diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 360ad2be..a4618de8 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+* Activity launching now timeout after 120 seconds. (marco)
+* Add timeout arg to sugar.datastore.Datastore. (tomeu)
 * Presence Service monitor in dev console (smcv)
 * Turn off logging by default.  Logs may be re-enabled on a per-module basis
   by adding environment variables like SHELL_DEBUG and RECORD_DEBUG to
diff --git a/sugar/activity/activityfactory.py b/sugar/activity/activityfactory.py
index fe2a8bd7..404e5f4c 100644
--- a/sugar/activity/activityfactory.py
+++ b/sugar/activity/activityfactory.py
@@ -113,6 +113,7 @@ class ActivityCreationHandler(gobject.GObject):
                     error_handler=self._notify_launch_error_handler)
 
         self._factory.create(self._activity_handle.get_dict(),
+                             timeout=120 * 1000,
                              reply_handler=self._no_reply_handler,
                              error_handler=self._create_error_handler)
 
diff --git a/sugar/activity/activityhandle.py b/sugar/activity/activityhandle.py
index 8e90e705..0f2f2d9a 100644
--- a/sugar/activity/activityhandle.py
+++ b/sugar/activity/activityhandle.py
@@ -67,13 +67,15 @@ class ActivityHandle(object):
 
     def get_dict(self):
         """Retrieve our settings as a dictionary"""
-        result = { 'activity_id' : self.activity_id }
+        result = { }
+        if self.activity_id:
+            result['activity_id'] = str(self.activity_id)
         if self.pservice_id:
-            result['pservice_id'] = self.pservice_id
+            result['pservice_id'] = str(self.pservice_id)
         if self.object_id:
-            result['object_id'] = self.object_id
+            result['object_id'] = str(self.object_id)
         if self.uri:
-            result['uri'] = self.uri
+            result['uri'] = str(self.uri)
 
         return result
 
diff --git a/sugar/datastore/datastore.py b/sugar/datastore/datastore.py
index ef1dd45a..256c12fa 100644
--- a/sugar/datastore/datastore.py
+++ b/sugar/datastore/datastore.py
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ def create():
     metadata['mtime'] = metadata['ctime']
     return DSObject(object_id=None, metadata=metadata, file_path=None)
 
-def write(ds_object, update_mtime=True, reply_handler=None, error_handler=None):
+def write(ds_object, update_mtime=True, reply_handler=None, error_handler=None, timeout=-1):
     logging.debug('datastore.write')
 
     properties = ds_object.metadata.get_dictionary().copy()
@@ -185,7 +185,8 @@ def write(ds_object, update_mtime=True, reply_handler=None, error_handler=None):
                             properties,
                             ds_object.file_path,
                             reply_handler=reply_handler,
-                            error_handler=error_handler)
+                            error_handler=error_handler,
+                            timeout=timeout)
     else:
         ds_object.object_id = dbus_helpers.create(properties,
                                                   ds_object.file_path)
diff --git a/sugar/datastore/dbus_helpers.py b/sugar/datastore/dbus_helpers.py
index 6680cc12..f0cfa3bf 100644
--- a/sugar/datastore/dbus_helpers.py
+++ b/sugar/datastore/dbus_helpers.py
@@ -37,12 +37,13 @@ def create(properties, filename):
     logging.debug('dbus_helpers.create: ' + object_id)
     return object_id
 
-def update(uid, properties, filename, reply_handler=None, error_handler=None):
+def update(uid, properties, filename, reply_handler=None, error_handler=None, timeout=-1):
     logging.debug('dbus_helpers.update: %s, %s, %s' % (uid, filename, properties))
     if reply_handler and error_handler:
         _data_store.update(uid, dbus.Dictionary(properties), filename,
                 reply_handler=reply_handler,
-                error_handler=error_handler)
+                error_handler=error_handler,
+                timeout=timeout)
     else:
         _data_store.update(uid, dbus.Dictionary(properties), filename)