Starting programs on Login

To have a program start when you login just add the command the rc.local file located in /etc/.
The simple way to do this is open a terminal in the /etc/ folder and type:
sudo gedit rc.local

You will be prompted for your password as you are editing a file you don't own. The command that causes this is sudo.
gedit is a simple file editor and rc.local is of course the file you are editing.
In my case I wanted to start Dropbox so I added:
# Start the Dropbox daemon
~/.dropbox-dist/dropboxd & 

The first line is a 'comment' so I know what I'm starting and the next line is the actual command to start Dropbox.
You will probably need to change the permissions of the rc.local file so it can run your stuff. Do this with the following command in the terminal you opened earlier:
chmod u+x /etc/rc.local