Geek Pranks u can make!

[Neoxter]

Since the dawn of time, geeks have been playing harmless pranks on their beloved (but unsuspecting) associates, and it's up to all of us to carry the torch forward. On the eve of April Fools' Day, when you've got local network access to your coworkers' and family systems, cubicles just crying out to be filled with packing peanuts, and webapps that can do all sorts of things automatically, there's no better time to baffle, confuse, perplex, and just plain mess with your loved ones and associates. Hit the jump for my top 10 favorite harmless geek pranks, just in time to get your prankster pistons firing for tomorrow.

Install the Blue Screen of Death Screensaver


Make your co-worker think their PC crashed when they get back from lunch. The BSOD ("Blue Screen of Death") screensaver is a free download from Microsoft (ironically.)

Fake a Desktop with Screenshot Wallpaper

Freak out your co-worker or family member by faking out their Windows desktop with an unclickable facade: Take a screenshot of their current desktop, then set it as the desktop wallpaper. Hide the actual taskbar and disable desktop icons (right-click the desktop and choose "Arrange Icons By" and uncheck "Show Desktop Icons.") When your victim returns to the computer, watch the futile clicking begin.

Hijack Firefox with the Total Confusion Pack Extension (Enabled on April 1st Only)

Your victim use Firefox? Install the "Total Confusion Pack" Firefox extension, which enables the following "features" on April 1st only:

Two Steps Back: Make the back button go back twice—not every time, but only on random instances.

Rick Rollr: Switch out 2% of the video clips your victim watches with the infamous Rick Astley video.

The Devil's Inbox: Make the number of unread email in your victim's Gmail inbox exactly 666.

Highs and Lows/Sarcarsm Enhancer/For real: Add LOL, *sigh*, "for real," "Whatever" and various other commentary to web page text.

Watch it: Make it look as if the page was loading forever. (Now this is just plain mean.)

Fill an Office with Packing Peanuts (Or Make It Look That Way)




Actually filling your co-worker's cubicle with packing peanuts can be a pain in the a$$, but if there's a glass wall involved, it's easy to make it look like you did.