"Incorrect string value"

If you see an "Incorrect string value" error in Django and you're using MySQL, run

SELECT * FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS WHERE TABLE_NAME = 'your-table-name'

and check the CHARACTER_SET_NAME for the column in question.

If it's not set correctly (e.g., it's latin1 and you're trying to insert utf8), change it with

alter table table modify column type character set utf8;

Restarting e16 if you can't use the menu

I use the enlightenment window manager, largely because I'm used to it. E16 is pretty stable, but sometimes it gets wedged and needs to be restarted. Fortunately, E retains its state between restarts. Just Mouse-3 the desktop and pick "Restart Enlightenment".

But what if E is so wedged that you can't middle-click the desktop? Suppose, say, the alt-tab menu is on the screen, hogging the focus, and won't go away? You could just kill E, but then you'd have to reopen and reposition all of your windows again.

Solution: ctrl-alt-f1 to a virtual console, log in, and run eesh, the command-line interface to Enlightenment. Like this:

$ env DISPLAY=:0 eesh
restart

PROTIP: X11 fixed font failure

This is the first good explanation I've seen of the infamous X11/vnc error:

Fatal server error:
could not open default font 'fixed'


http://www.x.org/wiki/FAQErrorMessages#Ikeepgettingtheerrormessage.3Acouldnotopendefaultfont.27fixed.27