Abstract: Retractor systems are disclosed that reduce the wear on the retractor line from repeated extensions and retractions. Some embodiments comprise a retractor system having a retractor with a retractor housing having a front surface. A line and a line retraction mechanism can be included within the housing, with the line retraction mechanism urging retraction of the line in a first direction that is substantially parallel to the front surface. A line opening is included in the front surface through which the line extends from the housing at a second direction that is different from the first direction. A personal article attached to the line, and an anti-friction mechanism is included at said line opening to provide a smooth surface upon which the line rides when extending from the housing. Some anti-friction mechanisms comprise an eyelet proximate to said line opening and having a smooth surface that can take many different shapes and sizes, such as a funnel or hour glass shaped surface.

Abstract: Methods, systems, and programming for producing and displaying a scaled-down representation of subpixel-optimized images and digital content including such images that is represented by a mark-up language. Some embodiments display the text in such digital content using a different subpixel optimization than that used for the images. Others produce the subpixel-optimized images by calculating the luminosity of a subpixel as a function of the length of a plurality of coverage lines within a window in a source image corresponding to the subpixel that is covered by source image pixels having the subpixel's color. Some embodiments calculate the luminosity of a subpixel in such a subpixel-optimized image as a function both of the average luminosity of pixels in the subpixel's source image window and as a function of any color balancing distribution between resulting subpixel luminosities necessary to reduce color imbalance.

Abstract: A bitmap of a shape, such as a font, can be subpixel optimized by producing for each of a display's subpixels a coverage value representing the percent of its area covered by the shape being represented and by distributing, to prevent color imbalance, an amount of a given subpixel's coverage value to nearby subpixels of different colors as a function of the percent of the given subpixel's coverage value that causes color imbalance. Web pages can be displayed with scaled-down and subpixel optimized images. A given layout of a Web page can be displayed at each of at least two different selected scale factors, with the font bitmaps used to represent characters in the display at each scale factor having their shape and pixel alignment selected to improve readability for the particular pixel size at which they are displayed at each such scale factor.

Abstract: A computerized system, such as one practiced with an e-commerce font server, enables a user to select one or more fonts. According to one aspect, a user can select a font from a multi-dimensional font space defined by the attribute values of a plurality of fonts. The system repeatedly 1) enables the user to select a spatial specification defined relative to the currently selected font in the space; 2) determines which fonts, if any, match the spatial specification; 3) displays character-font shapes of those fonts; and 4) makes one of the displayed fonts a new currently selected font relative to which a new spatial specification can be selected. The spatial specification can merely selects fonts which are closest in the attribute space, can select the nearest font in a selected direction, or can provide more complex spatial selection. According to another aspect of the invention, a server makes fonts available to clients over a network.

Abstract: A bitmap of a shape, such as a font, can be subpixel optimized by producing for each of a display's subpixels a coverage value representing the percent of its area covered by the shape being represented and by distributing, to prevent color imbalance, an amount of a given subpixel's coverage value to nearby subpixels of different colors as a function of the percent of the given subpixel's coverage value that causes color imbalance. Web pages can be displayed with scaled-down and subpixel optimized images. A given layout of a Web page can be displayed at each of at least two different selected scale factors, with the font bitmaps used to represent characters in the display at each scale factor having their shape and pixel alignment selected to improve readability for the particular pixel size at which they are displayed at each such scale factor.

Abstract: A computer system includes a requesting computer which asks a responding computer, such as an Internet server, for one or more portions of text. The responding computer reacts by sending the requested text. The requesting computer can either render the requested text without the text's font shapes, or it can ask the responding computer to send descriptions of such shapes, and then render the text using them. Preferably the font descriptions sent are grouped into sets, or portable font resources ("PFR"); each text sent identifies the one or more PFRs needed to define its font shapes; and the requesting computer asks for PFRs identified in texts it receives. The fonts and characters within fonts represented by each PFR vary as a function of its associated text. For each character to be rendered, the requesting computer finds which PFR associated with the character's text describes its shape, and uses that font description to render that shape.

Abstract: A computerized system inputs fonted text and outputs corresponding fonted text containing new, automatically created, font descriptions. The new font descriptions make the output a portable document which can be rendered at any magnification by a machine of any output resolution, even if that machine does do not have access to the pre-defined font descriptions associated with the original input text. The system creates the portable document by accessing the pre-defined font descriptions of each character-font shape in the input text and generating new font descriptions which describe those shapes in a new font description language. Preferably the system findspoints on the outlines of each character-font shape which are a function of the shape itself, rather than how its pre-defined description describes that shape. The system bases the segmentation of the new font description on such description-independent points.

Abstract: A computerized apparatus and methods for character shape recording develops new font descriptions from shapes received from pre-defined descriptions. It does so by modeling each such shape to find features, such as points on its outlines, which are a function of that shape itself, rather than the manner in which the pre-defined description defined that shape. The system bases the segmentation of the new font description on such description-independent points. It finds new line or curve segments to approximate the pre-defined font description between such description-independent points, and it picks the outline order, starting points, and directions of that description according to standard rules. This causes the new font descriptions to be free of non-shape-required aspects of the pre-defined descriptions.

Abstract: An outline representation of a character or symbol is treated as being composed of a set of zones formed in both the horizontal and vertical directions. The zones are completely character-specific. Each zone defines the extent of some feature of the character. The boundaries of the zones are mapped to specific pixel locations in a bitmap em-square of selected resolution and size. Additional interpolation zones are defined which are used to map all the points on the outline representation of the character that are contained within the interpolation zone, but do not coincide with a control edge, from the positions in the high-resolution em-square to a corresponding position in the low-resolution em-square. To maintain relationships between features, constraint functions may be defined which regulate the size of the control zones for a character at predetermined sizes.

Abstract: A system and data structure for generating bitmap representations of characters and symbols from their outline representations. The outline representation is treated as being composed of a hierarchy of zones formed in both the horizontal and vertical directions. The zones are completely character-specific. Each zone defines the extent of some feature of the character. The zonal definition of the character comprises part of the information in the data structure. In generating the bitmap, the boundaries of the zones are mapped to specific pixel locations in a bitmap em-square of selected resolution and size. The available pixels are then allocated to the zones. After each level of zone has received its pixel allocation, the pixels assigned thereto are then distributed among the next lower level of zones and the process is repeated iteratively until all zones have received their pixel allocations or it is no longer possible to make allocations.

Abstract: An outline representation of a character or symbol is treated as being composed of a hierarchy of zones formed in both the horizontal and vertical directions. The zones are completely character-specific. Each zone defines the extent of some feature of the character. The boundaries of the zones are mapped to specific pixel locations in a bitmap em-square of selected resolution and size. The available pixels are then allocated to the zones. After each level of zone has received its pixel allocation, the pixels assigned thereto are then distributed among the next lower level of zones and the process is repeated iteratively until all zones have received their pixel allocations or it is no longer possible to make allocations. To maintain relationships between features, features of characters (both within individual characters and between different characters) may be linked so as to be defined in terms of the features of the same or other characters.

Abstract: An improved strain of Acremonium chrysogenum may be produced by submitting parent strains of Acremonium chrysogenum to protoplast fusion and nuclear fusion and selecting said improved strain from the progeny or from a mutant thereof.The improved strains have operational advantages for the production of cephalosporins compared with the parental strains.The invention also relates to a method of producing a cephalosporin by culturing the improved strain of Acremonium chrysogenum.