Abstract: A process for recovering valuable products from ore containing boron and lithium, such as jadarite ore, includes an acid digestion step and downstream steps that recover valuable boron-containing and lithium-containing products.

Abstract: A system for handling, organizing and storing floor mats includes a loading station and control center. The loading station can include a radio frequency identification device (RFID). The elevator RFID may communicate with the control center. The loading station may be connected to an elevator. The elevator may lift the mat to a primary collector conveyor. The control center may cause the mat to be moved to an organizer carousel wherein mats are stored, based on a set organization method. The control center may initiate the mats to be removed from the organizer carousel and moved to the off-going transfer conveyor, where the mats may then be rolled. The organizing and storing method of the system alleviates inefficiency of conventional handling, organizing and storing techniques.

Abstract: Additive and subtractive message is performed based in least in part on an intersection of various distribution lists to determine, if only temporarily, a new distribution list for a message. A particular distribution list may respectively be combined or intersected with an additive or a subtractive distribution list. Thus, for example, an e-mail message may be addressed to a distribution list for all employees, but where a subtractive list is applied to remove certain employees from receiving the e-mail message. The distribution list for all employees need not be altered.

Abstract: A compact disk (CD) player includes CD playing circuitry. A selection monitoring unit is coupled to the CD playing circuitry. The selection monitoring unit transmits selection data that corresponds to a selection played by the CD playing circuitry to a remote system.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for providing remote, distributed processing of a task by employing a wide area network (e.g., the Internet). A resource provider initiates the process by sending an application to a resource allocator requesting to be added to the resource allocator's list of providers. The resource allocator accepts or rejects a particular resource provider based on the application. If accepted, the resource provider waits for a task from the resource allocator. Upon receiving a task, the resource provider evaluates the currently available local resources. The resource provider determines whether or not it is currently able to handle the task in view of the available local resources. If the resource provider is able to handle the task, it accepts the task. The resource provider processes the task and returns the results to either the resource allocator or the original resource requester.

Abstract: A system indicates the status of a display object using an audible cue. The system associates a particular audible cue with each display object. The audible cue associated with the display object is generated if a pointer is positioned proximate the display object. The display object has an associated object activation region and the pointer has an associated activation region. The audible cue associated with the display object is generated when the object activation region intersects the activation region associated with the pointer.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for providing remote, distributed processing of a task by employing a wide area network (e.g., the Internet). A resource provider initiates the process by sending an application to a resource allocator requesting to be added to the resource allocator's list of providers. The resource allocator accepts or rejects a particular resource provider based on the application. If accepted, the resource provider waits for a task from the resource allocator. Upon receiving a task, the resource provider evaluates the currently available local resources. The resource provider determines whether or not it is currently able to handle the task in view of the available local resources. If the resource provider is able to handle the task, it accepts the task. The resource provider processes the task and returns the results to either the resource allocator or the original resource requester.

Abstract: A technique is provided for displaying a map of a portion of the World Wide Web. A number of Web documents are retrieved by a client computer system executing a search engine. Web documents are then represented on a display device as objects and the relevance of the Web documents to the search criteria is indicated by the apparent distance of the corresponding object to the user. Hypertext links between Web documents are represented as arrows between the objects. Additional information relating to Web sites, such as the popularity of a Web site, the length of a Web document, and the number of hypertext links in a Web document, are represented to the user visually using visual attributes of objects, such as color, shape, and texture.

Abstract: A method and conferencing system for communicating data between a plurality of nodes of the conferencing system. According to a preferred embodiment, data is formatted into a conferencing object. The formatted data is transmitted from a source node via a communications means of the conferencing system to at least one receiving node. The conferencing object comprises a content portion having at least one data element, and a descriptor portion having effectiveness information, wherein the effectiveness information describes the value of the at least one data element of the content portion.

Abstract: A number of personal conferencing systems, each executing a personal conferencing application, are networked together in a peer-to-peer manner. Each personal conferencing application is provided with a multi-point control logic for contributing to the shared control of audio as well as video distribution among the conference participants. In one embodiment, the multi-point control logic of the various personal conferencing applications collectively enable audio and video to be distributed in a manner that dynamically takes into account the dialogue being engaged among the conference participants, e.g. the order in which the conference participants speak to each other.

Abstract: A video processing system and method for processing video signals in the video processing system. According to a preferred embodiment, the video processing system comprises a source system having a processor for encoding video data and a transmitter for transmitting the encoded video data to a destination system. The video processing system further comprises the destination system, which comprises a processor for decoding encoded video data; a display device for displaying the decoded video data in a window of a monitor in accordance with at least one window display parameter. The at least one window display parameter may be changed, and the destination system can notify the source system of changes in the at least one window display parameter.

Abstract: Video data for two or more video streams are processed by a single background command list containing one or more background commands and a single foreground command list containing one or more foreground commands, where the foreground command list is implemented only during a vertical blanking interval of the display raster of a monitor. The processed video data are then displayed during the raster period. In a preferred embodiment, if the implementation of a background command has not completed by the start of a vertical blanking interval, the background command is interrupted, the state of the background command implementation is saved, the foreground command list is implemented, and then the interrupted background command is resumed. The background commands are preferably those that do not directly affect the display bitmaps, while the foreground commands are those that do directly affect the display bitmaps.

Abstract: A computer-implemented process, apparatus, and system for displaying multiple video streams at the same time on a single display monitor, where at least two of the video streams may have different frame rates. Data structures containing linked control blocks are used to process the multiple video streams, where each control block contains information used in scaling and converting a single unscaled bitmap corresponding to a single frame of a video stream. In a preferred embodiment, the invention provides video conferencing capabilities between multiple remotely located participants.

Abstract: First and second application programs run on a host processor. The driver loads, runs, and unloads a first microcode program of the first application program onto an Intel.RTM. i750.RTM. Pixel Processor. The driver then loads, runs, and unloads a second microcode program of the second application program onto the Intel.RTM. i750.RTM. Pixel Processor. The driver repeats these steps such that the first and second application programs run concurrently.