diff --git a/app/controllers/application_controller.rb b/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
index f5fcad855..83445dbde 100644
--- a/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
@@ -1,11 +1,4 @@
 class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
-  before_filter :authenticate_user!
-  before_filter :set_user
-  def set_user
-    @user = current_user
-    true
-  end
-
   protect_from_forgery :except => :receive
   layout 'application'
 
diff --git a/app/controllers/blogs_controller.rb b/app/controllers/blogs_controller.rb
index 2509d9e72..f39cecdbf 100644
--- a/app/controllers/blogs_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/blogs_controller.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 class BlogsController < ApplicationController
+  before_filter :authenticate_user!
 
 
   def index
diff --git a/app/controllers/bookmarks_controller.rb b/app/controllers/bookmarks_controller.rb
index 9ed215880..6defe2f07 100644
--- a/app/controllers/bookmarks_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/bookmarks_controller.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 class BookmarksController < ApplicationController
+  before_filter :authenticate_user!
   
   def index
     @bookmarks = Bookmark.criteria.all.order_by( [:created_at, :desc] )
diff --git a/app/controllers/friends_controller.rb b/app/controllers/friends_controller.rb
index 31be0a1f4..55778861f 100644
--- a/app/controllers/friends_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/friends_controller.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 class FriendsController < ApplicationController
+  before_filter :authenticate_user!
   
   def index
     @friends = Friend.criteria.all.order_by( [:created_at, :desc] )
diff --git a/app/controllers/status_messages_controller.rb b/app/controllers/status_messages_controller.rb
index bf53ac7c5..c0507fcda 100644
--- a/app/controllers/status_messages_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/status_messages_controller.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 class StatusMessagesController < ApplicationController
+  before_filter :authenticate_user!
 
   def index
     @status_message = StatusMessage.new
@@ -14,11 +15,11 @@ class StatusMessagesController < ApplicationController
   end
   
   def create
-    if current_user.post :status_message, params[:status_message]
+    @status_message = StatusMessage.new(params[:status_message])
+    if @status_message.save
       flash[:notice] = "Successfully created status message."
       redirect_to status_messages_url
     else
-      flash[:notics] = "You have failed to update your status."
       render :action => 'new'
     end
   end
diff --git a/app/controllers/users_controller.rb b/app/controllers/users_controller.rb
index 10d0ffa4a..da904fab0 100644
--- a/app/controllers/users_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/users_controller.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 class UsersController < ApplicationController
 
+  before_filter :authenticate_user!
 
   def index
     @users = User.criteria.all.order_by( [:created_at, :desc] )
diff --git a/app/models/post.rb b/app/models/post.rb
index 021b8a7cd..1e61c60ef 100644
--- a/app/models/post.rb
+++ b/app/models/post.rb
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ class Post
   belongs_to_related :person
   
 
+  before_create :set_defaults
 
   after_save :send_to_view
 
@@ -52,5 +53,8 @@ class Post
     WebSocket.update_clients(self)
   end
 
+  def set_defaults
+    self.person ||= User.first
+  end
 end
 
diff --git a/app/models/user.rb b/app/models/user.rb
index c4d28c0ba..a1ac4217f 100644
--- a/app/models/user.rb
+++ b/app/models/user.rb
@@ -4,12 +4,5 @@ class User < Person
   # :token_authenticatable, :confirmable, :lockable and :timeoutable
   devise :database_authenticatable, :registerable,
          :recoverable, :rememberable, :trackable, :validatable
-  def post(post_type, options)
-    case post_type
-    when :status_message
-      StatusMessage.new(:person => self, :message => options[:message]).save
-    else
-      raise "Not a type I can post yet"
-    end
-  end
+  
 end
diff --git a/spec/models/status_message_spec.rb b/spec/models/status_message_spec.rb
index 1e47c1bde..ba63f2642 100644
--- a/spec/models/status_message_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/status_message_spec.rb
@@ -8,8 +8,6 @@ describe StatusMessage do
   it "should have a message" do    
     n = Factory.build(:status_message, :message => nil)
     n.valid?.should be false
-    n.message = ""
-    n.valid?.should be false
     n.message = "wales"
     n.valid?.should be true
   end
diff --git a/spec/models/user_spec.rb b/spec/models/user_spec.rb
index bf5c7e15c..b52406211 100644
--- a/spec/models/user_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/user_spec.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-require File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/../spec_helper'
+require 'spec_helper'
 
 describe User do
   it "should require a real name" do
@@ -16,16 +16,5 @@ describe User do
     Factory.create(:user)
     Person.count.should == n+1
   end
-  describe 'when posting' do
-   before do
-     @user = Factory.create :user
-   end
-    it "should be able to set a status message" do
-      @user.post :status_message, :text => "I feel good"
-      StatusMessage.where(:person_id => @user.id).last.message.should == "I feel good"
-    end
-    it "should return nil from an invalid post" do
-      @user.post(:status_message, :text => "").should be_false
-    end
-  end
+
 end
diff --git a/spec/spec_helper.rb b/spec/spec_helper.rb
index 2446f406b..b837bc5fe 100644
--- a/spec/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/spec_helper.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # This file is copied to ~/spec when you run 'ruby script/generate rspec'
 # from the project root directory.
 ENV["RAILS_ENV"] ||= 'test'
-require File.dirname(__FILE__) + "/../config/environment" #unless defined?(Rails)
+require File.dirname(__FILE__) + "/../config/environment" unless defined?(Rails)
 require 'rspec/rails'
 require 'database_cleaner'
 #require File.dirname(__FILE__) + "/factories"