Speaker 1: the company that really made that design popular since and 323 00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:02,800 Speaker 1: I've seen other companies kind of jump on that bandwagon. 324 00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:06,040 Speaker 1: But I thought maybe I'd take a quick moment to 325 00:21:06,119 --> 00:21:10,159 Speaker 1: explain how bladeless fans actually work. Because the way they 326 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:15,240 Speaker 1: work means it would be impossible for the computer fan 327 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:20,800 Speaker 1: version to work. So, first off, a bladeless fan isn't 328 00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:25,399 Speaker 1: really bladeless. It actually does have blades mounted on a rotor. 329 00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:29,520 Speaker 1: It's just these blades aren't visible because they are inside 330 00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:32,840 Speaker 1: the pedestal for the fan. Like if you look at 331 00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:37,159 Speaker 1: these bladeless fans, you'll see that they are standing fans 332 00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:39,919 Speaker 1: and they have a pedestal underneath them. You would not 333 00:21:40,040 --> 00:21:43,280 Speaker 1: really be able to design an effective computer fan that 334 00:21:43,320 --> 00:21:46,119 Speaker 1: was bladeless because you would have nowhere to house the 335 00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:51,119 Speaker 1: actual blade components. Right, the frame is too thin to 336 00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:57,480 Speaker 1: have an effective way of pulling air through. So in 337 00:21:57,560 --> 00:22:04,160 Speaker 1: a bladeless fan, the pedestal houses this blade device, this 338 00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:07,960 Speaker 1: rotor of blades, and it has vents inside the pedestal 339 00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:12,119 Speaker 1: so that an electric motor starts to rotate the rotor 340 00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:14,680 Speaker 1: with the blades on it, the blades start to pull 341 00:22:14,800 --> 00:22:18,359 Speaker 1: air into the pedestal that then gets pushed out the 342 00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:24,040 Speaker 1: front of the face of the fan. Now, if that 343 00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:26,720 Speaker 1: were all it were, then you would just have like 344 00:22:27,640 --> 00:22:30,840 Speaker 1: a light fan blowing you. But because of physics and 345 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:33,879 Speaker 1: fluid dynamics, there's a little bit more going on. That 346 00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:38,120 Speaker 1: the bladeless fans able to take advantage of. There's inducement. 347 00:22:38,600 --> 00:22:43,040 Speaker 1: This is when air behind the fan starts to get 348 00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:46,360 Speaker 1: pulled along with the air that's being pushed forward through 349 00:22:46,440 --> 00:22:48,879 Speaker 1: the front of the fan. So if you think of 350 00:22:48,920 --> 00:22:52,320 Speaker 1: the fan as just a circle with no blades in it, 351 00:22:52,640 --> 00:22:57,560 Speaker 1: the motor inside the pedestal is turning a bladed fan 352 00:22:57,680 --> 00:23:01,639 Speaker 1: inside the pedestal that's pushing air through the front of 353 00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:04,840 Speaker 1: that circle. The air that's actually behind the circle gets 354 00:23:04,840 --> 00:23:08,400 Speaker 1: pulled along with it. That's inducement, and then the air 355 00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:12,639 Speaker 1: that's around the edge of the fan also gets pulled along, 356 00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:17,119 Speaker 1: but that's called entrainment. These are two similar concepts and 357 00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:20,960 Speaker 1: fluid dynamics, they're just slightly slightly different. So through inducement 358 00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:23,439 Speaker 1: and entrainment, you get a lot more air, or at 359 00:23:23,520 --> 00:23:26,200 Speaker 1: least a little more air push towards you than you 360 00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:29,439 Speaker 1: would if it were just from the little bladed fans 361 00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:33,000 Speaker 1: inside the pestle by itself. So Dyson calls that air 362 00:23:33,119 --> 00:23:37,359 Speaker 1: multiplication that you're getting way more air than you would 363 00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:41,840 Speaker 1: just through the blades because of the physics involved. Anyway, 364 00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:44,760 Speaker 1: for these bladeless fans to work, you still need somewhere 365 00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:47,399 Speaker 1: to house the electric motor and the bladed rotor to 366 00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:49,800 Speaker 1: get things going in the first place. And without that, 367 00:23:50,320 --> 00:23:53,959 Speaker 1: there's just no mechanism that would force air through the 368 00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:58,280 Speaker 1: hole either in or out of this computer case. And 369 00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:01,840 Speaker 1: since be quiet claimed there bladeless fans have no moving 370 00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:05,560 Speaker 1: parts at all, there's really just no way it would 371 00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:07,800 Speaker 1: be possible to do. But it was still a fun 372 00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:12,399 Speaker 1: little goofy video. I imagine if you did have bladeless 373 00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:15,119 Speaker 1: fans attached to your computer, you would have a dickens 374 00:24:15,160 --> 00:24:18,520 Speaker 1: of a time keeping debris out of your computer, particularly 375 00:24:18,600 --> 00:24:20,679 Speaker 1: if you installed one of those cat hammocks that were 376 00:24:20,720 --> 00:24:23,920 Speaker 1: sitting on top of it. You would just be sucking 377 00:24:23,960 --> 00:24:26,399 Speaker 1: that stuff into the computer case because there'd be like 378 00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:30,480 Speaker 1: no mesh or anything blocking it. So while it was 379 00:24:30,520 --> 00:24:34,880 Speaker 1: a neat concept and and a fun little joke, once 380 00:24:34,920 --> 00:24:37,920 Speaker 1: you start applying critical thinking to it, you realize, oh, yeah, no, 381 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:40,360 Speaker 1: there are a lot of problems with that particular design. 382 00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:43,960 Speaker 1: Though the AI component is really interesting. If there were 383 00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:45,800 Speaker 1: a way to do such a thing where you could 384 00:24:46,160 --> 00:24:50,439 Speaker 1: have more directed air so it's not just just a 385 00:24:50,520 --> 00:24:54,600 Speaker 1: standard airflow through the computer, then that would be really cool. Obviously, 386 00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:58,640 Speaker 1: there are water cooling systems that use more specific targeting 387 00:24:58,960 --> 00:25:01,920 Speaker 1: for cooling for stuf of like you know, really high 388 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:06,080 Speaker 1: powered CPUs or GPUs. But it would be neat if 389 00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:08,800 Speaker 1: you could do that. It's just we're not not at 390 00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:13,439 Speaker 1: that point. Okay, we're gonna take a quick break. When 391 00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:16,120 Speaker 1: we come back, we'll wrap up some of the jokes 392 00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:18,560 Speaker 1: that the tech sector, you know, try to pull on 393 00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:31,040 Speaker 1: us this past weekend. I think some of my favorite 394 00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:33,960 Speaker 1: April Fools gags come from companies that are otherwise known 395 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:38,960 Speaker 1: for creating stuff that's undeniably useful, but not exactly fun 396 00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:43,960 Speaker 1: or whimsical. Maybe it's utilitarian. I think that's the case 397 00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:47,800 Speaker 1: with Obsidian. Obsidian the software company. So this is a 398 00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:51,120 Speaker 1: company that makes productivity tools that help you do things 399 00:25:51,119 --> 00:25:54,879 Speaker 1: like create links between ideas, similar to the way how 400 00:25:55,119 --> 00:25:59,080 Speaker 1: web pages use links to connect different documents to one another. 401 00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:03,919 Speaker 1: So it's a neat way to go about working with concepts, 402 00:26:03,320 --> 00:26:08,600 Speaker 1: it's not. It's more lateral thinking rather than linear thinking, 403 00:26:09,119 --> 00:26:13,199 Speaker 1: and for some people that approach is incredibly useful, especially 404 00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:15,800 Speaker 1: for specific types of projects. So it's a really neat 405 00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:21,600 Speaker 1: approach to productivity. Anyway, Obsidian announced an AI assistant that 406 00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:27,400 Speaker 1: It was calling Jemmy Gemmy on April Fools and said, quote, 407 00:26:28,040 --> 00:26:30,199 Speaker 1: not sure if an AI assistant is going to be 408 00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:33,880 Speaker 1: helpful in your workflow, don't worry. We've eliminated the guesswork 409 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:37,680 Speaker 1: for you because Jimmy is one going to be unhelpful 410 00:26:38,200 --> 00:26:42,080 Speaker 1: end quote. So I would say this is the folks 411 00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:46,480 Speaker 1: at Obsidian poking fun at the current AI craze that 412 00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:49,119 Speaker 1: we're seeing other companies go through right now, companies like 413 00:26:49,240 --> 00:26:54,240 Speaker 1: Microsoft and Google that are rushing to incorporate AI into 414 00:26:54,280 --> 00:27:00,600 Speaker 1: their productivity products, even while concerned folks like critics are saying, 415 00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:04,359 Speaker 1: maybe we shouldn't be going so hard and fast on AI, 416 00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:11,080 Speaker 1: because we've already seen instances where AI creates incorrect responses 417 00:27:11,320 --> 00:27:17,920 Speaker 1: and is unreliable for accuracy and reliability, and that should 418 00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:20,919 Speaker 1: give us cause for concern that if we start to 419 00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:25,280 Speaker 1: lean too heavily on these tools, that we could end 420 00:27:25,359 --> 00:27:29,200 Speaker 1: up having lots of problems or at least really shoddy work. 421 00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:32,000 Speaker 1: In other words, you might be making more work for 422 00:27:32,080 --> 00:27:36,360 Speaker 1: yourself by trying to voice some of that labor onto AI. 423 00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:42,400 Speaker 1: At this stage, Obsidian was kind of making fun of 424 00:27:42,400 --> 00:27:45,240 Speaker 1: these other companies and saying, yeah, you know We've put 425 00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:47,160 Speaker 1: this in just so that we could have it in there, 426 00:27:47,800 --> 00:27:50,399 Speaker 1: and we're telling you right off the bat it is 427 00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:53,000 Speaker 1: not going to help you. It will make things harder. 428 00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:57,480 Speaker 1: And really, Jimmy's design just made me think of Clippy 429 00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:01,760 Speaker 1: Microsoft Clippy. If you don't remember or know what Clippy was, 430 00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:06,479 Speaker 1: It's a little paper clip character that would pop up 431 00:28:06,520 --> 00:28:10,960 Speaker 1: in Microsoft software like like word and it would say 432 00:28:10,960 --> 00:28:14,400 Speaker 1: things like I see are trying to draft a resume? 433 00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:19,640 Speaker 1: Can I help? And people started to despise Clippy, even 434 00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:22,760 Speaker 1: though like the thought behind Clippy was good. It was, 435 00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:26,960 Speaker 1: you know, this tool that could detect if you were 436 00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:31,400 Speaker 1: trying to make something that could be potentially standardized, but 437 00:28:31,720 --> 00:28:35,800 Speaker 1: people found it very intrusive, so obsidian kind of pointing out, 438 00:28:35,840 --> 00:28:38,800 Speaker 1: like people hate this stuff, stop putting it into your 439 00:28:38,800 --> 00:28:43,400 Speaker 1: productivity products, especially when it's not a mature science. That 440 00:28:43,520 --> 00:28:47,800 Speaker 1: really resonated with me. Moving onto video games, which are 441 00:28:47,840 --> 00:28:50,200 Speaker 1: you know, supposed to be fun all by themselves, those 442 00:28:50,240 --> 00:28:54,040 Speaker 1: can get more fun on special days like April Fools 443 00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:57,640 Speaker 1: if things are handled correctly. I think for me, the 444 00:28:58,200 --> 00:29:02,520 Speaker 1: one that surprised me the most was that Sega dropped 445 00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:08,680 Speaker 1: a big bombshell with the murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, 446 00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:11,880 Speaker 1: So yeah, kind of out of nowhere, Sega released a 447 00:29:12,360 --> 00:29:16,640 Speaker 1: point and click adventure slash visual novel style game for 448 00:29:16,760 --> 00:29:20,400 Speaker 1: PCs and Matt computers in which players try to take 449 00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:24,640 Speaker 1: on the challenge of solving Sonic the Hedgehog's murder on 450 00:29:24,840 --> 00:29:29,080 Speaker 1: the Mirage Express. Now, I've not played this game. It 451 00:29:29,160 --> 00:29:31,680 Speaker 1: is a real thing. It does exist, you can get it. 452 00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:35,360 Speaker 1: But yeah, this really surprised me because you don't often 453 00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:39,440 Speaker 1: see companies take such big risks with a really iconic 454 00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:44,120 Speaker 1: brand mascot character, you know, unless it's mister Peanut, which 455 00:29:44,200 --> 00:29:47,400 Speaker 1: was kind of the long game play that started off 456 00:29:47,440 --> 00:29:53,240 Speaker 1: in a big game football game. Back in the day. 457 00:29:54,440 --> 00:29:58,120 Speaker 1: IGN released a video reporting to be from Nintendo. It 458 00:29:58,160 --> 00:30:02,080 Speaker 1: was not from Nintendo. It was taking video clips from 459 00:30:02,160 --> 00:30:05,760 Speaker 1: actual Nintendo Direct videos, but it was made by IGN. 460 00:30:06,400 --> 00:30:09,720 Speaker 1: But the video was supposed to be promoting the Super 461 00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:14,560 Speaker 1: Mario Brothers movie, and this fake video supposedly revealed that 462 00:30:14,640 --> 00:30:18,000 Speaker 1: Nintendo Switch owners would be able to choose to play 463 00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:24,520 Speaker 1: classic Mario Universe games and swap out the original soundtrack 464 00:30:24,960 --> 00:30:27,479 Speaker 1: with voices from the film's cast. You could actually go 465 00:30:27,520 --> 00:30:31,480 Speaker 1: into options and change this, so that would mean you 466 00:30:31,480 --> 00:30:34,760 Speaker 1: would suddenly have you Chris Pratt voicing Mario in Super 467 00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:39,520 Speaker 1: Mario Brothers, a game that didn't actually have Mario say anything. 468 00:30:39,600 --> 00:30:42,760 Speaker 1: It's from the old nes Days. But my favorite bit 469 00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:45,800 Speaker 1: of the gag like, as the video goes on, the 470 00:30:46,080 --> 00:30:51,400 Speaker 1: various characters they're referencing are pulling from other sources that 471 00:30:51,480 --> 00:30:55,920 Speaker 1: the actors who voice those characters in the movie, other 472 00:30:55,960 --> 00:30:58,680 Speaker 1: projects that they've been in. So as you go on 473 00:30:58,760 --> 00:31:01,480 Speaker 1: and on, you're like, wait a minute, I recognize that line. 474 00:31:01,520 --> 00:31:04,760 Speaker 1: That line came from something else. My favorite of those 475 00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:09,320 Speaker 1: moments was a bit about Toad featuring new voice lines 476 00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:11,880 Speaker 1: from Keegan Michael Key. I'm not going to spoil it 477 00:31:12,320 --> 00:31:15,720 Speaker 1: because honestly, this IGN video is really worth watching. It 478 00:31:15,920 --> 00:31:19,240 Speaker 1: is amusing, and of course the video plays into the 479 00:31:19,280 --> 00:31:22,440 Speaker 1: reaction that the Internet had to the announcement that Chris 480 00:31:22,520 --> 00:31:25,320 Speaker 1: Pratt was going to voice Mario, a decision that I 481 00:31:25,360 --> 00:31:28,960 Speaker 1: think a lot of people were not exactly thrilled about. 482 00:31:30,480 --> 00:31:34,040 Speaker 1: Blizzard through in some jokes for Overwatch two this year, 483 00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:37,520 Speaker 1: I feel like I should almost do a full episode 484 00:31:37,720 --> 00:31:42,560 Speaker 1: about Overwatch because that's a game. You know, Overwatch and 485 00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:46,000 Speaker 1: Overwatch two have really had their ups and downs, like 486 00:31:46,080 --> 00:31:51,840 Speaker 1: it's tightly tied with Blizzard and the public perception of Blizzard, 487 00:31:53,200 --> 00:31:56,080 Speaker 1: both in front of and behind the scenes. There are 488 00:31:56,400 --> 00:32:02,280 Speaker 1: there's a lot of controversy in the background of that game, 489 00:32:03,240 --> 00:32:06,200 Speaker 1: so it was interesting to me that they were kind 490 00:32:06,200 --> 00:32:09,840 Speaker 1: of incorporating some April Fools gags into Overwatch too. But 491 00:32:10,040 --> 00:32:13,440 Speaker 1: among those gags were some new voice lines for when 492 00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:17,080 Speaker 1: characters engage their special ability. So in Overwatch, it's a 493 00:32:17,120 --> 00:32:22,040 Speaker 1: team based shooter game, and each character in the game 494 00:32:22,080 --> 00:32:25,120 Speaker 1: has their own special ability. You work out to the 495 00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:28,160 Speaker 1: point where your character builds up their meter, and then 496 00:32:28,200 --> 00:32:31,640 Speaker 1: you can unleash this ability at a strategic moment. Some 497 00:32:31,720 --> 00:32:34,320 Speaker 1: of the new voice lines are kind of cute. A 498 00:32:34,320 --> 00:32:36,680 Speaker 1: lot of them I think have references to stuff in 499 00:32:36,720 --> 00:32:39,479 Speaker 1: the game that I'm not familiar with because I bounced 500 00:32:39,560 --> 00:32:43,280 Speaker 1: off Overwatch a few years back before they had added 501 00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:47,680 Speaker 1: more and more characters, So there's some references where I'm like, 502 00:32:47,720 --> 00:32:49,560 Speaker 1: I bet that's funny if I'd been playing the game 503 00:32:49,600 --> 00:32:51,320 Speaker 1: the whole time, but I don't really get the joke 504 00:32:51,440 --> 00:32:55,800 Speaker 1: right now. Blizzard also published patch notes that included the 505 00:32:55,840 --> 00:32:59,280 Speaker 1: phrase do not publish the idea, being like, it's patch notes, 506 00:32:59,320 --> 00:33:02,280 Speaker 1: but you're not supposed to make them public. Those notes 507 00:33:02,320 --> 00:33:05,800 Speaker 1: had more jokes in them, like yeah, there was a 508 00:33:05,880 --> 00:33:10,240 Speaker 1: description about changes to character abilities and stuff. One of 509 00:33:10,280 --> 00:33:13,760 Speaker 1: the notes said that doom Fist, when using his ability, 510 00:33:13,840 --> 00:33:16,520 Speaker 1: can quote open a glass jar and a single attempt 511 00:33:16,640 --> 00:33:21,760 Speaker 1: end quote. Truly a mighty character. Also, apparently they were 512 00:33:21,840 --> 00:33:24,640 Speaker 1: given googly eyes on April first, something the Blizzard has 513 00:33:24,640 --> 00:33:28,840 Speaker 1: actually done before with Overwatch. Again, I didn't play it, 514 00:33:28,880 --> 00:33:30,800 Speaker 1: so I didn't see these things, but I'm like, oh, well, 515 00:33:30,800 --> 00:33:32,760 Speaker 1: that's cute. I mean, if you were a regular player 516 00:33:32,800 --> 00:33:34,920 Speaker 1: and you've logged in to see that, that would be fun. 517 00:33:35,920 --> 00:33:40,520 Speaker 1: Sticking with games among Us, developer inner Sloth brought back 518 00:33:40,560 --> 00:33:43,600 Speaker 1: an old gag to among Us and then added to it. So, 519 00:33:43,920 --> 00:33:47,360 Speaker 1: if you're not familiar with among Us, it is a 520 00:33:47,440 --> 00:33:52,320 Speaker 1: group video game. It's a social discovery game. And when 521 00:33:52,400 --> 00:33:54,400 Speaker 1: you're playing, you're playing with a group of other people, 522 00:33:54,400 --> 00:33:57,480 Speaker 1: and most of the players are innocent crew members on 523 00:33:57,520 --> 00:33:59,600 Speaker 1: a space shop and they're supposed to do their tasks 524 00:34:00,040 --> 00:34:02,920 Speaker 1: and that's it. But at least one of them, or 525 00:34:02,960 --> 00:34:05,560 Speaker 1: more than one if the group is large enough, is 526 00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:08,760 Speaker 1: a trader, and the trader is out to kill everyone 527 00:34:08,840 --> 00:34:13,520 Speaker 1: else and avoid suspicion as best as they can, so 528 00:34:13,560 --> 00:34:16,520 Speaker 1: the innocence they have to finish their tasks, and if 529 00:34:16,520 --> 00:34:19,680 Speaker 1: they complete all of them before the killers can outnumber 530 00:34:19,719 --> 00:34:23,200 Speaker 1: the innocence, then the innocence win, because otherwise, if the 531 00:34:23,239 --> 00:34:25,480 Speaker 1: killers out number them, then the killers can just vote 532 00:34:25,520 --> 00:34:29,759 Speaker 1: off all the innocence until it's just the killers that 533 00:34:29,800 --> 00:34:33,840 Speaker 1: are left. Alternatively, the innocence can also vote to eject 534 00:34:33,880 --> 00:34:36,360 Speaker 1: the killer into space if they figure out who the 535 00:34:36,400 --> 00:34:40,200 Speaker 1: killer is. Otherwise they might eject someone who's innocent. Well, anyway, 536 00:34:40,280 --> 00:34:43,160 Speaker 1: that's all to say that this year, among Us got 537 00:34:43,200 --> 00:34:47,240 Speaker 1: back into Horse mode, in which all the little cartoon 538 00:34:47,360 --> 00:34:52,200 Speaker 1: characters are vaguely horse shaped. They are very weird to 539 00:34:52,200 --> 00:34:56,200 Speaker 1: look at. But the company had done horse mode before. 540 00:34:56,680 --> 00:34:59,879 Speaker 1: What they had not done was introduced a brand new 541 00:35:00,040 --> 00:35:05,560 Speaker 1: mode called horse Wrangling Mode. So in this mode, most 542 00:35:05,600 --> 00:35:08,879 Speaker 1: of the players appear as horses, and one or more 543 00:35:08,920 --> 00:35:11,440 Speaker 1: of them is a horse wrangler, and it's the wrangler's 544 00:35:11,520 --> 00:35:15,640 Speaker 1: job to track down and capture all the horses. So 545 00:35:15,680 --> 00:35:18,080 Speaker 1: it becomes kind of a hide and seek game rather 546 00:35:18,120 --> 00:35:22,560 Speaker 1: than social discovery. So just different gameplay approach for that 547 00:35:22,640 --> 00:35:25,760 Speaker 1: particular mode, and it's just cute. It's a cute little 548 00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:31,120 Speaker 1: addition to the game. Then there was Rainbow six Siege, 549 00:35:31,160 --> 00:35:34,680 Speaker 1: which pits teams of players against each other in tactical 550 00:35:34,760 --> 00:35:39,440 Speaker 1: shooter based confrontations. They introduced a new mode called Rainbow 551 00:35:39,680 --> 00:35:43,400 Speaker 1: is Magic, which is I guess a thinly veiled reference 552 00:35:43,800 --> 00:35:47,879 Speaker 1: to my Little Pony Friendship is Magic. If you were 553 00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:51,560 Speaker 1: to engage in this mode, everything gets a lot more colorful, 554 00:35:52,120 --> 00:35:54,960 Speaker 1: very vibrant colors, which is not sought what you typically 555 00:35:54,960 --> 00:35:58,440 Speaker 1: see in Rainbow six Siege. And there's a teddy bear 556 00:35:58,800 --> 00:36:05,239 Speaker 1: based crisis inventually, instead of a bomb, the team has 557 00:36:05,280 --> 00:36:07,239 Speaker 1: a teddy bear that they have to protect or the 558 00:36:07,280 --> 00:36:11,120 Speaker 1: other team has to seek out and destroy the enemy's 559 00:36:11,160 --> 00:36:14,480 Speaker 1: teddy bear. It's just as ridiculous as it sounds. The 560 00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:17,640 Speaker 1: video is cute. Again, I'm not a Rainbow six player either, 561 00:36:17,760 --> 00:36:21,120 Speaker 1: so I don't know how well the game play holds 562 00:36:21,200 --> 00:36:24,760 Speaker 1: up for this particular mode, but I mean it's something different. 563 00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:30,320 Speaker 1: I'm very curious which ones of these actually resonated with players. 564 00:36:30,680 --> 00:36:33,799 Speaker 1: There's sometimes where game companies will come up with these 565 00:36:33,840 --> 00:36:37,359 Speaker 1: special modes for a limited time and they go off 566 00:36:37,400 --> 00:36:39,680 Speaker 1: like gangbusters, like it's just it's it's a breath of 567 00:36:39,680 --> 00:36:44,840 Speaker 1: fresh air. It's silly and fun and people really enjoy 568 00:36:44,920 --> 00:36:48,359 Speaker 1: engaging with it. And in other cases it's like, oh, 569 00:36:48,400 --> 00:36:51,239 Speaker 1: I see what you tried to do. Like I'm not mad, 570 00:36:51,239 --> 00:36:54,560 Speaker 1: I'm just disappointed. So I don't know how these stack up. 571 00:36:54,920 --> 00:36:57,640 Speaker 1: None of the games I play seem to incorporate any 572 00:36:57,680 --> 00:37:01,200 Speaker 1: April Fools jokes in them, but I don't play that 573 00:37:01,280 --> 00:37:05,080 Speaker 1: many games these days. I just don't have the time typically, 574 00:37:05,200 --> 00:37:09,560 Speaker 1: and the game that I'm playing right now obsessively is Dredge, 575 00:37:10,880 --> 00:37:14,560 Speaker 1: and that one probably doesn't need to have any April 576 00:37:14,560 --> 00:37:17,799 Speaker 1: Fools jokes in it. It's already kind of absurd. It's 577 00:37:17,800 --> 00:37:22,120 Speaker 1: a fishing game that has some lovecrafty and horror elements 578 00:37:22,160 --> 00:37:24,560 Speaker 1: to it. I recommend it. It's kind of a fun game. 579 00:37:24,640 --> 00:37:27,040 Speaker 1: All right. That's all I've got for April Fools for 580 00:37:27,120 --> 00:37:29,319 Speaker 1: this year. I'm sure. Like I said, there were other 581 00:37:29,680 --> 00:37:33,160 Speaker 1: gags that I saw and came across, but most of 582 00:37:33,160 --> 00:37:37,640 Speaker 1: them weren't very inspiring. It hasn't been the same since 583 00:37:37,680 --> 00:37:41,680 Speaker 1: before the pandemic. Not that it's necessarily a bad thing, 584 00:37:41,680 --> 00:37:44,400 Speaker 1: because as I said in the beginning, sometimes companies go 585 00:37:44,480 --> 00:37:48,719 Speaker 1: overboard and the quote unquote jokes they push out are 586 00:37:48,760 --> 00:37:51,279 Speaker 1: both not funny and not effective, and they just end 587 00:37:51,360 --> 00:37:55,600 Speaker 1: up being frustrating. So fewer does not necessarily mean worse, 588 00:37:56,160 --> 00:37:59,920 Speaker 1: and more does not necessarily mean better. Companies can come 589 00:38:00,080 --> 00:38:03,760 Speaker 1: up with really creative ways of kind of being silly 590 00:38:03,840 --> 00:38:08,520 Speaker 1: and lighthearted, but there's an art to it. So I've 591 00:38:08,560 --> 00:38:11,080 Speaker 1: done episodes in the past about some of the greatest 592 00:38:11,200 --> 00:38:15,600 Speaker 1: April Fools gags in tech, and you know, maybe I'll 593 00:38:16,239 --> 00:38:19,160 Speaker 1: point back to one of those in a future episode, 594 00:38:20,160 --> 00:38:21,960 Speaker 1: But like I said, there haven't been that many in 595 00:38:22,000 --> 00:38:23,840 Speaker 1: the past few years, so it's hard to kind of 596 00:38:23,920 --> 00:38:26,359 Speaker 1: update that list. If I were to do it again, 597 00:38:26,400 --> 00:38:28,520 Speaker 1: it would probably just be repeating a lot of stuff 598 00:38:28,560 --> 00:38:32,360 Speaker 1: I've already said. But I hope all of you are well. 599 00:38:32,760 --> 00:38:35,560 Speaker 1: I hope none of you were fooled this weekend, or 600 00:38:35,560 --> 00:38:38,520 Speaker 1: if you were, that it was a joyous and fun 601 00:38:38,640 --> 00:38:42,120 Speaker 1: loving and kind hearted approach to being fooled, as opposed 602 00:38:42,160 --> 00:38:46,399 Speaker 1: to mean spirited and nasty, because gosh, who needs that. 603 00:38:47,280 --> 00:38:49,560 Speaker 1: And if you would like to get in touch with 604 00:38:49,560 --> 00:38:51,640 Speaker 1: me about something I should talk about in a future 605 00:38:51,640 --> 00:38:54,920 Speaker 1: Tech Stuff episode, please do so on Twitter. The handle 606 00:38:54,920 --> 00:38:58,839 Speaker 1: for the show is tech Stuff HSW or you can 607 00:38:58,880 --> 00:39:01,960 Speaker 1: download the iHeartRadio app. It's free to download. It's free 608 00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:03,799 Speaker 1: to use. You can navigate over to tech Stuff by 609 00:39:03,840 --> 00:39:06,520 Speaker 1: putting it into the little search field. It'll pull up 610 00:39:06,560 --> 00:39:08,359 Speaker 1: the tech Stuff page. You click on that, you'll see 611 00:39:08,400 --> 00:39:11,920 Speaker 1: there's a little microphone icon. That icon means you can 612 00:39:12,040 --> 00:39:14,840 Speaker 1: leave a voice message for me up to thirty seconds 613 00:39:14,840 --> 00:39:16,200 Speaker 1: in length and let me know what you would like 614 00:39:16,239 --> 00:39:18,560 Speaker 1: to hear in a future episode, and I'll talk to 615 00:39:18,600 --> 00:39:29,000 Speaker 1: you again really soon. Tech Stuff is an iHeartRadio production. 616 00:39:29,239 --> 00:39:34,279 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 617 00:39:34,400 --> 00:39:36,400 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.