At Sainsbury’s HQ, the team came up with yolk free eggs, we had a good giggle mocking up the packaging and our social media team conjured up a nifty little graphic about the benefits of such eggs.

90% of those responding to our Tweet from @SainsburysNews got the joke immediately and gleefully took part in some egg puns.

Others were keen to see an all-yolk version

There were of course the 5% that thought it was The Worst April Fools’ Of All Time and the remainder who actually fell for it and were convinced there was some genetically modified horribleness behind it. Something we were very quick to point out wasn’t the case, regardless if this was just an April Fools’ joke or not.

So, it’s a little fun, I genuinely think that a good few people had a chuckle at our no yolk eggs – I know my team and I had a fun morning going back to our followers with egg puns and silliness.

But enough of Sainsbury’s – here are some of the other gags that caught my eye

Google not only flipped the web with com.Google, they let us play Pac Man in Google Maps, anywhere in the world.

Jeremy Clarkson joined The Guardian drive for fossil fuel divestment.

Matthew Weathers, math professor at Biola University, pranked his students during class (this clip has racked up an amazing 8.9 million views since being posted on April 2).

Beware the nerds: Physicist in Materials Science at Cambridge University Dr Paul Coxon Tweeted this cracker

I’m not including House of Fraser because their effort was funny (I mean come on, Horse of Fraser? They’re not even trying!). I’m including it because they’re using it to attack Tesco. Bonkers.

And then we have those crazy Germans, renowned for their sense of humour. The BVG – Berlin’s TFL if you will – decided to create an English language translation of the U-and-S-Bahn network to make it easier for tourists to pronounce those rather difficult German names.

  • Jannowitzbrücke = Yesnowjokebridge
  • Tiergarten = Beastyard
  • Anhalter Bahnhof = Hitchhiker Station
  • Jungfernheide = Virgins Heathland

Glorious! Here’s the full plan.

Tesco win my vote for crappiest April Fools’ photoshop this year with their bouncy aisles (for a proper giggle, The Guardian’s April Fools’ live blog did a number on it).

BMW New Zealand decided to flip the concept of April Fools’ on its head and rather than embarrass their victims, they rewarded them with a new car.

There was also a story about a new service for Amazon Prime users called Amazon Dash Button: a button for washing detergent, coffee pods or toothpaste – one press and Amazon delivers the item to your doorstep. Many believed it to be a prank – it is not! I do wonder though: how will Amazon know that I’ve pressed the button, forgot to tell Georgie, she presses the button, and then we’re suddenly left with two of everything? I need to know!

And, of course, there’s the ever brilliant John Oliver, who, despite his show Last Week Tonight being on hiatus, came out to post a great little clip on his thoughts on April Fools’. Hint: he’s not a fan.

Livestream is the new Mainstream

I’m shamelessly stealing the title from this excellent post by German journalist Richard Gutjahr (don’t worry, it’s in English) who writes about the experience of witnessing the recent gas explosion in Manhattan via Periscope (you know, one of those new live streaming apps we’ve been hearing about.

Speaking as a journalist, he reckons that these apps will change the way breaking news is reported. Rather than arriving late and talking with their backs to a scene of devastation where whatever happened has long since happened, Periscope allows the reporter to stream what they see, as they see it, when it happens.

While TV Reporters are tied to their OB vans, and can only distance themselves a few meters away from them, the Mashable reporter could run free. This subjective camera perspective gives me the feeling at times as if I were running with her through the streets of Manhattan, almost like in a computer game.

But here’s the clincher:

[The reporter] describes the acrid smell in the air. She talks to cops and she interviews eye witnesses. I can even ask her questions via the chat function. The reporter literally lends me her eyes and ears. Journalism at its best!

The viewer can interact directly with the reporter. Ask questions and the person streaming will see these questions come up on their screen. All they need to do is say the answer. A simple technology, used brilliantly to bring journalist and viewers closer together.

Richard’s post is well worth the read, especially as it also includes a number of screenshots of the Periscope app and his annotations explaining what you’re seeing.

What could you use Periscope for?

Picture the scene. There’s a terrible accident. People are injured, medical professionals are on their way but some people need immediate assistance or they will die.

  • You haven’t got a clue about first aid so you start live streaming to the emergency services who message you details on how you can triage the most critical casualties
  • You’re a press officer for the company that is involved in this incident – or you’re a journalist. You ask the person(s) streaming for details on what happened, who’s injured, what kind of help they need

It doesn’t even have to be this dramatic.

Periscope will come in handy in customer service

Imagine. Your company sells stuff. You customers then use that stuff – either straight out of the box or by assembling the components to something bigger and better. Sometimes stuff goes wrong and your customers need help. Wouldn’t it be brilliant if your customers could stream their problems and your customer service reps help them sort stuff out? Live? Without any need for customers explain what’s gone wrong?

Some scenarios

  • How do I assemble this new furniture?
  • How do I install this software?
  • How do I hook up my new grear to my home wifi network?
  • How do I do whatever it is I need to do?

Aussie blog Comms Go Digital put together a nifty tips and tricks for anyone trying their hand at using Periscope – have a look, I’m sure you’ll come up with a few ideas on how to use it.

Bits and bytes

Videos of the week

These guys solved almost 1,300 Rubik’s cubes over and over again to create an animated robot love story. So much awesome.

Jean goes to the basketball court to try his brand new ball – only to have it play a part in a reel of Hollywood films. Genius bit of CGI and editing by Hotu.

Herding sheep with a drone.

And finally

Blade Runner Reality is an Instagram feed dedicated to finding reality that looks like scenes from the film Blade Runner.

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