IDEA: Annoying toy

[deltaend]

A program that would be invisible in the backround and randomly flicker the screen white for a fraction of a second.  It would also drop the refresh rate down to the lowest supported and move the icons around 1 pixel at a time on the screen to drive your vic out of his mind.  Maybe also it would randomly fix everything for a couple days then start over.

Other ideas with this in mind:
Random reverse calibration on your mouse or slow the mouse for 2 seconds and then speed it up to highest for 2 seconds then back to slow etc...
Randomly show error messages that look like they mean something but actually mean nothing.
Have a randomly bouncing start button which runs away from you when you try to click it.
When the cursor has been sitting blinking for over 10 minutes, AND the screensaver has turned on, force the keyboard to type, "Somebody help me..."


Ok, yes, you may say it.  I'm evil.

[Scott]

This would be malware, and I hope that DC wouldn't touch it for that reason alone.

[deltaend]

Let me clarify:

Non-Viral, non-protective, non-destructive, non-advertising, non-backdoor, non-ADS, non-monitoring, etc...

Designed to irritate and annoy as a joke on systems you either own or have administrative control over but nothing else.

[Scott]

Malware doesn't have to be any of those things.  I think wanting to "irritate and annoy" is malicious, so I called it malware.

There are quite a few joke programs available already, though maybe not one that does all the things listed.

[mouser]

its not designed to harm anything, except you might cause someone to be miserable and spend a week trying to fix their computer, so i'm not sure i'd call it malware, but it sure could cause some pain in the wrong hands.

it would be a funny joke if you told your friend after 30 mins of their suffering, but if you left it on someone's machine for a week that would be cruel and inhuman.

i'd prefer joke ideas that weren't so easily mistaken for a buggy computer..

[wr975]

Maybe also it would randomly fix everything for a couple days then start over.

Geez, you're really evil.    


RJL software has a collection of pranks. AFAIK, most of them can be disabled quite easy (moving mouse to top left corner).

http://www.rjlsoftwa...tware/entertainment/

I like the "Random Burper"... 

[deltaend]

Maybe also it would randomly fix everything for a couple days then start over.

Geez, you're really evil.    


RJL software has a collection of pranks. AFAIK, most of them can be disabled quite easy (moving mouse to top left corner).

http://www.rjlsoftwa...tware/entertainment/

I like the "Random Burper"... 

-wr975 (June 10, 2005, 06:39 AM)

I think I've seen this site way back in the day.  It is pretty fun looking although I was looking for something a little more subtle and psychologically tormenting.  Most of these either only work with Windows 98/95, or they have a bit of a harsh element to how majorly they affect the computer's functionality.  Cool site though.

 
www.webopedia.com defines malware as:
(mal´wãr) (n.) Short for malicious software, software designed specifically to damage or disrupt a system, such as a virus or a Trojan horse.

So I guess it doesn't exactly fit that category but I suppose you could classify something like this as from a really, really, demented person.

[Scott]

its not designed to harm anything, except you might cause someone to be miserable and spend a week trying to fix their computer, so i'm not sure i'd call it malware, but it sure could cause some pain in the wrong hands.

-mouser (June 10, 2005, 04:01 AM)

I'd call any software that is exclusively designed to cause confusion, anger, or stress of any type, malware.  It just means "malicious software".  The term "malware" doesn't mean "a program that formats your hard drive" or one that spies on you.

www.webopedia.com defines malware as: (mal´wãr) (n.) Short for malicious software, software designed specifically to damage or disrupt a system, such as a virus or a Trojan horse.

-deltaend (June 10, 2005, 07:50 AM)

Come on, think about it--read the definition above again, and read the description of this software suggestion again.  If you don't think that software could disrupt the operation of the computer it's running on, I don't know what else to say.

[deltaend]

Sorry.  Didn't mean to offend anyone.

[mouser]

no offense taken here; don't take scott too seriously.. he's just looking out for the would-be victims of these pranks

[Scott]

You didn't offend me!  I have used prank software, particularly RJL's stuff.  But I did it on someone who I was sure would know that I did it, and I never left him hanging for long.  I wouldn't use anything that really messed with the system though--just innocuous stuff like that mouse cursor that intermittently changes to a middle finger, and stuff like that.