What a moron.

lol.
maybe he wasn't reading a site about it and came up with it on his own. plastic wrap? is that to seal it in? why water cool the power supply? sounds more like a suicide. lol

Thats realy bad luck, forgetting to pull out the power cable.

I'm sure the next step is to sue M$ and they will probably win. However I think the US legal laws should be changed to say you can't sue for stupidity.

BTW the 360 heating problem has nothing to do with the power supply. It's the GPU and CPU generating all the heat. Which M$ should be forced to recall IMO.

Doesn't seem to be a smart move to suberge a power supply in water...

Seriously... "overheating Xbox" nearly killed him?

How about "idiot almost kills himself?"

Next weeks article: "The KitchenAid Toaster Conspiracy." Same kid. Couldn't get his toast out. Sticks fork in toaster. Hilarity ensues. Let's blame... ahh, yes... the toaster. :)

tiger

I thought the 14 year kid know by now.

How in the world do you figure that an overheating 360 nearly killed him, based on the facts? This is the most sensationalist headline I've read here in some time.

It would be more accurate to say that this special olympics marathon runner almost killed himself trying to fix his 360. In other words, if he had succeeded in killing himself, it would merit a Darwin Award.

why does title imply it is xbox that is responcible for this?? it should have red 'own stupidity almost killed a teen".

The kid dunked some plugged in electronics in water and you make it seem like this is the xbox's fault. How about "Being a moron nearly kills teenage boy"

what a moron

Yes, it was stupid what the little boy did, but does it warrant calling him a moron? I am at my wits end with MS and the Xbox 360, but I have the means of going out and buy the pro system with HDMI (yes, the first one gave red ring of death on the first time power it up), but maybe this little kid was could not afford another one. I am not saying it was smart, so no heckling me!!! Just have some heart, because he could have killed himself. I really do hope MS does something more to address this situation. I am on my second pro console with the HDMI and I have a second repaired console on it's way back to TX for another repair. As to the suing...I am sure a class action is down the road, because I will report everything to the BBB and my State AG as soon as I get my console back. MS told me if I started any legal actions, they wouldn't return my console.
My two cents.
cheers!

that wasnt good. maybe he will remember to unplug it next time.....

Se should have used distilled water.

The PS isn't the one overheating but as stated, GPU and CPU.

Is it Microsoft's fault? What are they guilty of, trying to kill a kid by not making submergeable power supply in an household piece of electronic ?

"tips he found online"... what site? www.iamamoron.com? Placing a live power supply in water...shows how technology can help weed out weak genetics.

Or just buy the fan kit that attaches to the Xbox 360 or simply place a small desk fan near it. Problem solved. All electronics run hot nowadays and do not have adequate cooling; since people don't read the instructions about airflow. This is to get it to fail sooner so you have to go out and buy more...

by the time you invest in a xbox 360 or ps3, you realise that you need a hdtv to get the most out of it. 600 for the ps3, 1000 for the hdtv = a very good pc.

but whatever, continue buying consoles and being ripped off..... at least u can decide exactly what you want in a pc.

I think the title of this story is a little misleading, don't you? It was not an overheating Xbox that put his life in danger, it was his uneducated attempt at fixing the Xbox by using some VERY questionable methods (A.K.A. "STUPID!!!") that resulted him in nearly getting killed.

Another Darwin Awards runner up. Sucks that this kid didn't realize how much harm it could cause him. There have got to be better ways to cool the damned things. Though I guess Microsoft is happy with the consoles RRoD more often.

He should have called Chuck Norris and used his tears as the water to cool the power supply. It's a scientific fact that Chuck's tears do not conduct electricity as he is immune to it.

The only problem is that he has never cried.

Thinning the heard

I always thought the overheating problems were due to people installing the 360 in a stereo cabinet or other flow-restricted area. I've had my xbox 360 for 8 months and it has never given symptoms of overheating.

As far as the kid, I'd say it's a good thing he got knocked out... Putting a switching power supply under water = bad.

Just like the moronic women who spilled coffee on her lap and then sued the restaurant chain because she suffered burns to her crotch, this boys family will most likely sue. Yeah, I guess when you order coffee you expect it to be cold just like you expect electricity and water to get along. I guess no one teaches their kids that coffee may be HOT and electricity is dangerous.

The title should be "Boy nearly kills xbox 360 by drowning".

Did the Xbox 360 nearly kill him? Or the lack of a fundamental science class?

I thought he took the power supply by the wire and tried to cool it off using a cowboy's lasso technique and finally got hit with it..

hahah

Should be "Lack of Science Education in US nearly kills boy"

Distilled water may have helped, as long as the bowl was very clean, his hands weren't sweaty etc. as soon as you add electrolytes to distilled water it starts to conduct electricity.

Darwin canidate...

The title makes it sound like the 360 nearly killed the kid. The only thing that almost did this kid in was his own stupidity. You really should change the title to be more accurate.

though idiotic act, but as long as there isn't such warning on the manual. I see a huge settlement. hahaha

Another classic case of McDonalds warning and hot coffee

14 years old? And he still doesn't know that water and electricity don't go well together?

America is the land of the idiots!!!

I HAVE A SON AGED 7 HALF THE AGE OF THIS BOY AND MY SON KNOWS HOW TO FRY EGGS WITHOUT BURNING HIMSELF....THE POINT TO THE STORY TOLD ABOVE IS DONT TRUST AMERICANS TO STAY IN IN A ROOM THEIRSELVES FOR MORE THAN 10 MINUTES WITHOUT SUBMERGING POWER SUPPLIES IN WATER AND THE LIKE...
IDIOTS

Isn't this one of the first scientific facts you learn as a YOUNG child?!? Fire burns, water conducts electricity? WATER ELECTRONICS = BAD.

Anyway, I hope the kid is OK.

He could still sue and win on the basis of Microsoft's faulty console causing him to do something very dumb. Still, this is absurd -- if your console breaks down every 5 minutes send it for repairs or buy a new one. I've owned at least two of every system since PS1. I'm still on my first PS3, but it's only 9 months old and I rarely use it.

Sorry for the caps, but what a dork. I can't people will believe everything they read on the internet.

This kid was 14 years old, not 4. We can blame MS for making a crappy product that overheats, but one has to go to the deepest fathoms of stupidity to nearly kill one's self with it. Dear God. The boy most be a new breed of moron.

Damn! The genepool was almost another idiot less! The bloody idiot deserved that and more! Its people like this that caused me to give up on humanity... were screwed if this is what we can come up with...

Maybe M$ need to get tough on this kind of behaviour. How about a class action law suit against ludicrously brain dead individuals who jeopardise their lives for crazy endeavours, some would argue that it would wipe out their target demographic for the 360..... i digress.

I will leave it at that, besides, my toaster is in need of a bath........

I recall this from Jerry Seinfeld's HBO special

"it is written in the Superman suit box

'Do not attempt to fly'

Now, how many of you believe a kid would be smart enough to buy the thing and read that notice before wearing the costume"

Wonder, is this 14 yr-old's school doesn't teach science ??

This isn't the Oprah Winfrey Show Richard. Do something stupid, you deserve some grief. He's old enough to know better. That's 4th grade science there. Dumb@ss kids.

The McDonalds case was a tad bit different. The woman suffered 2nd and 3rd degree burns on her legs and crotch from the coffee. Coffee isn't supposed to be served near boiling temperatures. I'm not saying the lawsuit is justified. Being an idiot is not grounds for a law suit.

Also it says all over the manual and all over the power supply itself to stay away from water. The kid obviously can't read either.

Headline should say "America fails at scientifically educating it's youth again, this time nearly killing a child."

how is possible, that a 14 year old boy doesn't know, that putting electric curent in water, will (probably) shock him ???!!!! how can he be so moron ??
i wonder, why he didn't pissed into an outlet from short distance ?... i think that should be funnier than putting an xbox into a bowl of water....

btw. not the xbox is the guilty, but that idiot moron. if this goes to court, i hope M$ will win !!!!!!!

All future gaming systems will come with a big bright warning sticker attached. WARNING: Do NOT submerge in water or liquid. (picture of wavey water line over game system with big red cross through it)

Oi.

From the headline, i thought it somehow managed to catch on fire because it was so hot... Obviously i underestimated how stupid people are...

So I read the title of this article and I'm expecting to read something like this.... "XBOX 360 explodes due to overheating causing a house fire that nearly kills a 14 year old boy".

IMO the Darwin award doesn't go to the boy... it goes to the author.

Evolution at work. Stay clear 100 feet.

I think he was thinking to cool it while it was working, hence the plastic to prevent water from going in, and then it would allow it to be cool while he played.

Still a dumba$$.

You will find lots of suggestions that a freeze can be caused by the power supply and not the CPU/GPU.

Also,

http://www.joystiq.com/2005/12/06/xbox-360-power-supply-dunked-in-water-to-prove-its-damned-big/2

Oh man, I wonder if he got the idea from here?

OK, what he did was pretty dumb ass.... but man, I know I've been there at a young age where I want to desperately play a game and would do anything to fix it.

I would say he was so frustrated with his XBox 360 that he was temporarily insane and not in control of his facilities.

This is negligence on the part of MS... these issues are known. ;)

I hope he gets 1 billion dollars :D

LOL

Maybe your genuis 7 year old should show you where the caps lock key is at.

forgot to unplug the cord? just too hasty to try out this wonderful idea to 'water cooling'. just careless as kids often are prone to.

Shoulda gotten a PS3 in the first place. Or a good PC for that matter

the young lad was just trying to boil some water for his mum.

some people arent fit to have such great technology. its like giving a caveman a lighter, he'll set his cave on fire before he realises how to use it

For the ones that survives.

Before commenting on stupidity one should know how to spell simple words. It is herd, no heard.

Why are some of you saying the headline is wrong, implying that the title says that the Xbox almost killed, and that the Xbox was blamed???
Do I need to cut and paste like this:
Teen nearly kills himself trying to fix overheating Xbox 360!
A 14-year-old boy was knocked unconscious and sent to the hospital as a result of trying to cool off his Xbox 360 over the weekend.

Where does it say that the Xbox is to blame? READ PEOPLE READ!

Thinning the heard
Before commenting on stupidity one should know how to spell simple words. It is herd, no heard.
-----------------------------------------------------
No duh! before replying to stupidity you should try to be careful not make a similar mistake to that comment:
It is herd, NOT heard.

and reinforce the inanity and idiocy of Americans, where stupid people gets insane amounts of money for being err...... stupid.

Are we all not taught as soon as we can reach them, not to use electrical switches with wet hands....
...Now Johnny, pour the hot water into the cup... not on your lap!

Eventually there will be written warning signs everywhere.

Careful, Hot!
Warning. Objects in this mirror appear smaller than they actually are!
Careful, do not play Xbox 360 in the bath or shower!

Dumb and Dumberer

The headline (unless they altered it) just says he tried to kill himself TRYING TO FIX an overheating XBbox. Thats completely correct, no? The Xbox was overheating, he tried to cool it by putting the PS in water.

Still dumb, but the headline's right... I was expecting something stupid like this.

If this kid's parent's sue, I hope the judge laughs and throws out the case. Can't sue for stupidity, even if M$ XBox's problem resulted in the stupid action.

If he wins, it will set a horrible precedent for more frivolous law suits.

I'll sue the city of *YourCity* when I missed the bus, because it left the stop 30 seconds early, and I decide to jump in front of it to stop it and get run over. Since they CLEARLY didn't have a sign that said *Do not jump in front of bus if you miss it* I deserve some compensation. How as I supposed to know that getting hit by a bus would break my leg?

I think he doesn't know how to fix the overheating thing and read it wrong online. Maybe he thought that it's the powerful supply problem overheating and so by submerging it in the water that it might cool off. Bottomline is, i agreed that the title is misleading. It's not the overheating that almost kill the boy, it's lack of knowledge and stupidity that almost kill him.