For the love of god DO NOT towel it. You're taking a huge risk of it catching fire.
I'm an electronics engineer. I've fixed my 360, and several of my friends, because I can, it's cheaper, and I don't have to wait months to get it back.
This is the best method to fix the RROD:
http://www.llamma.com/xbox360/repair/ring_of_light_x-clamp_fix.htm
That guide does a pretty good job of leading even an inexperienced person through fixing one.
And no, that guide is NOT mine, but like I said, it's a good one for people that have never worked on something like this before.
As Llamma puts it: "Many tutorials tell you to unplug your fan and turn it on until it overheats. There is one major flaw with this approach. The thermosistor for the overheating protection of the 360 is contained within the CPU. The problem is that the CPU overheats without any airflow before the GPU is able to get sufficiently hot to "reflow" the BGA solder connection that has failed."
Simply put, you only want heat on the GPU. Heating the whole thing, like with the towel, runs the risk of overheating and damaging the rest of the hardware.
Also, you DO NOT need any of the special case tools. All you need to open the case is a small flathead screwdriver, and a bit of patience.
*Edit*-Forgot to mention, if done right, this is indeed a permanent fix. You won't have to open it up every week to do it again. If you did it right, that is.