Abstract: A system enables universal remote media control across multiple platforms, devices, and users. A protocol allows a media controller (such as computer or mobile device) to have access to running activities (such as a television show playing on a media player). The protocol does not require installation of a specific platform application, or a specific user-login/pairing of the media controller with the media player. The system receives commands from a media controller device using a common interface, provides the commands to a remote media player, loads new media content into the media player, based on the commands, and receives state notifications from the media player. The commands and the state notifications include a namespace and a message payload represented as a two-element script array. Another user or device can control the media player using the common interface, for example provided by a browser application on the media controller device.

Abstract: An implementation of a technology, described herein, for software installation and/or configuration. At least one implementation, described herein, provides for the installation, configuration, or uninstallation of software components on one or more target computing systems. This described implementation includes a runtime interpreting installation and configuration (“install-config”) program module and one or more data-based, runtime interpreted, install-config feature descriptions. This abstract itself is not intended to limit the scope of this patent. The scope of the present invention is pointed out in the appending claims.

Abstract: Downloading previously aired programs using peer-to-peer networking includes, in certain aspects, sending a request identifying a previously aired program to a computing device. A list of a plurality of client devices that may have at least a portion of the previously aired program are received from the computing device, and portions of the previously aired program are received from one or more of the plurality of client devices.

Abstract: A picture-in-picture window is opened in response to a user-entered replay command received while displaying a live state of video content on a screen. At least a portion of the video content is replayed on one of the screen and the picture-in-picture window while continuing displaying of the live state of the video content in the other of the screen and the picture-in-picture window.

Abstract: A terminal server receives a request from a client to execute an application program on the terminal server. The terminal server identifies information associated with the application program and determines whether the client is permitted to access the application program based on the information associated with the application program. If the client is permitted to access the application program, the application program is launched within an application launcher on the terminal server, which sends data to be rendered to the client and instructs the client to begin rendering the data after successfully launching the application program.