Abstract: A system for deploying to a client accounting installation a general procurement and accounts payable application specifically configured for the client by an enterprise includes a database server for (1) maintaining on a storage device a database of templates describing procedures for assessing, preparing, developing, deploying and supporting the application, and for (2) serving these templates to team members operating web-enabled terminals for coordinating, recording and tracking team activities with respect to the application while generating a description for adapting a front end server and an accounting system server to the requirements of the client.

Abstract: A system and method for creating an index value for evaluating market center execution quality. This can include a summation of at least two derived values selected from: an execution speed of a predetermined order of covered security orders that were executed at a market center; price improvement of a predetermined order of covered security orders that were executed at a market center; percentage of covered security orders that were executed at a market center at a quoted value or a better value; a percentage of covered security orders that were executed at outside the quoted value; and effective spread, which is as twice the difference between the securities execution price and the midpoint of a consolidated best bid or offer at the time of a securities order receipt. The index value can be utilized to compare market center executions provided in public data versus that provided by private data.

Abstract: A computer system and method is disclosed for collecting resource rate information associated with a plurality of resource profiles and providing resource rate statistical data for a specific resource profile via a web-based interface. Each resource profile is defined from hierarchical profile selections to identify a job category, and each job category has one or more skills associated therewith. A database maintains the resource profiles and associated resource rate information. The resource rate information is collected from a variety of sources, including business entities that interface with the database to upload actual resource rate information (e.g., actual salaries, wage rates and other compensation information) for one or more resource profiles associated with the business entity.

Abstract: A system and method for operating a reward points accumulation and redemption program wherein a user earns rewards from a plurality of reward issuing entities, with each tracking the user's earned rewards. A trading server accumulates some or all of the user's earned rewards from of the reward servers and credits the accumulated rewards into a single reward exchange account associated with the user. The user may then select an item for purchase with the accumulated rewards. The item is provided to the user in exchange for a subset or all of the rewards. Reward points may also be redeemed in exchange for services, such as the playing of a video game or Internet access.

Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for education planning. One method embodiment includes collecting information associated with a cost of obtaining an education and information associated with funding the cost, determining an amount to be financed by using the information associated with the cost and the information associated with funding the cost, and providing a payment plan for financing the amount to be financed, the payment plan including a levelized payment (L) to be made at a number of intervals for a repayment term, wherein the levelized payment is determined by using a net present value (V) associated with more than one funding event over the course of an education program.

Abstract: A system and method for operating a reward points accumulation and redemption program wherein a user earns rewards from a plurality of independent reward issuing entities, with each tracking the user's earned rewards. A trading server accumulates some or all of the user's earned rewards from the reward servers and credits the accumulated rewards into a single reward exchange account associated with the user. The user may then select an item for purchase with the accumulated rewards. The item is provided to the user in exchange for a subset or all of the rewards.

Abstract: A facility for rewarding the provision of useful item reviews is described. The facility receives a plurality of item reviews, each from a source. The facility publishes each of the plurality of received item reviews, and assesses the usefulness of the published item reviews. Based upon this assessment of usefulness, the facility selects one or more of the published item reviews, and provides rewards to the sources of these selected item reviews.

Abstract: A system for deploying to a client accounting installation a general procurement and accounts payable application specifically configured for the client by an enterprise includes a database server for (1) maintaining on a storage device a database of templates describing procedures for assessing, preparing, developing, deploying and supporting the application, and for (2) serving these templates to team members operating web-enabled terminals for coordinating, recording and tracking team activities with respect to the application while generating a description for adapting a front end server and an accounting system server to the requirements of the client.

Abstract: Methods, apparatuses and systems allowing for optimization of individual client financial portfolios balancing risk, return, as well as transaction and tax costs, based on the inputs of at least one investment style manager. The present invention enables, in one embodiment, allocation of the management of a financial portfolio among a plurality of managers and the simultaneous optimization of the financial portfolio across all managers for after-tax returns. One embodiment of the present invention allows a professional money manager to deliver investment advice to potentially thousands of individual accounts, but tailors actual buy/sell recommendations to each individual investors tax position and preferences.

Abstract: A system for deploying to a client accounting installation a general procurement and accounts payable application specifically configured for the client by an enterprise includes a database server for (1) maintaining on a storage device a database of templates describing procedures for assessing, preparing, developing, deploying and supporting the application, and for (2) serving these templates to team members operating web-enabled terminals for coordinating, recording and tracking team activities with respect to the application while generating a description for adapting a front end server and an accounting system server to the requirements of the client.

Abstract: One embodiment of the present invention distributes data via a network to remotely located individuals. Evaluation feedback by one or more of the individuals is transmitted to others so that the feedback may be used by others to quickly locate the more useful data. The evaluation feedback may be in the form of ratings of product reviews. The feedback helps customers by allowing the more useful reviews can be quickly located.

Abstract: Techniques are described for providing automated functionality to assist a user in purchasing an item for a recipient. An automated system may track various information about a series of item purchases from one or more services through which items can be purchased, and use information about past item purchases to provide various automated functionality for users that want to purchase items for various recipients. Types of functionality provided by the system include assisting in preventing recipients from receiving inappropriate items by monitoring item gift purchases and item self-purchases and responding to user requests to determine whether a specified gift would be appropriate for a recipient. In addition to information about past item purchases (e.g., whether a recipient has already received a copy of an item), the system can also use other information when determining whether a purchase of an item for the recipient is appropriate.

Abstract: Apparatus and methods to manage demand, service level agreements, hardware and software assets, projects, labor, knowledge and provisioning resources in hosted applications. An asset manager coupled to host servers and a network, manages the host servers and software to determine the demand for new assets and allocate available assets to meet the demand; determine assets not in compliance with existing software licenses; determine and compare actual service level metrics with the target service level metrics; and determine availability of a patch or upgrade for selected software and instances of the selected software among the assets. The asset manager may be coupled to other managers, e.g., contract, product, work and/or accounting managers, to monitor service level metrics and/or costs.

Abstract: This invention relates to a system and method for identifying target individuals who possess certain characteristics statistically indicative of their ability to influence others in their decision making regarding consumer goods, consumer products, political issues or candidates, financial matters, investments, real estate, insurance, travel and leisure, by non-limiting example. The subject invention encompasses not only the identification of a key group of individuals in a population more likely to affect the decision making of others in the population (“Influentials” as discussed below), but also includes the identification of additional (“non-Influential”) informational data common to Influential individuals, as well as the application of this additional informational data to other populations. The advantage of employing this additional informational data to ascertain Influentials is that this data can be publicly available data (such as, for example, from the U.S.

Abstract: A system and method for matching a loan consumer with lenders via the Internet includes receiving loan consumer application information. The application information is stored in a database. An internally specified filter is applied to the information to determine if the loan consumer meets a set of loan criteria. A subset of the information is submitted to a credit bureau. A credit report is generated based on the subset of information. A lender database is searched to match the customer information and credit report to ranked lenders. A query is transmitted to one of the lenders. A response is generated and received based on the query. Subsequent query and response steps are repeated only after receipt of the previous response, until all lenders have been queried. Only lenders who responded with an approval are presented for review by the customer.

Abstract: A user interface and method are disclosed for facilitating analysis and/or planning of business operations. The user interface includes may include a plurality of user interface elements, at least some of which characterize associated components that may be employed to compute data. Stored account data is processed to generate base data for one or more selected accounts. The base data may be further processed by components associated with the user interface elements, such as by a method, key results area data, action plan data, and/or calendar data, to provide an impact value that results in the base data being adjusted accordingly.

Abstract: A proxy voting system enables an investor with a large number of investments to efficiently manage and vote proxies. A shareholder enters preferences regarding how to vote his or her proxies into a computer system, which then screens the received proxies, automatically enters the shareholder's preferences onto the proxy card and returns the completed proxy card to the appropriate election authority at the proper time. The system includes a central controller, a user interface for each investor, a proxy server and a manual entry subsystem, which provides an interface for those corporations that are not equipped to handle electronic formatted proxies.

Abstract: A system and method for matching a loan consumer with lenders via the Internet includes receiving loan consumer application information. The application information is stored in a database. A filter is applied to the information to determine if the loan consumer meets a set of loan criteria. A subset of the information is submitted to a credit bureau. A credit report is generated based on the subset of information. A lender database is searched to match the customer information and credit report to ranked lenders. A query is transmitted to one of the lenders. A response is generated and received based on the query. Subsequent query and response steps are repeated only after receipt of the previous response, until all lenders have been queried. Only lenders who responded with an approval are presented for review by the customer.

Abstract: An automatic system and method optimizes the purchasing of goods and services by a buyer. A request for a quote for goods or services required is received from a buyer. This request is processed and dealers are selected based on the criteria of the buyer and other criteria. The selected dealers are then sent the request for goods and services and quotes are solicited. Quotes from the selected dealers, for the goods or services, are then receivable within a predetermined time period. Thereafter, the received quotes of the providers of the goods or services are ranked. The ranking and the report of the providers are then outpribed in steps S2 and S3 of FIG. 2.

Abstract: A system and method for operating a reward points accumulation and redemption program wherein a user earns rewards from a plurality of independent reward issuing entities, with each tracking the user's earned rewards. A trading server accumulates some or all of the user's earned rewards from the reward servers and credits the accumulated rewards into a single reward exchange account associated with the user. The user may then select an item for purchase with the accumulated rewards. The item is provided to the user in exchange for a subset or all of the rewards. Reward points may also be redeemed in exchange for services, such as the playing of a video game or Internet access.