As the Spring 2008 semester reaches its end, a popular prank fad was rapidly spreading through the Department. The prank is called "Rickrolling," where an unsuspecting Internet user clicks on a link for something of interest only to be redirected to a music video of the 1987 Rick Astley song "Never Gonna Give You Up". The melodious song could be heard emanating from various CS labs and even was "featured" in Mujtaba's thesis presentation. Dr. Joyce was rickrolled when he first logged into the department's new web site, courtesy of his considerate web team.
After students in Dr. Way's Software Engineering class Rickrolled Dr. Way during class while demonstrating their project, Dr. Way vowed revenge. Students were Rickrolled via email, via web sites, and even under the guise of a report on Software Engineering class project awards that the students supposedly earned. Dr. Way may have won many small skirmishes, but in the end, the students won the war with the ultimate Rickrolling of Dr. Way's office door.
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