func checkForUpdate (dataFile string) (io.ReadCloser, err) {
   // check for stats
   fileReader, err := os.Open(dataFile)
   if err != nil {
     return err
   }
   return fileReader, nil // makes copy? Why does this not need to be closed?
}

func update() bool {
   reader, nil := checkForUpdate(dataFile)
   if err != nil {
      return false
   }
   defer reader.Close()
   // get data
   return true
}