Abstract: Users are enabled to quickly and easily associate records representing entities such as themselves, other users, contacts, accounts, teams/groups, and similar ones employing a record of the association and assign each entity a role or other attributes as a part of this association. Relationship records and attributes preserving entity association information allow teamwork, communication, and collaboration for effective management of business processes. The records and attributes also enable visualization and facilitate deeper understanding of the relationships between people, data, and business processes.

Abstract: Users are enabled to quickly and easily associate records representing entities such as themselves, other users, contacts, accounts, teams/groups, and similar ones employing a record of the association and assign each entity a role or other attributes as a part of this association. Relationship records and attributes preserving entity association information allow teamwork, communication, and collaboration for effective management of business processes. The records and attributes also enable visualization and facilitate deeper understanding of the relationships between people, data, and business processes.

Abstract: A layer of abstraction for use by access control lists is provided for the process of creation and maintenance of user permissions on computer resources. First, a set of permissions can be associated with any number of computer resources. Also, computer resources can store references to any number of sets of permissions, and when use is requested, the sets of permissions are combined into a merged set that determines whether permission is granted. The extra level of abstraction results in an extra layer of information that allows individuals administering permissions to computer resources the ability to understand why they are set. The extra layer of information also results in a history of permissions for the computer resource since multiple references to sets of permissions can be stored.

Abstract: A file system that does not require unique item names, or any item name at all, is described herein. If an item has an ambiguous name, the file system performs a disambiguating procedure to provide the client (user or application) a conceptually unique name, including a fully qualified path. The file system provides usability features such that the file system maintains compatibility with legacy applications and systems, including creating a synthetic item name when the item has no name, and disambiguating two items having the same name by using a disambiguating character, such as a small integer or alphanumeric character.

Abstract: A file system that does not conflate item lifetime with the item's inclusion in an organizational structure of the file system is described herein. In addition, the file system's organizational structure is not limited to directory trees, but instead may use any directed acyclic graph (DAG). Items, once stored into the file system, may be maintained until affirmatively deleted by a client of the file system, regardless of whether the item is part of a DAG or not. Items may be placed in file regions, which are conceptual workspaces for a client to control item lifetime and to organize items into any DAG structure of the user's choosing. Items may be concurrently stored in multiple DAGs, and each file region may have one or more independent DAGs. An item's placement in a DAG may also be used to govern file properties such as namespace, security, privacy, and read/write attributes.

Abstract: A centralized user interface provides for sharing resources between a user and a contact that the user interface is centered around. When the user opens the view of the contact record, the user is provided with a section corresponding to resources shared by the user with the contact and another section for resources shared by the contact with the user. Accordingly, a user accesses a single location for sharing resources rather than managing multiple folders or multiple communication between the user and the contact.

Abstract: Systems and methods are described for determining conflicts between user concerns and a Web site privacy policy. A set of user concerns is compared to the privacy policy to identify any potential problems that might exist for the particular user. If any conflicts are found between the privacy policy and the user concerns, the privacy policy is transformed to provide a user view that emphasizes the concerns that are conflicted. As a result, the user can focus on only the portion(s) of the privacy policy that are of interest to the user.