Abstract: Personal filtration devices for removable mounting on water discharging spouts in the form of bottlenecks, taps, and the like, for dispensing drinking water for personal consumption. The personal filtration devices preferably include a manually operated open-closed slide valve for correspondingly enabling and disabling dispensing drinking water and hermetically sealing an activated carbon filter media in a sealed environment in its closed position for prolonging the carbon filter media's lifetime. The personal filtration devices are preferably capable of disassembly for rejuvenation purposes, and are removably sealingly slidingly inserted into a sleeve with a resiliently elastic tubular universal adapter for being sealingly slidingly stretched onto water discharging spouts as opposed to screw threaded thereon whereby the universal adapters are capable of being sealingly slidingly stretched onto water discharging spouts of different external diameters.

Abstract: Embodiments of the invention provide a method, device and/or system for communicating over a wideband distribution network. The device may include, for example, a downstream conversion module for converting a legacy downstream electrical signal of a legacy downstream frequency band into an extended downstream optical signal of an extended downstream frequency band; and/or an upstream conversion module for converting an extended upstream optical signal of an extended upstream frequency band into a legacy upstream electrical signal of a legacy upstream frequency band. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Abstract: Personal filtration devices for removable mounting on water discharging spouts in the form of bottlenecks, taps, and the like, for dispensing drinking water for personal consumption. The personal filtration devices preferably include a manually operated open-closed slide valve for correspondingly enabling and disabling dispensing drinking water and hermetically sealing an activated carbon filter media in a sealed environment in its closed position for prolonging the carbon filter media's lifetime. The personal filtration devices are preferably capable of disassembly for rejuvenation purposes, and are removably sealingly slidingly inserted into a sleeve with a resiliently elastic tubular universal adapter for being sealingly slidingly stretched onto water discharging spouts as opposed to screw threaded thereon whereby the universal adapters are capable of being sealingly slidingly stretched onto water discharging spouts of different external diameters.

Abstract: Embodiments of the invention provide a method, device and/or system for communicating over a wideband distribution network. The device may include, for example, a downstream conversion module for converting a legacy downstream electrical signal of a legacy downstream frequency band into an extended downstream optical signal of an extended downstream frequency band; and/or an upstream conversion module for converting an extended upstream optical signal of an extended upstream frequency band into a legacy upstream electrical signal of a legacy upstream frequency band. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Abstract: A Network Switch and related method are disclosed for handling large amounts of internetwork message traffic employing internetwork protocols in a way substantially as efficient as a bridge handles network traffic within a network without the complexity and expense related to employing a full router. The Network Switch features database means for correlating MAC addresses, network addresses, network switch port addresses and VLAN configuration. The Network Switch maintains the network presence of a bridge (i.e., it does not have its own MAC or network address) and operates promiscuously by having internetwork traffic travel through the Network Switch and entering address data of the data packets. The Network Switch thus learns the network topology and subsequently redirects and re-addresses packets addressed to a router and transmits them to their destination MAC address. In this way, the workload on the router is greatly reduced.