diff --git a/gson/pom.xml b/gson/pom.xml
index d864c289c2..f2a2f4f930 100644
--- a/gson/pom.xml
+++ b/gson/pom.xml
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
         <dependency>
             <groupId>joda-time</groupId>
             <artifactId>joda-time</artifactId>
-            <version>2.4</version>
+            <version>${joda-time.version}</version>
         </dependency>
 
         <dependency>
@@ -24,13 +24,13 @@
         <dependency>
             <groupId>commons-io</groupId>
             <artifactId>commons-io</artifactId>
-            <version>2.4</version>
+            <version>${commons-io.version}</version>
         </dependency>
 
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
             <artifactId>commons-collections4</artifactId>
-            <version>4.0</version>
+            <version>${commons-collections4.version}</version>
         </dependency>
 
         <dependency>
@@ -39,8 +39,6 @@
             <version>${commons-lang3.version}</version>
         </dependency>
 
-        <!-- web -->
-
         <!-- marshalling -->
 
         <dependency>
@@ -112,40 +110,24 @@
     </build>
 
     <properties>
-        <!-- persistence -->
-        <hibernate.version>4.3.11.Final</hibernate.version>
-        <mysql-connector-java.version>5.1.38</mysql-connector-java.version>
-
         <!-- marshalling -->
-        <gson.version>2.3</gson.version>
-
-        <!-- logging -->
-        <org.slf4j.version>1.7.13</org.slf4j.version>
-        <logback.version>1.1.3</logback.version>
-
-        <!-- various -->
-        <hibernate-validator.version>5.1.3.Final</hibernate-validator.version>
+        <gson.version>2.8.0</gson.version>
 
         <!-- util -->
         <guava.version>19.0</guava.version>
-        <commons-lang3.version>3.4</commons-lang3.version>
+        <commons-lang3.version>3.5</commons-lang3.version>
+        <commons-collections4.version>4.1</commons-collections4.version>
+        <commons-io.version>2.5</commons-io.version>
+        <joda-time.version>2.9.6</joda-time.version>
 
         <!-- testing -->
         <org.hamcrest.version>1.3</org.hamcrest.version>
         <junit.version>4.12</junit.version>
         <mockito.version>1.10.19</mockito.version>
 
-        <httpcore.version>4.4.1</httpcore.version>
-        <httpclient.version>4.5</httpclient.version>
-
-        <rest-assured.version>2.9.0</rest-assured.version>
-
         <!-- maven plugins -->
-        <maven-compiler-plugin.version>3.5.1</maven-compiler-plugin.version>
-        <maven-war-plugin.version>2.6</maven-war-plugin.version>
+        <maven-compiler-plugin.version>3.6.0</maven-compiler-plugin.version>
         <maven-surefire-plugin.version>2.19.1</maven-surefire-plugin.version>
-        <maven-resources-plugin.version>2.7</maven-resources-plugin.version>
-        <cargo-maven2-plugin.version>1.4.18</cargo-maven2-plugin.version>
 
     </properties>
 
diff --git a/guava/pom.xml b/guava/pom.xml
index 59ca3aa1bb..a7b4e79e34 100644
--- a/guava/pom.xml
+++ b/guava/pom.xml
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
             <artifactId>commons-collections4</artifactId>
-            <version>4.0</version>
+            <version>${commons-collections4.version}</version>
         </dependency>
 
         <dependency>
@@ -28,8 +28,6 @@
             <version>${commons-lang3.version}</version>
         </dependency>
 
-        <!-- web -->
-
         <!-- test scoped -->
 
         <dependency>
@@ -93,37 +91,19 @@
     </build>
 
     <properties>
-        <!-- persistence -->
-        <hibernate.version>4.3.11.Final</hibernate.version>
-        <mysql-connector-java.version>5.1.38</mysql-connector-java.version>
-
-        <!-- logging -->
-        <org.slf4j.version>1.7.13</org.slf4j.version>
-        <logback.version>1.1.3</logback.version>
-
-        <!-- various -->
-        <hibernate-validator.version>5.1.3.Final</hibernate-validator.version>
-
         <!-- util -->
         <guava.version>19.0</guava.version>
-        <commons-lang3.version>3.4</commons-lang3.version>
+        <commons-lang3.version>3.5</commons-lang3.version>
+        <commons-collections4.version>4.1</commons-collections4.version>
 
         <!-- testing -->
         <org.hamcrest.version>1.3</org.hamcrest.version>
         <junit.version>4.12</junit.version>
         <mockito.version>1.10.19</mockito.version>
 
-        <httpcore.version>4.4.1</httpcore.version>
-        <httpclient.version>4.5</httpclient.version>
-
-        <rest-assured.version>2.9.0</rest-assured.version>
-
         <!-- maven plugins -->
-        <maven-compiler-plugin.version>3.5.1</maven-compiler-plugin.version>
-        <maven-war-plugin.version>2.6</maven-war-plugin.version>
+        <maven-compiler-plugin.version>3.6.0</maven-compiler-plugin.version>
         <maven-surefire-plugin.version>2.19.1</maven-surefire-plugin.version>
-        <maven-resources-plugin.version>2.7</maven-resources-plugin.version>
-        <cargo-maven2-plugin.version>1.4.18</cargo-maven2-plugin.version>
 
     </properties>
 
diff --git a/guava18/pom.xml b/guava18/pom.xml
index 413e9c35b8..1118a13e07 100644
--- a/guava18/pom.xml
+++ b/guava18/pom.xml
@@ -11,13 +11,13 @@
         <dependency>
             <groupId>com.google.guava</groupId>
             <artifactId>guava</artifactId>
-            <version>18.0</version>
+            <version>${guava.version}</version>
         </dependency>
 
         <dependency>
             <groupId>junit</groupId>
             <artifactId>junit</artifactId>
-            <version>4.12</version>
+            <version>${junit.version}</version>
             <scope>test</scope>
         </dependency>
     </dependencies>
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
         <plugins>
             <plugin>
                 <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>3.3</version>
+                <version>${maven-compiler-plugin.version}</version>
                 <configuration>
                     <debug>true</debug>
                     <optimize>true</optimize>
@@ -39,5 +39,10 @@
             </plugin>
         </plugins>
     </build>
-
+    
+    <properties>
+        <guava.version>18.0</guava.version>
+        <junit.version>4.12</junit.version>
+        <maven-compiler-plugin.version>3.6.0</maven-compiler-plugin.version>
+    </properties>
 </project>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/guava19/pom.xml b/guava19/pom.xml
index 61fbf38575..75f87ccf4f 100644
--- a/guava19/pom.xml
+++ b/guava19/pom.xml
@@ -17,13 +17,13 @@
         <dependency>
             <groupId>junit</groupId>
             <artifactId>junit</artifactId>
-            <version>4.12</version>
+            <version>${junit.version}</version>
             <scope>test</scope>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.hamcrest</groupId>
             <artifactId>hamcrest-all</artifactId>
-            <version>1.3</version>
+            <version>${hamcrest.version}</version>
             <scope>test</scope>
         </dependency>
     </dependencies>
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@
         <plugins>
             <plugin>
                 <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>3.3</version>
+                <version>${maven-compiler-plugin.version}</version>
                 <configuration>
                     <debug>true</debug>
                     <optimize>true</optimize>
@@ -48,6 +48,9 @@
 
     <properties>
         <guava.version>19.0</guava.version>
+        <junit.version>4.12</junit.version>
+        <hamcrest.version>1.3</hamcrest.version>
+        <maven-compiler-plugin.version>3.6.0</maven-compiler-plugin.version>
     </properties>
 
 </project>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/httpclient/src/test/java/org/baeldung/httpclient/HttpAsyncClientLiveTest.java b/httpclient/src/test/java/org/baeldung/httpclient/HttpAsyncClientLiveTest.java
index b1399dcab8..f2086f2633 100644
--- a/httpclient/src/test/java/org/baeldung/httpclient/HttpAsyncClientLiveTest.java
+++ b/httpclient/src/test/java/org/baeldung/httpclient/HttpAsyncClientLiveTest.java
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ public class HttpAsyncClientLiveTest {
 
     private static final String HOST = "http://www.google.com";
     private static final String HOST_WITH_SSL = "https://mms.nw.ru/";
-    private static final String HOST_WITH_PROXY = "https://issues.apache.org/";
+    private static final String HOST_WITH_PROXY = "http://httpbin.org/";
     private static final String URL_SECURED_BY_BASIC_AUTHENTICATION = "http://browserspy.dk/password-ok.php";// "http://localhost:8080/spring-security-rest-basic-auth/api/foos/1";
     private static final String DEFAULT_USER = "test";// "user1";
     private static final String DEFAULT_PASS = "test";// "user1Pass";
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ public class HttpAsyncClientLiveTest {
     public void whenUseProxyWithHttpClient_thenCorrect() throws Exception {
         final CloseableHttpAsyncClient client = HttpAsyncClients.createDefault();
         client.start();
-        final HttpHost proxy = new HttpHost("74.50.126.248", 3127);
+        final HttpHost proxy = new HttpHost("127.0.0.1", 8080);
         final RequestConfig config = RequestConfig.custom().setProxy(proxy).build();
         final HttpGet request = new HttpGet(HOST_WITH_PROXY);
         request.setConfig(config);