diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index decc86c7f..61f2ac22d 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -81,6 +81,6 @@ group :test do
   gem 'webmock', :require => false
   gem 'jasmine', :path => 'vendor/gems/jasmine', :require => false
   gem 'mongrel', :require => false if RUBY_VERSION.include? '1.8'
-  gem 'rspec-instafail', :require => false
+  gem 'rspec-instafail', '>= 0.1.7', :require => false
   gem 'fuubar'
 end
diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index 3a2996ecb..38a4fbbbf 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -324,7 +324,7 @@ GEM
     rspec-core (2.5.1)
     rspec-expectations (2.5.0)
       diff-lcs (~> 1.1.2)
-    rspec-instafail (0.1.6)
+    rspec-instafail (0.1.7)
     rspec-mocks (2.5.0)
     rspec-rails (2.5.0)
       actionpack (~> 3.0)
@@ -427,7 +427,7 @@ DEPENDENCIES
   rest-client (= 1.6.1)
   roxml!
   rspec (>= 2.0.0)
-  rspec-instafail
+  rspec-instafail (>= 0.1.7)
   rspec-rails (>= 2.0.0)
   ruby-debug
   thin (= 1.2.8)
diff --git a/app/controllers/application_controller.rb b/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
index 2174c8f2d..64940e9da 100644
--- a/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
   before_filter :count_requests
   before_filter :set_invites
   before_filter :set_locale
-  before_filter :set_git_header
+  before_filter :set_git_header if (AppConfig[:git_update] && AppConfig[:git_revision])
   before_filter :which_action_and_user
   prepend_before_filter :clear_gc_stats
   before_filter :set_grammatical_gender
@@ -43,8 +43,8 @@ class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
   end
 
   def set_git_header
-    headers['X-Git-Update'] = GIT_UPDATE unless GIT_UPDATE.nil?
-    headers['X-Git-Revision'] = GIT_REVISION unless GIT_REVISION.nil?
+    headers['X-Git-Update'] = AppConfig[:git_update]
+    headers['X-Git-Revision'] = AppConfig[:git_revision]
   end
 
   def which_action_and_user
diff --git a/app/controllers/aspects_controller.rb b/app/controllers/aspects_controller.rb
index e2bb20881..519f0383e 100644
--- a/app/controllers/aspects_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/aspects_controller.rb
@@ -12,12 +12,11 @@ class AspectsController < ApplicationController
   def index
     if params[:a_ids]
       @aspects = current_user.aspects.where(:id => params[:a_ids]).includes(:contacts => {:person => :profile})
-      @selected_contacts = @aspects.inject([]){|arr, aspect| arr.concat(aspect.contacts)}
-      @selected_contacts.uniq!
     else
       @aspects = current_user.aspects.includes(:contacts => {:person => :profile})
-      @selected_contacts = current_user.contacts.includes(:person => :profile)
     end
+    @selected_contacts = @aspects.inject([]){|arr, aspect| arr.concat(aspect.contacts)}
+    @selected_contacts.uniq!
 
     # redirect to signup
     if (current_user.getting_started == true || @aspects.blank?) && !request.format.mobile?
diff --git a/app/helpers/sockets_helper.rb b/app/helpers/sockets_helper.rb
index 1c6ee13ac..8010d699b 100644
--- a/app/helpers/sockets_helper.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/sockets_helper.rb
@@ -58,7 +58,6 @@ module SocketsHelper
       end
     rescue Exception => e
       Rails.logger.error("event=socket_render status=fail user=#{user.diaspora_handle} object=#{object.id.to_s}")
-      raise e.original_exception if e.respond_to?(:original_exception)
       raise e
     end
     action_hash = {:class =>object.class.to_s.underscore.pluralize, :html => v, :post_id => obj_id(object)}
diff --git a/config/initializers/version_header.rb b/config/initializers/version_header.rb
index 56ec60cf1..85e48aaae 100644
--- a/config/initializers/version_header.rb
+++ b/config/initializers/version_header.rb
@@ -5,9 +5,6 @@
 
 git_cmd = `git log -1 --format="%H %ci"`
 if git_cmd =~ /^([\d\w]+?)\s(.+)$/
-  GIT_REVISION = $1
-  GIT_UPDATE = $2.strip
-else
-  GIT_REVISION = nil
-  GIT_UPDATE = nil
+  AppConfig[:git_revision] = $1
+  AppConfig[:git_update] = $2.strip
 end
diff --git a/spec/controllers/application_controller_spec.rb b/spec/controllers/application_controller_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b14770247
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/controllers/application_controller_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+require 'spec_helper'
+
+describe ApplicationController do
+  controller do
+    def user_signed_in?
+      nil
+    end
+    def current_user
+      nil
+    end
+    def index
+      render :nothing => true
+    end
+  end
+  describe '#set_git_headers' do
+    context 'with git info' do
+      before do
+        AppConfig[:git_update] = 'yesterday'
+        AppConfig[:git_revision] = '02395'
+      end
+      it 'sets the git header if there is git info' do
+        get :index
+        response.headers['X-Git-Update'].should == 'yesterday'
+        response.headers['X-Git-Revision'].should == '02395'
+      end
+    end
+    #this context is commented out because the code to do it gets applied at environment load.
+    #context 'without git info' do
+    #  before do
+    #    AppConfig.config_vars.delete(:git_update)
+    #    AppConfig.config_vars.delete(:git_revision)
+    #  end
+    #  it 'does not set the headers if there is no git info' do
+    #    get :index
+    #    response.headers.keys.should_not include('X-Git-Update')
+    #    response.headers.keys.should_not include('X-Git-Revision')
+    #  end
+    #end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/controllers/home_controller_spec.rb b/spec/controllers/home_controller_spec.rb
index ab29b6d1d..f8fa12c0e 100644
--- a/spec/controllers/home_controller_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/controllers/home_controller_spec.rb
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ describe HomeController do
       sign_in @user
       @aspect0 = @user.aspects.all[0]
       @aspect1 = @user.aspects.create(:name => "Yeaaaah!")
-      @index_params = {:a_ids => [@aspect0.id.to_s, @aspect1.id.to_s]} 
+      @index_params = {:a_ids => [@aspect0.id.to_s, @aspect1.id.to_s]}
       @user.aspects.where(:id => @index_params[:a_ids]).update_all(:open => true)
       @user.save
       get :show
diff --git a/spec/intergration/receiving_spec.rb b/spec/intergration/receiving_spec.rb
index 81fbc1ddb..d3cd867ab 100644
--- a/spec/intergration/receiving_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/intergration/receiving_spec.rb
@@ -308,11 +308,7 @@ describe 'a user receives a post' do
     end
 
     it "should activate the Person if I initiated a request to that url" do
-      begin
-        @user1.send_contact_request_to(@user3.person, @aspect)
-      rescue Exception => e
-        raise e.original_exception
-      end
+      @user1.send_contact_request_to(@user3.person, @aspect)
       request = @user3.request_from(@user1.person)
       fantasy_resque do
         @user3.accept_and_respond(request.id, @aspect3.id)