Need some help with a lil prank...

[BlackSwordD2]

ok so my room mate hasn't been the best of all room mates to which im moving out come the next semester, but i want to leave him with something to remember me by for all those nights he stayed up from 11pm to 6am playing Saints Row 2 while i tried to get some sleep.

my target, his macbook pro.

i want something simple and nothing that will ultimately destroy his computer. mostly something just to give him a headache and be annoyed.

what i was thinking was something along the lines of changing the keyboard output (ie all the vowels are mixed up but dont change the actual keys themselves) and i want to run this through the terminal and being as i dont know his password something that doesn't require root access for. i have almost exclusive access to the laptop (its even on and signed in 100% of the time)

maybe something as simple as changing all of his bookmarks to porn sites really im up for any kind of ideas. but again...

I DO NOT WANT TO DAMAGE THE COMPUTER

[scragar]

LiveCDs bypass passwords, but I know nothing about OSX other than it's history, so I'm not much help.

Maybe you could write him a love note into his boot sector?
http://www.virtualroadside.com/blog/index.php/2007/11/11/inspired-by-xkcd-mbr-love-note/
http://blog.gg8.se/wordpress/2007/11/13/destroy-your-boot-sector/

It's pretty easily fixed just by repairing the boot loader if it's something serious, but I have no idea how it would go down with the OSX bootloader.
(the boot overwrite works fine on Lilo, MBR(windows), but not grub(because grub uses the sections of memory the boot overwrite works with for the message), no idea about others).

[Giblet5]

I DO NOT WANT TO DAMAGE HIS COMPUTER

So, I guess my idea of the traditional 10-gallon-kerosene-bedfire-at-4AM is a little over the top, too? You're not very vengeful, or playful. Why so serious?

Wrap scotch tape around the tip of the charger cord's plug. Trim it off with a razor so that it's covering the longer metal shank, but not covering the hole at the end.

Stop him before he buys another charging brick...

[BlackSwordD2]

So, I guess my idea of the traditional 10-gallon-kerosene-bedfire-at-4AM is a little over the top, too? You're not very vengeful, or playful. Why so serious?

Wrap scotch tape around the tip of the charger cord's plug. Trim it off with a razor so that it's covering the longer metal shank, but not covering the hole at the end.

Stop him before he buys another charging brick...

oOOooh thats crafty...but no the idea is for me to pull the prank and then leave and never be heard from again and for him to simply be in pain. so by tip do you mean the outlet end right? do i do one? both? and would this be a fire hazard that i could later be sued for?

[overdrank]

Moved to The Community Cafe and remember the COC. :)

[Giblet5]

oOOooh thats crafty...but no the idea is for me to pull the prank and then leave and never be heard from again and for him to simply be in pain. so by tip do you mean the outlet end right? do i do one? both? and would this be a fire hazard that i could later be sued for?

No the end that plugs into the Mac.

It will just stop the Mac from charging.

You can also put tape over the battery contacts, but you'll need a scalpel/tweezers for that.

If it's enduring pain you're after, whack him with a bar of soap in a sock. Deny everything, even if he sees you do it. That hurts for a long time, especially a whack in the ribs.

We solve problems and help people realize their dreams here.

Another good one would be to post a WANTED poster of him from the Department of Health, warning that his STD test came back positive, on the dorm building's front door. It's real hard to convince people that it's all a mistake...

[markp1989]

So, I guess my idea of the traditional 10-gallon-kerosene-bedfire-at-4AM is a little over the top, too? You're not very vengeful, or playful. Why so serious?

Wrap scotch tape around the tip of the charger cord's plug. Trim it off with a razor so that it's covering the longer metal shank, but not covering the hole at the end.

Stop him before he buys another charging brick...

i like the tape idea :D

you could install ssh on his pc, then log in to it when you want at a later date and do some random stuff like running DISPLAY=:0.0 xmessage "random insult here"

swaping the M and N keys around on the keyboard.

change the password on the wireless access point before you go , or leave the paassword the same, and enable mac address filtering and blacklist his laptop.

[NoaHall]

Take the RAM out, replace it with the cheapest, smallest amount of RAM you can find, and then watch as he struggles and complains, then tell him he got a virus which caused his RAM modules to become invalid locations.

[markp1989]

Take the RAM out, replace it with the cheapest, smallest amount of RAM you can find, and then watch as he struggles and complains, then tell him he got a virus which caused his RAM modules to become invalid locations.

could do a similar thing by disabling the swap file/partition (does mac have a swap partition?)

[Sealbhach]

There's the old "exchange his desktop with a wallpaper screenshot of his desktop". That's a good laugh for about 5 minutes.

.

[Cuddles McKitten]

1. You could set up a crontab to change his background to some horribly raunchy, sickening gross-out pic every two days or so.

2. You could open his favorite word-processing program and change auto-correct to change "the" to "teh," "consequentially" to "poopy," etc.

3. Take pictures of him while he's changing/showering and send them to everyone on his AIM/whatever-kids-use-these-days list.

[Jammisca15]

what i was thinking was something along the lines of changing the keyboard output (ie all the vowels are mixed up but dont change the actual keys themselves) and i want to run this through the terminal and being as i dont know his password something that doesn't require root access for.


(http://organismedecredit.org/)

[earthpigg]

OS X includes sshd.

if you have physical access to it, you can configure sshd to grant you, essentially, eternal root access to his computer whenever you wish any time he is on the net.

which would be illegal. so, dont.

[chris200x9]

crontab + forkbomb? Is that too evil?

edit: crontab + mplayer rickroll.wmv edit: but not one job stagger them to make it psuedo random.

ummm i dunno crontab is fun play with it

[alphaniner]

...which would be illegal. so, dont.

Every suggestion so far has been illegal to some extent or another. How about some that don't involve tampering with someone else's private property?

Hide a god-awfully loud alarm (or several) around the room. Turn about is fair play, after all. You could probably build them from very cheap components, and learn something in the process.

[dmizer]

Hide a god-awfully loud alarm (or several) around the room. Turn about is fair play, after all. You could probably build them from very cheap components, and learn something in the process.
+1

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/electronic/b278/

[MaxIBoy]

You can boot the Mac from a Linux CD, and then you have rooted his computer.

It appears that in OS X, you can edit /etc/ttys to start any script you want on boot:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2420


I suggest calling this scipt from your "hook:"

#! /bin/sh
sleep 1800 #30 minutes = 1800 seconds
osascript -e 'set Volume 10'
open -a /Applications/Safari.app http://smouch.net/lol/ &
/bin/sh $0 &
I don't have a Mac handy, but this ought to work. Adapted from this:
http://www.hccp.org/command-line-os-x.html



What this does is pretty obvious, but if you don't get it:
This code will sleep for 30 minutes. Then it will turn the system volume up all the way to maximum and display a certain webpage on Safari (you guess which one.) Then it will run itself and start the whole thing over again.


Since the hook will block everything until has finished, you need to create a "booster stage" script like this:

#! /bin/sh
/bin/sh location/of/first/script.sh &
That way he won't have to wait 30 minutes for his startup to finish (although that has potential too... ;) )



One more thing I happen to know about OS X: By default, it will NEVER, EVER show ".hidden files" in Finder unless you type some complicated command to enable it, so if you make your scripts hidden by adding a dot to the beginning of the name, he will probably never see them!

[3rdalbum]

Changing the MBR won't work with a computer that doesn't use a Master Boot Record (like Macintoshes), and using cron and xmessage to display a message won't work on operating systems that don't use X (like the Mac OS).

I'd suggest making a backup of a really important word processor document that he needs, and then change the original copy's text colour to white. MAKE SURE YOU MAKE THE BACKUP because he will probably delete the original.

[Windows Nerd]

I read a while back in a Mac magazine "50 terminal commands that are incredibly useful". One of them remotely logged into his computer and then played a .wav (on his Mac) that said: "Don't press the keys so hard". That would get a good laugh. Another one would be to change his bootup sound (if you can on Macs) to something resembling a warzone and turn his speakers up to max before he logs on.

Scott

[scouser73]

You can boot the Mac from a Linux CD, and then you have rooted his computer.

It appears that in OS X, you can edit /etc/ttys to start any script you want on boot:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2420


I suggest calling this scipt from your "hook:"

#! /bin/sh
sleep 1800 #30 minutes = 1800 seconds
osascript -e 'set Volume 10'
open -a /Applications/Safari.app http://smouch.net/lol/ &
/bin/sh $0 &
I don't have a Mac handy, but this ought to work. Adapted from this:
http://www.hccp.org/command-line-os-x.html



What this does is pretty obvious, but if you don't get it:
This code will sleep for 30 minutes. Then it will turn the system volume up all the way to maximum and display a certain webpage on Safari (you guess which one.) Then it will run itself and start the whole thing over again.


Since the hook will block everything until has finished, you need to create a "booster stage" script like this:

#! /bin/sh
/bin/sh location/of/first/script.sh &
That way he won't have to wait 30 minutes for his startup to finish (although that has potential too... ;) )



One more thing I happen to know about OS X: By default, it will NEVER, EVER show ".hidden files" in Finder unless you type some complicated command to enable it, so if you make your scripts hidden by adding a dot to the beginning of the name, he will probably never see them!

I've just been to that smouch.net site, christ on a bike that's a terrible thing to do to someone, lol. I had never been Rick'rolled before, and I hope never too again pmsl.

Definitely go with the suggestion MaxIBoy made as it's sure to annoy the hell out of the person being pranked.

[pwnst*r]

ok so my room mate hasn't been the best of all room mates to which im moving out come the next semester, but i want to leave him with something to remember me by for all those nights he stayed up from 11pm to 6am playing Saints Row 2 while i tried to get some sleep.



you should have manned up and told him straight out when he was keeping you up instead of playing some 12 year old game like this. but hey, good luck.

[pwnst*r]

You guys make me sick. Don't encourage young kids who have retarded impulses. Oh wait, you're all young kids with retarded impulses!

how about you grow a pair like the OP needs to and post with your regular account instead of hiding behind a lame temp acct.

[lisati]

how about you grow a pair like the OP needs to and post with your regular account instead of hiding behind a lame temp acct.
Wouldn't sweat it. At the moment there's only three posts by this user, all in this thread.

[CJ Master]

scouser73: I beg you, please don't waste time with crap like that. The website here (http://smouch.net/lol) has like a thousand different ways you can prank someone. They are pretty much harmless, but can cause some seriously good fun. (Only if you are completely steadfast in your vengeful ways.)

Cool story bro.

[Psumi]

Isn't it just better to forgive and forget? Even if the said person did that all to me, I wouldn't be so rash as to do something like a prank of sorts.

[steveneddy]

Write an e-mail to his Mom but write the message as if he is writing his girlfriend and include a pic of willie in the e-mail.

His Mother will never let him live down the fact that he is sending girls photos of his pokemon.

or

log on remotely and look at the web cam. when he's playing the game just restart the game.

or

get him a subscription to sex toy mags and send it to his house, where his parents live. (my favorite) ( I did this to a boss I hated and he ended up quiting, and I got his job. sweet)

[BenAshton24]

Change the disk permissions on all of his files and folders to read only...

...of course I would recommend a multitude of pranks for maximum effect. I like MaxIboy's Idea a lot!

[Gwasanaethau]

I've just been to that smouch.net site, christ on a bike that's a terrible thing to do to someone, lol. I had never been Rick'rolled before, and I hope never too again pmsl.

Definitely go with the suggestion MaxIBoy made as it's sure to annoy the hell out of the person being pranked.Yes, I was an eejit and went to that site! ](*,)#-o=D>[-X Can't believe the amount of times I've told people not to go to sites they don't trust, and I went and did it myself! I have to say, that would drive me nuts! Talk about "curiosity killed the cat" – more like it killed the Firefox!

You dope Gwas! #-o

[Grenage]

my target, his macbook pro

You need do nothing, justice has clearly been done.

[BlackSwordD2]

You can boot the Mac from a Linux CD, and then you have rooted his computer.

It appears that in OS X, you can edit /etc/ttys to start any script you want on boot:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2420


I suggest calling this scipt from your "hook:"

#! /bin/sh
sleep 1800 #30 minutes = 1800 seconds
osascript -e 'set Volume 10'
open -a /Applications/Safari.app http://smouch.net/lol/ &
/bin/sh $0 &
I don't have a Mac handy, but this ought to work. Adapted from this:
http://www.hccp.org/command-line-os-x.html



What this does is pretty obvious, but if you don't get it:
This code will sleep for 30 minutes. Then it will turn the system volume up all the way to maximum and display a certain webpage on Safari (you guess which one.) Then it will run itself and start the whole thing over again.


Since the hook will block everything until has finished, you need to create a "booster stage" script like this:

#! /bin/sh
/bin/sh location/of/first/script.sh &
That way he won't have to wait 30 minutes for his startup to finish (although that has potential too... ;) )



One more thing I happen to know about OS X: By default, it will NEVER, EVER show ".hidden files" in Finder unless you type some complicated command to enable it, so if you make your scripts hidden by adding a dot to the beginning of the name, he will probably never see them!

i think im madly in love with this idea, to maybe improve the annoyance, should we use something along the lines of srandom() to randomize the time in which the script so instead of every 30 min, it could play at 15 then 5 then an hour then a day....

[Keyper7]

I read a while back in a Mac magazine "50 terminal commands that are incredibly useful". One of them remotely logged into his computer and then played a .wav (on his Mac) that said: "Don't press the keys so hard". That would get a good laugh. Another one would be to change his bootup sound (if you can on Macs) to something resembling a warzone and turn his speakers up to max before he logs on.

Good variations:

- a whispering voice saying "I'm watching you";

- an angry voice saying "I know what you did and I'm going to tell";

- a little girl's crying voice saying "Mommy, why did you kill me?"

[scragar]

Add something like this to his cron job to run every minute or two:

if [[ $[ $RANDOM % 10 ] < 1 ]]; then ## run 1/10 minutes at random
aplay "why did you hurt my mommy.wav"
fi:p To make it occur more or less often adjust the numbers in the first line:

if [[ $[ $RANDOM % 20 ] < 1 ]]; then ## half as often

if [[ $[ $RANDOM % 10 ] < 2 ]]; then ## twice as often

if [[ $[ $RANDOM % 5 ] < 1 ]]; then ## alternate twice

if [[ $[ $RANDOM % 7 ] < 3 ]]; then ## just under half the minutes in the day.

[Tristam Green]

Touching another man's computer is a capital offense in my book. It's tantamount to touching a man's radio settings. You do it only once, and then I start chopping fingers off.

Why not just simplify the matter and put his hand in a pan of warm water while he sleeps, or short-sheet him, or duct-tape his sheets while he sleeps, or any old classic pranks?

[samh785]

how about you grow a pair like the OP needs to and post with your regular account instead of hiding behind a lame temp acct.
http://miltownkid.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/internettoughguy.jpg

[BlackSwordD2]

Touching another man's computer is a capital offense in my book. It's tantamount to touching a man's radio settings. You do it only once, and then I start chopping fingers off.

Why not just simplify the matter and put his hand in a pan of warm water while he sleeps, or short-sheet him, or duct-tape his sheets while he sleeps, or any old classic pranks?

hes also one of those "mac's dont get viruses" people, so if i give him something on his computer similar to a virus i hit him on several fronts. in addition, using conventional pranks would leave only one suspect...me. however, going after his computer won't directly lead to me and as pwnst*r states that i don't have to balls to man up about previous affronts, i have perfect cover for this prank.

i fight dirty friends and im not ashamed of it.

P.S. i also like the idea of randomly playing sounds...could i get some links for how to use crontab? is it simply a file i look up and tack on that code?

[Excedio]

i fight dirty friends and im not ashamed of it.

Lol. My new quote for the rest of the year. :-D

[Tristam Green]

hes also one of those "mac's dont get viruses" people, so if i give him something on his computer similar to a virus i hit him on several fronts. in addition, using conventional pranks would leave only one suspect...me. however, going after his computer won't directly lead to me and as pwnst*r states that i don't have to balls to man up about previous affronts, i have perfect cover for this prank.

sounds lame, and that's the tamest way of saying it.


i fight dirty friends and im not ashamed of it.

nobody who fights dirty is my friend, "friend".


P.S. i also like the idea of randomly playing sounds...could i get some links for how to use crontab? is it simply a file i look up and tack on that code?

or you could follow the link to the ThinkGeek annoy-a-tron like was suggested instead of messing with someone else's $1000+ laptop. Which, if I have to reiterate, is just wrong.

Incidentally, I'll be reading the obituaries when I hear about some random college student being mauled by a raging Mactard whose computer was messed with.

[Giblet5]

Buy a cheap but decent coat from a second-hand store. Get a large garbage bag. Go to a homeless shelter and look for someone who is constantly scratching themselves. Offer the coat as a trade. Put it in the bag and seal it well. Take the bag back to your room and put the homeless guy's coat under your roommate's bed as you're leaving.

Nothing says "I hate you" like the gift of crabs.

[Hallvor]

http://miltownkid.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/internettoughguy.jpg

:lol: