magic display

invert display:

$ xcalib -i -a

rotate display:

$ xrandr -o left
$ xrandr -o right
$ xrandr -o inverted
$ xrandr -o normal

mint xfce time & sync

for default installs out of the box, time seems to be an hour out. when i tried to configure internet sync, i got a message that something was not installed, or some such thing. no other details including what needs be installed.

utc seems to be on. to disable it:

/etc/default/rcS
UTC=no

to-do:
install/configure ntp to work with mint clock sync.

update:

# apt-get install ntp

now i can configure internet sync.

mint xfce menu

mint updates break mint's elegant xfce menu. first login asks whether you want to keep, migrate or replace the old menu. it doesn't matter what you choose. apparently the old menu in incompatible with the new update.

i did not want to manually code the xfce menu, to avoid incompatibilities with future mint updates. reluctantly, i had to use the memory-hungry but presentable gnome-menu instead.

edit: just discovered the bug and solution here:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/linuxmint/+bug/806859
http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=74615