(AP)
On the search engine usually known as Google, users today are having their computer redirected to Topeka. The city of Topeka, Kan., has been wanting to change its name to Google, so Google decided to change its own name to Topeka.
In explaining the April Fools' Day change, the search engine says Google employees once known as "Googlers" will now be called "Topekers" or "Topekans."
Starbucks is getting in on the April first fun, too. The coffee giant announced on its company blog that there will soon be two new drink sizes. "Plenta" is a hefty 128 ounces, while "Micra" is a tiny two ounces. Starbucks suggests once a customer is finished with a Plenta drink, the cup can be used for a rain hat or a lampshade. It says a Micra cup can be used as a milk dish for kittens or a paper clip holder.
But that's not all: Tech Web sites around the Web compete each year for the most outrageous April Fool's jokes. And TechCrunch has rounded the best of them up -- spotlighting a few the site's own pranks.
There's a a clever play on its efforts to build a cheap, Web surfing tablet PC, a device that would have been called the CrunchPad and would have competed with the Apple iPad. TechCrunch writes how, for less than $50, you can turn any laptop into a high-tech CrunchPad device. "It uses the finest F.U.J.J. technology" and includes a how-to video.
Google has other puns on-line, notably the new feature added to Google Docs: the ability to store anything on the Web site. "Store your keys, remotes, rail passes, and other objects you commonly lose with Google Docs," writes the Web site, "and you’ll never have to worry about finding them again."
Wikipedia's front page highlights an article of merit for some reason, something interesting or unusual. Recently featured stories include an article on archaeological site Takalik Abaj and video game Iridion 3D. Today's front page story is a lengthy article on the traditional English practice of wife selling, which notes that "Prices paid for wives varied considerably, from a high of £100 (plus £25 each for her two children), to a low of a glass of ale, or even free."
Kodak has a wonderful new innovation for April Fool's Day: aromatography. "Imagine seeing an image of a field of wildflowers and the experiencing all the delicate and complex aromas that accompany the visual experience. It's no longer just a dream, thanks to recent breakthroughs in Neuro-Optic-Nasal-Sense Imaging," the photography giant's Web site reads.
Images on the site entice you to "Apply Aroma."
And if you're looking for a laugh, drop by Web video site Funny or Die, which has been renamed "Bieber or Die." For the day -- hopefully, just for the day -- all videos on the site feature the Canadian pop star.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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