Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Saccharin as sweet as.. cancer?

What is 300 times sweeter than sugar, far cheaper, and a boon to food and drinks manufacturers/vendors and titbits makers?
Answer: Saccharin
It is an artificial sweetener that has been on many countries' list of suspected carcinogens. There is no ban in Malaysia despite our repeated calls for it since 1978. It is only restricted under license and originally intended for only special purpose, low-energy food (for diabetics mainly who are on a restricted energy diet).

But this chemical is not as restricted as it appears on paper as tests through the years have shown its widespread use in food and drinks, even in sweets and tidbits popular with children. No doubt regulations concerning licensing and labelling are there as we well know these are not often followed nor enforced.

To just make it simple for you all, dont consume saccharin!

What's causing the 3 red lights?

The 3 red lights are a sign of "general hardware failure". It is indicated by 3 red lights or 3 red rings near power button. It occurs, when GPU (graphics processing unit) becomes loose. Why does it becomes loose? Because some asshole from Microsoft thought that using a smaller heat sink wouldnt cause a detrimental effect towards the machine. As you may know, GPU is fitted on motherboard, under the heat sink. Due to its reduced size, the mother board heats up easily, melting the soldering of the GPU. There you go, few facts before i go into details about some do's and dont's to repair your precious Xbox 360.

First,NEVER i repeat NEVER use the towel method!!
Itll just do more harm than good,trust me
Towel method is basically wrapping the towel around the 360 to let it heat up. This will weaken solder points and hopefully re-join broken connections. The problem with this method is that you have no control over what solder points are weakened and there is no way to prevent further damages caused by the heat.

Now,these are some videos that may help you guys to repair your Xbox. Credits to whoever the dude that made this video (not me fyi)

1. Taking your Xbox 360 apart



2. Repair your Xbox 360 part 1



3. Repair your xbox 360 part 2

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Red Rings of Death

If you ask any chap owning an Xbox 360 what their greatest fear regarding their RM 1400-1500 piece of machinery is, there will be an array of answers you might get. For some, terror might set in at the mere idea of trying to afford a new HD television to make full use of their shiny new console at its prime. However, one concept that is sure to make the blood run cold in any Xbox 360 owner’s veins is the sight of the dreaded “red ring of death”. More appropriately, the ring of light on the front of an Xbox 360 flashing red, indicating some major trouble is about to go down.

Since its launch, the Xbox 360 has taken on a bad rap- in the media at least- as a system that regularly overheats, is poorly manufactured, and is too unstable to be on store shelves. The aforementioned problems are just a few of the reasons people claim to have experienced when the dreaded flashing lights illuminate on their beloved console.

I for one,am a victim. Trust me when they've gone the way of the dodo, you're gonna have big problems getting a new system, without splashing another RM1500 of course. Nevertheless, I discovered a few do's and dont's on the net that would surely help you readers. Details on the next post




The dreaded flashing red lights of death!