Abstract: Apparatus, methods, systems and computer program products are disclosed to simplify a computer user's handling of distribution lists for electronic mail messages. The invention provides the computer user with a mechanism for managing e-mail distribution lists. The mechanism includes facilities for suspending e-mail messages from a distribution list for a specified duration.

Abstract: When a cursor is placed over a "back" button or a "forward" button, a list of URLs that have been recently visited, is displayed. This enables the user to immediately visualize the information space accessible using the back and forward buttons. Each URL listed is accompanied by a page title or other descriptive information. A user can select one of the URL's on the list and immediately reconnect to that page.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for allowing a user to select one of a plurality of mutually-exclusive options. A set of visual objects are displayed on the display device of a computer system. Each of the visual objects in the set corresponds to one of the mutually-exclusive options. No more than one of the visual objects is displayed in a selected state. The remainder of the visual objects in the set are displayed in an unselected state. The user selects one of the mutually exclusive options by performing a first action that selects one of the visual objects in the set, and then a second action that selects the option associated with the selected visual object. When the user performs the first action, the selected visual object is displayed in an excited state, and the remainder of the visual objects are displayed in a disappointed state.

Abstract: An eyetracker is used to control power to an electrical device such as a computer display screen so that power consumption is reduced when a user's eyes and therefore a user's attention are not directed to the device. A motion detector activates a proximity detector and/or an IR detector to ensure that power is applied only when a user is actually present.

Abstract: Apparatus, methods, systems and computer program products are disclosed to assist a user of a display device to more quickly recover from a distraction causing the user to look away from the display device. The user is also assisted when navigating hypertext documents by the invention indicating where the user last looked in a restored, previously viewed hypertext document.

Abstract: A large X-Y workspace, such as a table, serves as a support for a viewport flat panel display which moves over the surface of the table. The portion of the viewport display on the table determines the portion of information displayed on the viewport display. When the surface of the table is used as a backlit display, a low resolution image can be projected onto the surface of the table. The viewport display can then show selected information related to the underlying information it covers, such as high resolution views, infrared views and map information. Lifting a viewport off the table surface freezes the portion of the image on the screen. Images on one viewport can be transferred to another viewport.

Abstract: In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the method retrieves a web file and sorts one or more information element references according to a priority attribute associated with each reference. After ranking the information element references by priority, the method then retrieves each information element in the order that their references were ranked. After receiving an information element, a user acts upon the information element in the appropriate manner. Typical objects, and their actions, would include displaying an image file, executing an applet, or playing an audio file. By using the steps of the preferred method, more important objects are retrieved before less important objects, thus allowing the user to act upon the more important objects sooner than the user could have acted on the important objects using methods available in the prior art.

Abstract: Apparatus, methods, and computer program products are disclosed to simplify a computer user's handling of electronic mail messages. The invention provides the computer user with a mechanism for ignoring a particular ongoing e-mail discussion until that ongoing discussion terminates.

Abstract: A method and apparatus are described for automatically converting documents from a first hypertext format that supports multi-layered backgrounds to a second hypertext format that does not support multi-layered backgrounds, such as HyperText Markup Language (HTML). According to the method, a target file is generated that stores all non-background elements of the document in the second hypertext format. A mechanism that reads the first hypertext format is used to display a current page of the document. A screen dump is made of the displayed page after removing or hiding the non-background elements. This process is repeated for all of the pages of the document. References to the graphics files generated by the screen dumps are embedded in the target file. The references cause the background elements of a page to be displayed behind non-background elements of the page when the document is displayed based upon the target file by a mechanism that reads the second hypertext format.

Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention provide an improved method and system for storing a backup copy of a client company's data. In the preferred embodiment, the backup of data occurs within a computer system having a host company's computer system and an escrow company's computer system. Through the teachings of the present invention, native data stored on a host computer is backed-up onto an escrow computer, even though the escrow company's computer system includes a security mechanism, such as a firewall, to prevent unauthorized access from computers outside the escrow company's computer system.In one embodiment, the host computer stores a native copy of the data in a file. The host computer then processes the file, for example, using a computer program named "uuencode" which is found on many Unix-based computers, so as to convert the file into a format which can be emailed. Once converted, the host computer emails the file to the escrow computer.

Abstract: Apparatus, methods, systems and computer program products are disclosed to provide automatic notification of sufficient changes in bookmarked information files. The invention provides a user of information access programs (such as WWW Browsers) to automatically be informed of changes in information files (such as WWW Web Pages) when the maintainer of the information file determines that a sufficient change has been made to the file.

Abstract: The preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a method and system for resizing subtitles of a video without resizing the video image itself. The preferred embodiment is typically user initiated. First, a user requests a video from a server. The server transmits two data streams, a video/audio (hereinafter referred to as "video") data stream and a text data stream, over the network to the client computer. The client receives and sends both data streams to a viewer program (e.g., a browser). The browser combines the two data streams into a single window as seen by the user.Since the video and subtitles are sent as two separate streams of information, upon user request the browser is able to resize the subtitles and the subtitle viewing area independently from resizing the video image. The browser resizes the subtitles by rendering the subtitles in a user selected font size.

Abstract: A system and method for computer operation. An object to be pointed to in a user's computer display (109) is indicated with an animated pointer icon (113). In a computer network, such as the Worldwide Web, a pointer is transmitted from one user to another user (114) via an improved protocol. A graphical design (201) of a computer icon is also disclosed.

Abstract: An improved videostream management system. A videostream broadcast or recording includes a relevance level indicator. When a user is unable to view a portion of a videostream, the user may record a highlight videostream. The highlight video is assembled by selecting portions of the videostream for recordation based on the relevance indicator transmitted in conjunction with the basic videostream. The user may then replay highlights of the basic videostream at a later time, without the need for manual editing of the videostream, or for reviewing the entire video stream.

Abstract: A method and apparatus processes a video image signal to generate one or more random number generator seeds. Preferably, the video image signal represents a scene that is both unpredictable and "live". As a result, potential interceptors of signals encrypted with a random number sequence derived from the seed will find it difficult, if not impossible, to determine the random number sequence. To further obscure the random number sequence from potential interceptors, a seed derived by processing a first video image signal is determined and is stored. Then, a second video image signal is received and a third video image signal is received. A difference is determined between the third video image signal and the second video image signal. If the difference exceeds a threshold (indicating that the scene represented by the video image signals is "live"), then the third video image signal is processed to generate a seed.

Abstract: Apparatus, methods, systems and computer program products are disclosed to provide a hypertext user with a history facility for displaying accessed hypernodes. The invention displays the history list to the user based on when the hypernode was accessed and based on the placement of the hypernode in the hyperlink hierarchy.

Abstract: Apparatus, methods, systems and computer program products are disclosed that automatically expands the computer displayed information that interests a computer user. Thus making the information easier for the user to see. The computer detects which area on a display device has the user's interest by using a gaze-tracking device to monitor where the user looks on the display. After determining which area interests the user the invention expands the display of the information in that area.

Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention use a new extension to the HTML language to support remotely specified named anchors. A remotely specified named anchor, when embedded within a source document, instructs a browser program to access a portion of a destination document indicated in the remotely specified named anchor. When the browser program reads a remotely specified named anchor such as<a href=http://foo.com/bar.html/SCROLL="Some Text">from the source document, the browser program performs the following steps: 1) the browser retrieves the destination file "bar.html" from the server "foo.com", 2) the browser searches the file bar.html for "Some Text", and 3) if the browser finds the character swing being searched for, then the browser displays the file bar.html, scrolled to the line containing the first character of the character string being searched for.