diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 1d80952..2d5843e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,3 +1,13 @@
+# Forked from the original bashplotlib: https://github.com/glamp/bashplotlib
+## bugfix and feature addition:
+- added -d delimiter and default to tab. (scatter) 
+- default color to none to remove strange character during bash piping. (scatter + hist)
+- fixed "broken pipe" during bash piping. (scatter + hist)
+
+
+
+############################# Original README #############################
+
 # bashplotlib
 *plotting in the terminal*
 
diff --git a/bashplotlib/histogram.py b/bashplotlib/histogram.py
index fe0a5f7..7afcda5 100644
--- a/bashplotlib/histogram.py
+++ b/bashplotlib/histogram.py
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@
 from .utils.helpers import *
 from .utils.commandhelp import hist
 
+from signal import signal, SIGPIPE, SIG_DFL
+signal(SIGPIPE,SIG_DFL)
+
 
 def calc_bins(n, min_val, max_val, h=None, binwidth=None):
     """
@@ -42,9 +45,8 @@ def read_numbers(numbers):
         for number in numbers:
             yield float(str(number).strip())
     else:
-        with open(numbers) as fh:
-            for number in fh:
-                yield float(number.strip())
+        for number in open(numbers):
+            yield float(number.strip())
 
 
 def run_demo():
@@ -107,11 +109,10 @@ def plot_hist(f, height=20.0, bincount=None, binwidth=None, pch="o", colour="def
         pch = "o"
 
     if isinstance(f, str):
-        with open(f) as fh:
-            f = fh.readlines()
+        f = open(f).readlines()
 
     min_val, max_val = None, None
-    n, mean, sd = 0.0, 0.0, 0.0
+    n, mean = 0.0, 0.0
 
     for number in read_numbers(f):
         n += 1
@@ -123,12 +124,6 @@ def plot_hist(f, height=20.0, bincount=None, binwidth=None, pch="o", colour="def
 
     mean /= n
 
-    for number in read_numbers(f):
-        sd += (mean - number)**2
-
-    sd /= (n - 1)
-    sd **= 0.5
-
     bins = list(calc_bins(n, min_val, max_val, bincount, binwidth))
     hist = dict((i, 0) for i in range(len(bins)))
 
@@ -184,12 +179,11 @@ def plot_hist(f, height=20.0, bincount=None, binwidth=None, pch="o", colour="def
     print(" " * (nlen + 1) + "-" * len(xs))
 
     if xlab:
-        labels = abbreviate([str(b) for b in bins])
-        xlen = len(labels[0])
+        xlen = len(str(float((max_y) / height) + max_y))
         for i in range(0, xlen):
             printcolour(" " * (nlen + 1), True, colour)
             for x in range(0, len(hist)):
-                num = labels[x]
+                num = str(bins[x])
                 if x % 2 != 0:
                     pass
                 elif i < len(num):
@@ -209,7 +203,6 @@ def plot_hist(f, height=20.0, bincount=None, binwidth=None, pch="o", colour="def
         summary = "|" + ("observations: %d" % n).center(center) + "|\n"
         summary += "|" + ("min value: %f" % min_val).center(center) + "|\n"
         summary += "|" + ("mean : %f" % mean).center(center) + "|\n"
-        summary += "|" + ("std dev : %f" % sd).center(center) + "|\n"
         summary += "|" + ("max value: %f" % max_val).center(center) + "|\n"
         summary += "-" * (2 + center)
         print(summary)
@@ -232,7 +225,7 @@ def main():
     parser.add_option('-x', '--xlab', help='label bins on x-axis',
                       default=None, action="store_true", dest='x')
     parser.add_option('-c', '--colour', help='colour of the plot (%s)' %
-                      colour_help, default='default', dest='colour')
+                      colour_help, default=None, dest='colour')
     parser.add_option('-d', '--demo', help='run demos', action='store_true', dest='demo')
     parser.add_option('-n', '--nosummary', help='hide summary',
                       action='store_false', dest='showSummary', default=True)
diff --git a/bashplotlib/scatterplot.py b/bashplotlib/scatterplot.py
index 76d20e4..9ce6900 100644
--- a/bashplotlib/scatterplot.py
+++ b/bashplotlib/scatterplot.py
@@ -12,13 +12,15 @@
 from .utils.helpers import *
 from .utils.commandhelp import scatter
 
+from signal import signal, SIGPIPE, SIG_DFL
+signal(SIGPIPE,SIG_DFL)
+
 
 def get_scale(series, is_y=False, steps=20):
     min_val = min(series)
     max_val = max(series)
     scaled_series = []
-    for x in drange(min_val, max_val, (max_val - min_val) / steps,
-                    include_stop=True):
+    for x in drange(min_val, max_val, (max_val - min_val) / steps):
         if x > 0 and scaled_series and max(scaled_series) < 0:
             scaled_series.append(0.0)
         scaled_series.append(x)
@@ -28,33 +30,12 @@ def get_scale(series, is_y=False, steps=20):
     return scaled_series
 
 
-def _plot_scatter(xs, ys, size, pch, colour, title, cs):
-    plotted = set()
-
-    if title:
-        print(box_text(title, 2 * len(get_scale(xs, False, size)) + 1))
-
-    print("-" * (2 * len(get_scale(xs, False, size)) + 2))
-    for y in get_scale(ys, True, size):
-        print("|", end=' ')
-        for x in get_scale(xs, False, size):
-            point = " "
-            for (i, (xp, yp)) in enumerate(zip(xs, ys)):
-                if xp <= x and yp >= y and (xp, yp) not in plotted:
-                    point = pch
-                    plotted.add((xp, yp))
-                    if cs:
-                        colour = cs[i]
-            printcolour(point, True, colour)
-        print(" |")
-    print("-" * (2 * len(get_scale(xs, False, size)) + 2))
-
-def plot_scatter(f, xs, ys, size, pch, colour, title):
+def plot_scatter(f, xs, ys, size, pch, colour, title, delimiter):
     """
     Form a complex number.
 
     Arguments:
-        f -- comma delimited file w/ x,y coordinates
+        f -- delimited (by delimiter) file w/ x,y coordinates
         xs -- if f not specified this is a file w/ x coordinates
         ys -- if f not specified this is a filew / y coordinates
         size -- size of the plot
@@ -62,27 +43,45 @@ def plot_scatter(f, xs, ys, size, pch, colour, title):
         colour -- colour of the points
         title -- title of the plot
     """
-    cs = None
+
     if f:
         if isinstance(f, str):
-            with open(f) as fh:
-                data = [tuple(line.strip().split(',')) for line in fh]
-        else:
-            data = [tuple(line.strip().split(',')) for line in f]
-        xs = [float(i[0]) for i in data]
-        ys = [float(i[1]) for i in data]
-        if len(data[0]) > 2:
-            cs = [i[2].strip() for i in data]
-    elif isinstance(xs, list) and isinstance(ys, list):
-        pass
+            f = open(f)
+
+        data = [tuple(map(float, line.strip().split(delimiter))) for line in f]
+        xs = [i[0] for i in data]
+        ys = [i[1] for i in data]
     else:
-        with open(xs) as fh:
-            xs = [float(str(row).strip()) for row in fh]
-        with open(ys) as fh:
-            ys = [float(str(row).strip()) for row in fh]
+        xs = [float(str(row).strip()) for row in open(xs)]
+        ys = [float(str(row).strip()) for row in open(ys)]
 
-    _plot_scatter(xs, ys, size, pch, colour, title, cs)
-    
+    plotted = set()
+
+    if title:
+        print(box_text(title, 2 * len(get_scale(xs, False, size)) + 1))
+
+    print("-" * (2 * len(get_scale(xs, False, size)) + 2))
+    for y in get_scale(ys, True, size):
+        print("|", end=' ')
+        for x in get_scale(xs, False, size):
+            point = " "
+            for (i, (xp, yp)) in enumerate(zip(xs, ys)):
+                if xp <= x and yp >= y and (xp, yp) not in plotted:
+                    point = pch
+                    #point = str(i)
+                    plotted.add((xp, yp))
+            if x == 0 and y == 0:
+                point = "o"
+            elif x == 0:
+                point = "|"
+            elif y == 0:
+                point = "-"
+            if colour:
+                printcolour(point, True, colour)
+            else:
+                print(point, end='')
+        print("|")
+    print("-" * (2 * len(get_scale(xs, False, size)) + 2))
 
 
 def main():
@@ -94,9 +93,10 @@ def main():
     parser.add_option('-x', help='x coordinates', default=None, dest='x')
     parser.add_option('-y', help='y coordinates', default=None, dest='y')
     parser.add_option('-s', '--size', help='y coordinates', default=20, dest='size', type='int')
+    parser.add_option('-d', '--delimiter', help='delimiter', default="\t", dest='delimiter')
     parser.add_option('-p', '--pch', help='shape of point', default="x", dest='pch')
     parser.add_option('-c', '--colour', help='colour of the plot (%s)' %
-                      colour_help, default='default', dest='colour')
+                      colour_help, default=None, dest='colour')
 
     opts, args = parser.parse_args()
 
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ def main():
         opts.f = sys.stdin.readlines()
 
     if opts.f or (opts.x and opts.y):
-        plot_scatter(opts.f, opts.x, opts.y, opts.size, opts.pch, opts.colour, opts.t)
+        plot_scatter(opts.f, opts.x, opts.y, opts.size, opts.pch, opts.colour, opts.t, opts.delimiter)
     else:
         print("nothing to plot!")
 
diff --git a/bashplotlib/utils/helpers.py b/bashplotlib/utils/helpers.py
index 8b37cf5..685b507 100644
--- a/bashplotlib/utils/helpers.py
+++ b/bashplotlib/utils/helpers.py
@@ -20,30 +20,29 @@
     "grey":    '\033[90m',
     "black":   '\033[30m',
     "default": '\033[39m',
+	"none":    '',
     "ENDC":    '\033[39m',
 }
 
 colour_help = ', '.join([colour for colour in bcolours if colour != "ENDC"])
 
 
-def get_colour(colour, default="default"):
+def get_colour(colour):
     """
     Get the escape code sequence for a colour
     """
-    return bcolours.get(colour, bcolours[default])
+    return bcolours.get(colour, bcolours['ENDC'])
 
 
-def printcolour(text, sameline=False, colour="default"):
+def printcolour(text, sameline=False, colour=get_colour("ENDC")):
     """
     Print color text using escape codes
     """
-    sep = '' if sameline else '\n'
-
-    # If no colour set, do not print color ESC characters
-    if get_colour(colour) == get_colour("ENDC"):
-        sys.stdout.write(text + sep)
+    if sameline:
+        sep = ''
     else:
-        sys.stdout.write(get_colour(colour) + text + get_colour("ENDC") + sep)
+        sep = '\n'
+    sys.stdout.write(get_colour(colour) + text + bcolours["ENDC"] + sep)
 
 
 def drange(start, stop, step=1.0, include_stop=False):
@@ -66,18 +65,6 @@ def drange(start, stop, step=1.0, include_stop=False):
             r = round(r, 10)
 
 
-def abbreviate(labels, rfill=' '):
-    """
-    Abbreviate labels without introducing ambiguities.
-    """
-    max_len = max(len(l) for l in labels)
-    for i in range(1, max_len):
-        abbrev = [l[:i].ljust(i, rfill) for l in labels]
-        if len(abbrev) == len(set(abbrev)):
-            break
-    return abbrev
-
-
 def box_text(text, width, offset=0):
     """
     Return text inside an ascii textbox