diff --git a/.example-env b/.example-env
index 1afb010b..96b60f55 100644
--- a/.example-env
+++ b/.example-env
@@ -1,10 +1,14 @@
+# Node JS env
+export NODE_REALTIME_PORT='5000' # should match REALTIME_SERVER, below
+
+# Rails env
 export DB_USERNAME='postgres'
 export DB_PASSWORD='3112'
 export DB_HOST='localhost'
 export DB_PORT='5432'
 export DB_NAME='metamap002'
 
-export REALTIME_SERVER='http://localhost:5001'
+export REALTIME_SERVER='http://localhost:5000'
 export MAILER_DEFAULT_URL='localhost:3000'
 export DEVISE_MAILER_SENDER='team@metamaps.cc'
 
diff --git a/app/controllers/hacks_controller.rb b/app/controllers/hacks_controller.rb
index 1abe3e60..22df9cbb 100644
--- a/app/controllers/hacks_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/hacks_controller.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
 # bad code that should be checked over before entering one of the
 # nice files from the right side of this repo
 class HacksController < ApplicationController
@@ -11,7 +12,7 @@ class HacksController < ApplicationController
     response, url = get_with_redirects(url)
     title = get_encoded_title(response)
     render json: { success: true, title: title, url: url }
-  rescue StandardError => e
+  rescue StandardError
     render json: { success: false }
   end
 
@@ -28,7 +29,13 @@ class HacksController < ApplicationController
   end
 
   def get_encoded_title(http_response)
-    title = http_response.body.sub(/.*<title>(.*)<\/title>.*/m, '\1')
+    # ensure there's actually an html title tag
+    title = http_response.body.sub(%r{.*(<title>.*</title>).*}m, '\1')
+    return '' unless title.starts_with?('<title>')
+    return '' unless title.ends_with?('</title>')
+    title = title.sub('<title>', '').sub(%r{</title>$}, '')
+
+    # encode and trim the title to 140 usable characters
     charset = http_response['content-type'].sub(/.*charset=(.*);?.*/, '\1')
     charset = nil if charset == 'text/html'
     title = title.force_encoding(charset) if charset
diff --git a/doc/production/first-deploy.md b/doc/production/first-deploy.md
index 413717dd..994e68c2 100644
--- a/doc/production/first-deploy.md
+++ b/doc/production/first-deploy.md
@@ -93,10 +93,10 @@ server to see what problems show up:
 #### Realtime server:
 
     sudo npm install -g forever
-    (crontab -u metamaps -l 2>/dev/null; echo "@reboot $(which forever) --append -l /home/metamaps/logs/forever.realtime.log start /home/metamaps/metamaps/realtime/realtime-server.js") | crontab -u metamaps -
+    (crontab -u metamaps -l 2>/dev/null; echo "@reboot env NODE_REALTIME_PORT=5000 $(which forever) --append -l /home/metamaps/logs/forever.realtime.log start /home/metamaps/metamaps/realtime/realtime-server.js") | crontab -u metamaps -
 
     mkdir -p /home/metamaps/logs
-    forever --append \
+    env NODE_REALTIME_PORT=5000 forever --append \
       -c /home/metamaps/metamaps/node_modules/.bin/babel-node \
       -l /home/metamaps/logs/forever.realtime.log \
       start /home/metamaps/metamaps/realtime/realtime-server.js
diff --git a/frontend/src/Metamaps/Import.js b/frontend/src/Metamaps/Import.js
index cde37a73..7d1b3aa3 100644
--- a/frontend/src/Metamaps/Import.js
+++ b/frontend/src/Metamaps/Import.js
@@ -375,6 +375,7 @@ const Import = {
           $.get('/hacks/load_url_title', {
             url
           }, function success(data, textStatus) {
+            if (data.trim() === '') return
             var selector = '#showcard #topic_' + topic.get('id') + ' .best_in_place'
             if ($(selector).find('form').length > 0) {
               $(selector).find('textarea, input').val(data.title)
diff --git a/frontend/src/Metamaps/PasteInput.js b/frontend/src/Metamaps/PasteInput.js
index f8c93c3f..6227b23b 100644
--- a/frontend/src/Metamaps/PasteInput.js
+++ b/frontend/src/Metamaps/PasteInput.js
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ const PasteInput = {
         self.handleFile(e.dataTransfer.files[0], coords)
       }
       // OMG import bookmarks 😍
-      if (e.dataTransfer.items.length > 0) {
+      if (e.dataTransfer.items && e.dataTransfer.items.length > 0) {
         e.dataTransfer.items[0].getAsString(function(text) {
           if (text.match(self.URL_REGEX)) {
             self.handle(text, coords)
diff --git a/frontend/src/Metamaps/Realtime/index.js b/frontend/src/Metamaps/Realtime/index.js
index db1334de..952b835c 100644
--- a/frontend/src/Metamaps/Realtime/index.js
+++ b/frontend/src/Metamaps/Realtime/index.js
@@ -172,7 +172,11 @@ let Realtime = {
         room: 'global',
         $video: self.localVideo.$video,
         myVideoView: self.localVideo.view,
-        config: { DOUBLE_CLICK_TOLERANCE: 200 }
+        config: { DOUBLE_CLICK_TOLERANCE: 200 },
+        soundUrls: [
+          serverData['sounds/MM_sounds.mp3'],
+          serverData['sounds/MM_sounds.ogg']
+        ]
       })
       self.room.videoAdded(self.handleVideoAdded)
 
diff --git a/frontend/src/Metamaps/Views/ChatView.js b/frontend/src/Metamaps/Views/ChatView.js
index 4a549648..fd77864f 100644
--- a/frontend/src/Metamaps/Views/ChatView.js
+++ b/frontend/src/Metamaps/Views/ChatView.js
@@ -226,7 +226,7 @@ var Handlers = {
   }
 }
 
-const ChatView = function(messages, mapper, room) {
+const ChatView = function(messages, mapper, room, opts = {}) {
   this.room = room
   this.mapper = mapper
   this.messages = messages // backbone collection
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ const ChatView = function(messages, mapper, room) {
   Private.attachElements.call(this)
   Private.addEventListeners.call(this)
   Private.initialMessages.call(this)
-  Private.initializeSounds.call(this, room.soundUrls)
+  Private.initializeSounds.call(this, opts.soundUrls)
   this.$container.css({
     right: '-300px'
   })
diff --git a/frontend/src/Metamaps/Views/Room.js b/frontend/src/Metamaps/Views/Room.js
index f3327c6d..a3a79cc8 100644
--- a/frontend/src/Metamaps/Views/Room.js
+++ b/frontend/src/Metamaps/Views/Room.js
@@ -26,10 +26,11 @@ const Room = function(opts = {}) {
 
   this.messages = new Backbone.Collection()
   this.currentMapper = new Backbone.Model({ name: opts.username, image: opts.image })
-  this.chat = new ChatView(this.messages, this.currentMapper, this.room)
+  this.chat = new ChatView(this.messages, this.currentMapper, this.room, {
+    soundUrls: opts.soundUrls
+  })
 
   this.videos = {}
-  this.soundUrls = opts.soundUrls
 
   this.init()
 }
diff --git a/realtime/realtime-server.js b/realtime/realtime-server.js
index ad5a1900..0150e84d 100644
--- a/realtime/realtime-server.js
+++ b/realtime/realtime-server.js
@@ -15,4 +15,4 @@ signalling(io, stunservers, store)
 junto(io, store)
 map(io, store)
 
-io.listen(5001)
+io.listen(parseInt(process.env.NODE_REALTIME_PORT) || 5000)