Filed under: Fun, Utilities, Windows, Weird Wednesday
Weird Wednesday: Billy Mays app awesomes up your CAPS LOCK KEY!
by Lee Mathews Nov 18th 2009 at 3:00PM
John Haller is pretty well-known in software circles - he's the guy behind PoartableApps.com. What you may not have known is that he's a big Billy Mays fan. And like a lot of Billy Mays fans, John was a little misty when Billy shuffled off this mortal coil earlier this year.What better way for a coder to commemorate a fallen icon than with an awesome app? Enter BILLY MAYS CAPS LOCK!
While it won't make your whites whiter or fix the broken handle of your coffee mug, it is one of the greatest remedies I've ever found for computer-induced boredom. Need a quick, random jolt to break you out of your ennui? Hit your caps lock key, and virtual Billy Mays will chime in with one of his trademark catch phrases.
It's probably worth noting that the app does override your caps lock's real functionality, but only overexcited douchebags on Twitter use it anyway, right? Haller does build in shift + caps lock as a workaround in case you do need to enable cruise control for awesome.
HERE'S HOW TO ORDER:
Sorry, I got caught up in the moment there. It's a free download and is available as an installer or in PortableApps format - so you can take Billy with you and fire him up wherever you've got Windows and a CAPS LOCK key.
I don't know if this is a labor of love or merely the brainchild of four very gifted games designers, but Level Up is a really weird mash-up of gaming elements that you have probably never seen in a Flash game before.
Let's start with the premise itself: Groundhog Day meets Memento. The game experience revolves around 'days': you explore the world and the clock slowly ticks towards the evening. You bounce around picking up gems and talking to the denizens of 'Level Upland'. Eventually you feel tired and head back to ...
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
216 said 3:54PM on 11-18-2009
sounds like a great prank idea to install on people's computers
Reply
Mason said 3:58PM on 11-18-2009
Click the key over and over again at different speeds... kinda sounds like a catchy tune, eh?
Reply
Dan said 4:19PM on 11-18-2009
Strange, whenever I have this running, it disables my caps lock key. I can still press it to hear Billy Mays, but caps lock won't function unless I close the app.
Reply
John T. Haller said 8:42PM on 11-18-2009
That's by design since Caps Lock is pretty useless and this is designed to make it useful. Just hold down shift and click Caps Lock to enable or disable it if you need to.
cyberguy91 said 4:43PM on 11-18-2009
Come on, DownloadSquad! This app was available in less than a week after Billy Mays' demise, if I remember correctly. Where have you been all this time???
Reply
jlself said 8:22PM on 11-18-2009
Unfortunately this icon is a rip of designer Von Glitschka's Billy Mays art. Assholes.
Reply
jlself said 8:25PM on 11-18-2009
Unfortunately that icon is a rip of designer Von Glitschka's Billy Mays art
Reply
John T. Haller said 8:39PM on 11-18-2009
Um, jlself, did you miss the part of the linked page that says "Who Made That Great Image of Billy Mays? That wonderful color artwork of Billy Mays was created by Glitschka Studios and is used with permission."
Lee Mathews said 9:04PM on 11-18-2009
Thanks for chiming in yourself, John.
If you can FIND a more careful person on the net when it comes to redistributing things, let me know.
This is the guy in charge of PortableApps you're talking about. Have you seen the pains he goes through to ensure things are done to the letter?
Sam12 said 7:42AM on 11-19-2009
This is so very cool!!..a damn good use of caps key...trying out now!
Reply
tuix said 9:33AM on 11-30-2009
Apparently you misspelled portableapps.com
Reply