Abstract: Method, system, and product for facilitating international travel, including creating, in response to a signal from an internet-enabled device coupled for data communications through an internet to an international travel server, a travel record to be stored within the international travel server; creating in dependence upon the travel record, an immigration admissions form for the destination country; and submitting the immigration admissions form to an immigration admission forms database for the destination country.

Abstract: Search results for linked sources of information are associated with one or more predefined symbols or icons that indicate characteristics of the linked sites' contents. Site content ratings services and databases are co-opted to obtain additional site characteristic opinion, review results, and indicators. A search engine creates a set of characteristic factors associated with its index of web sites, and when providing a site reference as a result of a search operation, includes icons and symbols to indicate the characteristics to a user. Further sorting, filtering and searching according to the user's preferences may be performed.

Abstract: A method and a computer program product for promoting collaborative, consensus-driven decisions from a plurality of decision-making entities using electronic communications in a real-time forum. The inventive instant messaging application can be used for registering participants, developing forum pages, communicating queries, receiving messages and tallying responses that can enable implementation of online trading transactions. The application module and support databases are maintained by one or more central coordinators that reside as software objects on a server. Setpoint values are used for measuring the extent to which the participants' cumulative response satisfies one or more decision parameters. Arbitration and intra-group caucussing can also be initiated as a means to promote consensus and arrive at a collective decision. The collective decision can be used to initiate a specific course of action that may involve further communications with one or more remote trading networks.

Abstract: An apparatus, system and method of identifying a vehicle that may present safety threats to security areas are provided. When a vehicle is approaching a security zone, a request for identification (ID) is issued to the vehicle's on-board computer system (OBCS). Upon receiving the ID, a comparison is made between the ID of the vehicle and a list of suspect vehicle IDs. It there is a match, the vehicle is considered to be suspect and the OBCS is instructed to take control over the vehicle.

Abstract: A method and system for making available syndicated content on-line from a variety of content providers while enforcing the exclusivity requirements for each of the content providers. The method prevents conflict between the exclusivity requirements, expressed as distribution parameters, of the different content providers by examining the proposed distribution parameters before the content is accepted for distribution. New content is rejected if its distribution parameters are in conflict with the existing content. The content is distributed to a purchaser if there are no conflicts between the distribution parameters for the requested contents and purchaser properties. Purchaser properties may include such items of information as purchaser identification, geographical location, income, age, business classification, demography or combinations thereof.

Abstract: A method, system and program for brokering and facilitating consumer projects in an electronic system are provided. A buyer submits a project request to a broker system. The broker system distributes the project request to multiple prospective manufacturers from among a catalog of manufacturers. Manufacturers submit bids and other indicators of the feasibility of manufacturing the project. The broker system facilitates obtaining a manufacturer who can feasibly manufacture the project request. The buyer selects a preferred manufacturer from among those obtained by the broker server, such that a buyer's project request is brokered to multiple manufacturers and a preferred manufacturer is then procured to produce the project.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for port sharing among a plurality of server processes are provided. The apparatus and method provide an intermediate layer between the communication port and the server processes. This intermediate layer provides a port mapping such that data messages received via a shared communication port are mapped to separate ports based on the domain of the data message. Each server process is configured to listen to a different virtual communication port. The mapping of the present invention maps data messages received in the shared communication port to one of these virtual communication ports based on the domain to which the data message belongs. This mapping is also performed with outgoing messages from the server as well.

Abstract: A method and system for managing the transfer of data in parallel through multiple sockets. The present invention facilitates the use of multiple sockets and avoid monopolization of a socket by releasing the socket as soon as data from a client request has been sent to a server application. The present invention also includes a novel socket assignment technique that assigns only available sockets. This novel socket assignment technique avoids bottlenecking and delays due to socket contention and increases efficiency. The socket assignment technique of the present invention can assign sockets using a round robin technique, which assigns a server application to a first available socket, a random technique, which assigns a server application randomly to an available socket, or a user-defined technique, which assigns a thread to an available socket as determined by a user.

Abstract: A method, system and program for managing customization of projects prior to manufacture in an electronic commerce system is provided. An order system distributes a project offer to potential customers. A selection of potential customers return orders in response to the project offer, wherein each order includes customized selections by the customer. Manufacture of the project is then customized according to the order responses, such that a selection of potential customers control customization of a project.

Abstract: A method, system and apparatus for diagnosing network protocol errors using an XML document are provided. Data packet exchanges are captured and used to generate an XML document. In one embodiment, the XML document is passed through a parser to diagnose the errors. In another embodiment, the network protocol errors are diagnosed by visually inspecting the XML document.

Abstract: A method, apparatus, and computer instructions for managing keepalive transmissions. A keepalive packet is received from a remote data processing over a particular connection within a set of connections to the remote data processing system. Timers for each of the set of connections are reset in response to receiving a response to a keepalive packet from the remote data processing system such that only a single keepalive packet is required to maintain all of the plurality of connections with the remote data processing system. In this manner, the number of requests and responses with respect to whether a connection is active is minimized, reducing congestion in a network data processing system.

Abstract: A mechanism for a user of a mobile communication device to identify the reason for a power-off state of a mobile communication device and have that reason provided to authorized parties attempting to contact the user via the mobile communication device is provided. In addition, the reason for the power-off of the mobile communication device may be automatically determined based on the type of automatic power-off function being used by the mobile communication device.

Abstract: A method for enabling multi-tuple TCP sockets within a computer network is disclosed. All possible connection paths between a first computer and a second computer are initially determined. Then, tuple information of all the possible connection paths are stored in a respective socket of the first and second computers as multi-tuple information. Next, one of the possible connection paths is designated as a preferred path and the remaining possible connection paths are designated as alternate paths. Finally, data packets are transmitted via the preferred path after a TCP connection has been established between the first and second computers on the preferred path.

Abstract: A method, system, and product are described for improving the performance of a TCP connection. A cache is established for storing protocol control blocks (PCBs). The protocol control blocks are associated with sockets which were created in response to TCP connections. PCBs are stored in the cache. PCBs may be prioritized. High priority PCBs are stored in the PCB cache while the low priority PCBs are stored in a linked list in a hash table.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for dynamic sharing of server network interface resources are provided. With the apparatus and method, when a master application server detects a heavy load condition on one or more network interfaces associated with the server computing device, the master application server spawns additional slave application subservers. The network interfaces are distributed across the slave application subservers and are bound to the network interfaces to which they are associated. The master application server continues to listen for traffic on a standard port of all network interfaces. When a new communication connection request is received via a port associated with a network interface, the slave application subserver associated with the network interface will first process the new communication connection request without having to have the master application server route the data packet to the slave application subserver.

Abstract: A method, computer program, and data processing system for promoting an interactive discussion of lecture notes prior to an actual lecture using those notes is disclosed. An first client uploads lecture notes for perusal by students. If a student has a question regarding a particular section of the lecture notes, the student can post a question directed to that particular section of the notes. The first client is alerted that a question has been posted and may respond by modifying or augmenting the lecture notes as appropriate.

Abstract: A method for making indirect corrections or modifications to online documents by generating an offline document, the corrections are inscribed onto the offline document, then the corrected offline document is scanned into the computer to form an online version of the offline document. Software instructions or code are then executed to translate the online version of the offline document into an online document containing the corrections. In a preferred embodiment, the offline document is generated from an online document and the online version of the offline document is integrated or compared with the online document.

Abstract: A method, apparatus, and computer instructions for handling requests in a data processing system. A plurality of processes is provided to handle the requests. Each of the plurality of processes is assigned to handle requests from a subset of foreign ports within a plurality of foreign ports such that a set of foreign ports assigned to a process is unique with respect to other subsets of foreign ports within the plurality of foreign ports. A foreign port is identified in a request in response to receiving the request. The request is sent to a process assigned the subset of foreign ports having a match to the foreign port in the request, wherein the process handles the request.

Abstract: A vending machine is disclosed that has one or more compartments with a mechanism for dispensing a content of a compartment upon receipt of a payment. A receptacle can accept an item, from a member of the public, as content into an empty compartment and identify the item accepted, such as with a barcode label. The vending machine can also include a mechanism that will connect it over a network, such as the Internet, to a computing device. An appraised value of the identified item can be received over the communication network and displayed in association with the compartment containing the item. The item can be dispensed from the vending machine in response to receiving predetermined sales amount or upon specific instruction from an authorized individual. A searchable database of information relating to buyers, sellers, items and other sales related information can also be associated with the vending machine.

Abstract: A system and method for location influenced network search is presented. A user uses a query device to send a location-based search request to a search engine. The location-based search request includes a user query request and geographical coordinates corresponding to the user's location. The search engine performs a network search using the user query request, and receives a query result corresponding to the query request which includes one or more URL links. The search engine identifies an organization corresponding to the user's location by comparing the geographical coordinates with one or more organization coordinates. The search engine retrieves contextual keywords corresponding to the identified organization, and filters the query result using the contextual keywords. The search engine includes organization data or manufacturer data to the filtered query result, and sends the query result to the query device for the user to view.