diff --git a/kinode/Cargo.toml b/kinode/Cargo.toml
index e2c1bbd6..7ea062d0 100644
--- a/kinode/Cargo.toml
+++ b/kinode/Cargo.toml
@@ -41,9 +41,9 @@ alloy = { version = "0.1.3", features = [
     "signers",
     "signer-local",
 ] }
-alloy-primitives = "0.7.5"
-alloy-sol-macro = "0.7.5"
-alloy-sol-types = "0.7.5"
+alloy-primitives = "0.7.6"
+alloy-sol-macro = "0.7.6"
+alloy-sol-types = "0.7.6"
 anyhow = "1.0.71"
 async-trait = "0.1.71"
 base64 = "0.22.0"
diff --git a/kinode/packages/kino_updates/widget/src/lib.rs b/kinode/packages/kino_updates/widget/src/lib.rs
index 02aee51b..b1209389 100644
--- a/kinode/packages/kino_updates/widget/src/lib.rs
+++ b/kinode/packages/kino_updates/widget/src/lib.rs
@@ -151,7 +151,10 @@ fn fetch_most_recent_blog_posts(n: usize) -> Vec<KinodeBlogPost> {
     ) {
         Ok(response) => serde_json::from_slice::<Vec<KinodeBlogPost>>(response.body())
             .expect("Invalid UTF-8 from kinode.org"),
-        Err(e) => panic!("Failed to fetch blog posts: {:?}", e),
+        Err(e) => {
+            println!("Failed to fetch blog posts: {e:?}");
+            vec![]
+        }
     };
 
     blog_posts.into_iter().rev().take(n as usize).collect()
diff --git a/kinode/src/register.rs b/kinode/src/register.rs
index 9389267f..21cb42b0 100644
--- a/kinode/src/register.rs
+++ b/kinode/src/register.rs
@@ -258,7 +258,6 @@ pub async fn register(
 }
 
 pub async fn connect_to_provider(maybe_rpc: Option<String>) -> RootProvider<PubSubFrontend> {
-    // This ETH provider uses public rpc endpoints to verify registration signatures.
     let url = if let Some(rpc_url) = maybe_rpc {
         rpc_url
     } else {
@@ -268,19 +267,20 @@ pub async fn connect_to_provider(maybe_rpc: Option<String>) -> RootProvider<PubS
         "Connecting to Optimism RPC at {url}\n\
         Specify a different RPC URL with the --rpc flag."
     );
-    let ws = WsConnect::new(url);
-    // this fails occasionally in certain networking environments. i'm not sure why.
-    // frustratingly, the exact same call does not fail in the eth module. more investigation needed.
-    let Ok(client) = ProviderBuilder::new().on_ws(ws).await else {
-        panic!(
-            "Error: runtime could not connect to ETH RPC.\n\
-            This is necessary in order to verify node identity onchain.\n\
-            Please make sure you are using a valid WebSockets URL if using \
-            the --rpc flag, and you are connected to the internet."
-        );
-    };
-    println!("Connected to Optimism RPC");
 
+    let client = match ProviderBuilder::new().on_ws(WsConnect::new(url)).await {
+        Ok(client) => client,
+        Err(e) => {
+            panic!(
+                "Error: runtime could not connect to ETH RPC: {e}\n\
+                This is necessary in order to verify node identity onchain.\n\
+                Please make sure you are using a valid WebSockets URL if using \
+                the --rpc flag, and you are connected to the internet."
+            );
+        }
+    };
+
+    println!("Connected to Optimism RPC");
     client
 }