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Put #define true (rand()%1000 != 0) in some obscure C or C++ header file on their system/project. This makes true evaluate to false one in a thousand times, and will make them spend hours trying to figure out why things like infinite loops, aren't quite infinite.
Other languages should also allow you to do things like this, if not messing with constants, messing with standard library functions.
They asked for harmless pranks - this would cause murders.
This is why airplanes crash
Our kids swapped the position of our bowls and plates in the cabinets, and our knives, forks, and spoons in the drawers. They definitely won.
Your kiddos are brilliant lol
I closed the tool palette in the illustration app of a coworker and replaced it with a same-size image of same.
I go for a variation of this if a coworker leaves their computer unlocked when they leave for lunch or the day.
Screenshot their whole desktop, hide all icons and the toolbar. Set the background to the screenshot. Boom a computer that looks exactly the same as before but doesn't work.
Quick, non permanent, takes a few minutes to work out, lesson learned to not leave your machine unlocked.
Putting a piece of tape over their mouse eye is good also.
I've heard it said that the key to a benign prank is to creates a mixture of momentary alarm and confusion, followed by relief.
A few years ago, I put a sign on my boss' office door that said that his office was off limits for the week, as the building facilities team was going to be proactively placing humane termite traps in his office for two weeks as a preventative measures to lure any termites in and then release them at a nearby forest. He found it amusing.
Tape over the mouse laser is always a good one
On the computer thread, changing the keys on their keyboard is also fun. Works better if they are a touch typist as well, as they may go several hours/days before noticing, until they have to look for that one special key. :)
Numpad * and / are good for that, I touch type but always have to look at those.
If we're talking computers, screenshot their desktop, set it as background, move taskbar to top, auto hide it, right-click desktop and choose hide icons.
Advanced mode: also set screen flip to 180 degrees and flip the background so it looks right side up.
I did the screen flip thing to a coworker once. And then he just took the monitor and turned it upside down. Didn't see that coming.
Plug in a wireless keyboard/mouse and do things, like move the mouse, or write "chicken" every so often?
I got out of a presentation once in high school by doing that. Put a USB keyboard dongle in the computer, and kept randomly entering characters whenever someone tried to log into their Google account to get a presentation, and alt+f4 whenever someone opened programs
I added this to another similar comment:
Follow it up by placing a tiny bit of clear soft plastic in with the laser. It doesn't stop the mouse from working, but if you were you draw a straight line the cursor wobbles slightly.
This one is a little convoluted, but I just watched this prank video where they fed someone their own cooking in a restaurant. It may be the most wholesome prank I've ever seen.
Hide small plastic babies around their house
.... are you my brother?
True story. This thing happened last week.
Person A: I want to eat something.
Person B: Do you want some of these (B opens a box of boring cookies and shows the contents to A)
A: No!
B: How about these (opens another box of bland cookies)
A: No!
B: (grabs a third box, realizes itβs empty, but opens it carefully not to show anyone whatβs inside) Ooh, Iβm not showing this to you. (Puts the box away.)
A: I wanna see! (Tries to grab the box)
B: No, itβs mine! (Pushes A further away)
After some futile struggle B let A have the box. A opens it up and realizes itβs empty. We all had a good laugh.
Print out a little dickbutt sticker, then put it over their mouse sensor.
Follow it up by placing a tiny bit of clear soft plastic in with the laser. It doesn't stop the mouse from working, but if you were you draw a straight line the cursor wobbles slightly.
Shouldn't it be one of those "OK" symbols. You know, the "Made you look" game where you create an OK symbol with your hand below your waist.
If they leave their phone unattended take funny selfies and then quickly return their phone to exactly where they left it.
If they use android, you can open the camera without unlocking the phone. Just double tap the power button, and it pops up. It's intended for rapid camera use, but great for pranking purposes. Apple has the equivalent, though I can't remember the button combo, off the top of my head.
oh, I'm going to do this one to my partner
I have another in mind but haven't tried it. If they leave their phone unattended, take a picture of their phone sitting there. Then later on text them the photo and say "You left your phone (wherever)" You will get them to view the photo of their phone on their phone and if you're lucky they will go looking for it when they already have it.
I put post-it notes all over my partner's workspace while they were out of town.
I made a "spray grenade" to my friend once. Attached a Ty-wrap to a bottle of Febreeze (trigger in) and throw it in his room while he was there. He was pretty quick to seek scissors and cut it but I can imagine it worse without his quick thinking and a worse scent.
Replace the eggs in their fridge with convincing fakes that don't quite seem right.
One of the best pranks I saw involved a house sitter, and some musical Christmas socks. Before going away, they removed the music module from an old pair of Christmas socks that played "jingle bells". They then put it between the mattress and the box frame of the bed a relative would be using, while house-sitting. When they turned over in the night, they would set it off. They had jingle bells stuck in their head for a week, but didn't know why.
On another note, a work colleague is the master of ear worm deployment. He has the knack for humming catchy tunes just right. Just a few bars, quite enough you don't notice. You suddenly find you have a tune stuck in your head. You know what he's done when you realise that half a dozen others also keep murmuring the same tune (it's stuck in their heads too). It's remarkably self reinforcing. It amuses him greatly , while being fun and non-harmful.
Find a c header file on a program they're working on.
#define main main
Dad jokes
Empty a can of corned beef hash into the toilet and squirt ketchup over it and then don't flush.
