diff --git a/bin/receive_text.py b/bin/receive_text.py
index 85806c4..a374602 100644
--- a/bin/receive_text.py
+++ b/bin/receive_text.py
@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@ APPID = "lothar.com/wormhole/text-xfer"
 # we're receiving
 start = time.time()
 code = sys.argv[1]
-blob = b"{}"
-r = Receiver(APPID, blob, code)
+data = json.dumps({"message": "ok"}).encode("utf-8")
+r = Receiver(APPID, data, code)
 them_bytes = r.get_data()
 them_d = json.loads(them_bytes.decode("utf-8"))
 print(them_d["message"])
diff --git a/bin/send_text.py b/bin/send_text.py
index ffdacc5..034c051 100644
--- a/bin/send_text.py
+++ b/bin/send_text.py
@@ -6,9 +6,9 @@ APPID = "lothar.com/wormhole/text-xfer"
 
 # we're sending
 message = sys.argv[1]
-blob = json.dumps({"message": message,
+data = json.dumps({"message": message,
                    }).encode("utf-8")
-i = Initiator(APPID, blob)
+i = Initiator(APPID, data)
 code = i.get_code()
 print("Wormhole code is '%s'" % code)
 print("On the other computer, please run:")