Palm Pre Number Port Problems

Apparently this morning, Sprint fucked up my number port.

Their servers were overloaded and sent Verizon two requests to move my number, which triggered some type of manual intervention.  I'm being told anywhere from "now" to 2 days to get my number transferred.  In the meantime, my Pre is a brick.  

The other number transferred fine, and the phone is great.  

Update: 11:30pm: Port is still fucked up.  My number belongs to either Sprint or Nextel now, but they cannot transfer it to my phone for some reason.  They offered me a temporary number, which is not accepted.

The Sprint retail rep who sold me the phone is pissed off at his own company it seems; he was yelling at the Sprint corporate reps today, and said that he will handle this problem tomorrow.  At least someone is taking ownership of this issue.  I've heard estimates ranging from "any minute now" to "3-4 days".  Who knows what will happen, but you can bet I'm going to get some free shit out of this.  So far, my activation fee ($54) has been credited to my account.  Working on getting a free month of service ($150) and another $100 of accessories.  We'll see.

Palm Pre Buying Experience

I'll be updating this throughout the day...

Yesterday I did some reconnaissance, going to the Best Buy and Sprint Store in Manassas, VA.  No lines at that time.  

Woke up today at 5:30.  Decided against Best Buy, because their stock is limited (~12 units per store) and they do not open until 10am.  The only downside is that instead of an instant rebate of $200 for the 2 phones, it would be mail-in.

Drove to the Sprint Store in Chantilly, VA.  Arrived at 6:30.  There were already 4 people in line.  The Sprint rep was there and bought a jug of coffee for everyone.  We waited for a while and more people showed up.  By 7:30 there were 18 people in line.  At that time we were each given a number.  I got 5 and 6.  

They asked who was porting from another carrier, we were the only 2 that I heard.  At this time we could also get a Touchstone charger and leather case.  I only opted for the case; they did sell out of Touchstones, so they had less of those than Pres.

We were served immediately in the Sprint store.  Total came up to $675 - $200 mail in rebate.  This includes tax, activation, etc for the 2 phones.

Unfortunately, their network was jammed for porting, so we were unable to leave with our phones.  I'm switching from Verizon to Sprint, a process which will take 1-4 hours, but they could not even start that process yet.  

I'm heading back to the store shortly, at which time the port process should have started.  I'll have to wait until my Verizon phone is dead before activating the Pre.

More updates will be coming later.

Update:  Heading back to Sprint now.  Verizon phones are not working so port hopefully is all done.

The Cairo Speech

Today President Obama gave quite a speech in Cairo, Egypt, in which our country's elected leader finally confronted the gorilla in the room: our relationship with the worldwide Islamic community.  

Weaving together personal history, as well as religious principles contained in at least three separate faiths, the President did his best.  While no one speech can make world peace, it is an important first step towards building trust with the world.

President Obama both praised Israel as well as the history of Islam, which has historically been a very tolerant religion.  Overall, very well done.

Pre getting good reviews

Many Pre reviews came out today.

Cnet

Engadget

Wired

NYT

Overall, the consensus seems to be that it is a kick-ass phone, that meets or exceeds the iPhone.  Battery life is a concern (apparently, the phone will generally last no more than 1 day on a charge with normal use), but unlike the iPhone, you can change it out.

Equality in NH

The steady march continues.

Cheney and Gay Marriage

Well what do you know, there's actually one thing I agree with former VP Dick Cheney on: support for gay marriage.

Dick Cheney has said, rightfully so, that marriage is an issue regulated at the state level, meaning that states should be free to make their own decisions. Obviously, many bigots (if you are against gay marriage, you are a bigot by definition) on the right wing do a bit of doubletalk when it comes to this issue and states' rights.

The recession is nearly over

You heard it here first. You may still think the economy is garbage, but 4 months into the new administration, things are going well.

General Motors declared bankruptcy today, something that generations of Americans would think was never possible. You know what happened after that? The market rallied.

Houses are being bought so quickly that mortgate rates are going up.

Ford* is going after market share and increasing production, while others shut planes. Yes, Ford will probably be the largest automaker in the US very soon.

*I'm long F-S

GM Enters Bankruptcy

Today something that was unthinkable even a few years ago has happened. General Motors is bankrupt. What's good for GM will likely still be good for America, we will own at least 60% of whatever is left.

Did Bill O'Reilly instigate a murder?

We'll probably never know for sure, and even if he did, it is protected speech, but a doctor who Bill O'Reilly repeatedly attacked on his show was gunned down, at church, likely by a very religious person.

As Andrew Sullivan correctly points out in the link above, this is Christian terrorism, which is just as bad as Islamic terrorism.

First Palm Pre Review

Here it is.

I'm slightly concerned about the keyboard, but I'll still get one.

Its her name, not yours bubba

The new "controversy" as only a republican could call it, is over the pronunciation of future Justice Sotomayor's name. Whether to use the Spanish pronunciation or an Anglo, is not up to us. It is up to whoever possesses that name.

As a grandchild of immigrants, to many on the right-wing, I have an "un-American" name. I'm sure they think the same thing of Jews, Asians, Indians, and no doubt, the French. When will they accept that America is a country full of different names, different faces, and different colors? Probably once they realize that their party, the GOP, is built upon a racially charged farce of the 50's.

GM on life support, plug about to be pulled

GM is closer to bankruptcy than ever before, with bondholders rejecting the best deal they would have ever gotten. This paves the way for a bankruptcy by next Monday.

At least our loans will not go to waste, the US government will effectively own GM when all is said and done, which is at least a bit interesting.

I still don't know why the bond holders refused this offer. Sure, it was offering them 37 cents on the dollar, but now they will get much less.

Besides them, those who will truly be fucked are the pensioners, who could potentially go from $50,000 a year pensions to less than $20,000 if GM's pension fund is taken over by the government, which is possible.

Sotomayor a Solid Pick

Sonia Sotomayor is a solid pick for a Supreme Court justice. Despite what the loons on the right wing will tell you, she's a very moderate pick.

First appointed to the bench by George H W Bush, it is hard to call her a "left wing radical." She has decades of experience; she's highly qualified.

No matter what republicans do, she'll get on SCOTUS, so they might as well just let it go through. This is not a battle that is worth fighting for them. With their talk against her being a woman or hispanic, they are not going to win any favors with those groups.

The New Socialism

If you've posted a video on Youtube, you're a socialist.  At least that's what Kevin Kelly says.  I agree with what he's saying, but it's not as shocking as you'd think.  Whether it is posting a video on Youtube, or sharing family photos, when you give something away to people for free, that is a form of socialism.  

However, unlike the old forms of socialism, nobody is getting fucked.  There's really no scarcity in an online world, which is what made the old form of socialism so bad.  Not everyone can get a loaf of bread, but everyone can upload a video.

Another reason to support gay marriage

True conservatives, the fiscal kind, are on the wrong side of the equation.  Gay marriage would be a cash boon to many small businesses, such as florists, photographers, reception halls, and many others.  All told, it could generate $16B a year.