Top five tech-themed April Fool's Day jokes of 2011

Happy April Fool's Day, chums! Yes, it's the day of the year when the Internet is filled with spurious stories, muddled misinformation and downright dirty lies -- okay, more spurious stories, muddled misinformation and downright dirty lies.

Here's our pick of 2011's technology-related japes, jocularity and general hilarity.

YouTube 1911

YouTube Rickrolled back the years to 1911, rendering videos in old-timey sepia. Hulu had a similar idea, turning back the clock to the early days of the Web.

YouTube also offered this compilation of flummery and folderol, including Flugelhorn Feline and the Irksome Citrus:

AdBlock Freedom

Adverts. They pay our wages, but they can be annoying when they're plastered all over the place. If online advertising gets too much, you can employ an ad-blocker like AdBlock, which renders the sales pitches invisible. AdBlock Freedom glasses do the same thing -- but in the real world.

X-Ray iPad 2

Gadget Show guru Jason Bradbury came up with this belter, hacking an iPad 2 with a night-vision scope and some clingfilm to take X-ray photos. If you've ever wanted a glimpse of Bradders in his skivvies, here's your chance:

Google Motion

If Xbox Kinect has you hankering to control everything with a wave of your hands, Google can help, with Gmail Motion gestures. Lick a stamp to send an email, point a thumb to reply, and many more:

Google has also given an insight into the life of an autocompleter:

Playmobil Apple Store

ThinkGeek offered the excellent Playmobil Apple Store Playset, complete with Steve Jobs making a presentation, tiny iPads and an optional accessory pack of queuing figures. Start 'em young. Here it is:

We couldn't resist getting in on the action, showing off our planned relaunch as an Angry Birds news site, visiting an Apple-themed restaurant that uses iPad 2s as plates, and reporting a security threat posed by the Color iPhone app.

Meanwhile, last year's April Fool's Day joke here at CNET UK -- concerning the discovery of a time traveller at the Large Hadron Collider -- has astonished us by being read, shared and commented on all through the year, amassing more than 1,600 retweets and almost 60,000 Facebook Likes. It's still being retweeted today, a year later. Thanks to everyone who's read, shared and LOLed.