Gotcha!

Gotcha!

I love pranks of all kinds, and in honor of the holy prankster day that is tomorrow I am going to offer some pranking goodness. First off, what are the best kinds of pranks? Easy! My very favorite kind of pranks are the simple kind you can play on the smartest people: Geeks!

I found these great pranks at Lifehacker.com:

10. Install the Blue Screen of Death Screensaver


9. Fake a Desktop with Screenshot Wallpaper
A fun variation on these two is to get a Windows or Mac screen shot or capture and replace the background of someone’s iMac with a Windows Vista screen. You might be surprised how long it takes your average user to figure out what is going on, and longer to figure out how to fix it.

8. Schedule a Phone Call with a Text-to-Speech Message from Wakerupper.com
Definitely some interesting possibilities with this one…

7. Fill an Office with Packing Peanuts (Or Make It Look That Way)
I have seen this done. It was unforgettable! However, please have a plan (or at least some help) cleaning up even faking an office with peanuts. Balloons aren’t as messy and have less static cling. Water balloons though, will probably cause more mayhem than you bargained for.

6. Remote Control Your Co-Workers' Computer with VNC
Just make sure you are a qualified network admin (or at least at their level) before attempting this one. Also, it could get you in real trouble with IT.

5. Message Co-Workers with NET SEND
This is a quick and fun surprise, but is generally only clever the first time or two before your cube is stormed demanding how-to instructions.

4. "Break" Your Victim's LCD Screen with Wallpaper
Cute, but looks fairly fake within 3-6 feet.

3. Hijack Firefox with the Total Confusion Pack Extension (Enabled on April 1st Only)
A fun prank to play on all those pesky end-user types… however, who are they going to call when something goes wrong? You. This prank is better suited to the more web literate who may need to take a little time figuring out how you did it and where to uninstall the extension.

2. Customize the Office HP Printer's Console Message
A goodie here! Do not be disappointed if your unwitting office-mates do not notice this right away. They will notice at some point. As the list maker suggests, INSERT COIN is a great one. I also suggest FEED ME, TONER LOW, POWER OFF and HELP ME.

1. Turn Web Pages Upside Down
This is just plain good fun. For more upside down or sideways fun try Ctrl+Alt+Up arrow. Note this does not work on all video cards, but it’s great when it does.

Here’s a simple one I’ve fallen back on over the years: Pry up 5 of the keyboard keys (never on a laptop!) and put them where they don’t really belong! You will be surprised how long it takes some to figure out the cause, particularly if you combine this with any other prank.

A fun one that requires just enough Windows familiarity to be dangerous: Re-assign the shortcut images with their respective targets. Right Click. Choose Properties, re-direct Target to another program.

Or, if you’ve too much time on your hands you can change the image of each icon to something random. Control Panel – Display – Desktop Properties – Customize Desktop – Change Icon. There you will find all sorts of meaningless images to reassign.

More harmless Windows fun:
1. Auto-hide the taskbar
2. Move the taskbar to the top of the screen
3. Speed up or slow down the mouse
4. Change the mouse pointer set (Dinosaurs or kittens anyone?)
5. Reverse the mouse button (look for left-handed accessibility)
6. Set a screen saver password
7. Sticky keys, Filter keys, Toggle keys, Mouse keys
8. Install your own family or pet photos in their My Photos folder and change the screen saver to Photo Gallery
9. If your victim’s monitor is on a universal arm mount, unscrew it, turn it upside down, screw it back in, and then turn the picture on the screen sideways. This works particularly well if it is a flat screen whose cables are routed through the mounting arm.
10. If office-mates have their own local printers, fill it with paper from the recycle box.

Have any ideas to share? I could use some new tricks in my bag.