diff --git a/websocket_server.js b/websocket_server.js
deleted file mode 100644
index c865d0c..0000000
--- a/websocket_server.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,32 +0,0 @@
-
-var WebSocketServer = require('ws').Server;
-var Redis = require('redis');
-
-var port = 8077;
-
-var wss = new WebSocketServer({port: port});
-
-wss.on('connection', function(ws) {
-  // console.log("New websockets connection");
-  ws.on('message', function(channel) {
-    var redis = Redis.createClient(6379, 'localhost');
-    redis.subscribe(channel);
-    // console.log('Listening for comments on channel ' + channel);
-    redis.on('message', function (channel, message) {
-      console.log('Sent comment to channel ' + channel);
-      ws.send(message);
-    });
-    ws.on('close', function(){
-      // console.log('Killing listener for channel ' + channel);
-      redis.unsubscribe();
-      redis.end();
-    });
-    ws.on('error', function(){
-      // console.log('Killing listener for channel ' + channel);
-      redis.unsubscribe();
-      redis.end();
-    });
-  });
-});
-
-console.log("WebSocket Server Listening on port "+port);
diff --git a/woodwind/tasks.py b/woodwind/tasks.py
index c354565..e93286f 100644
--- a/woodwind/tasks.py
+++ b/woodwind/tasks.py
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ def check_push_subscription(session, feed, response):
             'hub.mode': mode,
             'hub.topic': topic,
             'hub.callback': build_callback_url(),
-            'hub.verify': 'async',  # backcompat with 0.3
+            'hub.verify': 'sync',  # backcompat with 0.3
             # TODO secret should only be used over HTTPS
             # 'hub.secret': secret,
         })
@@ -145,6 +145,7 @@ def check_push_subscription(session, feed, response):
     hub = response.links.get('hub', {}).get('url')
     topic = response.links.get('self', {}).get('url')
 
+    logger.debug('link headers. links=%s, hub=%s, topic=%s', response.links, hub, topic)
     if not hub or not topic:
         # try to find link rel elements
         if feed.type == 'html':
diff --git a/woodwind/views.py b/woodwind/views.py
index 7e75eca..13a261d 100644
--- a/woodwind/views.py
+++ b/woodwind/views.py
@@ -372,13 +372,14 @@ def relative_time(dt):
     if dt:
         now = datetime.datetime.utcnow()
         diff = now - dt
+        zero = datetime.timedelta(0)
         years = diff.days // 365
         hours = diff.seconds // 60 // 60
         minutes = diff.seconds // 60
 
-        if diff == 0:
+        if diff == zero:
             pretty = 'Right now'
-        if diff > 0:
+        if diff > zero:
             if years > 1:
                 pretty = str(years) + ' years ago'
             elif diff.days == 1:
diff --git a/woodwind/websocket_server.py b/woodwind/websocket_server.py
index 555878b..f519334 100644
--- a/woodwind/websocket_server.py
+++ b/woodwind/websocket_server.py
@@ -31,7 +31,10 @@ class WSHandler(tornado.websocket.WebSocketHandler):
         return True
 
     def forward_message(self, message):
-        self.write_message(message)
+        try:
+            self.write_message(message)
+        except tornado.websocket.WebSocketClosedError:
+            self.on_close()
 
     def on_message(self, topic):
         self.topic = topic