Abstract: Automated capture of an uttered alphabetic character is provided by using an input, beyond the uttered alphabetic character, to disambiguate an incorrectly captured character. The input is an indication of a telephone key representing the uttered alphabetic character. The indication can be a dual tone multifrequency signal or an utterance of the number of the telephone key. Alternatively, the input is an indication that the incorrectly captured alphabetic character differs from the uttered alphabetic character.

Abstract: Information "feeds" received from multiple information sources are aggregated, re-formatted and stored in a personalized real time information display system. When the display system receives a request from a user having a personal computer or other similar display device, the system is arranged to respond with information needed to display a screen saver that includes personalized, up to date information, such as traffic, weather and sports, that is of interest to that particular user. Each user has a personalized user profile indicating (a) the categories or types of information that the user desires to receive, such as sports information, weather, investment advisories, and so on, and (b) parameters that specify, for that user, the exact information desired to be received in each category.