how can i get the blackberry to ring or vibrate when i receive a call or text? right now its just silent.

Go to your profiles where you can completely customize your notifications.

Many times they ship the BB's with "Normal" or "Default" profile as default. Same thing happens sometimes after a software upgrade. It gives no notifications. They are set to silet. Just change it to loud or vibrate and you'll get notifications. You can further customize each particular profile as you desire or even create your own.