You could be more specific on the build of your iPhone, what state it was (jailbroken/virgin) and so on.

The activation servers were swamped during the launch because of the OS 3.0 release, so you should have waited. What you also need is a strong carrier signal to assist in authentication/activation. I had mine stuck as well, but I got up, went to the balcony with my MBA, did the activation there when the signal strength is much stronger, and it went through.

Also remember that Streamyx is going through service disruption at the moment, until 6 am. (from Streamyx webpage) So this may affect your connection to the activation servers.

My advice is to stick with one computer (PC or Mac) and make sure your carrier signal is strong. DO NOT RESTORE, this will complicate things further. Stay with the activation until your iTunes connects with the activation server.

As for the merging, it is prudent so that the forum does not look like a mess later on. Imagine a 100 of similar cases like yours posting a 100 of different thread but talking about the same thing. The merge consolidated everything into one neat pile of a single thread so that future references can be linked to. Also, the merge also see it as a fair treatment for others, there are no singled-out cases where an individual get a more special treatment than anyone else. We are all treated equally here.

It seemed bricked because iTunes could not authenticate your iPhone to the activation server, because they are getting pounded with too many connections. What you should have done was waited it out, sticked with it, and not complicated it further by invoking the DFU mode.

Now , stick with ONE computer. Restore it with option-clicking/shift-clicking and pick the CORRECT IPSW file for your firmware to use for your recovery. Let iTunes do its thing. Your iTunes also needs to be of the latest version. There are two versions of iTunes 8.2, make sure yours is the latest. This is easy on the Mac OS X, simply do System Update. I'm not sure on Windows. Once that is confirmed, let iTunes do its thing, and leave your iPhone to recover. DO NOT get impatient and start fiddling with the DFU mode again. Leave it to run on its own, until it comes out of recovery, or until an error message comes out. If it is the latter, note down the Error message code, and come back here again and post it.

For fair treatment's sake, this had better be moved to the appropriate section. I dont want to see the forum inundated with more individual threads clamoring for help when it can be kept streamlined in the approriate SINGULAR thread. The point is not to ignore your call for help, but to avoid the mess already cleaned up by DG here. I dont want to see his hard work go down the drain.