diff --git a/htroot/Bookmarks.java b/htroot/Bookmarks.java
index 7a4d61fe5..bda54ac5d 100644
--- a/htroot/Bookmarks.java
+++ b/htroot/Bookmarks.java
@@ -313,7 +313,7 @@ public class Bookmarks {
 	       			tagCount=0;
 	       			while (tagsIt.hasNext()) {            	
 	       				final String tname = tagsIt.next();
-	       				if (!tname.isEmpty() && tname.charAt(0) != '/') {
+	       				if (tname.length() > 0 && tname.charAt(0) != '/') {
 	       					prop.putHTML("display_bookmarks_"+count+"_tags_"+tagCount+"_tag", tname);
 	       					tagCount++;
 	       				}
diff --git a/htroot/api/bookmarks/get_bookmarks.java b/htroot/api/bookmarks/get_bookmarks.java
index a26786d03..a884801f1 100644
--- a/htroot/api/bookmarks/get_bookmarks.java
+++ b/htroot/api/bookmarks/get_bookmarks.java
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ public class get_bookmarks {
 				count = print_XBEL(it, count);
 				prop.put("display_xbel", count);
 				break;
-       		} else if (qtype.equals("folders") && !query.isEmpty()) {       			
+       		} else if (query.length() > 0 && qtype.equals("folders")) {       			
         		if (query.length() > 0 && query.charAt(0) == '/') { root = query; } 
         			else { root = "/" + query; }
        		}
diff --git a/source/net/yacy/ai/example/ConnectFour.java b/source/net/yacy/ai/example/ConnectFour.java
index 446c702dc..53f3bed2d 100755
--- a/source/net/yacy/ai/example/ConnectFour.java
+++ b/source/net/yacy/ai/example/ConnectFour.java
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ public class ConnectFour {
     }
     
     public static class Move extends AbstractFinding<Coin> implements Finding<Coin> {
-        private final int column;
+        protected final int column;
         public Move(Coin role, int column) {
             super(role, (column > (width / 2)) ? (width - column - 1) : column);
             this.column = column;
diff --git a/source/net/yacy/ai/greedy/Engine.java b/source/net/yacy/ai/greedy/Engine.java
index 7ae787097..307bede97 100755
--- a/source/net/yacy/ai/greedy/Engine.java
+++ b/source/net/yacy/ai/greedy/Engine.java
@@ -37,12 +37,12 @@ public class Engine<
                     SpecificModel extends Model<SpecificRole, SpecificFinding>
                    > {
 
-    private final PriorityBlockingQueue<Agent<SpecificRole, SpecificFinding, SpecificModel>> agentQueue;
-    private final PriorityBlockingQueue<Challenge<SpecificRole, SpecificFinding, SpecificModel>> challengeQueue;
-    private final Agent<SpecificRole, SpecificFinding, SpecificModel> poisonAgent;
-    private final Challenge<SpecificRole, SpecificFinding, SpecificModel> poisonChallenge;
-    private final ConcurrentHashMap<SpecificModel, List<SpecificFinding>> settings;
-    private final ConcurrentHashMap<Asset<SpecificRole, SpecificFinding, SpecificModel>, SpecificModel> assets;
+    protected final PriorityBlockingQueue<Agent<SpecificRole, SpecificFinding, SpecificModel>> agentQueue;
+    protected final PriorityBlockingQueue<Challenge<SpecificRole, SpecificFinding, SpecificModel>> challengeQueue;
+    protected final Agent<SpecificRole, SpecificFinding, SpecificModel> poisonAgent;
+    protected final Challenge<SpecificRole, SpecificFinding, SpecificModel> poisonChallenge;
+    protected final ConcurrentHashMap<SpecificModel, List<SpecificFinding>> settings;
+    protected final ConcurrentHashMap<Asset<SpecificRole, SpecificFinding, SpecificModel>, SpecificModel> assets;
     private final int cores;
     
     
diff --git a/source/net/yacy/document/parser/rssParser.java b/source/net/yacy/document/parser/rssParser.java
index 93cda275f..cdb98edee 100644
--- a/source/net/yacy/document/parser/rssParser.java
+++ b/source/net/yacy/document/parser/rssParser.java
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ public class rssParser extends AbstractParser implements Idiom {
                     }
                     
                     final String itemHeadline = scraper.getTitle();     
-                    if (itemHeadline != null && !itemHeadline.isEmpty()) {
+                    if (itemHeadline != null && itemHeadline.length() > 0) {
                         feedSections.add(itemHeadline);
                     }
                     
diff --git a/source/net/yacy/kelondro/rwi/ReferenceContainerCache.java b/source/net/yacy/kelondro/rwi/ReferenceContainerCache.java
index b6ed5336e..b5b053b29 100644
--- a/source/net/yacy/kelondro/rwi/ReferenceContainerCache.java
+++ b/source/net/yacy/kelondro/rwi/ReferenceContainerCache.java
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ public final class ReferenceContainerCache<ReferenceType extends Reference> exte
      * create a clone of the cache content that is sorted using the this.containerOrder
      * @return the sorted ReferenceContainer[]
      */
-    private ArrayList<ReferenceContainer<ReferenceType>> sortedClone() {
+    protected ArrayList<ReferenceContainer<ReferenceType>> sortedClone() {
         ArrayList<ReferenceContainer<ReferenceType>> cachecopy = new ArrayList<ReferenceContainer<ReferenceType>>(cache.size());
         synchronized (cache) {
             for (final Map.Entry<ByteArray, ReferenceContainer<ReferenceType>> entry: cache.entrySet()) {
diff --git a/source/net/yacy/kelondro/table/SplitTable.java b/source/net/yacy/kelondro/table/SplitTable.java
index d56cb8724..22162e1b9 100644
--- a/source/net/yacy/kelondro/table/SplitTable.java
+++ b/source/net/yacy/kelondro/table/SplitTable.java
@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ public class SplitTable implements ObjectIndex, Iterable<Row.Entry> {
             try {
                 init();
             } catch (RowSpaceExceededException e1) {
-                throw new IOException(e1);
+                throw new IOException(e1.getMessage());
             }
         }
     }