Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for synchronizing records stored at a first computer with records stored at a second computer. If properties of the first record have been modified, a determination is made as to whether all of the modified properties may be ignored. If all of the properties are not ignorable, a determination is made as to whether the values of all non-ignorable properties are identical between the first and second records. If the values are identical, the modifications to the properties of the first record are discarded. If the values are not identical, a determination is made as to whether the modified properties are decidable. If the properties are decidable, a value is selected from either the value stored in the first record or the second record, and utilized as the selected value of the modified property for the first and second records.

Abstract: Various internet content filtering mechanisms are disclosed. One such mechanism is a filtering service that uses a filter stack and at least two caches. The filter stack can access these caches during its execution of objects. One of the caches could be a cross-user cache that contains information relevant for internet content to a particular user, but this information could be also used by other users. The other cache could be a cross-application cache that contains information relevant for particular applications, but this information could also be used by other applications. The filtering service can be nicely integrated in an operating system to provide a centralized framework for the filtering of internet content.

Abstract: Mechanisms are disclosed for detecting protocols independently of the ports used by streams associated with the protocols or applications that may send out such streams. The detecting may entail using a content filter that is hosted on a networking stack, where the content filter may be composed of a stream buffer and handlers for detecting the protocols. The handlers may be further used to modify streams incoming to a port or streams outgoing from an application. The handlers can modify the streams in a variety of ways, including reading, inserting, replacing, deleting, and completing data in the streams according to some policy criteria, such as those set by parental controls. Individual handlers may be selected from a plurality or set of handlers so that they can be matched up to the appropriate streams.

Abstract: A method and computer program product instituting an entirely client-based system for sharing messages and other data objects is provided. Communication between clients occurs over a generic store and forward transport such as the Internet message protocol described in RFC 822 and implemented on the Internet or other wide area network. A message or other data object is originally maintained by a “publication” client that publishes the data object and any modifications thereto to one or more “subscription” clients that will each maintain a copy thereof. As modifications are made by a client (either publication or subscription) to the client copy of the data object, the modified data object is sent, using the store and forward transport, to the publication client to update the data object.