Electronis Are Stupid

I told you last week of my car window problem which was, thankful, pretty painless to get fixed. Well that was just one of the many things I own that decided to quit working last week. Out of nowhere, my wireless router suddenly stopped routing wirelessly (not a word). Also, my smart phone is starting to show it's old age and has a number of irritating problems.

The most painful of my electronic problems is my beloved Playstation 3. I understand that there is a major issue with the Playstation Network affecting millions of PS3 users going on right now. I knew nothing about that until seeing it on the news because my PS3 will not turn on. I use my PS3 for a number of things. I watch movies via Netflix. It streams music and plays it over my tv speakers. It's my dvd player and, last but not least, it supports my video game addiction. If it was up to me, I would get rid of Directv and rely only on the entertainment provided by the internet and my PS3. With Netflix, Hulu, and Call of Duty, why pay for satellite tv. Early last week, while I was playing a very competitive game of Capture the Flag on Call of Duty, it froze. So I turned it off, let it rest for a while, and tried to turn it back on. It seemed normal at first. I could hear it's fan start up, I heard the little beep that it always makes, and it's light turned green. Then it beeped 3 times and the light changed a color I had never seen it before, yellow. Then the light turned red, which indicates that it was turned off. I tried again and more of the same.

So I searched the internet for an explanation and, more importantly, a resolution. I was surprised to learn that there is a name for this unfortunate issue, "The Yellow Light of Death." I thought, "Well, that's ominous." Apparently, this is something that happens to PS3's when they are at the end of their life cycle and there's not a whole lot that can be done to fix it. I saw Youtube videos showing people opening their PS3's up and using heat guns on the mother board, which I'm not exactly comfortable doing. I also saw people using a hairdryer on the system's vents for an extended period of time and then sticking the system in their freezer, which seems like a not so good idea to me. My other options are to send it Sony, pay them a bunch of money, and they fix it or send a refurbished device or buy a new one for a bunch more money. I have also considered giving up Call of Duty (eep!) and buying a much less expensive device to stream Netflix, like a Roku Box or a dvd player with internet capabilities. None of these options are very appealing. For now, until I make a decision, my PS3 is a giant, expensive brick.