diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 709e47a..10a3e0d 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -3,13 +3,16 @@
 ==============================================================================
 pypiserver - minimal PyPI server for use with pip/easy_install
 ==============================================================================
+|dev-status| |build-status| |pypi-status| |downloads-count| |github-issues|
 
-:Authors:   Ralf Schmitt <ralf@systemexit.de>, Kostis Anagnostopoulos <ankostis@gmail.com>
-:Version:   1.1.7
+:Authors:   Ralf Schmitt <ralf@systemexit.de>, 
+            Kostis Anagnostopoulos <ankostis@gmail.com>
+:Version:   1.1.8-beta.0
 :Date:      2015-03-8
 :Source:    https://github.com/pypiserver/pypiserver
-:Download:  https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pypiserver#downloads
+:PyPI repo: https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pypiserver#downloads
 :TravisCI:  https://travis-ci.org/pypiserver/pypiserver
+:License:   zlib/libpng + MIT 
 
 .. contents:: Table of Contents
   :backlinks: top
@@ -18,7 +21,7 @@ pypiserver - minimal PyPI server for use with pip/easy_install
 *pypiserver* is a minimal PyPI_ compatible server. 
 It can be used to upload and serve packages, wheels and eggs 
 to *pip* or *easy_install*.  
-The packages are stored inside a regular directory.
+The packages are stored in regular directories.
 
 
 
@@ -70,7 +73,7 @@ Currently only password-protected uploads are supported!
    .. Tip::
      Read this SO question for running `htpasswd` cmd under *Windows*: 
     
-    http://serverfault.com/questions/152950/how-to-create-and-edit-htaccess-and-htpasswd-locally-on-my-computer-and-then-u
+     http://serverfault.com/questions/152950/how-to-create-and-edit-htaccess-and-htpasswd-locally-on-my-computer-and-then-u
   
 #. You  need to restart the server with the `-P` option only once 
    (but user/password pairs can later be added or updated on the fly)::
@@ -505,3 +508,23 @@ See the `LICENSE.txt` file.
 
 .. _bottle: http://bottlepy.org
 .. _PyPI: http://pypi.python.org
+.. |build-status| image:: https://travis-ci.org/pypiserver/pypiserver.svg
+    :alt: Integration-build status
+    :scale: 100%
+    :target: https://travis-ci.org/pypiserver/pypiserver/builds
+
+.. |pypi-status| image::  https://pypip.in/v/pypiserver/badge.png
+    :target: https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pypiserver/
+    :alt: Latest Version in PyPI
+
+.. |dev-status| image:: https://pypip.in/status/pypiserver/badge.svg
+    :target: https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pypiserver/
+    :alt: Development Status
+
+.. |downloads-count| image:: https://pypip.in/download/pypiserver/badge.svg?period=week
+    :target: https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pypiserver/
+    :alt: Downloads
+
+.. |github-issues| image:: http://img.shields.io/github/issues/pypiserver/pypiserver.svg
+    :target: https://github.com/pypiserver/pypiserver/issues
+    :alt: Issues count
diff --git a/gen-standalone.py b/gen-standalone.py
index e0ace4a..7c3f3d8 100755
--- a/gen-standalone.py
+++ b/gen-standalone.py
@@ -2,19 +2,29 @@
 
 """generate a single file pypi-server script"""
 
-import os, zlib, cPickle, base64, itertools
-
+import os, zlib, base64, itertools
+try:
+    import cPickle
+except ImportError:
+    import pickle as cPickle
 
 def find_files(path):
     for dirpath, dirnames, filenames in os.walk(path):
         for f in filenames:
             yield os.path.join(dirpath, f)
 
+def myExecFile(file, g, l):
+    try:
+        execfile(file, g, l)
+    except NameError:
+        with open(file) as fd:
+            txt = fd.read()
+            exec(txt, g, l)
 
 def get_version():
     d = {}
     try:
-        execfile("pypiserver/__init__.py", d, d)
+        myExecFile("pypiserver/__init__.py", d, d)
     except (ImportError, RuntimeError):
         pass
     return d["__version__"]
@@ -44,8 +54,8 @@ def main():
     script = script.replace('@SOURCES@', data)
     dst = "pypi-server-standalone.py"
     open(dst, "w").write(script)
-    os.chmod(dst, 0755)
-    print "created", dst
+    os.chmod(dst, 755)
+    print("created %s"%dst)
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
diff --git a/pypiserver/__init__.py b/pypiserver/__init__.py
index fd35ff6..f9a154d 100644
--- a/pypiserver/__init__.py
+++ b/pypiserver/__init__.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 __version_info__ = (1, 1, 7)
-version = __version__ = "1.1.7"
+version = __version__ = "1.1.8-beta.0"
 
 
 def app(root=None,
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 9b91de3..e9e1602 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ def get_version():
 
 
 setup(name="pypiserver",
-      description="minimal pypi server",
+      description="A minimal PyPI server for use with pip/easy_install.",
       long_description=open("README.rst").read(),
       version=get_version(),
       packages=["pypiserver"],