Abstract: The present invention provides a method and system to implement risk management of foreign exchange of currency related to an online transaction. According to the present invention an exchange price and a tolerance parameter can be determined for a foreign currency as the foreign currency relates to a base currency. A computer system can receive a spot price relating to a market price for exchange of a foreign currency and compare the spot price with the tolerance parameter. The system can modify the exchange price if spot price exceeds the tolerance parameter. In addition, the system can receive information including the base currency amount involved in an online transaction and transmit the base currency amount and the foreign currency amount, wherein the foreign currency amount is derived according to the exchange price.

Abstract: An information reference frequency counting apparatus, in an interactive hypertext information reference system, having a server managing hypertext information, a client processor making reference to the hypertext information while mutually communicating with the server and a count program counting and accumulating a reference frequency total of the referred hypertext information. The count program counts and accumulates a reference frequency total for each reference path of the referred hypertext information.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for predicting analytically the probability of closing a sale. The apparatus comprises a general purpose computer having a central processing unit (CPU) and a memory for generating sales probabilities. An operating system and sales probability engine are loaded from a storage medium and executed in the memory. The sales probability engine utilizes various sales information to determine the account control level corresponding to a particular stage of the sales cycle. A sales probability is then derived by applying the account control level and the current stage of the sales cycle as indices to a sales probability look-up table.

Abstract: A computer-based electronic document and/or paper-based document management application program. The program provides an efficient way to automatically import, index, categorize, store, search, retrieve, manipulate and archive electronic documents. The program is also capable of managing documents regardless of document type or document format.

Abstract: A method of doing business comprises receiving an investment contract offer from a corporate investor specifying a principal amount and a maturation term. The investment contract offer is communicated to a plurality of securities dealers, each of whom may communicate an acceptance of the offer by providing an identification of the securities and a rate. At the end of a predetermined time period, a selection algorithm is used to select the most favorable or aggregation of most favorable acceptances to the corporate investor. In one embodiment of the invention, selection at the close of the predetermined time period is automatic acceptance and is communicated to the corporate investor and to the securities dealer having the selected acceptance.

Abstract: A method for funding the production of a movie by presenting a storyboard synopsis of the yet-to-be-produced movie on a production company's Internet Web site, and allowing interested potential viewers of the movie to purchase a share of the production company's stock prior to production of the movie. Accompanying the storyboard synopsis is an offer which includes an opportunity to participate in the making of the movie by ‘voting’ for certain options related to the movie's production, as well as the opportunity to view the production of the movie via video transmission over the Internet. The purchase of a share of production company stock provides the shareholder the right to obtain a free copy of the completed movie as a dividend. The stock purchase is effected preferably by an electronics fund transfer, such as by the entering of a credit card number via the Web site.

Abstract: A method retrieves a web file and sorts one or more information element references according to a priority attribute associated with each reference. After ranking the information element references by priority, the method then retrieves each information element in the order that their references were ranked. After receiving an information element, the method acts upon the information element in the appropriate manner. Typical objects, and their actions, would include displaying an image file, executing an applet, or playing an audio file. By using the steps of the method, more important objects are retrieved before less important objects, thus allowing action upon the more important objects sooner than such action is allowed using methods available in the prior art.

Abstract: An automated internet based exchange system is described for controlling the exchanging of ownership interests in objects on a secondary market. The automated exchange includes one or more sub-exchanges for maintaining information representative of secondary market transactions and for controlling said transactions. The automated exchange includes a secondary portfolio auction sub-exchange, a pricing and valuation services sub-exchange, an electronic contract negotiation services sub-exchange and a delivery and auditing service sub-exchange. The automated exchange also includes a logic switch manager that creates opportunistic auctions from a transaction for a product or service so as to trigger further auctions or service sales on the same or different secondary markets.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for hedging a deferred compensation liability. In one embodiment, the invention may provide a mechanism to hedge the compensation expense liabilities of an employer providing deferred compensation to one or more employees.

Abstract: A is a method is disclosed for integrating a file system with a RAID array that exports precise information about the arrangement of data blocks in the RAID subsystem. The file system examines this information and uses it to optimize the location of blocks as they are written to the RAID system. Thus, the system uses explicit knowledge of the underlying RAID disk layout to schedule disk allocation. The method uses separate current-write location (CWL) pointers for each disk in the disk array where the pointers simply advance through the disks as writes occur. The algorithm used has two primary goals. The first goal is to keep the CWL pointers as close together as possible, thereby improving RAID efficiency by writing to multiple blocks in the stripe simultaneously. The second goal is to allocate adjacent blocks in a file on the same disk, thereby improving read back performance. The method satisfies the first goal by always writing on the disk with the lowest CWL pointer.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method of managing hierarchically related and heterogeneous data structures includes the steps of separating the data structures from hierarchical information interrelating the data structures and representing and storing the hierarchical information as a nodal tree structure. The nodal tree structure includes a first node and a plurality of second nodes, each node being in a parent-child relationship with at least one other node. The data structures are stored separately from the nodal tree structure and each of the first node and the plurality of second nodes references one of the data structures. Each of the second nodes is a child node, and each child node has a respective parent node selected from among the first node and the plurality of second nodes. Each of the second nodes includes a dependency attribute indicative of a dependency relationship of the child node with its respective parent node.

Abstract: A data organization application allowing the automatic organization of input data into fields of a record of a database is provided. The database is maintained by a separate application. To organize data, a user inputs data in a free form manner onto an input screen provided by the application. When the data entry is completed, the user invokes an organize function in the application to process the input data. The application breaks the input data into logical groups that belong together and assigns tokens to these logical groups. From the assigned tokens, the application is able to identify single tokens or groups of tokens that belong to a unique field or a number of unique fields in the record of the data store. The application goes on to identify other logical groups of data in the input data which belong to other fields in the record.

Abstract: A system and method for effectuating Electronic Funds Transfer credit messages. The main structural components of the system include a Payment Portal Processor (PPP), an Internet Pay Anyone (IPA) Account, a Virtual Private Lockbox (VPL) and an associated Account Reporter, the existing EFT networks, and a cash card for accessing a VPL or IP account. The PPP is a software application that provides a secure portal for accessing (linking to) either the user's Demand Deposit Account (DDA) or an IPA account and can be combined with the functionality of a traditional digital Wallet. Consumers use a PPP enhanced Wallet to fund their account, shop on the web, pay bills, pay anyone, store electronic receipts and transaction history, and check their recent PPP enhanced Wallet activity. The IPA account is a special purpose account with limited functionality for making electronic payments in the form of EFT credit messages.

Abstract: A multi-agent system for selecting a service based on competing bids, comprising a Bid Manager agent for issuing a call for bids, receiving the bids and selecting a best bid from among the received bids taking into consideration Quality of Service, and a plurality of Bidder agents for issuing the bids in response to the call for bids, wherein one of the Bidder agents issues the best bid and provides the service upon selection of the best bid by the Bid Manager.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method using front-end network gateways and search criteria entered at a remote computer terminal to conduct a search of multiple financial products for efficient quoting at a remote location. The method includes the steps of providing at least one data input screen with signals communicated from a digital computer to the remote terminal connected by a communications system, the at least one data input screen at the terminal soliciting entry of financial product selection criteria, receiving the selection criteria from the terminal over the communications system at the digital computer, and using the front-end network gateways, data accessible by the digital computer representing the multiple financial products, and the selection criteria entered at the terminal to provide a quote at the terminal for a financial product identified from the multiple financial products.

Abstract: A point-of-sale check authorization method inputs transaction and financial institution information from a check to be authorized. This information is communicated to a merchant processor operable to make a check authorization determination. The merchant processor discriminating whether or not the financial institution upon which the check was written is a participating financial institution. If not, the check authorization determination is based upon experiential databases accessible by the merchant processor. If it is discriminated that the financial institution information is a participating financial institution, the merchant processor transmits an information request to the financial institution upon which the check was written, and the financial institution, if sufficient funds are available and other predetermined criteria are met, debits the account in the amount of the transaction.

Abstract: An electronic Personal Information Manager (PIM) including a calendar/scheduling system with an EarthTime™ module is described. In operation, the system tracks different types of times: “local” time, “home” time, and “remote” time. Home time is the time zone of where the user typically spends most of his or her time; this is usually the time zone for the user's home office. Local time is the time for the locality where the user is located physically at any particular instance in time. “Remote” time represents the time zones of the other individuals (i.e., other than the user). The system may show events and appointments in the user's own “local” time (or other user-selected type of time), regardless of where the user is presently located. Using these three types of time (i.e.

Abstract: A computer-assisted method of auditing of loan portfolios and loan servicing portfolios wherein the loans are of a plurality of types by keying questions which determine compliance with a large, complex, and constantly changing set legal requirements to a set of selectable audit types. When an audit type is selected, the system uses sampling methods to select a set of loans of that type to audit and generates a checklist comprising a set of questions keyed to the particular type of audit.

Abstract: Computerized client/server prepress using a downloadable document authoring program. A server has stored thereon a document authoring program. The program is adapted to download to a client computer and run in the browser of the client computer. The authoring program allows the client to create an electronic document, view the document in WYSIWYG form, and upload the created document to the server for subsequent translation to a suitable prepress format.

Abstract: A computer system for conducting electronic commerce. The system provides multiple electronic shopping carts for each user. Each electronic shopping cart has an indication of items currently within the electronic shopping cart and billing and shipment information. The system generates a display that identifies each of the electronic shopping carts and sends the generated display to a user computer system. The system then receives a selection of one of the identified electronic shopping carts from the user computer system and receives a selection of an item from the user computer system. In response to receiving the selection of the item, the system adds the item to the selected electronic shopping cart. The system then receives an indication to checkout the items in the selected electronic shopping cart from the user computer system.