diff -uNr a/blatta/README.txt b/blatta/README.txt
--- a/blatta/README.txt 0a24e35c1f08fa449b1f6acc9a61b373aca19bf43fbb3a728c1fc89123b8a456d193cc8bf4eeb9bba90f18e7a82094f1b24bf10e20f6d0729367127d502d3fe7
+++ b/blatta/README.txt bc8aaa1f75e7830f0359f5a35958fc19b8bbdd316e7a97cf66bba38e0a616bd673751249ce6e9fa2aad7f05e32af3ae9b351e87cac8a679fb8d381510514d813
@@ -25,15 +25,8 @@
 GETTING STARTED
 
 1. Launch blatta with something like the following command:
-./blatta --port=6668 --address-table-path config.py
+./blatta --irc-port=6668
 2. Add a peer using the peer command.
 3. Use genkey to generate a key.
 4. Add the key to the peer using the key command.
 5. Add an address for the peer using the address command.
-
-NOTES FOR DIFF/PATCH N00B5
-
-To apply the genesis patch (or any patch) to the current directory
-and recreate the directory structure of the original:
-
-patch -p1 -ruN < <wherever>/genesis.vdiff
diff -uNr a/blatta/blatta b/blatta/blatta
--- a/blatta/blatta 01f00ef74cd2143c7b07ea439284cea743c0406301e7d9255ed9287a022d8c2db04125a346caa2b1085e38bfd44d1fe342a52467c2511f6c714c79db9954f89d
+++ b/blatta/blatta 78e7bff9012264c8334e1df4d0d03a3ef609ef39330f1a3809df3a8e3fb4ffc2c2e212f505cabb4a05df90174d39cf5f085d71ec3f6be1cd6745038bda5bdfc1
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 def main(argv):
     op = OptionParser(
         version=VERSION,
-        description="alcuin is a small and limited IRC server emulator for gossip networks.")
+        description="Blatta is an implementation of a Pest network station.")
     op.add_option(
         "-a", "--address-table-path",
         help="Import address table from specified file")
@@ -50,18 +50,14 @@
         metavar="X",
         help="display file X as message of the day")
     op.add_option(
-        "-s", "--ssl-pem-file",
-        metavar="FILE",
-        help="enable SSL and use FILE as the .pem certificate+key")
-    op.add_option(
         "-p", "--password",
         metavar="X",
         help="require connection password X; default: no password")
     op.add_option(
-        "--ports",
+        "--irc-ports",
         metavar="X",
-        help="listen to ports X (a list separated by comma or whitespace);"
-             " default: 6667 or 6697 if SSL is enabled")
+        help="listen on ports X for irc client connections (a list separated by comma or whitespace);"
+             " default: 6667")
     op.add_option(
         "--udp-port",
         metavar="X",
@@ -90,17 +86,14 @@
     (options, args) = op.parse_args(argv[1:])
     if options.debug:
         options.verbose = True
-    if options.ports is None:
-        if options.ssl_pem_file is None:
-            options.ports = "6667"
-        else:
-            options.ports = "6697"
+    if options.irc_ports is None:
+        options.irc_ports = "6697"
     if options.udp_port is None:
         options.udp_port = 7778
     else:
         options.udp_port = int(options.udp_port) 
     if options.db_path is None:
-        options.db_path = "alcuin.db"
+        options.db_path = "blatta.db"
     if options.config_file_path is None:
         options.config_file_path = "config.py" 
     if options.chroot:
@@ -127,13 +120,13 @@
                  " startup. If you really intend to run as root, use"
                  " \"--setuid root\".")
 
-    ports = []
-    for port in re.split(r"[,\s]+", options.ports):
+    irc_ports = []
+    for port in re.split(r"[,\s]+", options.irc_ports):
         try:
-            ports.append(int(port))
+            irc_ports.append(int(port))
         except ValueError:
             op.error("bad port: %r" % port)
-    options.ports = ports
+    options.irc_ports = irc_ports
     server = Server(options)
     if options.daemon:
         server.daemonize()
diff -uNr a/blatta/lib/channel.py b/blatta/lib/channel.py
--- a/blatta/lib/channel.py 29051fff4c05169a752059f5102291f981a73ec3c5112cb8135865919a2a8ce0f02db32c7c95639f39b51e2f444af5229febca7fe113d06b7d5c347c3f46bf30
+++ b/blatta/lib/channel.py 9e92e286e45f8d293df0ef2126dbcd90e95fd853434d94fa37e55705d2dc7517cf768acad7b54029a666926e2e489541ebbe618334600b8166ee8898fd01d094
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import os
+
 class Channel(object):
     def __init__(self, server, name):
         self.server = server
diff -uNr a/blatta/lib/client.py b/blatta/lib/client.py
--- a/blatta/lib/client.py 622dc40643fd936b33df0f60bac3167453dd1684021504c1d7201e07aea2140b17c4d857cc106ddd6df9963a8003e84d938696796c5d2001de2b68dbe5533f23
+++ b/blatta/lib/client.py 39920c295fdaf1bb2b6a76564da9b8dc1770ba9fed4c145b72854432f302d919c9ea611485e0de01eb544eba1052471133c509ab8c4cc61c12e6c7ec83ea2b8d
@@ -485,8 +485,11 @@
 
         def peer_handler():
             if len(arguments) == 1:
-                self.server.state.add_peer(arguments[0])
-                self.pest_reply("added new peer %s" % arguments[0])
+                try:
+                    self.server.state.add_peer(arguments[0])
+                    self.pest_reply("added new peer %s" % arguments[0])
+                except:
+                    self.pest_reply("error attempting to add peer %s" % arguments[0])
             else:
                 self.pest_reply("Usage: PEER <HANDLE>")
 
@@ -538,7 +541,8 @@
                 address_ip, port = string.split(address, ":") 
                 self.server.state.update_address_table({"handle": handle,
                                                         "address": address_ip,
-                                                        "port": port})
+                                                        "port": port},
+                                                        False)
                 self.pest_reply("updated address table: %s %s" % (handle, address))
                 return
             elif len(arguments) > 2:
@@ -548,7 +552,7 @@
                 for address in at:
                     self.pest_reply("%s %s %s" % (address["handle"],
                                                   address["address"],
-                                                  address["updated_at"]))
+                                                  address["active_at"]))
             else:
                 self.pest_reply("no results")
 
diff -uNr a/blatta/lib/infosec.py b/blatta/lib/infosec.py
--- a/blatta/lib/infosec.py ae8fe58a8f92689212f3ccdb9a30a530cd19b0ce5ad7aeecdf5eee1c6c9505ae56df43a3132ca534d0bdb745d469cdbce7f2a51ef30900259dada9e894288827
+++ b/blatta/lib/infosec.py 0646687de5d54fd0278b8265786d9e5bb65492dc81f323249b57c129d5293cf605f384b13354379d970aaf04c1757866529320f2b0d8226f64a0f269398de6cb
@@ -24,6 +24,10 @@
 MESSAGE_PACKET_FORMAT = "<q32s32s32s324s"
 MAX_MESSAGE_LENGTH = 428
 MAX_BOUNCES = 3
+STALE_PACKET = 0
+DUPLICATE_PACKET = 1
+MALFORMED_PACKET = 2
+INVALID_SIGNATURE = 3
 
 class Infosec(object): 
     def __init__(self, server=None):
@@ -110,15 +114,14 @@
             black_packet_bytes, signature_bytes = struct.unpack(BLACK_PACKET_FORMAT, black_packet)
         except:
             self.server.print_error("Discarding malformed black packet from %s" % peer.get_key())
-            return None
+            return { "error_code": MALFORMED_PACKET } 
 
         # check signature
 
         signature_check_bytes = hmac.new(signing_key, black_packet_bytes, hashlib.sha384).digest()
 
         if(signature_check_bytes != signature_bytes):
-            self.server.print_debug("rejected black packet with bad signature for %s: %s" % (peer.get_key(), base64.b64encode(signature_check_bytes)))
-            return None
+            return { "error_code": INVALID_SIGNATURE } 
 
         # try to decrypt black packet
         
@@ -137,12 +140,10 @@
         # check timestamp
 
         if(int_ts not in self._ts_range()):
-            self.server.print_debug("rejected message with timestamp out of range")
-            return None
+            return { "error_code": STALE_PACKET } 
 
         if(self.server.recent.has(int_ts)):
-            self.server.print_debug("rejected known message: %d" % int_ts)
-            return None
+            return { "error_code": DUPLICATE_PACKET } 
         else:
             self.server.recent.insert(int_ts)
 
@@ -175,7 +176,8 @@
                  "bounces": bounces,
                  "self_chain": self_chain,
                  "net_chain": net_chain,
-                 "self_chain_valid": self_chain_valid }
+                 "self_chain_valid": self_chain_valid,
+                 "error_code": None}
 
     def _pad(self, text, size):
         return text.ljust(size)
diff -uNr a/blatta/lib/peer.py b/blatta/lib/peer.py
--- a/blatta/lib/peer.py b26a086b1bede8fcfe1af5aa32d9fefcae5ba0011d32ca698b65b2b5026734f9f8b8ba18b6d3925572308cffdef5454d595f17a2a74f9775cf0748dfe468c776
+++ b/blatta/lib/peer.py 351a587cedcdc65ab2989a2f27a2c57d3cbc196376b9c3de1e41a6a407cc94727b24c73bd13b768a722e229c80a416668a372209ff273df0a8f41bf1f79e8064
@@ -23,10 +23,13 @@
     def send(self, msg):
         try:
             full_message = str.encode(msg["body"])                                        
-            self.server.print_debug("sending message: %s" % full_message)
         
             signed_packet_bytes = self.infosec.pack(self, msg)
+            self.server.print_debug("packing message: %s" % full_message)
             self.socket.sendto(signed_packet_bytes, (self.address, self.port))   
+            self.server.print_debug("[%s:%d] <- %s" % (self.address,
+                                                     self.port,
+                                                     binascii.hexlify(signed_packet_bytes)[0:16]))
 
         except Exception as ex:
             print("Exception while attempting to encode message: %s" % ex)
diff -uNr a/blatta/lib/server.py b/blatta/lib/server.py
--- a/blatta/lib/server.py 851fe9967ea2562f0bd30255f3e9b1ca1487e7fd56a649e93a0efba4d6de28a70f0ff6c1b3ddbef90ee4d6370403d18a27a31cdcd062a46e7116db5f4479f7a3
+++ b/blatta/lib/server.py 44b1b3516f89ad8b7e7b9769a5c6089e22e9d459d012c1b72232926e0abbdf42fbf74d2cd38f1344fe29143386c21432a61dc1df454bf1cba19abdd8910c05cf
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-VERSION = "9992"
+VERSION = "9991"
 
 import os
 import select
@@ -8,12 +8,18 @@
 import tempfile
 import time
 import string
+import binascii
+import datetime
 from datetime import datetime
 from lib.client import Client 
 from lib.state import State
 from lib.channel import Channel
 from lib.infosec import PACKET_SIZE
 from lib.infosec import MAX_BOUNCES
+from lib.infosec import STALE_PACKET 
+from lib.infosec import DUPLICATE_PACKET 
+from lib.infosec import MALFORMED_PACKET 
+from lib.infosec import INVALID_SIGNATURE 
 from lib.infosec import Infosec
 from lib.peer import Peer
 from lib.ringbuffer import Ringbuffer
@@ -25,10 +31,9 @@
 
 class Server(object):
     def __init__(self, options):
-        self.ports = options.ports
+        self.irc_ports = options.irc_ports
         self.udp_port = options.udp_port
         self.password = options.password
-        self.ssl_pem_file = options.ssl_pem_file
         self.motdfile = options.motd
         self.verbose = options.verbose
         self.debug = options.debug
@@ -112,7 +117,7 @@
 
     def print_debug(self, msg):
         if self.debug:
-            print(msg)
+            print("%s %s" % (datetime.now(), msg))
             sys.stdout.flush()
 
     def print_error(self, msg):
@@ -144,11 +149,16 @@
     def handle_udp_data(self, bytes_address_pair):
         data = bytes_address_pair[0]
         address = bytes_address_pair[1] 
+        packet_info = (address[0],
+                       address[1], 
+                       binascii.hexlify(data)[0:16])
+        self.print_debug("[%s:%d] -> %s" % packet_info)
         for peer in self.state.get_peers():
             if peer.get_key() != None:
                 message = self.infosec.unpack(peer, data)
-                if(message != None):
-                    self.print_debug("valid message from peer: %s" % peer.handles[0])
+                error_code = message["error_code"]
+                if(error_code == None):
+                    self.print_debug("[%s] -> %s" % (peer.handles[0], message["body"]))
 
                     # we only update the address table if the speaker is same as peer
 
@@ -159,8 +169,8 @@
 
                     if idx != None:
                         self.state.update_address_table({"handle": message["speaker"],
-                                                        "address": address[0],
-                                                        "port": address[1]
+                                                         "address": address[0],
+                                                         "port": address[1]
                                                         })
                     # send the message to all clients
                     for c in self.clients:
@@ -171,7 +181,18 @@
                     if(message["command"] == BROADCAST) and message["bounces"] < MAX_BOUNCES:
                        self.rebroadcast(peer, message)           
                     return 
-        self.print_debug("Unknown peer: %s %d" % (address[0], address[1]))
+                elif error_code == STALE_PACKET:
+                    self.print_debug("[%s:%d] -> stale packet: %s" % packet_info)
+                    return 
+                elif error_code == DUPLICATE_PACKET:
+                    self.print_debug("[%s:%d] -> duplicate packet: %s" % packet_info)
+                    return 
+                elif error_code == MALFORMED_PACKET:
+                    self.print_debug("[%s:%d] -> malformed packet: %s" % packet_info)
+                    return 
+                elif error_code == INVALID_SIGNATURE:
+                    pass 
+        self.print_debug("[%s:%d] -> martian packet: %s" % packet_info)
     
     def peer_message(self, message):
         message["original"] = True
@@ -201,9 +222,10 @@
         # Setup UDP first
         self.udp_server_socket = socket.socket(family=socket.AF_INET, type=socket.SOCK_DGRAM)
         self.udp_server_socket.bind((self.address, self.udp_port))
+        self.print_info("Listening for Pest packets on udp port %d." % self.udp_port)
 
         serversockets = []
-        for port in self.ports:
+        for port in self.irc_ports:
             s = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
             s.setsockopt(socket.SOL_SOCKET, socket.SO_REUSEADDR, 1)
             try:
@@ -214,7 +236,7 @@
             s.listen(5)
             serversockets.append(s)
             del s
-            self.print_info("Listening on port %d." % port)
+            self.print_info("Listening for IRC connections on port %d." % port)
         if self.chroot:
             os.chdir(self.chroot)
             os.chroot(self.chroot)
@@ -232,7 +254,7 @@
                 [x.socket for x in self.clients.values()
                  if x.write_queue_size() > 0],
                 [],
-                0)
+                1)
             for x in inputready:
                if x == self.udp_server_socket:
                    bytes_address_pair = self.udp_server_socket.recvfrom(PACKET_SIZE)
@@ -242,19 +264,6 @@
                     self.clients[x].socket_readable_notification()
                 else:
                     (conn, addr) = x.accept()
-                    if self.ssl_pem_file:
-                        import ssl
-                        try:
-                            conn = ssl.wrap_socket(
-                                conn,
-                                server_side=True,
-                                certfile=self.ssl_pem_file,
-                                keyfile=self.ssl_pem_file)
-                        except ssl.SSLError as e:
-                            self.print_error(
-                                "SSL error for connection from %s:%s: %s" % (
-                                    addr[0], addr[1], e))
-                            continue
                     self.clients[conn] = Client(self, conn)
                     self.print_info("Accepted connection from %s:%s." % (
                         addr[0], addr[1]))
diff -uNr a/blatta/lib/state.py b/blatta/lib/state.py
--- a/blatta/lib/state.py 5e6216fb339f461e197c6c2f878148cbf2032ce6c433f83df2c29e88b31c467f9c8b689e14d5b0471a6275e7a40e286ac9dbea69c60d3a16171e4bae6b091339
+++ b/blatta/lib/state.py 7621f8a10842a06cbd590e6dc7460985c762458875771369d1707f24d6449021762a24277e9b1bbb017f5df601219c8b80a38e6142861503ec7dc265f013a92a
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
         self.cursor.execute("create table if not exists at(handle_id integer,\
                                                            address text not null,\
                                                            port    integer not null,\
+                                                           active_at datetime default null,\
                                                            updated_at datetime default current_timestamp,\
                                                            unique(handle_id, address, port))")
 
@@ -37,7 +38,7 @@
     def get_at(self, handle=None):
         at = []
         if handle == None:
-            results = self.cursor.execute("select handle_id,address,port,updated_at from at\
+            results = self.cursor.execute("select handle_id,address,port,active_at from at\
                                            order by updated_at desc").fetchall()
         else:
             result = self.cursor.execute("select handle_id from handles where handle=?",
@@ -46,7 +47,7 @@
                 handle_id = result[0]
             else:
                 return []
-            results = self.cursor.execute("select handle_id,address,port,updated_at from at \
+            results = self.cursor.execute("select handle_id,address,port,active_at from at \
                                            where handle_id=? order by updated_at desc",
                                            (handle_id,)).fetchall()
         for result in results:
@@ -55,7 +56,7 @@
                                          (handle_id,)).fetchone()[0]
             at.append({"handle": h,
                        "address": "%s:%s" % (address, port),
-                       "updated_at": updated_at})
+                       "active_at": updated_at})
         return at
 
 
@@ -96,30 +97,33 @@
                 self.cursor.execute("insert into handles(peer_id, handle) values(?, ?)",
                                     (peer_id, peer["name"]))
                 handle_id = self.cursor.lastrowid
-                self.cursor.execute("insert into at(handle_id, address, port) values(?, ?, ?)",
-                                    (handle_id, peer["address"], peer["port"]))
+                self.cursor.execute("insert into at(handle_id, address, port, updated_at) values(?, ?, ?, ?)",
+                                    (handle_id, peer["address"], peer["port"], None))
                 self.cursor.execute("insert into keys(peer_id, key) values(?, ?)",
                                     (peer_id, key))
 
         self.conn.commit()
 
-    def update_address_table(self, peer):
+    def update_address_table(self, peer, set_active_at=True):
         row = self.cursor.execute("select handle_id from handles where handle=?",
                             (peer["handle"],)).fetchone()
         if row != None:
             handle_id = row[0]
         else:
             return
-
+        
         try:
             self.cursor.execute("insert into at(handle_id, address, port) values(?, ?, ?)",
                                 (handle_id, peer["address"], peer["port"]))
-            self.conn.commit()
         except sqlite3.IntegrityError as ex:
             self.cursor.execute("update at set updated_at = current_timestamp\
                                  where handle_id=? and address=? and port=?",
                                  (handle_id, peer["address"], peer["port"]))
-            self.conn.commit()
+        if set_active_at:
+            self.cursor.execute("update at set active_at = current_timestamp\
+                                 where handle_id=? and address=? and port=?",
+                                 (handle_id, peer["address"], peer["port"]))
+        self.conn.commit()
 
     def add_peer(self, handle):
         self.cursor.execute("insert into wot(peer_id) values(null)")
@@ -127,6 +131,7 @@
         self.cursor.execute("insert into handles(peer_id, handle) values(?, ?)",
                              (peer_id, handle))
         self.conn.commit()
+            
 
     def remove_peer(self, handle):
         # get peer id
diff -uNr a/blatta/start_test_net.sh b/blatta/start_test_net.sh
--- a/blatta/start_test_net.sh 158ee3120edaf743c2990baddea12d89e0626521ba45034b0c92cd182d75cea88f19758460c4758439ed866f902749b3217333613ec1f4668e9257a95c71c138
+++ b/blatta/start_test_net.sh 5256691880aa5d35f8534834ad318afefb85fe95b62e9ad41fe83c7dce5d1e4bf4b1727b153492199c3567a77e65a4c36fb644af046c74c0523511e263353d96
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
 # start 3 servers on different ports
-./blatta --debug --port 6668 --udp-port 7778 --db-path a.db --address-table-path test_net_configs/a.py > logs/a &
-./blatta --debug --port 6669 --udp-port 7779 --db-path b.db --address-table-path test_net_configs/b.py > logs/b &
-./blatta --debug --port 6670 --udp-port 7780 --db-path c.db --address-table-path test_net_configs/c.py > logs/c &
+./blatta --debug --irc-port 6668 --udp-port 7778 --db-path a.db --address-table-path test_net_configs/a.py > logs/a &
+./blatta --debug --irc-port 6669 --udp-port 7779 --db-path b.db --address-table-path test_net_configs/b.py > logs/b &
+./blatta --debug --irc-port 6670 --udp-port 7780 --db-path c.db --address-table-path test_net_configs/c.py > logs/c &