Pacman, Star Wars and porno drones

IF YOU read that Google has added Pacman to its maps today you may have some doubts as it is April 1... but the April Fool’s trick or poisson d’avril has had to adapt to the digital age.

That’s why you should not believe a story in today’s L’Obs that the drones that have been spotted above several sites in Paris over the past few months are linked to the French sex industry – making pornographic films through people’s windows as a kind of modern-day Readers’ Wives.

If you believe France 3 Bretagne the Bourbansais zoo at Pleucadeuc in Brittany has managed to turn giraffe milk into yoghurt and plans to continue with elephant cheese, lama lait-ribot Breton fermented milk or camel fromage blanc.

Another local news station gets in on the act with France 3 Midi-Pyrénées suggesting that the new Chinese owners of Toulouse Airport will have Chinese on its information boards – with French being phased out in favour of English as they are developing it into a European hub.

Triumph is delicious. Defeat is for squares. Test your #PacMaps skills on #GoogleMaps. https://t.co/lB8lExZHvw— Google Maps (@googlemaps) March 31, 2015

Google’s Pacman game is playable and real but it is not clear if it will continue tomorrow. You can use Google Maps to show where you live – we have used the roundabout at the Arc de Triomphe for our example – and then click on the Pacman option. Use the arrow keys to navigate and play the game.

Other tech giants also got in the act with Samsung showing how its Blade smartphone could be turned into a real kitchen knife.

Amazon also said people would be able to order washing-up powder and toilet roll using its Dash device – a large electronic button that can be hung from the washing machine or looroll holder.

In case you missed it: Amazon Dash Button. Press it to get it. http://t.co/oMGn2m0gLO #DashButton pic.twitter.com/wh6laHufm7— Amazon (@amazon) April 1, 2015

Even higher-tech, the Large Hadron Collider at Cern has allowed European scientists to please Star Wars fans by saying that it has discovered “the Force”.

CERN researchers confirm existence of the Force http://t.co/112fmMHnUG pic.twitter.com/KRc2zjK0YY— Brian Glucroft (@BrianGlucroft) April 1, 2015

You should also have doubts about the online news site Rue 89 which suggests that all the smoke detectors that people have rushed to fit over the past three weeks all contain a listening devices that pick up on a list of danger words.

The joke should become clear when it reveals that the list of words includes phrases such as "Merci pour ce moment" and "Gayet" from President Hollande’s recent problems d’amour.

UK prime minister David Cameron may also have got in the act early by claiming in a Telegraph interview that he was the cousin of Kim Kardashian, a social media personality.

However, there were also the inevitable crop of idiots; including one Parisienne holidaymaker in Brittany who texted colleagues back in the capital that she was being held hostage in the Fouesnant post office. They reacted by calling gendarmes and several squads raced to the scene. As they were en-route the woman texted again Poisson d’avril!.

The gendarmes will give her a dressing down today... because she also got her dates wrong and sent the texts yesterday, March 31.

This month’s April issue of Connexion has gathered a collection of stories that are true but could easily be April Fool jokes ... see if you can spot the one that is not true. You can - buy a pdf copy online here - for €3.50.