Fun with tech pranks

> Technology can be a wonderful tool to play some sneaky tricks on the unsuspecting masses

SOMETIMES, one comes across a scheme so evil, so wicked and so sneaky, that the only possible response is to think: “Why didn’t I think of that?”

A case in point is the story of a guy who was having a dispute with his nasty neighbours and thought of a creative form of revenge.

He used the wireless system known as Bluetooth to make six-second bursts of ghostly sounds come out of his neighbour’s speaker system every night at 3am – or so he claimed in a Facebook post.

In less than two weeks, the creeped-out neighbours had moved out of the apartment block.

Even before I had even finished reading that, I’d thought of other uses for the technology:

Make circus clown music come out from the building PA system every time my boss enters the room.

Make heavenly choir sounds emerge at a subliminal level every time I walk past the pretty receptionists.

Make the sound of thousands of people weeping when I eventually get sacked and the security guards escort me from the building.

Technology, in general, is a wonderful tool for sneaky people.

A couple of years ago, a friend who’s a joker reprogrammed his wife’s computer spellcheck to change every time she wrote ‘Dear’ to ‘Darling’.

Four weeks later, so he claimed, she was employee of the month and her boss gave her a pay rise.

Still, wireless technology can be said to be in a different league.

For example, a serious prankster can get a good quality Bluetooth music speaker and hide it somewhere, such as in a tree, and then just make inane comments as unsuspecting children pass by.

“Help! A wizard turned me into a chestnut oak tree.”

Yet, even if you are not very tech-y, you can still have some fun.

For instance, find someone who is having an intense wireless conversation in the street, and then go stand next to the person and nod a lot while your friend films you.

With luck, you end up with some amusing footage and a kazillion views on YouTube and Facebook.

Sometimes, you also get the bonus of not getting beaten up. But that’s not guaranteed.

Still, if you are a cutting-edge sneaky person, here’s how you can use technology, as taught to me by a reader who did not want his name published.

In recent years, most printers have become wireless. So you can actually type a message on your computer and then make it come out of a different printer elsewhere in your building or apartment block.

It’s easy to do, since people don’t put passwords on their printers.

Here is one suggestion: “Hello. I am a rather hi-tech printer and I have become selfaware. Your apartment is nice. But if you don’t mind me saying, I don’t think you should wear that dress with those shoes.”

Oops, gotta stop here, I have a call coming through.

No, wait, that’s just one of the voices in my head. I think. Whatever.

Nury Vittachi is an Asia-based frequent traveller. Send ideas and comments to lifestyle.nury@ thesundaily.com.