diff --git a/fbchat/__init__.py b/fbchat/__init__.py
index 353e365..73e564c 100644
--- a/fbchat/__init__.py
+++ b/fbchat/__init__.py
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 # -*- coding: UTF-8 -*-
 
+from __future__ import unicode_literals
+from datetime import datetime
+from .client import *
+
+
 """
     fbchat
     ~~~~~~
@@ -10,11 +15,9 @@
     :license: BSD, see LICENSE for more details.
 """
 
-from datetime import datetime
-from .client import *
 
 __copyright__ = 'Copyright 2015 - {} by Taehoon Kim'.format(datetime.now().year)
-__version__ = '1.0.1'
+__version__ = '1.0.3'
 __license__ = 'BSD'
 __author__ = 'Taehoon Kim; Moreels Pieter-Jan; Mads Marquart'
 __email__ = 'carpedm20@gmail.com'
diff --git a/fbchat/client.py b/fbchat/client.py
index e4bc99e..f5cdfb3 100644
--- a/fbchat/client.py
+++ b/fbchat/client.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 from __future__ import unicode_literals
 import requests
 import urllib
+import traceback
 from uuid import uuid1
 from random import choice
 from datetime import datetime
@@ -420,7 +421,8 @@ class Client(object):
 
         for key in j['payload']:
             k = j['payload'][key]
-            users.append(User(k['id'], first_name=k['firstName'], url=k['uri'], photo=k['thumbSrc'], name=k['name'], is_friend=k['is_friend'], gender=GENDERS[k['gender']]))
+            if k['type'] in ['user', 'friend']:
+                users.append(User(k['id'], first_name=k.get('firstName'), url=k.get('uri'), photo=k.get('thumbSrc'), name=k.get('name'), is_friend=k.get('is_friend'), gender=GENDERS[k.get('gender')]))
 
         return users
 
@@ -1298,9 +1300,6 @@ class Client(object):
         Does one cycle of the listening loop.
         This method is useful if you want to control fbchat from an external event loop
 
-        .. note::
-            markAlive is currently broken, and is ignored
-
         :param markAlive: Whether this should ping the Facebook server before running
         :type markAlive: bool
         :return: Whether the loop should keep running
@@ -1380,7 +1379,7 @@ class Client(object):
 
         :param exception: The exception that was encountered
         """
-        raise exception
+        traceback.print_exc()
 
 
     def onMessage(self, mid=None, author_id=None, message=None, thread_id=None, thread_type=ThreadType.USER, ts=None, metadata=None, msg={}):
@@ -1558,7 +1557,7 @@ class Client(object):
         """
         log.info('Inbox event: {}, {}, {}'.format(unseen, unread, recent_unread))
 
-    def onQprimer(self, made=None, msg={}):
+    def onQprimer(self, ts=None, msg={}):
         """
         Called when the client just started listening
 
diff --git a/fbchat/utils.py b/fbchat/utils.py
index c3a70eb..4490c9c 100644
--- a/fbchat/utils.py
+++ b/fbchat/utils.py
@@ -108,17 +108,17 @@ def now():
 def strip_to_json(text):
     try:
         return text[text.index('{'):]
-    except ValueError as e:
-        return None
+    except ValueError:
+        raise Exception('No JSON object found: {}, {}'.format(repr(text), text.index('{')))
 
-def get_decoded(r):
-    if not isinstance(r._content, str):
-        return r._content.decode(facebookEncoding)
-    else:
-        return r._content
+def get_decoded_r(r):
+    return get_decoded(r._content)
+
+def get_decoded(content):
+    return content.decode(facebookEncoding)
 
 def get_json(r):
-    return json.loads(strip_to_json(get_decoded(r)))
+    return json.loads(strip_to_json(get_decoded_r(r)))
 
 def digitToChar(digit):
     if digit < 10:
@@ -162,16 +162,17 @@ def checkRequest(r, do_json_check=True):
     if not r.ok:
         raise Exception('Error when sending request: Got {} response'.format(r.status_code))
 
-    content = get_decoded(r)
+    content = get_decoded_r(r)
 
     if content is None or len(content) == 0:
         raise Exception('Error when sending request: Got empty response')
 
     if do_json_check:
+        content = strip_to_json(content)
         try:
-            j = json.loads(strip_to_json(content))
+            j = json.loads(content)
         except Exception as e:
-            raise Exception('Error while parsing JSON: {}'.format(repr(content)))
+            raise Exception('Error while parsing JSON: {}'.format(repr(content)), e)
         check_json(j)
         return j
     else:
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index bbb6901..07f5657 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ with open('README.rst') as f:
     readme_content = f.read().strip()
 
 try:
-    requirements = [line.rstrip('\n') for line in open('fbchat.egg-info/requires.txt')]
+    requirements = [line.rstrip('\n') for line in open(os.path.join('fbchat.egg-info', 'requires.txt'))]
 except FileNotFoundError:
     requirements = [line.rstrip('\n') for line in open('requirements.txt')]