One thing I love about being a geek is being able to pull relatively simple pranks on my unassuming family and friends. Ok, so this prank was pulled by my husband on me years ago before his geekiness rubbed off on me. Still, I find it funny and like all juvenile pranks something I just can’t seem to get tired of.

Back when I first encountered VNC, the iPad still hadn’t arrived on the scene and revolutionized the mobile industry. That meant that my hubby had to use the other PC in the house to play a joke on me. Just a few days ago though, my netbook started “acting weird”, and since my husband had no PC he can use to prank me with I really thought something was wrong with my touchpad. Then I realized he was happily grinning while “playing” with my son’s iPad, which of course instantly made me suspicious. My suspicions proved well founded because you can now apparently download VNC Viewer on your iPad and iPhone, a fact that I’ve overlooked for more than a year now.

If you haven’t hear of VNC Viewer, then you probably have no idea how to use it for a prank.  VNC is, as its developers RealVNC puts it, a “remote control software which allows you to view and fully interact with one computer desktop (the “VNC server”) using a simple program (the “VNC viewer”) on another computer desktop anywhere on the Internet.” In short, if you have ReaVNC installed and activated on a computer, whether it be a desktop or laptop, you can peek into what’s happening on that workstation and control what’s being done there (i.e. move the mouse cursor around) using the VNC Viewer on another device including your iOS and Android mobile devices. Obviously, VNC was designed for more productive purposes, but just think of the endless possibilities for pranks you can pull on non-techie people!

Happy pranking!