Patents by Inventor Isaac E. Nichols

Isaac E. Nichols has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 8498892
    Abstract: Techniques are described for facilitating automated validation of results of performance of tasks. In some situations, task requesters may specify various automated validation criteria for tasks that they submit, and those specified validation criteria may automatically be used to determine whether results of performance of those tasks by task performers are validated. To facilitate such automated validation, predefined types of validation criteria may be provided that a user may select and/or configure. The outcome of automated validation of results may be used in various ways, such as to indicate when results have been validated and/or have not been validated, to determine whether to provide results to a task requester (e.g., if results are not provided unless they have been validated, or if results that fail validation are corrected or replaced with results that pass validation) and/or to compensate task performers for providing the results.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 30, 2013
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Peter D. Cohen, Isaac E. Nichols, John B. Bravenec
  • Patent number: 8386302
    Abstract: Techniques are described for facilitating interactions between task requesters who have tasks available to be performed and task performer users who are available to perform tasks, such as interactions that enable improvement of unsatisfactory task performance results from human task performer users. In some situations, after a task performer user has generated initial results from performance of a task supplied by a task requester, the task requester indicates that the initial results are only partially satisfactory (e.g., only partially satisfy one or more criteria for the task performance results), and may result in only a partial payment rather than a full payment amount associated with fully satisfactory performance of the task. The task requester may also supply information to provide one or more opportunities to the task performer user to supply additional improved supplemental results (e.g., so as to receive the full payment amount).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2013
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Peter D. Cohen, Isaac E. Nichols, Brian L. Cameros
  • Patent number: 8170897
    Abstract: Techniques are described for facilitating automated validation of results of performance of tasks. In some situations, task requesters may specify various automated validation criteria for tasks that they submit, and those specified validation criteria may automatically be used to determine whether results of performance of those tasks by task performers are validated. To facilitate such automated validation, predefined types of validation criteria may be provided that a user may select and/or configure. The outcome of automated validation of results may be used in various ways, such as to indicate when results have been validated and/or have not been validated, to determine whether to provide results to a task requester (e.g., if results are not provided unless they have been validated, or if results that fail validation are corrected or replaced with results that pass validation) and/or to compensate task performers for providing the results.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2012
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Peter D. Cohen, Isaac E. Nichols, John B. Bravenec
  • Patent number: 8135750
    Abstract: A relationship data structure associated with a source resource enables methods to discover and describe relationships between the source resource and a plurality of target resources. The relationships are stored in a format independent of the encoding of the source resource. Each relationship between the source resource and the plurality of target resources is stored in a content-neutral format, and the relationship data structure stores, a location of each target resource, a type of relationship with each target resource and an identifier to uniquely identify each relationship between the source resource and each target resource. Accordingly, the relationship data structure allows a decoder to directly discover the relationships between the source resource and the plurality of target resources without decoding the source resource or target resources.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2005
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2012
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Andrey Shur, Bruce A. MacKenzie, Charles S. Walker, David B. Ornstein, Jerry J. Dunietz, Joshua M. Pollock, Sarjana B. Sheth, Isaac E. Nichols
  • Patent number: 8121888
    Abstract: Techniques are described for facilitating interactions between task requesters who have tasks available to be performed and task performer users who are available to perform tasks, such as interactions that enable improvement of unsatisfactory task performance results from human task performer users. In some situations, after a task performer user has generated initial results from performance of a task supplied by a task requester, the task requester indicates that the initial results are only partially satisfactory (e.g., only partially satisfy one or more criteria for the task performance results), and may result in only a partial payment rather than a full payment amount associated with fully satisfactory performance of the task. The task requester may also supply information to provide one or more opportunities to the task performer user to supply additional improved supplemental results (e.g., so as to receive the full payment amount).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2012
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Peter D. Cohen, Isaac E. Nichols, Brian L. Cameros
  • Patent number: 7523392
    Abstract: Methods and systems for mapping between components of a packaging model and features of a physical representation of a package are provided. Components of a packaging model may include, by way of example only, a part name, a content type, the contents of a part, and/or a growth hint. Physical representations of a package may include, by way of example only, physical persistence formats and/or various transports, e.g., network-based protocols. Computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions for performing the disclosed methods, as well as computers programmed to perform the disclosed methods, are also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2005
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2009
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Jerry J. Dunietz, Josh Pollock, Isaac E. Nichols, Oliver H. Foehr, Charels S. Walker, Kirk N. Shoop, David B. Ornstein, Sarjana Sheth, Andrey Shur, Jean-Marie H. Larcheveque
  • Patent number: 7395269
    Abstract: Systems and methods for changing items of a computer file, such as an archive file, can include an application programmed to create a file including a first item and a second item, the application storing the file on a storage medium. Systems can also include an input/output module associated with the application, the input/output module retiring the first item upon a change to the first item resulting in an increase or a decrease in a size of the first item. Upon retiring the first item, the input/output module can write a third item at an end of the file, the third item including the change to the first item. Methods can include retiring the first item upon a change to the first item, and writing a third item after the second item, the third item including the change to the first item.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2004
    Date of Patent: July 1, 2008
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Li Hua, Daniel B. Jump, Isaac E. Nichols, Joshua M. Pollock, Ravishankar Shanmugam
  • Patent number: 7383278
    Abstract: Systems and methods for changing items of a computer file can include a storage medium, and an application programmed to create a file including a first item and a second item, the application storing the file on the storage medium, and the first item including padding. The system can also include an input/output module associated with the application, the input/output module being programmed to use at least a portion of the padding of the first item to accommodate a change in a size of the first item. A method can include providing a file including at least a first item and a second item, the first item including padding, changing the first item, and using at least a portion of the padding of the first item to accommodate a change in a size of the first item.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2004
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2008
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Li Hua, Daniel B. Jump, Isaac E. Nichols, David B. Ornstein, Joshua M. Pollock, Ravishankar Shanmugam