Abstract: Techniques described herein allow for suggesting creation of distribution lists and suggesting use of distribution lists once they have been created. For instance, these techniques may track a frequency with which contacts (e.g., email addresses, phone numbers, screen names, etc.) are used with one another. The techniques may then suggest that a user create a distribution list that includes those contacts. Furthermore, once a contact has been associated with a particular distribution list, these techniques may suggest that a user send a message to this distribution list in response to the user selecting the contact (rather than the list) as a destination of the message.

Abstract: A relationship between participants in an on-line community, such as a social networking site or on-line marketplace, may be determined based on various facts. The nature of the relationship may be represented in a user interface (UI) by a visual element that shows the extent or depth of the relationship. Facets of the relationship may be used to facilitate interaction between participants (e.g., if two participants both like a particular band, then information relevant to the band may be shown as part of the UI when the participants interact with each other). The nature of the relationship may be determined or characterized based on commonality of activities, commonality of interests, the extent to which the participants have interacted with each other in the past, or other facts.

Abstract: Systems management navigation and focus collection is described. In one implementation computing-based managed items which are part of a systems management environment are navigated to locate one or more computing-based managed items. In another implementation, the computing-based managed items are indexed, and then searched to locate one or more of the computing-based managed items from among the computing-based managed items which have been indexed. The searching can be based on one or more search requests. Each of the one or more computing-based managed items located by the navigating and/or the searching is identified by a respective unique identifier, and selected ones of the unique identifiers can be collected in a focus collection where they are at least temporarily maintained for a user.

Abstract: Techniques described herein allow for displaying a real-time communication client associated with a first user, the real-time communication client configured to receive an input from the first user and send, in response, a digital note to a second user. The real-time communication client may be configured to send the digital note to a desktop of the second user, a calendar of the second user, a real-time communication client of the second user, and a profile of the second user, potentially among other locations. These tools may also display, on the real-time communication client, one or more digital notes that have been sent by one or more other users and received at the real-time communication client associated with the first user. These notes may be displayed individually or collectively in the form of a notebook.

Abstract: Techniques described herein allow for suggesting creation of distribution lists and suggesting use of distribution lists once they have been created. For instance, these techniques may track a frequency with which contacts (e.g., email addresses, phone numbers, screen names, etc.) are used with one another. The techniques may then suggest that a user create a distribution list that includes those contacts. Furthermore, once a contact has been associated with a particular distribution list, these techniques may suggest that a user send a message to this distribution list in response to the user selecting the contact (rather than the list) as a destination of the message.

Abstract: Systems management navigation and focus collection is described. In one implementation computing-based managed items which are part of a systems management environment are navigated to locate one or more computing-based managed items. In another implementation, the computing-based managed items are indexed, and then searched to locate one or more of the computing-based managed items from among the computing-based managed items which have been indexed. The searching can be based on one or more search requests. Each of the one or more computing-based managed items located by the navigating and/or the searching is identified by a respective unique identifier, and selected ones of the unique identifiers can be collected in a focus collection where they are at least temporarily maintained for a user.