diff --git a/boot.php b/boot.php
index 42767845c..e1c7f6b11 100644
--- a/boot.php
+++ b/boot.php
@@ -940,7 +940,7 @@ class App {
 		} else {
 			$r = q("SELECT `contact`.`avatar-date` AS picdate FROM `contact` WHERE `contact`.`thumb` like '%%/%s'",
 				$common_filename);
-			if(! count($r)){
+			if(! dba::is_result($r)){
 				$this->cached_profile_image[$avatar_image] = $avatar_image;
 			} else {
 				$this->cached_profile_picdate[$common_filename] = "?rev=".urlencode($r[0]['picdate']);
@@ -1425,7 +1425,7 @@ function run_update_function($x) {
 function check_plugins(&$a) {
 
 	$r = q("SELECT * FROM `addon` WHERE `installed` = 1");
-	if(count($r))
+	if(dba::is_result($r))
 		$installed = $r;
 	else
 		$installed = array();
@@ -1756,7 +1756,7 @@ function current_theme(){
 		$r = q("select theme from user where uid = %d limit 1",
 			intval($a->profile_uid)
 		);
-		if($r)
+		if(dba::is_result($r))
 			$page_theme = $r[0]['theme'];
 	}
 
@@ -1869,7 +1869,7 @@ function feed_birthday($uid,$tz) {
 			intval($uid)
 	);
 
-	if($p && count($p)) {
+	if(dba::is_result($p)) {
 		$tmp_dob = substr($p[0]['dob'],5);
 		if(intval($tmp_dob)) {
 			$y = datetime_convert($tz,$tz,'now','Y');
@@ -1901,6 +1901,31 @@ function is_site_admin() {
 	return false;
 }
 
+function load_contact_links($uid) {
+
+	$a = get_app();
+
+	$ret = array();
+
+	if(! $uid || x($a->contacts,'empty'))
+		return;
+
+	$r = q("SELECT `id`,`network`,`url`,`thumb`, `rel` FROM `contact` WHERE `uid` = %d AND `self` = 0 AND `blocked` = 0 AND `thumb` != ''",
+			intval($uid)
+	);
+
+	if(dba::is_result($r)) {
+		foreach($r as $rr){
+			$url = normalise_link($rr['url']);
+			$ret[$url] = $rr;
+		}
+	} else
+		$ret['empty'] = true;
+
+	$a->contacts = $ret;
+	return;
+}
+
 /**
  * @brief Returns querystring as string from a mapped array.
  *
diff --git a/include/ForumManager.php b/include/ForumManager.php
index 17a6b6730..9e3c3b9d7 100644
--- a/include/ForumManager.php
+++ b/include/ForumManager.php
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ class ForumManager {
 		$total = count($contacts);
 		$visible_forums = 10;
 
-		if(count($contacts)) {
+		if(dba::is_result($contacts)) {
 
 			$id = 0;
 
diff --git a/include/dba.php b/include/dba.php
index cae045d87..3a16c187c 100644
--- a/include/dba.php
+++ b/include/dba.php
@@ -230,6 +230,16 @@ class dba {
 		}
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Checks if $array is a filled array with at least one entry.
+	 *
+	 * @param	$array	mixed	A filled array with at least one entry
+	 * @return	Whether $array is a filled array
+	 */
+	public function is_result ($array) {
+		return (is_array($array) && count($array) > 0);
+	}
+
 	function __destruct() {
 		if ($this->db)
 			if($this->mysqli)
@@ -340,4 +350,3 @@ function dbesc_array(&$arr) {
 function dba_timer() {
 	return microtime(true);
 }
-
diff --git a/include/dba_pdo.php b/include/dba_pdo.php
index 7b720fb6c..b48aba448 100644
--- a/include/dba_pdo.php
+++ b/include/dba_pdo.php
@@ -232,6 +232,16 @@ class dba {
 		}
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Checks if $array is a filled array with at least one entry.
+	 *
+	 * @param	$array	mixed	A filled array with at least one entry
+	 * @return	Whether $array is a filled array
+	 */
+	public function is_result ($array) {
+		return (is_array($array) && count($array) > 0);
+	}
+
 	function __destruct() {
 		if ($this->db) 
 		  \DDDBL\disconnect();
diff --git a/include/poller.php b/include/poller.php
index a391ea8c7..22fdbb5e5 100644
--- a/include/poller.php
+++ b/include/poller.php
@@ -228,7 +228,7 @@ function poller_max_connections_reached() {
 function poller_kill_stale_workers() {
 	$r = q("SELECT `pid`, `executed` FROM `workerqueue` WHERE `executed` != '0000-00-00 00:00:00'");
 
-	if (!is_array($r) || count($r) == 0) {
+	if (!dba::is_result($r)) {
 		// No processing here needed
 		return;
 	}
diff --git a/index.php b/index.php
index 943763a51..a8b7577e0 100644
--- a/index.php
+++ b/index.php
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ if (x($_SESSION,'authenticated') && !x($_SESSION,'language')) {
 	// we didn't loaded user data yet, but we need user language
 	$r = q("SELECT language FROM user WHERE uid=%d", intval($_SESSION['uid']));
 	$_SESSION['language'] = $lang;
-	if (count($r)>0) $_SESSION['language'] = $r[0]['language'];
+	if (dba::is_result($r)) $_SESSION['language'] = $r[0]['language'];
 }
 
 if((x($_SESSION,'language')) && ($_SESSION['language'] !== $lang)) {
diff --git a/mod/message.php b/mod/message.php
index ef5dce826..b08ab200e 100644
--- a/mod/message.php
+++ b/mod/message.php
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ function message_init(&$a) {
 	$tabs = '';
 
 	if ($a->argc >1 && is_numeric($a->argv[1])) {
-	 $tabs = render_messages(get_messages(local_user(),0,5), 'mail_list.tpl');
+		$tabs = render_messages(get_messages(local_user(),0,5), 'mail_list.tpl');
 	}
 
 	$new = array(
@@ -373,11 +373,13 @@ function message_content(&$a) {
 			intval(local_user())
 		);
 
-		if(count($r)) $a->set_pager_total($r[0]['total']);
+		if (dba::is_result($r)) {
+			$a->set_pager_total($r[0]['total']);
+		}
 
 		$r = get_messages(local_user(), $a->pager['start'], $a->pager['itemspage']);
 
-		if(! count($r)) {
+		if(! dba::is_result($r)) {
 			info( t('No messages.') . EOL);
 			return $o;
 		}
@@ -562,7 +564,7 @@ function get_messages($user, $lstart, $lend) {
 	);
 }
 
-function render_messages($msg, $t) {
+function render_messages(array $msg, $t) {
 
 	$a = get_app();
 
diff --git a/mod/network.php b/mod/network.php
index 73cb0eba2..1123c3437 100644
--- a/mod/network.php
+++ b/mod/network.php
@@ -704,7 +704,7 @@ function network_content(&$a, $update = 0) {
 		$parents_str = '';
 		$date_offset = "";
 
-		if(count($r)) {
+		if(dba::is_result($r)) {
 			foreach($r as $rr)
 				if(! in_array($rr['item_id'],$parents_arr))
 					$parents_arr[] = $rr['item_id'];
diff --git a/mod/ping.php b/mod/ping.php
index 0ed2c31c3..40cfe31fa 100644
--- a/mod/ping.php
+++ b/mod/ping.php
@@ -32,6 +32,8 @@ function ping_init(&$a) {
 		$dislikes = array();
 		$friends = array();
 		$posts = array();
+		$regs = array();
+		$mails = array();
 
 		$home = 0;
 		$network = 0;
@@ -49,7 +51,7 @@ function ping_init(&$a) {
 			intval(local_user()), intval(local_user())
 		);
 
-		if(count($r)) {
+		if(dba::is_result($r)) {
 
 			$arr = array('items' => $r);
 			call_hooks('network_ping', $arr);
@@ -116,8 +118,6 @@ function ping_init(&$a) {
 		$intro = count($intros1) + count($intros2);
 		$intros = $intros1+$intros2;
 
-
-
 		$myurl = $a->get_baseurl() . '/profile/' . $a->user['nickname'] ;
 		$mails = q("SELECT * FROM `mail`
 			WHERE `uid` = %d AND `seen` = 0 AND `from-url` != '%s' ",
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ function ping_init(&$a) {
 			dbesc(datetime_convert('UTC','UTC','now'))
 		);
 
-		if($ev && count($ev)) {
+		if(dba::is_result($ev)) {
 			$all_events = intval($ev[0]['total']);
 
 			if($all_events) {
@@ -224,7 +224,7 @@ function ping_init(&$a) {
 				<home>$home</home>\r\n";
 		if ($register!=0) echo "<register>$register</register>";
 
-		if (count($groups_unseen)) {
+		if ( dba::is_result($groups_unseen) ) {
 			echo '<groups>';
 			foreach ($groups_unseen as $it)
 				if ($it['count'] > 0)
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ function ping_init(&$a) {
 			echo "</groups>";
 		}
 
-		if (count($forums_unseen)) {
+		if ( dba::is_result($forums_unseen) ) {
 			echo '<forums>';
 			foreach ($forums_unseen as $it)
 				if ($it['count'] > 0)
@@ -250,8 +250,8 @@ function ping_init(&$a) {
 			<birthdays-today>$birthdays_today</birthdays-today>\r\n";
 
 
-		if(count($notifs) && (! $sysnotify)) {
-			foreach($notifs as $zz) {
+		if (dba::is_result($notifs) && (! $sysnotify)) {
+			foreach ($notifs as $zz) {
 				if($zz['seen'] == 0)
 					$sysnotify ++;
 			}
@@ -260,7 +260,7 @@ function ping_init(&$a) {
 		echo '	<notif count="'. ($sysnotify + $intro + $mail + $register) .'">';
 
 		// merge all notification types in one array
-		if ($intro>0){
+		if ( dba::is_result($intros) ) {
 			foreach ($intros as $i) {
 				$n = array(
 					'href' => $a->get_baseurl().'/notifications/intros/'.$i['id'],
@@ -275,7 +275,7 @@ function ping_init(&$a) {
 			}
 		}
 
-		if ($mail>0){
+		if ( dba::is_result($mails) ) {
 			foreach ($mails as $i) {
 				$n = array(
 					'href' => $a->get_baseurl().'/message/'.$i['id'],
@@ -290,7 +290,7 @@ function ping_init(&$a) {
 			}
 		}
 
-		if ($register>0){
+		if ( dba::is_result($regs) ) {
 			foreach ($regs as $i) {
 				$n = array(
 					'href' => $a->get_baseurl().'/admin/users/',
@@ -304,6 +304,7 @@ function ping_init(&$a) {
 				$notifs[] = $n;
 			}
 		}
+
 		// sort notifications by $[]['date']
 		$sort_function = function($a, $b) {
 			$adate = date($a['date']);
@@ -315,7 +316,7 @@ function ping_init(&$a) {
 		};
 		usort($notifs, $sort_function);
 
-		if(count($notifs)) {
+		if( dba::is_result($notifs) ) {
 			foreach($notifs as $n) {
 				echo xmlize($n);
 			}
diff --git a/mod/profile.php b/mod/profile.php
index 67db5d0d9..75cb65c9a 100644
--- a/mod/profile.php
+++ b/mod/profile.php
@@ -298,7 +298,7 @@ function profile_content(&$a, $update = 0) {
 	$parents_arr = array();
 	$parents_str = '';
 
-	if(count($r)) {
+	if (dba::is_result($r)) {
 		foreach($r as $rr)
 			$parents_arr[] = $rr['item_id'];
 		$parents_str = implode(', ', $parents_arr);