51657 results about "Application software" patented technology

Methods and apparatus for deploying a generic application engine in a browser program executing on a client platform are described. As a method, an application engine kernel is formed in the browser program that is independent of the client platform and the browser program concurrently with loading user interface (UI) components and corresponding data components associated with the application engine. A minimum required subset of application engine components are then loaded by the kernel in order to process any initial user requests.

An Integrated Routing / Mapping Information System (IRMIS) links desktop personal computer cartographic applications to one or more handheld organizer, personal digital assistant (PDA) or "palmtop" devices. Such devices may be optionally equipped with, or connected to, portable Global Positioning System (GPS) or equivalent position sensing device. Desktop application facilitates user selection of areas, starts, stops, destinations, maps and / or point and / or route information. It optionally includes supplemental online information, preferably for transfer to the PDA or equivalent device. Users' options include route information, area, and route maps. Maps and related route information are configured with differential detail and levels of magnitude. Used in the field, in conjunction with GPS receiver, the PDA device is configured to display directions, text and map formats, the user's current position, heading, speed, elevation, and so forth. Audible signals identifying the next turn along the user's planned route are also provided. The user can pan across maps and zoom between two or more map scales, levels of detail, or magnitudes. The IRMIS also provides for "automatic zooming," e.g., to show greater detail or closer detail as the user approaches a destination, or to larger scale and lower resolution to show the user's overall planned route between points of interest. The IRMIS also enables the user to mark or record specific locations and / or log actual travel routes, using GPS position information. These annotated location marks and / or "breadcrumb" or GPS log data can be saved, uploaded, displayed, or otherwise processed on the user's desktop geographic information or cartographic system. The IRMIS application and data may be distributed online and / or in tangible media in limited and advanced manipulation formats.

A method and system that provides filtered data from a data system. In one embodiment the system includes an API (application programming interface) and associated software modules to enable third party applications to access an enterprise data system. Administrators are enabled to select specific user interface (UI) objects, such as screens, views, applets, columns and fields to voice or pass-through enable via a GUI that presents a tree depicting a hierarchy of the UI objects within a user interface of an application. An XSLT style sheet is then automatically generated to filter out data pertaining to UI objects that were not voice or pass-through enabled. In response to a request for data, unfiltered data are retrieved from the data system and a specified style sheet is applied to the unfiltered data to return filtered data pertaining to only those fields and columns that are voice or pass-through enabled.

An interactive television program guide system based on multiple user television equipment devices in a single household is provided. The system provides a user with an opportunity to adjust program guide settings with a given one of the interactive television program guides. The system coordinates the operation of the interactive television program guides so that the program guide settings that were adjusted with the given interactive television program guide are used by the other interactive television program guides. Program guide setting include features related to setting program reminders, profiles, program recording features, messaging features, favorites features, parental control features, program guide set up features (e.g., audio and video and language settings), etc. The operation of applications such as web browser applications, home shopping applications, home banking applications, game applications, etc. may also be coordinated.

Briefly, the present invention relates to an information dispersal sytem in which original data to be stored is separated into a number of data “slices” in such a manner that the data in each subset is less usable or less recognizable or completely unusable or completely unrecognizable by itself except when combined with some or all of the other data subsets. These data subsets are stored on separate storage devices as a way of increasing privacy and security. In accordance with an important aspect of the invention, a metadata management system stores and indexes user files across all of the storage nodes. A number of applications run on the servers supporting these storage nodes and are responsible for controlling the metadata. Metadata is the information about the data, the data slices or data subsets and the way in which these data subsets are dispersed among different storage nodes running over the network. As used herein, metadata includes data source names, their size, last modification date, authentication information etc. This information is required to keep track of dispersed data subsets among all the nodes in the system. Every time new data subsets are stored and old ones are removed from the storage nodes, the metadata is updated. In accordance with an important aspect of the invention, the metadata management system stores metadata for dispersed data where: The dispersed data is in several pieces. The metadata is in a separate dataspace from the dispersed data. Accordingly, the metadata management system is able to manage the metadata in a manner that is computationally efficient relative to known systems in order to enable broad use of the invention using the types of computers generally used by businesses, consumers and other organizations currently.

An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for provisioning database resource within a grid database system. The federation apparatus includes an analysis module and a provision module. The analysis module analyzes a data query stream from an application to a database instance and determines if the data query stream exhibits a predetermined performance attribute. The provision module provisions a database resource in response to a determination that the data query stream exhibits the predetermined performance attribute. The provisioned database resource may be a database instance or a cache. The provisioning of the new database resource advantageously is substantially transparent to a client on the database system.

An on-line scheduling application allows users to personalize how television-related, entertainment-related, and social event related information is provided. Users may select one or more sources from which the information is obtained. Users may set up a date book that is also used as a source. Users may select one or more delivery schemes that the application uses to provide the information. One or more of the personalization features of the scheduling application may be incorporated into an on-line television programming guide.

A variety of tools and techniques are disclosed for managing, viewing, publishing, searching, clustering, and otherwise manipulating data streams. Data streams such as RSS data feeds may be searched, aggregated, and filtered into a processed feed. The processed feed, along with rules used to process the feed may be shared in a number of ways. A data feed management system may provide an integrated user interface through which a user may manage feeds, including searching for new feeds, managing and filtering current feeds, modifying a user profile, and sharing feeds and feed configuration data with other users. A server may provide a complementary search engine to locate new feeds and to store and / or index items or posts in known feeds. Together, these technologies may provide a richly-functioned feed management system and greater ease of use for individuals in managing large numbers of feeds and large amounts of data in feeds. Additional functional layers may provide for authentication, security, and privacy, metadata creation and management, and social networking features. Using the management tools and additional functionality, a syndicated data stream system may provide a platform for a wide array of useful consumer and business applications.

A touch screen computer executes an application. A method of operating the touch screen computer in response to a user is provided. A virtual input device is provided on the touch screen. The virtual input device comprises a plurality of virtual keys. It is detected that a user has touched the touch screen to nominally activate at least one virtual key, and a behavior of the user with respect to touch is determined. The determined behavior is processed and a predetermined characteristic is associated with the nominally-activated at least one virtual key. A reaction to the nominal activation is determined based at least in part on a result of processing the determined behavior.

A system and method that uses internet content and / or content metadata as a means to establish social networks. Examples include linking internet users, searchers, viewers and / or listeners of the same and / or similar internet content to each other via a platform that enables any of the following in n-dimensional environments: social networking, communications, sharing, e-commerce, advertising, search, hosting and registry services, push and pull applications, anonymous communications, and rich presence.

A technique for centralized and differentiated content and application delivery system allows content providers to directly control the delivery of content based on regional and temporal preferences, client identity and content priority. A scalable system is provided in an extensible framework for edge services, employing a combination of a flexible profile definition language and an open edge server architecture in order to add new and unforeseen services on demand. In one or more edge servers content providers are allocated dedicated resources, which are not affected by the demand or the delivery characteristics of other content providers. Each content provider can differentiate different local delivery resources within its global allocation. Since the per-site resources are guaranteed, intra-site differentiation can be guaranteed. Administrative resources are provided to dynamically adjust service policies of the edge servers.

A method and apparatus for allowing the user of an electronic device to enhance privacy over a display with the use of software, are disclosed. A security window including a translucent graphical effects region may be displayed on the electronic device such that it overlays content the user may choose to protect. The security window allows the protected content to remain discernable for the user of the device yet substantially indiscernible to a person at a further distance and / or greater viewing angle from the screen of the device. One or more security windows, each of which may be of any size, shape, texture, translucency level and any other graphical or behavioral properties may be displayed on the display associated with the electronic device. The user may control the size, shape, texture, translucency level and any other graphical or behavioral properties of the security window and graphical effects region. The user may invoke or terminate a security window with the single click of a button. Security windows may automatically attach to applications in focus, or be attached in response to a user command, and allow uninterrupted usability of those applications.

In a collaborative computing environment, a method and system for displaying revisions associated with a hosted electronic document are disclosed. In accordance with the disclosed method and system, select revisions of an electronic document may be displayed to a user as media (e.g. Flash™ animation, QuickTime™, MPEG, Windows™ Media Video, RealMedia™, DivX™, DHTML, etc.) in which the revisions are animated, recreating a visual history play-back of the evolution of the document. The animation may include an image of each selected revision, morphing into another image of another revision. The animation may be displayed in various orders (e.g. chronologically, by user, etc.) The user may use an application on a client device (e.g. a web-browser, a web-browser with a media plug-in, a media players, etc.) to view the media file and control various properties of the animation playback (e.g. speed, direction, pausing, skipping forward or back, etc.).

An interactive television application is used to provide search results to a user. The user is provided with an opportunity to indicate a desire to search for programs. In response, the interactive television application generates search criteria and searches for programs. The search results that are displayed to the user include mosaic listings associated with programs that match the search criteria. In some embodiments, the interactive television application displays the mosaic listings in a manner that accentuates the different levels of relevance of the search results to the search criteria.

Backup copying of designated datasets representing a first selected point in time consistency may be performed in a data processing system on an attached storage subsystem concurrent with data processing system application execution by first suspending application execution only long enough to form a logical-to-physical address concordance, and thereafter physically backing up the datasets on the storage subsystem on a scheduled or opportunistic basis. An indication of each update to a selected portion of the designated datasets which occurs after the first selected point in time is stored and application initiated updates to uncopied designated datasets are first buffered. Thereafter, sidefiles are made of the affected datasets, or portions thereof, the updates are then written through to the storage subsystem, and the sidefiles written to an alternate storage location in backup copy order, as controlled by the address concordance. At a subsequent point in time only those portions of the designated datasets which have been updated after the first selected period and time are copied, utilizing an identical technique.

A mobile payment platform and service provides a fast, easy way to make payments by users of mobile devices. The platform also interfaces with nonmobile channels and devices such as e-mail, instant messenger, and Web. In an implementation, funds are accessed from an account holder's mobile device such as a mobile phone or a personal digital assistant to make or receive payments. Financial transactions can be conducted on a person-to-person (P2P) or person-to-merchant (P2M) basis where each party is identified by a unique indicator such as a telephone number or bar code. Transactions can be requested through any number of means including SMS messaging, Web, e-mail, instant messenger, a mobile client application, an instant messaging plug-in application or “widget.” The mobile client application, resident on the mobile device, simplifies access and performing financial transactions in a fast, secure manner.

An improved building automation system is provided which is modular in design thus minimizing the amount of instruction necessary to affect control of a particular building system. A relatively small set of interprocess control commands define an interprocess control protocol which is utilized in relatively high level scripts and control applications. The improved building automation system operates to translate control instructions in one particular control protocol to control instructions in a second control protocol. A text parsing program routes interprocess communication commands between modular communication programs to affect control over the automated building systems. The text parsing program includes executable instructions which allow for conditional communication of interprocess control commands depending upon system events.

“Real-world” gestures such as hand or finger movements / orientations that are generally recognized to mean certain things (e.g., an “OK” hand signal generally indicates an affirmative response) can be interpreted by a touch or hover sensitive device to more efficiently and accurately effect intended operations. These gestures can include, but are not limited to, “OK gestures,”“grasp everything gestures,”“stamp of approval gestures,”“circle select gestures,”“X to delete gestures,”“knock to inquire gestures,”“hitchhiker directional gestures,” and “shape gestures.” In addition, gestures can be used to provide identification and allow or deny access to applications, files, and the like.

An Integrated Routing / Mapping Information System (IRMIS) links desktop personal computer cartographic applications to one or more handheld organizer, personal digital assistant (PDA) or "palmtop" devices. Such devices may be optionally equipped with, or connected to, portable Global Positioning System (GPS) or equivalent position sensing device. Desktop application facilitates user selection of areas, starts, stops, destinations, maps and / or point and / or route information. It optionally includes supplemental online information, preferably for transfer to the PDA or equivalent device. Users' options include route information, area, and route maps. Maps and related route information are configured with differential detail and levels of magnitude. Used in the field, in conjunction with GPS receiver, the PDA device is configured to display directions, text and map formats, the user's current position, heading, speed, elevation, and so forth. Audible signals identifying the next turn along the user's planned route are also provided. The user can pan across maps and zoom between two or more map scales, levels of detail, or magnitudes. The IRMIS also provides for "automatic zooming," e.g., to show greater detail or closer detail as the user approaches a destination, or to larger scale and lower resolution to show the user's overall planned route between points of interest. The IRMIS also enables the user to mark or record specific locations and / or log actual travel routes, using GPS position information. These annotated location marks and / or "breadcrumb" or GPS log data can be saved, uploaded, displayed, or otherwise processed on the user's desktop geographic information or cartographic system. The IRMIS application and data may be distributed online and / or in tangible media in limited and advanced manipulation formats.

The present invention provides obfuscation techniques for enhancing software security. In one embodiment, a method for obfuscation techniques for enhancing software security includes selecting a subset of code (e.g., compiled source code of an application) to obfuscate, and obfuscating the selected subset of the code. The obfuscating includes applying an obfuscating transformation to the selected subset of the code. The transformed code can be weakly equivalent to the untransformed code. The applied transformation can be selected based on a desired level of security (e.g., resistance to reverse engineering). The applied transformation can include a control transformation that can be creating using opaque constructs, which can be constructed using aliasing and concurrency techniques. Accordingly, the code can be obfuscated for enhanced software security based on a desired level of obfuscation (e.g., based on a desired potency, resilience, and cost).

A system for transferring data into and out of medical devices wherein a personal data manager (PDM) is used in a web-based network is disclosed. The PDM co-operates with a programmer to enhance remote monitoring of implanted medical devices on a chronic basis to deliver clinical therapy in real time. The PDM is handheldable and mobile and expands the reach of the programmer by storing and forwarding data from the programmer to web-based network constituting a medical environment. The PDM is also implemented to store and forward information to PCs and similar peripheral equipment. In a specialized application, the PDM is configured to exchange data with the unregulated operational / functional segments of the IMD.

The interactive authentication system allows a consumer to interact with a base station, such as broadcast media (e.g., television and radio) or PC, to receive coupons, special sales offers, and other information with an electronic card. The electronic card can also be used to transmit a signal that can be received by the base station to perform a wide variety of tasks. These tasks can include launching an application, authenticating a user at a website, and completing a sales transaction at a website (e.g., by filling out a form automatically). The interaction between the base station and the electronic card is accomplished by using the conventional sound system in the base station so that a special reader hardware need not be installed to interact with the electronic card. The user is equipped with an electronic card that can receive and transmit data via sound waves. In the various embodiments, the sound waves can be audible or ultrasonic (which can be slightly audible to some groups of people).

Management of data communication between a peripheral device and host computer system is provided. A physical interface for communicating data between a peripheral device and applications executing on the host is opened and controlled by a software module. First and second virtual interfaces of the software module are exposed to an operating system of the host, and the operating system exposes the first and second virtual interfaces to a first application and a second application executing on the host. The first virtual interface is used for communicating data between the peripheral device and the first application through the physical interface, and the second virtual interface is used for communicating data between the peripheral device and the second application through the physical interface. Management of data communication between the peripheral device and the first application and between the peripheral device and the second application is thereby provided.

Performing data management operations on replicated data in a computer network. Log entries are generated for data management operations of an application executing on a source system. Consistency point entries are used to indicate a time of a known good, or recoverable, state of the application. A destination system is configured to process a copy of the log and consistency point entries to replicate data in a replication volume, the replicated data being a copy of the application data on the source system. When the replicated data represents a known good state of the application, as determined by the consistency point entries, the destination system(s) may perform a storage operation (e.g., snapshot, backup) to copy the replicated data and to logically associate the copied data with a time information (e.g., time stamp) indicative of the source system time when the application was in the known good state.

Affordable methods and apparatus are disclosed for inputting position, attitude (orientation) or other object characteristic data to computers for the purpose of Computer Aided Design, Painting, Medicine, Teaching, Gaming, Toys, Simulations, Aids to the disabled, and internet or other experiences. Preferred embodiments of the invention utilize electro-optical sensors, and particularly TV Cameras, providing optically inputted data from specialized datum's on objects and / or natural features of objects. Objects can be both static and in motion, from which individual datum positions and movements can be derived, also with respect to other objects both fixed and moving. Real-time photogrammetry is preferably used to determine relationships of portions of one or more datums with respect to a plurality of cameras or a single camera processed by a conventional PC.

A general programmatic interface-to-network messaging adapter exposes a suitable object integration interface or application programming interface to applications on a controller device and sends network data messages to invoke services or query status of a controlled device. The adapter maps application calls to the interface into network data messages according to service protocols of the controlled device. The general adapter provides the interface suitable to any specific service of a controlled device based on a data description of the interface, and converts the application calls to network data messages based on a data description of a protocol and format for network data messages to interact with the specific service. Once the interface / messaging description is obtained, applications on the controller device can programmatically interact with the adapter, and the adapter then handles appropriate message exchanges with the service of the controlled device. The general adapter allows controller device applications to be written using object-oriented programming, while avoiding code download.

A method is presented for determining optimal or preferred configuration settings for wireless or wired network equipment in order to obtain a desirable level of network performance. A site-specific network model is used with adaptive processing to perform efficient design and on-going management of network performance. The invention iteratively determines overall network performance and cost, and further iterates equipment settings, locations and orientations. Real time control is between a site-specific Computer Aided Design (CAD) software application and the physical components of the network allows the invention to display, store, and iteratively adapt any network to constantly varying traffic and interference conditions. Alarms provide rapid adaptation of network parameters, and alerts and preprogrammed network shutdown actions may be taken autonomously. A wireless post-it note device and network allows massive data such as book contents or hard drive memory to be accessed within a room by a wide bandwidth reader device, and this can further be interconnected to the internet or Ethernet backbone in order to provide worldwide access and remote retrieval to wireless post-it devices.

A method and apparatus for providing hypermedia content maintained remotely on a network to a wireless device without a browser are described. A Short Message Service (SMS) request for Internet-based content is received from the wireless device at a proxy server, via an SMS Center (SMSC). The SMS request is transmitted to the SMSC on a wireless network. The proxy server transcodes the SMS request from a character set of the SMSC to a character set of an application and extracts a keyword from the trancoded request. The proxy server maintains a mapping of keywords to URLs. The proxy server looks up the extracted keyword in the keyword-to-URL mapping to identify the URL of an application associated with the keyword. The proxy server constructs an HTTP POST operation containing the keyword and the URL, and submits the HTTP POST operation to the application over a wireline network such as the Internet. Upon receiving an HTTP response containing the requested content from the application in response to the POST operation, the proxy server extracts the content from the HTTP response. The proxy server then translates the content from the content-type used by the application to the content-type used by the SMSC and transcodes the content from the character set used by the application to the character set used by the SMSC. The proxy server then sends the translated and transcoded content in an SMS response to the SMSC, for subsequent delivery to wireless device as an SMS message.