VirtualBox "Wrong SSL Certificate Format" Error

VirtualBox (v5.2.2 as of this writing) on my Mac (MacOS 10.13.1) frequently fails to check for updates, etc. with the following error message: "Wrong SSL Certificate Format." I looked around periodically but could not find a solution. Until I stumbled on this: replace ~/Library/VirtualBox/vbox-ssl-cacertificate.crt with content from https://www.virtualbox.org/attachment/ticket/12340/vbox-ssl-cacertificate.crt Problem solved. Finally!

Wish List for Apple in 2017

Everyone is writing about what to expect or what they would want in the world of tech and gadgets in 2017. Here are my wishes for Apple:

• Cool new iPhone - new camera, better/bigger screen. Need a reason to upgrade from 6
• iOS improvements - simpler lock screen (iOS 10 really bungled it up), more intelligence, more customization (preference for maps, browsers, etc.)
• Photo management is appalling! All I want is a single place (cloud) where all of the family's photos will end up. Is that too much to ask???
• Free storage for backups. Do not make me pay $3/month - it's not cool
• Music in iOS automatically blares the first song in alphabetic order when I connect the phone to car's media interface. Mine happens to be "ABCs" from "Baby Loves Jazz" album. Super annoying! Can I choose some other behavior to be the default instead?
• iOS/Apple TV - need to support multi-user login. Why is Apple TV stuck with my kid as the only user???
• MacBook Pro 2016 is slow and expensive. TouchBar seems unnecessary. Meh... I want a better laptop to replace mine from 2014. Could it be a tablet? Perhaps...
• Continue freeing us from wires. Bluetooth earbuds - good (but VERY expensive). Wireless charging, please!
• Siri has a LONG way to go on accuracy of recognition for speakers with [HHHeavy Russian] accent
• Either miniaturize key Apple Watch components (heart rate monitor, Taptic engine, etc.) and stick them into rings/bracelets/third-party watches/phone/etc., or make a MUCH better-looking watch (like, making it round might be a good start).
• Where is Augmented (or mixed)/Virtual Reality?
• Home AI... Learn from Mark Zuckerberg's 2016 project. Need voice pickup/speaker/camera/WiFi/other sensors in each room + a bunch of AI-based features. 

And while I am at this...

• Google - make Maps smarter. When I open the app in the morning, take a wild guess and offer "work" as the destination automatically, please (Apple's maps do that, but the navigation is - well, you know). Also, can you please add speed limit info? 

• Wireless service providers - give up on data caps already. You know it's going to happen eventually - just do it already! Unlimited talk + unlimited data. Let's go!

• Amazon - make Prime Video app for Apple TV. Your app on my TiVo does nothing to enhance my enjoyment of The Grand Tour. Quite the opposite!

• Dunkin Donuts - please make your loyalty card available for Apple Pay. You promised this over a year ago. What gives?

• Everyone - can we ditch the passwords already? Pretty please? How about some biometrics instead? Fingerprints, iris scans, face recognition, voice recognition, whatever... 

• Anyone - see the last bullet regarding home AI in my Apple wish list. Make a device in the shape of a light bulb that combines all these features. One for each room for easy retrofitting!

VirtualBox Attached Media Conflict

This is for posterity sake, in case the same error happens again. Somehow, an image of VirtualBox Guest Additions media got "stuck" in the VM settings and my Windows 10 VM refused to load. Scary error in VirtualBox...

The solution was simple, but took a while to flail and eventually Google my way to it: How-To: Resolve Attached Media Conflicts in VirtualBox

Edit corresponding .vbox XML file and remove <Image> element from <DVDImages>:

David Pogue via RSS

Yes, I use RSS. Every day. I have a large collection of feeds and it is my preferred way of following a bunch of websites, publications, authors, etc.

David Pogue's posts and videos on Yahoo Tech used to be accessible at https://www.yahoo.com/tech/author/david-pogue/rss but this URL has gone silent recently. Not sure if it's a bug in Yahoo or a conscious effort to limit access to their content by users who are bypassing their native web pages.

Took me a while but I finally found a way to follow David again - via Tumbler. The new URL is http://pogueman.tumblr.com/rss.

Terminology Mapping

Terminology mapping is always an exercise in fitting a square peg into a round hole. If that wasn't problematic enough, I am convinced that if you know too little about the subject matter, you will make a terrible hash of it; and if you are too immersed in it, you will get paralyzed by granularity mismatches and other nuances in meaning and practice. You must be simpleminded enough, bordering on idiocy but not falling into it, to get anything decent (assuming it is even within the realm of possibility) accomplished. Gotta love it.

Printer Setup

Next time I forget how to set up my printer (little laser Samsung ML-1665 attached via USB to my QNAP TS-219P+ NAS), here's the reminder:

QNAP and TimeMachine troubles

Both of my Mac laptops (running MacOS X 10.9.3 Mavericks) stopped recognizing my NAS – QNAP TS-219P+, firmware version 4.1.0 (yes, it's a beta) – for TimeMachine backup. After trying all the obvious troubleshooting steps – disabling and re-enabling TimeMachine in NAS interface, restarting everything, etc., I decided to call QNAP technical support. I was pleasantly surprised – no holding, polite technician on the line, asked to remotely connect to my Mac via TeamViewer. Here's what he did:

1. In the web interface of the NAS, disable AFP in Control Panel / Win/Mac/NFS
2. Disable TimeMachine in Backup Station
3. ssh into the NAS, and delete all TimeMachine files (yes, including the backups) by doing this: rm -r /share/MD0_DATA/.timemachine 
4. (He found the MD0_DATA directory by doing df -h)
5. Re-enable TimeMachine in Backup Station (enter your password there); AFP gets re-enabled automatically
6. Wait for a bit...

The Macs magically saw TimeMachine share! One laptop prompted me for username (TimeMachine) and password – I must have done something with its keychain, while the other happily started the backup as if nothing at all happened.

Moral of the story – in the question of QNAP vs. Synology, I still prefer QNAP. Oh, and once in a while, when you get really stuck, it's ok to call tech support. QNAP's is excellent.