Tech
She’s, uh, got some thoughts for you.
If you’re the kind of person who takes Halloween very, very seriously, odds are you’re already starting to brainstorm ideas for this year’s costume. But what if you find that you’re strangely uninspired? What if you’ve made it a point to outdo yourself with each passing year and finally feel like you’ve reached a point where you can’t possibly top what you’ve already done? Here’s an idea: Ask Siri, “What should I be for Halloween?” She’s, uh, got some thoughts for you — and they're both witty and hilarious. Well played, Siri. Well played, indeed.
In the years since her debut, Apple’s virtual assistant has become well-known for her hidden talents and skills: She can tell knock-knock jokes; she can identify any planes flying overhead for you; she’ll sass you something fierce if you ask her what zero divided by zero is; she can even beatbox, although don’t expect her to have a deep and intimate understanding of rhythm and funk. (She’s still stuck on the “boots and cats” lesson.) Indeed, she’s got so many Easter eggs built into her programming that I don’t think anywhere near all of them have been uncovered yet — and we tend to forget them periodically, too, depending on how long it’s been since we last encountered them.
That seems to be the case with the Halloween costume suggestion function. After seeing this particular Easter egg pop up on my Facebook feed over and over again this past weekend, I’d assumed that it was new for 2018; it turns out, though, that it’s actually been around since 2015, making this year the virtual assistant’s fifth Halloween on disguise brainstorming duty. Given some of her more topical suggestions, it appears new costume ideas are added to Siri's database every year.
What kinds of costumes does Siri suggest? I mean, lots — but she seems to be particularly fond of clever and/or punny ideas: Of the 19 suggestions below, most of them require some light mental gymnastics to understand. When you get them, though, you get them — and to be fair, most of them made me laugh out loud. Literally. I actually guffawed loud enough to startle my sleeping cat.
Here is a small selection of the kinds of costumes Siri might suggest you be this year for Halloween, should you ask her for her honest opinion:
1"Quantum Mechanic"
In the event that you are not a STEM person, LiveScience describes quantum mechanics as "the branch of physics relating to the very small." Obviously there's a lot more to it than that, but Siri seems to understand the gist of it pretty well — enough to make a joke about it, at least!
2An Update
Speaking of, who's ready for iOS 12.0? That update is (probably) just a few short weeks away. Maybe this is Siri's way of reminding us about it.
3A Pirate. By Which I Mean, A Pilot.
Thanks for always having my back, Siri — especially since you have a substantially better sense of direction than I do.
4"Millennial Falcon"
Not going to lie: This one is my favorite. Wanna bet I can make the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs while snapping the greatest selfies the world has ever seen?
5A Disembodied Voice
I think this is Siri's way of telling me I should dress up as her for Halloween.
6This Extremely Specific Accent Mark
Fun fact: Back in 2016, controversy erupted when the people of France learned about a 1990 spelling reform which had been approved, but never implemented: It have removed the circumflex (in French, accent circoneflexe) from French textbooks, thus effectively erasing the accent from the language as each new generation went through the school system without learning it. Turns out that people feel very strongly about the circumflex.
7An Intelligent Agent
Not to be confused with an intelligence agent, an intelligent agent is a type of software built to complete data retrieval tasks — like, for example, Siri.
Very funny, Siri.
8A Sign Wiggler
Weirdly enough, you can actually buy these costumes ready-made.
9An "Operating System"
Siri is big on technology-themed costumes (although to be fair, this one is a pretty good visual pun).
10A Ghost
The sheet ghost may date back much further than most of us think, but Siri might be the first to come up with the idea of a spreadsheet ghost. (See what I mean about her love of puns?)
11A "YARRR-Kit"
ARKit is Apple's augmented reality toolkit — the set of development tools the company put together to aid developers in creating augmented reality apps and programs. As such, this costume might only register in crowds that are well-versed in Apple development tools — but if you happen to be a part of one of those crowds, more power to you.
12"The Balm"
If you carry around a tube of Glossier's Balm Dotcom, you can really lean into the '90s slang pun.
13...Plankton?
...Sure, Siri. Whatever you say.
14An Elvish Elvis
Her pop culture puns just don't quit.
15An Eclipse
Minimal effort. Maximum wordplay.
16Avocado Toast
It's so bad...it's good.
17A S'more
Perfect if you prefer a classic food pun.
18Old Town Road
Siri said, "yeehaw."
19And, Lastly, This:
Thanks for the support, Siri.
To exercise this delightful little Easter egg, first wake Siri — you can do so by either holding down the Home button, or, if you phone is plugged in and has the "Allow Siri When Locked" setting turned on, simply saying, "Hey, Siri" — and then just ask, "What should I be for Halloween?" I'm sure she's got plenty of other suggestions beyond the ones seen here, so have fun.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have some costume planning to do.
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