diff --git a/boot.php b/boot.php
index 1c3938cb4..c3036b6d7 100755
--- a/boot.php
+++ b/boot.php
@@ -1768,7 +1768,9 @@ function get_account_id() {
  * @return int|bool channel_id or false
  */
 function local_channel() {
-	if((x($_SESSION, 'authenticated')) && (x($_SESSION, 'uid')))
+	if(session_id() 
+		&& array_key_exists('authenticated',$_SESSION) && $_SESSION['authenticated'] 
+		&& array_key_exists('uid',$_SESSION) && intval($_SESSION['uid']))
 		return intval($_SESSION['uid']);
 
 	return false;
@@ -1799,7 +1801,9 @@ function local_user() {
  * @return string|bool visitor_id or false
  */
 function remote_channel() {
-	if((x($_SESSION, 'authenticated')) && (x($_SESSION, 'visitor_id')))
+	if(session_id() 
+		&& array_key_exists('authenticated',$_SESSION) && $_SESSION['authenticated'] 
+		&& array_key_exists('visitor_id',$_SESSION) && intval($_SESSION['visitor_id']))
 		return $_SESSION['visitor_id'];
 
 	return false;
@@ -1824,6 +1828,9 @@ function remote_user() {
  * @param string $s Text to display
  */
 function notice($s) {
+	if(! session_id())
+		return;
+
 	if(! x($_SESSION, 'sysmsg')) $_SESSION['sysmsg'] = array();
 
 	// ignore duplicated error messages which haven't yet been displayed 
@@ -1847,7 +1854,10 @@ function notice($s) {
  * @param string $s Text to display
  */
 function info($s) {
-	if(! x($_SESSION, 'sysmsg_info')) $_SESSION['sysmsg_info'] = array();
+	if(! session_id())
+		return;
+	if(! x($_SESSION, 'sysmsg_info')) 
+		$_SESSION['sysmsg_info'] = array();
 	if(App::$interactive)
 		$_SESSION['sysmsg_info'][] = $s;
 }
@@ -1933,6 +1943,10 @@ function proc_run(){
  * @brief Checks if we are running on M$ Windows.
  *
  * @return bool true if we run on M$ Windows
+ *
+ * It's possible you might be able to run on WAMP or XAMPP, and this
+ * has been accomplished, but is not officially supported. Good luck. 
+ * 
  */
 function is_windows() {
 	return ((strtoupper(substr(PHP_OS, 0, 3)) === 'WIN') ? true : false);
@@ -1948,6 +1962,9 @@ function is_windows() {
 
 function is_site_admin() {
 
+	if(! session_id())
+		return false;
+
 	if($_SESSION['delegate'])
 		return false;
 
@@ -1968,6 +1985,9 @@ function is_site_admin() {
  */
 function is_developer() {
 
+	if(! session_id())
+		return false;
+
 	if((intval($_SESSION['authenticated']))
 		&& (is_array(App::$account))
 		&& (App::$account['account_roles'] & ACCOUNT_ROLE_DEVELOPER))
@@ -1986,7 +2006,7 @@ function load_contact_links($uid) {
 
 //	logger('load_contact_links');
 
-	$r = q("SELECT abook_id, abook_flags, abook_my_perms, abook_their_perms, xchan_hash, xchan_photo_m, xchan_name, xchan_url from abook left join xchan on abook_xchan = xchan_hash where abook_channel = %d ",
+	$r = q("SELECT abook_id, abook_flags, abook_my_perms, abook_their_perms, xchan_hash, xchan_photo_m, xchan_name, xchan_url, xchan_network from abook left join xchan on abook_xchan = xchan_hash where abook_channel = %d ",
 		intval($uid)
 	);
 	if($r) {
@@ -2009,6 +2029,7 @@ function load_contact_links($uid) {
  *
  * @return string
  */
+
 function build_querystring($params, $name = null) {
 	$ret = '';
 	foreach($params as $key => $val) {
@@ -2051,8 +2072,9 @@ function dba_timer() {
 /**
  * @brief Returns xchan_hash from the observer.
  *
- * @return string Empty if no observer, otherwise xchan_hash from observer
+ * @return empty string if no observer, otherwise xchan_hash from observer
  */
+
 function get_observer_hash() {
 	$observer = App::get_observer();
 	if(is_array($observer))
@@ -2109,8 +2131,6 @@ function load_pdl(&$a) {
 
 	App::$comanche = new Zotlabs\Render\Comanche();
 
-	//	require_once('include/comanche.php');
-
 	if (! count(App::$layout)) {
 
 		$arr = array('module' => App::$module, 'layout' => '');
@@ -2131,13 +2151,10 @@ function load_pdl(&$a) {
 			App::$pdl = $s;
 		}
 	}
-
 }
 
 
 function exec_pdl(&$a) {
-//	require_once('include/comanche.php');
-
 	if(App::$pdl) {
 		App::$comanche->parse(App::$pdl,1);
 	}