diff --git a/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/lib/em_helper.rb b/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/lib/em_helper.rb
index c310cf2bf..14d661c06 100644
--- a/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/lib/em_helper.rb
+++ b/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/lib/em_helper.rb
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ module JamWebEventMachine
   end
 
 
-  def self.run_em(calling_thread)
+  def self.run_em(calling_thread = nil)
 
     EM.run do
       # this is global because we need to check elsewhere if we are currently connected to amqp before signalling success with some APIs, such as 'create session'
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ module JamWebEventMachine
         end
       end
 
-      calling_thread.wakeup
+      calling_thread.wakeup if calling_thread
     end
   end
 
diff --git a/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/mq_router.rb b/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/mq_router.rb
index 78c8dd800..8b6063f0e 100644
--- a/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/mq_router.rb
+++ b/ruby/lib/jam_ruby/mq_router.rb
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ class MQRouter
   # sends a message to a client with no checking of permissions (RAW USAGE)
   # this method deliberately has no database interactivity/active_record objects
   def publish_to_client(client_id, client_msg, sender = {:client_id => ""})
+    @@log.error "EM not running in publish_to_client" unless EM.reactor_running?
     EM.schedule do
       sender_client_id = sender[:client_id]
 
@@ -68,6 +69,7 @@ class MQRouter
   # sends a message to a session with no checking of permissions (RAW USAGE)
   # this method deliberately has no database interactivity/active_record objects
   def publish_to_session(music_session_id, client_ids, client_msg, sender = {:client_id => nil})
+    @@log.error "EM not running in publish_to_session" unless EM.reactor_running?
     EM.schedule do
       sender_client_id = sender[:client_id]
 
@@ -84,7 +86,7 @@ class MQRouter
   # sends a message to a user with no checking of permissions (RAW USAGE)
   # this method deliberately has no database interactivity/active_record objects
   def publish_to_user(user_id, user_msg)
-    @@log.warn "EM not running in publish_to_user" unless EM.reactor_running?
+    @@log.error "EM not running in publish_to_user" unless EM.reactor_running?
 
     EM.schedule do
       @@log.debug "publishing to user:#{user_id} from server"
@@ -96,6 +98,8 @@ class MQRouter
   # sends a message to a list of friends with no checking of permissions (RAW USAGE)
   # this method deliberately has no database interactivity/active_record objects
   def publish_to_friends(friend_ids, user_msg, from_user_id)
+    @@log.error "EM not running in publish_to_friends" unless EM.reactor_running?
+
     EM.schedule do
       friend_ids.each do |friend_id|
         @@log.debug "publishing to friend:#{friend_id} from user/band #{from_user_id}"
diff --git a/web/app/assets/stylesheets/client/banner.css.scss b/web/app/assets/stylesheets/client/banner.css.scss
index 5a8347d6b..4db4a318d 100644
--- a/web/app/assets/stylesheets/client/banner.css.scss
+++ b/web/app/assets/stylesheets/client/banner.css.scss
@@ -22,5 +22,9 @@
   .buttons {
     margin:0 20px 20px 0;
   }
+
+  .close-btn {
+    display:none;
+  }
 }
 
diff --git a/web/config/unicorn.rb b/web/config/unicorn.rb
index 8d41809fe..c45aaa05e 100644
--- a/web/config/unicorn.rb
+++ b/web/config/unicorn.rb
@@ -17,11 +17,11 @@ worker_processes 4
 # as root unless it's from system init scripts.
 # If running the master process as root and the workers as an unprivileged
 # user, do this to switch euid/egid in the workers (also chowns logs):
-user "jam-web", "jam-web"
+#user "jam-web", "jam-web"
 
 # Help ensure your application will always spawn in the symlinked
 # "current" directory that Capistrano sets up.
-working_directory "/var/lib/jam-web" # available in 0.94.0+
+#working_directory "/var/lib/jam-web" # available in 0.94.0+
 
 # listen on both a Unix domain socket and a TCP port,
 # we use a shorter backlog for quicker failover when busy
@@ -32,13 +32,13 @@ listen 3100, :tcp_nopush => true
 timeout 30
 
 # feel free to point this anywhere accessible on the filesystem
-pid "/var/run/jam-web/jam-web.pid"
+#pid "/var/run/jam-web/jam-web.pid"
 
 # By default, the Unicorn logger will write to stderr.
 # Additionally, ome applications/frameworks log to stderr or stdout,
 # so prevent them from going to /dev/null when daemonized here:
-stderr_path "/var/lib/jam-web/log/unicorn.stderr.log"
-stdout_path "/var/lib/jam-web/log/unicorn.stdout.log"
+#stderr_path "/var/lib/jam-web/log/unicorn.stderr.log"
+#stdout_path "/var/lib/jam-web/log/unicorn.stdout.log"
 
 # combine Ruby 2.0.0dev or REE with "preload_app true" for memory savings
 # http://rubyenterpriseedition.com/faq.html#adapt_apps_for_cow
@@ -95,7 +95,11 @@ after_fork do |server, worker|
     ActiveRecord::Base.establish_connection
 
   Thread.new do
-    JamWebEventMachine.run_em
+    begin
+      JamWebEventMachine.run_em
+    rescue Exception => e
+      puts "unable to start eventmachine in after_fork!!: #{e}"
+    end
   end
   # if preload_app is true, then you may also want to check and
   # restart any other shared sockets/descriptors such as Memcached,