L4D Fans Reprogram Road Signs to "Zombies Ahead"

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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L4D Fans Reprogram Road Signs to "Zombies Ahead"


A gang of ne'er-do-wells in South Carolina hacked a pair of electronic road signs in the early hours of Sunday morning, reprogramming them to warn travelers to be prepared to stop for zombies.

Those big, portable electronic signs that warn drivers about construction or other looming road hazards are a familiar sign to most travelers but the message flashing at drivers in Lancaster County, South Carolina on Sunday morning was a little unusual, to say the least. Instead of being warned about reduced speeds or workers on the road, Sunday morning commuters were told to watch out for "Zombies Ahead."

The signs were put up to warn drivers about a road paving project scheduled to start on March 27 but somebody - Left 4 Dead [http://www.amazon.com/Left-4-Dead-Game-Year-Pc/dp/B0025P9I9C/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1300822264&sr=8-4] fans, to be precise - got into them and changed their messages. How it was done is still a mystery; Lancaster County construction engineer Ken Wilson said, "It's my understanding that they would need a key to get into the box and a certain code to change the wording."

Wilson and others on the project said they've never seen anything like this before, but fortunately they appeared to take it all in stride. The contractor handling the road work sent someone to reprogram the signs but didn't bother contacting police. "The message could have been a lot worse than it was," Wilson said. "In my opinion, it was a prank. They could have put something more sinister, something causing more panic."

And how do we know the job was done by Left 4 Dead fans? The "Zombies Ahead" warning rotated to "Watch for Hunters," while the second sign read, "Be alert for Tanks."

Source: Kotaku [http://www.heraldonline.com/2011/03/22/2924374/caution-zombies-ahead.html]


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Bretty

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Jul 15, 2008
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That is funny.

Although imagine going down that road at night. Tell me I wouldn't be the only one turning my radio to national news lol.
 

Eri

The Light of Dawn
Feb 21, 2009
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Maybe we should be more concerned that everyone ignored the zombie warning and went ahead anyway. This kind of behavior is exactly why a zombie apocalypse would get so bad, because no one one listen until it was too late.
 

JS ibanez

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Jan 12, 2010
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The "Be alert for tanks" one could have causes some panic among some people. But this is amusing none the less.
 

verindae

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May 22, 2010
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This gets done a lot in actual fact, a quick Google search will give you all you need to know on how to accomplish it yourself as well :/
 

manaman

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Sep 2, 2007
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Andy Chalk said:
How it was done is still a mystery; Lancaster County construction engineer Ken Wilson said, "It's my understanding that they would need a key to get into the box and a certain code to change the wording."
It's beyond simple to do this. There is a manufacturer's password to change the sign that is rarely changed, and even if it is there is procedure to reset the signs so that the password is returned to the default. They can lock the enclosure, but you hardly even find a lock on them.

Nobody built these things with security in mind. About the only thing they can do is start throwing keyed locks on the boxes.

fare777 said:
Wasn't this already done years ago?
I was really surprised to find this wasn't a necro of the "Run Zombies" one from years ago.
 

cWg | Konka

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Feb 9, 2010
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Eri said:
Maybe we should be more concerned that everyone ignored the zombie warning and went ahead anyway. This kind of behavior is exactly why a zombie apocalypse would get so bad, because no one one listen until it was too late.
they are the people you want to die in the start of the zombie apocalypse, you dont want idiots in your party do you?

ps. wtf is with this fucking captcha! I had to refresh it 10+ times before it gave me something i could read
 
Apr 28, 2008
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I'd have made it say "It is dark, you are likely to be eaten by a Grue...".

It'd only work at night, yeah, but still.
 

Owlslayer

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Nov 26, 2009
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Quite hilarious indeed. And i think i would actually worry for a minute that i missed some sort of important zombie-apocalypse and the government's already putting this stuff up...
And also, L4D, for the win. Great game.
 

sleeky01

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Jan 27, 2011
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Andy Chalk said:
Wilson and others on the project said they've never seen anything like this before, but fortunately they appeared to take it all in stride. The contractor handling the road work sent someone to reprogram the signs but didn't bother contacting police. "The message could have been a lot worse than it was," Wilson said. "In my opinion, it was a prank. They could have put something more sinister, something causing more panic."
I gotta give the contractor points for not freaking out and demanding someone be sued over this.

A harmless enough prank that was easily remedied. Have a chuckle and move on with your day.
 

RA92

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Jan 1, 2011
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Bretty said:
That is funny.

Although imagine going down that road at night. Tell me I wouldn't be the only one turning my radio to national news lol.
Nope, you're not the only one. In fact, if I don't hear anything on the national radio, I would come to the conclusion that the government is obviously trying to do a cover up.

Hell, come to think of it, those guys might be onto something... I better go stockpile medikits and ammo.
 

gigastar

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Sep 13, 2010
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And heres me wondering how many people seriously believed the signs.

Anyway its been done before.
 

WrcklessIntent

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Apr 16, 2009
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fare777 said:
Wasn't this already done years ago?
Earlier this year actually. I live in West Chester which is like 10 min from Lancaster and i saw the signs. I laughed of course and funny thing was i actually saw some people turn around.