Some people assume that super heroes are are super-serious, focused solely on saving the world.
I like to have fun with my neighbors.
Holidays are among my favorite days of the year. There are holidays for everything under the sun, but April Fools Day is one of the best.
There are many devious pranks one could plan on unsuspecting tech-users, but I prefer to use the holiday for its teachable moments.
Did a tech user leave their computer unlocked and walk away? Well, their screen may end up rotated. (Because mal-intenders could hop on and cause far more serious issues.)
Did all of the tech-users forget about IT Professionals Day? Well, I consider April 1 as “Tech Supporter Appreciation Day” and typically treat myself to a nice meal and a cupcake.
Are tech-users clicking links that they shouldn’t? Well, one way to test is by creating a hidden page on the work intranet website and sending out an email with the link (with permission from the administrators, of course) to find out. My page had a photo of a “tech gremlin” with an explanation of the prank (don’t want to give my tech-users a heart attack) and a counter. According to the counter, over 100 users clicked the link – even though the email was made to look very suspicious. Apparently word got around and people clicked it just to see the gremlin – but now my tech-users email when they see a suspicious link.
With days like April Fools, it is important to not take things too far. As Uncle Ben said to Spiderman: “With great power comes great responsibility.” Never do something widespread without permission from the administrators, and always prank responsibly.