ok now with new settings file

settings.py

 
 import os
 
-DEBUG = True
+# go through environment variables and override them
+def get_from_env(var, default):
+    if os.environ.has_key(var):
+        return os.environ[var]
+    else:
+        return default
+
+DEBUG = False
 TEMPLATE_DEBUG = DEBUG
 
 ADMINS = (
-    # ('Your Name', 'your_email@domain.com'),
+    ('Ben Adida', 'ben@adida.net'),
 )
 
 MANAGERS = ADMINS
 
-DATABASE_ENGINE = 'postgresql_psycopg2'           # 'postgresql_psycopg2', 'postgresql', 'mysql', 'sqlite3' or 'oracle'.
-DATABASE_NAME = 'helios'             # Or path to database file if using sqlite3.
-DATABASE_USER = ''             # Not used with sqlite3.
-DATABASE_PASSWORD = ''         # Not used with sqlite3.
-DATABASE_HOST = ''             # Set to empty string for localhost. Not used with sqlite3.
-DATABASE_PORT = ''             # Set to empty string for default. Not used with sqlite3.
+DATABASES = {
+    'default': {
+        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.postgresql_psycopg2',
+        'NAME': 'helios'
+    }
+}
 
 # Local time zone for this installation. Choices can be found here:
 # http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tz_zones_by_name
@@ -49,7 +56,7 @@ MEDIA_URL = ''
 ADMIN_MEDIA_PREFIX = '/media/'
 
 # Make this unique, and don't share it with anybody.
-SECRET_KEY = 'replaceme'
+SECRET_KEY = get_from_env('SECRET_KEY', 'replaceme')
 
 # List of callables that know how to import templates from various sources.
 TEMPLATE_LOADERS = (
@@ -79,6 +86,7 @@ INSTALLED_APPS = (
     'django.contrib.sites',
     ## needed for queues
     'djcelery',
+    'djkombu',
     ## needed for schema migration
     'south',
     ## HELIOS stuff
@@ -99,8 +107,8 @@ VOTER_UPLOAD_REL_PATH = "voters/%Y/%m/%d"
 
 
 # Change your email settings
-DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL = 'ben@adida.net'
-DEFAULT_FROM_NAME = 'Ben for Helios'
+DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL = get_from_env('DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL', 'ben@adida.net')
+DEFAULT_FROM_NAME = get_from_env('DEFAULT_FROM_NAME', 'Ben for Helios')
 SERVER_EMAIL = '%s <%s>' % (DEFAULT_FROM_NAME, DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL)
 
 LOGIN_URL = '/auth/'
@@ -108,21 +116,21 @@ LOGOUT_ON_CONFIRMATION = True
 
 # The two hosts are here so the main site can be over plain HTTP
 # while the voting URLs are served over SSL.
-URL_HOST = "http://localhost:8000"
+URL_HOST = get_from_env("URL_HOST", "http://localhost:8000")
 
 # IMPORTANT: you should not change this setting once you've created
 # elections, as your elections' cast_url will then be incorrect.
 # SECURE_URL_HOST = "https://localhost:8443"
-SECURE_URL_HOST = "http://localhost:8000"
+SECURE_URL_HOST = get_from_env("SECURE_URL_HOST", "http://localhost:8000")
 
 # this additional host is used to iframe-isolate the social buttons,
 # which usually involve hooking in remote JavaScript, which could be
 # a security issue. Plus, if there's a loading issue, it blocks the whole
 # page. Not cool.
-SOCIALBUTTONS_URL_HOST= "http://localhost:8000"
+SOCIALBUTTONS_URL_HOST= get_from_env("SOCIALBUTTONS_URL_HOST", "http://localhost:8000")
 
 # election stuff
-SITE_TITLE = 'Helios Election Server'
+SITE_TITLE = get_from_env('SITE_TITLE', 'Helios Election Server')
 
 # FOOTER links
 FOOTER_LINKS = []
@@ -160,10 +168,10 @@ LINKEDIN_API_KEY = ''
 LINKEDIN_API_SECRET = ''
 
 # email server
-EMAIL_HOST = 'localhost'
-EMAIL_PORT = 1025
-EMAIL_HOST_USER = ''
-EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD = ''
+EMAIL_HOST = get_from_env('EMAIL_HOST', 'localhost')
+EMAIL_PORT = 2525
+EMAIL_HOST_USER = get_from_env('EMAIL_HOST_USER', '')
+EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD = get_from_env('EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD', '')
 EMAIL_USE_TLS = False
 
 # set up logging
@@ -174,11 +182,7 @@ logging.basicConfig(
 )
 
 # set up django-celery
-BROKER_HOST = "localhost"
-BROKER_PORT = 5672
-BROKER_USER = "guest"
-BROKER_PASSWORD = "guest"
-BROKER_VHOST = "/"
-
 import djcelery
 djcelery.setup_loader()
+BROKER_BACKEND = "djkombu.transport.DatabaseTransport"
+CELERY_RESULT_DBURI = DATABASES['default']