Garry Conn

I’m really old school when it comes to coding HTML and PHP. I’m really fond of coding using my MacBook. So I’m sure you can the importance of me having a great text editor. If you’re looking for one of the best text editors specifically designed for Apple Mac OS X then look no further because I have the solution.

It’s a very clean, free and practical program called TextWrangler. I would call it NotePad.exe for Mac with a twist and swirl of added features and enhancements. You can read more about TextWrangler and download it here. If you have any questions about the program, feel free to leave me a comment below. Also, if you want to suggest another program to other people reading this post, by all means go ahead! I’ll even try it too.

Flashing always makes me a little nervous. Often when I update BIOS on Dell computers, I anxiously hold my breath, cross my fingers and hope for the best. I have never had any issues yet, but all the same, flashing BIOS, ROMS, or anything for that matter makes me nervous.

So anyway, I have a customer who brought in their older xBox 360 that is no longer reading discs. Initially I just assumed that I could replace the disc drive for him, no big deal. Well, as it turns out, Microsoft doesn’t want you to do that. In fact, they take strong measure preventing users from repairing xBox 360′s all together.

In order to replace the DVD drive on an xBox360, it requires flashing. That is, unless, you can find the same exact disc drive and swap out the circuit boards. The repair is actually quite easy. The only risk is if the disc reading error isn’t the laser but instead the circuit board itself.

All you have to do is disassemble your xBos 360, gain access to the DVD drive and remove it, and open the DVD drive case up. From there you need to make note of the six wires soldered on the circuit board. On the DG-16D25S model, shown above, there are two yellow wires, two white wires, then one read wire and one black.

Cut the wires about an inch from the circuit board. Remove the two screws from the circuit board and then remove the circuit board from the case. Next, cut all six wires on the replacement DVD drive and then remove the two screws securing the circuit board and then remove it from the case.

Install the original circuit board in the case of the replacement DVD drive. From there, heat up your soldering iron and proceed to re-solder the wires back together. Tape them all with electrical tape, or better yet, use shrink tubing. Secure the DVD drive case lid and then hook up the sata port and power supply. From there remount the replacement drive back in the xBox 360 and then proceed to reassemble the xBox 360. After all this, you will have successfully replaced your DG-16D25S xBox 360 DVD drive without flashing it by simply using your existing DG-16D25S circuit board that’s already validated with your xBox 360 system.

Over this last year I have dwindled my use of Microsoft down to nothing. I primarily use Ubuntu 10.04 LTS. I have tried 11.04 with Unity and it completely sucks. I have also tried — and very much like — Ubuntu 8.04.4 LTS but it’s no longer supported. Soon 12.04 LTS will be released and I am really not sure what to expect.

I’ve been using 10.04 for awhile and I have come to realize that it’s pretty much the XP version of Ubuntu. I think many people will continue using this version just as many people continue to use Windows XP even though Windows Vista and version 7 have been released and soon version 8 will be released too.

Ubuntu is changing a lot. To me they are getting very commercialized and their products are getting too simplified to the point where it really takes away from functionality. Recently, I tried 11.04 with Unity which replaced Gnome, and it’s terrible. Kinda reminds me of being the Windows Vista equivalent of Ubuntu. I really hope that Gnome becomes the default again when Ubuntu 12.04 LTS is released.