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20 of the Internet’s Best April Fools’ Day Pranks

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Thanks to the limitless possibilities the Internet has given us, today’s April Fool’s jokes are a lot more sophisticated than the ones American Girl Magazine used to suggest (“Put a dime and a safety pin in a box, give it to your friend, and say you got them a diamond pin!”). Tech startups (and, of course, established companies) have become especially big players, as they have the platforms, budgets, and creative minds to make really wacky ideas come to life. Some companies go all-out, like Google, which has at least five different pranks (just in America) on its multitude of channels. Others, like Uber and TOMS, realize they’re a match made in heaven and combine forces into something beautiful. For your entertainment — and to help you avoid falling for an embarrassing prank — here’s a roundup of the best April Fools’ jokes the Internet has to offer today. … Read More

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Art

Famous Paintings to Peruse on Google’s New Indoor Maps Feature

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Ever wanted to see the Met’s Impressionist wing without booking a trip to New York? To browse presidential portraits inside the White House? Take in the newest MOMA exhibition from your couch? You can.

While Google Maps may get you to the front door of your destination, its newest feature, “Indoor Maps,” can help you figure out where to go next. Originally a feature exclusive to Android, last week Google expanded Indoor Maps to be available on web browsers, bringing the user inside an assortment of transportation, shopping, and cultural destinations, from airports to malls, casinos to train stations; a full list of locations is available here. … Read More

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Design

Gorgeous Vintage-Style Postcards Created from Google Maps

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The images you’ll find at Postcards from Above look like someone’s treasure trove of postcards from a bygone era — faded, stamped, with worn borders or rounded edges. Many have a retro-futuristic feel, featuring airports and highways and fortress-like industrial complexes. In fact, they’re entirely the products of 21st-century technology. The Tumblr is the work of BBDO NY art director Akos Papp, who sources his aerial photos from Google Maps and edits them to create the impression of a vintage postcard. Click through for a gallery of excellent Postcards from Above, which we discovered via Visual News, and keep track of the project by following it on Tumblr. … Read More

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Art

10 Clever Web-Inspired Street Art Projects

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We love the virtual world as much as the next guy, but we have to admit, the sights, sounds, and feel good tactile fun of good ol’ fashioned reality often have us questioning the ungodly amount of time we spend online. Just last week the Singapore-based global conversation agency, we are social, posted a fascinating infographic reporting that collectively the world spends 35 billion minutes per month online. If that staggering statistic has you racing to book an unplugged retreat in a yurt on California’s Central Coast, then consider this us flipping the doom and gloom of an extravagant virtual existence on it’s head with a playful look at some of the best things that the online world has that the offline world doesn’t.

If you’ve ever found yourself wanting to “Like” something you saw on the street or wishing that super helpful red Google map marker would just magically pop up over the hot new back alley speakeasy that you can’t find to save your life, then consider this our gift to your overactive, virtually-obsessed imagination. From real world error boxes to an offline file sharing treasure hunt to statement stickers that let you share your opinion about stuff you see on the streets ala your favorite Facebook action, click through to check out our roundup of the street art movement’s answer to your plugged in prayers. … Read More

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Web

What's On at Flavorpill: The Links That Made the Rounds In Our Office

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Today at Flavorpill, we learned about a lost Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece. We demanded more hilarious French cat videos. We imagined what the History Channel’s first reality-based fiction series about vikings would be like. We enjoyed the best Google Maps satellite imagery around the world. We wondered if … Read More

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Architecture

Take a Google Maps Tour of Old Hollywood Film Locations in ‘The Artist’

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If last night’s Oscars proved one thing, it’s that Old Hollywood has officially been resurrected, and we hope it’s here to stay. From Rooney Mara’s stunning homage to Audrey Hepburn to Brian Grazer’s decision to include live music in the Theatre-formerly-known-as-the-Kodak-Theatre’s parterre, everything about Hollywood’s golden night seemed to be a nod to gracious days gone by.

Jean Dujardin, our favorite sexy French 1920s throwback and the evening’s Best Actor winner, took us back in time with his nostalgic acceptance speech reminiscing that, “in 1929 it wasn’t Billy Crystal, but Douglas Fairbanks who hosted the first Oscar ceremony. Tickets cost five dollars and it lasted 15 minutes. Times have changed. Though thank you Douglas Fairbanks, your spirit and joie de vivre inspired me for this role.”

We celebrate this year’s Best Picture winner — and the only movie among the nine nominees filmed entirely in Los Angeles — by combining two of the Golden State’s greatest inventions: Hollywood Glamour and Google Maps. Sit back, relax and enjoy the design of a bygone era as we poke around the street views of The Artist’s architecture with our favorite virtual globetrotting tool. … Read More

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Web

What’s On at Flavorpill: The Links That Made the Rounds in Our Office

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Today at Flavorpill, we felt nostalgic thanks to Videogum’s roundup of the best viral videos of 2011, a montage which features appearances by favorites like “Princess Girls Sing Nicki Minaj,” “Michele Bachmann Girls,” and “Goth Dudes Dancing To ‘Vogue.’” We were shocked by how nasty ancient graffiti could be. We took… Read More

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Music

A Google Map of Every Location Mentioned in a Mountain Goats Song

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Mountain Goats fandom is no casual endeavor; their discography looks something like this, and that’s not even including the many, many songs that have never been released. The intense relationship between John Darnielle’s audience and his music has been extensively documented, and each Mountain Goats concert is basically an excuse for several hundred people to celebrate the joys of unhappiness together. (In case you assume we’re making fun, know this: We’ve been to at least six of them.) All of which is to say that there is absolutely nothing surprising in the news that one zealous disciple has created a global Google map pinpointing each of the myriad places Darnielle mentions in his songs and annotating it with the relevant lyrics — from the Denton, TX of “The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton” to the Shanghai of “Lady from Shanghai.” Gawk (or, if you’re a Mountain Goats superfan, point out the egregious omission of your choice) after the jump. … Read More

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Film

Google Mapping 100 Years of Set Locations

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How’s this for ambitious: Our friends at Switched report that Edmund Helmer, a film buff with some time on his hands and a working knowledge of Google’s new Fusion Tables data management tool, has created a map plotting the set locations of the top 2,000 films listed on IMDB, as ranked by the site’s… Read More

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