Abstract: Utilization of the E-Metro Community and Personal Information Agents assure an effective and comprehensive agent-rule based command and control of informational assets in a networked computer environment. The concerns of informational privacy and informational self-determination are addressed squarely by the invention affording persons and entities a trusted means to author, secure, search, process, and exchange personal and/or confidential information in a networked computer environment. The formation of trusted electronic communities wherein members command and control their digital persona, exchanging or brokering for value the trusted utility of their informational assets is made possible by the invention. The present invention provides for the trusted utilization of personal data in electronic markets, providing both communities and individuals aggregate and individual rule-based control of the processing of their personal data.

Abstract: Utilization of the E-Metro Community and Personal Information Agents assure an effective and comprehensive agent-rule based command and control of informational assets in a networked computer environment. The concerns of informational privacy and informational self-determination are addressed squarely by the invention affording persons and entities a trusted means to author, secure, search, process, and exchange personal and/or confidential information in a networked computer environment. The formation of trusted electronic communities wherein members command and control their digital persona, exchanging or brokering for value the trusted utility of their informational assets is made possible by the invention. The present invention provides for the trusted utilization of personal data in electronic markets, providing both communities and individuals aggregate and individual rule-based control of the processing of their personal data.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus are provided for a enterprise-wide work flow system that may encompass multiple geographically separate sites. The sites may be either permanently or transiently linked. A single computer network may accommodate multiple work flow systems and a single work flow system may be distributed over multiple local area networks. The system maintains the paradigm of one global queue per service and provides for individual work flow systems to export services to one another in an enterprise.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus are provided for a enterprise-wide work flow system that may encompass multiple geographically separate sites. The sites may be either permanently or transiently linked. A single computer network may accommodate multiple work flow systems and a single work flow system may be distributed over multiple local area networks. The system maintains the paradigm of one global queue per service and provides for individual work flow systems to export services to one another in an enterprise.

Abstract: One embodiment of the present invention is a component manager that manages one or more communication components that implement one or more communication protocols, the component manager including: (a) an encapsulator that generates an object implementation of a pre-established interface for each of the one or communication components, wherein each such object implementation of the interface provides indirect access to its associated communication component and directives to the component manager that must be executed on behalf of the associated communication component, which directives are not communicated to the associated communication component; (b) a directory service object submitter that inserts an object representing a client interface for a communication component into a directory, which object can be retrieved using a name assigned to the communication component; (c) a synchronous transmitter invoker that executes an identified synchronous transmit method in a communication component that implements

Abstract: One embodiment of the present invention is a component manager that manages one or more tracking components, the component manager including: a deployer that generates a client interface for each tracking component output port, and deploys the client interface in a directory service, wherein each entry is a tracking point object. In another embodiment, the deployer further generates a client interface for each tracking component input port, and deploys the client interface in a directory service, wherein each entry is a tracking point object.

Abstract: One embodiment of the present invention is a component manager that manages one or more deferred response components wherein each deferred response component has at least one method designated as having a deferred response, the component manager including an interface constructor that automatically constructs: (a) a Requester interface implementation for each deferred response component; and (b) a Responder interface implementation for each deferred response component.

Abstract: One embodiment of the present invention is a component manager that manages one or more workflow automated task components that implement an automated task in a workflow process definition running in a workflow engine, the component manager including: (a) a work coordinator that reads a workitem from a worklist in the workflow system and obtains a name of an automated task component and a method to invoke and workitem parameters; (b) a task translator that converts the workitem parameters into a method invocation on an automated task component instance representing the automated task; and (c) wherein the work coordinator synchronously waits for an invocation response before updating the workitem in the worklist.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus are provided for a enterprise-wide work flow system that may encompass multiple geographically separate sites. The sites may be either permanently or transiently linked. A single computer network may accommodate multiple work flow systems and a single work flow system may be distributed over multiple local area networks. The system maintains the paradigm of one global queue per service and provides for individual work flow systems to export services to one another in an enterprise.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus are provided for a enterprise-wide work flow system that may encompass multiple geographically separate sites. The sites may be either permanently or transiently linked. A single computer network may accommodate multiple work flow systems and a single work flow system may be distributed over multiple local area networks. The system maintains the paradigm of one global queue per service and provides for individual work flow systems to export services to one another in an enterprise.

Abstract: Utilization of the E-Metro Community and Personal Information Agents assure an effective and comprehensive agent-rule based command and control of informational assets in a networked computer environment. The concerns of informational privacy and informational self-determination are addressed squarely by the invention affording persons and entities a trusted means to author, secure, search, process, and exchange personal and/or confidential information in a networked computer environment. The formation of trusted electronic communities wherein members command and control their digital persona, exchanging or brokering for value the trusted utility of their informational assets is made possible by the invention. The present invention provides for the trusted utilization of personal data in electronic markets, providing both communities and individuals aggregate and individual rule-based control of the processing of their personal data.

Abstract: A hollow metallic head having a ball striking front face and a bottom surface,(b) the head defining an opening between the hollow and the exterior, the opening located at the bottom of the head, the head having a heel and toe,(c) and a closure for that opening having elongated, tongue and groove, linear sliding connection with the head, the closure located at the bottom of the head, the closure directly exposed along its length to the head hollow above the closure,(d) the connection having a substantially T-shaped cross section, the closure being longitudinally elongated in the direction between the hell and toe, and the connection comprising two pairs of tongue and groove elements, each pair including a tongue element on the closure and a groove element on said head to limit inward displacement of the tongue elements, the closure having a lowermost outer surface everywhere spaced from the tongue and groove elements and flush with the head bottom surface at opposite sides of the closure lowermost outer surfac