Abstract: Disclosed are embodiments of a method of mining data and a method of evaluating that data in order to discover significant changes in conditions (e.g., changes in activities, events, associations, affiliations, market preferences, etc.). The data mining technique uses predetermined scenarios that characterize specific changes as well as key variables that are relevant to those scenarios. These variables are input as mining parameters into a data mining tool. Retrieved data is analyzed and the results are evaluated. One technique of evaluating the results includes displaying them in a visual format (e.g., graphs, tables) along with additional information (e.g., lists of documents or portions of documents containing data relevant to the displayed results). A user evaluates the displayed results and additional information in order to identify data that should be filtered, to identify trends and/or patterns in the data, and to assess the trends and/or patterns.

Abstract: Images in an image database are searched in response to queries which include the visual characteristics of the images such as colors, textures, shapes, and sizes, as well as by textual tags appended to the images. Queries are constructed in an image query construction area in response to values of representations of the visual characteristics and to locations of the representations in the image query construction area.