I just updated my Facebook status via your mom's computer without even breaking into her house. All I had to do is use a little trick which lets me pretend to be posting Facebook updates from nearly anywhere or anything — including Hogwarts, the Moon, a toaster, or a typewriter.
The trick appears to have been discovered by leftoverusername, a commenter on popular link-sharing site Reddit, and it's quite simple. Just modify a special URL when posting an update and the "via" text on the status is altered accordingly.
For example, if I want to pretend that I'm posting a status update from the Moon, I start with the special URL:
http://www.facebook.com/connect/prompt_feed.php?preview=true&api_key=123456789Then I change the "123456789" API key designation to "221826277855257," the one which corresponds with "The Moon." This means that my final URL looks like this:
http://www.facebook.com/connect/prompt_feed.php?preview=true&api_key=221826277855257I head to that link — and tada! — I can enter a status update that appears to be coming from the Moon:
If I want to use this trick to post an update on a friend's Facebook Wall, I simply use the same special URL, but add and alter a "target" ID designation to match my pal's friend ID number:
(Note that a person's friend ID number can usually be found at the end of his or her Facebook URL or hidden within a link on his or her page.)
"But Rosa," someone is whining right now. "The Moon is so boring! I want to update my status from some cooler place!" Well, guess what? You can.
Thanks to leftoverusername and other crafty Reddit commenters, there is a long list of numbers which you can plug into the API key spot to make your Facebook status updates more fun:
- iPhone: 6628568379
- Blackberry: 2254487659
- Palm: 7081486362
- Sidekick: 21810043296
- Sony Ericsson: 38125372145
- Xbox LIVE: 5747726667
- iPad: 112930718741625
- Foursquare: 86734274142
- Telegram: 140881489259157
- Carrier Pigeon: 130263630347328
- Morse Code: 134929696530963
- Message in a Bottle: 123903037653697
- Commodore 64: 138114659547999
- Your moms computer: 132386310127809
- TRS-80: 134998549862981
- K.I.T.T.: 129904140378622
- Mind Computer Interface: 121111184600360
- eyePhone: 110455835670222
- toaster: 203192803063920
- microwave: 0a5266c8844a1b09211e7eb38242ac2f
- Super Nintendo Entertainment System: 235703126457431
- Gameboy Color: 180700501993189
- GoD: 256591344357588
- Glade Air Freshner: 4aeb4db2e8df1cdb7f952b2269afb560
- Strawberry: a4c9fb1708a848c2241674531176209b
- The moon: 221826277855257
- Dr. Pepper: eea90d40e1d12565695dbbbdbd5e965b
- Nintendo wii: 243870508973644
- Alcohol: 250335888312118
- Cheese: 218791271497130
- iPod Nano: 142039005875499
- Nintendo 64: 236264753062118
- Microsoft Excel: 242740155751069
- Linux Ubuntu: 220593361311050
- iPhone 5g: 211333348912523
- My Bedroom: 174811032586879
- Your Mums Bedroom: 5f64bbc9ac2f12b983200925da461322
- Lamp: 230755826955133
- Your moms anus: b625297b655f0b46c86b68f754b82121
- Refrigerator: 250828364944350
- A potato: 127926427295267
- Nasa Satellite: 31d608d30292175bf7703149699ccb39
- Vibrator: eb4c6d1a60e19a7795da501e1f468035
- Sperm Whale: 170318539700306
- Pogo Stick: 185103391549701
- Banana Phone: 1477a4cd29ec724a3de19be5d26e0389
- Google+: 4d8243dbb7064f88351fe6c809582320
- The Future: 108372819220732
- Smoke Signal: 134138923334682
- tin cans connected by string: 242191299125647
- Pokedex: de3da265cf6976745bb1d60a8c198151
- Telepathy: ea01a57edb26cf1de143f09d45cfa913
- Typewriter: d3d554bf60297cb2c384e3d7cf5a066d
- Harry Potter: b8ebeb983f45eaa0bd5f4f66cad97654
- TARDIS: 200439256674396
- Pip Boy: 142806259133078
- Mind Control: 1dc633368924b3b0b4d08e3f83230760
- Jedi Mind Control: 240597869302110
- Telekinesis: 224139600960217
- Post-It Note: 115227201900831
- GLaDOS: 246126362083515
- Ansible: 185474028180003
- W.O.P.R: 228373497202865
- Airwolf: 123944137696757
- HMCS Belafonte: 222345601140304
- Hogwarts: 2dc1d3004dbc4a67c4b552be3c25ccb0
- Stephen Hawking's Wheelchair: 129985073756521
- Head Antenna: 221107014598348
- UPS: 258012620879655
- Fedex: 232029733497914
- Raven from King's Landing: 193094050743722
- Harbinger of Doom: 180354375362451
- Mind Meld: 186993071361881
- Unspeakable Ritual: 174903625908095
- A Van down by the River: 119883641439994
- Pony Express: 186359518090057
- Sub-Etha: 120168391409358
- Myspace: 119920871434786
- Friendster: 247310815280913
- Zombocom: 195518590504787
- Postcard: 213487932030106
- Toilet: 173687282696461
- Minecraft: 231623746870852
- Accident: 211312955581644
- Mystery Machine: 259314457416472
- Magic: 181277448602956
- Hell: 148841558523990
- The afterlife: 220816157954138
- Heaven: 245437548809330
- The Event Horizon: 119999311425820
- The Laughing Man: 222077737828487
- The Lexx: 123356437754169
- Microsoft Zune: 232440566786698
Well, that should keep you busy for a while. Go on and confuse your friends. (Just be nice and share the secret behind the trick with them eventually.)
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Rosa Golijan writes about tech here and there. She's obsessed with Twitter and loves to be liked on Facebook. Oh, and she can be found on Google+, too.