It all started in the 60s. If you turned up on a smart bike there was an immediate crowd round you. Today, the story is much the same.

Outside Starbucks the other day, there it was… the ultimate dream machine. Smooth, silver and seductive. No rider in sight, nor was there anything else to interrupt the view. Not a single blemish. Not a fingerprint. What a stunner.

We know the price tag is the same as a pretty smart car. But with a Harley you get what’s not included in the price tag of most things on four wheels… showstopping street cred – and a permanent smile.

When you speak to the local Harley-Davidson boys you find they’re not a bunch of boy racers. They’re fellows who love the feeling of the open road. Without exception, Harley owners reckon that although the bike’s expensive, every dirham is well spent.

But don’t take their word for it… try one for yourself. They’re available for a day’s hire at Harley-Davidson UAE. For more information, telephone Nelius in Abu Dhabi on 02 6427400 (showroom corner of Al Salaam Street and Al Falah Street) or Sam in Dubai 04 3391909 ext 34 (showroom Sheikh Zayed Road). More at http://www.harley-uae.com

Factoid

Harley-Davidson worldwide has just had its 20th consecutive year of record sales.

Over the last four years, Dubai sales have also increased by around 20%, an in Abu Dhabi the increase is a massive 50% during last year alone. You can pay anything from around Dhs30,000 for a 900cc sportster (that’s a big bike for your money) to Dhs120,000 for the top of the range model (that’s a VERY big bike for your money!)

Events

Harley owners in the US have 12 events scheduled for 1st April alone. Check out the rest of the calendar here.

In Europe, it’s the German Harley owners who have got themselves organised, with six of this month’s eight events being held in Germany.

For more information on the local Harley owners chapters visit the Harley owners group on http://www.hogabudhabi.com or http://www.hogdubai.com

If you’re quick, you’ve just got time to visit the 2nd annual Dubai Bikeweek at DIMC, Dubai - last day, 1st April: http://www.dubaibikeweek.com

Fact or fiction?

Were Harleys buried in England after the war?

And finally...

If you prefer four wheels to two, this tasty little number from Porsche is now available in the UAE! See below for a list of local Porsche agents…

Green tea has become quite popular among the health conscious, but white tea is now earning accolades for its potential health benefits.

White tea is produced from the same tea plant as black, green and oolong teas. Each is distinctly different in flavour and colour and the nutritional components vary as well. White tea is delicate, slightly sweet and doesn’t have the weedy aftertaste that is sometimes associated with green tea. A coup of white tea contains less fluoride than other teas and only 15mg of caffeine, compared with 40mg for regular tea and 20mg for green tea.

White tea is brimming over with natural polyphenols, health promoting antioxidants that strengthen immune systems and suppress free-radical activity. A recent issue of the African Journal of Biotechnology found that the antioxidant properties of white tea are similar to those of green tea. Lab tests on the four varieties of tea found that white tea inhibited mutations in DNA, the earliest stages of progression of a healthy cell to a cancerous one, more efficiently than green or black teas.

In 2003 a study by the Linus Pauling Institute found that white tea was as effective as sulindac, a prescription non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug in suppressing pre-cancerous tumours in mice.

They also found that lab mice treated with a combination of white tea and sulindac had significantly fewer tumours than those treated with either substance alone. There is also evidence to suggest that white tea may be beneficial fighting viruses, bacterial and fungal infections.

The early research is encouraging, making white tea an attractive alternative for both flavour and health benefits.

How tea is processed

Black Tea: Mature leaves are withered to remove moisture, then they are rolled and left to fully ferment or oxidize. The darkened leaves are then dried again to stop the fermentation process.

Oolong Tea: The process is the same as that for black tea, but with a shorter fermentation stage.

Green Tea: The leaves are not subjected to the fermentation process and are withered, steamed, rolled and dried to stabilize their natural green colour, flavour and nutrients.

White Tea: This involves the least processing of all. Immature leaves are harvested in early spring with the silvery white buds unopened. Leaves and buds are steamed together and air dried to prevent oxidation and the preserve more of the natural plant nutrients and antioxidants.

TAURUS Money makes your world go round this month! With the Sun, Mercury and Venus highlighting that section of your chart this is a prime time for settling your finances on a more secure foundation. With Mercury retrograde in this area you may be able to go back to financial institutions and renegotiate terms. You may also find that people from your past come back into your life. 9th - 20th is an important time for changes in a relationship. Pluto could throw you an altogether new lifeline at the end of the month. 

GEMINI The Sun is in your sign until 21st so enjoy the renewed energy you are feeling. Venus is in your sign until 18th making this a romantic period - at the very least you will attract the opposite sex, and your confidence will be high. However, Mercury your ruler is retrograde until 19th so there could be delays with travel, and misunderstandings with other people. This is a good time to look back over your life and consider the way forward. 9th - 20th is influenced by Uranus, Neptune and Pluto and is likely to bring you both highs and lows. Try to tread the middle path and look for the positive. 

CANCER The Sun, not to mention Mercury and Venus, spend the first part of this month in the area of dreams and intuitions. If you can you would benefit from withdrawing slightly from the world, pursuing meditation, and cultivating inward peace. Your health is an issue, so check out anything that is worrying you. The period of 9th - 20th could reveal secrets or bring surprises, but try not to do anything too hasty. Venus comes into your sign on 18th and the Sun on 21st and you will feel a renewal of energy and be able to persuade others to your point of view. 

LEO The Sun highlights your social life so this is a time to party, but Mars urges you on to extremes. this means you are likely to be burning the candle at both ends and may not handle other people very well. Don’t take your frustrations out on them, because all you need do is handle a situation a little more carefully to get the result you want. The period 9th-21st brings surprises and friendship and colleagues could give you their support if you ask for it, or you may find yourself offering them a shoulder to cry on. 

VIRGO June is important both personally and professionally, and it is your time to shine. Although you like to plan, remember to be flexible as the period between 9th and 21st will be challenging and could bring big changes at work or at home - or both! Your ruler, Mercury will be retrograde until 19th so it might seem as if your career is on hold, and misunderstanding could easily arise in business matters. Take the opportunities offered to look in new directions, examine your own motives and then forge ahead to your goal. 

LIBRA Exploring new horizons is the theme this month. Some of you will be studying something new, while others will be travelling to far-flung destinations. A word to the wise - with Mercury retrograde until 19th, be aware that travel plans may be subject to last minute changes and misunderstandings abound. All you can do is be as clear as possible, and make sure you understand what other people are saying. Between 9th and 21st difficult aspects involving Uranus and Pluto will bring you some unexpected developments, either in relationships or legal matters. As these clear you will see your life goals more clearly. 

SCORPIO Finances are forefront this month, and the patterns of spending and saving could be changing. Property, inheritance and investment are subject to changes and delays so be patient and look at the details in any papers you sign. These matters test your relationship and for some this could be a breaking point, while for others it adds strength and purpose. Expect the unexpected between 9th and 21st and don’t let hte misunderstanding caused by Mercury retrograde to spoil your relationships. After 20th you should plan a much-needed holiday! 

SAGITTARIUS June is about relationships of all kinds, and you may well be trying to sort out where you fit in to their lives. You may have to sacrifice your needs to help them achieve their goals. For some of you this may be a step too far, for others it will only strengthen the already-existing bond. If you are looking for someone you are at your most charismatic this month, and Venus is on your side until 18th, so make the most of the opportunities that arise. The period between 9th and 20th is about transformation - and while you may be tempted to end a difficult situation, be careful not to rush into a decision you will later regret. 

CAPRICORN Work and lifestyle take up your time this month. This is the month to examine your support structures, to discard the dead wood and to concentrate on those people who really help you. Remember that Mercury is retrograde until 19th so you need to be clear in anything you say as this could easily be misinterpreted. Your professional future is something you need to think long and hard about and there could be unexpected changes in this area. After 18th Venus enters your zone of relationships, bringing romance and offering opportunities for new relationships. 

AQUARIUS Contact the creativity within yourself this month, whether this is concerned with new arrivals or a new business. Perhaps you could take up a creative hobby that you have always wanted to explore. Your challenge is in the period from 9th to 20th when unexpected events could trigger a crisis and you need to decide whether to confront them head on or back away and wait for the storm to pass. Whatever happens Pluto could transform your life this month, either through inner development or through a meeting with a stranger. 

PISCES Home and family go through a period of upheaval this month, particularly from 9th to 20th. There are big changes - some of you will be moving home, redecorating rooms, or extending your family, while others will be thinking seriously about changes that will be made later in the year. The past revisits you this month, so you may run into an old friend or have a disturbing sense of deja-vu. Uranus in your sign turns retrograde on 27th so events around that time may give you an indication of where you are heading. 

Gary Pugh, director of forensic sciences at Scotland Yard, wants to collect and store DNA samples from any kids who exhibit behaviour indicating they may become criminals in later life. Civil liberty groups condemned his comments, likening them to an excerpt from a science fiction novel.

Pugh says a debate is needed to determine how far Britain should go in identifying potential offenders, given that some experts believe it is possible to identify future offending traits in children as young as five.

“If we have a primary means of identifying people before they offend, then in the long-term the benefits of targeting younger people are extremely large,” said Pugh. “You could argue the younger, the better. Criminologists say some people will grow out of crime; others won’t. We have to find who are possibly going to be the biggest threat to society.”

Pugh admits the deeply controversial suggestion raises issues of parental consent, potential stigmatisation and the role of teachers in identifying future offenders, but said society needed an open, mature discussion on how best to tackle crime before it took place. Britain currently maintains the largest DNA database in Europe, with 4.5 million genetic samples on file.

Pugh says the idea of universal sampling, forcing everyone to give a DNA sample is prohibitively expensive and poses a logistical nightmare.

Pugh’s call for the government to consider options such as placing primary school children who have not been arrested on the database is supported by elements of criminological theory.

A well-established pattern of offending involves relatively trivial offences escalating to more serious crimes. Senior Scotland Yard criminologists are understood to be confident that techniques are able to identify future offenders.

Shami Chakrabarti, from the civil rights group Liberty, denounced the scheme.

“Whichever bright spark thought this one up should go back to the business of policing or the pastime of science fiction novels,” she said. “The British public is highly respectful of the police and open even to eccentric debate, but playing politics with our innocent kids is a step too far.”

Pugh, though, believes that measures to identify criminals early would save the economy huge sums since violent crime alone costs the UK £13 billion a year.

He said the British public needed to move away from regarding anyone on the DNA database as a criminal and accepted it was an emotional issue.

“Fingerprints, somehow, are far less contentious,” he said. “We have children giving their fingerprints when they are borrowing books from a library.”

The frogs are great but just wait till you see the pas de deux - it has a rare beauty and astonishing athleticism…

For the full article click here.

XP supporters point to the operating system’s superiority compared to Vista, its one-year-old sibling.  No matter how hard Microsoft tries to persuade people to buy and install Vista, many knowledgeable users just can’t be convinced. They complain about the bloated size of Vista, saying it uses up far too much RAM and hard drive space. 

Even those with a system robust enough to support Vista’s appetite for memory, complain about incompatibility with other hardware and software, its overall lacklustre performance, and its irritating security pop-up windows.  For those with slightly older PCs, the demise of XP is being met with a feeling of helplessness as they face the prospect of retiring their machines.

One online petition has about 200 thousand signatures and thousands of comments from XP users who are demanding Microsoft continue to provide support for XP until the next Windows version is released, sometime in 2010. There are tales of woe from people who have purchased new computers in the past 12 months loaded with Vista. Many of them have deleted Vista and replaced it with XP, only to be told their warrantees are void.

Generally, informed users are frustrated that Microsoft has the power to enforce the phase-out from a stable, decent product to one that many consider worse, while profiting from the move. Many are threatening to leave Windows for Apple or Linux machines.

This year, 94 percent of new Windows machines sold to consumers worldwide will run Vista. About 75 percent of new business PCs will have Vista. 

While Microsoft is not likely to reverse its policy or continue selling copies of the XP system, some industry insiders say it may be forced to extend support past the planned June 30th cut-off date.

One industry analyst estimates that by the end of this year nearly 60 per cent of consumer PCs and almost 70 percent of business PCs worldwide will still be running XP. Microsoft may find it easy to ignore the concerns of home users, but one wonders if it can afford to alienate its business customers?

Some tech industry analysts even say Vista could prove to be the downfall of the multi billion dollar Microsoft Empire. Michael Silver and Neil MacDonald of Gartner Research say Microsoft has not responded to the market and faces serious competition in a number of areas that will make the Windows operating system obsolete unless the company takes significant action.

Silver and MacDonald say Windows on the whole is becoming less important, since software developers are now designing web-based applications rather than those that run on operating systems. They say Microsoft is falling behind and could face major turmoil in as little as three years, when it will have trouble competing with web and mobile applications.

Industry experts say Microsoft is aware that Windows’ days may be numbered, which is why the company is pursuing a takeover of internet portal Yahoo Inc. so fiercely.

Converting itself to a web company is crucial for Microsoft. “Online advertising revenue is their only real hope of long-term survival,” TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington wrote on his blog recently.

If you want to keep tabs on Microsoft’s plans for XP, or if you want to sign the “Save XP” petition check out http://weblog.infoworld.com/save-xp/

So what’s the bottom Line..?

Will you be forced to upgrade to Vista soon?

No but, it will get harder and harder not to, since new software and peripherals are likely to stop working with XP. That could take years though.

Will my XP machine stop working in June?

No, but Microsoft will stop releasing non-security software updates to the masses on April 14th, 2009. But XP will continue to work even after this point.

Will Microsoft shut off product activation for XP after June?

While no one has said this will happen, it’s conceivable that Gates & Co could shut down product activation for XP at some point. But, that would only happen after XP reaches its end-of-support term on April 8th, 2014, which should be plenty of time for you to get the kinks worked out of Vista-or switch to a Mac or even Linux.

Can I install XP on a PC that has Vista already on it?

Yes. You can delete any partition with any OS on it and reformat it during the installation of XP. 

The team at the University of East Anglia have employed Belgian experts to create a chocolate bar that retains higher levels of these special antioxidants. They’ve also added soy to boost its health effects even further.

Trials hope to discover whether the bar can help protect diabetic women against heart damage associated with the condition. They are now recruiting 150 post-menopausal women for the research programme.

Aedin Cassidy, lead researcher and professor of diet and health at the university, said: “Despite post-menopausal women being at a similar risk to men for developing cardiovascular disease, to date they are under-represented in clinical trials.

“We hope to show that adding flavonoids to their diets will provide additional protection from heart disease and give women the opportunity to take more control over reducing their risk of heart disease in the future.”

Coronary heart disease is UK’s biggest killer, claiming more than 110,000 lives in England alone each year. Also, more than 1.4 million people suffer from angina while 275,000 have a heart attack.

For women, the risk of heart disease increases dramatically after the menopause. And for women with type-2 diabetes, this risk jumps three and a half times. Last year, a small study by the chocolate giant Mars claimed that eating cocoa-rich chocolate increased blood flow to parts of the brain.

So how does it work? It’s simply that flavonoids boost the production of nitric oxide in blood vessels, lowering blood pressure and improving blood flow.

But not all chocolate is good… it must be the stuff that’s rich in cocoa. Dark chocolate contains on average 70 per cent, milk chocolate is made from 30 to 40 per cent and white chocolate contains just cocoa butter. If you want to give it a try, look out for bars that contain more than 80% cocoa.

Dr Ketan Dhatariya, one of the researchers and a consultant in diabetes at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, said: “The hypothesis of this exciting study is that compounds found in cocoa and soy may improve the level of protection against heart disease over and above that provided by conventional drugs. If the trial confirms this, it could have a far-reaching impact on the advice we give to post-menopausal women who have type-2 diabetes.”

But the diabetes charities funding the study have advised women not to rush out and buy normal chocolate as it would not have the same effect.

Dr Iain Frame, director of research at Diabetes UK, said: “We certainly don’t advise people to start eating a lot of chocolate as it’s very high in sugar and fat.

“We would always recommend that people with diabetes eat a diet low in fat, salt and sugar with plenty of fruit and vegetables.

“A successful outcome of this research would hopefully mean being able to offer people at high risk better protection over and above that provided by conventional drugs.”

TAURUS This is the time of year when you need to take time out from your busy schedule to re-charge your batteries, re-examine your priorities and allow your intuitions and visions of the future to surface. From around 15th travel and creativity are highlighted strongly and your dreams could come true, though opportunities may challenge you by presenting as big changes in your life style. The full Moon on 20th emphasises relationships, and though for some this means a new partner, for others this could be new elements in a current relationship. And don’t forget, the Sun enters your sign on 19th, too, bringing you renewed energy to put your plans into action!

GEMINI Time to get together with friends and celebrate the sweetness of life! Make your home the centre of your social life this month and you could build lasting friendships. Money matters have been a worry for a while but Pluto brings you some pleasant surprises, perhaps moving you on from one job to another, or opening up new opportunities. Team work is all important, so don’t try to go it alone -either at work or at play. Romance is possible, but it is more important to express yourself creatively. There are opportunities to invest in your future if you are bold enough to seize them. Take care of your health around 20th.

CANCER This is a great month so use that Mars energy to make your ambitions and dreams a reality. With the areas of communication, close friends, relationships and career all marked by lucky stars you can take risks and pull them off. Other people will be there to support you, and you will have the gift of persuasion. It seems that everything is going your way so don’t hold back. Love and romance are highlighted so this could be the time to pop the question, or seal the knot. The full Moon of the 20th sees the end of one phase of your life and the beginning of another.

LEO Although the first week could be difficult, April is a great month for considering what career projects to take forward, and which ones have fizzled out and need to be discarded. Finances get a boost from unexpected sources, so take charge of your work and make it fit your life-style, rather than the other way round! The Sun highlights the zone of far-distant horizons, so travel or travel plans are big on the agenda. After 19th the Sun enters your area of career so get your plans in place to make those changes you have been wanting for so long, an appropriate time with the full Moon, to get rid of those things getting in the way of your true ambitions.

VIRGO Time to sort out your finances this month, especially anything involving partners. There are opportunities to sort out any problems and some Virgos will receive a cash boost - either through an unexpected windfall or a career promotion and long-term prospects are excellent. Home and domestic life see some changes, but these, too , are supportive rather than disruptive. When the Sun moves into Taurus around 19th you should start thinking of holidays, travel abroad, or at the very least communicate with long-distance friends - time to look beyond the present dilemmas.

LIBRA With the Sun, Mercury and Venus in your house of relationships this month, healing rifts, bringing new people into your life and setting the scene for new romance in your life. However, this promise seems a long way away in the first week, when confrontation is the keyword and you will have to work hard to find solutions to the dilemmas that face you. After that the stars bring you luck, both in relationships and with your finances - either investments will pay off or there are career developments bringing you extra money.

SCORPIO Health issues take centre stage this month, forcing you to re-assess your life-style, letting go of some activities that increase your stress levels, and making time for others that promote a greater quality of life. In the first week particularly there could be big changes at work, perhaps involving new technology or new systems so try to be open to new ideas. If people upset you, think before you retort so sharply that you turn a friend into an enemy. By 10th relationships are more important, and new associations, or even a new romance, will have a big influence on your life this year. The full Moon on 20th (in Scorpio) is a sign that it is time to move on to the next phase of a relationship - or end it completely.

SAGITTARIUS The Sun, Mercury and Venus bring joy and pleasure this month, particularly if you are involved in anything creative - and if you aren’t, then go out and try something new you have dreamed about and never attempted. The first week, with Pluto throwing his weight about, leaves you feeling a little battered and wondering if you will ever get that problem sorted out - but the lucky stars after 8th will lend you a hand and you will feel as if a weight has been lifted off your shoulders. Career and finances improve, not just because of what you do now, but what you have been trying to achieve for some time. Romance is also in the air, so this is set to be a great month!

CAPRICORN Home and domestic happiness are highlighted this month, although the first ten days could be more dramatic as you ‘spring clean’ your life, clearing out the clutter - physical and emotional - that is preventing you from reaching your goals. With a ‘Grand Trine’ in the earth signs, and Pluto in yours, you should begin to see the reward of all your hard work, at the very least a piece of good luck pushing you in the right direction. Time to get that creative project off the ground! As for romance, don’t give up, there is some one out there for you. A positive attitude makes all the difference.

AQUARIUS Travel and family commitments take up much of your time this month, but it is not all duty although it may seem like it in the first week. Pluto rocks the boat, making individuals and organisations difficult to deal with. Compromise may be the best solution even if you don’t like it and feel that justice should be on your side. Good luck in the area of finances and plans for the future means that success can be yours, and you’ve earned it! As for relationships, communication is the key - speak from the heart and trust to fate - a big player in your hand this month.

PISCES With the Sun, Venus and Mercury in your zone of finances and material security, and the focus of this month’s ‘Grand Trine’, then this has to be your focus. In the first eight days Pluto may seem to throw a spanner in the works but this is only so you can clear out the old and make space for the new. Investments come under the spotlight, particularly those involving property so this is an ideal time to buy. In all ways - financially and emotionally - remember that ‘you are worth it’ and set your price high. From the 20th, travel and communication help you broaden your horizons. 

It’s most probably a relic of the once universal festivities held at the vernal equinox, beginning on old New Year’s day, the 25th March, ending on the 1st April.

Some say it dates back to 1582 when the Gregorian Calendar was introduced in France. Prior to that, the New Year was celebrated for eight days in March, culminating on April 1st. Charles IX brought in the new calendar and New Year’s Day was moved to January 1, but April 1st retained its special meaning. Some say news of the new Gregorian Calendar was slow to spread and some people continued to observe the 8-day New Years festival in late March. They were considered “fools” by the general public…now you see where this is going. The “fools” were often made the butt of practical jokes.  The tradition stuck and spread around the world.

However, this is probably just an expansion of the already existing tradition, as well this date there are French documents dated 1508 and Dutch ones from 1539 which describe April Fool’s Day jokes and the custom of making them on the first of April.

In Scotland, for example, April Fool’s Day is actually celebrated for two days. The second day is devoted to pranks involving the posterior region of the body. It is called Taily Day. The origin of the “kick me” sign can be traced to this observance.

Mexico’s counterpart of April Fool’s Day is actually observed on December 28. Originally, the day was a sad remembrance of the slaughter of the innocent children by King Herod. It eventually evolved into a lighter commemoration involving pranks and trickery.

Closer to home, a form of April-fooling has been an immemorial custom in India where the feast of Holi celebrates the spring equinox. On 31st March, the last day of the feast, the chief amusement is befooling people by sending them on fruitless errands.

Family and friends are usually the target of practical jokes, but in recent years the media has been involved. Some of the media pranks have been brilliant, some have been downright malicious resulting in legal proceedings, and termination of employment. Lets look at some of the more creative hoaxes of recent years.

Spaghetti Trees: The BBC television programme Panorama ran a famous hoax in 1957, showing the Swiss harvesting spaghetti from trees. They had claimed that the despised pest the spaghetti wevil had been eradicated. A large number of people contacted the BBC wanting to know how to cultivate their own spaghetti trees.

Alabama Changes the Value of Pi: The April 1998 newsletter of New Mexicans for Science and Reason contained an article claiming that the Alabama Legislature had voted to change the value of the mathematical constant pi to the “Biblical value” of 3.0.

Left Handed Whoppers: The ad industry is always on the lookout for a new and novel twist. In 1998, Burger King ran an ad in USA Today, saying that people could get a Whopper for left-handed people whose condiments were designed to drip out the right side. Of course “fools” began showing up to order a Left Handed Whopper. In 1996, American fast foot outlet Taco Bell took out a full-page advertisement in The New York Times announcing that they had purchased the Liberty Bell to “reduce the country’s debt” and renamed it the “Taco Liberty Bell.” Fools cried out, “How dare they! The Liberty Bell is part of our heritage.”

San Serriffe: This one is quite clever. The Guardian printed a supplement in 1977 praising San Seriffe as the ideal resort, its two main islands (Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse), its capital (Bodoni), and its leader (General Pica). Intrigued readers were later disappointed to learn that the resort doesn’t exist and the names are references to typeface terminology.

Metric time: Repeated several times in various countries, this hoax involves claiming that the time system will be changed to one in which units of time are based on powers of 10. Actually not a bad idea.

Smell-o-vision: In 1965, the BBC purported to conduct a trial of a new technology allowing the transmission of odor over the airwaves to all viewers. Many viewers reportedly contacted the BBC to report the trial’s success. This hoax was also conducted by the Seven Network in Australia in 2005.

Tower of Pisa: Prominent landmarks are often the target of practical pranks. At different times the Eiffel Tower has been painted pink, the Statue of Liberty has been given a new wardrobe and The Dutch television news reported once in the 1950s that the Tower of Pisa had fallen. Many shocked people contacted the station.

Malteaser: Even diminutive Malta has been in on the fun from time to time. National Television Station (TVM) in Malta: In 1995, TVM announced the discovery of a new underground prehistoric temple with a mummy. Another year, TVM announced that Malta would adopt the European continent convention of driving on the right-hand side of the road.

Rain drop power: On April 1st 2006 Norwegian media had a one-page story concerning “rain drop power”, which could replace oil as a primary energy source. People actually wrote to the energy company BKK in Bergen asking to volunteer and receive the power generated for free.

Defying gravity: In 1976, British astronomer Sir Patrick Moore told listeners of BBC Radio 2 that unique alignment of two planets would result in an upward gravitational pull making people lighter at precisely 9:47 a.m. that day. He invited his audience to jump in the air and experience “a strange floating sensation.” Dozens of listeners phoned in to say the experiment had worked.

Not so funny! In 2003 during the time when Hong Kong is seriously hit by the SARS epidemic, it was rumored that many people in Hong Kong had become infected with SARS and become uncontrolled, that all immigration ports would be closed to quarantine the region, and that Tung Chee Hwa, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong at that time, had resigned. Supermarkets were immediately overwhelmed by panicked shoppers. The Hong Kong government held a press conference to deny the rumor. The April Fools’ prank, was started by a student by imitating the design of Ming Pao newspaper website. He was charged for this incident.

Shady deal: Radio station 98.1 KISS in Chattanooga, Tennessee falsely announced in 2003 that rapper Eminem would be doing a free show in a discount store parking lot. Several police were needed to deal with traffic gridlock and enraged listeners who threatened to harm the DJs responsible. Both DJs were later jailed for creating a public nuisance. Also, radio station WAAF 107.3 in Boston announced that Pearl Jam was having a free concert in a fictional city in New Hampshire. A gas station in New Hampshire reported that several streams of car drivers stopped in asking for directions to the fictional town.

Hard to swallow: There was a near riot on the Australia’s Gold Coast, when radio station Sea FM announced the drinking age would be changed from 18 to 21. This left a huge number of under-21s angry and frustrated, and incited protests.

Real storm: In 2005, Estonian Radio’s station Vikerraadio broadcasted right after 9 o’clock a hoax in their morning program saying Finland had been put under a tsunami warning and wave was expected to be more than 5 meters high. It was quickly proven to be a hoax and station management were hauled on the carpet.

Dome and gloom: In 1998, the Channel 4 (London) morning show The Big Breakfast got into trouble with various authorities for pulling an April Fools stunt showing video footage of the Millennium Dome on fire.

So be advised, if you hear something on April 1st that just seems to be a bit out of the ordinary, before you rush off to tell everyone at the office, pause for a second thought. You may have been the victim of an April Fool’s Joke.