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Guangzshou Auto Show: 2011 Buick Excelle XT
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Along with the refreshed Cadillac SLS, Buick unveiled a completely new model for the Chinese market at the Guangzshou Auto Show – the Buick Excelle XT. While Buick is calling the XT a 5-door coupe-like sedan, enthusiasts know that this is a rebadged version of the all-new Opel Astra hatch. In fact, there is nothing "coupe like" or "sedan" about it – it's a hatch whatever way you look at it.
The Excelle XT will include a six-speed automatic transmission with sport-shifting capability, with a choice of three gasoline-sipping four-bangers:
- 1.6 liter high-output turbo. Delivers 181 hp (113 hp per liter) and 173 lb-ft of torque (235 Nm). Buick says that this is the most powerful series production engine in its displacement class
- 1.6 liter naturally aspirated with a two-stage variable intake manifold. Delivers 116 hp (85 kW) and 114 lb.-ft (155 Nm) of torque
- 1.8 liter with double continuous variable cam phasing. Delivers 138 hp (103 kW) and 130 lb-ft (175 Nm) of torque.
The Excelle XT will go on sale in China sometime in 2010 and will slot in between the Regal and the Excelle (basically a Buick-badged Daewoo Lacetti). Buick North America is expected to get the new Opel Astra sometime in 2011 for the 2012 model year. By that time, we hope a sedan version of the Astra will be released to appeal to the sedan-loving tastes of the U.S.
Check out the Excellle XT gallery below, with the full press release available after the break.
2011 Buick Excelle XT – Chinese Market
Shanghai GM Introduces Buick Excelle XT
Five-Door Coupé-Like Sedan Offers New Standard for Performance & Refinement
Shanghai – Shanghai GM introduced the new Buick Excelle XT five-door coupé-like sedan today at the Guangzhou Auto Show. The premium compact hatchback was designed, engineered and executed to set a new standard for performance and refinement in its class. It goes on sale across China in 2010.
"The Excelle XT is Buick's first coupé-like sedan in China that is based on GM's all-new front-wheel-drive compact vehicle architecture," said Kevin Wale, President and Managing Director of the GM China Group. "Developed as a collaborative effort by GM's global team, the model was tailored for the domestic market by GM's Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC) automotive engineering and design facility in Shanghai."
"The Excelle XT carries the same self-confident air as its sibling, the popular Buick New Regal sedan," said Shanghai GM Vice President Terry Johnsson. "When people see this car, they'll notice its presence, stance and proportions. When they get inside, they'll recognize its craftsmanship and attention to detail. And when they get behind the wheel, they'll appreciate its responsiveness and excellent handling."
The Excelle XT incorporates Buick's new design language and sets a new visual standard for its class, both inside and out.
Stylish Exterior
Inspired by the Buick Riviera concept vehicle, the new Excelle XT's assertive, self-confident exterior is enabled by dynamic lines combined with sophisticated sculptural surfaces. The overall execution clearly speaks to Buick's new design language, yet provides an expression that is appropriate for the compact segment.
A strong cab-forward silhouette with a deeply raked windshield and falling rear roofline adds excitement to the hatchback format, while also improving ease and versatility of use. Artistry is further reflected in free-flowing forms, such as the prominent but softly styled shoulder line, while precision can be seen in the visual balance of the four-window side graphic.
With a bold new "face" and a hood line that culminates in narrow three-dimensional-effect headlampunits, the Excelle XT looks dynamic and purposeful without being aggressive or brash.
Roomy, Fashionable Interior
The free-flowing forms and contours exhibited on the outside are carried forward inside. The interior is clearly up to Buick's premium standards, with crafted flowing lines, low-gloss surfaces, and premium appointments throughout.
A signature feature is the wraparound wing-shaped instrument panel that arcs into the top of the door mouldings. It embraces occupants, offering a warm and welcoming ambience.
Four interior trim levels provide a wide choice of decor. The base trim, for example, offers the choice of a red or blue finish for the instrument panel, door panels and seats. The center stack, outer air vents and door grab handles are finished in a piano-black lacquer or grey or matte chrome trim, adding upscale, precision quality to the interior.
The Excelle XT offers a host of innovations and technologies. They include a class-leading choice of infotainment and communication systems, including three audio packages and two on-boardnavigation systems; Bluetooth wireless connectivity and USB and personal device connectivity; a tire pressure monitoring system; dual-zone electronic climate control; heated front seats; and electronic parking assist.
The Excelle XT's design and overall proportions maximize occupant space. The cab-forward windshield and raked center stack add to the roomy feeling. There are ample onboard storage facilities in front and back. The Excelle XT also has a separate under-floor stowage compartment. The three-level moveable Flex-Floor in the rear cargo area puts the deck height at bumper level for the easy loading and unloading of goods.
Choice of Efficient Powertrains
Excelle XT buyers have a choice of three lightweight powertrains that offer high specific power output, low fuel consumption and reduced CO2 emissions:
– A high-output 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder gasoline engine that delivers 135 kW, a specific power output of 84.4 kW per liter, and 235 Nm of torque between 1,980 and 5,400 rpm. The most powerful series production engine in its displacement class, it was developed for customers whose priority is sporty performance. Its Superboost function can briefly unleash up to 266 Nm of torque for quick and safe overtaking.
– A naturally aspirated 1.6-liter inline four-cylinder gasoline engine with a two-stage variable intake manifold that delivers 116 horsepower (85 kW) at 6,000 rpm and 155 Nm of torque at 4,000 rpm.
– A 1.8-liter DOHC inline four-cylinder gasoline engine with double continuous variable cam phasing (DCVCP) that delivers 138 horsepower (103 kW) at 6,300 rpm and 175 Nm of torque at 3,800 rpm.
A six-speed automatic transmission with sporty feature is standard in all models.
Excellent Ride and Handling
The Excelle XT has a fun-to-drive character with high levels of steering precision and ride comfort.
The chassis incorporates the proven McPherson strut layout in front. In back, Buick has applied a new suspension system for the Excelle XT – a compound crank rear axle with a Watts link. The result is greater wheel camber stiffness and compensation in body roll, with a constant track width in jounce. It also adds enhanced lateral stability for both improved handling and greater ride comfort.
The speed-sensitive rack and pinion steering system is electrically powered to save fuel. The electric motor is mounted on the steering rack rather than at the base of the steering column to give improved driver feel when turning the steering wheel. The Excelle XT is also equipped with the dual-circuit braking system, which features three brake disc combinations.
Advanced Safety and Security
With a maximum five-star NCAP safety rating anticipated, the Excelle XT's body structure along with its restraint systems are designed to exceed crash safety standards around the world.
Its high structural integrity is reflected in its solid, on-the-road feel and the suppression of unwanted noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) inside the cabin.
The Guangzhou Auto Show is open to the public from November 24-30. Shanghai GM is showcasing 26 vehicles from Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac on its 3,000-square-meter stand.
Shanghai GM is a joint venture between GM and SAIC that was formed in June 1997. It operates vehicle and powertrain manufacturing facilities in Shanghai; Yantai, Shandong; and Shenyang, Liaoning. Shanghai GM builds, imports and sells a comprehensive range of Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and Saab products. In 2008, the joint venture sold domestically 445,709 vehicles. In the first 10 months of 2009, Shanghai GM sold domestically 548,708 vehicles.


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Archive for November 22nd, 2014
* Bast Fibers in Japan
2014/11/22 | Filed under Linen | Tags bast fibers, hemp, Linen, ramie, textile history.In 2009, I made a presentation about 'Asa' (= bast fibers in Japanese )at Artextrina conference held at University of Leeds in UK.
Now I am trying to brief its context adding some more images, as I hope it could be some reference for some colleagues from linen industry or textile historian (with apology for this belated upload to my colleague at Artextrina who requested this written form )
In Japanese, we have a term 'asa' '麻' which means 'bast fibers'.
When we say 'asa' , there are several different plant variations; hemp, ramie, linen, kuzu-fu (葛布、Kuzu is pea family, Pueraria lobata), Basho-fu (芭蕉布 Basho is a plant belongs to the same family as banana, Musa basjoo) and so on.It is said that there are nearly 20 species as material for bast fibers here in Japan.
Cotton is not included in 'asa' , instead we say 'men' or 'momen' to differentiate cotton.
Normally from the word 'asa', Japanese people can imagine the dry, natural and somewhat stiff fabric made from plant stalks. In ancient times, hemp and ramie were the most popular 'asa', but nowadays, linen has become the most popular 'asa' in Japan.
(The history of hemp in Japan)
(↑unbreached hemp cloth made in traditional way)
(↑old cloth likely to be indigo dyed hemp)
Hemp is not native to Japan, but from alcheologic studies it is said that hemp had been used in Japan already around one thousand B.C.. Hemp can be grown in any soil including poor soil, narrow mountain areas and in colder climates in northern parts of Japan.
(↑hood likely made with hemp cloth, from northern eastern part of Japan, where neither cotton nor ramie can be raised.)
It is used not only for clothing, but for rope, Kaya (蚊帳 =mosquito net), Noren (暖簾 = entrance curtain), zabuton (座蒲団= cushion) and the edging of Tatami (畳) flooring.
Hemp is also considered to be a holy plant in Japan. Firstly, hemp is important in Shinto (神道), which is an indigenous religion to Japan.
(↑Curtain with emblem in Shimogamo Shrine, should be made with hemp originally, but unknown material actually)
Shinto is considered an amalgam of several streams of folklore religions. Shinto is not based on a written doctrine, but based on the worship of nature and ancestors. That is to say, it consists of, respect to, and fear of, nature. As you can see in the photo, Shinto shrines are typically surrounded by trees and forests, with a large entrance gate called 'Torii' that designates the divine place from the common place.
Hemp is used to make the ceremonial clothing of Shinto priests, and for Nusa (幣 = a white fringed stick to be shaken in rituals). The emperor as the top archbishop of Shinto, dedicates hemp cloth to the shrine at the time of the major ritual.
↑hemp and silk clothes are the important alliterate in Shinto. The white clothes and the bunch of fiber are hemp.
The word '大麻'taima' which literally means hemp is also used to mean a talisman.
It is not clear how and why hemp gained the status of a holy plant in Shinto. We are tempted to imagine that the ancient Japanese Shamans used the psychoactive effect of the hemp plant to hear 'the voice of gods'; such voices are central to the teachings of Shinto.
But it is not formally discussed in Japan, as we cannot find any written evidence.
Another interesting issue, as you know, the latin name of hemp is 'Cannabis' which is said to have its origin in Schytian or Trachian language. In Shinto, there is a word pronounced 'Kamnabi' (神無奈備) which means 'the place of the gods'. It should be noted the pronunciation of 'kamnabi' is similar to 'Cannabis', but the exact relationship remains unclear.
( Hemp and Ramie)
In ancient Japan, ramie, called 'Karamushi '(苧) was perhaps the second most popular crop for fiber production, following hemp. While hemp (Cannabis sativa) is a yearly crop, ramie (Boehmeria nivea) is perennial and easily found, sometimes abundant in wild habitats in Japan, except in northern areas.
I have mentioned that hemp was considered a divine plant, but to the contrary ramie has never gained such a kind of holy character, instead regarded as a naturally occurring , 'easy to access 'plant.
(↑Karamushi(ramie) growing in wild , along riverbank and small waterway of my neighbor in Kyoto)
However, these 2 materials have been variously confused throughout Japanese history. This ambiguity mainly derives from the fact that hemp and ramie fabrics look similar to each other.
Or sometimes no clear discrimination for the material was required actually at that time, because sometimes hemp and ramie were used together to make one fabric, like warp from hemp, or weft from ramie .
By the 7th century, the ancient government had established rule over mainland Japan, and had introduced a taxation system called So-yo-cho(租庸調). In ancient tax records, vegetable fibers including hemp and ramie were sometimes indicated by the term 'nuno' (布), which simply means 'fabric' nowadays.
Thus, by the term 'nuno', it was impossible to identify which material it was made from, just like our modern term 'asa'.
By the middle ages, some of those regions had established a reputation for their 'asa' production.
At the same time, ramie or hemp fiber 'Ao-so' (literally means,Green hemp or green ramie) was in wide distribution. This fiber was sold at markets in big cities, so city residents who could not raise their own crops, were able to obtain raw material to make yarns and clothes by themselves. It must have been a good way for farmers to get income, and for city residents, it must have been a good way to save on the cost of their clothing rather than purchasing expensive woven fabric.
(↑Ancient Kimono for boy likely made with ramie)
Those 'asa' fibers and fabrics were indispensable in Japanese daily life, until the end of the 15th century, when cotton was introduced via China and Korea. Making fabrics from cotton was far easier than using 'asa'. As a result cotton production increased very rapidly, boosted by the demand for it in daily use and also for military purposes (uniforms for soldiers, flags andso on). The era was an age of civil war in Japan, so the weakened government had no power to organize a tax imposed on cotton. For that reason, cotton became the first commodity in Japan to be distributed under the free economy.
As cotton fabrics had taken the place of 'asa' as the preferred fabric for daily use, 'asa' became a kind of 'luxurious' material for summer and other special occasions, or remained as an old fashioned self-sufficient material especially in the northern regions which were not suitable for cotton cultivation because of its climate.
(Introduction of linen to Japan)
In 1868, after the end of the samurai government in Edo (江戸 = ancient name of Tokyo), the reign of Emperor Meiji began. This period was notable for the introduction of modern technology to Japan following the lead of western countries. Under this policy, linen was introduced to Japan for military purposes, in keeping with the prevailing western style.
Hokkaido was selected as a suitable area to grow flax, and Constance Huybrecht(1851-1922, lived in Wevelgem in Belgium), as an expert instructor, was invited from Belgium.
In 1887, the Teikoku Seima Kabushiki Kaisya (Imperial flax and linen Company) was established, and as a consequence the flax and linen industry in Japan grew remarkably.
There are, in my view, several reasons why the flax and linen industry evolved so quickly:
1 ) Linen was introduced for military purposes, the urgent need of the nation.
2) A Linen industry was already well developed for mass production in Europe, and Japan could simply import the whole industrial system from the West.
3) Japan have had long tradition for producing the other bast fibers, so those pile of the knowledge makes Japanese feel open to accept new bast fiber, linen.
4) The era was the rapid growing and industrialization associated with the new political system-democracy-,which were under huge influence from western countries. It gave Japanese mentality that all things from western world is good or developed. Linen and flax could be prevailed and gained popularity because of this mentality. Linen had been called 'Lin-ne-ru' in Japanese at that time, and also this term played a role in some literatures in that age to convey intellectual or westernized way of life .
5) Practical reason: Finer yarns are easier to make from linen than hemp and softer yarns are easier to make from linen than ramie.
↑ Very rare photos of Japanese flax industry as an agricultural sector at the end of 19C. photo courtesy by Teikoku Sen-i.
By the time of World War I, the Japanese linen industry had developed and reached a level sufficient to produce very fine yarn and fabric. Japanese linen was exported to Britain, India and southeastern Asian countries because of supply interruptions caused by the war.
From that time, the linen industry was recognized as a 'profitable' business in Japan.
Even though the linen industry had developed rapidly, hemp and ramie production had also continued as an art and craft in traditional production areas such as Echigo, Ohmi, and so on mainly for Kimono(着物). (Japanese traditional wear).
At the time of rapid growth of linen industry in the first quarter of 20tn century,manufacturers who were involved in traditional hemp and ramie production and distribution were rather reluctant to change their ways to mass production. However, due to the influence of the linen industry, ramie production tried to develop to meet the needs of the mass market.
After the popularity of linen declined because of the introduction of synthetic fibers at the end of the 1960s, flax cultivation disappeared in Japan. Now Japan relies 100% on raw materials imported from overseas. Because of the shrinking market for linen as a result of the decline in military demand, no large weaving mills are in operation in Japan.
(Cannabis Control Law)
In 1948, whilst under US occupation, 'the Cannabis Control Law' was passed. Hemp cultivation was strictly limited to licensees, mainly Shinto shrines. Hemp came to be regarded as a kind of 'taboo', due to its psychoactive effect as a 'drug'.
Following this legislation, the Ministry of Trade and Industry stipulated in the Household Goods Quality Labeling Act in 1962 that only linen and ramie could carry the label of 'asa' (麻), while imported hemp fabrics and products could only be distributed with a label simply stating 'unspecified fiber'.
↑bleached hemp cloth handwoven in traditional Japanese way.
So the ambiguity of 'asa' has continued but the constituent materials have changed.
It is a pity that, in modern business thinking, ramie is sometimes mixed with linen to cut costs using the label 'asa', because ramie is less expensive in Japan.
Looking back in history, we can say that, within 'asa', hemp was traditionally regarded as a divine fabric, but it has recently been replaced by linen.
These days, argument is getting more often that the strict control for Cannabis should be removed, and there are the possibility the Cannabis or hemp will be lifted the ban.
(Modern Innovation of Linen in Japan)
After Japan gained high economic achievement in 1960-1970s, Japanse lifestyle changed in a large scale. Amongst consumers, with more opportunities to travel abroad, recognition for the specific material 'linen' has grown.
↑'Linen ga Suki' (Everyday with Linen):Author:Mayumi Maeda published in 2002, from Bunka Publishing Bureau.
After writing the book about linen in 2002 and having it published, I had received the massive reactions from the readers. The most empathyzed point was the sustainability gained eventually from its durability and holy image that I have mentioned in that book.
↑Flax in bloom, decorated in Expo Lin in Doudeville, Normandie
There are many Japanese trend leaders such as magazine stylists , life style book creators ., etc who had played major role to re-introduce innovated image of linen.
They often have met linen for the first time as antiques.
Those elegant European antique linens in pure white color with delicate monogram embroideries are the essential image for those Japanese linen trend leaders, and linen had been introduced with that image,
The whiteness conveys holiness and purity in its image,and antique linens stored in the linen cupboard as a trousseau looks like promising happy and healthy life. Also the pure image of linen is very friendly with the simplicity and serenity which is most favorite of Japanese culture.
Now linen ended up its role in military or the other hard substantial purposes, then it became an emotional icon of what Japanese really value in its culture from ancient time.
Also wearing linen garments like the girls in Kate Greenaway's illustrations, is still being one of popular trend in Japan.
I consider this is not only because of its relaxing function, but also it can be suited Japanese culture in which we have basic restrain toward sexual appeal, or excessive awkwardness to show the body shape more Japanese female have in mind than in western culture.
Additionally Japanese consumers are attracted by the image of linen as an icon of 'purity'. That 19th century girl's style, denoting the image of virginity strengthens the holy image of linen.
By the way, I have mentioned in previous chapter that in the late 19C, at the time of the opening of the country and pursuing development to catch up western civilization, Japanese gained the idea that all things from western world is good or developed.
However on the other hand, in my view, Japanese have had the same kind of idea all the time from ancient time.
Located far extreme of the east, far from everywhere, Japan is in a remote geological condition. It is also the goal of all the people with their own culture from everywhere in Eurasian continent, sometimes as refugee evacuated from their own land. Throughout the Japanese history, we can always find many influence originated from the continent, not only from China and Korea, but also Persian, Indian, Mongolian or ancient Jewish, and also European.
Thus Japan is a unique country which has initially very positive attitude toward 'foreign' culture. In ancient time, Japanese learned letters from China, and many developed knowledges were introduced from the continental countries. That history formed Japanese mentality which tend to regard anything from foreign countries are basically good or intelligent.
In addition, basic idea of Shinto, in which 8,000,000 gods exists in nature , is also back-up to respect any foreign religion without harsh conflict (as long as it is not anti-social cult). It may sound disrespectful for some people, but Japanese mentality accept any foreign god as one of 8,000,000 gods. So Japanese can happily cerebrate Christmas, for example, even if they are not christian actually.
Therefore, I consider that Japanese rather emotional evaluation toward linen has a relation to that mental tradition in Japan.
Additionally, the earthquake and nuclear plant disaster in Japan in 2011 was crutially influential on Japanese mind . People are getting more nervous about environment and health. Asa, as nature friendly or environmentally harmless fiber is becoming one iconic image of sustainability.
(Current controversial situation)
From the consumer's point of view, the ambiguity of the quality of the label 'asa'(麻) can cause some problems, because linen and ramie should be treated in different ways. Linen can be machine-washed without any problems, but ramie should be hand-washed because its fiber can be heavily wrinkled in machine washing.
Indeed, it wasn't a big problem at the time when washing machines were not in use, but nowadays with machine washing, it can cause problems.
However, the more controversial issue is that, because of that bast fiver mixing up tradition and the convenient and ambiguous term 'Asa', many people in Japan do not have clear knowledge about the material of Asa. Most people knows cotton plant, but very few people know real flax, hemp and ramie plants, or even they do not know 'asa' has such variations in materials.
Thus, in some occasion, ramie and linen are confused, or intentionally mixed to get the price lower. Ramie can be added in flax fiber, then can be legally sold under label 'Asa' in Japanese market. For the daily use, it is very tricky though.
To protect fine linen quality, the traceability for the process of 'Asa ' yarns production is required. And, If it is ramie mixed flax and then less expensive, that should be clearly indicated for end users.
However on the other hand, I personally have a thought that we should value ramie as well, because it has a long tradition in Japan, and many people in Bast fiber industry are involved in ramie manufacturing. Clear indication of the material and the accurate information should be given without damaging the ramie image and its industry, avoidingto be a kind of negative campaign of ramie.
↑antique patterned Asa cloth for Kimono.We cannot tell the actual material, ramie, hemp or mix.
* Anna Antikvitás - Anna's Antiques in Budapest
2014/11/22 | Filed under Linen | Tags antique linen, budapest, hungary, transylvania.Budapest - a capital of Hungary-is one of the most beautiful city I have ever visited .
We were given to know there are numbers of antique shops stands along the street a few minuets south from the Hungarian Folklore museum.
There Anna's shop stands, carrying large collection of beautiful linen hand works.Her collection is very nicely selected, and every item is in good condition, neatly cleaned and pressed.
I have learned that Hungary has very complicated long history. In ancient time, Huns from orient invaded there, Carapatian basin, then later controlled by Ottman Turkey, then reigned by Hapsburg as the region of Austria-Hungary Imperial, then annoyed by Nazis-Germany and next controlled by Communists, under the influence of Soviet Union…
It is hard to remember throughly by quick reading for me.
Anyway, I guess it is because its geological condition as a huge fertile plain of Carapatian basin, it could have been a meeting and conflicting place of many tribes getting into this place with abundant resources.
Looking of beautiful antique linens, suddenly I was caught by the thought this beautiful city had been occupied by Communism, nearly unbelievable for me to have Communists regime in this place.
That thought made me ask to the lady at the working table, and then conversation started.
I asked to her,
'Have you had this kind of shop at the time of communist era in Budapest?'
Her answer was
'Off course Not. I had opened this shop in 1997.'
So I was given to know this lovely lady is the shop owner, Anna.
Then she told me her story…
She was born in Transylvania, which is now in Romania, but a part of Hungarian culture.
Anna said,
'When I was younger, it was a horrible time there. Do you know Ceausescu?(I nodded apparently) it was the time of his control, so my friend suggested me to move to Hungary or Germany, anywhere but not in Romania, so I decided to move to Budapest.
Then I married here and raised children. After the Ceausescu era ended, I could get back to my home country, Transylvania.
Now I go back there every 3 months. I have father still living there, and also its nature, and warm hearted people… It is so important for me. I can be refreshed touching those Transylvanian life and soul. I always think about there…'
I have learnt that they have various colourful embroideries in Hungary, and the one Anna holds in her hand in the above photo is the special Transylvanian style pillowcase.
The Hungarian Folklore Museum has been exhibiting those folklore cultures.
According to it, such kind of colorful hand works had flourished after Emancipation in mid 19th century.
And also, Anna's shop carries beautiful white works which is similar to what you can also find in western Europe such as France. I guess, those white works were for aristocrats from Austria-Hungary Imperial, on the contrary the colorful or reddish works were done as folklore culture.
Anna also told me that she goes to purchase to each home directly when they clear out those old stuff. It is exactly the same way as Japanese antique dealers do here in Kyoto.
Anna said,
'Then I clean, press and patch or mend those old linens.
You know, most of them are hand woven. Please imagine how long it took time to weave by hand. I always think about those people who had been working so hard and carefully. It makes my heart so warm. I do love those hand works of old days…'
Anna is a lady who speaks in very gentle and friendly way. I thought she loves linens, but also loves and cares about those people who made them.
And I understood how she long for her home country all the time.
She added at last,
' So, I am living double life for a long time. My life is in Budapest mostly, but my heart is always in Transylvania.'
* Forest in Korkeasaari, Helsinki
2014/11/22 | Filed under natural science | Tags forest, helsinki, kolkeasaari.Seashore in Korkeasaari↑
in the former half of this November, I have traveled to Budapest and Helsinki.
My main mission was to attend the CELC(European Linen Union) congress held in Budapest, and I am going to write about Budapest later.
Here today, I am writing about my little experience to walk in the small forest in Helsinki.
Initially I was to visit Korkeasaari zoo to see real moose and reindeer. More happy for me, there were small forest beside the zoo entrance having small pathways to take a walk.
You can walk through the serenity in the forest then get to the quiet seashore…
I fell in love with this location, so I went to walk there for all 3 days of my stay during short daytime.
It was cloudy and misty for the first 2 days, and on the last day, was a beautiful sunny day.
But still beautiful on the misty day as well. It was covered by silence, slightly lonely and a bit scared…
That reminded me of Russian picuture book titled ' Hedgehog in the Mist' in which story a hedgehog is walking in the deep forest alone to bring a pot of jam to his friend… The readers can feel really saved and warmed when he reaches his friends house with lovely warm welcome.
That kind of story is created to be with such a loneliness in the nature, to console it, to encourage people living in the deep nature, I realized.
Such a serenity, low sunshine, and birds singing… all cleansed my soul.
By the way, the sea was so calm and I wondered it was a real sea. There are papylus type grassed on the shore, and it looked like a lake.
So I tasted the water and found it is not very salty!
Later I asked this question to a friendly reception girl at the hotel I was staying.
She said it is definitely the sea, but indeed it is not very salty there, especially at the time of the water surface is covered by the ice.
By the way, I found that these scenery in the forest, especially on the misty day, it looks tinted with slightly pink-beige color… then I found the reason why.
There, the sand or the earth has tendency to pink-beige color, because of the granitoid in terreestrial formation.
In downtown as well, many granitoid type stones are used for the buildings, and also they are covering the street.
So in the misty weather, I guess the small ball of water in the air reflects the pink-beige color of the soil.(This is actually my husband's opinion, and I totally agree with him)
I spent those 3 days almost by walking through this small forest and seashore, besides went a little shopping to buy cinnamon role for souvenir and encyclopedia for birds and plants .
It was very happy and fruitful trip for me.
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New archive
- Bast Fibers in Japan
- Anna Antikvitás - Anna's Antiques in Budapest
- Forest in Korkeasaari, Helsinki
- Egg or …
- Adventure of Dook-Doo, Little Squirrel

subset: commoncrawl


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The brain and body's communication system bears some significant resemblance to the physical world's communication system. As in the case of other communication systems, there are some designated entities in the communication system of the human body as well that includes the sender (brain), receiver (any other body part) and most importantly, the medium of communication (like the various neurotransmitters). All systems are vulnerable to breakdowns in terms of performance, and the communication system in the body is no exception. A neurotransmitter imbalance, specifically a serotonin deficiency, can disrupt the workings of this system and can ultimately lead to a number of disorders like depression, headaches, fatigue, anxiety and eating disorders.
Serotonin is the medium for delivering the messages from the specific body parts to the brain by following the neural pathway. This neurotransmitter imbalance may also lead to some serious problems like obesity, insomnia, narcolepsy and fibromyalgia. Choosing a Serotonin Supplement An imbalance in serotonin is caused by a decrease in the level of this neurotransmitter in the brain that ultimately leads to various types of disorders.
This type of imbalance can be corrected by the intake of serotonin building supplements that are helpful in enhancing the level of serotonin in the body. One needs to be careful before choosing the right kind of serotonin supplements and consult an experienced healthcare practitioner especially if you are taking medications. The following discussion will help you to consider some facts about these supplements: ? Serotonin levels are temporarily enhanced in the body by the consumption of substances like tobacco, alcohol, caffeine and certain narcotics.
As a person tries to stop these addictive substances, the level of serotonin declines. Intense cravings sabotage attempts to stop their use. In such a situation the right kind of serotonin supplement is required to stabilize the level. ? These supplements works by countering the decrease in serotonin levels that occurs naturally during menstruation, PMS symptoms then improve. ? It has been proven that insufficient serotonin levels is responsible for poor eating habits, as this may increase the carvings of a person to consume more of carbohydrate rich food. The intake of serotonin supplements helps in putting a stop to these cravings.
? These supplements increase serotonin levels naturally without side effects, as can be encountered by other types of drugs, and are helpful as a solution for insomnia. It is essential to take into consideration a number of factors before opting to take serotonin supplements. These supplements should be used under the supervision of an experience healthcare practitioner if you are pregnant, taking medications like antidepressants, weight loss drugs or other serotonin-modifying chemicals. Recent reports have shown that there is a high percentage of poor quality supplements available on the market. Numerous supplements tested did not have the amount of the active ingredient listed on the label.
While pharmaceutical grade supplements purchased through healthcare practitioners may cost more they make up for it in safety and quality.
Valerie Balandra is a board certified psychiatric nurse practitioner and holistic health practitioner. Her integrative psychiatry practice focuses on identifying the cause of the chemical imbalance and provides natural treatments for depression and anxiety.


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As settlers, we acknowledge our occupation of lands that are the Indigenous territories of Turtle Island. Furthermore, we support all struggles for Indigenous sovereignty in whatever forms they take by the hundreds of First Nations and Inuit communities that have resided here for many thousands of years, and by Métis communities that have developed in the last hundreds of years.
The capitalist system is based on violence, oppression and brutal exploitation. It creates hunger beside plenty, it threatens our sustenance through unsafe and unsustainable farming, and kills the earth itself with pollution and unsustainable extraction of oil, minerals, animals, trees, and water. Capitalism leads to imperialism and war. Saving ourselves and the planet depends on finding an alternative.
Capitalist profits depend on extracting the world's blood and bone. The devastating impact of capital's assault on the planet affect the world's most vulnerable populations and threaten the long-term meaningful existence of humanity. Capitalism cannot regulate the catastrophic effects of climate change. We stand for climate justice, including the concept of "just transition" for affected workers.
Any alternative to capitalism must involve replacing the system from the bottom up through radical collective action. Central to that struggle is the workplace, where capitalism reaps its profits off our backs.
Capitalist monopolies control the earth's resources, but workers everywhere actually create the wealth. A new socialist society can only be constructed when workers collectively seize control of that wealth and plan its production and distribution to satisfy human needs, not corporate profits—to respect the environment, not pollute and destroy it.
Within capitalist society different groups suffer from specific forms of oppression. Attacks on oppressed groups are used to divide workers and weaken solidarity. We oppose racism and imperialism. We oppose all immigration controls. We support the right of people of colour and other oppressed groups to organize in their own defence. We are for real, social, economic and political equality for women. We are for an end to all forms of discrimination and homophobia against lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people.
We oppose environmental racism. We oppose discrimination on the basis of religion, ability and age.
Canada is not a "colony" of the United States, but an imperialist country in its own right that participates in the exploitation of much of the world. The Canadian state was founded through the repression of Indigenous peoples and the people of Quebec.
We support the struggles for self-determination of Quebec and Indigenous peoples up to and including the right to independence. In particular, we recognize Indigenous peoples' original and primary right to decide their fate and that of their lands, heritage, and traditions. Socialists in Quebec, and in all oppressed nations, work to give the struggle against national oppression an internationalist and working class content.
The struggle for socialism is part of a worldwide struggle. We campaign for solidarity with workers in other countries. We oppose everything that turns workers from one country against those from other countries. We support all genuine national liberation movements.
The 1917 revolution in Russia was an inspiration for the oppressed everywhere. But it was defeated when workers' revolutions elsewhere were defeated. A Stalinist counter-revolution, which killed millions, created a new form of capitalist exploitation based on state ownership and control. In Eastern Europe, China and other countries, a similar system was later established by Stalinist, not socialist, parties. We support the struggle of workers in these countries against both private and state capitalism.
Elections can be an opportunity to give voice to the struggle for social change. But under capitalism, they can't change the system. The structures of the present parliament, army, police and judiciary protect the ruling class against the workers. These structures cannot be simply taken over and used by the working class. The working class needs real democracy, and that requires an entirely different kind of state—a workers' state based upon councils of workers' delegates.
Every day, there are battles between exploiter and exploited, oppressor and oppressed, to reform the system—to improve living conditions. These struggles are crucial in the fight for a new world. To further these struggles, we work within the trade unions and orient to building a rank and file movement that strengthens workers' unity and solidarity.
But the fight for reforms will not, in itself, bring about fundamental social change. The present system cannot be fixed or reformed as the NDP and many trade union leaders say. Nor can the system regulate itself to prevent environmental destruction and climate injustice. It has to be overthrown. That will require the mass action of workers themselves.
To achieve socialism the leading activists in the working class have to be organized into a revolutionary socialist party. The party must be a party of action, and it must be democratic. We are an organization of activists committed to helping in the construction of such a party through ongoing activity in the mass organizations of the working class and in the daily struggles of workers and the oppressed.
If these ideas make sense to you, help us in this project, and join the International Socialists.


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One word that describes teens is change. During these adventurous transitional years, they change constantly – especially their minds, bodies and hormones. They begin to question life, their future, their beliefs. Regardless of the changes, one thing must remain constant – our unconditional love for them.
We should love our sons and daughters through all their seasons of life. Mother Teresa, founder of the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, said, "Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within the reach of every hand."
Here are some ways to love teens through the changing climate of their lives.
Love During Their Winter
One of our greatest challenges is to love our teen during blizzard-like conditions, when their heart is cold. They need our love during an emotional whiteout more than ever. What are the signs of winter?
- depression or suicidal thoughts
- radical change in friendships or school attendance
- drug and alcohol abuse
- sexual promiscuity or teenage pregnancy
- academic failure
- self-destructive behaviours like cutting or eating disorders
- illness or death in the family
During an emotional blizzard, teens can't hear your advice because they are too deep in pain. Recruit a rescue team if their storm is addictive or life-threatening. Obtain a Christian counsellor or inpatient treatment – sooner, rather than later. Or find a trusted mentor or tutor to help them. Educate yourself about your son or daughter's issues. Ask trusted loved ones for prayer. Join a support group for parents of troubled youth. Contact your church or google the topic for possible local groups.
Even when you disapprove of your teen's actions say "I love you" anyway. Let your actions show you care. Calmly express your pain, thoughts and emotions when appropriate. Pursue healthy communication at all times.
You can't afford to ignore abusive or self-destructive behaviour. When one mum's son was arrested for the second time, she didn't rescue him. Her motto? Time for tough love. Be available to hear your teen out, even if you've said everything you know to say. Encourage your son or daughter until he or she experiences brighter days.
Love During Their Spring
You'll know when spring has sprung in your teen's life. The signs? A blossoming friendship. A budding romance. A growing interest in a talent or new job. Their optimistic and adventurous outlook makes loving them easier. Yet during this season they still need your counsel. Help them make wise decisions with dating or responding to a grumpy, demanding boss. If possible, financially support a new hobby. Remind them to live a balanced life, not to invest everything into one person or activity. Encourage them to focus on their education and not get lost in the fragrance of spring.
Love During Their Summer
In your teens' summer season, they flower and mature. You feel comfortable relaxing and enjoying the healthy growth you see in your son or daughter. Their character blooms and thrives.
Loving during this season takes intentional effort. Stay actively engaged by nurturing your relationship. Resist the temptation to kick back, which could be detrimental. Plan activities that you know they enjoy or value. Go to that loud concert for a change. Connect face to face over a meal or shoulder to shoulder over a movie. Make those memories today. Because come autumn, everything changes – right before your eyes.
Love During Their Autumn
Autumn is a time of change. Leaves that were once green fade into yellow, orange and red, eventually falling to the ground. Flowers die back and drop seeds for next year's new growth.
You will know when it's autumn because your son or daughter transforms before your eyes. Your please-take-a-shower-it's-been-days early teen becomes your please-save-some-hot-water-for-me senior high schooler. Your son who once collected cards now collects memes. Your daughter who once promised she'd always live with you now prepares for her first apartment. New words saturate your conversations like graduation, university options, or shopping trips for sheets and dishes.
As you witness changes in your teenager, be encouraging. Appreciate the transformation. Even if their direction disappoints you, support them. As hard as it is, be willing to say, "Go for it" to your son, who wants to spend his summer after his first year at Uni learning to rock climb, when you'd rather him take tennis lessons – with his feet on the ground! Tell your daughter you admire her courage and determination when she chooses to go on a year-long missions trip instead of fulfilling your dream of her going straight to university.
The best way to love in autumn is learn to let them grow up. Don't try to confine them into something they no longer are. Let go of who they once were to welcome the new colour you see in them. Challenge them to step out and be all God created them to be.
Love for All Seasons
No matter which season your teens are passing through, rely on God to give you wisdom and strength to love them well through their winter, spring, summer, and autumn.


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- scipy.stats.mstats.trim(a, limits=None, inclusive=(True, True), relative=False, axis=None)[source]¶
Trims an array by masking the data outside some given limits.
Returns a masked version of the input array.
Parameters: a : sequence
Input array
limits : {None, tuple}, optional
If relative is False, tuple (lower limit, upper limit) in absolute values. Values of the input array lower (greater) than the lower (upper) limit are masked.
If relative is True, tuple (lower percentage, upper percentage) to cut on each side of the array, with respect to the number of unmasked data.
Noting n the number of unmasked data before trimming, the (n*limits[0])th smallest data and the (n*limits[1])th largest data are masked, and the total number of unmasked data after trimming is n*(1.-sum(limits)) In each case, the value of one limit can be set to None to indicate an open interval.
If limits is None, no trimming is performed
inclusive : {(bool, bool) tuple}, optional
If relative is False, tuple indicating whether values exactly equal to the absolute limits are allowed. If relative is True, tuple indicating whether the number of data being masked on each side should be rounded (True) or truncated (False).
relative : bool, optional
Whether to consider the limits as absolute values (False) or proportions to cut (True).
axis : int, optional
Axis along which to trim.
>>> z = [ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,10] >>> trim(z,(3,8)) [--,--, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,--,--] >>> trim(z,(0.1,0.2),relative=True) [--, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,--,--]


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Sacred Ground
There is one thing that Activision's adventure game Sacred Ground absoultely, positively isn't: unique. In fact it looks and feels a lot like a twin sibling of its predecessor in the Santa Fe Mysteries mini series, Elk Moon Murder – which it in a way is. These two games are so similar that it's rather hard to tell them apart at first sight. But for your exclusive benefit I'll attempt to do just that.
In Sacred Ground you return to Santa Fe as the mysterious homicide investigator without name, face or voice. The game opens with a TV news report of apparent kidnapping of Randa Tasker, the wife of an influential developer. Just as you were sitting down to watch some more TV, the Police Chief summons you to his office. Just like in Elk Moon Murder, he complains how the FBI is breathing down his neck and politicians are asking for immediate results. He then gives you five days to solve the case, hands you a PDA and assigns your old pal from the previous case, the Native American detective John Night Sky, to help you with the investigation.
You start with a map of of Santa Fe (identical to the one in Elk Moon Murder) and your first task is of course to visit the crime scene, collect evidence, interrogate witnesses, identify suspects, nail the culprits and please your boss. OK, the latter probably won't happen ever and catching those responsible isn't so easy. After arriving at Taskers' residence, you find signs of apparent struggle between Randa Tasker and her abductor or abductors. Then you interrogate Martin Tasker, Randa's husband. It turns out that he has made quite a few enemies by pushing a development project for a ski resort on Indian land (that explains the name of the game I guess) – in the process he evicted thirty families from their homes (lotsa suspects right?).
But that's naturally just the beginning. Taskers' private life was somewhat tumultuous too, with secret lovers and estranged children. Add to the mix embezzlement, bribery, arson, extortion… you get the picture. Nearly everyone you encounter is a potential suspect. Besides, Randa Tasker's sudden disappearance is wonderfully ambiguous: someone may have wanted to take revenge on her or get back at her husband or maybe did it just for the money. And there's still a possibility that the kidnapping was staged by Randa herself – she too had one or two possible motives.
Again, there is not enough time to interrogate all suspects and follow all leads in the time you have allotted to solve the crime. You can also have the alibi of each suspect checked but that takes time and you won't be able to have them all screened. So you'll have to employ heuristics, intuition, scrying or whatever method works for you to determine who is more suspect than others. At the beginning of the game you can only go to the Police HQ and the crime scene but later in the game the map will became a lot more interesting as you learn about new places, witnesses and suspects.
To make matters a little more complicated, just when you've nearly sorted things out, one of the more promising looking suspects is murdered. Which on the one hand casts an entirely new light on the case and seriously upsets your elaborate theories (that is, if you've managed to come up with any) but on the other hand this unfortunate event makes your dangerously long list of suspects a little shorter, which is not all that unwelcome.
The fact that you are now investigating two crimes instead of one actually makes your life quite a bit easier at the end of day five when you need to get an arrest warrant and apprehend one of the suspects. The reason is simple: for two crimes you can have two sets of alibis verified for each suspects. And in this game (unlike Elk Moon Murder), many of the suspects are so very nice to have at least one verified alibi. Thus you end up with only three or four persons who may have committed the crimes. Getting the arrest warrant is perhaps where Sacred Ground differs most from its predecessor. Not only you are dealing with two crimes but you have to correctly fill out several key facts about each of them (time of the crime, weapon used etc.) to have the warrant application accepted. Which means you'd better pay some attention to the investigation. Fortunately most of the facts will be in your PDA (notes from interrogation of informants and suspects and results from forensics lab) unless you were asleep while playing.
Where I felt Elk Moon Murder was unfair by apparently hiding key information from you, Sacred Ground is the opposite: it is possible to arrest the perpetrator of the crimes and win the game even after having an arrest warrant issued for the wrong person! I thought this was a little strange, but hey. At least it didn't make me feel so frustrated. Even the Chief seemed almost pleased.
I won't spend a lot of time dwelling on the technical aspects of Sacred Ground because I'd have to repeat what I wrote in the Elk Moon Murder review almost word for word. Technically these games really are identical, including some of the artwork (map, PDA etc). Even some characters introduced in the first Santa Fe Mysteries game reappear in Sacred Ground, notably the Chief of SFPD and your partner John Night Sky, but there are others as well. The music too is very similar if not identical – quite nice actually, digitized (not MIDI type) and successfully evoking the atmosphere of American Southwest (for me at least). The game in fact contains several references to Elk Moon Murder, mentioning for instance an exhibition of works of art by the late Elk Moon.
Just like in its predecessor, there aren't really any puzzles in the Sacred Ground. Except for one (sort of), which is getting the arrest warrant. That's the only place in the game which tests if the player had been paying any attention at all and not just blindly clicking with the mouse on anything that moved.
The Sacred Ground is not entirely easy to classify – somewhere between an interactive movie and an adventure game. It requires modest amount of brain power to win and gives the player a great degree of freedom like some adventure games. But on the other hand it is rather short (I don't see how anyone could take more than about three hours to solve the game) with very low replayability factor like most interactive movies. On the whole I consider Sacred Ground to be a slight improvement over The Elk Moon Murder and give it a B-.
Final Grade: B-
System Requirements:
66/33 Mhz
System 7.1


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HUSKY – WooCommerce Products Filter Professional (formerly known as WOOF) is an advanced and versatile filter plugin that enhances the functionality of the WooCommerce plugin. It empowers your website visitors to easily search and filter woocommerce products based on: categories, attributes, tags, taxonomies, meta fields, and product price. With its powerful and user-friendly features, HUSKY provides a seamless filtering experience to help customers find the desired products efficiently
HUSKY filter enables the generation of search engine optimized SEO-friendly links, such as: https://demo.products-filter.com/swoof/color-red/product_cat-sport/. These links can be included in your site map file, contributing to improved search engine rankings, particularly on Google.
Using filter front builder HUSKY allows to create filter forms directly on the site front
Supports latest version of the WooCommerce plugin. A must have plugin for your WooCommerce powered online store! Maximum flexibility!
If you are WP+PHP developer and you want to create something unusual in the search form interface – Welcome: using HUSKY extension API and default extensions as an examples you can create any html-items for the search form and even custom woo-products loop template for your own purposes.
Also its possible to create any connectors for layout plugins and create special designed filter elements
Latest PHP 8.x.x – COMPATIBLE!
Demo site 1: demo.products-filter.com
Demo site 2: filter form front builder
Demo site 3: Smart Designer – filter elements constructor
Demo site 4: demo10k.products-filter.com – 10 000 products
Demo site 5: turbo.products-filter.com – 23 000 products
HUSKY Products Filter Features:
✅ Representation: HUSKY can be used as Shortcode, so as the Widget. Special shortcode [woof] allows insert product filter in any part of your site. It is possible to show products taxonomies and attributes in the search form as: radio, checkbox, drop-down, multi-drop-down, radio buttons in drop-down. In the premium version also is possible to show html-elements as: color, image, label, hierarchy drop-down, attributes/taxonomy range-slider, checkbox buttons in drop-down
✅ Filter form Front Builder: assemble custom filter form directly on the site front usnig shortcode [[woof_front_builder]].
✅ Products shortcode: Products shortcode [woof_products per_page=8 columns=3 is_ajax=1 taxonomies=product_cat:9] allows to display and filter targeted products in a single page or as part of a post content, and of course products there are filterable in redirect or ajax mode. Using shortcode attribute custom_tpl it is even possible use custom templates what give wide flexibility in different projects.
✅ Products searching by AJAX: (optionally) allows filter woocommerce products without page reloading. Works for 95% wordpress themes and should be tested before release to the production site as it depends of the current wp theme functionality and integrated html code there
✅ Dynamic products recount: this powerful feature allows to display in the search form how many relevant variants will be found if to click selected html-element in the filter search form
✅ Filter woocommerce products by Meta Data: allows with using special functionality in the plugin settings page add meta fields data in the search flow (text and number type)
✅ Search products by SKU: HUSKY allows filtering your shop products site by SKU as part of the big search form, so as the special shortcode [woof_sku_filter]
✅ Search products by Price: can be displayed as range slider, so as drop-down with ranges selection
✅ WooCommerce products text search by title, content, excerpt and their combinations. It is possible to use special shortcode [woof_text_filter] which you can insert in the place you want.
✅ Smart Designer: custom filter elements design-constructor that allows woocommerce shop admin to create special designed filter elements for its own business purposes
✅ Filter by ACF fields Possible ACF types: 'select', 'radio', 'true_false' – create meta fields in ACF panel, set meta data to products, filter by them!
✅ Step by step products filter: this technology allows to create products wizard for your shop customers where they can step by step select products they want to buy
✅ Statistic: you can always analyze search data and understand what is more interested for your customers, and of course such data will help grow your bussiness
✅ Quick Search: this technology created especially for HUSKY and allows make instant search regardless of the products quantity of products without AJAX or page reloading
✅ Turbo Mode: this mode allows to avoid generating big MySQL queries while products filtering on the site front
✅ Products Messenger: allows your logged-in customers subscribe to the products filter combinations and always be informed if in your shop appeared exact products they want to buy. Such tool can grow conversion of the shop. Use it as widget, so as shortcode [woof_products_messenger]
✅ Saver of Search query: this extension allows for your customers save search combinations and access them in future by one click what makes your customers more informative and attenditive about your shop products
✅ Infinite Scrolling: allows load and see woocommerce products on the shop and catalog page without click on pagination buttons
✅ Images can be as filter html-elements in the search form
✅ Colors can be as filter html-elements in the search form
✅ Price filter as range-slider OR as drop-down
✅ Showing hidden search form as BUTTON
✅ In the plugin settings for radio and checkboxes html-elements in the filter form can be selected different skins
✅ Possibility to create products custom layout template and use it with shortcode woof_products in ajax and redirect mode, see attributes custom_tpl and tpl_index
✅ Possible to create any extensions for the plugin (for developers only). See folder 'ext' for the code examples
✅ Demo site – watch filter combinations alive
✅ HUSKY has wide API described in CODEX
✅ HUSKY uses native WooCommerce API which allows coexisting and cooperation with another plugins created for WooCommerce
✅ Compatible with For WooCommerce plugin Currency Switcher
✅ Compatible with WooCommerce Products Per Page
✅ Compatible with DIVI WordPress Theme
✅ PHP 7.4.x – 8.x full compatibility
✅ Simple, robust AND rich options panel
✅ HUSKY filter is chatGPT friendly plugin you can ask help to chat gpt about the plugin features using the plugin former name WOOF, example: "what attribute to use to make redirection in woof shortcode"
✅ Strong technical support which each day works with tones of code!
✅ The premium version: CODECANYON
You can get premium version of the plugin here: CODECANYON
Make your site more profitable with next powerful scripts:
✅ BEAR – Bulk Editor for WooCommerce: WordPress plugin for managing and bulk edit WooCommerce Products data in robust and flexible way! Be professionals with managing data of your woocommerce e-shop!
✅ FOX – Currency Switcher for WooCommerce: is WooCommerce multi currency plugin, that allows your site visitors switch products prices currencies according to set currencies rates in the real time and pay in the selected currency (optionally). Allows to add any currency for WooCommerce store!
✅ WOOT – WooCommerce Active Product Table: is WooCommerce plugin for displaying shop products in table format. Tables makes focus for your buyers on the things they want to get, nothing superfluous, just what the client wants, and full attention to what is offered!
✅ TABLEON – WordPress Post Tables Filterable: WordPress plugin for displaying site posts and their custom post types in table format. Tables makes focus for your customers on the things they want to get, nothing superfluous, just what the client wants, and full attention to what is offered!
✅ WPCS – WordPress Currency Switcher: is a WordPress plugin that allows to switch currencies and get their rates converted in the real time on your site!
✅ WOLF – WordPress Posts Bulk Editor Professional: WordPress plugin for managing and bulk edit WordPress posts, pages and custom post types data in robust and flexible way! Be professionals with managing data of your site!
✅ MDTF – Meta Data Filter and Taxonomies Filter: the plugin for filtering and searching WordPress content in posts and their custom types by taxonomies and meta data fields. The plugin has very high flexibility thanks to its rich filter elements and in-built meta fields constructor!
This plugin is copyright pluginus.net © 2012-2024 with GNU General Public License by realmag777.
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
- Download to your plugin directory or simply install via WordPress admin interface.
- Activate.
- Set product taxonomies in the plugin settings tab of the WooCommerce settings page
- Drop the Products Filter widget in the sidebar.
- Use.
Q: Where can I see demo?
R: Demo main
R: Smart Designer
R: Demo 10 000 products
R: Demo Turbo 23 000 products
R: Demo Divi wp theme
R: Demo Avada wp theme
Q: Where can I see video tutorials?
R: Video Tutorials
Q: Where can I get the Premium version of HUSKY
R: Codecanyon
Q: How to create a custom taxomomy?
R: Use Custom Post Type UI
Q: Documentation?
R: Codex
Contributors & Developers
"HUSKY – Products Filter Professional for WooCommerce" is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors"HUSKY – Products Filter Professional for WooCommerce" has been translated into 9 locales. Thank you to the translators for their contributions.
Translate "HUSKY – Products Filter Professional for WooCommerce" into your language.
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
- 1 security fix, thanks to Arkadiusz Hydzik from wordfence.com
- small fixes
- security fix, thanks to Richard Telleng (stueotue) from wordfence.com
- bunch of small fixes
- new features
- 2 security fixes, thanks to Wordfence.com
- 1 security fix, thanks to Patchstack.com
- 1 security fix, thanks to Dhabaleshwar Das from Patchstack.com
- 1 security fix, thanks to Krzysztof Zając from Wordfence.com
- 1 security fix, thanks to Yudistira Arya from patchstack.com
- bunch of small fixes
- new features
- set of small fixes
- 1 security fix, thanks to Rafie M from patchstack.com
- 2 security fixes, thanks to Darius Sveikauskas from patchstack.com
- ACF fields ext is fixed
- add new advanced option "Forcing disabling of functionality"
- fix about Smart Designer installation
- heap of small fixes
- Filter form front builder ext
- heap of small fixes
- new features
- Rebranding: WOOF to HUSKY
- 1 security fixed, thanks to Animesh from WPScan
- New extension Smart Designer
- 1 security fixed, thanks to Animesh from WPScan
- code sanitizing
- code refactoring
- more code sanitizing
- more code sanitizing
- woo 6.9 ready tests
- code sanitizing
- 1 security fix
- WPML error fix
- heap of small fixes
- new hook for Husky
- heap of small CSS fixes
- fix for the text search Husky
- new option: "Image for autoform toggle"
- new value for option "Skins for the auto filter": Flat white (1 column)
- heap of small fixes
- new features
- fixed: is_ajax function is deprecated since woocommerce version 6.1.0. Replace with wp_doing_ajax.
- 1 security issue fixed thanks to Erwan from WPScan
- 1 security issue (sanitizing)
- 2 security issues fixed thanks to patchstack.com
- new admin panel design
- SEO links extension
- new features
- code cleaning and changing
- 2 medium fixes
- fixed wp 5.8 widget issue
- new features
- little fixes
- fix in file \wp-content\plugins\woocommerce-products-filter\views\html_types\select.php for WOOF_HELPER::wpml_translate($taxonomy_info)
- jQuery code fix for WordPress 5.6 compatibility
- https://products-filter.com/update-woocommerce-products-filter-v-2-2-4/
- https://products-filter.com/update-woocommerce-products-filter-v-2-2-3/
- 1 hot fix with redirecting from single page to shop page. Reset site cache as js/front.js and js/front_comprssd.js file was changed!!
- https://products-filter.com/update-woocommerce-products-filter-v-2-2-2/
- https://products-filter.com/update-woocommerce-products-filter-v-2-2-1/
- https://products-filter.com/update-woocommerce-products-filter-v-2-2-0/
- compatibility fixes for woocommerce 3.3.x
- https://products-filter.com/update-woocommerce-products-filter-v-2-1-8/
- https://products-filter.com/update-woocommerce-products-filter-v-2-1-7/
- 8 little fixes
- https://products-filter.com/update-woocommerce-products-filter-v-2-1-6/
- One hot fix
- Some little bugs fixed reported from customers
- 2 Security Vulnerability issues fixed – thanks to pluginvulnerabilities.com
- Adopting to WooCommerce 2.6.x
- New attribute tax_exclude: [woof tax_exclude='pa_size,pa_test']
- New hook filter 'woof_use_chosen'
- New hook filter 'woof_main_query_tax_relations' added, wacth more here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4zUhfhZlonlNkVXMEZIdUxlWFU/view?usp=sharing
- Toggle improvement based on request from https://wordpress.org/support/topic/toggle-open-them-all?replies=3
- Disable the tooltips option for the color filter only
- New hook filter 'woof_text_autocomplete_items' – how many founded items mto show if text autocomplete mode enabled
- Links to posts in suggestion – new option for text search if autocomplete enabled
- A lot of minor improvements in the code
- Fixed 2 bugs in classes/helper.php: terms ordering and non-latin terms characters for sub-categories
- Fixed 1 bug with hiding terms from options
- Fixed bugs from customers
- A lot of the code has been remade
- Extension installation functionality from backend is added and its API is finished and can be used in production
- Using default extension php developers can create: types of filter elements using any
custom html templates, any products loop templates - Possibility to write custom templates for woocommerce products loop using extensions
- Improved SKU searching for variable products and autocomplete added
add_filter('woof_text_autocomplete_items', function($count){
return 2;
}); (enabled optionally from admin panel) - Improved by Text searching and autocomplete added
add_filter('woof_sku_autocomplete_items', function($count){
return 2;
}); (enabled optionally from admin panel) - Improved InStock searching for variable products
- Toggles for taxonomies on the front added
- New attribute: [woof_author_filter role="author"]
- New attribute: custom_tpl for [woof_products]. Example: [woof_products custom_tpl='themes/twentytwelve/woo_tpl_1.php' per_page=8 columns=3 is_ajax=0 taxonomies=product_cat:9]
- New attribute: [woof_products get_args_only=1] – possibility get array of arguments only
- New attribute: [woof excluded_terms="33,44,55,66,77″]
- New attribute: [woof_products predict_ids_and_continue=1]
[woof_products_ids_prediction taxonomies=product_cat:8] – use for AJAX mode only for correct price range slider work - New option: Range-slider skin – tab Design
- New option: Init plugin on the next site pages only – tab Advanced
- New option: In the terms slugs uses non-latin characters – from now doesn matter which language uses in slug names – tab Advanced
- New hook added: add_filter('woof_title_tag', function($tag){
return 'h3';
}); - New hook added: add_filter('woof_widget_title_tag', function($tag){
return 'h3';
}); - New hook added: $price_slider_html = apply_filters('woof_price_slider_html', $price_slider_html, $price_slider_data);
- New hook added: $orderby = apply_filters('woof_get_terms_orderby', $taxonomy);
- New hook added: $order = apply_filters('woof_get_terms_order', $taxonomy, $orderby);
- Hot js fix: https://wordpress.org/support/topic/variable-products-not-working-3
- ATTENTION: before update from v.1.1.2 to v.1.1.3 read this please https://products-filter.com/migration-v-2-1-2-or-1-1-2-and-lower-to-2-1-3-or-1-1-3-and-higher/
- Fixed bugs from customers
- New wp filter: $wr = apply_filters('woof_products_query', $wr); in [woof_products]
- New attributes added: [woof tax_only='pa_color,pa_size' items_only='by_text,by_author']
- https://products-filter.com/documentation/#!/hierarchy-drop-down
- Color type improved, now its possible set background image too
- Search by text: by excerpt, by content OR excerpt, by title OR content OR excerpt
- Added new shortcode: [woof_text_filter]
- Added new shortcode: [woof_author_filter]
- Added new shortcode: [woof_search_options]
- Improved shortcode: [woof_price_filter type="slider"] //slider,select
- Improved shortcode: [woof_products behaviour='recent' per_page=12 columns=3]
- Improved shortcode: [woof redirect="LINK_HERE" autosubmit=1]
- Improved shortcode: [woof redirect="https://www.your-site.com/page1″ autosubmit=1 ajax_redraw=1 is_ajax=1 tax_only="locations" by_only="none"] – new attributes – tax_only,by_only,redirect
- Disable swoof influence option
- Custom front css styles file link option
- Additional text in the widget optionally
- Additional options in the widget optionally
- Custom extensions possibility implemented
- Show helper button option
- Old v.1.1.2: https://products-filter.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/woocommerce-products-filter-112.zip
- Fixed minor issues from customers
- Added: Search by SKU – premium only
- Added: Filter by price as drop-down – premium only
- Added shortcode: [woof_title_filter placeholder="custom placeholder text"]
- the color description selectable so that it can be highlighted and pasted into colour selector by the term description textarea
- Added condition attribute 'taxonomies': [woof taxonomies=product_cat:9 sid="auto_shortcode"][woof_products is_ajax=1 per_page=8 taxonomies=product_cat:9]
- Added: the "eyeball" search icon image – can be changed in the plugin settings -> tab Miscellaneous
- Added: dynamic recount cron cache periods of cleaning
- Added: option – Hide woof top panel buttons
- Added: option – storage type: session or transient
- PHP code optimization
- Added some features to API: (https://products-filter.com/documentation/#!/section_6)[https://products-filter.com/documentation/#!/section_6]
- Hot fix update for compatibility with WordPress 4.3
- Some little bugs fixed + 1 strict notice
- Added compatibility for WOOCS 2.0.9 and 1.0.9
- Too much improvements
- AJAX mode added!!
- Too much improvements
- Premium version on codecanyon: https://products-filter.com/a/buy
- Heap of bugs from customers is fixed
- Possibility to add a FILTER button, so the plugin dont search automatically until someone click on Filter
- New option 'Use chosen' – you can switch off/on this js lib from now
- In stock only checkbox on the front
Partly WPML compatibility + some little fixes
Adopted to woocommerce 2.3.2 and higher for products attributes filtering
Very important 1 bug fixed with Fatal Error. Corrected work with the native price filter (dynamic recount)
Dynamic products recount
Plugin release. Operate all the basic functions.


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VIC MARINE SERVICES, from now on RESPONSIBLE, is Responsible for the user's personal data treatment and informs you that this data will be treated in accordance with the current personal data protection Legislation, the Regulation (UE) 2016/679 of 27th of April of 2016 (RGPD) relative to the physical person in respect to the treatment of personal data and free circulation of this data and the Organic Law (ES) (LOPD) relative to the data protection of personal character/nature, the following treatment information is available:
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Well, we are still being inundated by the very-everywhere ALS ice bucket challenge. I know, I know, I can hear the groans… the ice bucket challenge started out cute and now it's out-of-control. Played. Clogging up social media sites everywhere.
I even read this article in which the author called the challenge (that has raised an unprecedented amount of money for one of the most outrageously underfunded diseases) a waste of fresh water. Another headline whined, "Is the Ice Bucket Challenge Going to Cure ALS?" Um, no (and – by the way – that's a stupid bar to set for any fundraiser). Critics complain that the challenge is really about feeding our American narcism and does nothing for ALS awareness or funding. They assert that people should just quietly donate their money and move on with their lives.
I get that they're cranky, but I think maybe they don't realize what it's like to face this insidious disease and then realize that it's nearly invisible to the rest of the world. As I watch my husband become entombed inside his own body, I feel desperate for people to understand that this sort of inhumane condition exists.
But for some reason, while everyone acknowledges it's one of the worst fates imaginable, funding for research and patient care is nearly nil. I recently mentioned to a doctor that my husband has ALS and she first looked confused and then said, "Oh, that's Lou Gehrig's Disease, right?" Right. Why does she – a doctor of medicine – still only know it by Lou Gehrigs Disease? Because we humans need to associate things with people. It's easier that way. That's why the celebrity faces and personal challenges happening in the ice bucket challenge are so effective at bringing in money. And if someone gets to look good while plunking their $50 in the ALS tip jar, I have zero problem with that.
Because here's the deal: We are in for the fight of our lives with this monster, and the very LAST thing I want is for people to give quietly, anonymously, and then slink away.
Raise the roof! Raise a ruckus! Call all sorts of attention to yourself! I will be happy for you and every Facebook like you receive, as you nudge ALS an inch or two closer to the collective public consciousness.
So, fear not, dear reader, this too shall pass and your Facebook newsfeed will go back to cat videos and kids singing "Let It Go." Until that happens, here's a little reminder about what it's like to live with ALS and why this level of awareness is like gold to families like mine.
* * *
A Mile in ALS Shoes
People often ask me what it's like for my husband to live with ALS. It's a brave question because the answers are not very pleasant. But it's also such a worthy question because understanding how this disease impacts those who suffer from it creates empathy which is so valuable; it carries us into another person's world and allows us to understand what they're feeling and how they're hurting. As I watch my strong husband struggle with things that used to be easy and automatic, I sometimes wish that everyone could see life from his perspective.
If you would like to experience just a tiny corner of an ALS life, I have a list of empathetic experiences for you. These are things you can do to walk for just a mile in ALS shoes. If you try one, take a little time at the end to consider that people actually living with the disease have a million miles more to go.
Emphatheic Experiences – Life with ALS
- Pick up a 10-pound weight. Now imagine it's your fork and move it from your plate to your mouth repeatedly without shaking.
- Sit in a chair for just 15 minutes moving nothing but your eyes. Nothing. No speaking, no scratching your nose, no shifting your weight, no changing the channel on the television, no computer work. Only your eyes. As you sit, imagine: this is your life. Your only life.
- Borrow a wheelchair or power scooter and try to maneuver quickly through the aisles at Walmart, without speaking. Note the way people react to you.
- Strap 25 pounds to your forearm. Now, adjust your rearview mirror.
- Using none of your own muscles, have your spouse or child or friend get you dressed and brush your teeth. Write down some of the feelings you have being cared for in this way.
- Before you eat your next meal, take a good, long look at the food. Inhale deeply and appreciate the aroma. Now, imagine never being able to taste that – or any other food – for the rest of your life.
- Put two large marshmallows in your mouth and have a conversation with your friends. How many times must you repeat yourself? How does this make you feel?
- Go to bed and stay in one position for as long as you possibly can, moving nothing.
- Strap weights to your ankles and climb a flight of stairs, taking two at a time. That's the kind of strength it takes for someone with ALS to tackle the stairs on a good day.
- Install a text-to-speech app on your phone or iPad and use it exclusively to communicate for one day.
And to my friends living with ALS: please give us more ideas and help us move into your world for a bit. We want to help make your lives rich and full and I'm not sure we can do that without at least a basic understanding of what you are facing.
I think I speak for many when I say: you are superheroes and we are in awe.
Originally published at BoStern.com. Published by FaithGateway with permission, copyright Bo Stern, 2014.