Abstract: The rifle rest is for use with a vertical support post. The rifle rest includes a body including a collar configured to substantially surround the vertical support post, and at least one tightening mechanism coupled to the collar and configured to tighten the collar and position the body at a selected height on the vertical support post. A pivotable arm, defining a rifle rest platform, is pivotally coupled to the body and configured to be pivoted between a stored position adjacent the vertical support post and a deployed position extending away from the vertical support post. The pivotable arm is coupled to the body via a pivotal resistance that keeps the pivotable arm selectively secured in the stored position and the deployed position, respectively, until a user overcomes the pivotable resistance and pivots the pivotable arm to selectively store the pivotable arm and deploy the pivotable arm.

Abstract: Systems and methods include acquiring data using multiple sensors in conjunction with a Digital Media Smart Screen, combining the sensor data in real time with data from big-data aggregators, resulting in real-time enriched analytics for highly-granular advertising decisions on the Digital Media Smart Screen, effectiveness measurement of those advertisements, targeting advertisements to individuals within viewing distance of the Digital Media Smart Screen, and re-targeting those individuals later with the same Digital Media Smart Screen or other displays in the same advertising ecosystem.

Abstract: A method and system for providing selective advertising on a television channel is accomplished by downloading appropriate advertisements from an advertising server to a subscriber's set top box over an out-of-band channel. The set top box monitors for events. When an event occurs, the set top box signals the head-end to download ads to the set top box. The ads may be selected using demographic or common channel preference pattern information associated with the set top box.

Abstract: A method and system for providing selective advertising on a television channel is accomplished by downloading appropriate advertisements from an advertising server to a subscriber's set top box over an out-of-band channel. The set top box monitors for download triggers to provide advertisements to the subscriber's set top box and advertising triggers to insert advertisements when an advertising opportunity occurs. The advertisements can be downloaded in advance of any advertising triggers to a local storage means associated with the set top box, if available.

Abstract: Bandwidth loading on the network is managed by pushing e-mail message traffic out to the edges of the network at times when bandwidth demand is low. To accomplish this, a user's e-mail is cached at the proxy server nearest to his presumed location. This decentralizes the e-mail storage away from the mail server and spreads it out over the network at the various proxy servers. This cache action is preferably done when there is a lull in network traffic (e.g., at night). This has the effect of decentralizing the bandwidth demand on the overall network since the e-mail messages have a shorter distance to travel when retrieved by the user from the cache location at the proxy server.

Abstract: A system and method for allowing roaming of a subscriber and password authentication a non-LDAP region. A user signs onto a network access server which in turn connects to the regional LDAP RADIUS server. Password authentication occurs by hashing a transmitted password and comparing it to a clear text password from an LDAP database that has been hashed in the same manner as the transmitted password. When the subscriber is in a non-LDAP region, The password proceeds trough a proxy server to a regional RADIUS server which connects to a non-LDAP server. The non-LDAP server connects to and SMS database and retrieve the clear text password associated with the non-LDFSAP user, hashes it according the same method as the transmitted hashed password and formats the password for comparison in the regional RADIUS server. If the hashed passwords compare, the access is permitted.

Abstract: A system and method for interactively affecting the course of a program or programming content. Viewer purchase electronic tokens which can be used to vote on the sequence of content in a broadcast whether it be audio, video or a combination thereof. Users are periodically polled by a server to vote on the direction that a broadcast is taking. The broadcast is then modified with real-time or stored content based upon the polling results from the viewers. Thus communities of voters have a chance to vote on the direction of content. The invention also allows sub-communities to be formed to pre-vote on a broadcast so that the sub-community can possible vote as a bloc on the direction and content of programming that is presented.

Abstract: A system and method for avoiding a single point of failure in the broadcast of streaming data. The system uses multiple redundant servers steaming the exactly same data to a failover device. The failover device buffers the steams into a primary and secondary data stream and automatically switches from the primary to the secondary data stream if it detects a corruption in the primary data stream. Since the buffered data packets of the two steams are identical and are synchronized, there is not outage for multicast receivers when the primary data source fails since there is a switch to exactly the same data in the next packet of the secondary data stream.