Virtualization Apps for the Mac

Vmware Fusion is program that I find invaluable. If you are like me and you have created a Bootcamp partition for use with Windows, you will love this program. Instead of rebooting into windows every time I have to use a windows specific app, I fire up Fusion and it runs my bootcamp partition while in the Mac OS. I still have the option to boot windows natively but it isn't necessary. Another feature of Fusion is Unity mode, which allows you to run both OS's at once. It appears as though you are in OS X but you can run windows apps and have them minimize to the dock, pretty fun. Parallels desktop is another application that does most of the same things as Fusion. I have tried both products but I like Fusion for the fact that you can assign multiple processors and you can address more Memory to your VM's. One other thing to mention about these technologies is that you can download pre-built virtual appliances (Disk Images) for testing... for instance you could get the latest beta of windows server 2008 or run the latest distro of Suse linux, already configured and ready to boot.

Wii can play backups

After cracking one of the DVD's for the Nintendo Wii, I wanted to find a way to create and play backups as to not damage other disks (uh yeah).

I did some research and picked up a Wiikey modchip.















I am not going to go into detailed steps but I will link to some resources in the event you want do mod your own wii. A quick overview just to describe the pictures. First you crack open the case, a special tri-wing screwdriver is needed. Once you have the wii dissected, identify the solder points on the underside of the DVD drive and solder in your wires.



Once you have the wires soldered to the DVD drive you slide in the chip, bend and cut the wires to length, then solder those snipped ends to the wiikey.



It really isn't that hard to do but let me emphasize how small the solder points are. I had to look through a magnifying glass just to make sure things were attached. There isn't alot of room for error. The key is to tin your wires and only apply the iron for a split second, if you do not you will damage your wii.

All the info you need can be found here
enjoy!