Light Start – The Tread Carefully Edition

PSA – Mr. T says…

It’s 1 April and you know what that means. The beginning of the new financial year, right? Wait, April Fool’s Day, a day that stretches back beyond the Middle Ages with no actual origins known but a few theories floating about. It probably has something to do with blood (it always does, if you go back far enough) and you’re balancing a bucket over a doorway? Shame on you. Anyway… today’s Light Start has at least one confirmed April Fool’s gag, one that we’re not sure about (which we hope is a joke – sadly, it’s probably not) and one that’s probably true. But pay attention to the headline and tread carefully out there. There be dragons on the internet today and we pity the Fool who gets caught.

Google gives the world the Mic Drop and Real Reality

Google Cardboard is cool but what if you had something that didn’t require a smartphone, had an insane resolution, and looked so real that you could touch it? Introducing Google Cardboard Plastic, an all-clear viewing headset that will introduce you to Real Reality (RR). It’s been in development for decades, millennia even. And it’s here today. Also here today is Gmail Mic Drop, which will send an email with a GIF before completely blocking any replies. You know, for those times when you just know that no response is going to touch your brilliance. Assuming you can find the Mic Drop option in your Gmail – we can’t seem to locate it.

Source: Google

We’re really, really hoping that Juicero is an elaborate April Fool’s prank

We’re all for convenience but this is pushing it. Juicero is a juicer that connects to WiFi – we’re not really sure why – and uses special bags of pre-chopped produce to create ‘pressed’ juice. There’s supposed to be some sort of benefit to this, which you might see if you’re the type of person to go through coffee pods. It’s clean, fast, and probably expensive as balls. It’s also, largely, pointless. Buy some pre-made fruit juice, dammit. We’re not convinced that they’re not having us on. This is a tricky one, though. Generally an April Fool’s Day joke is launched on 1 April but this was announced yesterday and has a lengthy history… meaning that someone might seriously want to start shipping juicers that specifically require custom-chopped ingredients in a bag. The sad thing? People will pay for it. Either that or someone’s super-dedicated to their prank this year.

Source: Juicero (YouTube)

Travel in space (virtually) with Adr1ft in May

If might be time to accept that, unless we run into Elon Musk at a party and he’s super-cool, we’re probably not going to go into space. Not for a couple of decades, anyway. The next best thing would be to use virtual reality and that’s just around the corner. Space-station survival simulator Adr1ft, the virtual reality experience has been dated for the HTC Vive. Expect to get your hands on it for around R300, come May this year. Or you could snag an Oculus Rift and get it right now. Your call, but if you do get it, take us into space too. Please?

Source: via Engadget