Abstract: An online collaborative media presentation service is provided. Users of the online service can create highly customized profiles that contain personal profile information and information on media files and other topics of interest. Users can upload media files to a media server associated with the online service without preapproval from content owners. The rights of content owners are preserved by using a digital rights management service to identify uploaded media files. The media server submits uploaded media files to the digital rights management service to determine whether streaming of the media files is permissible. If streaming is not permitted, the media server can block an uploaded file. If streaming is permitted, the media server can make the media file available for streaming. When streaming media to users, the media server displays targeted advertisements and other related content to users. The related content adds value for the online service.

Abstract: A multicast media service is provided. The multicast media service may be implemented using a media server that multicasts media files to users at user computing equipment. The multicast media service maintains media files. Users that receive the same multicasted media file at the same time form a viewer group. The multicast media service displays media player screens for each user in the viewer group. The media player screens include a media player region in which a media file that is currently being multicasted is played. The users in the viewer group can communicate about a currently playing media by uploading associated content in real time as the media file is being multicasted.

Abstract: A multicast media service is provided. The multicast media service may be implemented using a media server that multicasts media files to users at user computing equipment. The multicast media service maintains playlists of media files. Users that receive the same multicasted media files at the same time form a viewer group. The multicast media service displays media player screens for each user in the viewer group. The media player screens include a media player region in which a media file that is currently being multicasted is played. Each media player screen also includes a current playlist of media files. The users in the viewer group can communicate about a currently playing media file using real time chat. Users can also upload associated content such as tags, persistent comments, and ratings. The multicast media management service may automatically suggest playlist modifications and can support navigation options.

Abstract: A peer-based communications service is provided in which linking relationships between members and topics of interest and the properties of members and topics of interest are represented by links in a links table. Each row in the links table corresponds to a link. Each row contains an association portion and a descriptive attribute portion. Link associations are used to associate member and topic objects to each other and are used to associate a member or topic with a property of that member or topic. The descriptive attributes include privacy settings that are used to restrict access to content in the service. Members may be related to each other as friends, friends of friends, or through other relationships. The privacy settings may be used to restrict viewing of links and properties to appropriate members.

Abstract: A multicast media service is provided. The multicast media service may be implemented using a media server that multicasts media files to users at user computing equipment. The multicast media service maintains playlists of media files. Users that receive the same multicasted media files at the same time form a viewer group. The multicast media service displays media player screens for each user in the viewer group. The media player screens include a media player region in which a media file that is currently being multicasted is played. Each media player screen also includes a current playlist of media files. The users in the viewer group can communicate about a currently playing media file using real time chat. Users can also upload associated content such as tags, persistent comments, and ratings. The multicast media management service may automatically suggest playlist modifications and can support navigation options.

Abstract: A visualization of a set of related data items is accomplished by ranking a plurality of secondary data items with respect to their relationship to a principal data item. The set of related data items may be stored in any form, including, for example, as a relational database, an object database, or an XML document. The related items display names can be formatted and ranked according to the properties of the item, so as to avoid duplication and information overload for the user. The ranked data can be displayed along curved segments in a graphical chart, so as to allow convenient visualization of the data and the data's relationship to the principal item that may be prominently displayed at the center of the chart.

Abstract: A method of determining a relationship between a search item provided by a user and a plurality of objective items, wherein each objective item in the plurality includes a plurality of objective item properties and the search item includes one or more search item properties, the method comprising: grouping a subset of objective items based on an objective relationship between one or more of the plurality of objective item properties and the one or more search item properties; modifying the subset based on a subjective relationship, wherein the subjective relationship indicates an association between objective items in the subset and the search item, thereby calculating an affinity value between each objective item in the subset and the search item; and ranking the objective items in the modified subset based on the affinity value calculated.