Thursday, April 01, 2010

Jokes for you

Happy April Fools Day. Here's a brief history (according to infoplease.com) of how this high holy day came to be:
"Ancient cultures, including those of the Romans and Hindus, celebrated New Year's Day on or around April 1. It closely follows the vernal equinox (March 20th or March 21st.) In medieval times, much of Europe celebrated March 25, the Feast of Annunciation, as the beginning of the new year.
In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII ordered a new calendar (the Gregorian Calendar) to replace the old Julian Calendar. The new calendar called for New Year's Day to be celebrated Jan. 1. That year, France adopted the reformed calendar and shifted New Year's day to Jan. 1. According to a popular explanation, many people either refused to accept the new date, or did not learn about it, and continued to celebrate New Year's Day on April 1. Other people began to make fun of these traditionalists, sending them on "fool's errands" or trying to trick them into believing something false. Eventually, the practice spread throughout Europe.
"

So see? The Beatles aren't the only good thing we ever got from France or wherever. In honor of the occasion, here are some of my favorite pranks that you can play on the fools in your life. All cheap and all easy (the pranks, not necessarily your fools).

The Powdered Go-nuts (good prank to play on roommate(s))
  1. Get an envelope and fill it with talcum powder.
  2. Tear off a tiny corner of the envelope.
  3. Wait until your roommate(s) take a shower or bath.
  4. Listen for when the water stops running (Presumably, the bathroom door will be closed...pervert).
  5. As soon as that happens, wait just long enough for them to have stepped out but not so long that they've dried off.
  6. Slide the envelope halfway under the door, with the torn off corner inside the bathroom.
  7. Stomp on or squeeze the envelope.
  8. This will fill the bathroom with a giant cloud of talcum powder that will (eventually) settle all over everything, especially wet surfaces, like your roommate(s).

Let The Music Play (good prank to play on almost anyone)

  1. Get a greeting card that plays music when you open it up.
  2. Carefully remove the gizmo that plays the music.
  3. Keeping it in the open (playing) position, hide it some place where your victim is unlikely to find it; inside a drop ceiling or if you have access to their car, the slot where the seatbelts come out (even if they figure out it's in there, they'll never get it out). These things will play over and over and over and over for a surprisingly long time. Your victim will be insane long before the batteries finally die.

Hackers Delight (ideal for annoying co-workers, especially know-it-alls)

  1. Take a screen shot of your victim's computer desk top.
  2. Save it as a bitmap.
  3. Create a folder and hide it within another folder.
  4. Move all applications, documents, shortcuts, etc. into that hidden folder.
  5. Make the bitmap the new desktop background.
  6. Watch your victim frantically click everything in sight and get no response of any kind. You may even want to helpfully suggest that they re-start the computer a few times.

Hole-In-The-Straw (sooooo easy, sooooo childish, yet sooooo much fun!)

  1. Using a thumb tack or push-pin, puncture a tiny hole right around the middle of your victim's drink straw. It's best if you do it while it's still in the wrapper (less likely to be spotted in advance).

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