Student Claims Computer is Possessed by R2D2
JESTER – "Beep! Beep! Boop! Beep!" chirped psychology freshman Sara Shirazi as she imitated the language her laptop once spoke. Shirazi believed her computer was possessed by the spirit of R2D2, the fictional droid famous for assisting two generations of Skywalkers in battling the galaxy's Dark side and opening locked doors at imperative moments.
"I thought my computer was messed up until I realized it was R2 playing jokes on me. All these nasty ads would pop up, and I couldn't close them! My computer would just keep beeping whenever I clicked!" Giggling, she referred to these beeps as. "R2 wouldn't stop giggling! I'd have to restart the silly thing to get him to stop!"
R2 also had a more sincere side and encouraged Shirazi to enjoy life and spend less time on the computer. "Sometimes I would be sitting at the computer just wasting time on I don't know what. I found myself reading the Wikipedia article for yarn once! I think it saddened R2 to see me like this. He would beep once, the computer would shut off, and wouldn't start up again. R2 was encouraging me to focus on my studies and play more cribbage. I needed that."
Shortly after moving into Jester, R2 was 'exorcised' according to Shirazi in reference to her trip to the ITS Help Desk following the detection of a virus on her computer. "They had me install an anti-virus program from BevoWare and encouraged me to run all of those updates I always clicked 'Remind me later' on."
After her trip to the ITS Help Desk, the computer no longer displayed inappropriate pop-up ads. And it no longer 'giggled.' Shirazi says she misses R2's sense of humor but admits that R2 would likely anger her roommate if he stuck around. "I just hope the next person R2's spirit encounters…understands him the way I did," Shirazi concluded, a tear running down her cheek.
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