Abstract: An apparatus and method for brewing coffee or a similar brewed beverage allows a consumer to select a desired strength, and then, a serving of the brewed beverage is promptly brewed and dispensed in response to that selection. Regardless of the selected strength, a constant volume of beverage results; in other words, the strength of the brewed beverage is not altered by merely adding or subtracting water.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for brewing coffee or a similar brewed beverage allows a consumer to select a desired strength, and then, a serving of the brewed beverage is promptly brewed and dispensed in response to that selection. Regardless of the selected strength, a constant volume of beverage results; in other words, the strength of the brewed beverage is not altered by merely adding or subtracting water.

Abstract: A brewer made in accordance with the present invention has a control center, including a selector switch for strength selection; a brew button to initiate brewing and dispensing of the beverage, and an on/off or power button. The selector switch and buttons are preferably mounted on a common tray that is then interposed between first and second housing portions during assembly of the brewer. There is also an illumination device, such a high-intensity, tri-color light-emitting diode (LED), which emits red light, green light, blue light, or a combination thereof to provide visual indication of an operational status of the brewer.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for brewing coffee or a similar brewed beverage allows a consumer to select a desired strength, and then, a serving of the brewed beverage is promptly brewed and dispensed in response to that selection. Regardless of the selected strength, a constant volume of beverage results; in other words, the strength of the brewed beverage is not altered by merely adding or subtracting water.

Abstract: The invention provides a system and method for making a data update, such as a directory update, to a magneto-optic disk which includes: copying designated directory sectors from the disk to a cache buffer, the designated directory sectors containing the portion of the directory which is to be updated; updating the directory portion to be updated in the cache buffer to provide an updated directory portion; writing the updated directory portion to a directory consistency block on the disk so as to provide a backup of the updated directory portion; erasing the designated directory sectors from the disk; writing the updated directory portion from the cache buffer to the designated directory sectors; verifying that the updated directory portion has been written to the designated directory sectors on the disk; and erasing the directory consistency block if there is verification that the updated directory portion has been written to the designated directory sectors on the disk.