Abstract: Methods and systems for modeling functional processes in enterprises, and for simulating and valuing the effects of various products and services on those processes, are described herein. The cost of disruptions in service of commercial fleets of transportation vehicles such as aircraft, is assessed. The causes of the disruptions are determined and for each such cause, disruption events are classified according to their duration. The cost factors are established and then accumulated to reflect the cost per cause and severity of disruption. Curves are developed that allow users to identify the disruptions that are most costly.

Abstract: A method and system for printing new material onto a designated area of a randomly oriented data storage substrate involves determining the orientation of the data storage substrate and electronically generating printer data that compensates for the specific orientation of the substrate. The preferred printing system includes an imaging device, a printing device, and a computer system. The printing method involves imaging a randomly oriented target substrate, such as an optical disk, having a visible pattern and a designated area for receiving new printed material. The new material, text and/or graphics to be printed onto the target disk, is normally oriented in a reference position, but, in order to account for the randomly oriented nature of the target disk, the orientation of the new material is electronically adjusted relative to the printing system. The electronically adjusted new material is then printed onto the designated area of the target disk without having to rotate the disk.

Abstract: A three-dimensional chess game which is played on a four by four by four cubic chessboard. The boards are arranged so that the light and dark squares alternate in the vertical direction, which makes the three-dimensional play more analogous to two-dimensional chess. The game is played with two standard sixteen piece per side chess sets. The game starts with the pieces arranged on diametrically opposite edges of the cubic game board, with the white playing pieces arranged in the first two rows of the bottom two levels and the black playing pieces arranged in the last two rows of the top two levels. The playing pieces are assigned unique movements which are three-dimensional extensions analogous to their movements in two-dimensional chess. The rook is assigned a special movement having three modes, a horizontal mode, a frontal mode, and a side mode. The rook may move in one direction in any of three orthogonal directions when it is in any of the three modes.