L4D Fans Reprogram Road Signs to "Zombies Ahead"

Thaluikhain

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Jan 16, 2010
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Father Time said:
My first thought was

"Doesn't that mean they deleted the actual message on those signs? That message could've been important."

But it's a warning for construction that hasn't started yet. So I'm not sure how I feel about this.
Did they know it had started yet?

Those signs are put up for a reason, people shouldn't fuck about with them.
 

Watchmacallit

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Jan 7, 2010
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Oh that is awesome. See, there are some smart people in the world. Theres a difference between 'Geek Pranks' and 'Dumb Ass Pranks'.
 

Dafttechno

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May 19, 2010
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vxicepickxv said:
Dafttechno said:
Andy Chalk said:
L4D Fans Reprogram Road Signs to "Zombies Ahead"


A gang of ne'er-do-wells in Pennsylvania 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, Pennsylvania 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]


Permalink
Lancaster Country, Pennsylvania? Try South Carolina. This has been in our local paper the past 2 days.
Do they need a correct an error button now? Between this, using The Name Game icon for Critical Miss and the rollover text about the 1990 Captain America being "Own The Director", it's looking like somebody needs to do a bit of quality control.
Looks like Andy Chalk has corrected the original article now. It wasn't his fault, he was reposting from Kotaku and they were the ones that got it wrong.
 

Cid Silverwing

Paladin of The Light
Jul 27, 2008
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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.
No one took it seriously because a zombie apocalypse will never happen.
 

Excludos

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Sep 14, 2008
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Hahaha. Thats brilliant. I love pranks like these, especially when they're all in good fun and doesn't hurt anyone.
 

8-Bit Grin

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Apr 20, 2010
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cWg | Konka said:
ps. wtf is with this fucking captcha! I had to refresh it 10+ times before it gave me something i could read
If you type it in correctly for the most part, it will still accept it.

On topic:

This is a creative outlet for some small town fun.

I approve.
 

cWg | Konka

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Feb 9, 2010
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8-Bit Grin said:
cWg | Konka said:
ps. wtf is with this fucking captcha! I had to refresh it 10+ times before it gave me something i could read
If you type it in correctly for the most part, it will still accept it.

On topic:

This is a creative outlet for some small town fun.

I approve.
I have no probly typing it in, its just sometimes totally unreadable eg, ive had Hebrew i think and greek aplhabet letters
 

Android2137

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Feb 2, 2010
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What? They couldn't be bothered to tack on "Also, Road Work, 3/27"? Then the road workers might have left the sign alone.
 

soren7550

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Dec 18, 2008
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This reminds me of a year or so ago when in New York I believe that someone changed those signs to read 'Nazi Zombies! Run! Head to colder climates!' (not 100% on the last part) and one news outlet was having a fit about it. Let's see if I still have it somewhere...

... ok, seems that I can't find it amongst my favorites. Will keep searching though. (also gotta clear out my favorites, but that's something else)

EDIT: Found it (yeah, I was wrong on a few thing. Shoot me, it's been a while since I saw it)
 

RicoADF

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Jun 2, 2009
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sleeky01 said:
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.
I second that, hats off to the guy for having a sense of humor and just fixing the issue
 

CardinalPiggles

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Jun 24, 2010
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i would have put something a little more origonal, but oh well, its still funny.

also, they did that early sunday morning apparently, so it woud be light before anyone saw it surely, it couldnt have caused any real harm, if any at all.

sometimes people need little things like this to cheer them up, i wish some would stop being dramatic about it.