Winter Wonderland

It looks cool and all, but I'm not cleaning that up.

March Madness 2015: Wisconsin vs. Stenographer

Word games in addition to basketball games!

LOL: Now THAT Is How You Call Into a Cable News Show

LOL: A Prank for the Principal

Take a look (and listen!) to what the seniors of Santa Barbara High School did.

Nerd News: Publishers Withdraw 120+ Fake Research Papers

Here's the sordid tale:

The publishers Springer and IEEE are removing more than 120 papers from their subscription services after a French researcher discovered that the works were computer-generated nonsense. 

Over the past two years, computer scientist Cyril Labbé of Joseph Fourier University in Grenoble, France, has catalogued computer-generated papers that made it into more than 30 published conference proceedings between 2008 and 2013. 

The "nerds behaving badly" tag is for the publishers who clearly had sloppy vetting practices.  My response:

800-Pound Snowball 1, Campus Housing 0

You've got to see the photos of the monster snowball that got away from its two math-major creators and smashed into a Reed College dorm, cracked its wall, and knocked it off its studs.  Nobody was injured, so we call safely laugh out loud at this!

I personally love this caption on one of the photos: "Runaway 800-lb snowball puts dent in RCA #7.  Math majors were involved."

You know, as a teacher I'm not supposed to say things like this about pranks that cause damage to campus buildings, but this was my honest reaction:

"I'm impressed."

Nerd Fun: CERN, Legos, and Google Streetview

Kudos.

Friday Fun Video: A Master Class in the Art of the Videobomb

Kudos to the playful members of the University of Cincinnati Bearcats baseball team:

Friday Fun Video: A Prankster Asks A Question

Sir Richard Branson Loses A Bet

And how!

Idiots 1, Science 0

*facepalm.*

Quote of the Day: Undergrad Shenanigans at Oxford

Here's a thought from one of the students:

"Other than the small matter of it technically being theft it seems to be to be a great and noble tradition."

Technically!

Friday Fun Video: the Invisible Driver Prank

Nerd News: The Geeky Glory of MIT

A British paper attempts to understand MIT.  I personally love how there is a code of etiquette for pranks and practical jokes.  Seriously, nobody does practical jokes like MIT students.  Oh, as for the nerdy geeky glory, you can get some of that online free.

Nerd News: Students Suspended for Post-It Note Prank

Oh, come on!  Humorless killjoys get the "dirtbag" AND "dipstick du jour" tags.

Post-Oscars: Red Carpet Highlights

Who cares about the actual winners?  I'm more interested in red carpet shenanigans.  This year's outfits were kind of tame with a side of mediocrity.  Most of the dresses weren't even worth mocking (though Jennifer Lopez looked totally tacky).  Someone please give Angelina "emaciation chic" Jolie a sandwich.  A few people even looked lovely (Gwyneth Paltrow was cool and stately, Natalie Portman was adorable in her subtly red and black polka-dotted number, Octavia Spencer was cute, and I give two thumbs way up to Jessica Chastain's bold black-and-gold choice).  

But nope, the highlight of the entire red carpet experience was comedic gadfly Sacha Baron Cohen crashing the entire thing in a glorious publicity stunt (despite being specifically banned from the event) and ambushing the hapless Ryan Seacrest.  Come on, before getting bundled off by security, Cohen zestfully mocked not only Hollywood pretentiousness and Middle Eastern dictators, but Kim Jong-Il as well.  I loved it and laughed out loud.

LOL: the Best Buy Uniform Prank

The comedy troupe Improv Everywhere pulled this off in New York. In short, it's hilarious identity chaos as 80 people dressed in blue shirt and khakis walk into a Manhattan Best Buy.  Kudos, people.

Monday Therapy: Awesome Nerd Prank with Professor Conan the Barbarian

This is awesomely awesome: Some pranksters at Trinity College Dublin put up a new faculty profile webpage in the Department of English for one "Dr. Conan T. Barbarian."

Check it out: Professor Barbarian's dissertation was entitled "To Hear The Lamentation of Their Women: Constructions of Masculinity in Contemporary Zamoran Literature."


UPDATE: Here is a cached version of the webpage that has now been taken offline.  After the fold I copied and pasted the glorious, glorious text.

Geek Fun: Yet Another Hacked Traffic Sign

This one's from Arizona, and it joins the ranks of road signs warning of apocalyptic doom, zombies, and velociraptors.  I love these things!  (Oh, nearly forgot this gem from Down Under.)

Monday Therapy: Epic Office Post-It War

Behold the Great French Post-It War of 2011 between two companies!  Go, look, and marvel.  Here's the story also as reported in a French newspaper -- Vive la guerre des Post-It!