diff --git a/headphones/webstart.py b/headphones/webstart.py
index 205a876a..65b1c499 100644
--- a/headphones/webstart.py
+++ b/headphones/webstart.py
@@ -15,25 +15,25 @@
 
 import os
 import sys
-
 import cherrypy
-
 import headphones
 
 from headphones import logger
 from headphones.webserve import WebInterface
 from headphones.helpers import create_https_certificates
 
-def initialize(options={}):
+def initialize(options=None):
+    if options is None:
+        options = {}
 
-    #HTTPS stuff stolen from sickbeard
+    # HTTPS stuff stolen from sickbeard
     enable_https = options['enable_https']
     https_cert = options['https_cert']
     https_key = options['https_key']
 
     if enable_https:
         # If either the HTTPS certificate or key do not exist, make some self-signed ones.
-        if not (https_cert and os.path.exists(https_cert)) or not (https_key and os.path.exists(https_key)):
+        if not (https_cert and os.path.exists(https_cert)) or not https_key and os.path.exists(https_key)):
             if not create_https_certificates(https_cert, https_key):
                 logger.warn(u"Unable to create cert/key files, disabling HTTPS")
                 headphones.ENABLE_HTTPS = False
@@ -45,15 +45,15 @@ def initialize(options={}):
             enable_https = False
 
     options_dict = {
-                'log.screen':           False,
-                'server.thread_pool':   10,
-                'server.socket_port':   options['http_port'],
-                'server.socket_host':   options['http_host'],
-                'engine.autoreload_on': False,
-                'tools.encode.on' : True,
-                'tools.encode.encoding' : 'utf-8',
-                'tools.decode.on' : True,
-        }
+        'server.socket_port': options['http_port'],
+        'server.socket_host': options['http_host'],
+        'server.thread_pool': 10,
+        'tools.encode.on': True,
+        'tools.encode.encoding': 'utf-8',
+        'tools.decode.on': True,
+        'log.screen': False,
+        'engine.autoreload_on': False,
+    }
 
     if enable_https:
         options_dict['server.ssl_certificate'] = https_cert
@@ -62,7 +62,8 @@ def initialize(options={}):
     else:
         protocol = "http"
 
-    logger.info("Starting Headphones on %s://%s:%d/", protocol, options['http_host'], options['http_port'])
+    logger.info("Starting Headphones web server on %s://%s:%d/", protocol,
+        options['http_host'], options['http_port'])
     cherrypy.config.update(options_dict)
 
     conf = {
@@ -88,7 +89,8 @@ def initialize(options={}):
         },
         '/favicon.ico':{
             'tools.staticfile.on': True,
-            'tools.staticfile.filename': os.path.join(os.path.abspath(os.curdir),"images" + os.sep + "favicon.ico")
+            'tools.staticfile.filename': os.path.join(os.path.abspath(
+                os.curdir), "images" + os.sep + "favicon.ico")
         },
         '/cache':{
             'tools.staticdir.on': True,
@@ -96,29 +98,29 @@ def initialize(options={}):
         }
     }
 
-    if options['http_password'] != "":
+    if options['http_password']:
+        logger.info("Web server authentication is enabled, username is '%s'", options['http_username'])
+
         conf['/'].update({
             'tools.auth_basic.on': True,
-            'tools.auth_basic.realm': 'Headphones',
-            'tools.auth_basic.checkpassword':  cherrypy.lib.auth_basic.checkpassword_dict({
-                options['http_username']: options['http_password']
-            })
+            'tools.auth_basic.realm': 'Headphones web server',
+            'tools.auth_basic.checkpassword':  cherrypy.lib.auth_basic \
+                .checkpassword_dict({
+                    options['http_username']: options['http_password']
+                })
         })
         conf['/api'] = { 'tools.auth_basic.on': False }
 
 
     # Prevent time-outs
     cherrypy.engine.timeout_monitor.unsubscribe()
-
     cherrypy.tree.mount(WebInterface(), options['http_root'], config = conf)
 
     try:
         cherrypy.process.servers.check_port(options['http_host'], options['http_port'])
         cherrypy.server.start()
     except IOError:
-        print 'Failed to start on port: %i. Is something else running?' % (options['http_port'])
-        sys.exit(0)
-
-    cherrypy.server.wait()
-
+        sys.stderr.write('Failed to start on port: %i. Is something else running?\n' % (options['http_port']))
+        sys.exit(1)
 
+    cherrypy.server.wait()
\ No newline at end of file