AppleMobileDeviceService.exe

So it appears that this is the Windows service that supports the iPhone (why didn't they just call it iPhone Service?? - maybe they've got more gadgets up their sleeve...) - It adds more crud to one's creaking windows system (that unless you own one of said shiny objects). It can safely be disabled (along with the iPod service) if you want to save a few cycles.

For more info on which services can be forsaken check out the delightful Black Viper's site.

Skype: Error: Invalid argument to date encode

Since Skype 3.5.202-3.5.239 (Windoze) I've been seeing these Error messages: "Invalid argument to date encode" when I click on the tray icon or the User interface. It can be fixed (as mentioned in the Skype forums) by going into "Edit you profile..." and changing "Show my time:" to your Time Zone (e.g. GMT for UK, Lisbon etc) as opposed to leaving it set as "My Computer's".

Even cooler Linux MacBook

When running Linux the MacBook it gets pretty warm (that's just NOT Cool) - so one thing that Ekiga's Damien Sandras recommends is to use this utility to control the speed of the ATI graphics card - It can save around 8 Watts (The graphics don't need to run in 3D capable mode at all times).

Also there's the Mactel Linux site that's working on enhancing Linux on the Mac - they've got a bunch of patches for the kernel - some of these patches also provide for coolin' down...

(Switch off) vmware fusion services in OSX

So you installed the latest vmware fusion - which is pretty nice - but it now leaves a load of crud running all the time. You can stop this stuff by running:

$ sudo "/Library/Application Support/VMware Fusion/boot.sh" --stop

There's also a bunch of handy stuff in that directory....Things like vmware-rawdiskCreator can be used to create virtual disks to link to existing partitions for booting physically (i.e. those bootable by rEFIt or Boot Camp ) installed operating systems like Linux or Windows.

MacBook temperature monitor

To get temperature info from your MacBook's temperature (SMC) monitor on the command line go get InCrew's speedit kernel extension. From the Terminal go the downloaded directory and run their install program:

% sudo sh install.sh

It should say:

kextload: speedit.kext loaded successfully

To read out the temperatures from the loaded kernel extension use the systctl command:

$ sysctl kern.cpu_temp
kern.cpu_temp: 52

or to read all speedit monitored info try:

$ sysctl speedit
speedit.currentfreq: 1000
speedit.minfreq: 1000
speedit.maxfreq: 2000
speedit.temp_is_valid: 1
speedit.temp: 52

ssh key verification failed: how to check your fingerprints

So you ssh to a usual machine and get:

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
@    WARNING: REMOTE HOST IDENTIFICATION HAS CHANGED!     @
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
IT IS POSSIBLE THAT SOMEONE IS DOING SOMETHING NASTY!
Someone could be eavesdropping on you right now (man-in-the-middle attack)!
It is also possible that the RSA host key has just been changed.
The fingerprint for the RSA key sent by the remote host is
3f:d6:e7:72:9a:ab:4e:e1:21:91:3a:88:6b:78:83:ce.
Please contact your system administrator.
Add correct host key in /Users/username/.ssh/known_hosts to get rid of this message.
Offending key in /Users/username/.ssh/known_hosts:73
RSA host key for localhost has changed and you have requested strict checking.
Host key verification failed.

It's worrying.... Has someone hacked my machine (again!?). Or am I being paranoid for the 13th time this week?
This error is due to a mismatch between the RSA key that you already have stored on your machine in the /Users/username/.ssh/known_hosts file, and the one that ssh has just obtained over the network on this login attempt. Note: newer versions of ssh now store hashes of hostnames (see: ssh-keygen -H) in the known_hosts file to maintain privacy. Either the ssh server key has been changed legitimately (by you or some admin) or it's been hacked. It's also possible that someone on has set up a machine on the same IP address as the server you're trying to contact then you'll find you can't login - in which case you (or some admin) needs to track down the rogue machine.
To check the key is correct login to the machine in question - preferably on the console, but if you're connecting via ssh then you'll have to ignore the warnings above. Then you can directly print your server's key's fingerprint. There are a few types of keys: RSA, DSA, ECDSA (for SSHv2), and RSA for SSHv1. If your on a 'standard' Linux box then it's probably at: /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key.pub (or for DSA /etc/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key.pub). If you're on a Mac OSX it is in: /etc/ssh_host_rsa_key.pub (or /etc/ssh_host_key.pub or /etc/ssh_host_dsa_key.pub). e.g. So on a Mac OSX box try:
% ssh-keygen -l -f /etc/ssh_host_rsa_key.pub
2048 3f:d6:e7:72:9a:ab:4e:e1:21:91:3a:88:6b:78:83:ce. /etc/ssh_host_key.pub
The key fingerprint (of the corresponding key type - in this case RSA) should match the one shown above. If these don't match then something fishy is going on....
Also just for info you can list all the fingerprints of all your stored host keys
% ssh-keygen -l -f .ssh/known_hosts
Instead you can just compare the public keys stored on your client in ~/.ssh/known_hosts with the keys on the server in /etc/ssh/ssh_host_*.pub

It is also possible that if you've upgraded your version of ssh (or altered your ssh-agent setup), and your machine has previously stored an RSA key in your ~/.ssh/known_hosts file but it is now getting an ECDSA key from the server which obviously won't match but may still be a valid key for that machine. It seems that ssh could work out this problem for itself without any lack of security but currently can lead to such warnings.

[22jan16: Updated to simplify and include ECDSA keys]

Rotten Neighbor (neighbour)

I classic site where you can look up your dodgy neighbors - Yeah that's your American ones for now - I'm sure something like this will surface this side of the water.... What with all those triffic reality shows about your neighbour from hell.

Google Sky (aka Google Universe, Google Space, Google Space, etc)

Google has announced their Google Sky extension to Google Earth - you just need to download their latest version of Google Earth. To see the sky above your current point on the earth click the Sky button or go to the 'View ' menu option. Have fun! Though I reckon Stellarium isn't bad for checking out what's up in the sky.