Abstract: A method, system, and computer-readable medium for dynamically generating actual fulfillment plans for a current order or a potential order so as to enhance the future fulfillment process for expected future orders is described. In some situations, actual delivery information based on one or more such actual fulfillment plans will then be provided to a customer, such as by displaying actual delivery date and/or time before or during the ordering process based on one or more actual fulfillment plans that can be or will be used to fulfill the order. A variety of types of criteria can be used to evaluate the effects of using a fulfillment plan to fulfill a current order, including criteria that consider the modeled future cost of fulfilling expected future orders, such as an overall cost of fulfilling all orders during a specified time period that is at least partially in the future.

Abstract: A facility for managing ownership of units of an item is described. The facility defines a commingling zone. For units of the item that are outside the commingling zone, the facility attributes ownership among a plurality of owners individually to each of the units. For units of the item that are inside the commingling zone, the facility attributes ownership among the plurality of owners to particular numbers of the units without attributing ownership individually to each of the units. The facility includes a method for reconciling ownership of units in the event of any discovered inaccuracies.

Abstract: A computer service associated with an electronic catalog of items enables users to explicitly elect to expose their respective purchase histories to other users. When a first user accesses an item in the electronic catalog, the service may notify the first user of one or more other users who have purchased the item. These other users may, for example, be contacts of the first user, or members of a community of which the first user is a member. The service may also facilitate communications between these users.

Abstract: A facility for specifying and previewing changes to a web site is described. Sets of changes to a web site are scheduled for release at a specified time. While the changes are being specified using a tool/interface, methods for showing the change as it will appear on the live web site are implemented. Inconsistencies between specified changes and changes in future releases may be identified as the changes are specified. Web page preview functionality is provided to allow any release to be viewed before publication to a live web site. The preview further allows inconsistencies between selected changes and changes in other future releases to be identified.

Abstract: A method and system for placing an order to purchase an item via the Internet. The order is placed by a purchaser at a client system and received by a server system. The server system receives purchaser information including identification of the purchaser, payment information, and shipment information from the client system. The server system then assigns a client identifier to the client system and associates the assigned client identifier with the received purchaser information. The server system sends to the client system the assigned client identifier and an HTML document identifying the item and including an order button. The client system receives and stores the assigned client identifier and receives and displays the HTML document. In response to the selection of the order button, the client system sends to the server system a request to purchase the identified item.

Abstract: A distributed auction system allows remote bidders to interactively participate by computer in live auctions conducted on-site by an auctioneer. The system includes a console program that runs on a computer at a site of the auction. A human proxy that attends the live auction enters auction state information into an interface of the console program for real time dissemination to the remote bidders. The human proxy also receives via the interface information about valid bids placed by the remote bidders, and communicates such bids to the auctioneer. The auction state information is disseminated to the remote bidders via a set of nodes that are hierarchically connected such that different nodes are assigned to different sets of remote bidders. These nodes also filter out invalid bids received from the remote bidders, based on stored auction state information, to prevent such bids from unnecessarily being communicated to the human proxy.

Abstract: A service configured to be accessible by two or more parties to a two-sided funds transfer transaction through a computer network (e.g., the Internet) provides functionality for sending a payment request to a target payer or payee who is not yet registered with the service. Depending upon who is initiating the transaction (i.e., a payer or a payee) the payment requests may be received as requests to send payments or requests to collect payments. In the latter case, the service may be further organized to solicit a payment, for example by transmitting an e-mail message to a second party to the funds transfer transaction. When used to collect payments, the service may be further organized to process one or more responses to the above-mentioned solicitations.

Abstract: A network-based contact management system provides various features for assisting users in locating, and sharing information with, other users. The system provides a web-based user interface through which each may user create a personal data record, establish contact relationships with other users, and specify permissions for allowing such other users to view the user's own personal data. Users can preferably view the personal data records of their respective contacts via personal address books in accordance with the permissions granted by such contacts. A search feature enables each user to search for contacts of that user's own contacts to locate other users of interest. A crossing paths notification feature notifies users when their travel plans coincide with those of their contacts.

Abstract: Suppression of one or more features in an image of a page of content may be achieved by acquiring a page image, identifying one or more features in the page image that are to be suppressed or not to be suppressed, and preparing a substitute page image which only includes images of the features that are not to be suppressed. Preparing a substitute page image may include generating a blank image and using location and size information to copy images of the non-suppressed features from the original page image to the blank image. In other embodiments, preparing a substitute page image may include removing image information from the original page image outside the non-suppressed features, or identifying and removing features that are to be suppressed from the original page image. Feature suppression may be used to implement access rules that limit the content in a page image.

Abstract: One embodiment of the present invention is a system and method of determining the age of an item recipient, such as a gift recipient. The age range for the gift recipient is estimated based at least in part on a customer order history of gifts purchased by the customer for the gift recipient. At a first date, a customer order for a first gift for the recipient is received, where the first gift is associated with a first age appropriateness designation. At a second date, a customer order for a second gift for the recipient is received, where the second gift is associated with a second age appropriateness designation. An age range associated with the recipient is then estimated based upon at least the first age appropriateness designation and the second age appropriateness designation.

Abstract: A method and system for achieving the delivery of a digital product from an Internet vendor to a customer, while maintaining customer anonymity with respect to the vendor. After the purchase of a digital product from an on-line merchant, the merchant sends to the customer a receipt containing a link that allows the customer to request delivery of their electronic product. Accessing the link then triggers the merchant to verify the validity of the request, based upon information securely encoded in the link sent to the customer. Upon verification of the delivery request, the merchant requests that the vendor fulfill the product delivery request. The identity of the customer and transaction information about the purchase of the digital product is not revealed to the vendor.

Abstract: A computer-implemented service recommends items to a user based on items previously selected by the user, such as items previously purchased, viewed, or placed in an electronic shopping cart by the user. The items may, for example, be products represented within a database of an online merchant. In one embodiment, the service generates the recommendations using a previously generated table that maps items to respective lists of “similar” items. To generate the table, historical data indicative of users' affinities for particular items is processed periodically to identify correlations between item interests of users (e.g., items A and B are similar because a large portion of those who selected A also selected B). Personal recommendations are generated by accessing the table to identify items similar to those selected by the user. In one embodiment, items are recommended based on the current contents of a user's shopping cart.

Abstract: A computer method and system for publicizing commercial transactions. To publicize a commercial transaction, the system (“e-commerce system”) receives a selection of a purchase transaction for a first item. The e-commerce system identifies an auction for a second item such that the second item is related to the first item. For example, the first item may be a kayak, and the second item may be a kayak cover. The e-commerce system then generates a display description (e.g., web page) that includes information for conducting the purchase transaction for the first item and that includes information relating to the auction for the second item. In this way, a user who views information relating to the purchase transaction can also view information relating to the auction.

Abstract: A method and system for creating of gift clusters of multiple items in a client/server environment by users, and for the ordering of such user-defined gift clusters of multiple items. In particular, a user can specify multiple items to be associated together as a gift cluster, and can also specify a variety of descriptive information about the gift cluster. That user or another user can then order the gift cluster as a gift for themselves or for another recipient, and may also order the gift cluster for the same or different recipients multiple times. The descriptive information can provide various information about how the gift cluster is to be used, and can also assist the user or others in identifying when the gift cluster is appropriate for a recipient. When customers are later searching for appropriate gift clusters, the various categorization or other descriptive information can then assist is identifying appropriate gift clusters.

Abstract: A computer service monitors online browsing of an electronic catalog by a user, and notifies the user when a catalog item being accessed is one that has been purchased by an affiliated user, such as a contact or a fellow community member. The notification may include the contact information of the affiliated user, and/or may provide an option to send a message to the affiliated user.

Abstract: A facility for displaying consumption information about items is described. The facility uses a current consumption rank for each of a number of items and at least one or more previous consumption ranks for each of these items to attribute to at least a portion of the items a score characterizing the magnitude of increase in the consumption rank of the item. The facility then generates a display incorporating at least a portion of the attributed scores in the corresponding items.

Abstract: The present invention provides a software facility for identifying the items most relevant to a current query based on items selected in connection with similar queries. In preferred embodiments of the invention, the facility receives a query specifying one or more query terms. In response, the facility generates a query result identifying a plurality of items that satisfy the query. The facility then produces a ranking value for at least a portion of the item identified in the query result by combining the relative frequencies with which users selected that item from the query results generated from queries specifying each of the terms specified by the query. The facility identifies as most relevant those items having the highest ranking values.

Abstract: A facility for scheduling the picking of a plurality of items specified for an item shipment is described. When a first-picked item of the plurality is picked, the facility selects a first period of time of a target length during which the first-picked item is expected to arrive at a sorting machine. For each of the items specified for the item shipment other than the first-picked item, the facility designates a picking period for the item that, when shifted forward in time by an amount of time the item will take to arrive at the sorting machine once picked, falls completely within the first period of time.

Abstract: A method in a computer system for coordinating the delivery a gift given by a gift giver to a recipient when the gift giver did not provide sufficient delivery information. The gift delivery system initially receives an order from the gift giver. The order identifies a gift to be delivered to the recipient and has contact information describing the recipient. The gift delivery system stores the received order in an order database along with an order tracking number. The gift delivery system then determines whether sufficient delivery information has been provided by the recipient. If the delivery information is not sufficient, the gift delivery system sends a communications to the recipient based on the contact information. The communications requests delivery information for the gift. The communications preferably includes the order tracking number so that the recipient can include the order tracking number in a response to the communications.

Abstract: A method and system for creating of gift clusters of multiple items in a client/server environment by users, and for the ordering of such user-defined gift clusters of multiple items. In particular, a user can specify multiple items to be associated together as a gift cluster, and can also specify a variety of descriptive information about the gift cluster. That user or another user can then order the gift cluster as a gift for themselves or for another recipient, and may also order the gift cluster for the same or different recipients multiple times. The descriptive information can provide various information about how the gift cluster is to be used, and can also assist the user or others in identifying when the gift cluster is appropriate for a recipient. When customers are later searching for appropriate gift clusters, the various categorization or other descriptive information can then assist is identifying appropriate gift clusters.

Abstract: This invention relates to novel oxetanocins represented by the following general formula (I): ##STR1## wherein R represents a group represented by ##STR2## and their pharmacologically acceptable salts which have antiviral activities.