Seeking sentient service

Never mind SETI; plenty of people are focused on the search for sentient life right here on earth.

They're trying to contact real live humans in the customer service department.

The New York Times' Katie Hafner wrote a great piece on this unfortunate ritual of life in the Internet age. Amid the tales of woe, she also lists some helpful resources for tracking down e-tailers' customer-service numbers.

One of her sources shares this useful tip for circumventing labyrinthine voice-menu systems: if pressing "0" doesn't transfer you to a live operator, press it again ... and again ... and maybe again. Some systems ignore the first "0" but most will eventually let you through.