As you may already know, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has a long history of pranking (or hacks, as they call them) both on their own campus and at other schools. Though there have been some real winners over the years, this new one, captured today by MIT newspaper The Tech, really takes the cake.
To mark the Halo 3 release, MIT students gifted the John P. Harvard statue in Harvard Yard with a Spartan helmet (with "Master Chief in Training" written on the back) and an assault rifle. All we can say is "Wow." We may not be able to talk to MIT students very long at parties without getting sleepy, but when it comes to pranks, it's clear that we all speak the same language: Nerd.
[Thanks, Brad]
Reader Comments (41)
Posted: Sep 25th 2007 1:23PM (Unverified) said
Nice!
Posted: Sep 25th 2007 1:11PM (Unverified) said
Not funny.
Posted: Sep 25th 2007 2:02PM The Wicker Man said
I doubt anything could bring a chuckle out of old Mr.Linguistics himself!. Go write some more books for odonian press on our governments vile foreign policies, and leave the laughs to the big boys.
Reply
Posted: Sep 25th 2007 7:18PM (Unverified) said
Lighten up, brudda, Herbert S. Terrace says you need to get a sense of humor.
Reply
Posted: Sep 26th 2007 6:26AM (Unverified) said
That is awesome, well done. The helmet looks quite real.
Nicole @ Prank Videos
Reply
Nicole @ Prank Videos
Posted: Sep 25th 2007 1:11PM (Unverified) said
'the best thing you'll see today'?!?!?!
Posted: Sep 25th 2007 1:16PM (Unverified) said
They haven't seen my girlfriends boobs.
Pretty creative though. Bet there are several students sleeping through classes today.
Reply
Pretty creative though. Bet there are several students sleeping through classes today.
Posted: Sep 25th 2007 1:27PM (Unverified) said
So this is what smart people do with their free time.
Posted: Sep 25th 2007 1:24PM NaeemTHM said
I love those guys. The did the Tri-Force on the lawn once.
Posted: Sep 25th 2007 1:32PM (Unverified) said
"They haven't seen my girlfriends boobs."
I have........ Best thing I saw today :)
j/k
I have........ Best thing I saw today :)
j/k
Posted: Sep 25th 2007 1:34PM The Wicker Man said
i was to busy shagging em to get a good look! oh too much too bad!
Reply
Posted: Sep 25th 2007 1:39PM (Unverified) said
truly, this makes my proud to be an alumnus. ranks up there with when they turned the Dome into R2D2 back around '98. if you've been to Harvard Yard and seen the sacred John Harvard statue, you know what this means...
Posted: Sep 25th 2007 1:37PM (Unverified) said
When you are the MIT level of nerd, alcohol and sex are not a distraction. This frees up a lot more more time for stuff like this.
Posted: Sep 25th 2007 2:07PM (Unverified) said
Was this photo altered by Joystiq?
The reason I ask is because the statue in question sits in the middle of a grassy field in between two streets, not in front of a building.
The reason I ask is because the statue in question sits in the middle of a grassy field in between two streets, not in front of a building.
Posted: Sep 25th 2007 2:09PM Korova Pamplona said
If you go to The Tech's website, that same picture is there on the front page.
Reply
Posted: Sep 25th 2007 2:35PM MrHashbrown said
If you go to the source page, it shows the same picture. So no, Joystiq didn't photoshop it.
And to add my two cents: Awesomely Nerdy.
Reply
And to add my two cents: Awesomely Nerdy.
Posted: Sep 25th 2007 2:40PM (Unverified) said
I figured it out- there are TWO statues of JP on the campus. One is the one I was thinking of, which is right in the middle of Mass Ave. The other statue (which is identical) is in Harvard Yard, and is the one they turned into Master Chief.
I have no idea why that bugged me as much as it did.
Reply
I have no idea why that bugged me as much as it did.
Posted: Sep 25th 2007 3:44PM (Unverified) said
Uh...the John Harvard statue has been in front of that building as far as I can remember.
Reply
Posted: Sep 25th 2007 3:46PM (Unverified) said
For some reason (ahem) Joystiq would not allow me to post the url to other photos. Yes, Joystiq took some liberty in enhancing the image as TungShen Chew should get the credit of the images. The images are dark. BTW, the prank was finished at 8am.
Try here:
hacks.mit.edu/Hacks/by_year/2007/halo3_john_harvard/additional_information.html
Reply
Try here:
hacks.mit.edu/Hacks/by_year/2007/halo3_john_harvard/additional_information.html
Posted: Sep 25th 2007 3:48PM (Unverified) said
Dammit, I've posted 3x now to tell you that the image credit should go to TungShen Chew. That image here is his, but Joystiq enhanced it (as original is dark).
(Joystiq is not allowing me to paste the MIT url that has more pics. The prank was removed by 8am)
Reply
(Joystiq is not allowing me to paste the MIT url that has more pics. The prank was removed by 8am)
Posted: Sep 26th 2007 10:23AM (Unverified) said
Hiney, we didn't do anything to the picture. Click on the link, you'll see. I am going to add an image credit though, that's a good point.
Reply
Posted: Sep 25th 2007 2:07PM Korova Pamplona said
Oi! Kids these days! No respect, I tell ya, no respect at ALL!
Poor JP probably turning in his grave. Oi!
Poor JP probably turning in his grave. Oi!
Posted: Sep 25th 2007 2:32PM FrankTheCrank said
I wonder if J Allard put it up himself...
It's sad to see a prank that involves pushing a certain IP(intellectual property). Almost seems more like viral marketing.
Yeah, hey, GO MICROSOFT!! YOU RULE! YESSSSS!!!
Kinda gay.
It's sad to see a prank that involves pushing a certain IP(intellectual property). Almost seems more like viral marketing.
Yeah, hey, GO MICROSOFT!! YOU RULE! YESSSSS!!!
Kinda gay.
Posted: Sep 25th 2007 5:01PM (Unverified) said
Obvious troll is obvious.
You should use this as your avatar, Frank.
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/5292/1189960203870cp7.jpg
Reply
You should use this as your avatar, Frank.
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/5292/1189960203870cp7.jpg
Posted: Sep 25th 2007 3:06PM (Unverified) said
a little perspective is required here: these hacks are notoriously difficult to pull off logistically. my friend was involved in the R2D2 dome hack (http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/1999/r2d2.html), and told me about all the precautions they took to ensure the safe installation and removal of the hack -- both to avoid damaging the dome, and to encourage the campus police to leave it up for a while (which they did). so they had to meticulously plan every detail, because it needed to be installed in a matter of hours, in the middle of the night. and no one wanted to get caught.
this statue sits right in the middle of Harvard Yard, and Harvard's CP's are numerous, so I imagine they would have had to devise a way to dart in, slap it on safely, and get the hell out.
it's all in good fun though; MIT and Harvard have a friendly rivalry. and it has nothing to do with "pushing M$ IP" (if any group of CS folks are anti-MS, it'd be MIT CS folks). they're just having fun with a sci-fi figure that's currently in the public consciousness -- you could hardly accuse them of being "pro-20th Century Fox" for doing the Star Wars hack...
I hope that's somewhat enlightening; I feel it's my duty to defend my old school :)
this statue sits right in the middle of Harvard Yard, and Harvard's CP's are numerous, so I imagine they would have had to devise a way to dart in, slap it on safely, and get the hell out.
it's all in good fun though; MIT and Harvard have a friendly rivalry. and it has nothing to do with "pushing M$ IP" (if any group of CS folks are anti-MS, it'd be MIT CS folks). they're just having fun with a sci-fi figure that's currently in the public consciousness -- you could hardly accuse them of being "pro-20th Century Fox" for doing the Star Wars hack...
I hope that's somewhat enlightening; I feel it's my duty to defend my old school :)
Posted: Sep 25th 2007 3:55PM Andrew F said
YES!!! Hope it's still there when I go to visit Boston next week.
Posted: Sep 25th 2007 5:57PM Emophia said
Nifty. What material?
Posted: Sep 25th 2007 7:46PM Flames said
thats cool
Posted: Sep 25th 2007 11:55PM (Unverified) said
brilliant! =D
Posted: Sep 26th 2007 12:53AM (Unverified) said
I should point out that getting the actual helmet onto Johnny Harvard's head was probably not difficult at all. The statue really sits around unprotected because security has learned to turn a blind eye to it, as it's a frequent target for less creative pranks and vandalism. Usually they find it much more efficient to just clean the interesting smells off the statue every morning. So when it's something like that, or ...
http://photos-086.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sf2p/v82/33/1/21086/n21086_32584777_8041.jpg
... like that, it just gets taken off in the morning as well.
http://photos-086.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sf2p/v82/33/1/21086/n21086_32584777_8041.jpg
... like that, it just gets taken off in the morning as well.
Posted: Sep 26th 2007 5:44PM (Unverified) said
Does that mean they would have cleaned it up already? I just saw this and was about to head out, with camera!
Reply
Posted: Sep 26th 2007 4:21AM ThornedVenom said
MIT is a role model. =)
Posted: Sep 26th 2007 6:28AM (Unverified) said
Posted: Sep 27th 2007 9:10AM (Unverified) said
Posted: Sep 27th 2007 4:48PM (Unverified) said
New Zealand had some pretty ace stuff going on too...
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0709/S00282.htm
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0709/S00289.htm
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0709/S00282.htm
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0709/S00289.htm
Featured Stories
Super Joystiq Podcast 004: 38 Studios meltdown, Gravity Rush, Civilization 5: Gods & Kings, Dragon's Dogma
Posted on May 25th 2012 3:30PM







