diff --git a/code/chat.js b/code/chat.js
index e2351183..f8e43895 100644
--- a/code/chat.js
+++ b/code/chat.js
@@ -132,8 +132,6 @@ window.chat.requestFaction = function(getOlderMsgs, isRetry) {
       ? function() { window.chat._requestFactionRunning = false; }
       : function() { window.chat.requestFaction(getOlderMsgs, true) }
   );
-
-  requests.add(r);
 }
 
 
@@ -183,8 +181,6 @@ window.chat.requestPublic = function(getOlderMsgs, isRetry) {
       ? function() { window.chat._requestPublicRunning = false; }
       : function() { window.chat.requestPublic(getOlderMsgs, true) }
   );
-
-  requests.add(r);
 }
 
 window.chat._public = {data:{}, oldestTimestamp:-1, newestTimestamp:-1};
diff --git a/code/game_status.js b/code/game_status.js
index b28ba0c0..6b657deb 100644
--- a/code/game_status.js
+++ b/code/game_status.js
@@ -11,27 +11,9 @@ window.updateGameScore = function(data) {
     return;
   }
 
-  // hacky - but here is as good as any for a location
-  // tne niantic servers include a 'version' parameter with the requests. this is changed for any site update they
-  // roll out, even when the protocol has no changes at all. (and sometimes when there's no other client javascript
-  // changes of any kind!)
-  if (data.error || (data.indexOf && data.indexOf('"error"') != -1)) {
-    if (data.error == 'out of date') {
-      dialog({
-        title: 'Reload IITC',
-        html: '<p>IITC is using an outdated version code. This will happen when Niantic update the standard intel site.</p>'
-             +'<p>You need to reload the page to get the updated changes.</p>'
-             +'<p>If you have just reloaded the page, then an old version of the standard site script is cached somewhere.'
-             +'In this case, try clearing your cache, or waiting 15-30 minutes for the stale data to expire.</p>',
-        buttons: {
-          'RELOAD': function() { window.location.reload(); }
-        }
-      });
-      return;
-
-    } else {
-      console.error('game score failed to load');
-    }
+  if (data && data.error) {
+    // TODO? better retry handling in here...
+    console.error('game score failed to load');
   }
 
   window.updateGameScoreFailCount = 0;
@@ -47,5 +29,6 @@ window.updateGameScore = function(data) {
   // help cursor via “#gamestat span”
   $('#gamestat').attr('title', 'Resistance:\t'+r+' MindUnits\nEnlightened:\t'+e+' MindUnits');
 
+  // TODO: idle handling - don't refresh when IITC is idle!
   window.setTimeout('window.updateGameScore', REFRESH_GAME_SCORE*1000);
 }
diff --git a/code/send_request.js b/code/send_request.js
index c951fb80..7bcd825c 100644
--- a/code/send_request.js
+++ b/code/send_request.js
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+
 // posts AJAX request to Ingress API.
 // action: last part of the actual URL, the rpc/dashboard. is
 //         added automatically
@@ -7,26 +8,107 @@
 // success: method to call on success. See jQuery API docs for avail-
 //          able arguments: http://api.jquery.com/jQuery.ajax/
 // error: see above. Additionally it is logged if the request failed.
-window.postAjax = function(action, data, success, error) {
+window.postAjax = function(action, data, successCallback, errorCallback) {
+  // state management functions... perhaps should be outside of this func?
+
+//  var remove = function(data, textStatus, jqXHR) { window.requests.remove(jqXHR); };
+//  var errCnt = function(jqXHR) { window.failedRequestCount++; window.requests.remove(jqXHR); };
+
+  if (window.latestFailedRequestTime && window.latestFailedRequestTime < Date.now()-120*1000) {
+    // no errors in the last two minutes - clear the error count
+    window.failedRequestCount = 0;
+    window.latestFailedRequestTime = undefined;
+  }
+
+  var onError = function(jqXHR, textStatus, errorThrown) {
+    window.requests.remove(jqXHR);
+    window.failedRequestCount++;
+
+    window.latestFailedRequestTime = Date.now();
+
+    // pass through to the user error func, if one exists
+    if (errorCallback) {
+      errorCallback(jqXHR, textStatus, errorThrown);
+    }
+  };
+
+  var onSuccess = function(data, textStatus, jqXHR) {
+    window.requests.remove(jqXHR);
+
+    // the Niantic server can return a HTTP success, but the JSON response contains an error. handle that sensibly
+    if (data && data.error && data.error == 'out of date') {
+      window.failedRequestCount++;
+      // let's call the error callback in thos case...
+      if (errorCallback) {
+        errorCallback(jqXHR, textStatus, "data.error == 'out of date'");
+      }
+
+      window.outOfDateUserPrompt();
+    } else {
+      successCallback(data, textStatus, jqXHR);
+    }
+  };
+
+  // we set this flag when we want to block all requests due to having an out of date CURRENT_VERSION
+  if (window.blockOutOfDateRequests) {
+    window.failedRequestCount++;
+    window.latestFailedRequestTime = Date.now();
+
+    // call the error callback, if one exists
+    if (errorCallback) {
+      // NOTE: error called on a setTimeout - as it won't be expected to be synchronous
+      // ensures no recursion issues if the error handler immediately resends the request
+      setTimeout(function(){errorCallback(null, undefined, "window.blockOutOfDateRequests is set");}, 10);
+    }
+    return;
+  }
 
   var versionStr = nemesis.dashboard.config.CURRENT_VERSION;
   var post_data = JSON.stringify($.extend({}, data, {v: versionStr, b: "", c: ""}));
 
-  var remove = function(data, textStatus, jqXHR) { window.requests.remove(jqXHR); };
-  var errCnt = function(jqXHR) { window.failedRequestCount++; window.requests.remove(jqXHR); };
   var result = $.ajax({
     url: '/r/'+action,
     type: 'POST',
     data: post_data,
     context: data,
     dataType: 'json',
-    success: [remove, success],
-    error: error ? [errCnt, error] : errCnt,
+    success: [onSuccess],
+    error: [onError],
     contentType: 'application/json; charset=utf-8',
     beforeSend: function(req) {
       req.setRequestHeader('X-CSRFToken', readCookie('csrftoken'));
     }
   });
   result.action = action;
+
+  requests.add(result);
+
   return result;
 }
+
+
+window.outOfDateUserPrompt = function()
+{
+  // we block all requests while the dialog is open. 
+  if (!window.blockOutOfDateRequests) {
+    window.blockOutOfDateRequests = true;
+
+    dialog({
+      title: 'Reload IITC',
+      html: '<p>IITC is using an outdated version code. This will happen when Niantic update the standard intel site.</p>'
+           +'<p>You need to reload the page to get the updated changes.</p>'
+           +'<p>If you have just reloaded the page, then an old version of the standard site script is cached somewhere.'
+           +'In this case, try clearing your cache, or waiting 15-30 minutes for the stale data to expire.</p>',
+      buttons: {
+        'RELOAD': function() { window.location.reload(); }
+      },
+      close: function(event, ui) {
+        delete window.blockOutOfDateRequests;
+      }
+
+    });
+
+
+  }
+
+}