Need Revenge Help From Techies!

[Jester]

Not that long ago, I detailed the greatest practical joke I've ever pulled, which I perpetrated against my friend Frank due to his annoying habit of calling me early in the morning, when he knows I am not conscious. It was made clear to him at that time WHY I played the joke on him. And I figured he got the point, and it would be a long, long time before he called me Too Early In The Morning again.

And I was right....if you think "a long, long time" is 18 freakin' days.

That's right, kids. This morning, he did it again! My phone rang at 8:16 am, a time that everyone, including Frank, knows is far too early for me. It was not Frank's phone calling me, but his mother's (who recently moved to Key West and became his roommate). Having fallen for this shit before, I ignored it.

(And by the way, a quick aside: I am not going to debate the whole "you should turn your phone off if you don't want to be woken up/I keep it on for emergencies" thing here. A separate argument for a separate time. And not the point of this thread. The point is Frank's continued inconsideration towards me and what are appropriate hours to call me.)

Later, just before I got to work, I called Frank back and found out why he called me: an old friend of his was in town, and he wanted me to meet the guy. Problem 1: I've met the guy. Problem 2: Frank knows not to call me that early. Problem 3: I had to work today. Problem 4: If I had not had to work today, and had the day off, calling me early in the morning is NOT going to have the intended effect of having me come drink with you on my day off to meet someone I have met before. Problem 5: It was so important that I get together with Frank and his friend, that they never came by my bar, despite my invitation to do just that.

So Frank, while a great guy, continues to be an inconsiderate drunken a-hole. And I fear that Frank will continue to be an early morning pest. So I want to make my point, again, in no uncertain terms. And being the Evil Genius in Training that I am, I think I have thought of a way to do it. But I need help, because I do not possess the technical knowledge or expertise to put my plan into action.

If this sunrise harrassment continues, I want to set it up so that when Frank gets on his computer, no matter what keys he hits, the text on the screen types out a specific message, prescripted by me.

So, to my techie friends, three questions: 1. Is this possible? 2. Can you tell me how to do it? 3. WILL you tell me how to do it? (And I suppose a fourth question: will you also tell me how to reverse it after the point's been made?)

I have access to Frank's place, having a key and full permission to be there, even to use his comp. What I need is technical knowledge.

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

[Chazzie]

I don't know if there's a good way to do what you're asking to do, but what I WOULD suggest is making his internet homepage go to a text document you have hidden somewhere that has the message.

[Mikkel]

This one? It doesn't offer the possibility of writing your own sentences, though. I wonder if it could be altered.

[Jack]

I figured AutoHotKey would work well, but I haven't had time to research how to redirect wildcard to a string. I'll post when I know something.

[Jester]

I don't know if there's a good way to do what you're asking to do, but what I WOULD suggest is making his internet homepage go to a text document you have hidden somewhere that has the message.

That could be a good alternative. Any ideas on how I would do that?

I figured AutoHotKey would work well, but I haven't had time to research how to redirect wildcard to a string.

You do realize that I have pretty much no idea what you're saying here, right?

[Magpie]

An easier way to force a message:

There is a classic prank which involves taking a screenshot of the victim's desktop, setting that as the background, then hiding all the icons and setting the task bar to autohide. So the computer looks normal, but you can't click on anything. A friend of mine came up with a variant of it where, instead of hiding the icons, you just take your screenshot with a text document open. So it looks normal, except that there's an open text document (reading what ever you want) that can't be closed. Not as good as what you're suggesting, but easier to do, and needs less tech knowledge.

[phantasy]

An easier way to force a message:

There is a classic prank which involves taking a screenshot of the victim's desktop, setting that as the background, then hiding all the icons and setting the task bar to autohide. So the computer looks normal, but you can't click on anything. A friend of mine came up with a variant of it where, instead of hiding the icons, you just take your screenshot with a text document open. So it looks normal, except that there's an open text document (reading what ever you want) that can't be closed. Not as good as what you're suggesting, but easier to do, and needs less tech knowledge.

I'm certainly no techie, but what if you connect remote access to his computer (you can to it with MSN or Teamviewer), take a screenshot of his normal desktop and set it as the background so he can't see that he's being remote controlled?You may also be able to render his keyboard temporarily unoperable using this teamviewer (or it might just affect the mouse, I'm not sure) But this would also require you to sit at your computer all day, or hide out at his house if you have a LOT of time. This way you could just mess with his head for a long period of time (or at least until he gets fed up and brandishes a sledgehammer)

[lordlundar]

Depending on how attentive he is, Go to this page, set the alarm type to number 4, Set the alarm to a time annoying for him, And crank up his speakers. Then minimize the window.

Assuming he can hear afterward, he's not likely to want to get even with you for a while.

[phantasy]

Depending on how attentive he is, Go to this page, set the alarm type to number 4, Set the alarm to a time annoying for him, And crank up his speakers. Then minimize the window.

Assuming he can hear afterward, he's not likely to want to get even with you for a while.

Was there supposed to be a page somewhere in that post? I'm veeerrry curious as to what that alarm sounds like.

[lordlundar]

Was there supposed to be a page somewhere in that post? I'm veeerrry curious as to what that alarm sounds like.

Ahem, whoops. I fixed it with the link now.

[phantasy]

Ahem, whoops. I fixed it with the link now.

Alarm 1 is a million times more annoying to me than alarm 4.

And permission to steal this site? For some reason, there's always a time that I need an alarm on my computer, lol.

[draggar]

Take a screenshot of his desktop and set that as his background.

Then, hide all the icons and the taskbar.

Very simple, very old, but still extremely effective.

[Jester]

Not as good as what you're suggesting, but easier to do, and needs less tech knowledge.

Interesting thought, and it inspired one somewhere in between that and my original idea. Tell me if this would work:

Somehow rig his computer so that everything looks normal, but the minute he hits any key, a pre-programmed message will appear (mine, of course), and the computer will lock up until unlocked by a specific password (also mine, of course).

Anyone know if this is possible, and if so, how?

Depending on how attentive he is, Go to this page, set the alarm type to number 4, Set the alarm to a time annoying for him, And crank up his speakers. Then minimize the window.

In theory, I like the idea. In practice, not so much. Not because of how he might react to it, mind you. But because he keeps his computer in the living room and has two roommates that I like that I wouldn't want to subject to that.

Take a screenshot of his desktop and set that as his background.

Then, hide all the icons and the taskbar.

Very simple, very old, but still extremely effective.

And I do this....how?

[Magpie]

Draggar's suggestion is the classic one that my friend stole, you'd need this for either version.

For the screenshot - CTRL + PrintScreen (or some abbreviation thereof) .

Past this into a picture and save it. Right click on the desktop to get the option to change the background picture. Change it to whatever you saved.

Hiding the taskbar involves right clicking on it, then selecting "properties" and checking the box next to "Auto-Hide the taskbar".

And your idea for locking his computer is not impossible, but it would be a real technological challenge. I would definitely need to get someone else to help me code that up.

[draggar]

Magpie has 95% of it. To hide the icons, open my computer and go to the C drive. File - New - Folder and name it something like "desktop" then open the folder. Make sure that window isn't maxamised - click out of that Window (somewhere else on the desktop). Hit CTRL-A (Select all) then right click one of the icons and drag it to the window (all of them should move) release and select "move".

Then, close the window.