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		Oh, the things nerds can do when they put their minds to it: Eight great MIT pranks (slate.com)		62
		More: Amusing, MIT

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11680 clicks; posted to Geek » on 01 Mar 2012 at 11:50 PM | Favorite | share:

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xterraadam		2012-03-01 05:34:09 PM

The real hackers. http://hacks.mit.edu/

Marcus Aurelius		2012-03-01 06:21:17 PM

Serious list fail.

Marcus Aurelius		2012-03-01 06:24:32 PM

From Wikipedia:
The cleverness of many MIT hacks has even resulted in urban legends about supposed hacks that may not have occurred. One rumored hack involved a certain student's adherence to classical conditioning behavior response, as studied by Harvard Professor B. F. Skinner. Throughout the off-season, this supposed student visited the Harvard football stadium during his lunch break. He dressed in a black and white striped shirt and trousers, filled his pockets with bird-seed, then went on the field, blew a whistle, and spread his birdseed on the field. The result of all of this effort, the story goes, is that on opening day as the Harvard football team took the field to face their opponent, the referee blew his whistle to signal the start of the game, and the field was suddenly inundated by a flock of birds looking for their lunch. Despite sounding like a classic MIT hack, this particular prank has never been verified. The author of a 1990 book about pranks pulled by MIT students stated that he had not come across clear documentation of this tale during his years of research.[74]

scottydoesntknow		2012-03-01 06:29:05 PM

Marcus Aurelius: Serious list fail.

Well when over half the list is viral ads for upcoming events/entertainment (1, 2, 6, 7, & 8) you know it's gonna be a piss-poor list. So many better pranks through the years.

Marcus Aurelius		2012-03-01 06:34:28 PM

xterraadam: The real hackers. http://hacks.mit.edu/

That list only goes back to 1989.

I have a source that claims MIT hacked a rival's booster section by re-programming their red and white flip cards into saying "GO MIT" or some such back about 1970 or so. That, IMOHO, is the penultimate MIT hack of all time, since it involved re-programming a human social mechanism. They had to figure out how Harvard's flip card machine worked, and then insert a new program into the machine on game day.

Too bad they didn't have hi def cameras back then.

Marcus Aurelius		2012-03-01 06:35:20 PM

scottydoesntknow: Marcus Aurelius: Serious list fail.

Well when over half the list is viral ads for upcoming events/entertainment (1, 2, 6, 7, & 8) you know it's gonna be a piss-poor list. So many better pranks through the years.

My Adblock can't hear them over the sound of how awesome it is.

Shostie		2012-03-01 08:27:18 PM

Marcus Aurelius: xterraadam: The real hackers. http://hacks.mit.edu/

That list only goes back to 1989.

I have a source that claims MIT hacked a rival's booster section by re-programming their red and white flip cards into saying "GO MIT" or some such back about 1970 or so. That, IMOHO, is the penultimate MIT hack of all time, since it involved re-programming a human social mechanism. They had to figure out how Harvard's flip card machine worked, and then insert a new program into the machine on game day.

Too bad they didn't have hi def cameras back then.

That sounds suspiciously similar to the Caltech Rose Bowl prank.

bob_ross		2012-03-01 08:34:40 PM

Those were lame. Especially coming from "smart" people....

doglover		2012-03-01 09:23:02 PM

Clever and smart are two different things.

Engineers are clever.

Eddie Adams from Torrance		2012-03-01 10:19:30 PM

doglover: Clever and smart are two different things.

Engineers are clever.

There's a fine line between stupid and clever.

Marcus Aurelius		2012-03-01 10:24:31 PM

Shostie: Marcus Aurelius: xterraadam: The real hackers. http://hacks.mit.edu/

That list only goes back to 1989.

I have a source that claims MIT hacked a rival's booster section by re-programming their red and white flip cards into saying "GO MIT" or some such back about 1970 or so. That, IMOHO, is the penultimate MIT hack of all time, since it involved re-programming a human social mechanism. They had to figure out how Harvard's flip card machine worked, and then insert a new program into the machine on game day.

Too bad they didn't have hi def cameras back then.

That sounds suspiciously similar to the Caltech Rose Bowl prank.

See how I am? Typical East Coaster, thinking I invented the iPhone.

/hangs head

moothemagiccow		2012-03-02 12:04:00 AM

so they um
you know
put stuff on buildings

spesimen		2012-03-02 12:05:28 AM

Marcus Aurelius: Shostie:
That sounds suspiciously similar to the Caltech Rose Bowl prank.

See how I am? Typical East Coaster, thinking I invented the iPhone.
/hangs head

mit did have a pretty famous football one too, back in the day. The MIT Balloon Hack of '82 (new window)

GWSuperfan		2012-03-02 12:12:20 AM

Speaking of pranks and MIT, this book (new window) is highly recommended.

apoptotic		2012-03-02 12:22:55 AM

moothemagiccow: so they um
you know
put stuff on buildings

In honor of your username I'd like to point out that apparently in 1928 they put a live cow on the roof of a dorm building. I don't know how that didn't make the list.

Around here (both BC and Alberta) the pranks tend to involve VW Bugs being hung from things (bridges, arches) or taken apart and then reassembled inside buildings.

Smallberries		2012-03-02 12:24:10 AM

FAIL,

list FAIL.

Smallberries		2012-03-02 12:25:45 AM

Shostie: Marcus Aurelius: xterraadam: The real hackers. http://hacks.mit.edu/

That list only goes back to 1989.

I have a source that claims MIT hacked a rival's booster section by re-programming their red and white flip cards into saying "GO MIT" or some such back about 1970 or so. That, IMOHO, is the penultimate MIT hack of all time, since it involved re-programming a human social mechanism. They had to figure out how Harvard's flip card machine worked, and then insert a new program into the machine on game day.

Too bad they didn't have hi def cameras back then.

That sounds suspiciously similar to the Caltech Rose Bowl prank.

Except the high school nerds from Caltech got caught, and their prank was exposed. So basically they got a gimme from the man. So, doesn't count.

wildcardjack		2012-03-02 12:27:01 AM

These don't compare to the pranks at Liberty University.

In 2000 they got Ralph Nader on the Florida ballot.

DblDad		2012-03-02 12:42:32 AM

MIT: Because not everyone can get into Caltech.

Moosecakes		2012-03-02 12:44:08 AM

of all the great MIT pranks that have been done through the years, THESE are the ones they pick?

Nightmaretony		2012-03-02 12:52:29 AM

Great pranks arent the domain of MIT or Caltech only.

Most fun was the entire marching band getting suspended for a stunt. Band geeks will get this one. Block formation, then a scatter march to the classic song An American In Paris. Supposed to finish up in a formation of the Eiffel Tower. That is NOt what we did. What we ACTUALLY did was to form as something that LOOKED like the Eiffel Tower and begin marching in and out of the goal posts.

Pretty horrified response. God, we were brats in the day....

Victoly		2012-03-02 12:55:31 AM

Mamma Maxima Scientiae.

eggrolls		2012-03-02 01:00:39 AM

Missing the working phone booth on top of the dome, the R2D2 top of the dome hack, the cow, the scrubbing bubbles, the cop car (complete with box of donuts) and the air conditioner catapult.

And my personal fave:

libraries.mit.edu

1990. New president of MIT's first day.

The entrance to the president's office is behind the bulletin board.

TyrantII		2012-03-02 01:14:11 AM

Marcus Aurelius: Serious list fail.

Seriously.

They didn't even mention the time they stole a howitzer cannon from CalTech, 3000 miles away.

Slate can do better then this crap.

TyrantII		2012-03-02 01:18:29 AM

http://hacks.mit.edu/Hacks/by_year/2006/mitcannon/

spartan6652		2012-03-02 01:27:48 AM

germ78		2012-03-02 01:28:01 AM

The only one that got a chuckle from me was the sign hack.

Mayhem_2006		2012-03-02 01:36:08 AM

My favourite university prank comes from London, where some student accomodation is in towerblocks.

Every floor is identical, so your room will be the same layout as those above and below it.

And so, it came to pass that a young man was led to alcohol by his friends. To the extent that he passed out. And during his innocent slumbers they took everything out of his 8th floor room - the posters, the furniture, everything - and put it in exactly the same layout in the vacant ground floor room. Then, they left the window wide open, and left their friend slumbering soundly on the bed.

Next morning, just as he awakes, he is startled to find four of his friends bursting into his bedroom.

He is not amused when they grab a limb each and start to swing him backwards and forwards.

He has a looooong moment of abject terror when they throw him out of the window...

MarkEC		2012-03-02 07:01:13 AM

The best kind of prank is the one endures and becomes accepted by the community like the Harrisburg Statue of Liberty. (pops)

Mattyb710		2012-03-02 07:34:20 AM

Marcus Aurelius: xterraadam: The real hackers. http://hacks.mit.edu/

That list only goes back to 1989.

I have a source that claims MIT hacked a rival's booster section by re-programming their red and white flip cards into saying "GO MIT" or some such back about 1970 or so. That, IMOHO, is the penultimate MIT hack of all time, since it involved re-programming a human social mechanism. They had to figure out how Harvard's flip card machine worked, and then insert a new program into the machine on game day.

Too bad they didn't have hi def cameras back then.

Link (new window)

wademh		2012-03-02 07:42:21 AM

Shostie: Marcus Aurelius: xterraadam: The real hackers. http://hacks.mit.edu/

That list only goes back to 1989.

I have a source that claims MIT hacked a rival's booster section by re-programming their red and white flip cards into saying "GO MIT" or some such back about 1970 or so. That, IMOHO, is the penultimate MIT hack of all time, since it involved re-programming a human social mechanism. They had to figure out how Harvard's flip card machine worked, and then insert a new program into the machine on game day.

Too bad they didn't have hi def cameras back then.

That sounds suspiciously similar to the Caltech Rose Bowl prank.

The most legendary pranks of MIT are in fact Caltech pranks. But MIT is second best and they should be proud of that.

uttertosh		2012-03-02 08:30:20 AM

ummm.. advertising newly released nerd media. That's all I saw.

You wild and naughty bunch.

give me doughnuts		2012-03-02 08:32:31 AM

What about the time Ick covered the hallway and stairs in ice? They were gonna make Kent the Queen of the Winter Carnival.

Logweasel		2012-03-02 08:56:24 AM

eggrolls: the working phone booth on top of the dome

It was the TARDIS.

toby8915		2012-03-02 09:26:19 AM

Major faile without:
fusionanomaly.net

They even left donuts and instructions on the roof for security to properly remove it.

KiplingKat872		2012-03-02 09:34:31 AM

DblDad: [img.timeinc.net image 611x404]

MIT: Because not everyone can get into Caltech.

Except when MIT stole Cal Tech's Cannon and brought it all the way back to Boston. (new window)

KiplingKat872		2012-03-02 09:35:29 AM

This list is serious fail.

This is the real list: Link (new window)

PiperArrow		2012-03-02 09:46:37 AM

KiplingKat872: DblDad: [img.timeinc.net image 611x404]

MIT: Because not everyone can get into Caltech.

Except when MIT stole Cal Tech's Cannon and brought it all the way back to Boston. (new window)

And Cal Tech's hack in retaliation? A parody of the MIT student paper, The Tech, with such sharp-witted humor as a letter to the editor signed by "Sori Looser". Absolutely brilliant!

neritz		2012-03-02 09:52:39 AM

MarkEC: The best kind of prank is the one endures and becomes accepted by the community like the Harrisburg Statue of Liberty. (pops)

That was a prank? I've driven by that many times and never knew that.

Bronzed War God		2012-03-02 10:24:35 AM

Meh. they get attention because they're MIT.

Hacks/pranks like this go on at just about every college campus.

TF2_Pyro		2012-03-02 10:35:23 AM

Bronzed War God: Meh. they get attention because they're MIT.

Hacks/pranks like this go on at just about every college campus.

True.

It wasn't really a prank, but at Penn State we lead Portal fans on a scavenger hunt. Put up paper flyers at the bus stops telling them that Aperture Science Labs were hiring and it directed people to a French classroom that didn't have any sessions after 1 PM on Wednesdays. There was a message on the whiteboard leading them to another room, and another, until about 4 rooms later it brought them to the Video Editing room where there were a stack of origami companion cubes for people to take.

gerbilpox		2012-03-02 10:37:26 AM

PiperArrow: KiplingKat872: DblDad: [img.timeinc.net image 611x404]

MIT: Because not everyone can get into Caltech.

Except when MIT stole Cal Tech's Cannon and brought it all the way back to Boston. (new window)

And Cal Tech's hack in retaliation? A parody of the MIT student paper, The Tech, with such sharp-witted humor as a letter to the editor signed by "Sori Looser". Absolutely brilliant!

(pops uberlarge)

If MIT's women look like that, the joke's still on them.

Electric_Banana		2012-03-02 11:00:57 AM

Call me when they pull of this one:

www.city-data.com

dittybopper		2012-03-02 11:20:23 AM

gerbilpox:
If MIT's women look like that, the joke's still on them.

I've done *MUCH* worse, and been happy about it.

robbiex0r		2012-03-02 11:29:18 AM

Nobody's mentioned that almost none of these are "hacks"?

thelunatick		2012-03-02 11:36:35 AM

toby8915: Major faile without:
[fusionanomaly.net image 200x289]
They even left donuts and instructions on the roof for security to properly remove it.

THIS!

Bronzed War God		2012-03-02 11:57:41 AM

gerbilpox: PiperArrow: KiplingKat872: DblDad: [img.timeinc.net image 611x404]

MIT: Because not everyone can get into Caltech.

Except when MIT stole Cal Tech's Cannon and brought it all the way back to Boston. (new window)

And Cal Tech's hack in retaliation? A parody of the MIT student paper, The Tech, with such sharp-witted humor as a letter to the editor signed by "Sori Looser". Absolutely brilliant!

[img256.imageshack.us image 640x422]
(pops uberlarge)

If MIT's women look like that, the joke's still on them.

Especially the one 2nd from the right, slightly behind two of them.

That said, if you randomly chose 20 women (skip the one guy, of course) on any campus and took the same photo, I'm not convinced that you'd do much better.

Happy Hours		2012-03-02 12:14:01 PM

germ78: The only one that got a chuckle from me was the sign hack.

Same here.

Since when do nerds like football?

/went to a nerd college
//They gave away free floppy disks to raise attendance at one of the football games and I still didn't bother going. And the games were free (at least for students - not sure about anyone else).

beta_plus		2012-03-02 12:49:14 PM

Bronzed War God: gerbilpox: PiperArrow: KiplingKat872: DblDad: [img.timeinc.net image 611x404]

MIT: Because not everyone can get into Caltech.

Except when MIT stole Cal Tech's Cannon and brought it all the way back to Boston. (new window)

And Cal Tech's hack in retaliation? A parody of the MIT student paper, The Tech, with such sharp-witted humor as a letter to the editor signed by "Sori Looser". Absolutely brilliant!

[img256.imageshack.us image 640x422]
(pops uberlarge)

If MIT's women look like that, the joke's still on them.

Especially the one 2nd from the right, slightly behind two of them.

That said, if you randomly chose 20 women (skip the one guy, of course) on any campus and took the same photo, I'm not convinced that you'd do much better.

You've clearly never been to FSU.

Mearen		2012-03-02 01:11:34 PM

House full of popcorn?

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