Index: wp-admin/includes/dashboard.php
===================================================================
--- wp-admin/includes/dashboard.php	(revision 10738)
+++ wp-admin/includes/dashboard.php	(working copy)
@@ -603,6 +603,15 @@
 	@extract( @$widgets['dashboard_incoming_links'], EXTR_SKIP );
 	$rss = fetch_feed( $url );
 
+	if ( is_wp_error($rss) ) {
+		if ( is_admin() || current_user_can('manage_options') ) {
+			echo '<p>';
+			printf(__('<strong>RSS Error</strong>: %s'), $rss->get_error_message());
+			echo '</p>';
+		}
+		return;
+	}
+
 	if ( !$rss->get_item_quantity() ) {
 		echo '<p>' . __('This dashboard widget queries <a href="http://blogsearch.google.com/">Google Blog Search</a> so that when another blog links to your site it will show up here. It has found no incoming links&hellip; yet. It&#8217;s okay &#8212; there is no rush.') . "</p>\n";
 		return;
@@ -740,7 +749,7 @@
 	}
 
 	foreach ( array( 'popular' => __('Most Popular'), 'new' => __('Newest Plugins'), 'updated' => __('Recently Updated') ) as $feed => $label ) {
-		if ( !$$feed->get_item_quantity() )
+		if ( is_wp_error($$feed) || !$$feed->get_item_quantity() )
 			continue;
 
 		$items = $$feed->get_items(0, 5);
@@ -898,7 +907,10 @@
 		// title is optional.  If black, fill it if possible
 		if ( !$widget_options[$widget_id]['title'] && isset($_POST['widget-rss'][$number]['title']) ) {
 			$rss = fetch_feed($widget_options[$widget_id]['url']);
-			$widget_options[$widget_id]['title'] = htmlentities(strip_tags($rss->get_title()));
+			if ( ! is_wp_error($rss) )
+				$widget_options[$widget_id]['title'] = htmlentities(strip_tags($rss->get_title()));
+			else
+				$widget_options[$widget_id]['title'] = htmlentities(__('Unknown Feed'));
 		}
 		update_option( 'dashboard_widget_options', $widget_options );
 	}
Index: wp-includes/widgets.php
===================================================================
--- wp-includes/widgets.php	(revision 10738)
+++ wp-includes/widgets.php	(working copy)
@@ -1541,27 +1541,31 @@
 		return;
 
 	$url = $options[$number]['url'];
-	while ( strstr($url, 'http') != $url )
+	while ( stristr($url, 'http') != $url )
 		$url = substr($url, 1);
 	if ( empty($url) )
 		return;
 
 	$rss = fetch_feed($url);
-	$link = clean_url(strip_tags($rss->get_permalink()));
-	while ( strstr($link, 'http') != $link )
-		$link = substr($link, 1);
-	$desc = attribute_escape(strip_tags(html_entity_decode($rss->get_description(), ENT_QUOTES, get_option('blog_charset'))));
 	$title = $options[$number]['title'];
+	$desc = '';
+	$link = '';
+	if ( ! is_wp_error($rss) ) {
+		$desc = attribute_escape(strip_tags(html_entity_decode($rss->get_description(), ENT_QUOTES, get_option('blog_charset'))));
+		if ( empty($title) )
+			$title = htmlentities(strip_tags($rss->get_title()));
+		$link = clean_url(strip_tags($rss->get_permalink()));
+		while ( stristr($link, 'http') != $link )
+			$link = substr($link, 1);
+	}
 	if ( empty($title) )
-		$title = htmlentities(strip_tags($rss->get_title()));
-	if ( empty($title) )
 		$title = $desc;
 	if ( empty($title) )
 		$title = __('Unknown Feed');
 	$title = apply_filters('widget_title', $title );
 	$url = clean_url(strip_tags($url));
-	if ( file_exists(dirname(__FILE__) . '/rss.png') )
-		$icon = str_replace(ABSPATH, site_url() . '/', dirname(__FILE__)) . '/rss.png';
+	if ( file_exists( ABSPATH . WPINC . '/rss.png') )
+		$icon = includes_url('rss.png');
 	else
 		$icon = includes_url('images/rss.png');
 	$title = "<a class='rsswidget' href='$url' title='" . attribute_escape(__('Syndicate this content')) ."'><img style='background:orange;color:white;border:none;' width='14' height='14' src='$icon' alt='RSS' /></a> <a class='rsswidget' href='$link' title='$desc'>$title</a>";
@@ -1584,12 +1588,10 @@
  */
 function wp_widget_rss_output( $rss, $args = array() ) {
 	if ( is_string( $rss ) ) {
-		if ( !$rss = fetch_feed($rss) )
-			return;
+		$rss = fetch_feed($rss);
 	} elseif ( is_array($rss) && isset($rss['url']) ) {
 		$args = $rss;
-		if ( !$rss = fetch_feed($rss['url']) )
-			return;
+		$rss = fetch_feed($rss['url']);
 	} elseif ( !is_object($rss) ) {
 		return;
 	}
@@ -1622,7 +1624,7 @@
 	echo '<ul>';
 	foreach ( $rss->get_items(0, $items) as $item ) {
 		$link = $item->get_link();
-		while ( strstr($link, 'http') != $link )
+		while ( stristr($link, 'http') != $link )
 			$link = substr($link, 1);
 		$link = clean_url(strip_tags($link));
 		$title = attribute_escape(strip_tags($item->get_title()));
@@ -1854,12 +1856,12 @@
 		$rss = fetch_feed($url);
 		$error = false;
 		$link = '';
-		if ( !is_object($rss) ) {
+		if ( is_wp_error($rss) ) {
 			$url = wp_specialchars(__('Error: could not find an RSS or ATOM feed at that URL.'), 1);
 			$error = sprintf(__('Error in RSS %1$d'), $widget_number );
 		} else {
 			$link = clean_url(strip_tags($rss->get_permalink()));
-			while ( strstr($link, 'http') != $link )
+			while ( stristr($link, 'http') != $link )
 				$link = substr($link, 1);
 		}
 	}