fixing http client errors

the async-http-client changed its API and also does not work anymore because of a deployment error. this has led me to realize that it also brings nearly nothing to the table aside from integration headaches.  so i'm just disabling it for the moment while i do this test server bizness
created a basic record/playback facility for verification purposes
upgraded jsoup as a test

used the failures to act a little better when things break
updating some other versions

while i'm in that kind of mood
Merge branch 'feature/test-server-upgrade' into develop