diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 7391cf8e8..b852a4a2d 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -31,3 +31,13 @@ start the workers:
 ```
 python -m workers.diffsworker -D
 ```
+
+bouncing the servers:
+
+```
+sudo kill -HUP <pid of nginx>
+kill -HUP <pid of gunicorn>
+
+kill <pids of worker daemons>
+restart daemons
+```
diff --git a/requirements-nover.txt b/requirements-nover.txt
index f35cc670b..fe43012cd 100644
--- a/requirements-nover.txt
+++ b/requirements-nover.txt
@@ -13,4 +13,5 @@ eventlet
 mixpanel-py
 beautifulsoup4
 marisa-trie
-apscheduler
\ No newline at end of file
+apscheduler
+python-daemon
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index e637b3718..171930241 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1,25 +1,29 @@
+APScheduler==2.1.1
 Flask==0.10.1
 Flask-Login==0.2.7
 Flask-Mail==0.9.0
 Flask-Principal==0.4.0
 Jinja2==2.7.1
 MarkupSafe==0.18
-PyMySQL==0.5
+PyMySQL==0.6.1
 Werkzeug==0.9.4
 argparse==1.2.1
 beautifulsoup4==4.3.2
 blinker==1.3
-boto==2.13.3
+boto==2.15.0
 distribute==0.6.34
 eventlet==0.14.0
 greenlet==0.4.1
 gunicorn==18.0
 itsdangerous==0.23
+lockfile==0.9.1
+marisa-trie==0.5.1
 mixpanel-py==3.0.0
 peewee==2.1.4
 py-bcrypt==0.4
+python-daemon==1.6
 python-dateutil==2.1
 requests==2.0.0
 six==1.4.1
-stripe==1.9.5
+stripe==1.9.8
 wsgiref==0.1.2
diff --git a/workers/diffsworker.py b/workers/diffsworker.py
index 84d595d30..519460c5f 100644
--- a/workers/diffsworker.py
+++ b/workers/diffsworker.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import logging
 import json
 import daemon
 import time
+import argparse
 
 from apscheduler.scheduler import Scheduler
 
@@ -29,13 +30,33 @@ def process_work_items():
   else:
     logger.debug('No work today.')
 
-FORMAT = '%(asctime)-15s - %(levelname)s - %(pathname)s - %(funcName)s - %(message)s'
-logging.basicConfig(format=FORMAT, level=logging.DEBUG)
 
-sched = Scheduler()
-sched.start()
+parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='Worker daemon to compute diffs')
+parser.add_argument('-D', action='store_true', default=False,
+                    help='Run the worker in daemon mode.')
+parser.add_argument('--log', default='diffsworker.log',
+                    help='Specify the log file for the worker as a daemon.')
+args = parser.parse_args()
 
-sched.add_interval_job(process_work_items, seconds=10)
+def start_worker(args):
+  FORMAT = '%(asctime)-15s - %(levelname)s - %(pathname)s - %(funcName)s - %(message)s'
 
-while True:
-  time.sleep(60 * 60 * 24)  # sleep one day, basically forever
\ No newline at end of file
+  if args.D:
+    logging.basicConfig(filename=args.log, format=FORMAT, level=logging.DEBUG)
+  else:
+    logging.basicConfig(format=FORMAT, level=logging.DEBUG)    
+
+  sched = Scheduler()
+  sched.start()
+
+  sched.add_interval_job(process_work_items, seconds=10)
+
+  while True:
+    time.sleep(60 * 60 * 24)  # sleep one day, basically forever
+
+if args.D:
+  with daemon.DaemonContext():
+    start_worker(args)
+
+else:
+  start_worker(args)