diff --git a/tools/release b/tools/release
index 1bf83d9..6a54c40 100755
--- a/tools/release
+++ b/tools/release
@@ -1,52 +1,63 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python
 """IPython release script.
 
-This should only be run at real release time.
+This should ONLY be run at real release time.
 """
+from __future__ import print_function
 
 from toollib import *
 
 # Get main ipython dir, this will raise if it doesn't pass some checks
 ipdir = get_ipdir()
-tooldir = pjoin(ipdir,'tools')
-distdir = pjoin(ipdir,'dist')
+tooldir = pjoin(ipdir, 'tools')
+distdir = pjoin(ipdir, 'dist')
+
 # Where I keep static backups of each release
 ipbackupdir = os.path.expanduser('~/ipython/backup')
 
+# SSH root address of the archive site
+archive = 'ipython@archive.ipython.org:archive.ipython.org'
 # Start in main IPython dir
 cd(ipdir)
 
 # Load release info
 execfile(pjoin('IPython','core','release.py'))
 
-print
-print "Releasing IPython"
-print "================="
-print
-print 'Source IPython directory:', ipdir
-print
+# Build site addresses for file uploads
+release_site = '%s/release/%s' % (archive, version)
+backup_site =  '%s/backup/%s' % (archive, version)
+
+# Start actual release process
+print()
+print('Releasing IPython')
+print('=================')
+print()
+print('Version:', version)
+print()
+print('Source IPython directory:', ipdir)
+print()
 
 # Perform local backup, go to tools dir to run it.
 cd(tooldir)
-c('./make_tarball.py')
-c('mv ipython-*.tgz %s' % ipbackupdir)
+sh('./make_tarball.py')
+sh('mv ipython-*.tgz %s' % ipbackupdir)
 
 # Build release files
-c('./build_release %s' % ipdir)
+sh('./build_release %s' % ipdir)
 
 # Register with the Python Package Index (PyPI)
-print "Registering with PyPI..."
+print( 'Registering with PyPI...')
 cd(ipdir)
-c('./setup.py register')
+sh('./setup.py register')
 
 # Upload all files
-c('./setup.py sdist --formats=gztar,zip upload')
+sh('./setup.py sdist --formats=gztar,zip upload')
 cd(distdir)
-print "Uploading distribution files..."
-c('scp * ipython@ipython.scipy.org:www/dist/')
+print( 'Uploading distribution files...')
+sh('scp * %s' % release_site)
 
-print "Uploading backup files..."
+print( 'Uploading backup files...')
 cd(ipbackupdir)
-c('scp `ls -1tr *tgz | tail -1` ipython@ipython.scipy.org:www/backup/')
+sh('scp `ls -1tr *tgz | tail -1` %s' % backup_site)
 
-print "Done!"
+print('Done!')
diff --git a/tools/toollib.py b/tools/toollib.py
index b0fa830..684e1ac 100644
--- a/tools/toollib.py
+++ b/tools/toollib.py
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 """Various utilities common to IPython release and maintenance tools.
 """
+from __future__ import print_function
+
 # Library imports
 import os
 import sys
@@ -13,7 +15,7 @@ cd = os.chdir
 # Utility functions
 def sh(cmd):
     """Run system command in shell, raise SystemExit if it returns an error."""
-    print "$",cmd
+    print("$", cmd)
     stat = os.system(cmd)
     #stat = 0  # Uncomment this and comment previous to run in debug mode
     if stat: