Lots of electronic devices have a "Sleep Mode" that they go into after a few minutes of inactivity to save power.

Since they're asleep, you should have to shout "WAKE UP!" loudly (maybe a few times) to wake them up. This would be amusing in office buildings, especially. Or anywhere there are cell phones, ipods, you name it, on buses, in coffeeshops...

When woken, the screen would gradually flicker on until it was fully awake.
-- phundug, Jan 11 2008

<YAWN> .... EH ? What ? Sorry, was there something ?
-- 8th of 7, Jan 11 2008


Loud hand clapping should also wake up the lazy devices... I'd like my computer to learn how to make the relaxing sounds of deep breathing when it's asleep, and cough and snuffle as it flickers into wakefulness (now there's a wee idea for someone) +
-- xenzag, Jan 11 2008


+ oh yes, and opens a huge pair of fluffy eyelashes.
-- xandram, Jan 11 2008


+ Or leaps in startlement, glancing back and forth, saying some unintelligible non-sequitur like "My God! What what what what? Did the... shark... find the pencil?"

This is how my wife wakes up when you do this...
-- globaltourniquet, Jan 11 2008


Once woken, get the device to shout "wake up!" at the top of its electronic voice (if it has one). I imagine a chain reaction in large office blocks with a wavefront of wakefulness propagating from the ground floor to the top.
-- DenholmRicshaw, Jan 12 2008


WAKE UP! WAAKE UUUP DAMN YOU!
Oh - the power was off. SORRY EVERYONE! SORRY! [+]
-- Letsbuildafort, Jan 15 2008


Use the old standby that kept my cruddy ol' B&W TV tuned for years: a sharp slap.
-- elhigh, Jan 15 2008


Great humour potential. [+]

"Wake up! Wake up!! Come on, you, wake up!!!"

"Umm, Joe, the copy machine doesn't have that feature."

"Shut up, Fred, or help me wake this da--what? oh..."

--This is the guy who laughs evilly at the hand dryer, but it doesn't work either. Half-Bakery-obssesed.
-- TahuNuva, Jan 16 2008


If they ever start sleepwalking this could be dangerous.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jan 16 2008


You could automate the process by sampling the doctor from Trainspotting, and her annoying posh "Wake up" that she shouts at the overdosed Renton, and having that played back when you press the on/off button on yr telly remote.
-- calum, Jan 16 2008


Knowing my luck, the answer would be:

Uh, what...? Just 5 more minutes, OK?
-- Ling, Jan 16 2008


Knowing my luck and what usually happens and in this case, a plastic arm would protrude and proceed to slap me about the face.
-- skinflaps, Jan 16 2008


I want the curse version.
-- nomocrow, Jan 16 2008


I'm with [Denholm] and [elhigh] on this. I would think that if these were implemented in an office full of cubicles, one shout would wake up everyone's PC. The poor things would never get to sleep. Who wants a sleep-deprived electronic device?

Maybe you slap the monitor to wake it up, and the display shakes side to side (like head shaking), yawns and gives you some random smart remark. Then to put it back to sleep, you slap it again. The monitor goes black and displays "I'm KO'd!" with chirping bird sounds, then fades off...

Physically abusing the thing would be much more gratifying than measly verbal abuse. 'Course, the PC police might arrest you for abuse.
-- Sometimer, Jan 18 2008



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