Abstract: A method for dispensing a beverage from a bottle that includes communicating a dispensing authorization message from a control unit to at least one of a server interface carried by a beverage server and a pour spout secured to a bottle, wherein the dispensing authorization message at least one of includes or initiates a dispensing command, and wherein the pour spout responds to the dispensing command by opening a spout valve through which a beverage flows from the bottle and out of the pour spout.

Abstract: Apparatus and method for allowing a user to acquire and record information from the Internet may comprise a user interface that allows the user to identify at least one information service on the Internet that provides desired information and to select a desired completion time. A scheduler operatively associated with the user interface calculates a launch time to allow the desired information to be downloaded and recorded in its entirety before the desired completion time. A recording dispatcher operatively associated with the scheduler and the user interface begins downloading at the launch time the desired information from the information service. A recorder operatively associated with the recording dispatcher records the desired information to a recording medium.

Abstract: Apparatus and method for allowing a user to acquire and record information from the Internet may comprise a user interface that allows the user to identify at least one information service on the Internet that provides desired information and to select a desired completion time. A scheduler operatively associated with the user interface calculates a launch time to allow the desired information to be downloaded and recorded in its entirety before the desired completion time. A recording dispatcher operatively associated with the scheduler and the user interface begins downloading at the launch time the desired information from the information service. A recorder operatively associated with the recording dispatcher records the desired information to a recording medium.

Abstract: A system and method for automatically creating user-customized compact discs (CDs) containing multimedia tracks available over the Internet is presented. CD creation software resident on the user's computer or that is downloaded from a web site that contains managed multimedia content is launched from an Internet browser. The CD creation software allows the user to select desired tracks from a list of multimedia tracks available from the managed web site. The selected tracks are downloaded from the web site and recorded onto a portable CD at the user's request, or automatically per a user-specified schedule.