text:
Terms and Conditions
By instructing Austell Handyman; you accept that you have read and understood the following Terms & Conditions and consent to be bound by their content. For the purpose of these terms 'us' 'we' 'our' 'Austell Handyman' shall mean Austell Handyman by Top Handyman LLC, 'you' 'your' 'Client' 'Customer' shall mean the person instructing us to provide our services. 'Handyman', 'Technician' or 'Engineer' shall mean the individual/s carrying out the instructed service on site.
1. Basis of the Agreement
Austell Handyman hereby consents to supply goods and to provide services to the Client and the Client consents to pay the price in accordance with these terms and conditions.
Austell Handyman may employ sub-contractors to carry out any part of their obligations under this agreement at their sole discretion and may assign its rights and obligations under this agreement to any other party.
The Client may not assign their rights and obligations under this agreement without written consent of Austell Handyman
2. The Client
The Client warrants that he/she is either the owner of the premises at which the services will take place and is entitled to commission the services without the consent of any third party, or otherwise has the necessary authorisation in place for the services to be carried out.
By commissioning Austell Handyman; the Client confirms they have obtained any necessary permissions and/or licences required for the services to be carried out.
The Client is expected to provide electrical power, running water and toilet facilities where reasonably possible.
3. Cancellations & Postponements
Providing you cancel or postpone your appointment before 5pm, on or before the previous working day to the scheduled appointment, then no labour charges will apply. If you cancel or postpone after this time, or are not able to grant access to our Handyman (if they attend within the agreed time frames) then an administration charge equivalent to 60 minutes labour at the prevailing rate will be applied.
Fixed price quoted work may carry stricter penalties, detailed in specific terms accepted by the Client, to be considered in conjunction with the relevant terms and conditions detailed in this document.
Austell Handyman; may need to postpone a booked appointment due to reasons beyond our control. In these instances we will re-schedule the appointment as soon as conveniently possible for both parties.
Austell Handyman; shall not be held liable for any costs claimed by the Client in respect of the non attendance or late attendance on site of the Handyman, or for the late or non delivery of materials, or materials/goods which are faulty or incorrectly supplied.
4. Labour Rates and Charges
Austell Handyman; charges labour in hourly increments at the prevailing rates, quoted at the time of booking, with a minimum charge of two hour's labour.
Any applicable charges for materials, materials delivery, parking, congestion, waste disposal are charged additionally.
In the event of a bill-paying Client being absent when there is further chargeable work required, we will endeavour to contact the Client and obtain written permission (via email) prior to conducting any further work.
If a Client is non-contactable our Handyman will only continue with works if we have prior authorisation from the Client, or if it is not safe/feasible to halt urgent works at that point.
5. Parts
Our Handymen carry some stock for most general needs, but we cannot guarantee they will be carrying specific part/s required unless a Client provides comprehensive details and pays a deposit in advance for an hour's labour and the cost of the parts in full. In this instance part details and initial fault diagnosis are the Client's liability.
Should Austell Handyman; be unable to fit Client supplied or Client recommended parts, or the Client refuses to have our Hanyman supplied parts (previously accepted as required) fitted, the return of parts carries a re-stocking charge of up to 30%, providing the parts can be returned without penalty to Austell Handyman; otherwise up to 100% of the charges may be retained.
Austell Handyman; charges labour time (capped at 1 hour) to collect parts. If our Handyman needs to leave the site to collect parts the Client must pay a deposit for the labour up until that point (minimum 1 hour) and the full price of parts.
When the closest available supplier would likely take more than a 60 minute round trip to collect parts, but the Client still wishes us to collect parts straight away, then additional travel time may apply.
6. Payment for Services
Payment for goods & services provided by Austell Handyman; are due immediately upon completion of each visit.
Austell Handyman; may ask the Client for a card deposit in advance of attending an appointment, by paying the deposit the Client authorises The Handyman to debit the same card for the balance due as per our 'Labour rates and charges'.
Austell Handyman; may ask an absent Client to email instruction for further remedial work to be carried out and providing that scope of work is completed within the estimated charges then the Client authorises Austell Handyman; to debit the existing card details stored to pay for the balance of the work immediately upon completion. Failure to return this written confirmation promptly may result in delays and further labour charges.
We accept credit or debit card payments and American Express but may be subject to a surcharge. With advanced agreement we may also accept payment via Bank transfer.
Certificates and documentation cannot be issued to the Client until payment has been received by Austell Handyman; in full for the services provided.
Austell Handyman; reserves the right to increase the price of work if; the costs of the handyman in supplying the goods and services increase due to any factor beyond the control of Austell Handyman, the Client changes the specification, the Client consents to any change in specification proposed by the Handyman, goods or services are required by the Client with exceptional urgency, the Client causes a delay or the Client fails to provide The Handyman with adequate accurate information or facilities.
7. Failure to Pay for Goods and Services
If a Client fails to make any payment when it falls due, Austell Handyman; reserves the right to;
- Charge the Client interest on the amount unpaid.
- Charge the Client for all reasonable costs and expenses (including legal costs and costs of any third party debt recovery service) incurred by Austell Handyman; in the collection of any overdue amounts.
- There is a minimum standard administration charge of $50 whenever a Client fails to pay all monies due immediately upon completion of a visit.
- Refuse to deliver or install any balance of goods or services, or guarantee any hitherto provided goods or services until payment is made in full.
- Recover materials purchased for, or on behalf of the Client. The Client accepts these materials remain the property of The Handyman until payment of any outstanding amounts have been received. In the event of dispute, the Client consents to allow access to the property to a company representative to retrieve all materials that remain the property of The Handyman.
Austell Handyman; is happy to provide invoices for businesses and individuals, however, payment is due within the time-scales stated in these terms and conditions.
8. Limitation of liability
Austell Handyman; does not accept liability for any injury to persons, domestic animals, livestock or birds, or any loss or damage to property or goods, unless due to our negligence. The Client must notify Austell Handyman; of this damage, injury or loss in writing within 7 days of the incident.
Austell Handyman; shall not be held liable for any indirect or consequential loss, damage, cost or expense of any kind however caused, including without limitation any loss of income or profits.
Austell Handyman; does not provide qualified telephone advice and does not accept liability for advice which the Client may claim to have received by telephone.
Where a specific risk has been identified by Austell Handyman; and the Client advised, Austell Handyman; shall not be liable for such risk or event and the Client consents to bear such risk.
Austell Handyman; will not be liable for any delay to the provision of goods and services due to force majeure or any other event beyond its reasonable control.
Austell Handyman; may terminate an agreement with a Client if the Client; becomes bankrupt, commits a material breach of their agreement, refuses to take delivery of goods, refuses to allow Austell Handyman to provide services at the time and date agreed, defaults in paying the price or any part of it.
In the event of a suspension Austell Handyman can demand to receive payment in advance of any part of the price as a condition of recommencing the work.
Austell Handyman; may terminate an agreement at its discretion at any time via notice in writing to the Client. Upon termination of this agreement the Client consents to pay Austell Handyman; all outstanding charges including goods supplied and any cancellation charges payable to Austell Handyman's suppliers and sub-contractors.
9. Complaints Procedure
Austell Handyman; is committed to ensuring Clients are satisfied with their service/s received and we aim to deal with any Client queries as efficiently and amicably as possible. If you have any queries regarding the service you have received please contact us to discuss this. If the appropriate Austell Handyman; representative is unavailable or unable to agree on a resolution Austell Handyman; will escalate the situation to an official written complaint, referring it over to the company administrator who will formally begin proceedings to deal with your grievance in writing.

subset: commoncrawl


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|Our Products
Q: Who should I contact with questions concerning a manufacturer's warranty?
A: Contact the manufacturer directly with questions concerning a manufacturer's warranty. We can provide you with additional warranty information or information on how to obtain a copy of the manufacturer's warranty for a specific product, if you contact customer service. Please specify the product name, manufacturer name and online item number in your e-mail.
Q: Does TouchShop offer extended warranties for any products?
Q: Is it possible to alter, add, or change a items I see on TouchShop?
Q: How do I know your products are authentic?


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Hardship extensions are designed to delay foreclosure deadlines by 1 year for owners who are actively working to catch up their delinquent property taxes.
Learn about the eligibility criteria to qualify for deferment of winter taxes.
This program provides assistance to households who had a qualifying, involuntary hardship and can sustain home ownership, but need assistance to catch up on delinquent payments, escrow shortage, delinquent property taxes, and/or delinquent condominium association fees to avoid foreclosure.


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As I began researching my own New Netherland family lines in depth I also became interested in others. Because it was so difficult accessing the early records I needed for my research I began to build my own personal research library. I bought out-of-print books and reprints of previously published books. I sought out (and found) all the original court record books for New Amsterdam (now New York City), Beverwyck and Fort Orange (now Albany).
|Crumbling NYGBR
And so I contacted the NYGBR and explained what I wanted - every single issue of the journal since its first publication. I think they were shocked. They explained they were missing some of the earlier issues but they would ship what they had. I don't want to tell you what this cost (the journals + shipping + border crossing fees + Ontario taxes = gulp) because I'm afraid putting it in print means I've slipped into the realm of those who spend more than they can afford on something they don't really truly need. Or being a hoarder.
When my boxes of journals arrived months later, whoever packed them had done an inventory by hand of every volume and every number and every year. I was the proud, and I admit overwhelmed, owner of 374 yellow journals dating from January 1870 to January 1999.
374 NYGBR journals spanning 129 years. Some of the earlier ones were crumbling. The covers were crumbling with pieces falling off every time they were handled. I made room on all my bookcases in my office. They filled every space and that meant all my carefully sought out-of-print or reprinted books on New Netherland had to go. But where? I wanted everything at my fingertips not in different rooms.
|One of my tubs of NYGBR
And then the NYGBR came out with the entire set on CD ROM a few years later. So I ordered it too. And I packed up my 374 journals, put them in waterproof tubs and had my husband store them in one of our barns.
And there they lie. It bothers me. I don't like using the CD-ROM versions. I know they will not always be accessible as books/journals are. I want to be able to access every single set of church or miscellaneous records in those journals. But the photocopying project that entails overwhelms me.
|Tubs of NYGBR Journals
* Should I find room for them somewhere in my house? That's not physically possible
* Should I destroy the journals by cutting out the pages I want and putting those pages in binders? That idea makes me shudder, there seems something so inherently wrong about that!
* Should I suck it up and start the photocopying project? That seems the best solution of the three I have thought of but then what do I do with the journals? Donate them? Where? No library near me would want them (I live in Ontario Canada, not much call for 17th century New York records) To ship them somewhere would cost a fortune.
And can I give them up? Maybe that's the true test of whether or not I'm a genealogy hoarder. I don't think I can part with them!
I could really use some input and suggestions!


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Hummingbird makes your website faster and optimizes site performance by adding new ways to boost Google PageSpeed Insights with fine-tuned controls over file compression, deferring CSS and JavaScript styles and scripts, minify for CSS and JS, Lazy Load integration and world-class caching.
Hummingbird is brought to you by the WordPress speed specialists that created Smush image optimization now active on more than +1 million websites. Get the complete speed boost with Hummingbird and Smush.
If PageSpeed Insights is making these speed recommendations Hummingbird can help:
- Enable text compression – Use gzip to make your site fly
- Preconnect to required origins – Use Hummingbird to establish earlier connections
- Preload key requests – Prioritize resources based on order
- Avoids enormous network payloads – Consider Lazy Load for comments or breaking up smaller posts
- Uses efficient cache – The Hummingbird Cache suite offers effective browser cache
- Fix your JavaScript execution time – Deliver smaller JS payloads
- Minify CSS – Strip unused code from your CSS style sheets
- Minify JavaScript – Speed up the time it takes to parse your JS files
- Eliminate render-blocking resources – Move critical CSS and JS inline and defer all non-critical JS/styles
- Defer unused CSS – Defer the loading of CSS not used for above-the-fold content
- Lazy Load offscreen images (Smush free integration)
Hummingbird scans your site and provides one-click fixes to speed up WordPress in a flash.
You'll get faster loading pages, higher search rankings (SERP) and PageSpeed scores, and happier visitors with Hummingbird's WordPress speed optimization.
Funkcje dostępne w Hummingbird obejmują:
- Scan and Fix – Get a scan of your site, find out what's slowing it down, and use one-click performance improvements to make critical speed improvements
- World-class caching – A full caching suite to load pages faster with full-page, Gravatar and browser cache tools
- Performance Reports – Pro tips for running your site at super speed
- Asset Optimization – Position, minify and combine Javascript and CSS files for top performance
- Better Rankings – improve scores on Google PageSpeed Insights (SEO ranking factor), YSlow, Pingdom and GTmetrix
- Increase Your Conversion Rate – Don't keep visitors waiting: faster sites convert better
- GZIP Compression – Blazing fast HTML, JavaScript, and stylesheet (CSS) transfer
Hummingbird Features to Speed Up WordPress
Scan and One-Click Fix
Hummingbird is a WordPress speed optimization plugin. It will scan your site, find files that are slowing it down, and provide tips and fixes for making your site run at top speed.
Hummingbird even has one-click improvements like a full cache suite, one-click minify for styles and scripts and deferring CSS and JS for quickly optimizing performance. What could be easier!
World-Class Caching
You'll get a world-class caching suite, including full-page, browser, and Gravatar cache.
Make your site load even faster with Hummingbird's complete set of cache tools that give your visitors a faster browsing experience. Including full-page, browser and Gravatar caching.
Optymalizacja zasobów
Did you know that the more files you add to your site's header, the slower it will load? With Hummingbird, you can easily customize the load position of your CSS, JavaScript (defer CSS and Javascript) and other files to increase your page speed.
Szybko zmieniaj kolejność, kompresuj i zmieniaj położenie plików dzięki funkcji kompresowania zasobów Hummingbird. Ale ostrożnie – kompresja zasobów to potężne narzędzie (jeśli go potrzebujesz, możesz zresetować wszelkie zmiany dokonane jednym kliknięciem).
Transfer Data at Top Speed With GZIP
Hummingbird has GZIP powers to make sharing your site more efficient.
Sending zipped files is faster and can save you money on hosting. And don't worry about setup, send Hummingbird instructions with the click of a button and she'll handle the rest.
Wbudowana integracja Cloudflare
Hummingbird can be used to control your Cloudflare browser cache settings as well! Simply add your Cloudflare API key and configure away.
Fully Compatible With Smush Image Optimization
You can complement Hummingbird's WordPress speed optimization features with our award-winning sister-plugin Smush image optimization. Smush compresses your images, giving your site less to load – and thus a faster load time. Hummingbird + Smush integrate perfectly together, and are the perfect match to speed up WordPress.
Compress, optimize (optimise), and fix PageSpeed performance with properly sized images, lazy load, next-gen WebP convert, image formatting and more.
Faster Websites Rank Higher, Convert Better
Every millisecond counts: your visitors expect an ever-faster website, with a page load time of under two seconds expected — and the norm. If visitors don't get that on your site, they will leave.
If you're running a business website or eCommerce store, that means if your website does not load quickly, you will lose sales.
Hummingbird is here to help you: it's a one of a kind WordPress performance optimization plugin that can make your site run at superspeed, for free!
You get our WordPress performance optimization suite, which includes minification and GZIP for small page sizes, full caching for faster loading, and integration with Cloudflare's browser cache and our sister-plugin Smush image optimization.
Hummingbird is built with ease-of-use in mind: it makes your WordPress site faster, but it's also fast to set up. You can scan your site and implement recommended changes in one-click, getting a fast site in mere minutes.
All the above is free and will speed up WordPress for you. If you need the very fastest WordPress site, you should get WPMU DEV Membership.
Our Membership gives you access to Hummingbird Pro – which features automated scanning, uptime monitoring, enhanced minify compression (with 2x the regular optimization), CDN hosted minification – alongside Smush Pro image optimization, all our premium WordPress plugins, and 24/7 WordPress support.
It's an incredible deal, and you can find out more here.
However, if you'd like automated scanning, uptime monitoring, enhanced minify compression with up to 2x the regular optimization, CDN hosted minification and Smush Pro image optimization you can always take the next step with a WPMU DEV Membership.
What do People say About Hummingbird?
"Hummingbird is so easy to use. I thought it wouldn't change my speed much because I already made improvements. I ran the scan, it gave me recommendations, I pushed a button to apply them and it made my site even faster!" – Camilo
"Hummingbird jest coraz inteligentniejszy przy każdej aktualizacji. Dzisiaj stał się tak dobry, że zmusiło mnie to do usunięcia wtyczek optymalizacyjnych, takich jak WP Super Cache i WP Sweep, ponieważ teraz Hummingbird zawiera wszystkie te funkcje – ale w bardziej imponujący sposób." – swagatam1975
"Hummingbird took me from 32 to 84 on Google page speed plus made my site 50% faster on GTmetrix!" – Nicolas
"Właśnie zbudowałem stronę wypełnioną treścią z dużą ilością wtyczek, a po skonfigurowaniu Hummingbird i umożliwieniu mu zrobienia tego co do niego należy, strona jest naprawdę szybka – znacznie szybsza niż ma prawo być … Jestem pod wrażeniem." – Cacarr
A Note From Hummingbird
Hey! This is Hummingbird, your trusted solution to speed up WordPress. I'm part of the WPMU DEV team, a superhero-suite of WordPress plugins, services, and support. Here are some of our other free plugins:
- Smush – Kompresja i optymalizacja obrazów
- Forminator – Formularze, Quizy, Sondy
- Hustle – Pop-upy, Slide-iny i Email Opt-ins
And if you need ALL our Pro plugins AND 24/7 WordPress support, get WPMU DEV membership! You can try it for free: premium.wpmudev.org
My superhero friends run the WPMU DEV Blog, your source for the very best WordPress tutorials. If you need to be in the know about WordPress, check it out.
Thanks for looking at Hummingbird, and I look forward to flying through your site to make it faster than ever.
Enjoy, The Hummingbird
O nas
WPMU DEV is a premium supplier of quality WordPress plugins, services and support. Join us here:
Don't forget to stay up to date on everything WordPress from the Internet's number one resource:
WPMU DEV Blog
Hej, jeszcze jedno … mamy nadzieję, że podoba ci się nasza bezpłatna oferta, tak samo jak my uwielbiamy ją dla ciebie robić!
Zrzuty ekranów
Do I need Hummingbird if I already have caching like WP Rocket or W3 Total Cache?
Yes! Of course, our cache suite is more than enough but if you already use WP Rocket or W3 Total Cache the special monitoring tools Hummingbird offers still make it worth it. To ensure compatibility only activate overlapping features in one of the plugins.
Czy Hummingbird działa z Cloudflare?
Tak! Hummingbird jest zbudowany, aby w pełni wykorzystać funkcje Cloudflare. Po prostu podłącz swój interfejs API, aby rozpocząć.
Czy Hummingbird działa z WooCommerce?
Tak! Hummingbird świetnie współpracuje z wtyczkami e-commerce, takimi jak WooCommerce i MarketPress. Aby uzyskać najlepsze wyniki, podczas konfigurowania pamięci podręcznej strony postępuj zgodnie z zalecanymi przez WooCommerce dla ustawień pamięci podręcznej. Hummingbird wykluczy koszyk, konto użytkownika i strony kasowe, aby zachować dynamikę treści.
Why is my WordPress slow?
There are plenty of factors involved in why you'd have WordPress slow. Hummingbird's scanning and one-click fixes can work out why your site is slow, and with one click speed up WordPress for you. Easy peasy!
What's the difference between Hummingbird and Hummingbird Pro?
The free Hummingbird plugin is a powerful suite of WordPress speed optimization features! You can deliver big improvements in your page speed in mere minutes using our one-click site can, and one-click implementation of recommended fixes. Some of the reviews above show you the results you can get.
Hummingbird Pro is available as part of WPMU DEV Membership, and adds automated scanning, uptime monitoring, enhanced minify compression (with 2x the regular optimization), and CDN hosted minification. This will make your site even faster.
Membership also gets you all our premium WordPress plugins, including Smush Pro, for the very best image optimization with image resizing, lazy load, and next-gen WebP convert, and 24/7 WordPress support. Hummingbird is a great free plugin, and Hummingbird Pro is even better. You can find out more here.
Pomocy! Włączyłem optymalizację zasobów i zepsuło to wygląd mojej witryny!?
Asset Optimization is a great way to speed up your site but moving, combining, minify, and rearranging CSS and JavaScript (.JS) files can also mess with styling and break functionality. We recommend making incremental changes and testing your site as you go so you can undo the changes if something breaks. And remember, don't panic. If something goes wrong you can start over with the click of a button 🙂
Kontrybutorzy i deweloperzy
"Hummingbird – Speed Optimize, Cache, Minify & Defer Critical CSS & JavaScript" jest oprogramowaniem open source. Poniższe osoby miały wkład w rozwój wtyczki.Zaangażowani
Wtyczka "Hummingbird – Speed Optimize, Cache, Minify & Defer Critical CSS & JavaScript" została przetłumaczona na 15 języków. Podziękuj tłumaczom za ich wkład.
Przetłumacz wtyczkę "Hummingbird – Speed Optimize, Cache, Minify & Defer Critical CSS & JavaScript" na swój język.
Interesuje cię rozwój wtyczki?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Log zmian
2.5.1 ( 2020-07-21 )
- Enhance: WordPress 5.5 compatibility
- Fix: Performance scans getting stuck on a loop
- Fix: Settings reset functionality
2.5.0 ( 2020-07-20 )
- New: Redis object cache
- New: Comment lazy loading
- Enhance: Performance report functionality
- Enhance: Try to fetch latest performance report, if present on the Hub
- Enhance: Compatibility with Oxygen builder
- Enhance: Asset Optimization UI
- Enhance: Performance reporting UI
- Enhance: Uptime reporting UI
- Enhance: Page cache handling of advanced-cache.php file
- Fix: Asset Optimization not returning some assets back to WordPress queue
- Fix: Asset Optimization not updating assets on version change
- Fix: Cache clear from Hub
- Fix: Deactivate button in Gzip module
- Fix: Smush links in dashboard meta box
- Fix: class-oembed.php is deprecated error
2.4.4 ( 2020-06-11 )
- Enhance: Compatibility with new plans
2.4.3 ( 2020-06-04 )
- Enhance: Dashboard plugin compatibility
2.4.2 ( 2020-03-17 )
- Fix: Plugin deactivation not removing advanced-cache.php file
2.4.1 ( 2020-03-02 )
- Fix: Plugin copy updates
2.4.0 ( 2020-02-03 )
- New: Option to exclude assets from CDN
- New: Integration with Beaver Builder to clear asset optimization and page cache
- Enhance: Plugins page links
- Enhance: Page Cache error handling on the Hub
- Enhance: Move WooCommerce session cookie to default exclusion list
- Enhance: Compatibility with ReCaptcha v2 for Contact Form 7
- Enhance: Update browser cache expiry recommendations to 1 year
- Enhance: Update asset optimization CDN expiry to 1 year
- Fix: Do not preload cache on menu update/save
- Fix: Asset Optimization not properly parsing some assets from the footer
- Fix: Remove Take a Tour button from network admin Asset Optimization page
- Fix: Do not rewrite critical.css file on updates
- Fix: Fatal errors when logger class could not be found
- Fix: Gzip compression module links
- Fix: Compatibility with WooCommerce Product Filter
- Fix: 502 errors with Gravatar caching and pingbacks
2.3.0 ( 2020-01-07 )
- New: Uptime and performance report layout
- Enhance: Opcache support
- Enhance: Page Caching preloading
- Enhance: Accessibility in all modals
- Fix: Cloudflare integration
- Fix: Zend OPcache API is restricted warning
- Fix: Smush configure link on Hummingbird dashboard page in multisite
- Fix: Page Caching status on subsite dashboard pages
- Fix: Page Caching not excluding pages by full URL
- Fix: Page Caching purge when direct filesystem method is not available
- Fix: Page Caching not removing PHP die function from cached files
- Fix: Page Caching log link
- Fix: Performance test reports notice text
- Fix: Undefined index HTTP_REFERER notice
- Fix: Asset Optimization tour modal based on the selected mode
2.2.2 ( 2019-11-13 )
- Fix: Duplicate preloading of home page
- Fix: Front page preloader stuck in a loop on some hosts
- Fix: Cache preloader settings
2.2.1 ( 2019-11-11 )
- Fix: Remove full site auto preload to avoid high CPU usage
2.2.0 ( 2019-11-06 )
- New: Add translation settings
- New: Option to disable WooCommerce cart fragments scripts
- New: React based dashboard for Gzip compression module
- Enhance: Asset Optimization RTL support
- Enhance: Optimize Cloudflare checks
- Enhance: Performance report recommendations
- Fix: Asset Optimization reset settings will trigger a new scan
- Fix: Database module clearing out entries that are cached
- Fix: Page Caching errors when clearing log files
- Fix: Translation strings
- Fix: Database cleanup json syntax error
2.1.1 ( 2019-09-10 )
- Fix: PHP Fatal Error on outdated PHP versions
2.1.0 ( 2019-08-29 )
- New: Add/remove new recipients for Uptime notifications
- New: Serve compressed versions of cached files
- New: Allow excluding pages with specific cookies from caching
- New: Page Caching option to skip mobile devices
- New: Page Caching option to clear page cache on comment post
- New: Page Caching option to clear cache at set intervals
- New: Preload page caching
- New: SiteGround integration
- New: WP Engine integration
- New: OPcache integration
- New: Varnish integration
- New: Asset optimization tour
- Enhance: Asset optimization publish changes button layout
- Fix: Page Caching control on subsites
- Fix: Asset Optimization inlining only compressed assets
- Fix: Asset Optimization tooltips
- Fix: Performance scan not showing progress when started from quick setup
- Fix: PHP warning in Page Caching module when $wphb_fs was not initialized
- Fix: PHP warning in Page Caching when compression option was enabled
2.0.1 ( 2019-07-01 )
- New: Upgrade page
- Enhance: Show Smush meta box on dashboard in network installs
- Enhance: Allow activating Gravatar and Page caching modules from dashboard
- Enhance: Do not reschedule performance reports if no reports are enabled
- Enhance: Uninstall procedure
- Enhance: IE 11 compatibility
- Enhance: Uninstall procedures
- Enhance: Divi integration
- Enhance: WP Hide & Security Enhancer compatibility
- Enhance: Asset Optimization processing inline assets
- Fix: Warnings from Page Caching module during uninstall
- Fix: PHP notice when saving Performance report settings on main site in a network install
- Fix: Asset Optimization filters
- Fix: Asset Optimization PHP 5.4 incompatibility
- Fix: Asset Optimization tooltips
- Fix: Asset Optimization stripping slashes from local compressed files
- Fix: Hide scheduled database cleanup from subsites
- Fix: PHP warning when updating from Free to Pro
- Fix: wphb_page_cache_custom_terms filter in multisite
- Fix: Performance report audits classifications
- Fix: Undefined index HTTP_HOST notice
- Fix: Allow using / in user exclusion rules in Page Caching module
18.104.22.168 ( 2019-05-03 )
- Fix: Frontend extra padding issue
2.0.0 ( 2019-04-30 )
- New: Performance reports API
- New: Performance reports module
- New: Option to keep plugin settings and/or data on uninstall
- New: Add wphb_page_cache_custom_terms filter to clear cache for custom terms (see plugin documentation for example usage)
- New: Integration with Cornerstone page builder
- New: Network admin Asset Optimization settings page
- New: Subsite dashboard page
- New: Customize performance email reports
- Enhance: Network admin dashboard layouts
- Enhance: Performance report modal and loader
- Enhance: Do not deactivate Cloudflare integration on plugin deactivation
- Enhance: Plugin UI and UX
- Enhance: Clear page cache when files from asset optimization module expire on CDN
- Enhance: Allow combining files on HTTP/2
- Fix: PHP warning when selecting a site from Cloudflare zone list
- Fix: PHP warning when disabling Cloudflare integration
- Fix: PHP warning in logger module
- Fix: Asset Optimization not decoding HTML entities when inlining CSS files
- Fix: Asset Optimization not loading inline mediaelement script
- Fix: Asset Optimization CDN not replacing relative paths on multisite mapped domains
- Fix: Asset Optimization filters
- Fix: Clear cache notice not dismissing on multisite
- Fix: Empty Page Caching settings page shown on subsites
- Fix: Issue saving user agents with spaces in Page Caching module
- Fix: Cache not cleared on plugins update (if auto clear enabled)
- Fix: Uptime not loading scripts when Branda text replacement rules are applied to Hummingbird
- Fix: Gravatar Caching not finding local cached files
18.104.22.168 ( 2019-03-25 )
- Fix: Only cache valid http responses (skip 30x, 40x, 50x error codes)
1.9.4 ( 2019-03-19 )
- New: Gutenberg compatibility
- New: WP Hide & Security Enhancer compatibility
- New: Uptime notifications
- New: Scheduled Uptime reports
- New: Gzip compression module will now detect and warn about privacy mode
- Enhance: PHP 7.3 compatibility
- Enhance: UI/UX
- Enhance: Remove activation tooltip
- Enhance: Improve operations with advanced-cache.php file in Page Caching module
- Enhance: Remove sitemaps xml from Page Caching (on default settings)
- Enhance: WPMU DEV hosting integration with Asset Optimization
- Fix: Typos
- Fix: Asset Optimization reset button not working
- Fix: Asset Optimization settings clearing out on plugin deactivation
- Fix: PHP warning on first plugin activation (or after settings reset)
- Fix: Front page not caching
- Fix: Page caching not enabled/disabled from Hub
- Fix: Fatal error in class-hub-endpoints.php
- Fix: Inability to clear individual post cache in subdirectory WordPress installs
1.9.3 ( 2018-12-06 )
- New: Download and clear Asset Optimization logs on multisite
- New: Color accessibility option
- New: wphb_should_cache_request_pre action hook to exclude requests from caching
- New: White labeling option when used with Dashboard plugin
- Enhance: Remove activation redirect to plugin page, add pointer for new users
- Enhance: Do not cache pages with wp_woocommerce_session_* cookies
- Enhance: Do not redirect to plugin page after clearing cache
- Enhance: Compatibility with Hub actions
- Enhance: Do not recreate advanced-cache.php if already exists
- Enhance: WPMU DEV hosting integration with Asset Optimization
- Fix: Do not trigger new Asset Optimization scan in filters
- Fix: UI overlapping issues on Asset Optimization page
- Fix: Loader icons not showing progress in Database Optimization module
- Fix: Compatibility with Ultimate Branding
- Fix: Page caching not properly processing late init scripts
- Fix: PHP warnings in settings-hooks.php
1.9.2 ( 2018-08-15 )
- New: Asset Optimization ability to regenerate single files
- New: Auto clear out logs that are older than 30 days
- New: Action hooks: wphb_get_performance_report, wphb_clear_page_cache and wphb_delete_db_data
- New: REST API endpoints for gzip compression, browser caching and clearing caches
- New: GDPR policy text
- Enhance: Improve support for Bedrock installations
- Enhance: Improve tooltips on Asset Optimization page
- Enhance: Improve UI in Asset Optimization module
- Enhance: Log file control for Asset Optimization and Page Caching modules
- Fix: Errors in Asset Optimization module on WordPress versions 4.6 and lower
- Fix: Messages in Asset Optimization dashboard module in network admin
- Fix: PHP warnings after ignoring performance reports
- Fix: Incorrect stats calculations in Asset Optimization module, when there are assets bigger than 1 Mb in size
- Fix: Asset optimization scans getting stuck on some installs
- Fix: Compatibility with WordPress 4.6
1.9.1 ( 2018-06-19 )
- New: Icons for modules on Dashboard page
- New: Summary module meta box on caching pages
- New: Retain Asset Optimization settings on recheck of files
- Enhance: Optimize stylesheets and javascript code
- Enhance: Replace plugin menu icon font with inline SVG
- Enhance: Various UI/UX improvements
- Enhance: Compression savings calculations
- Enhance: Database cleanup module to use builtin WordPress functions to clean expired transients
- Enhance: Cloudflare meta box behavior
- Enhance: Handling of individual expiry settings in Browser Caching module
- Enhance: Better sync with the Hub
- Fix: Gzip compression not properly detected on some sites
- Fix: PHP warning during cron performance report
- Fix: PHP warning after clicking on configure link on the Dashboard Advanced Tools meta box
- Fix: RTL styles in CDN will now be processed correctly
- Fix: Asset Optimization module incorrectly showing 0% savings
- Fix: Asset Optimization module include/exclude toggle not enabling Publish Changes button
- Fix: Translation strings
- Fix: Clear cache button on admin tab not working properly on some installs
1.9.0 ( 2018-05-29 )
- New: Page caching dynamic page types
- New: Define the path where to store optimized assets
- New: Advanced Tools now available on multisite installs
- Fix: Asset optimization error during minify process
- Fix: Remove invalid link to configure browser caching in IIS 6
- Fix: Hide clear cache notice when setting file change detection to auto
- Fix: Incorrect link on the Gzip compression and Browser caching modules
- Fix: Performance report colors, icons and buttons
- Enhance: Asset Optimization UI
- Enhance: Asset Optimization re-check expiry button functionality
- Enhance: Asset Optimization handling of root-relative URLs when using CDN
- Enhance: Asset Optimization fonts moved to Other section in the file list
- Enhance: Asset Optimization size handling of compressed assets
- Enhance: Publish changes notice is now less invasive
- Enhance: Error handling in Cloudflare module
- Enhance: Optimize performance on Caching modules
- Enhance: Prefetch DNS values are empty by default, with the ability to auto paste in recommended defaults
- Enhance: Clear cache notices will not show on subsites in a multisite network
- Enhance: Hummingbird will no longer store user selected server type and always show detected server
1.8.2 ( 2018-04-24 )
- New: System Information module in Advanced Tools
- Enhance: Improve caching notices
- Enhance: Remove clear cache notice in Asset Optimizztion when re-checking files
- Enhance: Asset Optimization performance improvements
- Enhance: Asset Optimization log option in multisite moved to network settings
- Fix: Performance test previous score not updated
- Fix: Links in performance reports in multisite are not always redirecting to correct page
- Fix: PHP 5.2 compatibility
- Fix: Various UI fixes and improvements
- Fix: Browser caching changes not reflected when selecting LiteSpeed server
- Fix: Asset Optimization incorrect states for some files
- Fix: CDN option changing state during a new scan
- Fix: Remove wphb_minify_clear_files cron task when Asset Optimization module is not enabled
- Fix: Warnings during ignore performance report
1.8.1 ( 2018-04-11 )
- New: Option to auto clear cache on plugin/theme update
- New: Option to hide all notices
- New: Option to show clear cache button on the admin bar
- Enhance: Various performance improvements and tweaks
- Enhance: Removed duplicate queries
- Enhance: Optimize database writes/reads
- Enhance: Keep compression settings when switching from advanced to basic view in asset optimization
- Enhance: Javascript code optimization
- Enhance: Improve WP_CACHE detection to avoid PHP warnings on some configurations
- Enhance: Increased expiry time for files in asset optimization module
- Fix: Remove RSS feeds from page caching
- Fix: Empty exclusion rules in page cache settings were halting all page caching
- Fix: Publish changes button not working after bulk updates
- Fix: Page caching exclusion rules will now only escape the dot in the file extension (if present)
- Fix: Product page type not showing in page caching settings
220.127.116.11 ( 2018-03-14 )
- Fix: API spam issue
- Fix: Performance scans not returning any results on some hosts
- Fix: High CPU usage with wphb-check-cf checks
126.96.36.199 ( 2018-03-13 )
- Enhance: Better settings upgrade on multisite installs
- Fix: Scheduled performance reports stuck on a loop
184.108.40.206 ( 2018-03-08 )
- Fix: Cached with Hummingbird comment shows on top of the page
184.108.40.206 ( 2018-03-07 )
- Fix: Missing share-ui library
1.8.0 ( 2018-03-07 )
- New: Advanced tools
- New: Option to remove query strings from static resources
- New: Option to remove Emoji
- New: Option to add critical CSS
- New: Link to Hummingbird docs on the plugin page
- New: Page caching module can now cache 404 pages
- New: RSS feed cache options
- New: Clear cache button on specific pages/posts
- New: Database cleanup module
- New: Prefetch DNS
- New: Option to ignore performance reports
- Enhance: Refactored plugin code to reduce number of errors and collisions with third party plugins
- Enhance: Add links to docs on the plugin page
- Enhance: Minification renamed to Asset Optimization
- Enhance: Minification logs are now stored in wphb-logs instead of wphb-cache folder
- Fix: CDN being enabled from minification scans on subsites in multinetwork installs
- Fix: Default page caching exclusion rules regex syntax error
- Fix: Clear cache notice clearing minification settings
- Fix: Gzip not activating on Apache even if mod_deflate is installed on host
1.7.2 ( 2018-02-06 )
- New: Minification logging
- New: Performance reports for subsites
- Enhance: PHP 7.2 compatibility
- Enhance: Better support for installs where SSH of FTP filesystem methods are used
- Enhance: Texts in tooltips and notices in minification module
- Enhance: Improve dashboard performance module UI
- Enhance: Page caching will now add die() to the header of cached files and logs to improve security
- Enhance: Better integration with Divi theme
- Enhance: Minification UI
- Enhance: Uptime UI
- Fix: Page caching will not be halted forever if minification scan fails to finish
- Fix: Minification not enqueuing some scripts correctly (better support for Google maps, Google reCAPTCHA)
- Fix: Page cache not updated when comments added on multisite subdirectory installs
- Fix: Layout issues on IE11
- Fix: Hummingbird causing Internal server 500 error on some hosts
- Fix: Typos on browser caching page and membership modal
1.7.1 ( 2018-01-15 )
- New: Download log button in page caching module
- New: Minification screen has been split into beginner and advanced views
- New: Minification advanced view allows manipulations with jquery, jquery-core and jquery-migrate files
- Enhance: Page caching module checking for wp-content directory and wp-config.php file
- Enhance: Hummingbird will convert any path to regex expression in exclusion rules in page caching module
- Enhance: Compatibility with Bedrock
- Enhance: Detection and handling of WP_CACHE constant in wp-config.php file
- Enhance: More informative tooltips for caching modules
- Fix: Minification not always correctly detecting when HTTP/2 is used
- Fix: Cloudflare integration shows empty zone when website domain includes www
- Fix: Notices during page/post edit when page caching is active
126.96.36.199 ( 2017-11-14 )
- New: Debugging option for page caching
- New: Support for DONOTCACHEPAGE
- Fix: Ability to disable minification on multisite
- Fix: Rating message shown on Pro version and without a 7 day delay
- Enhance: Description on clear cache notice
- Enhance: Better support for clearing cache for post/page taxonomies
- Enhance: Do not try to cache pages if advanced-cache.php can't load page caching class
126.96.36.199 ( 2017-11-07 )
- Fix: Clear cache notices will not auto activate minification
- Fix: Inability to update performance reports settings
- Enhance: Improve page caching descriptions
18.104.22.168 ( 2017-11-02 )
- Fix: White screen when trying to clear cache after plugin/theme update on multisite install
1.7.0 ( 2017-11-02 )
- New: Page caching
- New: Inline styles in minification
- New: Documentation link for all modules
- New: Gravatar widget on dashboard page
- Enhance: Code optimization and improvements aimed at improving performance in wp-admin
- Enhance: Add type icons to browser caching and gzip compression pages
- Enhance: Improved UX in the dashboard, browser caching and gzip modules
- Enhance: Better notice handling
- Enhance: Browser caching will auto check status on expiry settings update
- Fix: Cache expiry time not shown correctly for month and year
- Fix: Performance tests not running from quick setup modal
- Fix: Minified files not hosted on CDN
- Fix: Expiry times not displayed correctly for month and year periods
1.6.2 ( 2017-10-02 )
- Fix: API spamming issue
1.6.1 ( 2017-09-13 )
- New: Add font types to browser and cache rules
- New: Automatic detection of HTTP/2 and disable of combine function in minification
- Enhance: Add a button to the cache page for saving settings (instead of ajax)
- Enhance: Add a scrollbar to expiry settings dropdown
- Enhance: Better sync between Hummingbird and the Hub
- Enhance: Improve error and zone handling for Cloudflare
- Enhance: Links to support articles will now open in a new window
- Enhance: Gravatar caching will respect the classes of original HTML elements
- Enhance: Accessibility on hidden form elements
- Enhance: Gzip module page layout
- Enhance: Add Gravatar support when using get_avatar_url()
- Fix: Uninstall will clean out all the database rows, created by the plugin
- Fix: Layout issues on caching page
- Fix: Notice styles
- Fix: Do not cache Gravatars in admin
- Fix: Update translation strings
- Fix: Minification link visible in admin bar for non-admins in multisite
- Fix: Incorrect date on dashboard and Uptime module when site is down
1.6.0 ( 2017-08-07 )
- New: Gravatar caching
- New: Caching module layout
- New: Ability to defer scripts in minification
- Enhance: Better detect GZIP and browser cache
- Enhance: Do not minify files that are already minified by a theme or a plugin
- Enhance: Better support for older PHP versions (5.2 and 5.3)
- Enhance: Improve admin notice styles, make notices dismissable
- Enhance: Improve dashboard layout
- Enhance: Better connectivity with the Hub
- Enhance: Better support for support for screen readers
- Fix: Overlapping issues in dashboard
- Fix: PHP notices on dashboard page and during activation/deactivation
- Fix: Minification not working on some subsites in a network
- Fix: Minification stuck at 10% on some installs
1.5.5 ( 2017-07-17 )
- Fix: Bug in Performance Report
- Fix: Fatal error on activation on the free versioon
- Fix: HTML tags in Cloudflare module
1.5.4 ( 2017-07-13 )
- Fix: Cron reports were stuck on a loop on some WordPress installations
- Fix: Issue with reports and calculating UTC time
- Fix: Minification was duplicating inline styles
- Fix: IE incompatibility in minification screen
- Fix: Compatibility with Contact Form 7
- Fix: Mobile menus not working on Performance and Minification pages
- Enhance: Remove jQuery and jQuery migrate from minification process
- Enhance: Minor style changes and updates
- Enhance: Cron reports functionality
- Enhance: Code optimization
- Enhance: Admin area performance improvements
1.5.3 ( 2017-06-21 )
- Fix: Avada & Google Maps scripts incompatibility
- Fix: Bulk update not working when selecting all items in minification screen
- Fix: Minification engine sometimes forget about files and did not clean them
- Fix: Minification was always showing 0% saved in some cases
- Fix: Enjoy pro features notice does not go away
- Fix: Performance scans were not active for some users of the free version of the plugin
- Enhance: Some code optimizations in few areas
- Enhance: Minified files are now processed in a background task and in a bigger batch
- Enhance: Some minor styles changes
- Enhance: Use CDN option is not available in sites of a multisite anymore and is controlled from network admin
- Enhance: Improved activation logic for free/pro versions
- Some other minor fixes and refactoring
1.5.2 ( 2017-06-05 )
- First WordPress.org version
- Fix: Minification actions in bulk update modal were not functioning properly
1.5.1 ( 2017-06-05 )
- New: Allow to customise reports with WordPress hooks
- Enhance: Reports notifications now allow user name to be customised
- Enhance: When free and pro versions are activated, free version is auto deactivated
- Fix: Do not assign any user for reports notifications by default
- Fix: Performance settings were not properly saved if there were no user emails in the list
- Fix: Reports notifications could not be switched off
- Performance notifications is now pro feature only
- Moved dashboard class to pro folder
- Introduced ES6 in some scripts
- Some minor styles fixes
- Some other minor fixes
1.5 ( 2017-05-25 )
- New: User Interface has been completely redesigned
- New: Quick setup welcome modal
- New: Performance Reports. This new feature allow users to schedule performance reports and get them right into their email boxes
- New: Performance tests are now available for free users by triggering them manually
- New: Clear Cache button
- Enhance: Caching and Gzip are now auto checked when the plugin is activated
- Enhance: Do not combine assets by default
- Enhance: Uptime data is synced with WPMU DEV servers every 3 minutes
- Enhance: Minification stats calculations improvements
- Enhance: Cloudflare admin menu has been removed and integrated into Browser Cache screen
- Fix: When performance test is run for the first time, previous score improvement was "Pending"
- Fix: stylesheets with @import directives were always displayed as "Pending"
- Fix: Various minor improvements and bug fixes
1.4.3 ( 2017-04-25 )
- Fix: Sometimes minification stats appeared as a negative number
- Enhance: Minification: Make all post metadata private
- New: Added new actions to modify where HB saves the files
1.4.2 ( 2017-03-02 )
- Fix: MarketPress incompatibility
- Fix: In some cases, assets were not moved to footer
- Fix: Assets were always combined if some of them were marked as "not combined" in the same group
- Fix: Keep handle name when only one handle is enqueued in a group for better compatibility with wp_script_is function
- Fix: add_inline_scripts/styles did not work for plugins that inject inlines too late
- Fix: Sometimes assets are not enqueued under https if the site is SSL
- Enhance: Cloudflare box – Show a message if there are no zones available
- Some other minor fixes/improvements
1.4.1 ( 2017-01-12 )
- Fix: Upgrade process was triggered too early provoking a fatal error when Smart Crawler was active
- Fix: Minify Group warning
- Fix: Error when WPMUDEV Dashboard was not activated
1.4 ( 2017-01-10 )
- New: Brand new minification engine
- New: Minified files are now processed in WPMUDEV's servers
- New: Users can use WPMUDEV's CDN to store minified files
- New: Clear Cloudflare cache feature
- Fix: PHP code in stylesheets could potentially be exposed
- Enhancement: stylesheets with @import directives are not minified anymore due to multiple issues that were causing
- Some admin styles improvements
1.3.5 ( 2016-10-24 )
- New: Divi 3.0 integration
126.96.36.199 ( 2016-10-07 )
- Fixed: Minification was always enabled in some sites.
1.3.4 ( 2016-10-03 )
- PHP 5.3 required for minification
- Fix: Javascript improvements in Cloudflare box
- Fix: Missing Hummingbird icon in admin bar
- Enhancement: Cloudflare now auto selects domain
- Enhancement: Improved caching detection
- Other minor improvements
1.3.3 ( 2016-09-02 )
- Fix: Parse error in Cloudflare module when ASP tags detection was active in PHP
1.3.2 ( 2016-08-22 )
- Fix: Error when detecting Cloudflare on activation
1.3.1 ( 2016-08-17 )
- Fix: Cloudflare was only showing 20 sites max
- Fix: Parse error in PHP < 5.3 installations
1.3 ( 2016-08-15 )
- New: Cloudflare integration
- New: LiteSpeed server detection
- Enhance: Clear minification cache when a plugin/theme is activated/deactivated
- Enhance: New better Javascript compressor
- Enhance: Plugin performance improvements
- Enhance: Better Uptime error display
- Fixed: Notice in minification screen when a plugin was deleted manually
- Fixed: replaced buttons by inputs as sometimes settings cannot be submitted in minification screen
- Fixed: Some minified URLs where prepended 'http' even if they had already http prepended
- Fixed: Some admin styles
1.2.4 ( 2016-08-10 )
- Fixed fatal error on activation when PHP version is < 5.3
1.2.3 ( 2016-07-22 )
- Enhance: Updated WPMU DEV styles library
1.2.2 ( 2016-06-16 )
- Fixed: Hummingbird Exception throwing fatal error in old versions of PHP (<5.3)
- Fixed: Notice in minification screen when a plugin was deleted manually
- Fixed: replaced buttons by inputs as sometimes settings cannot be submitted in minification screen
- Fixed: Some minified URLs where prepended 'http' even if they had already http prepended
- Enhance: Better Uptime error handling
- Replaced the javascript compressor for a better one
- Some styles improvements in admin
1.2.1 ( 2016-05-17 )
Fix: Sometimes excluded files did not appear on list after re checking files
Fix: Server type not updated when user switches it
Fixes to Google Chart API
Enhance: Faster minification scan
Enhance: Better GZIP htaccess code
Enhance: Search by extension in minification page
1.2 ( 2016-04-18 )
- New: Filter by plugin, theme or filename in minification screen
- New: Bulk actions in minification screen
- New: Divi integration
- New: Splitted minification chart into header and footer charts
- Fix: Unconsistent count of enqueued files in Dashboard
- Fix: BuddyPress warning
- Fix: PHP 5.2.4 error
- Fix: GZIP and caching results were cleared after 1 hour
- Fix: Login screen errors due to minification process
- Fix: Sometimes minificated sources were enqueued twice.
- Admin styles improvements
- Other minor fixes and improvements
1.1.2 ( 2016-03-18 )
- Fixed: Performance test waiting time set back to 5 minutes
1.1.1 ( 2016-03-17 )
- Fixed: Uptime not displaying chart
- Fixed: Warning in Uptime page
1.1 ( 2016-03-16 )
- New: New filetype in Caching results
- New: wphb_add_meta_box filter
- New: wphb_code_snippet filter
- Enhance: Get Uptime results when the plugin is activated
- Enhance: Start a performance test when the plugin is activated
- Enhance: Better errors handling in Plugin API Classes
- Enhance: Better cache clean on deactivation
- Fixed: Minification cached resources not being loaded via https
- Fixed: Permissions errors in multisites
- UX Improvements
1.0.1 ( 2016-03-03 )
- Enhance: Added plugins list action link
- Enhance: If Browser Caching is already recommended or better, Enable button is now hidden
- Enhance: Activate API log by using WP_DEBUG_LOG constant
- Fixed: Warning when deleting cached files
- Fixed: Empty file was appearing when all assets were sent to footer
- Fixed: settings were reset to default when plugin was deactivated.
- Some other minor enhancements/fixes
1.0 ( 2016-02-23 )
- First release


text:
Suspect charged in Lone Star College shooting
With memories painfully fresh and nerves still raw after the Connecticut elementary school massacre, the nation suddenly turned its attention to a community college campus in suburban Houston on Tuesday afternoon, fearful that another violent incident was shredding any lingering notion of safety in the classroom.
As it turned out, the gunfire that shattered the silence of a normal day of classes at Lone Star College's north Harris County location was sadly routine.
Two young men became involved in an argument that ended when one pulled a handgun. Minutes later, the other man and a school maintenance worker lay wounded while panicked students dove for cover amid fears of an unfolding homicidal spree.
More Information
First court date: Suspect in court Thursday
Classes resume: Shaken students back today
Political differences: Prayers, calls for change
On social: Social media reaction
Bad timing: Twittersphere jumps on reporter
Taxes to rescue?: One path to school security Previous LSC threat: Bomb threat hit last fall Scary moments: Photos from the shooting scene Celeb tweets: 'Second Amendment must be adjusted!'
Taxes to rescue?: One path to school security
Previous LSC threat: Bomb threat hit last fall
Scary moments: Photos from the shooting scene
Celeb tweets: 'Second Amendment must be adjusted!'
Those fears quickly faded, but not before scores of police cars and emergency vehicles converged on the school in the 2700 block of W. W. Thorne shortly after noon. While paramedics tended the wounded, as well as a female student who needed attention for a medical event possibly related to the shooting, authorities began to search wooded areas adjacent to the campus looking for the gunman, who had run away.
Cars driving along neighboring streets were stopped and inspected in case the gunman was hiding inside, and dog teams scoured surrounding neighborhoods in a yard-to-yard search. Meanwhile, four nearby schools in the Aldine Independent School District were placed on lockdown as a precaution.
Suspect shot himself
A little after 2 p.m., the search became moot when a man suspected in the shooting showed up at Northwest Medical Center. Authorities said he apparently shot himself in the hip accidentally while handling his weapon.
The campus later was reopened and declared safe so that students, faculty and college staff could retrieve their vehicles and personal items.
But the very notion of safety was again brought into question by how quickly a simple dispute could turn potentially deadly.
The memory of the gunshots heard by so many near the school's cafeteria and library remained long after echoes had dissipated, as did the images of floors stained by blood.
The reason for the argument between the men, as well as the precise sequence of events, was still the subject of investigation late Tuesday. Why the maintenance employee was shot was unclear.
Both men involved in the altercation were listed as "persons of interest." In a statement, the Harris County Sheriff's Department said one had a student ID and that both remain under armed guard at the hospitals where they are being treated.
Later Tuesday, sheriff's officials identified the accused gunman as Carlton Berry, 22.
Although he remains hospitalized for an apparently self-inflicted accidental gunshot wound, Berry has been charged with aggravated assault.
When reached for comment late Tuesday, a woman at Berry's northwest Harris County home declined to comment about the incident.
"No, we don't want to say nothing," she said.
According to Harris County criminal records, Berry was charged and convicted of misdemeanor marijuana possession in the last two years.
In 2009, Berry was sentenced to nine months probation and ordered to pay $100 fine for theft, according to the court records.
Nephew wounded
A woman at a home in north Houston said one of the people wounded during the shooting was her nephew. The woman, who declined to identify herself, said he is taking a GED course at the college. She said it was a requirement for him to someday attend art school.
"He was just trying to better himself," the woman said. "It's a scary situation."
The woman declined further comment.
As authorities were still trying to piece together what had happened, three Houston-area lawmakers were holding a news conference to discuss their bipartisan measure to create local taxing districts to hire more police for school districts. The measure, authored by state Sens. John Whitmire, D-Houston, and Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, and State Rep. Dan Huberty, R-Humble, would allow for local elections to create taxing districts to fund the hiring of trained law enforcement officers to protect schools.
The bill follows another filed last week aimed at increasing campus safety by allowing people with permits to carry concealed weapons on all college campuses. The proposal by state Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, would ban any public university from prohibiting students, faculty or staff with a concealed handgun license to carry on campus, including classrooms. A similar measure failed in the last legislative session by two votes.
Many college administrators oppose the idea. They argue that the decision of whether to allow concealed handguns on their property should be determined campus-by-campus rather than by a statewide policy.
The Lone Star College System is the fastest-growing community college in Texas, with more than 75,000 students and six campuses. Its North Harris campus serves roughly 19,000 students, diverse in age and ethnicity. The tree-filled campus spans 200 acres, with a dozen buildings.
The shooting is believed to be the first such incident on a system campus. The system has its own police department that patrols North Harris and the other campuses.
"You can't walk across campus usually without running into one of the officers. They're a constant presence," said John Luedemann, a spokesman for the North Harris campus.
Lone Star College, like all state colleges and universities in Texas, does not allow concealed handguns on campus. Of course, that did not stop at least one of the men involved in Tuesday's incident from having one anyway.
Thoughts of Newtown
After the shooting started, everyone ran, including Shaperia Harper. The 22-year-old studying nursing was talking on her cellphone at an outdoor fountain near the Winship building when she heard six or seven "really loud" gunshots. She had no time to investigate or think about where to go. She just ran.
Rohit Mistry, a 21-year-old studying criminal justice at Lone Star, had arrived at the library about 12:30. He was on the third floor, books open, when he noticed people running. A librarian asked all those present to move into a back room, he said. Several dozen crammed into the room, with some students crying and others calling their parents.
About 20 minutes later, the group was escorted from the building, along with other staff and students. It was not until Mistry reached the first floor that he saw blood on the floor.
A short distance from the school, Terin Tate was at lunch when she heard about the shooting and thought about one thing - her 18-month-old daughter, Olivia, who was at a day care facility on the campus.
Tate, 26, said she sped toward the campus, following a police car, only to have to go the final 2 miles on foot because of the campus lockdown. She saw SWAT teams on site, helicopters overhead and parents running along with her toward the day care. Her sense of panic increased, the thoughts of the recent Newtown massacre bouncing around in her head.
"I was hoping my daughter wasn't shot," Tate said. "With the Connecticut shootings so fresh, that's what every parent thinks of when you hear shooting."
Her daughter was fine. But Tate and the other parents had to wait until the campus was reopened to take their children home.
Mike Glenn, Carol Christian, Cindy George, Dale Lezon, Ericka Mellon and Erin Mulvaney contributed to this report.
Pit bull vs. toddler: Child critical after mauling
Hit by bus: Toddler run over, dies
'Rude' cop suspended: Galveston woman complains
Prostitution sting: Teacher, sheriff's employee nabbed


text:
It was the day before St. Patrick's Day, and the crowd was a little calmer on the approach to St. Patrick's Cathedral on Fifth Avenue early in the morning than it would be for the parade, as commuters trekked through snow banks left by winter's last hurrah.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, in one of his brief weekday homilies at 7 a.m. Mass, simply pointed to the gospel reading of the day: It was the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, and the title, the Catholic archbishop of New York said, says it all. Jesus knew the poor man's name. Not so the rich man's.
He preached the morning after a frigid evening commuting scene across town to the west. Outside St. Francis Assisi Church, right down the block from Penn Station, there was a man named Robert with a single tear falling from his eye. The tear glistened, as did his skin, in the wind. He asked for money to buy something to eat. I gave him a measly dollar as we exchanged a few words. He seemed hungry for something so much more than food. Imagine standing on a busy city street, asking for help, and being ignored as hundreds of people walk by every minute. That's got to wear you down. People tell me he might use the money for drugs or alcohol. Thinking of that parable, I know I've been to dinner parties and I had better not miss — or ignore —the poor man in front of me. And who among us has been a perfect steward of every precious dollar? I sure haven't.
As I made my way around the corner, I was going to grab a sandwich and decided to get two and to go back and offer Robert one or two and a drink. I was a pain in the neck at the store, trying to make clear which was which so Robert would have choices. "The one with the peppers is the roast beef." The man in the deli sighed, bewildered by why I couldn't figure it out when I settled down with the sandwiches. I didn't want to explain the whole little intention. Maybe I should have. Maybe it would have helped advance a revolution of tenderness, which Pope Francis often talks about and seems to be driving. It would have been better, of course, if I had first bothered to ask Robert what more he wanted in the first place. Alas, he was gone when I returned to the spot where I met him — I hoped someone did what I probably should have done and offered to join him inside somewhere warm for a meal — but maybe we can change our ways because of him?
Saint John XXII described purity of heart as "the breath of the love of God," which draws us to service to our neighbor, without concern for the cost or inconvenience. "We do not love others because of what they can do for us, or because we are attracted to them, or because we can benefit from their acquaintance," Father Peter John Cameron, O.P., writes in Made for Love, Loved by God. "We love them gratuitously, that is, we love them because of who they are."
"To be human is to be someone wanted by God," he writes. "The pure of heart see this."
The readings for Mass that day included the verse from Isaiah assuring us that 'though your sins be like scarlet, they will become white as snow.'
Maybe it's because it's the Christian penitential season of Lent, but when the snow slammed much of the northeast U.S. just days before the official start of spring, stopping many in our tracks for a day or more, there seemed to be a message for us. In the quiet, no cars on the roads, reflection beckoned. The readings for Mass that day even included the verse from Isaiah assuring us that "though your sins be like scarlet, they will become white as snow."
A day later, Robert, even in his need, seemed a teacher, pointing back to that message, a face pleading for reflection. In the light of day, reflected in the snow, passing him by suggested myriad disordered priorities and most especially the failure to notice the man in front of us. Though poor, his was a message that could make us rich in what matters most.
How would it all be different if we took a step away from the noise and spent more time with those who might otherwise be forgotten and cast aside? What if we didn't get sucked into frustrating political news stories and celebrity and saw our own power more? What if we made a choice for hearts as pure as the freshly fallen snow?


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Formed in the Summer of 1996 in the blazing sun of the ATL, Zion I has become a guiding light in my creative life. I actually coined the name as such. I wanted a name which would always help me strive to be my highest self. Early on, I recognized the music as a blessing, and I wanted to make people's lives better thru it. "Zion" represents the spiritual freedom that we all possess within, and that the music allows us to feel. "I" is the self that we all possess. Together, the name is a reminder of our divine connection to creation.
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Limited edition incl. slipcase and two additional bonus tracks.
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Spain's biggest music magazine Mondosonoro voted ANGELUS APATRIDA "Best Metal band of the year (2010)", Kerrang Spain and Rockzone Mag named them "Best band of the year (2010)" and Rolling Stone Spain finally labeled them as "The Spanish band that plays the most outside of the country".
10 ultra-catchy and dynamic new songs clearly show a matured and more determined entity, sticking to their stylistic guns, but showcasing all the elements of their trademark-sound in a bolder and more irresistible manner.
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Snag #1
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Problem #1: IP addressing. The king server needs a static IP address so the other hosts on my network can find it. The default Ubuntu installation uses DHCP. I could modify the /etc/network/interfaces file to specify static addressing, but I think it might be better to tell my router (which is acting as a gateway & DHCP server) to serve king the same IP address every time it connects. Trying that now.
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Exclusive Driving Experience - May 19th & 20th, 2012
Guardian Angel Motorsports is proud to announce that we will be hosting a Charity Driving Event and Social Gala at Monticello Motor Club (MMC). Proceeds from the event will provide mu...ch needed help for Guardian Angel's Kids in Need as well as designated children's charities in the Sullivan County area.
This 2-day event will be held on Saturday May 19th and Sunday May 20th with two run group available, Touring and Advanced. Each run group will receive a minimum of 3 hours of driving time per day. Please note: Touring drivers not Solo qualified must arrange for an instructor through Guardian Angel Motorsports prior to the event. There will be a nominal fee assessed for instructors. Additionally, MMC requires all drivers to be signed off by an MMC approved instructor prior to running in the Advanced group.
As an additional attraction for the car enthusiast in you, the Ferrari Club Racing Association (FCRA) will be hosting a Ferrari Challenge Race weekend at MMC during our event. This is your opportunity to see 20+ Ferraris up close and personal as they scream around Monticello Motor Clubs 4.1 mile circuit.
To top off the weekend, Guardian Angels Motorsports and Monticello Motor Club will be hosting a Black Tie cocktail and dinner party featuring silent auction items at an exclusive restaurant.
Highlights of the event:
A total of 12 hours of track time split between two run groups over just two days.
Private coaching from Grand Am Drivers (additional hourly fee for charity, also tax deductible
Touring Laps for your non-driving guests
Full buffet lunch
Open passing in the Advance group. Point byes recommended but not required. (This is a lot of fun)
Black Tie Gala on Saturday night
Special room rate of $124.00 a night plus tax at the Courtyard by Marriott in Middletown, NY for your stay.
Please reference 2012 Gala when booking.
As many of you may already know, Monticello Motor Club is a private membership only club and this will be your unique opportunity to enjoy the amenities and driving experience Monticello Motor Club has to offer!
All this excitement for just $2,500 per driver and $250 for your non-driving guests (which includes Gala Dinner, lunches and taste of the track activities.) Guardian Angel Motorsports is a 501c3 Charity all fees are tax deductible.
This will be an extremely limited and exclusive event. We are capping registration at 45 drivers. This event will be offered to PCA, FCA and BMW clubs across the North East. This email is your exclusive chance to register before the event is offered to the clubs.
When you consider the exclusivity of Monticello Motor Club, the quality of the driving experience, the available hours of track time and the fact that you will be directly helping Kids in Need, this will be the most rewarding track event this year. The Gala will also be first class and a great chance to share a track day with your significant other.
For information about Guardian Angel Motorsports and to register for the event, please visit: https://donate.guardianangelmotorspo...lt.aspx?TID=15


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Every office has a bathroom, every non-robot worker has to use the bathroom and sharing a bathroom with co-workers seems to be an almost universally unpleasant experience.
A slew of readers have written asking how to handle everything from male co-workers who leave droplets on the toilet seat in a unisex bathroom to the unnerving discovery of cracker crumbs in the stall.
This column is devoted to examining this turbulent confluence of work and human necessity.
I'll go first.
My workplace bathroom advice, from a decidedly male perspective, is simple: Stop behaving like monsters.
Don't stand 2 feet away from the urinal while doing what you're doing. Are those grunting sounds really necessary? And for the love of whoever invented running water, FLUSH THE TOILET!!
(It feels good to get that off my chest.)
For more cogent advice, I turned to some experts.
Peter Post, co-author of "The Etiquette Advantage in Business," said bathroom manners have long been a nettlesome workplace issue.
"I think people assume people are just going to be reasonably clean when using the bathroom," he said. "But then you invariably get in a situation where it's being left a mess, and then it becomes a company problem, and some poor manager has to have a meeting with the staff saying, 'We need to fix this.'"
Post said one of the hot-button items on any restroom complaint list involves the toilet seat, particularly in unisex bathrooms. The assumption would be that female workers are annoyed that male co-workers are leaving the toilet seat up.
Not so, Post said. Men have apparently proven themselves so wholly incapable of proper aiming that most women have thrown in the toilet paper and would prefer that the seat be left up.
"There are a lot of women now who are asking the men to leave the seat up and just let them put it down when they come in," Post said. "They do that to be sure that the seat is up when the men use the bathroom. That way, they hope, the seat will be clean when the women come in."
He said in any office with a unisex bathroom, female employees should decide which they would prefer — seat left up or down — and the men should politely comply and still try to work on their aim.
Ray from Plano, Texas, concisely illuminated another loathsome loo habit that has come about in recent years: "This is my quiet time and a place for me to hone my solitaire skills. Co-workers are now beginning to break my concentration by bringing in a conference call and squatting next door. How do I let them know this is no place for a phone conversation?"
For some, it seems, technology has battered down the doors of human decency and made it acceptable to carry on a phone call while tending to other bodily business.
I have no problem with people toting a smartphone into the can and checking Twitter or browsing the Web. Heck, you can wheel your PC into the stall for all I care. But to hold a conversation amid the sounds of flushing … and other things?
From nowhere near the bathroom, I called Jacqueline Whitmore, author of "Business Class: Etiquette Essentials for Success at Work." She said the phone-in-the-bathroom issue is one she gets asked all the time.
"My answer to that is, if it's a public restroom, it's probably not the best place to carry on a phone conversation, especially if it's with a client," she said. "My advice is, 'Text, yes. Talk, no.'"
Aside from bothering others who are in the restroom, Whitmore pointed out that a person could unwittingly reveal confidential client information: "I think people forget that other people listen."
If you're dealing with a chronic bathroom phone caller, Whitmore suggests bringing it up, without identifying the perpetrator, to a supervisor or during a staff meeting, suggesting a company policy against talking on phones in the restrooms.
Or: "You can always just start flushing away and singing a song, and then maybe they'll get the message."
There are endless co-worker quirks that make bathroom visits uncomfortable: someone who biked to work taking a towel-bath in the sink, and that one person who always strikes up a conversation and keeps you standing in the restroom far longer than a person should stand in a restroom.
Craig Heimbuch, editor-in-chief of ManoftheHouse.com, an online magazine aimed at the average-Joe working dad, wrote recently on the subject of office bathroom etiquette for men. His tips included "The Buffer Urinal," "No Eye Contact, No Talking" and "Don't Linger."
"The bathroom can be a very vulnerable situation," Heimbuch said. "It's this weird combination of utility and vulnerability. You just kind of want some space."
He finds that some of the worst moments come from simply having to interact with colleagues in the often-cramped confines of what should be a private place: "For me, there's nothing more awkward than seeing my boss in there. You really don't know what to say, so you do that nervous, eyes-down march."
We've all been there, Craig. And presumably we'll all be there again.
In fact, I think I'm going to go there right now.
I promise I'll leave the seat up. Or should I leave it down?
Maybe I'll just use the bathroom at Starbucks.
TALK TO REX: Ask workplace questions — anonymously or by name — and share stories with Rex Huppke at firstname.lastname@example.com, like Rex on Facebook at facebook.com/rexworkshere and find more at chicagotribune.com/ijustworkhere.
Every office has a bathroom, every non-robot worker has to use the bathroom and sharing a bathroom with co-workers seems to be an almost universally unpleasant experience.


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25 April, 2013 | (01 hr)
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How many times does your Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer (CECO) get to meet with your board of directors? Has your board taken part in ethics & compliance training? If you have a problem answering these questions, then it may be time to reevaluate your company's approach. In today's regulated landscape, today's board of directors must be integrated in instilling a strong commitment and understanding of ethics and compliance.
In this webcast, gain insight on this timely topic and learn best practices when interacting with your board of directors so that a strong ethical culture can be set and make it all the way down to the lower levels your organization.
View the report: Council Perspectives: Ethics & the Board
Audience: Chief Ethics Officers/Chief Compliance Officers, Chief Investment Officers, Chief Risk Officers, Chief Financial Officers, Directors of Corporate Governance, General Counsel, Asset Managers, Activist Managers, Pension Funds, Screening Firms, Investment Advisory, Research Firms, Consultants
Jacqueline Brevard
Jacqueline E. Brevard is the program director for the Global Business Conduct Council of which she was an inaugural member. Ms. Brevard is currently also a Senior Advisor at GEC Risk Advisory LLC, the global governance, risk, integrity, ...Full Bio
Andrea Bonime-Blanc, JD, PhD
Dr. Andrea Bonime-Blanc is the lead cyber-risk governance author and researcher for The Conference Board. She is the chief executive officer of GEC Risk Advisory LLC, the global governance, risk, ethics, compliance, reputation, and crisis advisory firm, serving executives, boards, investors, and ...Full Bio
Maureen McGirr
Maureen McGirr is currently Vice President, Ethics, Privacy and Policy within the Global Compliance Organization at Merck & Co., Inc.
Prior to taking her new role, Maureen McGirr was on Chief Legal Counsel, Strategic Initiatives at MSD in Japan, a wholly owned subsidiary of Merc...Full Bio
Kimberly Byer-Clark
Kimberly Byer-Clark is a program director with The Conference Board. She develops and produces workshops and conferences in the Corporate Leadership practice. Kim is also responsible for content development, speaker selection and recruitment, sponsorship sales, and webcast production. From 2009-2...Full Bio


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By Shermakaye Bass
Green Right Now
Over the past year or so, there's been a velvety, yummy buzz: Chocolate may just save the planet!
Actually, that's a stretch. But in the months leading up to the Copenhagen climate talks last December, several chocolate-makers claimed they were venturing further into fair trade practices, including Nestle, Mars and Cadbury.
Add to that the promising method of "cabruca farming" in Brazil — a way of supplementing rainforests with valuable cacao plants to offset wholesale slash-and-burn techniques. Then multiply those happy developments by now-abundant data showing that chocolate — dark chocolates and bittersweets, specifically — are good for our health, and you've got a growing body of evidence that semi-sweet, Fair Trade chocolate is not only good for body, heart and soul; it could be good for the environment.
"Chocolate is considered to be a super food," says Steven Flood, co-owner of Fat Turkey Chocolates, an organic chocolatier based in Austin, Texas. "You could actually live and sustain yourself on chocolate alone and get everything you need. And you wouldn't get fat. Because there's not a lot of fat in dark chocolate."
According to the American Institute for Cancer Research and the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center's Cancer Prevention Center, among others, cacao contains potent antioxidants that reduce free radicals in the body much quicker and more efficiently than green tea or vitamin C, helping to prevent cancer. Also, the natural flavanoids in chocolate have a beneficial impact on our systems' blood vessels, helping them pump that vital red fluid more smoothly, making heart disease less likely.
And, posits Fat Turkey's Steven Flood, "The darkest chocolates have a chemical called theo-bromine, which is also a decongestant. It's similar to caffeine in chemical structure. So if your kids are congested, you can give them a little bit of dark chocolate instead of medicines and chemicals."
But you don't need to wait for a cold or congestion, of course. For many of us, February is officially "chocolate month." It's the season where we say to all things chocolate, "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. …"
It turns out there's a lot more to savor than just chocolate's rich, almost primal flavor. Some farmers and scientists think they can use a certain type of farming to protect, and potentially, revitalize parts of the rainforest.
Back in December, the Swiss behemoth Nestle and Europe's Fairtrade Foundation reached an agreement that would certify a certain type of Nestle's Kit Kat bar, the choco-biscuit bar, as Fair Trade — the caveat: it's only these certain size of Kit Kats, and they're only sold in the U.K. and Ireland. But last October, Nestle launched its "Cocoa Plan," a global, 10-year initiative that invests 65 million British pounds (about $102 million U.S. dollars) to address fair trade issues that have plagued cacao farmers from Africa to South America, such as lack of health-care, educational and environmental protection plans.
Farmers in Côte d'Ivoire (the Ivory Coast) – producers of more cocoa than any other country in the world — will especially benefit from the Nestle plan, which calls for farmers' groups to receive extra Fair Trade premium payments, in addition to the Fair Trade price (or market price if higher) for their crop; these extra payments can be used as the cocoa growers see fit, but most experts expect the money to go toward the groups' health-care, education and community improvements (water, sewage, preservation of farmland), along with reinvestment into more eco-sustainable farming.
In early 2008, Britain's Cadbury announced its Cadbury Cocoa Partnership, which invests 45 million pounds ($70.5 million) into cocoa producing farms in Ghana, India, Indonesia and the Caribbean. Also, in 2008 it reached an agreement with Fair Trade bodies in the UK that would certify "Dairy Milk" bars as Fair Trade — though, as a result of the global economic crisis, Cadbury says, there have been delays .
Typically, a "fair trade" label means that the chocolate manufacturer has agreed to buy a certain percentage of Fair Trade cocoa — or to use a certain ratio of Fair Trade cocoa in a particular brand and size of candy bar — from Fair Trade providers who pay a decent living wage and adhere to other standards. Fair Trade products often employ sustainable models of production.
In fact, as Carmen K. Iezzi of the U.S.'s Fairtrade Federation cautions, these announcements and partial Fair Trade-purchases could be more PR campaigns than anything.
"These big companies aren't interested in making that full commitment (to using only Fair Trade cocoa); they are selectively incorporating Fair Trade into their purchases for several reasons, partially because they want to capitalize on consumer's growing interest in making responsible decisions," says the federation's executive director, Iezzi. "We want consumers to move in that direction and really harness the power that they have, but we want people to be clear on what's really going on, and often it's a difference between the messaging and marketing and the actual purchasing."
What is provable, however, is that in the Brazilian rainforests, old-school farmers are working with scientists at the State University of Santa Cruz in Eastern Brazil, the World Agroforestry Center and chocolate manufacturers of Mars, Inc. to research a cacao-growing practice known as "cabruca farming."
Essentially this means that cacao fruit trees are planted within rainforests, rather than in open spaces. Granted, it requires the felling of a relative few old-growth giants to make room for the squattier cacao plants, but since the forests will then shelter a valued commodity (the essence of chocolate!), governments, corporations and small farmers are less likely to take out entire swaths of forest.
It's a long-shot — salvaging rainforests by growing cacao. And one that isn't going to restore millions of lost acres, experts say. But it provides an example of a different way to farm cocoa and make money. Also, some scientists are noting that over a period of time, as fewer big trees are leveled and more crops are interspersed among the tall guys, carbon build-up in the soils is returning.
As a National Public Radio segment on "cabruca farming" stated… "There used to be 330 million acres of rainforest in eastern Brazil, called the Mata Atlantica. Settlers arrived hundreds of years ago and began destroying the forest for the wood, and to create fields for pasture and crops. Only 7 percent of the Mata Atlantica remains, and destruction is still going on. Every time a tree is burned, its stored carbon is released. As more carbon is released into the air, the planet gets warmer."
The on-location report went on to explain how chocolate was once a major source of income for Brazil. But as the market for cocoa (made from the cacao tree's beans) plummeted over the past 20 years, due largely to plant disease, the low price of cocoa discouraged farmers — who then began logging or harvesting the ancient carbon-storing trees, or simply burning down the forests for agricultural use.
But through "cabruca," Brazil and other rainforest nations have an example of what can be done to halt and possibly reverse some of the slash-and-burn damage.
One family who has been growing cacao for four generations — the Joao Tavares family — has seeded 2,200 acres of rainforest with cacao. They cut only a few of the taller, canopy trees, adding the shorter cacao plants beneath. Over the past several years, the experiment has been successful, and the Tavares family are now seeing a replenished and reinvigorated soil, which again supports all kind of plant and animal life. They are learning that this may well mean salvation for some sections of rainforest.
"We understand that we have to preserve the cabruca," Joao Tavares told NPR, "even if you have less production.
The upshot is, despite smaller yields, the quality and value of the plants is much greater, commanding higher prices from chocolate manufacturers. Farmers who grow in non-rainforest environments find their plants have many more diseases and insect problems. The other trade-off is that more and more consumers are demanding eco-friendly chocolates. So these specialty cabruca farmers have an already established market — and one that's only growing, as people become more environmentally aware.
Another boon to chocoholics is the fact that recent studies show that dark chocolate is good for the heart and circulatory system, as well as the immune system — and possibly the brain.
According to the American Society of Nutrition's Journal of Nutrition and a story in ScienceDaily, the Research Laboratories of the Catholic University in Campobasso, Italy, published some interesting findings in late 2008.
Working with the National Cancer Institute of Milan, the university's study was "one of the largest epidemiological studies ever conducted in Europe," the Research Labs noted that inflammation of the cardiovascular system is notably less among people of a certain region in Italy where chocolate is a regular part of the diet.
Basically, the study indicates that by eating less than half of a 100-gram dark chocolate bar, consumers have less risk for heart disease, cancer and high blood pressure.
"We started from the hypothesis that high amounts of antioxidants contained in the cocoa seeds, in particular flavonoids and other kinds of polyphenols, might have beneficial effects on the inflammatory state," stated Romina di Giuseppe, the study's lead author. "Our results have been absolutely encouraging: People having moderate amounts of dark chocolate regularly have significantly lower levels of C-reactive protein in their blood. In other words, their inflammatory state is considerably reduced. The 17% average reduction observed may appear quite small, but it is enough to decrease the risk of cardio-vascular disease for one third in women and one fourth in men. It is undoubtedly a remarkable outcome"
Now for the not-so-good news. This only applies when we eat dark chocolate, and in moderation. The study proscribed an average of 6.7 grams per day – or a small square of chocolate up to three times a week.
"Beyond these amounts the beneficial effect tends to disappear," di Giuseppe said. He also mentioned that previous research indicates that milk chocolate isn't so healthy, and that the milk "interferes with the absorption of polyphenols. That is why our study considered just the dark chocolate"
Other professionals in the United States, including professor of nutrition Katie Eliot at Saint Louis University, in St. Louis, MO, say chocolate is having a renaissance because of its good qualities.
Dark chocolate products with a cocoa content of 60 percent or higher carry the desired flavonoids.
"Like green tea and berries, dark chocolate contains powerful antioxidants (flavonoids) that have been shown to reduce blood pressure and the bad LDL cholesterol to prevent cholesterol from collecting in the arteries," Eliot said. "Most studies have used one 40-gram serving – or three large squares of dark chocolate-to show cardiovascular benefit. … (But) because one serving packs 200 calories, it should be your one sweet treat for the day and part of a balanced diet. If you just add 200 calories to your daily diet, you will gain weight."
If you're going for full-on Fair Trade chocolate that's good for the planet and for your body/soul/conscience, here are three chocolate-makers in the U.S. where you can start your search:
- Divine Chocolates, owned by cocoa farmers in Ghana
- Alter Eco USA, sells various edibles, including Fair Trade chocolate bars. Find out where to buy locally here.
- Equal Exchange, Fair Trade 24/7.
Now — armed with all this feel-good data about chocolate — go forth and savor that midnight-colored, velvety, electrifying substance we know as chocolate. After all, what's not to love?
(The Fair Trade Federation in Washington D.C. is calling on teachers to educate about the value of Fair Trade chocolate this Valentine's Day. Naturally, their offering enticements of…chocolate.)
Copyright © 2010 Green Right Now | Distributed by GRN Network


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Sunday lunch Blackheath, Bromley, Croydon or Petts Wood Aqua Bar & Grill
Start with the relaxing atmosphere and contemporary casual look of the restaurants. Whether in Blackheath or Bromley, Croydon or the newest branch in Petts Wood, the mood is pitched at Sunday lunch best --warm, welcoming and cheery, with spacious, comfortable seating for large gatherings.
Chef Dasos and team prepare a mouth watering medley of luxurious and subtle flavours. Starters that tease and thrill, like smoked duck and pear salad served with rocket, or mussels in white wine, doused with garlic, shallots and parsley cream sauce.
The mains, hearty and seductive, remind why the Sunday Roast is a ritual worth keeping. Tucking into the rich prime roast of beef served with roast potatoes, and Yorkshire pudding, with seasonal vegetables and red wine jus, brings back memories of family meals past. As with every plump morsel of the roast leg of lamb or the divinely slow-roasted belly of pork, with creamy mash and veggies on the side.
For lighter diners, the oven-roasted chicken supreme is a sound and healthy choice while the seared fillet of salmon, with sautéed asparagus, sun-blushed tomatoes, new potatoes and rocket offers a friskier alternative The enchanting roasted butternut squash and goats cheese risotto appeals to non-traditionalists.
Deciding on which dessert is heroic, all vie mightily for one's favour, from the classic tiramisu, dreamy and delicate, to the hallowed sticky date and toffee pudding topped with vanilla pod ice cream, to lush vanilla panna cotta with poached strawberries and silky petit pot of chocolate.
To many, Sunday lunch remains an ode to family and the joys of a shared meal. If you're in or near Bromley, Blackheath, Croydon or Petts Wood.


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Alumna Named President of Wyoming State Board of Nursing
Questioning certain decisions made by the board led Jennifer Zettl ('93) to apply for an open position in 2007. That same spirit of questioning everything is one of the reasons Zettl was elected board president earlier this month.
Augustana Booster Organization Gets New Name
Changing the name of its athletic fund-raising organization is the latest development in Augustana's renewed institutional commitment to NCAA Division II.
Food Drive, Program Honors King and Obama
"From I Have a Dream to Yes we Can" is the theme of a weekend celebration at Augustana honoring the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. and the presidential inauguration of Barack Obama.
Band, Wind Ensemble Tour Features Soloist Dr. John Pennington
Dr. John Pennington, professor of percussion at Augustana, is the featured soloist with the Augustana Band and Wind Ensemble during the group's January Interim Tour through South Dakota and Colorado.
Argus Leader: Augustana Alum to Speak at B'nai B'rith
Mel Antonen, an Augustana '79 alum, will be the guest speaker at the 43rd annual B'nai B'rith Sportsman of Year Banquet. Antonen has been at USA Today for 22 years, primarily covering baseball.
Enrollment VP Gives Advice to Families on KELO TV
Private colleges everywhere are closely watching the numbers, to see just how the economy is impacting enrollment and enrollments nationwide are down. At Augustana College in Sioux Falls, the story's a little different.
Press & Dakotan: Augustana Senior Selected for NASA Student Ambassadors Program
Dan Johnson, an Augustana College senior, has been selected among 43 "NASA Student Ambassadors" nationwide. He will promote astronomy and NASA activities in 2009, the 400th anniversary of Galileo's discoveries with the telescope.
History Professor Has Book Published
Dr. Jeffrey Johnson, assistant professor of history at Augustana, is the author of "They Are All Red Out Here: Socialist Politics in the Pacific Northwest, 1895-1925," published by University of Oklahoma Press.
Argus Leader: Student Noted for Little Acts and Big Ideas
Jamie Horter, an Augustana senior majoring in chemistry and art, has won the school's Covenant Award for liberal arts.
Argus Leader: 'TheTom and Gerry Show' Reveals New Side of Artists
A kinder, gentler Tom Shields emerges through his current abstract oil paintings. And a more daring ceramic artist Gerry Punt is revealed, his formerly symmetrical wheel-thrown works now pushed, pulled and distorted.