prank - The Art of the Prank

August 7, 2014December 15, 2023

Reddit Prank Becomes Irksome Mobile App

Reddit provides an essential newsfeed and discussion forum for those with all sorts of interests, particularly tech. Over the years, it has spawned its own internal logic and culture, including a perplexing array of inside jokes involving bacon, narwhals, and especially cats. And it’s also a controversial “content farm” for marketers, new-media types, and, now, at least one cheeky app developer.

Cat Facts prank now an app

As Sarah Perez details in “Epic Reddit Prank ‘Cat Facts’ Is Now An App That Lets You Text Troll Your Friends”, Kyle Venn, a web developer used this “Cat Facts” prank perpetrated by some guy on his cousin:

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He only did it to hone his dev skills, but now he’s released an Android app that you can use to befuddle your friends.
Continue reading “Reddit Prank Becomes Irksome Mobile App”

July 28, 2014December 15, 2023

Lily Allen’s Instagram Prank Backfires

An ambitious prankster sometimes needs an assist from co-conspirators with some leverage. But those people may have more to lose.

British pop singer Lily Allen has a long history of orchestrated controversy and publicity stunts, but her latest online jape may have put jobs at risk.

According to The New Zealand Herald, Allen landed at Gold Coast airport in Australia and apparently convinced security personnel to cuff her and pretend to arrest her. She posted this picture to her Instagram account with the tag “#uhoh.”

This photo of Lily Allen in handcuffs has been removed from Instagram.

It got thousands of “likes,” but it’s gone now. And airport authorities say the incident is being “investigated internally.” Allen, for her part, is in the clear and free to continue spreading her unpredictable brand of sass.

July 25, 2014December 15, 2023

You Shouldn’t Buy This Boat

You get a text message obviously not meant for you. Do you politely correct the sender, sympathizing with the inconvenience? Or do you spring into action?

Redditor /u/beccascott1 brings us a tale of a boat deal that’s all wet.

You shouldn't buy this boat

The prospective buyer seems oddly intent on going through with the purchase, even after the product is revealed to be less than seaworthy.

According to the screen capture, the wiseacre’s phone is at a nearly full charge, sidestepping a standard rebuke from the Redditorati.

Fellow posters /u/bpaq3 and /u/MustardIcecream weigh in, forecasting a dark aftermath for the ruse, making the whole thing just sad enough to be funny.

[via Reddit’s /r/pranks]

July 23, 2014December 15, 2023

Who Put the White Flags on the Brooklyn Bridge?

Who raised white flags on Brooklyn Bridge — and why?
by Michael Winter
USA TODAY
July 22, 2014

The New York Police Department had a big whodunit on its hands Tuesday, in addition to egg on its face.

Who swapped out two big American flags flying over the Brooklyn Bridge towers with Old Glories that had been bleached white? And, more important, why?

But a more pressing concern was how did the overnight caper happen right under the noses of the NYPD on one of the city’s most heavily guarded and constantly watched landmarks?

“We’re lucky they just put a flag up there “” and not a bomb,” a law enforcement source told the New York Post. “It’s an embarrassment.”