Abstract: A web-based mission certification quiz for educating various persons involved in a fundraising campaign is disclosed. A web-based method for educating solicitors, donors, participants and others involved in a fundraising campaign about the campaign's mission includes providing, on a website, information about the campaign's mission, taking, on the website, a mission certification quiz by answering one or more questions, wherein the questions are designed to test a participant's knowledge about the campaign's mission. The method further includes determining a final score based on the number of correct answers, and creating a mission certificate on the website based on the final score.

Abstract: A buffering protocol and a streaming media player which utilizes the buffering protocol designed for minimizing the occurrences of pauses during the presentation due to network congestion and for scheduling pauses at appropriate times in the presentation. The data comprises coded content information comprising a time synchronous media, together with various other sources, synchronized to appear at predetermined time points in the media presentation. The presentation is delivered in streaming fashion, so that the end user does not have to wait for the entirety of the data to be downloaded before starting the presentation. The invention does not require that media data and events data be multiplexed into a single streaming file and it does not require that the file provided to the media player be customized for prefetching of content.

Abstract: A method is described for efficiently delivering a presentation of web content comprised of a media, such as audio or video content, having defined time increments, together with one or more other content sources, such as images or events to be displayed on a monitor, synchronized so that the one ore more other images or events are displayed at predetermined time increments in the media presentation. Furthermore, the entire presentation is delivered in streaming fashion, so that the end user does not have to wait for the entirety of the content data to be downloaded before starting the presentation, but rather can start viewing and listening to the presentation after a relatively short delay period. The media data and the other content need not reside at a single server source. An authoring tool for creating such composite time-synchronous content automatically determines the necessary information for scheduling player requests to the servers.

Abstract: A method for creating a virtual uniform resource locator (URL) for a customer wherein the virtual URL is hosted by an application service provider (ASP). The method comprises the steps of registering a wildcard domain name */ASP.net, the wildcard domain name directing requests of the form anyname/ASP.net to ASP's home page ASP.net, creating a virtual URL customer/ASP.net, wherein the customer is named before the ASP, creating a customer subdirectory ASP/customer.net, creating an index containing a list of customer subdirectories and a list of virtual URLs, wherein the index maps a virtual URL to a corresponding customer subdirectory, receiving an http request from a user for a virtual URL, determining the corresponding customer subdirectory for the requested virtual URL from the index, directing the user to the corresponding customer subdirectory.

Abstract: A media player for playing streaming media is capable of dynamically changing its play rate according to network conditions, so as to compensate for delayed packets. The player nominally plays at the prescribed data rate. When packets are delayed, instead of stopping to rebuffer, the player plays the stream slower. Audio pitch is unchanged as it is slowed, and video frame rate is slowed as necessary. A threshold is set so that slowing down beyond the threshold is not allowed. Should the buffer contents fall below a predescribed minimum, the player will then stop playing and rebuffer.

Abstract: A web-based mission certification quiz for educating various persons involved in a fundraising campaign is disclosed. A web-based method for educating solicitors, donors, participants and others involved in a fundraising campaign about the campaign's mission includes providing, on a website, information about the campaign's mission, taking, on the website, a mission certification quiz by answering one or more questions, wherein the questions are designed to test a participant's knowledge about the campaign's mission. The method further includes determining a final score based on the number of correct answers, and creating a mission certificate on the website based on the final score.

Abstract: A web-based mission certification quiz for educating various persons involved in a fundraising campaign is disclosed. A web-based method for educating solicitors, donors, participants and others involved in a fundraising campaign about the campaign's mission includes providing, on a website, information about the campaign's mission, taking, on the website, a mission certification quiz by answering one or more questions, wherein the questions are designed to test a participant's knowledge about the campaign's mission. The method further includes determining a final score based on the number of correct answers, and creating a mission certificate on the website based on the final score.

Abstract: A web-based, interactive method and system for simultaneously: (a) advertising and increasing awareness of charitable, nonprofit, philanthropic, political or other fundraising organizations (ORG), (b) advertising corporate or other sponsors (Sponsors), and (c) raising donations for the ORGs is provided. In one embodiment, the method comprises providing the participant an opportunity to take a quiz on a website in exchange for a Sponsor making a donation to an ORG, the quiz having one or more questions, taking the quiz by answering the questions, the participant selecting an answer from two or more provided answers, if the selected answer is correct, then awarding one or more points. The method further comprises asking questions about the ORG's mission and activity. The method further comprises asking questions about the Sponsor's business or activities. The method further comprises receiving the contact information of the participant.

Abstract: A system and method are disclosed for managing target documents referred to by referring documents. A user sends a delete request for a referring document from a user client computer to a master server computer. Next, the master server computer accesses and deletes the referring document, updates a counter for a target document hypertext linked to the referring document, and updates a database, which contained the deleted referring document. The master server computer then determines whether the count for the counter of the target document equals zero. If the counter for the referring document is not equal to zero, the master server computer sends a message to the user indicating that the referring document has been deleted and sends a message to the user asking whether the user wants to delete another referring document. If the user wants to delete another referring document the process goes back to the initial process step, and the user sends another delete request for a referring document.

Abstract: A web-based, interactive method for determining a person's interest in charitable, philanthropic, political or other social causes and for soliciting donations is disclosed. In one embodiment, the method utilizes a graphical user interface including a display. The method comprises the steps of asking a first question related to the causes, receiving a response to the first question, and determining, based on the response, if subsequent questions are necessary to identify one or more causes. If subsequent questions are not necessary, identifying, based on the response, at least one cause. The method further comprises asking one or more subsequent questions, if necessary, based on the prior response, identifying, based on the responses, at least one cause, and asking for a donation. The method further comprises receiving a donation on-line.

Abstract: A web-based mission certification quiz for educating various persons involved in a fundraising campaign is disclosed. A web-based method for educating solicitors, donors, participants and others involved in a fundraising campaign about the campaign's mission includes providing, on a website, information about the campaign's mission, taking, on the website, a mission certification quiz by answering one or more questions, wherein the questions are designed to test a participant's knowledge about the campaign's mission. The method further includes determining a final score based on the number of correct answers, and creating a mission certificate on the website based on the final score.

Abstract: A computer network including a server for receiving and sharing a presentation of foils with a plurality of user clients under the control of a presenter. Each user client has a terminal for displaying the foils; a browser for interacting with the server and a cache for storing the foils. Each foil is contained in a data structure, typically a HyperText Markup Language (HTML) page including a time line of past foils which enables a user through an interface to view each foil, scan over the time line to view any past foil and quickly reset the presentation to the current foil viewed on the network by the other user clients. Each user or viewer in scanning or browsing through the past foils does not interfere with other user clients viewing the presentation or to the presenter.

Abstract: A system and method for analyzing a database residing in a computer system linked to a network is provided. The method includes creating one or more virtual data islands partitioned inside the database, each virtual data island storing client data for a specific client engaged in a fundraising campaign, the client data containing one or more constituent records (CR). The method further comprises the steps of creating a master island containing a compilation of the fields in the virtual data islands. The method further comprises the steps of creating a linking table including a compilation of unique identifiers of the individuals whose records are in the virtual data islands. The method further comprises the steps of creating a data pool having selected data from the CRs, analyzing the data pool, and using the results of the analysis in fundraising campaigns. The method further comprises identifying potential donors from the results of the analysis.

Abstract: A method and system for soliciting charitable donations from on-line shoppers during electronic commerce is provided. The method for soliciting a charitable donation for an organization or a person from on-line shoppers during electronic commerce comprises the steps of hosting a website having information about a fundraising campaign or an organization, one or more electronic catalogs listing one or more items or events that are available for purchase by the on-line shoppers through the web site, browsing through the catalog and selecting one or more items that are to be purchased, purchasing one or more selected items, adding the selected items to a shopping cart, providing billing information, and providing information regarding one or more charities, wherein the information is intended to encourage and motivate shoppers to make a charitable donation.

Abstract: A system and method for efficiently conducting a fundraising campaign over a wide-area network is provided. In accordance with the invention a method for conducting an efficient fundraising campaign by an organization over a wide-area network includes hosting a website, registering on the website, making a charitable donation on the website, contacting third parties via email messages soliciting charitable donations, and providing one or more reports, on the website, including information on the status of the fundraising campaign. The method further includes contacting third parties, via email messages, to provide information about one or more teams participating in a competition associated with the fundraising campaign. The method further includes providing information, in the reports, about the third parties that have been contacted via email messages.

Abstract: A method and data communication system for transferring multimedia data which stores on an application server a multimedia file including a plurality groups of multimedia data. Each group has a predetermined data size. Next, the system receives a client request and reads a client address at the application server. The client address corresponds to at least one client apparatus. Next, the system strips consecutive groups from the multimedia file and buffers the stripped groups in a staging buffer. Then, the system transfers to a streaming server, consecutive groups from the staging buffer and the client address. The system then converts at the streaming server, each of the consecutive groups received from the staging buffer into a format readable by the at least one client apparatus. Finally, the streaming server sends each of the converted groups to the at least one client apparatus.

Abstract: A system and method for on-line, interactive fundraising over a wide-area network is provided. The method includes hosting an organization's website including a plurality of hyperlinked web pages, displaying one or more virtual plaque web pages honoring donors, providing one or more donation and payment option web pages, the options selectable by a donor, and modifying or otherwise updating virtual plaques on the virtual plaque web pages when a donation is made. The method further includes creating a personalized donation page for the donor. The method further includes providing information about the fundraising or the organization in one or more video or audio clips. The video and audio clips can be incorporated into any web page, such as for example, the virtual plaque or the personalized donation page.

Abstract: A graphical user interface displays a coarse control scrollbar to provide a user with coarse resolution sequential data control and a magnified view scrollbar proximate to the coarse control scrollbar. The magnified view scrollbar provides the user with fine resolution sequential data control. When the cursor is on the scrollbar, an overlay is opened which is a zoomed version of the scrollbar. The zoom range of the overlay is adjustable and can either be preset by the user or set during the zooming operation. When operating the overlay, a menu is available which allows the user to choose between zooming up or down to select the desired position.

Abstract: A language teaching device utilizes video with audio components of several languages, typically two. The various characters in the video can speak in the several languages. Using simple point-and-click technology, a user can have each of the various characters speak in any of the several languages, enabling arbitrary combination of character-language pairs.

Abstract: A system and method for on-line, interactive fundraising over a wide-area network is provided. The method includes hosting an organization's website including a plurality of hyperlinked web pages, displaying one or more virtual plaque web pages honoring donors, providing one or more donation and payment option web pages, the options selectable by a donor, and modifying or otherwise updating virtual plaques on the virtual plaque web pages when a donation is made. The method further includes creating a personalized donation page for the donor. The method further includes e-mailing the virtual plaques or the links thereto to potential donors, thereby spreading the message regarding the cause and increasing the likelihood of contribution from additional donors. The method further includes editing and modifying the virtual plaque. The virtual plaque can be static or a scrolling plaque.