Abstract: High performance, enterprise-level data protection system and method provides efficient block-level incremental snapshots of primary storage devices, and instant availability of such snapshots in immediately mountable form that can be directly used in place of the primary storage device. Related systems and applications are described, including an “Enterprise Image Destination” (EID) for backup images; a mirroring technique whereby a replacement physical primary facility may be created while working with a second storage unit as the primary source file system; and a technique for eliminating redundant data in backup images when multiple systems with partially common contents (e.g., operating system files, common databases, application executables, etc.) are being backed up. A number of examples showing “Fast Application Restore” (FAR) with the use of the invention are also provided.

Abstract: A software system automatically and dynamically generates a fully functional user interface (UI) based upon, and connected directly to, an underlying data model (as instantiated within a relational database management system (RDBMS)). The UI derives from an automated interrogation of the RDBMS, and comprises all mode displays (e.g., browse, search, edit, add) for all tables, and a full complement of mechanisms—integrated directly into the mode displays—for representing, navigating, and managing relationships across tables, regardless of the complexity of the underlying RDBMS schema. It utilizes a hierarchical “context stack” for suspending the working state of a particular table while “drilling down” to work with related-table information and return relevant changes to the base table.

Abstract: A heating plate for a hair straightening iron and a method for its manufacture are provided. The heating plate consists of a case comprising two laminates made of insulating ceramic material; one of them holds a band made of electrical conductor material with outer connections, while one of the laminates has a surface coated with a polished layer of material; the case of the heating plate has features to adapt to the base structure of the iron. The manufacturing process comprises: 1) preparing a ceramic powder which comprises the milling of dispersants and adding solvents, mixing with a binding agent and adding plasticizer to control viscosity of the result, 2) moulding and corresponding drying; 3) cuffing plates and screen-printing the resistor; 4) laminating the whole by pressure and cutting; 5) burning the binding agent and sintering; and 6) welding contact terminals, and coating with a polished layer.

Abstract: Object oriented design strategies and patterns are applied to financial data processing systems for processing and modeling of financial products (also referred to as financial instruments) with an emphasis being on derivative products. The system employs valuation independent, well-defined financial components (also referred to as financial events) that can be combined to build new financial structures. A general purpose software model is provided for representing the structure and characteristics of these products. A declarative specification language is provided to describe financial instruments in a consistent manner that lends itself to processing in such an object oriented system. A general traversal process is provided that can be applied to the macro structure of a financial instrument to implement various functions that produce results based on such information, such as the stream of financial events associated with the instrument, or the pricing or valuation of the instrument.