Privilege vs. right Jul 27, 2007
A home-schooled 16-year-old from Illinois was denied the option of playing high school football for the reason that "participation in extracurricular activities is a 'privilege' and not a 'right'".  While I dislike that argument, it's totally true.  There are a lot of things that we as humans (or probably more accurately, we as Americans) think are our God-given rights.  We have the right to vote.  We have the right to bear arms.  We have the right to play high school football.  We have the right to drive.  But actually, those last two aren't rights at all.  They're privileges.  Privileges can be taken away because of bad behavior or not granted in the first place. 

I think this has a little to do with this article about how Mr. Rogers ruined the world by telling everyone they're special.  A San Diego State University psychologist noticed that many Asian-born students accept whatever grade they're given; they see B's and C's as an indication that they must work harder, and that their superiors assessed them accurately.  American students, on the other hand, often view lower grades as a reason to "hit you up for an A because they came to class and feel they worked hard".  I can identify with this idea because I've done it many times.  I think it shows that I (and we) feel like I'm owed something.  We have the right to go to college, and we have the right to get good grades for doing our work.  The SDSU professor said he wishes more parents would offer kids this perspective:  "The world owes you nothing.  You have to work and compete.  If you want to be special, you'll have to prove it." #psychology
Sprint fiasco Jul 27, 2007
I referred to this earlier, but I think I'm ready to spill my guts and tell all.  Apparently it helped solve this guy's problems.  This is the story of my ongoing fiasco with Sprint. 

I used to have a contract with Cingular, but right as it was about to end, I decided to switch to Sprint because of their faster data network and their lower prices.  I ordered a phone from Wirefly and filled out a form to port my number.  A few days later I got my phone and called to have it activated.  They gave me a temporary number at first because the porting takes a few days, and that was no problem.  However, after a day or two, I was told my number couldn't be ported to Sprint's network.  Since I've had the same number for the past 4 years, I didn't feel like going through the process of telling everyone I know I have a new number, mainly because I can't remember who has my old number (and I'm extremely important; I get multitudes of phone calls per day; yes, multitudes).  Plus, the problem sounded like a technical glitch, not an actual legitimate problem.  ("Our system says your number won't port."  Well, fix your stupid system.)  After talking to several different customer service people, I was told there was nothing they could do, so I was all set to give up and hold a lifelong grudge.  As a last ditch effort, I went to a local Sprint store to see if they could help, and the guy at the store said he had the same exact problem with his personal number, and he would just need to send an email to a person he knew.  Several days later he changed his story and said he didn't know what the problem was, but he escalated my case to a group in Sprint called "Employees Helping Customers" (Who exactly was I dealing with before this?  Employees not helping customers?).  After several weeks, my case was put into the hands of the local Sprint store's manager, who was still "waiting to hear back from EHC".  It has been exactly 6 weeks and 3 days since this Sprint fiasco started, and I still have no solution as to where exactly my old number is and why I'm not able to use it. 

So Sprint CEO Gary Forsee, fix my &*$%ing problem.  As of this point in my sure-to-be-wonderful 2-year contract with your company, I've had nothing but problems.  Your customer service is pitiful.  Your technical support is a joke.  Your whole company seems to be a winding maze of "let me transfer you to that department" and "I'm sorry, there's nothing we can do about that".  I would've been better off sticking with Cingular or switching to Verizon. 

Now for an extremely detailed chronological breakdown of events: 
June 12:  Received my phone in the mail.  Called and had it activated with a temporary number. 
June 13:  Called customer service several times to start using my old number instead of the temporary number. 
June 14:  Called customer service several times to start using my old number instead of the temporary number. 
June 15:  Called customer service several times to start using my old number instead of the temporary number.  Went to the Sprint store and was told my problem would be solved. 
...
June 22:  Emailed Sprint store guy who said he'd get back to me by 4pm.  At 7:38pm, he said a network ticket had been logged and that he should hear a final answer by June 26 at 5pm. 
...
June 27:  Emailed Sprint store guy.  No answer. 
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June 28:  Sprint store guy handed me over to Employees Helping Customers and told me I'd hear from them by June 29 or July 2 at the latest. 
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July 5:  No word from anyone.  I emailed the Sprint store guy to see what the problem was.  No answer. 
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July 10:  I'd had enough, so I was willing to just sign up for a new number.  Emailed the Sprint store guy and said I was coming in.  He said calls to my old number would be magically forwarded to my new number for the time being.  That never happened.  The Sprint store guy said I'd be dealing with the Sprint store manager from now on.  Progress was made by giving me a new number. 
...
July 12:  New number stopped working.  Went to the Sprint store, and progress was made by fixing it.  I was told I'd be contacted by EHC to get my issues sorted out.  I never heard from them. 
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July 24:  Emailed Sprint store manager asking about any updates to my 6-week long saga.  No response. 
July 25:  Emailed Sprint store manager asking about any updates to my 6-week long saga.  Response:  "Still waiting to hear."
...
August 7:  Emailed Sprint store manager asking about any updates to my 8-week long saga.  Response:  "There's nothing we can do."  I emailed again later asking for a refund for the early termination fee for my old number.  Progress was made by refunding the money I didn't owe in the first place. 

I'll continue to update this with "waiting to hear", "sorry we can't do anything", and "we're the worst company ever in the history of the universe; here's all your money back; oh and here's the past 6 weeks of your life back" and things of that nature. 

Final update:  By mid-August, the results were in.  I lost my old number for unexplainable reasons.  I got a new number.  I got a refund for all the money I didn't owe (such as double billing and incorrect early termination charges).  My old number is now in the hands of a teenager with Verizon service.  Not sure how that happened.  All in all, my switch from Cingular to Sprint was as painful and inconvenient as it possibly could've been, correctly representing Sprint's deplorable reputation and abysmal customer service. #technology
Transformers Jul 27, 2007
Transformers is an awesome movie, partly because of the prolific robot violence, but also because of the cool sound effects.  Hearing that wahnt-wahnt-wahnt-wahnt-wahnt takes me right back to 1989, sitting on my neighbor's couch on weekday afternoons, preceded by G.I. Joe and other amazing cartoons.  I just learned that the voice of Optimus Prime is actually the voice of a human named Peter Cullen.  I always thought it was some sort of electronic effect.  But like Hal Douglas and Don LaFontaine, he's just a guy with a cool recognizable voice. 

On a related note, there's an adult-sized Transformers helmet that electronically alters your voice when you speak through the microphone.  It doesn't sound much like Optimus Prime, but it's mildly close. #entertainment