35th week of 2009 patent applcation highlights part 57 |
Patent application number | Title | Published |
20090216604 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROCESS SOLUTION DEVELOPMENT AND PROCESS SOLUTION IMPLEMENTATION - A method for process improvement implementation by identifying a business life cycle and then characterizing at least one business focused document; identifying a product life cycle and a process improvement activity and characterizing at least one project focused document with respect to these and after inputting predetermined organizational standards, synthesizing and implementing an organizational-specific process improvement solution. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216605 | Integrated Acceptance Testing - Contemplated validation systems provide access to a master validator, one or more remote validators, and an authorized party such that validation using a validation script can be performed in a flexible manner that allows modifications to the script in real time. Typically, modifications are requested by a remote validator in the field where the remote validator can not answer a validation request generated by the validation script in a proper or predetermined manner. A master validator will receive the request and modify the validation script accordingly to allow the validation to proceed. Most typically, modification of the script is authorized by an authorized party. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216606 | PERVASIVE SYMBIOTIC ADVERTISING SYSTEM AND METHODS THEREFOR - An advertising system and methods, including an ad service that one of generates, presents and receives information pertaining to an ad presentation, an ad presentation output device that outputs the ad presentation at a presentation location, a user response receiver at the ad service that receives a user response transmitted from a mobile device based on the ad presentation at the presentation location, an ad service transmitter that transmits an executable object to a target device specified in the user response, wherein the target device includes a memory and a processor for executing the executable object to provide a service to the user on the target device, wherein the service is modified based on information one of accessed and determined by the executable object on the target device. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216607 | Method and Apparatus for Behavioral and Contextual Ad Targeting Based on User Calendar Data - A method and apparatus are provided for behavioral and contextual ad targeting based on user calendar data. In one example, the method includes receiving user input including calendar data, storing the user input in a calendar database, performing targeting processing on the user input, generating a user profile based on the targeting processing, categorizing the user into one or more consumer segments based on the user profile, and writing identifiers of the one or more consumer segments to a cookie of the user, wherein an ad server may target ads against the one or more consumer segments that the ad server identifies via the identifiers. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216608 | COLLABORATIVE REVIEW SYSTEM - A system for collaborative review is described. The system may include a memory, an interface, and a processor. The memory may store responses, an item, ratings, user response quality scores, weighted ratings, and total ratings. The interface may communicate with users and a content provider. The processor may receive the item from the content provider. The processor may receive the responses, based on the item, from the users. The processor may receive the ratings for each response from the users. The processor may calculate the user response quality score for each user and may determine the weighted rating of each response based on the user quality score of the user who provided the response. The processor may determine the total rating for each response based on the weighted ratings and may provide the responses, ordered based on the total ratings, to the content provider. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216609 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING COMMUNITY BASED CATALOGS AND/OR COMMUNITY BASED ON-LINE SERVICES - A buying community is established by discerning customers having the same or similar business types. The business type of a customer may be discerned from a corporate, business, or other entity name that is associated with the customer. Once a buying community is established, behaviors of customers within that buying community are discerned. These behaviors may include product purchasing behaviors, on-line navigation behaviors, on-line searching behaviors, etc. The discerned behaviors of the customers within the buying community may then be used to provide catalogs customized for those members and/or on-line services customized for those members. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216610 | METHOD FOR OBTAINING CONSUMER PROFILES BASED ON CROSS LINKING INFORMATION - A method for cross linking personal information provided by a plurality of consumers in order to offer such consumers a testing product that will match the profile of such consumer with one or more products or product groups. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216611 | Computer-Implemented Systems And Methods Of Product Forecasting For New Products - Computer-implemented systems and methods are provided for forecasting the performance of products newly introduced to a market. For example, a business that seeks to introduce a new product onto the market may query the data maintained by the business about the results of previous introductions of new products. Further, the computer-implemented systems and methods, with or without the intervention of a human expert, may assess which of the historical products are most similar to the new product that the business seeks to introduce, and thus may use the most similar product as the basis for forming a product forecast for the product that is to be newly introduced. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216612 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROCURING BIDS AND MANAGING ASSETS AND ASSET SUPPORT CONTRACTS - A method and system are provided for managing assets and asset support contracts for assets of a given entity. The method includes: (a) receiving information including an identification of each of a plurality of assets of the entity and one or more asset support contracts associated with each of the plurality of assets, the information including expiration dates for the asset support contracts; (b) creating an online repository containing the information, the online repository being remotely accessible by users associated with the entity through an online platform; (c) tracking the assets and associated asset support contracts to identify asset support contracts set to expire within a predetermined period of time; (d) automatically notifying the entity of expiring asset support contracts prior to expiration thereof; (e) procuring bids from one or more sellers of asset support contracts to replace or renew the expiring asset support contracts or to replace or dispose of assets covered by expiring asset support contracts; and (f) providing the bids to the entity. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216613 | Availability Check for a Ware - Computer-implemented methods, and associated computer program products and systems, are described for checking availability of a ware for a set of demands requesting the ware. In one aspect, the computer-implemented method includes obtaining a first data structure comprising dates in a predetermined time interval, supply information for the ware associated with those dates and demand information for the ware associated with those dates. The method also includes determining, for each of those dates in reverse order starting from a last date of that predetermined time interval, whether an overconfirmation for the ware is present on a specific date. This is done by comparing the supply information and the demand information. When an overconfirmation is present on the specific date, the overconfirmation is eliminated before proceeding with any subsequent overconfirmation determination by reassigning at least one demand on or before that specific date to a date after that specific date. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216614 | Availability Check for a Ware - Computer-implemented methods, and associated computer program products and systems, for checking availability of a ware in a time interval, a resource to produce the ware being associated with the ware. The computer-implemented method can include obtaining capacity supply information comprising a capacity supply for each date of the time interval and capacity demand information comprising a capacity demand for each date of the time interval. The first date of the time interval is set to a later date, there is determined for each date from the first date to the later date whether capacity supply is unused. If capacity supply is unused, the method includes eliminating the specific amount from the capacity supply information. In response to demand information representing a demand having a requested date, availability of the resource on the requested date is determined using the capacity supply information and the capacity demand information. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216615 | Availability Check for a Ware - Computer-implemented methods, and associated computer program products and systems, for checking availability of a set of wares in a time interval, each ware having associated therewith at least one resource to produce the ware. In one aspect, the computer-implemented method includes determining at least first and second wares associated with the specific resource. The method further includes obtaining availability information for each of the determined first and second wares. The availability information comprises combined information comprising, for each date of the time interval, a combination of a supply quantity of the ware and a free capacity quantity of the specific resource. The free capacity quantity can be assigned to any of the determined first and second wares. In response to demand information representing a demand for a specific ware, the method includes determining the availability of the specific ware for the specific resource using at least the combined information. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216616 | Method and System for Displaying Correlated Advertisements to Internet Users - Broadly speaking, the present invention fills the need of selecting correlated advertisements for displaying to users by utilizing the advertisement-viewing data collected on users of a web site. The advertisement-viewing (ad-viewing) data of users of a web site can be correlated to extract similarities and patterns of ads being viewed by users of the web site. The correlated ad-viewing data of all users of the web site, along with URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) of ads viewed by a particular user, can be used to select advertisements that are likely to be interests to the particular user. Ad-viewing data correlation allows the web site to select ads to display to users in real-time based on users' latest ad-viewing data. Since selection of ads to display is based on mathematical calculation using a correlation table of ad-viewing that has been generated ahead of time, the method can be scaled to meet demands of a large amount of users, such as millions. In addition to ad-viewing correlation table and users' latest ad-viewing data, advertisement pool of advertisements paid by advertisers is also taken into consideration during the ad-selection process. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216617 | REWARDS FOR UNSEEN WEB SITE ACTIVITY - A method for maintaining a website by providing rewards for indirect unseen activities is disclosed. Individual reviewers are rewarded for reviewing and assigning rating scores to articles of media as a part of panel of reviewers consisting of more that one individual reviewer. The score from each individual reviewer does not directly determine whether or not the article of media is accepted and can be viewed by others, rather it is the score from the collective panel. Further, reviewers are rewarded for reviewing even if the media clip is rejected and cannot be viewed by others. Thus, reviewers are rewarded for their indirect unseen activities. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216618 | Launch Monitoring System of Network Advertisement and the Method Thereof - The present invention discloses a launch monitoring system of network advertisement and the method thereof, comprising: multiple advertisement browsing terminals; an advertisement management unit; an investigation information generating unit, for generating investigation information about the content of the advertisement data sent to the advertisement browsing terminal by the advertisement management unit and sending the investigation information to the advertisement browsing terminals as the form of investigation essay question; an investigation evaluation unit, for evaluating the answers made by the advertisement browser to the investigation information via the advertisement browsing terminals and generating an evaluation result; a browsing reward executing unit connected to the investigation evaluation unit and the advertisement browsing terminals, for giving rewards to the advertisement browser in accordance with the evaluation result generated by the investigation evaluation unit. The present invention can accurately evaluate and count the valid advertisement clicks, and not only provides the advertiser with the evaluation basis for the validity of launching advertisement, but also provides reference basis for the advertiser to pay the advertisement expense to the network communication media operators. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216619 | METHOD FOR DETERMINING FAIR MARKET VALUES OF MULTIMEDIA ADVERTISING SPACES - A method for determining fair market values of multimedia advertising spaces during a second time period, these multimedia advertising spaces having been bought during a first time period anterior to the second one by advertisers, includes:
| 2009-08-27 |
20090216620 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING TARGETING ADVERTISEMENT SERVICE IN SOCIAL NETWORK - Provided is a system for providing a targeting advertisement service in a social network, the system including: a database to store information associated with a distribution of a content in the social network; an analysis unit to analyze the stored information with reference to the database, and to verify a behavioral pattern or a matter of concern of each of users in the social network based on the analysis result; and an advertisement unit to provide each of the users with a targeting advertisement, based on the verified behavioral pattern or the matter of concern. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216621 | Media Based Entertainment Service - A media based entertainment service provides user requested media to a user. Video, audio, images and other media may be provided to a user for a fee or free of charge. The media may be provided from the service provider to a client device over a network. When providing media without charge, the media service can incorporate one or more ads into the media. The ads may be targeted to the user, media content, and other features using advertisement parameters. The media service provides for revenue generation associated with the viewing of media files. The media service can generate revenue from advertising, pay-per-view, e-commerce, and other financial transactions associated with the media service while focusing on providing the service on user preferences. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216622 | MUSIC-LINKED ADVERTISEMENT DISTORIBUTION METHOD, DEVICE, AND SYSTEM - Degrees of association between categories of songs (hereinafter, song categories) corresponding to information showing advertisement distribution target categories and distribution object advertisements are determined in advance in an advertisement DB. A song categorization module calculates degrees of association between an acoustic feature amount of a song being played (hereinafter, current song) and feature amounts of the song categories, and a song-related distribution object advertisement candidate group extraction module determines a distribution object advertisement corresponding to a song category with a high degree of association is determined as a distribution object advertisement. An advertisement presentation module provides information on the distribution object advertisement to a user along with current song information. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216623 | ELECTRONIC BOOK HAVING ELECTRONIC COMMERCE FEATURES - A viewer for displaying an electronic book and providing for electronic commerce. In conjunction with viewing an electronic book, a user can view information about products and services, view an on-line electronic catalog, and receive samples of products available for purchase. By entering a purchase request, the user can purchase products or services. In the case of a digital product, the user can download the purchased product directly into the viewer. The viewer also records statistics concerning purchase and information requests in order to recommend related products or services, or for directing particular types of advertisements to the user. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216624 | OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT APPARATUS, OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, DATA PROCESSING METHOD, AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM - An operations management apparatus which acquires performance information for each of a plurality of performance items from a plurality of controlled units and manages operation of the controlled units includes | 2009-08-27 |
20090216625 | Systems and Methods for Automated Identification and Evaluation of Brand Integration Opportunities in Scripted Entertainment - A system for identifying and evaluating brand integration opportunities within scripted entertainment includes a script parser, an evaluation component, and a portfolio optimization component. The script parser receives at least one portion of a script and identifies a brand integration opportunity within the received at least one portion of the script. The evaluation component receives the at least one portion of the script and predicts a level of success of a production including the at least one portion of the script. The portfolio optimization component generates a portfolio including an identification of the script, responsive to the generated prediction of the level of success and the identified brand integration opportunity. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216626 | BEHAVIOR RECOMMENDING FOR GROUPS - Techniques are described for identifying and analyzing behavior patterns by members of a group, and determining if such behavior patterns improve or detract from the group's success. Behavior patterns which improve a group's success may then be applied by other similar groups. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216627 | METHOD, SYSTEM AND SOFTWARE FOR TALENT MANAGEMENT - A method of analysing talent within an organisation including the step of displaying a graph showing the frequency of values of a factor for a plurality of individuals within the organisation. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216628 | CONFIGURABLE, QUESTIONNAIRE-BASED PROJECT ASSESSMENT - Project assessment is initiated with receipt of project specification data that is descriptive, among other things, of at least one skill set or domain applied to the project. Based on the project specification data, one or more questionnaires, each corresponding to one of the identified skill sets, are automatically selected. Each of the selected questionnaires comprises questions concerning best practices applicable to the corresponding one skill set. The identified questionnaires are provided to a user and, in turn, assessment data is received in response to the one or more questionnaires. Based on the assessment data, an overall project score and other scores can be determined and presented. The at least one skill set may identify specific technologies being applied to the project. Because the questions presented in the at least one questionnaire require standardized answers, results from among a plurality of reviewers may be compared more readily. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216629 | System and Method for Incentivizing a Healthcare Individual Through Music Distribution - A method for rewarding a healthcare individual at a remote location is presented in one example embodiment. The method includes interacting with a participant at a remote location and delivering a music segment in exchange for a successful completion by the participant of a health related activity. The music segment serves as a reward for the participant to complete the activity. The delivery of the music segment can be done via e-mail, a USB port exchange, or through a website. The interacting can be performed through a website, a health station, or a kiosk, for example. In other embodiments, the music segment is delivered to a device to be worn by the end user. The device could be a music player, an accelerator, a phone, a PDA, or a laptop. The music segment can be earned through a point system that relates to the activity performed by the participant. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216630 | CONTENT MONETIZATION SYSTEM WITH VARIABLE AD INSERTION - A user's experience with content on a device can be impacted based on the disposition of the content and the type of device. The user can experience a wealth of advertisements when consuming content that has no license. Likewise, the user can experience little or no advertisements when consuming content that has a license. The amount of advertisements are determined by a set of monetization rules as well as by the amount of authorization remaining in the license. Further, the user's ability to control the device when rendering the content is determined by the monetization rules which are influenced by the licensing status of the content. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216631 | Apparatus and Method for Advertising in Digital Photo Frame - A novel digital photo frame is configured to display user-loaded photographs, moving pictures, and other personal data and corporate-paid advertisements which are dynamically updatable by an advertising data distribution center or another communications service provider, such as a cellular service provider. The invention also discloses a related, novel method of advertising in a digital photo frame with dynamically-updatable-ads, in which initial advertising fees for one or more dynamically-updateable ads at least partially pay for manufacturing costs of the digital photo frame for inexpensive distribution of the digital photo frame to a targeted consumer. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216632 | CUSTOMER REWARDING - The present invention provides an approach for rewarding customers for use of self-checkout stations and, optionally, for being self-sufficient in such use by not requiring retailer (employee) assistance. Specifically, the under the present invention, a set of service choices made by a customer during purchasing transactions are tracked. Such service choices include whether the customer elected to use self-checkout stations. In addition, a frequency of assistance needed by the customer during the purchasing transactions will be tracked. Such tracking can be accomplished using any known technology including the use of the customer loyalty cards that are assigned to specific customers. In any event, a reward can be offered to the customer if the customer elected to use self-checkout stations to complete at least a subset of the purchasing transactions, and/or if the frequency of assistance needed by the customer during the purchasing transactions fell below a predetermined threshold. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216633 | System, Method, and Computer Program Product for Assembling and Displaying a Travel Itinerary - The present invention generates a concise listing of low-priced travel products in an interactive itinerary format in response to a simplified user input that can include specification of a selected travel theme. The interactive itinerary can allow and/or recommend changes to the itinerary, e.g., to add, remove, or otherwise change the various travel products included therein, and the user can be notified of the cost and/or scheduling effects of particular modifications to the itinerary. Various tools can also be provided for evaluating the itinerary, e.g., to enable the user to understand the relationship and compatibility of the travel products in time and location so that the user is better informed of the itinerary and more likely to complete the purchase of the associated travel products. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216634 | APPARATUS, COMPUTER-READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING A WIDGET AND CONTENT THEREFOR - An apparatus is provided and includes a processor that is configured to display an advertisement for an advertised widget on a standby screen presented by a display when the apparatus is in a standby state. The processor is configured to receive selection of the presented advertisement and, in response thereto, receive and install the advertised widget in response to receiving the selection. The processor is then configured to display an item of content provided by the installed, advertised widget on the standby screen when the apparatus is in the standby state. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216635 | Business method and system for providing remuneration to consumers for viewing advertisements locally nationally and globally - The present invention is a business method, operable and controllable by a computer, microcomputer or like electronic means, for the remuneration to consumers for viewing advertisements or like content over a global website. The website is designed to display a variety of promotional videos, audio or written advertisements and like content from advertisers who pay the website/business owner to have their content placed on the website. The advertisers can request a global display of their content or restrict viewing to specific areas, based on 4 postal codes. Consumers will earn money after they watch or read the advertisements and answer questions relevant to the advertisements. Consumers would accumulate money earned into an individual account registered by them, which when it reaches a predetermined dollar amount, can be requested through direct deposit into a bank account or can be redeemed for products or services offered by the advertisers. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216636 | Method of Promotion and Advertisement of a Website - A method for providing a video sharing website to be created, wherein members are able to upload, share, and view video clips is presented. In addition to providing members with the rights and control to the advertising space associated with their video clips, these members are able to use the advertising space to advertise their services and/or goods or to sell the available space for potential profit. This is a method for providing content providers with the option to profit from their content uploads. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216637 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MAKING A SYNTHETIC CASH ADVANCE USING A PURCHASE PAYMENT EXCHANGE - System and method provide for making a synthetic cash advance to a credit cardholder via a purchase-payment exchange. A beneficiary selects an item to be purchased by a cardholder for the beneficiary, and in exchange for the cardholder's purchase, the beneficiary transfers funds to the cardholder in an amount that is less than the purchase price of the item. Using this invention, the beneficiary receives the selected item, has a payment made at a discount, and the cardholder receives cash at the card's purchase interest rate. Two or more cardholders may be allowed to bid to make the beneficiary's purchase or payment. The winning bid may be selected based on the cardholder bid having the largest discount from the purchase price. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216638 | System and method for providing consumer directed payment card - Providing a consumer directed payment card (“CDPC”). Parameters for the CDPC are established in advance of the processing of a transaction to define how transactions are to be processed. The parameters are based on attributes of the transaction, such as transaction value, fund availability, credit availability, merchant type, merchant location, and date. The transaction processes include debit, credit, stored value, installment loan, and other deferred-payment transaction types. Parameters are stored and accessed during a transaction. The appropriate transaction process is determined based on the parameters, and the transaction is processed. A processing platform can be logically connected to a network, banking entity, credit line entity, and a network. The processing platform includes a decision engine, which is logically connected to a decision engine database. The decision engine compares the transaction data to the parameters, and communicates the appropriate transaction process to the processing platform for processing. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216639 | ADVERTISING SELECTION AND DISPLAY BASED ON ELECTRONIC PROFILE INFORMATION - Examples of the present invention include advertising selection and display systems that utilize electronic profiles and information received about one or more network accessible content items an entity accessed, such as a web page. The information and electronic profile is used to determine links, advertisements, or both, that may be displayed in a web browser or other viewer along with the accessed network content. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216640 | NON-CASH TRANSACTION INCENTIVE AND COMMISSION DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM - An electronic fund transfer system is disclosed wherein commissions for point-of-sale purchase transactions are determined and distributed to members of an organizational network for promoting use of a non-cash payment device that is tangible for effecting purchase transactions. Purchase data is electronically transmitted from the point-of-sale to an automated clearing house for effecting fund transfers to prepare the purchase, and also to a commission management system. The commission management system maintains an electronic database reflecting the structure of the organizational network, and further determines the distribution of purchase commissions according to a predetermined schedule of proportions relating to the position and business volume of each member of the network. The commission management system further comprises a payment processor for effecting commission payments to the members or to a designated sponsor on a scheduled basis. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216641 | Methods and Systems for Indexing Content - Various embodiments enable a distributed processing system to index network content. In at least one embodiment, a method of indexing content comprises distributing indexing workloads to various distributed devices over a network, receiving organized indexed workloads from the various distributed devices, and creating a master summary index to receive the organized indexed workloads. In a further embodiment, a content indexing system comprises a server system, a workload database, and a master summary index. The server system can be coupled to a network which is coupled to various distributed devices. The workload database can be coupled to the server system and distributes indexing workloads to the various distributed devices. Finally, the master summary index can receive completed indexing workloads from the various distributed devices. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216642 | PRIVACY-ENHANCED INTERNET ADVERTISING SYSTEM - A system and method of advertising for determining a network location associated with a physical location. In one aspect, a system for performing this function is described which includes an advertiser module for accepting advertisements and a targeting criterion and computing a plurality of restricted identifiers satisfying the targeting criterion, an association module for receiving the plurality of restricted identifiers, associating the plurality of restricted identifiers with a plurality of non-restricted identifiers, and an intermediate module for associating the advertisement identifier with the plurality of non-restricted identifiers. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216643 | Data processing system and data processing method - Disclosed herein is a data processing system including: a user manager configured to manage user identification data for identifying a user and a page of the user by relating them each other; a data manager configured to manage service data and the user identification data by relating them each other; and a link manager configured to manage link data for linking a page of one user to a page of another user other than the page of the one user; wherein, when an operation for moving service data of the one user to a page of another user linked by the link data is executed, the data manager clears the relation between the user identification data of the one user and the service data to be moved and newly relates user identification data of the another user to whom the move is executed and the service data to be moved. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216644 | Network affinity-group commerce method involving system management fulfilment - An electronic, computer-based, system-manager-supervised, network-commerce, method featuring cloud-computing-type activity, and including (a) forming within an electronic-network a subassembly of selected, distributed, different-affinity-interest, network-connected groups, (b) creating, selectively and distributively within the network, for such groups, selected, controlled-access, physical-electronic, digital-database catalogues of relevant, affinity-interest deliverables via selecting providers of such deliverables, and managing the electronic placement into the catalogues of chosen, selected-provider deliverables, (c) establishing, for and within each such group, vetted and incentivized, group-personnel entrepreneurial activity, wherein at least one so vetted group member is authorized to promote over the network, sales from a relevant catalogue of associated-provider deliverables, and (d) in association with such sales, and utilizing network resources, furnishing ancillary, commerce-related sales support of a character which is common to at least plural ones of such selected affinity-interest groups, but independent of group-specific affinity-interest subject matter. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216645 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR GENERATING LEADS FOR THE SALE OF GOODS AND SERVICES - As set forth herein, a computer program embodied on a computer readable medium creates a web interface to facilitate a sales transaction between a vendor and a customer via a sales lead system. A web interface source code segment facilitates the presentation of content to a user that accesses the web interface and allows the reception of data provided by the user to interface with the sales lead system. A lead source module allows a lead source to add lead information to the sales lead system, the lead source module is configured to receive lead source information related to an imminent purchase of at least one of a good and a service by a prospect, and a name of the prospect. A vendor module allows one or more vendors to access one or more leads and/or interface with the prospect to receive additional information related to the lead, wherein the one or more vendors are not provided with information to identify the lead source. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216646 | MERCHANT REWARDS METHODS, SYSTEMS AND PRODUCTS THEREBY - A method, system and products thereby for enhanced customer loyalty program with improved access to restaurant information. The system having a server configured to perform operations including storing data including at least an identifier associated with a customer account in the customer rewards program, the identifier corresponding to a registered credit card number. The server may be further configured to receive the data from a merchant terminal relating to a qualified purchase, the merchant terminal being located at one of the plurality of independent merchants participating in the closed coalition customer rewards program, and verify a customer's membership in the closed coalition customer rewards program. Additionally, the server may be further configured to transfer an award associated with the qualified purchase transaction to the customer account, and process a customer's directive for redeeming the award for use at the participating restaurant. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216647 | PAUSING ONE OR MORE ADS, ONE OR MORE AD GROUPS, AND/OR ONE OR MORE AD CAMPAIGNS - Helping advertisers by simplifying the management of interactive advertising. Such simplification can by achieved by allowing an advertiser to pause the serving of an ad, or some grouping of ads. The pausing may continue for a predetermined time period, until a specified time and/or date, or until a restart is selected. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216648 | System And Method For Providing Paper Model Replicas Over A Wide Area Computer Network - A system for providing paper models over a wide area computer network includes a user computer that communicates with a model server via the Internet. The model server includes a database of paper model files, e.g., the pieces of the models and assembly instructions. The corresponding method allows a user to access the model server via the Internet and download paper models. The paper models are printed at a printer connected to the user computer. A user can then assemble the paper models following the assembly instructions. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216649 | Capability Based Distributed Processing - Various embodiments enable a server system to identify a workload capability factor for a distributed device and use the workload capability factor to determine an incentive for the distributed device. In one embodiment, a distributed processing system includes a server configured to be coupled to one or more distributed devices. The server may include a workload database configured to store at least one workload project, a capability database configured to store one or more workload capability factors associated with one or more distributed devices, and a control system configured to use the one or more workload capability factors from the capability database to perform at least one workload project from the workload database. The least one workload capability factor may also be used to determine an incentive for the one or more distributed devices. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216650 | Cyber Pub (CP) - The present invention relates to a Cyber-Pub (CP) that allows an easy social interchange among people. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system and method that allows the social interchange amongst people who suffer from difficulties related to shyness. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216651 | Dispensing valuable media - A method of dispensing valuable media from a self-service terminal. The method comprises: receiving a request from a customer at the self-service terminal to access an account held with a payment service provider. The terminal then forwards the request to the payment service provider and provides the payment service provider with authentication details from the customer at the self-service terminal. The terminal then receives a request to dispense valuable media from the payment service provider, and dispenses valuable media to the customer in response to the received request. The method may also involve charging the payment service provider an amount at least equal in value to the valuable media dispensed. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216652 | POINT-OF-SALE ENHANCEMENT SYSTEM - A point of sale system including a point of sale register and a processor operatively coupled to the point of sale register, wherein the processor is physically discreet from the point of sale register. The system further includes a scanner operatively coupled to the processor. The scanner is configured to scan and capture data such that the processor and the scanner provide additional functionality to the point of sale register. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216653 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SELECTING AND CONVEYING RELEVANT AND PERSONALIZED GIFTS USING ONLINE PERSONAL GIFT PROFILE - A method and system selects and conveys relevant and personalized gifts using an online personal gift profile having personal preference data. The method includes providing, by a conveying user, the identity of a receiving user. The method includes selecting, by the conveying user, a gift-class. The method includes identifying the personal gift profile of the receiving user from the identity of the receiving user and retrieving the personal preference data of the receiving user from the personal gift profile. The method includes sending the selected gift item to the receiving user's physical address. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216654 | MUSICAL BOUQUET - The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for sending a bouquet of flowers to a recipient wherein the recipient can play back a customized audio or other media recording. In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the base of the vase is a molded plastic base having within it an MP3 player connected to a USB port connected to said base. The USB port may be connected to a computer or other source to download audio files to the MP3 player. The base additionally has one or more controls for controlling playback of the audio recordings. In one embodiment, the base includes an ON/OFF button and a PLAY button. The ON/OFF button is used to turn the MP3 player on and off. The PLAY button is used to start the audio recording. A battery may also be attached to the MP3 player to provide a power source so that the musical bouquet need not be plugged in to play back the audio files. A seller of the vase can download the audio files requested by a customer prior to delivering the vase to a recipient. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216655 | Method of auction - Motion Reverse Auction - Build one website of Online—Motion Reverse Auction (Bs2Cs E-Commerce) between suppliers of common consumer goods and consumers, who have demand to buy the same kind of product/goods. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216656 | Method and System for Managing Vendor Information - A website for managing vendor information stores information associated with one or more purchase orders of a purchaser, including information associating the purchase order with a vendor authorized to access the website. The website is used to allow the vendor to retrieve the purchase order, automatically notify the purchaser of the vendor's receipt of the purchase order, allow the vendor to create an invoice associated with the purchase order, and automatically enter the invoice into an accounts payable system of the purchaser. With the website, the vendor can manage purchase orders and create and submit invoices. The purchaser can use the website to monitor the vendor's performance. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216657 | ELECTRONIC RETAIL ORDER COMMUNICATION - Multiple users are provided the ability to add or modify items in an open order created by an originating user on an electronic retail system. The originating user has the ability to verify and authorize a final purchase order that is submitted to the retail system. The originating user forwards an open order to other users, who are then allowed to add to the order, such as by adding items to a shopping cart. In a tandem browsing mode, other users are invited to observe the interaction of the originating user with an electronic retail system and modify an order for approval by the originating user. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216658 | Customer Customizable Lamp - A customer-customizable lamp includes a vertical support post mounted to a base plate. The customer selects from five different heights of decorative blocks to be mounted on the post. Each selected block may be provided in any one of five selectable colors or four selectable simulated wood grains. The selection of blocks and finishes are made on a web page with an interactive representation of the customizable lamp being displayed as the design is being created by the customer. The remaining height on the support post to be filled with decorative blocks is displayed. Once the post is filled and the customer has selected finishes for each selected block, the lamp design can be finalized for delivery to the customer. The customer selectable blocks and colors/finishes permit several million permutations so that the customer can create a highly individualized decorative lamp. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216659 | Method and System for Assisting Cutomers in Making Purchase Decisions - Disclosed are a method and a system for assisting a customer in making a purchase decision of a product. Information from the customer is received and a first virtual model is generated based on the information. A graphical image corresponding to the product is overlaid on the first virtual model for generating a second virtual model. The second virtual model is displayed for assisting the customer in making the purchase decision of the product. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216660 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING COMMUNITY BASED CATALOGS AND/OR COMMUNITY BASED ON-LINE SERVICES - A buying community is established by discerning customers having the same or similar business types. The business type of a customer may be discerned from a keyword within a corporate, business, or other entity name that is associated with the customer or from purchasing interests commonly shared by customers. Once a buying community is established, behaviors of customers within that buying community are discerned. These behaviors may include product purchasing behaviors, on-line navigation behaviors, on-line searching behaviors, etc. The discerned behaviors of the customers within the buying community may then be used to provide catalogs customized for those members and/or on-line services customized for those members. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216661 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ONLINE GARDEN DESIGN - A method and system for improving the way fruit, vegetable and flower gardens are planned, designed, and implemented. The present application discloses systems and methods to simplify gardening, as well as improve the overall yield while mitigating such problems as over-planting, over/under irrigating, and poor maintenance. Systems and methods are described for an application utilizing a database to provide an interactive garden design, planning and implementation process. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216662 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ENHANCING COMPLIANCE WITH THE FEDERAL RESERVE CUSTODIAL INVENTORY (CI) PROCEDURES - Systems, methods and consumer-readable media for enhancing compliance with the Federal Reserve Custodial Inventory procedures are provided. The system may include an inventory management system for retrieving cash balance inventory information and an information management system for receiving Fed Cash information. This information may be retrieved using specific process steps and predetermined timing. The cash balance inventory information may include information about the amount of unverified cash in inventory. The Fed Cash information may include Custodial Inventory information, minimum vault holding requirement information, a Federal Reserve Cap and physical space cap for Custodial Inventory. The system may also display an amount that can be deposited in the Custodial Inventory. The amount may be based at least in part on the cash balance inventory information, the Custodial Inventory information, the minimum vault holding requirement information, the Federal Reserve Cap for Custodial Inventory and a ratio of 10 and/or 20 dollar bills in unverified cash balance to a total unverified cash balance. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216663 | SECURE TRANSACTION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD | 2009-08-27 |
20090216664 | Method and Administration System for Management of Electronic Receipts - A system for managing electronic receipts is provided. According to one aspect, the system includes a portable device, a base device, a user device and an electronic receipts administration system. The electronic receipts administration system provides the base device with the appropriate data to allow the base device to generate, store and manage electronic receipts accordingly. A user uses the portable device to conduct a transaction with the base device. The base device uses a variety of information to generate an electronic receipt for the transaction. Such information includes, for example, information stored on the portable device, information stored locally on the base device and information stored on another device such as an electronic cash register. The electronic receipt is then stored on the portable device. The user device allows the user to subsequently retrieve the electronic receipt for management purposes. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216665 | Systems and Methods for Providing Vending Network Data Management - Embodiments of the invention can implement systems and methods for providing vending network data management. In one embodiment, a system for vending network data management can be provided. The system can include a vend settlement manager program module operable to receive a plurality of electronic transactions from at least one transaction-type device. The vend settlement manager program module can be further operable to reconcile the plurality of electronic transactions. Furthermore, the vend settlement manager program module can be operable to communicate response data for each electronic transaction to at least one server. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216666 | Systems and Methods for Providing Electronic Transaction Auditing and Accountability - Embodiments of the invention can provide systems and methods for electronic transaction auditing and accountability. In one embodiment, a method of providing electronic transaction auditing can be implemented. The method can include determining at least one unique identifier associated with a respective transaction. The method can also include communicating the at least one unique identifier to a destination server. In addition, the method can include receiving data associated with an electronic transaction and at least one unique identifier corresponding to the unique identifier previously communicated to the destination server and associated with the respective transaction. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216667 | Systems and methods for enterprise financial information management - A system, method, and computer readable medium for enterprise financial information management is disclosed. Customized hierarchical representations are defined and associated with a business enterprise. The customized hierarchical representations include one or more nodes. A business process instance is associated with the one or more nodes. Financial data is received. The financial data is assigned to the business process instance. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216668 | METHOD OF CARRYING OUT A BUSINESS VENTURE - This invention deals with corporations involved in new ventures, providing novel means and methods to increase the likelihood of their success. It also provides an exchanges on which corporations of these types can trade shares. The corporations use a preferred share structure which incorporates fiscal financial projections, so that there is ensured both a reasonably calculated percentage of revenues on sales issuable to the shareholder while still protecting the corporation and the venture with a threshold of revenues on sale that must first be realized before the dividend is issued. The means and methods of the claimed invention mitigate or erase the occurrence many of the usual obstacles which present themselves to derail ventures. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216669 | Business Method and System for Planning, Executing and Administering a Public Offering of Revenue Backed Securities - The present invention discloses a system and associated method for creating, executing and administering revenue backed securities which includes direct ownership of business revenues, and which can also include ownership of defined business assets. These business and investor benefits are derived from asset-based securities in which the underlying assets consist wholly or in part of revenue rights under one or more revenue-sharing agreements. These securities can also be based on a combination of business assets and revenue-sharing agreements. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216670 | COMMISSION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM - The present invention relates to a commission management system and method for managing soft dollar and commission recapture services over communications network. The system and method pays the invoices from the soft dollar commission account after the client views and approves invoices online. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216671 | Method and apparatus for electronic collection, translation, grouping, and delivery of wage assignment information - This disclosure describes a system that electronically collects, translates, groups, and delivers wage assignment information from at least one initiator to at least one recipient via an accumulator. An initiator initially receives the wage assignment information. Then, an accumulator collects the wage assignment information from at least one initiator, such as a government agency. The accumulator then translates the wage assignment information into a format compatible with electronic data interchange (EDI), such as the ANSI X12 standard. The accumulator then groups the EDI wage assignment information into specific files, batching the files based upon one data field contained within the wage assignment information data set, such as a recipient. The accumulator then delivers a batched EDI wage assignment file to each respective recipient. Once the EDI wage assignment file is received by the recipient, the wage assignment may then be implemented. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216672 | SYSTEM FOR STORING VITAL RECORDS - A system for storing vital personal and business records in one secure location. A user may create an account and submit documents to be scanned and uploaded through a public kiosk. Documents may include, but are not limited to, such items as driver's licenses, birth certificates, state and federal identification cards and health information. The information is transmitted to a secure server where it is stored. A user may then utilize a computing device via secure online means to gain access to his or her stored documents. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216673 | Method and System for Modeling Volatility - A method for determining the implied volatility of a swap option employs intuitive factors to arrive at a close approximation of volatility. The volatility curve is a convex shaped curve which more closely follows real market volatility than previous methods. The slope of the curve is provided by employing a premium model which allows for a correlation between rates and volatility. The convex shaped curve is arrived by assuming a lognormal distribution for the underlying volatility. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216674 | Volatility Detection in a Non-Trading Security's Price Quotation - To ensure that a security does not experience large fluctuations in price after being released from a halt or an IPO, a volatility detection process is used to monitor a pre-release stability of the security based on pre-release orders to buy and orders to sell. These pre-release orders to buy and orders to sell establish an equilibrium price, a cross price. A security is released only when the cross price has been stable for a predetermined period of time prior to the release. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216675 | Commission Centric Network Operation Systems and Methods - Embodiments of the invention can provide commission centric network operation systems and methods. In one embodiment, a commission centric network operation method can be provided. The method can include receiving an electronic transaction. The method can further include determining an electronic transaction type associated with the electronic transaction. Furthermore, the method can include determining a commission amount based at least in part on the electronic transaction type. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216676 | INTEGRATED MOBILE TRANSACTION SYSTEM AND METHODS THEREOF - An architectural transaction arrangement for facilitating transactions is provided. The arrangement includes a set of transaction-enabled devices and an integrated mobile transaction system. The integrated mobile transaction system is configured to include at least a set of interfaces, which is configured for managing interaction between the set of transaction-enabled devices and the integrated mobile transaction system. The integrated mobile transaction system is also configured to include a format converter, which is configured to convert data packets into a format readable by at least one of the set of transaction-enabled devices and the integrated mobile transaction system. The integrated mobile transaction system is further configured to include a transaction module, which is configured to process the transactions (e.g., financial transactions, non-financial transactions, etc.) and a set of databases, which is configured for at least storing data about a set of in-system users of the integrated mobile transaction system. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216677 | System and Method for Virtual Capital Operation - A system for virtual capital operation over a network such as the internet includes a platform for a transaction between a first user and a second user of the system, a data processor for processing the flow of virtual currency occurred at the transaction between the first user and second user, and a trust company to allow real currency to be stored therein or withdrew therefrom in response to the flow of real currency occurred at the transaction, wherein the data processor generates an amount of virtual currency in response to an amount of real currency entrusted to the trust company. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216678 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FACILITATING SECURE COMMUNICATION OF MESSAGES ASSOCIATED WITH A PROJECT - Embodiments of a system and method for facilitating the secure communication of messages associated with a project between computing devices, including for example, a first mobile device and at least a second mobile device are disclosed. One or more intermediate computing devices coupled to the first and second mobile devices are configured to receive and verify registration requests received from the mobile devices, and to assign addresses associated with mobile device users to a distribution list associated with the project. When a message that has been sent from a first user and addressed to at least a second user is received at the one or more intermediate computing devices, a determination is made as to whether the message is associated with the project, and if so, in one example embodiment, the message is transmitted to the second user only if both the address associated with the first user and the address associated with the second user have been assigned to the distribution list. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216679 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR VALIDATING A DEVICE THAT USES A DYNAMIC IDENTIFIER - A method that comprises obtaining a currently received signature from a device; obtaining a candidate identifier associated with the device; consulting a database to obtain a set of previously received signatures associated with the candidate identifier; and validating the currently received signature based on a comparison of the currently received signature to the set of previously received signatures associated with the candidate identifier. Also, a method that comprises obtaining a currently received signature from a device; decrypting the currently received signature to obtain a candidate identifier; and a candidate scrambling code; consulting a database to obtain a set of previously received scrambling codes associated with the candidate identifier; and validating the currently received signature based on a comparison of the candidate scrambling code to the set of previously received scrambling codes associated with the candidate identifier. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216680 | Systems and Methods for Performing File Distribution and Purchase - A secure computing module (SCM) is configured for connection with a host device. The SCM includes a processor for performing secure processing operations, a host interface for coupling the processor to the host device, and a memory connected to the processor wherein the processor logically isolates at least some of the memory from access by the host device. The SCM generates a secure digital signature for a financial transaction and enables controlled content received through the host device. File distribution is performed from a content provider to a buyer or from a reseller to a buyer. The file distribution includes a financial transaction using secure digital signatures and possibly message encryption. The digital signatures and transaction details are communicated to appropriate financial organizations to authenticate the transaction parties and complete the transaction. The controlled content is transferred to the buyer from either the content provider or the reseller. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216681 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PERFORMING WIRELESS FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS - A secure computing module (SCM) is configured for connection with a host device. The SCM includes a processor for performing secure processing operations, a host interface for coupling the processor to the host device, and a memory connected to the processor wherein the processor logically isolates at least some of the memory from access by the host device. The SCM also includes a proximate-field wireless communicator connected to the processor to communicate with another SCM associated with another host device. The SCM generates a secure digital signature for a financial transaction package and communicates the package and the signature to the other SCM using the proximate-field wireless communicator. Financial transactions are performed from person to person using the secure digital signature of each person's SCM and possibly message encryption. The digital signatures and transaction details are communicated to appropriate financial organizations to authenticate the transaction parties and complete the transaction. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216682 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF PROVIDING TARGETED ADVERTISEMENTS FROM SUBSCRIBERS OF DIRECTORY SERVICES - Disclosed are systems, computer-readable medium and a method for delivering advertisements to user devices. The method includes storing first data associated with online and physical activity of plurality of customers, storing second data associated with current status of plurality of advertisers, matching a customer with an advertiser based on analysis of the first data and the second data and delivering an advertisement to a device associated with the matched customers online and physical activity. The on-line and physical activity is captured by a plurality of devices including a mobile device via a plurality of sensors. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216683 | Interactive Media Content Display System - A system and method is provided including a central application server with a data storage unit including a plurality of client containers corresponding to a plurality of clients. Each client container stores client media content provided by a respective client. The client media content includes at least one of audio files, video files, and audio/video files. A plurality of computing devices is connected to the central application server. Each computing device receives client media content from at least one client container of the plurality of client containers. Each client container of the plurality of client containers is updated independently with client media content from each respective client. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216684 | PRICE CHARTING SYSTEM AND TECHNIQUE - The invention is directed to a market price charting method for displaying both current and historical price activity in terms of valuation rather than absolute price. The invention allows users to quantify the degree in which a market is overbought or oversold. Results may be displayed electronically or on a hard copy for viewing or used in additional analysis of a market. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216685 | Method and platform for facilitating competitive virtual securities trading - A method for providing a trading platform over the Internet or other network that allows users to participate in competitive virtual trading of securities and/or derivatives, wherein the monetary returns of the participants are based on their relative performances. All of the participants must register and deposit monies in an account with the trading platform provider. The platform provider will control the crediting and debiting of each account based on the results of each competition. In a competition, the securities and/or derivatives are traded at market prices, including but not limited to over-the-counter spot prices on different assets such as currencies, indices, commodities, stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), but instead of calculating the returns of the participants according to their absolute results (which means the summation of gains and losses for all the transactions that the participant executed within a period of time), the returns of a participant will be based on the difference between his and his rival's absolute results. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216686 | MAIL FRANKING AND TRACKING METHOD - The invention relates to a method of franking of mail such that it can be tracked by carriers and mail-routing services. More specifically, the invention relates to a method of franking and tracking mail, such as letters or parcels, sent by at least one sender through a distribution network which is equipped with an information system (SI). The invention is characterised in that it comprises the following steps, namely: a first pre-franking step ( | 2009-08-27 |
20090216687 | Method of assessing a parking fee - A method for assessing fees for parking is disclosed. The method includes determining the length of a vehicle and assessing a parking fee based upon that vehicle length. The disclosed method may also include marking at least a portion of the selected parking area in increments of length or marking the length of a vehicle on that vehicle. Embodiments of the method are also disclosed that include calculating the parking fee so that a longer vehicle is charged more than a shorter vehicle for parking in the selected parking area. Other embodiments of the disclosed method include calculating the parking fee based on different length ranges that include at least a first length range and a second length range. The first length range has lengths that are shorter than lengths in the second length range. The parking fee is based on which length range the length of the vehicle falls within. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216688 | SYSTEM FOR BATTERY CHARGING BASED ON COST AND LIFE - One embodiment of the present subject matter includes a system that includes a battery, an electric vehicle, the battery coupled to the electric vehicle to propel the electric vehicle, and a charging circuit to charge the battery. The embodiment includes a charging cost circuit to estimate a charging cost rate and to turn on the charging circuit. The embodiment also includes a timer circuit to provide a time signal to the charging cost circuit. The embodiment is configured such that the charging cost circuit is to turn on the charging circuit during a first time period in which the charging cost rate is below a first threshold until the battery reaches a first energy stored level, and to turn on the charging circuit during a second time period in which the charging cost rate is above the first threshold. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216689 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR VARIANT STRING MATCHING - A method, computer program product, and system for variant string matching. A computer implemented method for variant string matching may comprise comparing with a computing device two unidentical strings in a training variant string pair. The two unidentical strings may represent the same item from training data, which may be stored in a memory. The two unidentical strings may be compared to determine if they include an identical substring pair, and a first unidentical substring pair. The computer implemented method may also determine if the first unidentical substring pair includes a first unidentical substring and a second unidentical substring. The computer implemented method may further determine if the first unidentical substring pair is in the training data. The first unidentical substring pair may be entered into the training data as a first variant string pair if it is not in the training data. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216690 | Predicting Candidates Using Input Scopes - Embodiments are configured to provide one or more candidates based in part on an input identifier associated with an input interface. In an embodiment, a system includes an input method editor (IME) that can be configured to provide one or more candidates based in part on a prediction model and one or more input scope values associated with an input interface. The IME can also operate to store an entered string including one or more associated input scope values to a storage component. The stored information can be used when suggesting candidates. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216691 | Systems and Methods for Generating and Implementing an Interactive Man-Machine Web Interface Based on Natural Language Processing and Avatar Virtual Agent Based Character - An interactive virtual agent (avatar) system includes a plurality of databases configured to store at least one of client specific information and non-client specific information, internal resources configured to provide access to information sources, the character interface configured to receive information from a user, and respond to the user with information based on the received information, a processing engine coupled with the client knowledge database, the basic knowledge database, the internal resources, and the character interface. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216692 | Information Processing Apparatus and Method, and Program - The invention relates to an information processing apparatus and method and a program which can provide an item suitable for a feeling (mood) of a user. A user data acquisition section | 2009-08-27 |
20090216693 | CLASSIFICATION METHOD AND APPARATUS - A method for building a classification model for classifying unclassified documents based on the classification of a plurality of documents which respectively have been classified as belonging to one of a plurality of classes, said documents being digitally represented in a computer, said documents respectively comprising a plurality of terms which respectively comprise one or more symbols of a finite set of symbols, and said method comprising the following steps: representing each of said plurality of documents by a vector of n dimensions, said n dimensions forming a vector spaces whereas the value of each dimension of said vector corresponds to the frequency of occurrence of a certain term in the document corresponding to said vector, so that said n dimensions span up a vector space; representing the classification of said already classified documents into classes by separating said vector space into a plurality of subspaces by one or more hyperplanes, such that each subspace comprises one or more documents as represented by their corresponding vectors in said vector space, so that said each subspace corresponds to a class. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216694 | MAXIMIZATION OF SUSTAINED THROUGHPUT OF DISTRIBUTED CONTINUOUS QUERIES - A system, method, and computer readable medium for optimizing throughput of a stream processing system are disclosed. The method comprises analyzing a set of input streams and creating, based on the analyzing, an input profile for at least one input stream in the set of input streams. The input profile comprises at least a set of processing requirements associated with the input stream. The method also comprises generating a search space, based on an initial configuration, comprising a plurality of configurations associated with the input stream. A configuration in the plurality of configurations is identified that increases throughput more than the other configurations in the plurality of configurations based on at least one of the input profile and system resources. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216695 | System and method for constructing cognitive programs - The present invention is directed to a method to search for a solution to a problem in a domain. The method may comprise obtaining a plurality of agents each operable to produce one or more numerical bids and to propose one or more actions and a plurality of nodes each representing a state of the domain; automatically selecting a respective agent and a respective node based on a bids from the plurality of agents; and automatically adding a new node representing a new state which is obtained by applying to the state represented by the selected node an action proposed by the selected agent. The plurality of nodes may each have a depth associated therewith and the respective agent and the respective node may be selected regardless of the depth associated with the selected node. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216696 | DETERMINING RELEVANT INFORMATION FOR DOMAINS OF INTEREST - Techniques are described for determining and using relevant information related to domains of interest. In at least some situations, the techniques include automatically analyzing documents, terms and other information related to a domain of interest in order to automatically determine information about relevant themes within the domain and/or about which documents have contents that are relevant to such themes. Such automatically determined information related to a domain may then be used in various ways, including to assist users in specifying themes of interest and/or in obtaining documents and/or document fragments with contents that are relevant to specified themes. In addition, information about how the automatically determined information is used by users may be tracked and used as feedback for learning improved determinations of relevant themes and relevant documents within the domain, such as by using automated machine learning techniques. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216697 | METHOD FOR PREDICTING PROBLEMATIC CONFIGURATIONS AND RECOMMENDING SAFE CONFIGURATIONS - A system and method for method for assessing configurations includes steps or acts of: receiving configuration data related to configuration items and problem data related to problem tickets; classifying the configuration data into configuration classes; computing a class probability of the configuration classes; associating each configuration class with the problem tickets related to said configuration class; computing a ticket probability distribution of the problem tickets based on number of incidents; evaluating problem ticket characteristics per configuration class to determine a coefficient of trouble value for each configuration class; ranking the configuration classes according to their coefficient of trouble; wherein a highest ranking has the least coefficient of trouble; determining potentially optimal configurations based on the rankings; and providing to a user migration paths corresponding to the potentially optimal configurations. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216698 | TEMPORAL EVENTS ANALYSIS EMPLOYING TREE INDUCTION - An events analysis method comprises: optimizing respective to a set of training data a set of branching transition likelihood parameters associating parent events of type k with child events of type k′ in branching processes; inferring a most probable branching process for a set of input data comprising events based on the optimized set of branching transition likelihood parameters; and identifying rare or unusual events of the set of input data based on the inferred most probable branching process. An events analysis apparatus includes a probabilistic branching process learning engine configured to optimize the set of branching transition likelihood parameters, and a probabilistic branching process inference engine configured to infer the most probable branching process. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216699 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR HIERARCHICAL DECOMPOSITION OF PLANNING, SCHEDULING, AND OTHER DECISION-MAKING PROBLEMS - A system includes a coordinator configured to generate a first offer representing a possible solution to a problem being solved. The coordinator is configured to generate the first offer using a first model. The system also includes multiple cooperators each configured to receive the first offer and to determine if a sub-problem associated with the problem can be solved based on the first offer and using a second model. Each cooperator is also configured to identify an infeasibility and communicate the infeasibility to the coordinator when the sub-problem cannot be solved based on the first offer. The coordinator is further configured to receive the infeasibility, generate a second offer by reducing a deviation between the first offer and a consensus of the cooperators, and provide the second offer to the cooperators. The consensus of the cooperators is based on a level of the first offer that each cooperator can achieve. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216700 | TEMPORAL EVENTS ANALYSIS EMPLOYING TREE INDUCTION - An events analysis method comprises: optimizing respective to a set of training data a set of branching transition likelihood parameters associating parent events of type k with child events of type k′ in branching processes; inferring a most probable branching process for a set of input data comprising events based on the optimized set of branching transition likelihood parameters; and identifying rare or unusual events of the set of input data based on the inferred most probable branching process. An events analysis apparatus includes a probabilistic branching process learning engine configured to optimize the set of branching transition likelihood parameters, and a probabilistic branching process inference engine configured to infer the most probable branching process. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216701 | Propagation of don't cares for efficient theory combination - Relevancy propagation for efficient theory combination is described. In one implementation, an efficient SMT solver dynamically applies relevancy propagation to limit propagation of unnecessary constraints in a DPLL-based solver. This provides a drastic increase in speed and performance over conventional DPLL-based solvers. The relevancy propagation is guided by relevancy rules, which in one implementation emulate Tableau rules for limiting constraint propagation, while maintaining the performance of efficient DPLL-based solvers. An exemplary solver propagates truth assignments to constraints of a formula, and tracks which truth assignments are relevant for determining satisfiability of the formula. The solver propagates truth assignments that were marked relevant to a theory solver, while avoiding propagation of irrelevant truth assignments. The efficient SMT solver provides a drastic reduction in search space covered during quantifier instantiation and offers profound acceleration during bit-vectors reasoning. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216702 | Mechanism to abstract fact types from a rule engine - Some embodiments of a fact type abstraction mechanism of a rule engine have been presented. In one embodiment, a fact type abstraction layer is provided to a rule engine core to allow the rule engine core to access facts of multiple different types. Further, the rule engine core is used to process the facts of multiple different types against a predetermined set of rules without converting the facts of multiple different types into a native type. | 2009-08-27 |
20090216703 | SEMANTICALLY VALIDATING PRINT PRODUCT DEFINITIONS - A method provides a knowledgebase having a set of existing print product classes into which print product descriptions are classified. The method receives the new print product class from a user and maps the representation of new print product class conditions to be semantically consistent with the representation of existing class conditions. The method evaluates the new print product class to produce user feedback. The user feedback is output to the user. The new print product class is added to the knowledgebase only if the new print product class is valid and free of errors and semantically consistent with the definitions of already existing print product classes. | 2009-08-27 |