So, I’ve scoffed at all the reports of Xbox 360 failures. I mean, ours has worked perfectly for over a year, surely we couldn’t be the exception? Well, it turns out, I scoffed prematurely. We, indeed, are not the exception, as we have now been graced with the red rings of death.

Due to Microsoft’s stupid DRM scheme, if we get a new Xbox, I will no longer be able to use any of the content Dustin downloaded with his account, because I have the secondary Xbox live account.

Also, since we plan to return it with the Best Buy warranty we purchased rather than waiting four to six weeks for a repair from Microsoft, we’re going to have to do something about all of our saved games. Thanks, Microsoft.

Dustin scowling with the ring:

Closeup of the red ring:

Transferring my number to T-Mobile two years ago from Nextel took five minutes in store and the T-Mobile guy took care of everything. Not so with AT&T. I’ve been to three stores and called two 800 customer service numbers all to no avail. I’ve gotten five different answers and no solution yet. AT&T’s customer service has been beyond terrible so far with one store actually making me call an 800 number in the store rather than taking care of it themselves. I really love my new phone but this is ridiculous. I knew AT&T was going to be bad, I just had no idea how bad.

…you actually want to talk to a person in a reasonable (less than 20 minutes) amount of time. Or you want to make changes to your account, because apparently their system is down… until next Sunday.

That’s right, you can’t make any changes for the next four days. In fact, they can’t even tell you if the change you would like to make will work… because that part is down too.

We wanted to add an additional number, but instead I think we’re just going to cancel and go with Lingo, because dealing with Customer Service has been horrible on every occasion I’ve needed to talk to them.

In short, go with SunRocket if you’re cheap and you don’t plan to ever make any changes to your account or have any questions for Customer Service. Ever.

Through a series of unfortunate events, my mom ended up in the emergency room several weeks ago. While the doctors were doing an MRI to check for internal bleeding, they found a suspicious growth in her liver the size of a grapefruit. It turns out that it is cancer.

After several rounds of testing it was determined that the tumor in her liver was actually a secondary tumor. Several more rounds of testing found a tiny spot of cancer in her breast, but the doctor is not sure it’s the primary tumor, even though nothing else showed up.

The tumor in her liver is too big to operate on, so she is now on chemotherapy to try to shrink it. We’re hoping that the chemo treatments are successful so she doesn’t have to do radiation.

It’s a frightening eye-opener to realize that with all of our science, technology, and medical advances that something can still be “inoperable”.

Overall she is doing pretty well. Her first chemo treatment went okay and she wasn’t too sick, but she still has five more to get through. I would truly appreciate it if you would say a little prayer for her health and recovery.

It’s that time of the year and Penny Arcade has once again kicked off it’s Child’s Play charity drive. Over the last three years, the charity has raised over one million dollars in donations, toys, books, and games for children’s hospitals around the country.

Even if you can only afford a couple dollars for a pack of batteries, it can still make a huge difference in a sick kid’s life. I encourage you to donate any amount, even if it seems insignificant. Imagine the impact if every gamer (or non-gamer, I don’t care) in the world gave just $1. That small donation for each person could make an enormous impact when combined.

If you really just can’t bring yourself to make an outright donation, consider picking up a Child’s Play shirt from Thinkgeek. All proceeds go directly to the charity.