How do I fix this error:_mysql_exceptions.OperationalError: (1153, "Got a packet bigger than 'max_allowed_packet' bytes")

If you get this MySQL error, you can either lower INSERT_BUFFER_SIZE in UpdateDBHelper.py, or increase MySQL's "max allowed packet" size. To do this, edit the /etc/my.cnf file (or Windows equivalent) and add something like the following to the [mysqld] section:

max_allowed_packet = 16M