diff --git a/ivy.xml b/ivy.xml
index f7c64aec6..06296c6b4 100644
--- a/ivy.xml
+++ b/ivy.xml
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@
     <dependency org="net.java.dev.jna" name="jna" rev="3.2.7"/>
 
     <!-- Dependencies for amazon.com S3 support -->
-    <dependency org="net.java.dev.jets3t" name="jets3t" rev="0.8.0"/>
+    <dependency org="net.java.dev.jets3t" name="jets3t" rev="0.8.1"/>
 
     <!-- Dependencies for GridEngine -->
     <dependency org="net.sf.gridscheduler" name="drmaa" rev="latest.integration"/>
diff --git a/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/phonehome/GATKRunReport.java b/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/phonehome/GATKRunReport.java
index f09865537..e8627ef4c 100644
--- a/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/phonehome/GATKRunReport.java
+++ b/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/phonehome/GATKRunReport.java
@@ -264,22 +264,8 @@ public class GATKRunReport {
         }
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Opens the destination file and writes a gzipped version of the XML report there.
-     *
-     * @param destination
-     * @throws IOException
-     */
-    private void postReportToFile(File destination) throws IOException {
-        BufferedOutputStream out =
-                new BufferedOutputStream(
-                        new GZIPOutputStream(
-                                new FileOutputStream(destination)));
-        try {
-            postReportToStream(out);
-        } finally {
-            out.close();
-        }
+    private final String getKey() {
+        return getID() + ".report.xml.gz";
     }
 
     /**
@@ -288,16 +274,21 @@ public class GATKRunReport {
      * That is, postReport() is guarenteed not to fail for any reason.
      */
     private File postReportToLocalDisk(File rootDir) {
-        String filename = getID() + ".report.xml.gz";
-        File file = new File(rootDir, filename);
+        final String filename = getKey();
+        final File destination = new File(rootDir, filename);
+
         try {
-            postReportToFile(file);
-            logger.debug("Wrote report to " + file);
-            return file;
+            final BufferedOutputStream out = new BufferedOutputStream(
+                    new GZIPOutputStream(
+                            new FileOutputStream(destination)));
+            postReportToStream(out);
+            out.close();
+            logger.debug("Wrote report to " + destination);
+            return destination;
         } catch ( Exception e ) {
             // we catch everything, and no matter what eat the error
             exceptDuringRunReport("Couldn't read report file", e);
-            file.delete();
+            destination.delete();
             return null;
         }
     }
@@ -305,42 +296,46 @@ public class GATKRunReport {
     private void postReportToAWSS3() {
         // modifying example code from http://jets3t.s3.amazonaws.com/toolkit/code-samples.html
         this.hostName = Utils.resolveHostname(); // we want to fill in the host name
-        File localFile = postReportToLocalDisk(new File("./"));
-        logger.debug("Generating GATK report to AWS S3 based on local file " + localFile);
-        if ( localFile != null ) { // we succeeded in creating the local file
-            localFile.deleteOnExit();
-            try {
-                // stop us from printing the annoying, and meaningless, mime types warning
-                Logger mimeTypeLogger = Logger.getLogger(org.jets3t.service.utils.Mimetypes.class);
-                mimeTypeLogger.setLevel(Level.FATAL);
+        final String key = getKey();
+        logger.debug("Generating GATK report to AWS S3 with key " + key);
+        try {
+            // create an byte output stream so we can capture the output as a byte[]
+            final ByteArrayOutputStream byteStream = new ByteArrayOutputStream(8096);
+            final OutputStream outputStream = new GZIPOutputStream(byteStream);
+            postReportToStream(outputStream);
+            outputStream.close();
+            final byte[] report = byteStream.toByteArray();
 
-                // Your Amazon Web Services (AWS) login credentials are required to manage S3 accounts. These credentials
-                // are stored in an AWSCredentials object:
+            // stop us from printing the annoying, and meaningless, mime types warning
+            Logger mimeTypeLogger = Logger.getLogger(org.jets3t.service.utils.Mimetypes.class);
+            mimeTypeLogger.setLevel(Level.FATAL);
 
-                // IAM GATK user credentials -- only right is to PutObject into GATK_Run_Report bucket
-                String awsAccessKey = "AKIAJXU7VIHBPDW4TDSQ"; // GATK AWS user
-                String awsSecretKey = "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"; // GATK AWS user
-                AWSCredentials awsCredentials = new AWSCredentials(awsAccessKey, awsSecretKey);
+            // Your Amazon Web Services (AWS) login credentials are required to manage S3 accounts. These credentials
+            // are stored in an AWSCredentials object:
 
-                // To communicate with S3, create a class that implements an S3Service. We will use the REST/HTTP
-                // implementation based on HttpClient, as this is the most robust implementation provided with JetS3t.
-                S3Service s3Service = new RestS3Service(awsCredentials);
+            // IAM GATK user credentials -- only right is to PutObject into GATK_Run_Report bucket
+            String awsAccessKey = "AKIAJXU7VIHBPDW4TDSQ"; // GATK AWS user
+            String awsSecretKey = "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"; // GATK AWS user
+            AWSCredentials awsCredentials = new AWSCredentials(awsAccessKey, awsSecretKey);
 
-                // Create an S3Object based on a file, with Content-Length set automatically and
-                // Content-Type set based on the file's extension (using the Mimetypes utility class)
-                S3Object fileObject = new S3Object(localFile);
-                //logger.info("Created S3Object" + fileObject);
-                //logger.info("Uploading " + localFile + " to AWS bucket");
-                S3Object s3Object = s3Service.putObject(REPORT_BUCKET_NAME, fileObject);
-                logger.debug("Uploaded to AWS: " + s3Object);
-                logger.info("Uploaded run statistics report to AWS S3");
-            } catch ( S3ServiceException e ) {
-                exceptDuringRunReport("S3 exception occurred", e);
-            } catch ( NoSuchAlgorithmException e ) {
-                exceptDuringRunReport("Couldn't calculate MD5", e);
-            } catch ( IOException e ) {
-                exceptDuringRunReport("Couldn't read report file", e);
-            }
+            // To communicate with S3, create a class that implements an S3Service. We will use the REST/HTTP
+            // implementation based on HttpClient, as this is the most robust implementation provided with JetS3t.
+            S3Service s3Service = new RestS3Service(awsCredentials);
+
+            // Create an S3Object based on a file, with Content-Length set automatically and
+            // Content-Type set based on the file's extension (using the Mimetypes utility class)
+            S3Object fileObject = new S3Object(key, report);
+            //logger.info("Created S3Object" + fileObject);
+            //logger.info("Uploading " + localFile + " to AWS bucket");
+            S3Object s3Object = s3Service.putObject(REPORT_BUCKET_NAME, fileObject);
+            logger.debug("Uploaded to AWS: " + s3Object);
+            logger.info("Uploaded run statistics report to AWS S3");
+        } catch ( S3ServiceException e ) {
+            exceptDuringRunReport("S3 exception occurred", e);
+        } catch ( NoSuchAlgorithmException e ) {
+            exceptDuringRunReport("Couldn't calculate MD5", e);
+        } catch ( IOException e ) {
+            exceptDuringRunReport("Couldn't read report file", e);
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/traversals/TraverseActiveRegions.java b/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/traversals/TraverseActiveRegions.java
index 83daa4d80..562a6d1d0 100644
--- a/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/traversals/TraverseActiveRegions.java
+++ b/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/gatk/traversals/TraverseActiveRegions.java
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ import org.broadinstitute.sting.gatk.refdata.RefMetaDataTracker;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.gatk.walkers.*;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.GenomeLoc;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.GenomeLocSortedSet;
-import org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.MathUtils;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.activeregion.ActiveRegion;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.pileup.PileupElement;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.sam.GATKSAMRecord;
@@ -63,25 +62,26 @@ public class TraverseActiveRegions <M,T> extends TraversalEngine<M,T,ActiveRegio
                 referenceOrderedDataView = (RodLocusView)locusView;
 
             // We keep processing while the next reference location is within the interval
+            GenomeLoc prevLoc = null;
             while( locusView.hasNext() ) {
                 final AlignmentContext locus = locusView.next();
                 GenomeLoc location = locus.getLocation();
+                if(prevLoc != null) {
+                    for(int iii = prevLoc.getStart() + 1; iii < location.getStart(); iii++ ) {       
+                        final GenomeLoc fakeLoc = engine.getGenomeLocParser().createGenomeLoc(prevLoc.getContig(), iii, iii);
+                        if( initialIntervals.overlaps( fakeLoc ) ) {
+                            final double isActiveProb = ( walker.presetActiveRegions == null ? walker.isActive( null, null, null )
+                                    : ( walker.presetActiveRegions.overlaps(fakeLoc) ? 1.0 : 0.0 ) );
+                            isActiveList.add( isActiveProb );
+                            if( firstIsActiveStart == null ) {
+                                firstIsActiveStart = fakeLoc;
+                            }
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
 
                 dataProvider.getShard().getReadMetrics().incrementNumIterations();
 
-                if ( locus.hasExtendedEventPileup() ) {
-                    // if the alignment context we received holds an "extended" pileup (i.e. pileup of insertions/deletions
-                    // associated with the current site), we need to update the location. The updated location still starts
-                    // at the current genomic position, but it has to span the length of the longest deletion (if any).
-                    location = engine.getGenomeLocParser().setStop(location,location.getStop()+locus.getExtendedEventPileup().getMaxDeletionLength());
-
-                    // it is possible that the new expanded location spans the current shard boundary; the next method ensures
-                    // that when it is the case, the reference sequence held by the ReferenceView will be reloaded so that
-                    // the view has all the bases we are gonna need. If the location fits within the current view bounds,
-                    // the next call will not do anything to the view:
-                    referenceView.expandBoundsToAccomodateLoc(location);
-                }
-
                 // create reference context. Note that if we have a pileup of "extended events", the context will
                 // hold the (longest) stretch of deleted reference bases (if deletions are present in the pileup).
                 final ReferenceContext refContext = referenceView.getReferenceContext(location);
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ public class TraverseActiveRegions <M,T> extends TraversalEngine<M,T,ActiveRegio
                                                                                      : ( walker.presetActiveRegions.overlaps(location) ? 1.0 : 0.0 ) );
                     isActiveList.add( isActiveProb );
                     if( firstIsActiveStart == null ) {
-                        firstIsActiveStart = locus.getLocation();
+                        firstIsActiveStart = location;
                     }
                 }
 
@@ -118,6 +118,7 @@ public class TraverseActiveRegions <M,T> extends TraversalEngine<M,T,ActiveRegio
                         if( read.getAlignmentStart() < minStart ) { minStart = read.getAlignmentStart(); }
                     }
                 }
+                prevLoc = location;
                 printProgress(dataProvider.getShard(), locus.getLocation());
             }
 
@@ -230,7 +231,7 @@ public class TraverseActiveRegions <M,T> extends TraversalEngine<M,T,ActiveRegio
             final int MAX_ACTIVE_REGION = 200;
             for( int iii = 0; iii < activeProbArray.length; iii++ ) {
                 double maxVal = 0;
-                for( int jjj = Math.max( 0, iii-FILTER_SIZE); jjj < Math.min( activeList.size(), iii+FILTER_SIZE); jjj++ ) {
+                for( int jjj = Math.max(0, iii-FILTER_SIZE); jjj < Math.min(activeList.size(), iii+FILTER_SIZE); jjj++ ) {
                     if( activeProbArray[jjj] > maxVal ) { maxVal = activeProbArray[jjj]; }
                 }
                 filteredProbArray[iii] = maxVal;
@@ -241,14 +242,18 @@ public class TraverseActiveRegions <M,T> extends TraversalEngine<M,T,ActiveRegio
             for(int iii = 1; iii < filteredProbArray.length; iii++ ) {
                 final boolean thisStatus = filteredProbArray[iii] > ACTIVE_PROB_THRESHOLD;
                 if( curStatus != thisStatus || (iii-curStart) > MAX_ACTIVE_REGION ) {
-                    returnList.add( new ActiveRegion( engine.getGenomeLocParser().createGenomeLoc(firstIsActiveStart.getContig(), firstIsActiveStart.getStart() + curStart, firstIsActiveStart.getStart() + (iii-1)),
+                    returnList.add( new ActiveRegion(
+                            engine.getGenomeLocParser().createGenomeLoc(firstIsActiveStart.getContig(), firstIsActiveStart.getStart() + curStart, firstIsActiveStart.getStart() + (iii-1)),
                             curStatus, engine.getGenomeLocParser(), activeRegionExtension ) );
                     curStatus = thisStatus;
                     curStart = iii;
                 }
             }
-            returnList.add( new ActiveRegion( engine.getGenomeLocParser().createGenomeLoc(firstIsActiveStart.getContig(), firstIsActiveStart.getStart() + curStart, firstIsActiveStart.getStart() + (filteredProbArray.length-1)),
-                    curStatus, engine.getGenomeLocParser(), activeRegionExtension ) );
+            if( curStart != filteredProbArray.length-1 ) {
+                returnList.add( new ActiveRegion(
+                        engine.getGenomeLocParser().createGenomeLoc(firstIsActiveStart.getContig(), firstIsActiveStart.getStart() + curStart, firstIsActiveStart.getStart() + (filteredProbArray.length-1)),
+                        curStatus, engine.getGenomeLocParser(), activeRegionExtension ) );
+            }
             return returnList;
         }
     }
diff --git a/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/QualityUtils.java b/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/QualityUtils.java
index 19e03a19d..7ec6a74d7 100755
--- a/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/QualityUtils.java
+++ b/public/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/utils/QualityUtils.java
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ public class QualityUtils {
 
     private static double qualToErrorProbCache[] = new double[256];
     static {
-        for (int i = 0; i < 256; i++) qualToErrorProbCache[i] = qualToErrorProbRaw((byte)i);
+        for (int i = 0; i < 256; i++) qualToErrorProbCache[i] = qualToErrorProbRaw(i);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -44,15 +44,15 @@ public class QualityUtils {
      * Convert a quality score to a probability of error.  This is the Phred-style
      * conversion, *not* the Illumina-style conversion (though asymptotically, they're the same).
      *
-     * @param qual a quality score (0-40)
-     * @return a probability (0.0-1.0)
+     * @param qual a quality score (0 - 255)
+     * @return a probability (0.0 - 1.0)
      */
-    static public double qualToErrorProbRaw(byte qual) {
+    static private double qualToErrorProbRaw(int qual) {
         return Math.pow(10.0, ((double) qual)/-10.0);
     }
 
     static public double qualToErrorProb(byte qual) {
-        return qualToErrorProbCache[qual];
+        return qualToErrorProbCache[(int)qual & 0xff]; // Map: 127 -> 127; -128 -> 128; -1 -> 255; etc.
     }
 
     /**