A stapler¹ sending tweets?David Beckham joining the Australian soccer team?  It must be April Fools' Day.

订书机也能“推特”？贝克汉姆要加入澳大利亚国家足球队？如果看到这样的消息，一定是愚人节到了。

AC Milan's David Beckham looks on during the Champions League soccer match against Manchester United at the San Siro stadium in Milan February 16, 2010.

In keeping with tradition, media outlets², companies, websites and other jokers came up with various April Fools' hoaxes³（恶作剧病毒） Thursday that ranged from the ridiculous to the absurd（荒谬的，可笑的） .

Australian pen maker⁴ Artline was advertising⁵ a new product in newspapers and on its website www.artline.com.au -- a pen that remembers everything you write.

"Forget the worry of losing the shopping list or the scrap⁶（残余物，碎片） of paper with that vital name or number on it," read the Artline advertisement. "You can download it all later -- as you wrote it, or in the typeface（字型，字体） of your choice."

Last year on April 1 the company unveiled a pen with microchip tracking so no one could pinch it.

The website HowStuffWorks.com came up with the "twapler," which is a "stapler（订书机） that automatically sends a message via Bluetooth or WiFi to a Twitter feed detailing exactly what you're stapling⁷ at any given moment."

"Whether you're joining together a research project, tax forms or your divorce papers, the Twapler will send out a message for eager tweeters to revel⁸ in（着迷，得意于） ."

Australian broadcaster ABC put out a spoof⁹（哄骗的） interview with an injured David Beckham in which the former England soccer captain said he was set to join the Australian national team, the Socceroos, as assistant manager and lead them to World Cup glory in South Africa.

Residents of the small Australian town of Murwillumbah woke up to the news in local newspaper the Tweed Daily News that "Avatar" director James Cameron had scouted¹⁰（侦查，巡视） local rainforests as a location for a sequel（续集，结局） to the box-office hit.

April Fools' Day dates back centuries, but its origins remain unclear. A widespread theory is that it dates back to the adoption¹¹ of the Gregorian（罗马教皇格利高里的） calendar with the term April Fool applying to those who were still following the Julian Calendar（公历，罗马儒略历） .

By tradition in most countries, people can pull pranks¹²（恶作剧） before noon on April 1 in the name of April Fools' Day but become the fool if they do it in the afternoon.