11 Nasty Office Pranks for the Disgruntled Administrator! By: Anonymous

The following list of office pranks are one's I'm sure we all would like to pull but would never have the courage to actually carry out. Nevertheless, I felt compelled to include them in this issue to add a little levity to our typical stress-filled professional lives.

1. Go into MS Word, or similar program, on co-worker's computer and add an entry to the AutoCorrect feature. This is a very simple prank that will send the novice user into a frenzy. Configure the AutoCorrect option to replace the word "the" with the phrase "I'm ready for lunch!" They will usually panic and start scanning for viruses.

2. Take clear tape and tape the underside of the mouse. Make sure you take the sticky end of the tape and apply it to the bottom of the mouse so it locks the ball in place. The victim will most likely check the connections in the back, reinstall drivers, reboot, etc. before they realize what has happened.

3. Another gem is to do a "Print Screen" of the user's desktop, paste the image from the clipboard to a photo program and save the image as a bitmap. Then, set the 'snapshot' of their desktop as the actual desktop wallpaper. (You'll have to hide the Windows status bar, and move all their desktop icons into a folder, which you can hide inconspicuously in the corner or something.) The user will see their desktop as always, but when they try to click on it, everything will appear to be frozen...sending them into a rebooting and virus scanning fit!

4. This will usually only work with people with very little PC knowledge. Stick a floppy disk into their floppy drive. They will be unable to boot up windows until the disk is out. This is fun to watch.

5. Try to find a very obnoxious CD lying around. Preferably a heavy metal or rap CD. Pop it in their CD ROM. Turn up the sound full blast by double clicking on the volume control on the bottom right. On normal configurations the audio CD will auto-play when windows first starts up. The person starting up their PC in the morning will definitely be embarrassed.

6. This is for that special person you just can't stand in the office, the one who talks on the phone all day with their boyfriend/girlfriend and gets personal e-mail all day. Go into their e-mail and change their defaults to automatically "blind carbon copy" the Managing Partner.

7. Change the coffee in the office coffee maker to decaf. Wait about three weeks (or until you think everybody has gotten over their caffeine addiction) and switch to espresso!

8. Try "password securing" someone's screen saver. First, I suggest changing the screen saver to "scrolling marquee" and inserting your own word or phrase; "I hate all attorneys" or something to that effect.

9. Pop out the 'm' and 'n' key on someone's keyboard and reverse the two. Any flat tool will work. Just pry it with little pressure and they will easily come right off. Then just sit back and watch the confusion.

10. With someone who is on the phone a lot during work - this works if you have phones that the handset comes apart. Take the handset apart and put scotch tape over the mouthpiece inside. They can still be heard, but they have to talk loud. The next day take it off and put it in the earpiece. Usually they will be yelling to the other person on the line the next day and won't be able to hear them. When they complain about the phone and get a replacement, do it on the next phone. After about a week you will notice the calls to go down considerably.

And finally...

11. Depending where you are, you may have a cafeteria or a Café in your building. Every week most of them put out a menu so you know what they are serving. Usually it is done on Word or Excel and is not extremely fancy. With a little work and matching fonts and images, you can make your own menus and post them by your desk. We had one co-worker avoid the cafeteria for 2 weeks because of selections like "fish head stew," etc. before he caught on. Works great with picky eaters!

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Editor: Todd A. Wiggins (twiggins@cpmas.com) (This publication is the property of the Atlanta Association of Legal Administrators. Reproduction or reprint without prior permission is strictly prohibited. Click here to request reprint permission.)

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