Simple Backup sbackup doesn't run on Lubuntu 12.10

I had this problem with sbackup 0.11.4 on Lubuntu, installed as Ubuntu 12.10 with lubuntu-core package installed.  When sudo sbackup is run, even with --no-dbus or --legacy-indicator, it still gives plenty of errors and notably, the message "No desktop session found".

Strangely, scheduled backups work though.  But when I tried instead:

sudo /usr/share/sbackup/sbackup-launch

that seems to work.

The bug might be because Lubuntu doesn't have 'gnome-session' or 'x-session-manager' running.  Instead, it uses 'lxsession'.

Migrating to Lubuntu - tips and fixes

If you want a fast, no frills version of Ubuntu, I suggest giving Lubuntu a try. It's Ubuntu with the LXDE desktop environment. I made the switch after installing Ubuntu 12.10 by installing lubuntu-core.

lubuntu-core doesn't install a lot of Lubuntu programs though, e.g. lxtask, so there's some fiddling to do with user settings to make the environment really usable. I'll describe some of what I did below.

I've tried migrating by installing lubuntu-desktop on another computer, which gave me all the programs associated with Lubuntu (like Abiword), but I preferred the Ubuntu set of programs — plus all the stuff I've accumulated thus far from using Ubuntu for the last few years — so I really just want the LXDE core modules. If you're installing a fresh OS, I suggest installing Lubuntu directly instead.

When using Lubuntu, you'll have to get used to not having a GUI for everything. There's some GUI system tools, but they don't always work all that well. Lubuntu is such a young OS, there's a lot of rough edges compared to Ubuntu. In fact, don't try Lubuntu unless you're running the latest (not necessarily LTS) distribution release — I encountered some problems with Ubuntu 12.04 LTS with the lubuntu-desktop package installed that were fixed with Lubuntu 12.10.

lxpanel keyboard shortcuts to the Main Menu stops working

The Main Menu contains shortcuts to lots of programs and system preferences. Usually Alt-F1 or Ctrl-Esc will activate it. But there's been a continual bug with the keyboard shortcuts when Lubuntu is installed over top of Ubuntu so that the keyboard shortcut may work once then stop working. Actually, that bug in lxpanel was fixed by Lubuntu 12.10, but a different bug took its place.

It turns out lxpanel runs in the background, and lxpanelctl controls it. But if you bring up the "Panel Settings/Preferences" window, the keyboard shortcut stops working. The keyboard shortcuts are actually bound to execute the lxpanelctl command, so it's lxpanelctl that loses control of lxpanel. Another way lxpanelctl loses control is when the "Run" window (lxpanelctl run) opens, and you type in a program name that then gets matched, then you use arrow keys to highlight one of the matches, then type escape repeatedly until the window closes. It's weird, but the fix is the same:

Kill lxpanel and restart it. I do it in the command line with a quick

killall lxpanel; lxpanel -p Lubuntu &

In fact, I have a bash alias to do that because it happens so often...

lxkeymap forgets your settings after log out

I like my caps lock changed to be another control key, and lxkeymap lets me make that setting. Oh, lxkeymap needs to be installed separately from lubuntu-core first. But why does it forget it's settings after logging out and logging back in? It's a bug in the lxkeymap package.

Per that bug report, you can fix this by creating a .desktop file with the following:

How to protect your cheques in Canada

Not how to protect your cheques physically - that's up to you and your martial arts training.

I mean how to ensure your cheques are deposited to the account of your choosing.  Because even though you write on your cheques who the payee ought to be, it can be signed off to a third party to be cashed or deposited.

Other places in the world use markings to "cross" the cheque to ensure it is deposited to a bank account only, and not cashed (literally exchanged for cash).  In other places, you may write "non-negotiable" to ensure it is deposited or cashed only by the person named on the front as payee, and no one else.

But Canada and the USA does this differently.  USA should be similar (but you should check for yourself) to Canada, but the following is Canada specific:

Write "For deposit only to account of payee" on the back of the cheque to ensure that the cheque can only be deposited (not cashed) and to the named payee only (and can't be negotiated --- signed --- away to a third party) [1, 2].

[1] Added Protection when paying by Cheque --- Financial Consumer Agency of Canada
[2] Cheques - What You Need to Know --- Canadian Bankers Association

OpenShift My Python Django Project

Red Hat's OpenShift platform-as-a-service is easy to set up and start using if you have a Python Django project (I haven't tried the other platforms supported, e.g. Java).  It's just 9 (longish) steps!

The django-example they offer gives a good idea of what the completed Django on OpenShift project should look like, but I thought I'd jot some notes down on how to get there from an existing Django project on Ubuntu Linux.

There are two main parts to this process, (A) OpenShift Tools Set-up, and (B) Set-up Python Django Project for OpenShift.


(A) OpenShift Tools Set-up
 
(0) Go to OpenShift and sign up for an account.

(1) Install the rhc client tool on your local computer.
 There's some instructions provided, but it boils down to running on your command line:

$ sudo apt-get install ruby-full rubygems git-core
$ sudo gem install rhc
$ rhc  #this should now run without errors

(2)  Setup your computer to connect to the OpenShift servers.
This should be easy. Just do on the command line: rhc setup and follow the on-screen instructions.

That should really be all it takes, but note that that will upload your default public encryption key for your computer to OpenShift, namely: ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub so you should know the password to that key pair or else you won't be able to connect to OpenShift.

If you don't want to use your default key, or some other reason, you can always create a new public/private encryption key pair and upload that (just delete the default one from OpenShift, which you can do through their web interface or on the command line).  I'll describe that next.

Staying hungry for new achievements

When do you start dropping items from your resume? If you've been working for a few years after graduating from high school, I'd suggest all high school related achievements as well as work and volunteering experiences are from too long ago and needs to be dropped.

In general, I've been told that anything roughly older than three years can be dropped from your resume.  Few care about the honors capstone project you did in university if you've been working in industry for three years.  Why?  Because if you couldn't accomplish anything in the last three years, your super duper honors project might have been a fluke as far as achievements go.  If you're consistently accomplishing valuable achievements, then there's bound to be plenty to talk about from the past three years anyway.

Most of the world are appreciative of one-hit wonders, but wouldn't want to hire one for the long run.

Sadly, this means the shelf life of a Bachelor's Degree (or any degree for that matter) is maybe three to five years. Definitely after five years, it's more of a necessary checkbox to fill than indicative of any real ability. You'll find it hard to get hired without the degree, but you'll probably also find it hard to get hired if that's all you have [1].