Ah, April Fools’ Day. That dreaded day of the year that news editors and the gullible public love to hate. While we can’t wait to see what amusing pranks the likes of Google are cooking up, you can plot your own fun in the meantime. We’ve got 10 suggestions, ranging from vintage classics to more up-to-date tricks that you can play on your colleagues, friends and frenemies. If your office has a good sense of humor and you’re looking for a bit of light-hearted, harmless fun this April 1, take a look through the gallery for our ideas and please share your own suggestions in the comments box below.
1. Speech Recognition Create an official looking notice (as per the house style of your workplace) informing staff that an item of office equipment is now equipped with speech recognition technology. Add a few suggested commands. Stick the notice to the equipment. Sit back and watch your colleagues shout at an inanimate object. Secretly video the action for prolonged fun.
2. Crossed Wires Simple, yet effective. Just switch the telephone plugs of your colleagues' phone lines (leaving their phones in exactly the same place) and enjoy the confusion as they repeatedly receive calls for each other. Works best with coworkers that aren't on the best terms to start with.
3. Quick Change This one requires a little planning and collaboration, but the effect will be worth the effort. Arrange with coworkers to each bring in several changes of clothes. Then, throughout the morning repeatedly switch items of clothing. Ensure your mark sees you all in as many different items as you can manage. Wait for the other shoe to drop.
4. Fun with Mice Anyone leaving their mouse unattended around April 1 deserves punishment. While the classic trick was to remove the mouse's tracker ball, nowadays you can achieve the same effect by putting some tape over the mouse's laser tracker. Alternatively, and if you can find time with an unattended computer, change the mouse's settings for maximum confusion.
5. Hunt the Paper Clip This is another oldie-but-goldie for anyone in an office where a photocopier is still regularly used. Place a paper clip over or on a piece of blank paper and make several copies. Now, place them back on the top of the paper tray. Hang around to see your colleague's confusion as they desperately try and find the strange paper clip that's showing up on all their copies.
6. This Stall is Occupied For this you'll need a pair of shoes, a pair of trousers, some newspaper (or something similar) for stuffing and possibly a step ladder. In a toilet stall with a gap at the bottom, set up your items of clothing to look as if someone is using the conveniences. Lock the stall (from the outside if possible, otherwise this is where the step ladder comes in) and leave your mystery "person" to confuse (and very possibly worry) restroom users for the rest of the day.
7. BSoD This is perhaps more effective with older colleagues who are likely to have experienced the pain of the "Blue Screen of Death." For this prank, it's just a matter of finding an appropriate screen grab and either leaving it on your co-worker's display, or setting it as the screen saver for a nasty surprise.
8. Can You Hear That? Find, or make a recording of a repetitive noise (a heart beat works well for maximum distress) or dig out a portable radio. Set the volume to just audible and hide it in a filing cabinet, cupboard, drawer, etc., near to your mark. Now wait for your colleague to ask if anyone else can hear that heart beat/static/music and prepare to deny all. Several times. A straight face is essential.
9. Wrong Number Does your office issue a paper list of phone extensions? If so, there's fun to be had. You need to access the master doc (or re-create it if need be). Swap the extensions and then replace your target's list with the doctored version. Obviously you'll need to replicate any creases, edits, coffee stains and so on, but if you can pull this off, you're in for a treat as your unsuspecting mark blithely dials a work buddy and instead gets the MD.
10. Just Smirk it Out Our last prank is especially effective if your colleagues are expecting you to pull some kind of stunt. This April Fools', just do nothing. Sit and smirk at everything on the morning of the 1st. They will rack their brains desperately trying to work out what you've plotted. You can help out their anxiety levels with loaded comments to match your smirk. "Enjoy your coffee." "Have you used the water cooler yet today?" "Aren't you going to answer that?"
Citat från körkortsbok år 1920:
De som vållar bilisten de största
bekymren, äro dock lekande barn och
nervösa fruntimmer. De förra äro under
lek både blinda och döva. Att signalera åt dem hjälper i regel ej, och ofta komma de framrusande så nära vagnen att signalen icke blir av betydelse. Där man väntar sig
lekande barn såsom vid skolor, lekplaner etc, bör man endast köra fram med yttersta varsamhet, ty man kan sällan hjälpa sig med annan manöver än att stoppa vagnen. Damer är ofta lika svåra som barnen, ty vid en hornsignal tappar de ej helt sällan koncepterna. Att de efter att ha passerat trefjärdedelar av gatan
utan vidare vända för att nå den
gångbana de nyss lämnat är intet
sällsynt. Ja två, tre gånger kunna de springa fram och tillbaka framför bilen.
Stanna och låt dem komma upp på
gångbanan! Handla i övrigt som vid möte med spårvagnar
Some very funny autocorrections made in Iphone texting. They are collected from the site "Damn you autocorrection" where you can find even more like this.