Comment 3 for bug 392066

I have followed your steps but it hasn't worked for me,

But I think I know the reason, I have run "/usr/lib/hamster-applet/hamster-applet -w" and look at the output:

Data Dir: /usr/share/hamster-applet
SELECT version FROM version None
select count(*) from categories None
Binding shortcut <Super>H to popup hamster
Running with options: {'do_trace': False, 'standalone': True}
/usr/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/hamster/applet.py:337: GtkWarning: gtk_cell_layout_set_attributes: assertion `GTK_IS_CELL_RENDERER (cell)' failed
  self.activity_list.set_property("text-column", 2)

                   SELECT a.id AS id,
                          a.start_time AS start_time,
                          a.end_time AS end_time,
                          a.description as description,
                          b.name AS name, b.id as activity_id,
                          coalesce(c.name, ?) as category, c.id as category_id
                     FROM facts a
                LEFT JOIN activities b ON a.activity_id = b.id
                LEFT JOIN categories c on b.category_id = c.id
                    WHERE date(a.start_time) >= ? and date(a.start_time) <= ?
                 ORDER BY a.start_time
         (u'Sin clasificar', datetime.date(2009, 9, 8), datetime.date(2009, 9, 8))

                   SELECT lower(a.name) as name, b.name as category
                     FROM activities a
                LEFT JOIN categories b on coalesce(b.id, -1) = a.category_id
                    WHERE deleted is null
                 ORDER BY lower(a.name)
         None
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/hamster-applet/hamster-applet", line 134, in <module>
    build_window()
  File "/usr/lib/hamster-applet/hamster-applet", line 75, in build_window
    applet_factory(applet, None)
  File "/usr/lib/hamster-applet/hamster-applet", line 64, in applet_factory
    hamster.applet.HamsterApplet(applet)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/hamster/applet.py", line 267, in __init__
    self.refresh_menu()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/hamster/applet.py", line 479, in refresh_menu
    all_activities = storage.get_autocomplete_activities()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/hamster/storage.py", line 65, in get_autocomplete_activities
    return self.__get_autocomplete_activities()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/hamster/db.py", line 407, in __get_autocomplete_activities
    activities = self.fetchall(query)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.6/dist-packages/hamster/db.py", line 489, in fetchall
    res = cur.fetchall()
sqlite3.OperationalError: Could not decode to UTF-8 column 'name' with text 'gestiã³n'

I don't known how I am going to fix this, but at least I have a clue