Abstract: A media monitor system monitors content of a plurality of information streams provided by a plurality of information sources coupled to a media monitor system. The media monitor system is adapted to be coupled to a plurality of client systems, the media monitor system includes an information retriever, a distributor, and an analyzer. The analyzer has a real time search engine and a real time alert engine.

Abstract: A method of transmitting data from a host computer to a portable information device is disclosed. Optical pulses are displayed by illuminating an area of pixels, or optical zone, on a display monitor. Time series of optical pulses are displayed, including a bit stream that provides clocking information displayed within an optical zone concurrently with a data bit stream encoded using a standard encoding scheme (such as a serial or parallel transmission scheme or a combination thereof), and then detecting and downloading the bit stream data by using a suitably configured sensing device connected to a portable information device. If the display monitor is a color display monitor, brightness of each primary color may be used as an independent transmission channel. In addition, multiple optical zones may be used to transmit data, which allows the present invention to be used with monochrome display monitors.

Abstract: A plurality of processing entities of a computer processing system employ messages for communicating with each other, and are updatable to newer versions at each of the processing entities by an initialization process. To maintain continuous availability, compatibility for the messages is established between the processing entities by maintaining, for message types, at each processing entity, identification values of the maximum and of the minimum versions of the message type supported at the entity. An initializing processing entity requests the maximum and minimum version identification values for the message types from other processing entities of the system.