Last Minute April Fools Pranks!

31 Mar

As it turns out, April Fools Day is one of my favorite “holidays” of the entire year. I spent most of my childhood thinking of ways to prank my mother. There was that one year my sisters and I suffered through a slightly sweetened meal because I filled the salt container with sugar. Or the time I rubberbanded the sink’s spray nozzle and insisted my mother get me the coldest drink of water possible (knowing full well she’d turn on the water full blast…). Or how about when I lined underneath the toilet seat with snap pops, and sat in the living room anticipating the KABOOM! and accompanying scream? Ok, ok, maybe I’m lucky she still loves me!

Anyway, I see April Fools Day as a chance to participate in harmless merry-making (I never plan to grow up) with your friends, family and co-workers. Whether or not you’re a genius prankster or a novice, here are some harmless pranks you enlist for tomorrow’s activities:

  1. Change the Google language on your co-worker’s computer to Klingon. This is a personal favorite of mine, which I unleashed last year on a co-worker. Remember April 1 last year was supposed to see the Conficker Virus? When said co-worker saw a screen full of Klingon, he ran around screaming “I’ve got the virus! I’ve got the virus!” and attempting to locate the (pre-warned) IT guy. HEHE. All you have to do, is open Google.com on their computer, click “settings” and “search settings” in the upper right hand corner, select Klingon from the dropdown box next to “interface language,” and voila! Sit back and enjoy.
  2. Set-up A Ghost Mouse. Do you sit in a cubicle pit and have access to a wireless mouse? When your unsuspecting coworker gets up for a moment, plug in the mouse receiver to their computer and get the mouse at yours. When they sit down, casually move your mouse and right click occasionally. Watch as the tried to figure out why the mouse is possessed! Be sure not to left click, as you may delete something important…
  3. Alter a Computer’s AutoCorrect Settings. Ever notice when you mistype in a Word document that the computer autocorrects the text? Well, you can tell it what to replace and it’s oh so simple. Open a word doc or email, type in the word/phrase you want to appear (I’m using ‘i love you’), highlight the text, go to “tools” and “autocorrect,” fill in the word you want replaced with ‘i love you’ (I selected ‘the’), save the setting and close the document. Everytime he/she types ‘the,’ the computer will automatically change it to ‘i love you.’ Watch and enjoy!

So, those are a few of my favorites. Be sure to use caution, as not all people are as receptive to April Fools jokes and you don’t want to ruin someone’s day. If you employ any of these tactics, please share your story and let me know how it went! Additionally, you can find endless ideas at AprilFoolZone.

Have any great prank ideas to share? I’m always on the lookout… email me at jeanine [at] bellesofthesound [dot] com.

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