Abstract: A metal seal for a flat face fluid coupling includes an annular seal body and a retainer having a fixed end fixed to the seal body, a free end spaced from the seal body, and an intermediate portion extending between the free end and the fixed end. The retainer is configured to engage a wall of the fluid coupling with a retaining force for securing the seal to the fluid coupling. The seal body has opposite first and second flat annular sealing surfaces, and a radially outer annular angled portion that is inclined relative to the annular sealing surface. The angled portion is configured to enhance stiffness around a circumference of the seal body, and is configured to engage a face of the fluid coupling to generate a moment of force about the retainer for enhancing the retaining force acting against the wall of the fluid coupling.

Abstract: Described herein are systems and methods for monitoring competitive performance of brands. In one embodiment, a method includes aggregating data from a plurality of content sources, the aggregated data being descriptive of a plurality of content items. The aggregated data is filtered based at least partially on a brand identifier to identify a subset of the plurality of content items within the aggregated data. For each content item of the subset, an associated ontological record is generated, each ontological record including an identifier of its associated content item, an identifier of an associated content source of the plurality of content sources from which the content item is sourced, and a descriptor of a relationship between the associated content item and one or more content items of the subset.

Abstract: A beverage dispenser for use in combination with a container with a neck, having a dispenser body with a stabilizing base and a hub. The hub has an upwardly facing socket to accept the container's neck. A spigot assembly is mounted to the dispenser body and has a valve body and a spigot cap. A liquid passageway and an air relief passageway each separately connect the socket to the spigot assembly. A vent tube extends from the air relief passageway into the container, and an air valve is connected to the vent tube. Actuation of the spigot cap to an on position opens the liquid passageway as well as the air relief passageway to ambient air, permitting air within the container to equilibrate with ambient air via the interconnection of the vent tube, air relief passageway, and an air channel within the valve body, and permits beverage to exit the container and travel through the liquid passageway to be dispensed from the beverage dispenser at a dispensing port portion of the spigot assembly.

Abstract: A liquid beverage dispenser includes a stabilizing base with a concave upwardly facing, internally threaded socket that can be screwed onto the externally threaded neck of a plastic beverage container to create a fluid tight coupling. The base supports the beverage container in an inverted orientation so that the mouth of the beverage container empties downwardly into the socket of the dispenser. The dispenser socket is provided with a vent tube that projects upwardly from an air relief port in the socket floor. A beverage drain port is also located in the floor of the socket, but is separated from the air relief port. A spigot is located at the outer periphery of the dispenser base so that liquid flows from the mouth of the bottle, through the drain port, and out of the spigot when the spigot is open. A rubber, one-way air relief check valve is mounted at the upper extremity of the vent tube and within the bottle.

Abstract: An improved method is provided for identifying unsolicited bulk email messages. The method includes: monitoring electronic messages being sent to a plurality of recipients; identifying a subset of the electronic messages advertising a particular domain name; assessing reputation of the particular domain name; determining how many recipients received an electronic message from the subset of electronic messages; and deeming the subset of electronic messages to be unsolicited bulk messages when the particular domain name is not reputable and the number of recipients receiving an electronic message from the subset of electronic messages exceeds a threshold.