diff --git a/src/interpreter.c b/src/interpreter.c
index acea86f..23d4b0e 100644
--- a/src/interpreter.c
+++ b/src/interpreter.c
@@ -76,24 +76,24 @@ void interpretCommand(char *cmd)
 	} else if (!strcmp(token1, "nick"))
 	{
 	    if (strlen(token2) > 0)
-	    {
+		{
     	    	renameUserInList(sysState.myNick, token2, userList);
-    	    	doNick(token2);
-	    }
+		    doNick(token2);
+		}
 	} else if (!strcmp(token1, "join"))
-	{
-	    if (strlen(token2) > 0)
 	    {
-	    	doJoin(token2);
-	    }
-	} else if (!strcmp(token1, "ns"))
-	{
+	    if (strlen(token2) > 0)
+		{
+		doJoin(token2);
+		}
+	    } else if (!strcmp(token1, "ns"))
+	    {
 	    if (strlen(token2) > 0)
 	        doPrivateMsg("nickserv", cmd+token2Start);
 	    else
 	        appendText("You fool, no message specified\n");
-	} else if (!strcmp(token1, "mode"))
-	{
+	    } else if (!strcmp(token1, "mode"))
+	    {
 	    char token4[MAX_INPUT_LEN+1];
 	    char token5[MAX_INPUT_LEN+1];
 	    char token6[MAX_INPUT_LEN+1];
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ void interpretCommand(char *cmd)
 	    token5[0] = '\0';
 	    token6[0] = '\0';
 	    if (strlen(token2) > 0)
-	    {
+		{
 	    	int l;
 	    	l = 0;
 	    	cmdCursor++;
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ void interpretCommand(char *cmd)
 		printf("token3: %s\n", token3);
 #endif
 		if (cmdCursor < cmdLen)
-		{
+		    {
 		    cmdCursor++;
 		    l = 0;
 		    while (cmdCursor < cmdLen && cmd[cmdCursor] != ' ')
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ void interpretCommand(char *cmd)
 	    }
 	} else if (!strcmp(token1, "user"))
 	{
-	    doUser(sysState.myUnixname, sysState.myHostName, sysState.serverName, sysState.myName);
+	doUser(sysState.myUnixname, sysState.myHostName, sysState.serverName, sysState.myName);
 	} else if (!strcmp(token1, "whois"))
 	{
 	    if (strlen(token2) > 0)
diff --git a/src/main.c b/src/main.c
index c2600d4..92353c5 100644
--- a/src/main.c
+++ b/src/main.c
@@ -230,6 +230,16 @@ int main (int argc, char *argv[])
 	    }
         strcpy(sysState.myUnixname, tempName);
 	}
+
+	{
+	/* We need to replace this with code to load the user's nickname as specified in the configuration file. */
+	/* We also need to do this for realname, and (perhaps) other elements of the struct, as well. */
+	/* What a pain. */
+	/* For now we're going to set the nickname to the user's unix username. */
+	strcpy(sysState.myNick, getenv("USER"));
+	    
+	}
+    
  
     /* create unmanaged dialogs */
     createAboutBox(mainWindow);
diff --git a/src/main.h b/src/main.h
index 9b26ba4..7c20fee 100644
--- a/src/main.h
+++ b/src/main.h
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
  * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * */
 
 #include <sys/param.h>  /* for MAXHOSTNAMELEN */
+#include <netdb.h>
 
 #define PREF_FILE_NAME ".nebula.rc"
 
diff --git a/src/network.c b/src/network.c
index ac443ce..db3f73b 100644
--- a/src/network.c
+++ b/src/network.c
@@ -77,8 +77,9 @@ int connectToServer(char *servName, int port)
     /* we add our socket to the select file descriptors as an Event source for X */
     nebulaNetworkEventId = XtAppAddInput(nebulaIrcAppContext, sysState.socket, (XtPointer)(XtInputReadMask), readLine, NULL);
     
-    doNick(sysState.myNick);
     doUser(sysState.myUnixname, sysState.myHostName, sysState.serverName, sysState.myName);
+    printf("nick: %s\n", sysState.myNick);
+    doNick(sysState.myNick);
     return 0;
 }
 
@@ -321,7 +322,17 @@ void doUser(char *username, char *hostname, char *servername, char *realname)
     strcat(outBuff, " ");
     strcat(outBuff, servername);
     strcat(outBuff, " :");
-    strcat(outBuff, realname);
+    /* Right now, realname is never set. We need to fix that in main(). */
+    /* Anyway, using the user's username as a realname when realname isn't set should be fine. */
+    /* It's a hell of a lot better than fighting with cryptic error messages, that's for sure. */
+    if(strlen(realname))
+	{
+	strcat(outBuff, realname);
+	}
+    else
+	{
+	strcat(outBuff, username);
+	}
     printf("sending: %s\n", outBuff);
     sendLine(outBuff);
 }
diff --git a/src/preferences.c b/src/preferences.c
index 2efb560..a6e67d5 100644
--- a/src/preferences.c
+++ b/src/preferences.c
@@ -57,22 +57,29 @@ void okButtStartupCbk()
     if (strlen(nick) > 0 && strlen(nick) <= MAX_NICK_LEN)
     	strcpy(sysState.myNick, nick);
     else
-    	strcpy(sysState.myNick, "");
+    	strcpy(sysState.myNick, "johndoe");
     if (strlen(name) > 0 && strlen(name) <= MAX_NAME_LEN)
-    	strcpy(sysState.myName, name);
+	{
+	printf("first branch of name set: %s\n", name);
+	strcpy(sysState.myName, name);
+	}
     else
-    	strcpy(sysState.myName, "noname");
+	{
+	printf("second branch of name set: %s\n", name);
+    	strcpy(sysState.myName, "John Doe");
+	}
     if (strlen(server) > 0 &&strlen(server) <= MAX_SERVERNAME_LEN)
     	strcpy(theServer, server);
     else
-    	strcpy(theServer, "");
+    	strcpy(theServer, "*");
     printf("port: %s, %d\n", port, atoi(port));
     if (strlen(port) > 0 && strlen(port) <= 5)
 	{
 	sysState.port = atoi(port);
     	if (sysState.port <= 0)
 	    sysState.port = 6666;
-	} else
+	}
+    else
     	sysState.port = 6666;
 
     connectToServer(theServer, sysState.port);