Abstract: In one embodiment, a method includes receiving a user request from a client system associated with a user, determining that the user request corresponds to a first suspended task, retrieving a first dialog state of the first suspended task from a dialog history associated with the user, generating a summary of the first suspended task based on the first dialog state using a natural-language generating (NLG) module, and sending instructions to the client system for providing the summary of the first suspended task to the user.

Abstract: A water level detection method via video recognition, includes steps of obtaining an image of a water level gauge from a camera; wherein the water level gauge includes multiple two-dimensional barcodes; and determining a water level according to the two-dimensional barcodes. When a body of water partly covers the water level gauge, the body of water would cover some of the two-dimensional barcodes, leaving the rest of visible two-dimensional barcodes corresponding to the water level. When the water is clear, the two-dimensional barcodes underwater would be visible yet at the same time indecipherable due to distorted barcode scales. This way, the present invention is able to avoid accidentally counting two-dimensional barcodes underwater, and thus more accurately and robustly detect water levels.

Abstract: Access of data center resources is provided by the present invention using stateless and stateful Web services. For stateless Web services, the present invention provides an invoker API that allows a client to invoke a specific resource and perform an operation on the resource. For stateful Web services, the present invention provides a Web Service Definition file that defines attributes and operations for data center resources. The client may access an instance of a Web service resource once an endpoint reference is obtained from the server. Since the resource instance is persistent, the client may invoke data center operations and manipulate the resource attributes accordingly.

Abstract: A method, apparatus, and computer program product for selectively and programmatically provisioning resources on a computer network. A role-based access manager discovers one or more network resources. A provisioning manager then provisions the discovered network resources.

Abstract: Techniques are described for use with social networks and associated access information, such as access control lists, indicating which users are allowed to access the social networks. The social networks represent relationships between users. The social networks and access control lists may be represented in a graph which is traversed in connection with performing different operations using the social networks.

Abstract: A web service interface defined for a billing service, comprising a plurality of application programming interfaces, where each application programming interface is associated with a billing function provided by the billing service, where each of the application programming interfaces can be implemented such that the billing function associated therewith is performed after a web service invocation that commands performance of that billing function is received by the web service interface. The web service interface is used to provide the billing service as a web service to computing applications in a distributed network environment.

Abstract: A unified logging service is provided which may be employed across a variety of applications, allowing collected information to be stored, aggregated, and accumulated; presenting a more complete view, than previously available, related to those applications. The unified logging service provides a generalized centralized web services based service with the capability of accepting and collecting a variety of log formats containing a variety of logged events. These events may originate from clients using differing log formats or types in a heterogeneous distributed computing environment. Acknowledgement of receipt of log files may be provided to the originating clients. A log routing capability is also provided as well as a central repository for storing and forwarding log messages flowing throughout the system. These services may be accessed locally or remotely via published web services interfaces.

Abstract: Techniques are described for use with social networks and associated access information, such as access control lists, indicating which users are allowed to access the social networks. The social networks represent relationships between users. The social networks and access control lists may be represented in a graph which is traversed in connection with performing different operations using the social networks.

Abstract: Access of data center resources is provided by the present invention using stateless and stateful Web services. For stateless Web services, the present invention provides an invoker API that allows a client to invoke a specific resource and perform an operation on the resource. For stateful Web services, the present invention provides a Web Service Definition file that defines attributes and operations for data center resources. The client may access an instance of a Web service resource once an endpoint reference is obtained from the server. Since the resource instance is persistent, the client may invoke data center operations and manipulate the resource attributes accordingly.

Abstract: A method, apparatus, and computer program product for selectively and programmatically provisioning resources on a computer network. A role-based access manager discovers one or more network resources. A provisioning manager then provisions the discovered network resources.

Abstract: A technique for interconnecting users of different instant messaging services without requiring the users to change their account identifiers. A first user of a primary messaging service can communicate with a second user of a second, federated messaging service, where the first user is associated with a non-managed domain of the primary messaging service. When the first user sends a message to the second user, the primary messaging service decorates or modifies the first user's identifier as the sender so that the message, when received, appears to have come from a managed domain of the primary messaging service rather than from the non-managed domain. When a message from the second user is sent to the first user, the first user's identifier is undecorated in a reverse operation.

Abstract: A unified logging service is provided which may be employed across a variety of applications, allowing collected information to be stored, aggregated, and accumulated; presenting a more complete view, than previously available, related to those applications. The unified logging service provides a generalized centralized web services based service with the capability of accepting and collecting a variety of log formats containing a variety of logged events. These events may originate from clients using differing log formats or types in a heterogeneous distributed computing environment. Acknowledgement of receipt of log files may be provided to the originating clients. A log routing capability is also provided as well as a central repository for storing and forwarding log messages flowing throughout the system. These services may be accessed locally or remotely via published web services interfaces.

Abstract: A web service interface defined for a billing service, comprising a plurality of application programming interfaces, where each application programming interface is associated with a billing function provided by the billing service, where each of the application programming interfaces can be implemented such that the billing function associated therewith is performed after a web service invocation that commands performance of that billing function is received by the web service interface. The web service interface is used to provide the billing service as a web service to computing applications in a distributed network environment.