Abstract: A distributed computing system, such as may be used to implement an electronic trading system, controls inbound message flow rates. Limiting a per-client or per-connection inbound message rate also helps ensure fair provisioning of computing resources, so that a single client's excessive use of resources cannot overwhelm the system to such an extent that it prevents other clients from interacting with the distributed system. It is also desirable to have system-wide control of the overall inbound message rate across all client connections. Such system-wide control ensures that the distributed system as a whole can maintain the required levels of service, including offering a predictable level of access for all clients.

Abstract: A distributed computing system, such as may be used to implement an electronic trading system, supports a notion of fairness in latency. The system does not favor any particular client. Thus, being connected to a particular access point into the system (such as via a gateway) does not give any particular device an unfair advantage or disadvantage over another. That end is accomplished by precisely controlling latency, that is, the time between when request messages arrive at the system and a time at which corresponding response messages are permitted to leave. The precisely controlled, deterministic latency can be fixed over time, or it can vary according to some predetermined pattern, or vary randomly within a pre-determined range of values.

Abstract: A document collaboration process is centered around a digital media object that is the subject of the collaboration, and makes the role of the server computer that is hosting the collaboration session more transparent to the user. As a result, a user can initiate a collaboration session without logging into the server computer and uploading the digital media object into the server computer. A user can also join a collaboration session without logging into the server computer. The process for initiating a collaboration session may be performed directly from the browser while viewing a web page, directly from an e-mail interface while viewing an e-mail, directly from an Instant Messaging Interface while participating in an IM session or directly from a file browser while viewing a list of files stored in the user computer.

Abstract: Search results generated in response to a search query includes one or more search listing collections and are ranked based on usage of search listing collections. In the case where search results including individual search listings are ranked, the usage metrics include: the number of times a search result has been added to a search listing collection, the number of times a search result has been viewed within a search listing collection, and the number of click-throughs or the click-through rate of a search result within a search listing collection.

Abstract: A search engine presents search results with user-editable abstracts and ranks search results based on the user-edited abstracts. A graphical user interface is provided to permit users to edit abstracts of search results. This enables owners of web sites and local businesses with local search listings to deliver abstracts of their products and services in their own words and improve the search ranking of their web sites or local search listings by observing abstract composing rules that are optimized to the relevance algorithm that is applied by the search engine.

Abstract: A search engine generates search results and at least one advertisement to be displayed adjacent to the search results, wherein the search results and the at least one advertisement are to be displayed in independently updateable sections. The search results include one or more search listing collections, and the advertisement that is to be displayed adjacent to a search listing collection is selected based on its relevance to the particular search listing of the search listing collection that is to be displayed therewith. The advertisements may be a collection of advertisements that are displayed one at a time in an independently updateable section.

Abstract: A search engine graphical user interface (GUI) displays a search result, which may contain a single page or multiple pages, in an independently updatable section, such as an inline frame. With this implementation, a user can update the display contents of a search result, e.g., by navigating to a different page of a multi-page search result, without disrupting the rest of the web page, and a user can create or add to a search listing collection by grabbing a search result using an input device and dropping it into a virtual basket for collecting and organizing search results.

Abstract: An image digitizer including a pixel engine connected to both a video memory and a processor. The pixel engine is configured to enable pixels to be transferred out of memory or read into memory while bypassing the processor thereby allowing more efficient transfer of data into and out of the image digitizer.

Abstract: An image digitizer including a pixel engine connected to both a video memory and a processor. The pixel engine is configured to enable pixels to be transferred out of memory or read into memory while bypassing the processor thereby allowing more efficient transfer of data into and out of the image digitizer.