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The savvy Internet reader knows that you can't believe everything you read online, but on April Fools' Day we suggest that you not believe anything you read online.

Internet hoax time is just around the corner, and as our inbox continues to fill up with jaw-dropping press releases "strictly embargoed for April 1," we thought we'd put together a list of some Internet hoaxes past -- just to whet your appetite for what's to come.

1. Tacocopter: Tacocopter took the Internet by storm in late March, when a faux Silicon Valley start-up put up a website outlining a plan to deliver tacos via remote-control flying drone robots. Sound too good to be true? Well, it is. While founder Star Simpson said she wouldn't call her website a joke, Federal Aviation Administrationregulations prevent the use of unmanned aircraft for commercial services. Bonus points for faking us out beforeApril Fools' Day.

2. Gmail Paper: On April 1 2007, Google announced Gmail Paper -- a new service that would allow Gmail users to request a physical copy of any email message directly from Google. "Everyone loves Gmail. But not everyone loves email or the digital era," Google wrote. "Whatever happened to stamps, filing cabinets and the mailman? Well you asked for it, and it's here." Although of course, it wasn't. After a bit of clicking a user got to a page where Google copped to the joke. "As you may have guessed, Gmail Paper is not a real product or feature of Gmail. No, we don't plan on sending you boxes and boxes of your email in hard copy form." Wait, really?

3. Think Geek's iCade: The folks at the online super store Think Geek take April Fools' Day very seriously, writing several faux descriptions of products that are only slightly more ridiculous that the products they normally sell. In 2010 they came up with the wacky idea for the iCade an iPad cabinet that would allow you to play Atari games on your iPad with joystick and buttons built right in. But this idea had legs, and now you can buy an iCade for real on Think Geek's website for $99.99.

4.The IE IQ hoax: For one brief, glorious moment, tech reporters thought it just mightbe possible that people who used the Internet Explorer browser were actually dumber than those who used other browsers. A company called Aptiquant put out a study that seemed to prove it. The story spread like wildfire, until it was revealed to be ahoax. When the truth came out, the guy behind it all had this to say: "It was just a joke, and I didnt really mean to insult anybody." (Not technically an April Fools' Day joke, but way too good to leave out.)

5. World of Warcraft introduces Crabby, the dungeon helper: On April 1, 2011, Blizzard, the maker of World of Warcraft, introduced Crabby, a giant holographic crab that hangs out at the bottom right-hand region of your screen and helps provide advice and helpful tips as you make your way through Azeroth's dungeons. He's so awesome, and fake.

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Excerpt from:
April Fools' Day: Five great Internet hoaxes

A ship leaving the United Arab Emirates uses weights attached to buoys to help sink an underwater Internet cable.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Did you ever wonder how people in Japan connect to websites hosted in San Francisco? Or how a New Yorker can Skype with a friend in Sydney?

It sounds crazy, but Earth's continents are physically linked to one another through a vast network of subsea, fiber-optic cables that circumnavigate the globe. Cords no thicker than your home's broadband connection stretch along the bottom of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans; through the Suez canal; across the Mediterranean Sea and around the coasts of Africa and South America.

Indian telecom giant Tata, one of the world's largest subsea cable providers, manages 130,500 miles of fiber sitting at the bottom of the ocean floor. That's enough to circle the planet five times. It takes a ship six weeks just to load the cable for a cross-ocean voyage.

Why is all that underwater cable necessary? It's a matter of speed, and laying in enough safeguards to ensure that the Internet won't suddenly go down.

Subsea fiber-optic cables can tie two giant centers of commerce together, reducing data traffic delays. Three companies are in the process of building cable networks that link London directly to Tokyo -- through the polar ice cap -- with cables capable of 10 gigabit-per-second speeds. (That's 2,000 times faster than your home Internet connection).

Those cables could reduce the Internet's latency by about 60 milliseconds between those two points.

That's an imperceptible lag for the average Internet user, but it's an eternity for high-speed stock traders. They can make or lose millions of dollars in that span of time.

It's not just financial institutions, which make up a very small portion of total Internet usage, that are interested in faster speeds. Internet service providers like Comcast (CMCSA, Fortune 500) and Time Warner Cable (TWC, Fortune 500) like to go zoom as well, because it gives them capacity to meet the growing demands on their networks.

Subsea cables have the added benefit of being shielded from wind, trees, storms and other destructive forces. They don't require massive towers to carry them, like over-the-land cables do.

Read more from the original source:
Making the Internet a split-second faster

A small New York web development company pulled a fast one on the Internet this week when it pretended to launch a website associated with Kanye West's yet-to-be-unveiled startup.

And as the famous West/Jay-Z song says, it got the people going.

WhoDat.biz lit up Twitter on Wednesday and was reported by a couple of credible news sites, including the Washington Post.

"Quick! Invest in @kanyewest's Donda Media. They just reinvented technology that has been around since the 80's," said one Twitter user, who likely hadn't yet realized the site was a hoax.

By the end of the night, it was obvious the site was not legitimate, especially considering it's nothing more than a simple who-is website that looks up websites' information. Gizmodo debunked WhoDat.biz after discovering the real creators behind the site, cleverly enough, by using the fake West website to look up their phone number.

OKFocus the team of web developers behind the hoax, pulls this kind of stunt once a week, said co-founder Ryder Ripps.

We try to do one of these kind of projects a week just to keep our own spirits up and have fun," he said. "Thats the main objective, and prove to our future clients that were good at the Internet.

OKFocus decided to make an interesting who-is website on Monday. They chose to go with a gangster-style who-is but decided they needed something more to make it interesting and catch people's attention.

And West's startup, named Donda after his deceased mother, presented an opportunity. The rapper announced the venture in January on Twitter, but he has yet to reveal what it is.

It was something that didnt have any sort of presence on the Internet yet, Ripps said. We could interpret it to our own liking.

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Fake Kanye West startup website fools the Internet

Enlarge Hrvoje Polan/AFP/Getty Images

The group Anonymous has threatened to take down the Internet on Saturday to protest anti-piracy proposals that they consider online censorship. Here, a masked protester demonstrates against one such measure last month in Zagreb, Croatia, last month.

The group Anonymous has threatened to take down the Internet on Saturday to protest anti-piracy proposals that they consider online censorship. Here, a masked protester demonstrates against one such measure last month in Zagreb, Croatia, last month.

The mysterious group of hackers who go by the name "Anonymous" have threatened to take down the Internet on Saturday. Or not.

The confusion comes from the very nature of the group, which is amorphous and has no identifiable leadership. Several weeks ago, a group identifying itself as Anonymous announced "Operation Global Blackout," the effect of which would be to bring Web surfing to a halt.

Cybersecurity experts doubt the operation would have more than a limited effect, given the layers of protection built into the Internet architecture.

The Anonymous group itself, meanwhile, appeared divided over the plan. A Twitter account normally associated with Anonymous included several statements on Friday denying any effort to shut down the Internet.

"For the billionth time: #Anonymous will not shut down the Internet on 31 March," said one.

"What is this #OperationGlobalBlackout nonsense?" said another. "Stop asking us about it!"

The contradictions highlighted the difficulty of assessing whether a hacking threat should be attributed to Anonymous or to hackers merely posing as Anonymous

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'Anonymous' Hacking Group Threatens The Internet

(PRWEB UK) 30 March 2012

Nowadays, its imperative for any restaurant business to have an online presence but with the recent take up and use of smartphones and tablets its equally important to provide a fast, informative mobile solution for prospective visitors while they are on the move. Mobile websites are a great marketing and advertising platform that shouldnt be overlooked for any business.

Many restaurants already provide a desktop brochure website to showcase their menu, let visitors view photos and inform them about the restaurant's function rooms, catering, opening times and special offers. However, traditional websites arent built with the small screen in mind leading to lots of rotating and pinching.

With most of the UK's smartphone owners also using their devices at home, it has now become imperative for any restaurant to offer a comprehensive, dedicated mobile solution.

All of Internet Buff's mobile web design packages come with email form functionality, click to call buttons and an easy to use content management system allowing restaurants to showcase their menu, restaurant and bar, function rooms and special offers via a simple screen touch. Restaurants can upload photos of their restaurant and cuisine to a dedicated gallery. A link to Google Maps helps visitors find the restaurant quickly and visitors can share their experience after their meal using social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

All packages come with free hosting and a dedicated content management system so restaurants can update text, photo galleries and pricing anytime and from any web browser.

So, whether they are at home or on the move, restaurants can now give their customers a stunning mobile experience.

Internet Buff produce professional website design with user-friendly navigation and efficient layouts, designed for desktop, tablet and mobile devices. Their web designer service supports start-up and small businesses across the UK and beyond.

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Internet Buff Launches Mobile Website Design Solutions for Restaurants