I know the pain of losing a close friend, since my PS3 went YLOD on me one night after playing Section 8 Prejudice. I usually let my PS3 idle after gaming before I go to bed, and let it turn itself off, because I heard it's good to let it cool down gradually after playing. I woke up the next morning to a blinking red light and subsequently, the dreaded YLOD.
I used the hairdryer trick to temporarily get it working so I could get my disc out. I don't condone this trick, because I think the potential to mess your PS3 up even more is high. Put your PS3 upside down in an enclosed space, with the back vents sticking out (basically, cover it so heat stays trapped in). Take a hairdryer and put it on its highest setting, then go back and forth around 2 inches from the back vents (I stayed away from the power adapter plug-in) for 15 minutes EXACTLY. The PS3 will be very hot after doing it, so be careful when handling it; put it someplace cool and let it sit there for like an hour or so. Once it cools down, plug it all in and check to see if it works. If it does, get your disc out and turn it off (if you want to back up some saves, do it quickly).
I did the above and it worked, but I didn't take any chances and shut it off after getting my disc out and backing up my saves. If you feel comfortable taking your PS3 apart, then do the heat gun method, which has a ton of videos on Youtube about it.
