Abstract: A method and system for privately retrieving selected information from a database. The method includes determining, at a server, a first commodity and a second commodity, communicating the first commodity to an inquiring processor and the second commodity to the database, and retrieving the selected information from the database based on the first commodity and the second commodity such that the selected information is not revealed to the database. The first and second commodities may, for example, include a random address in the database and a private information retrieval query for encoding the random address, respectively. The inquiring processor determines an address offset based on the random address and the address of selected information in the database, and sends the address offset to the database. The database cyclically shift its contents according the address offset, and executes the query on the cyclically shifted contents.

Abstract: A graphical user interface permits a user to graphically designate a range within data files as input to operations that manipulate the data and permits the user to graphically represent operations that thereafter can be selected for execution. In this way, a user can graphically designate a range of records within a data file on which a desired data manipulation operation will occur and can graphically represent the desired data manipulation operation with a single icon that can be selected for execution.

Abstract: A method and system perform non-malleable and non-interactive commitment of data, which is communicated by a sender to a receiver. At a commitment phase, the sender selects a first string having a first portion and a second portion, and based on the first portion of the first string, establishes a first commitment to an authentication key. The sender divides the second portion of the first string into a set of segments each including two or more sub-segments, and based on the first commitment, selects one of the subsegments in each of the segments. The sender combines the selected sub-segments together, and establishes a second commitment to the data based on the combined selected sub-segments such that the second commitment is equivocable. The sender authenticates the second commitment by using the authenticating key. At a de-commitment phase, the sender de-commits the data and the authentication key.

Abstract: A method and system for privately retrieving selected information from a database. The method includes determining, at a server, a first commodity and a second commodity, communicating the first commodity to an inquiring processor and the second commodity to the database, and retrieving the selected information from the database based on the first commodity and the second commodity such that the selected information is not revealed to the database. The first and second commodities may, for example, include a random address in the database and a private information retrieval query for encoding the random address, respectively. The inquiring processor determines an address offset based on the random address and the address of selected information in the database, and sends the address offset to the database. The database cyclically shift its contents according the address offset, and executes the query on the cyclically shifted contents.

Abstract: A graphical user interface (GUI) application program implemented in an object oriented programming language permits a user to instantiate new program objects by dragging an instantiation object from one GUI window to a new GUI window and dropping the instantiation object in the new window. When the instantiation object is dropped into the new window, an object specified by the new window type is automatically instantiated. If needed, the user is automatically prompted to provide parameters needed for the object instantiation according to the window in which the object is dropped.