How the Internet Got April Fooled, a Greatest Hits

First, I suggest heading over to Google Maps right now and selecting the “8-Bit Quest Map” option for the April Fools winner. Note that, “Your system may not meet the minumum requirements for 8-bit computations.” It’s worth exploring a bit; surprises abound. Sadly, within the real map world, Google is still quickly losing ground to Bing, Microsoft’s upstart map, apparently because Google isn’t open source enough. Very funny, Google.

And starting from the top of the internet, so to speak, a quick roundup of some April Fools runners-up:

YouTube

The YouTube Collection. Via 175 trucks, the entirity of YouTube on DVD delivered to your door. This is actually kinda commercial-y, but funny regardless.

AdBlock, e.g. CatBlock

This one’s great because it’s totally passive on the user end, actually sneaking up on you when you least expect like only the best April Fools. If you had Chrome’s AdBlock installed — evil? — you’d find all your would-be ads replaced by cats. Demand for CatBlock has been so high that the AdBlock developer is now soliting money for CatBlock to exist as a standalone version. I don’t know what that proves about “the internet” and “people” but it’s something.

Beta-Lactum Ring Records

Ha, HA. Bloop, BLOOP. (OK, this is a year old, but still great.)

Criterion Collection

Included on the forthcoming the Criterion Collection three-disc Kindergarten Cop special edition, “New audio commentary featuring Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, author of It Takes a Village: And Other Lessons Children Can Teach Us.”

1up.com

Meet the Nintendo 3DS Dubstep Experience.

Although the concept may initially seem strange, the marriage makes sense considering that many dubstep artists use 8-bit video game samples in their tracks. Deadmau5 and Skrillex are the only acts confirmed at this time, with many more expected to be announced in the upcoming weeks. As you may know, Deadmau5 is an avid gamer who’s lent his musical talents to industry events like 2011’s MineCon. Likewise, Skrillex’s music hearkens back to the Dreamcast-era by resembling the noise created by a dial up modem that can’t quite connect to the internet.

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Reach this writer at michaelb@motherboard.tv.