The internet is bad enough on normal days, but it really becomes a minefield on April 1. If you take anything you read at face value, your leg is liable to come off in someone’s hand.
Have fun guys, but I’m not going to believe anything anyone says today.
Nice whoosh. You really love it, don’t you?
The worst part of April Fools day on the Internet is that many of those jokes persist until long after today’s over with. And I don’t generally look for a date on the pages I’m reading.
It doesn’t get much worse than falling for an April Fools joke in October.
So which is the official thread for reporting good AF pranks? Personally, I like the products that ThinkGeek brings out every April 1 because they are funny and clever, and occasionally they make real versions…
Yeah, I don’t get it either. This is 4th grader stuff. Expecially sad to see The Powers That Be engaging in this nonsense. A jokey thread or some such is one thing. But to mess with the navigational aspects of the board is awful.
Grow up people. Just grow up.
Wha? The board forums were all in the exact order, and the names were really appropriate and easy to figure out. Plus they’re not exactly all solemn normally - Mindless Pointless Stuff I Must Share was named that because it was for not-Cecil, not-question-answering stuff which can include even news that shatters your own personal world (divorce, deaths) or a much wider group (the thread about the 9/11/01 attacks, the Thailand tsunami, etc.).
It’s not like they sent you to a random forum each time you clicked, or something equally obnoxious.
We have grown up. But once in a while it’s fun to be a child again.
April Fools Day is pretty bad. I’m with the OP. I see it as internet graffiti and graffiti has to be really quality to be considered art. Childish graffiti just don’t attract my admiration.
Ooooooh, someone’s a little grumposaurus today! 
There’s always next year.
Some people don’t have a sense of humor, I guess.
The SDMB made fun of itself, more so than anything. TPTB weren’t trying to trick or deceive anyone else. Sheesh, people, get a grip.
I do have a sense of humor. I’m just not a 10-year old anymore. There’s juvenile humor and adult humor. I’m an adult. Guess which type I enjoy.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who hates April Fools. The online jokes are usually juvenile and lame, and I have a passionate hatred of practical jokes. They are almost universally mean-spirited and sophomoric. And, as we see here, if you don’t enjoy being tricked or reading lame jokes, you are accused of having no sense of humour.
Isn’t the whole point of the “holiday” to make fun of people who didn’t switch over on time the last time we changed calendar systems? How long ago was that? Are any of them still alive? Can we stop making fun of them yet?
I’ll grow up when you lighten up.
The lesson one should take from April Fools day is - Treat every day of the year like it’s April 1st.
In other words, don’t automatically believe everything you read on the internet and in newspapers.
I hate practical jokes and being tricked, but I thought the changed forum names were cute and fun. Shrug. YMMV.
An official apology has been posted here.
That’s low. The real apology is here.
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=558215
Obvious April Fool’s Day pranks don’t bother me. Changing the forum descriptions or Google’s 'Topeka" are fine. But one of my friends posted a facebook update about his company transferring him to Dallas. Being a former resident, I wasted time emailing him about it. Turns out it was a dumb April Fool’s joke since he hates the Dallas Cowboys so much it is the one place he’d hate to move to the most.