Patents by Inventor Thomas J. Conrad
Thomas J. Conrad has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
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Patent number: 8306976Abstract: Systems and methods of generating and modifying a playlist using contextual information are disclosed. For example, a user may provide an input seed such as a song name or artist name. The input seed is compared to database items and a playlist is generated as a result. In some examples, the contextual information is used to enhance the comparison and to select better content objects for a user's playlist. Meanwhile, in some examples the content objects in the playlist may be arranged in an enhanced order using ranking and/or contextual information.Type: GrantFiled: May 16, 2011Date of Patent: November 6, 2012Assignee: Pandora Media, Inc.Inventors: Etienne F. Handman, Thomas J. Conrad, Joseph J. Kennedy, Timothy B. Westergren
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Publication number: 20110213769Abstract: Systems and methods of generating and modifying a playlist using contextual information are disclosed. For example, a user may provide an input seed such as a song name or artist name. The input seed is compared to database items and a playlist is generated as a result. In some examples, the contextual information is used to enhance the comparison and to select better content objects for a user's playlist. Meanwhile, in some examples the content objects in the playlist may be arranged in an enhanced order using ranking and/or contextual information.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 16, 2011Publication date: September 1, 2011Applicant: PANDORA MEDIA, INC.Inventors: Etienne F. Handman, Thomas J. Conrad, Joseph J. Kennedy, Timothy B. Westergren
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Patent number: 7962482Abstract: Systems and methods of generating and modifying a playlist using contextual information are disclosed. For example, a user may provide an input seed such as a song name or artist name. The input seed is compared to database items and a playlist is generated as a result. In some examples, the contextual information is used to enhance the comparison and to select better content objects for a user's playlist. Meanwhile, in some examples the content objects in the playlist may be arranged in an enhanced order using ranking and/or contextual information.Type: GrantFiled: April 27, 2006Date of Patent: June 14, 2011Assignee: Pandora Media, Inc.Inventors: Etienne F. Handman, Thomas J. Conrad, Joseph J. Kennedy, Timothy B. Westergren
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Patent number: 7904828Abstract: A window management mechanism allows a user to open a window as a drawer or, perhaps more appropriately named, a pop-up window. The drawer is an opened window that a user has dragged down to a drawer region at the bottom of the screen such that only the title bar or some drawer handle illustration is left showing. When the user does this, the window remains open but is kept offscreen. The user may momentarily pop the window back onto the screen by clicking on the window title bar or drawer handle, or by dragging the cursor into the window icon during a drag. The window stays onscreen as long as no other windows are selected. As soon as a user selects another window, or opens a file with a double click within the drawer, the window slides back offscreen. This allows the user to set up easy access windows. Another feature of a drawer window allows the user to open them during a drag. To do so, the user drags an object or the cursor into the drawer window that is desired to be opened.Type: GrantFiled: December 22, 2006Date of Patent: March 8, 2011Assignee: Apple Inc.Inventors: Thomas J. Conrad, Elizabeth Ann Robinson Moller
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Publication number: 20100218130Abstract: A new behavior in a graphical user interface allows the user to open and close enclosures, while dragging an object. When the user pauses, gestures, or rolls over a hot spot on top of an icon or text representing a closed enclosure, a temporary window for the closed enclosure is “sprung open” to allow the user to browse inside the enclosure and possible open another enclosure contained within the temporary window. This process can be carried on throughout a hierarchy of windows as the user browses for a destination window for the drag operation. All of the temporary windows except the destination are closed when the mouse button is released, signaling the end of a drag. The user may close sprung open windows by simply moving the cursor out of the sprung open window, or by making some other gesture.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 4, 2010Publication date: August 26, 2010Inventors: Thomas J. Conrad, Yin Yin Wong
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Patent number: 7712037Abstract: A new behavior in a graphical user interface allows the user to open and close enclosures, while dragging an object. When the user pauses, gestures, or rolls over a hot spot on top of an icon or text representing a closed enclosure, a temporary window for the closed enclosure is “sprung open” to allow the user to browse inside the enclosure and possible open another enclosure contained within the temporary window. This process can be carried on throughout a hierarchy of windows as the user browses for a destination window for the drag operation. All of the temporary windows except the destination are closed when the mouse button is released, signaling the end of a drag. The user may close sprung open windows by simply moving the cursor out of the sprung open window, or by making some other gesture.Type: GrantFiled: December 28, 2006Date of Patent: May 4, 2010Assignee: Apple Inc.Inventors: Thomas J. Conrad, Yin Yin Wong
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Patent number: 7549126Abstract: An apparatus for finding objects in a computer including a display and a pointing device with which a user drags a pointer on the display, having: an input that receives an input signal to indicate a drag operation; memory that stores a plurality of objects including enclosures in the memory, wherein enclosures comprise objects which may enclose other objects; window opening logic, coupled with the display, that draws windows on the display corresponding to opened enclosures, wherein a window for an opened enclosure includes identifiers within the window corresponding to objects enclosed by the opened enclosure; and, temporary window logic, coupled to the display and the pointing device, that opens a temporary window for the particular enclosure display identifiers within the temporary window corresponding to objects enclosed by the particular enclosure, in response to a drag during a drag operation of the pointer over an identifier corresponding to a particular enclosure.Type: GrantFiled: July 21, 2005Date of Patent: June 16, 2009Assignee: Apple Inc.Inventors: Thomas J. Conrad, Yin Yin Wong
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Patent number: 7539945Abstract: A window management mechanism allows a user to open a window as a drawer or, perhaps more appropriately named, a pop-up window. The drawer is an opened window that a user has dragged down to a drawer region at the bottom of the screen such that only the title bar or some drawer handle illustration is left showing. When the user does this, the window remains open but is kept offscreen. The user may momentarily pop the window back onto the screen by clicking on the window title bar or drawer handle, or by dragging the cursor into the window icon during a drag. The window stays onscreen as long as no other windows are selected. As soon as a user selects another window, or opens a file with a double click within the drawer, the window slides back offscreen. This allows the user to set up easy access windows. Another feature of a drawer window allows the user to open them during a drag. To do so, the user drags an object or the cursor into the drawer window that is desired to be opened.Type: GrantFiled: March 4, 2003Date of Patent: May 26, 2009Assignee: Apple Inc.Inventors: Thomas J. Conrad, Elizabeth Ann Robinson Moller
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Patent number: 6928621Abstract: A new behavior in a graphical user interface allows the user to open and close enclosures, while dragging an object. When the user pauses, gestures, or rolls over a hot spot on top of an icon or text representing a closed enclosure, a temporary window for the closed enclosure is “sprung open” to allow the user to browse inside the enclosure and possible open another enclosure contained within the temporary window. This process can be carried on throughout a hierarchy of windows as the user browses for a destination window for the drag operation. All of the temporary windows except the destination are closed when the mouse button is released, signaling the end of a drag. The user may close sprung open windows by simply moving the cursor out of the sprung open window, or by making some other gesture.Type: GrantFiled: September 25, 2001Date of Patent: August 9, 2005Assignee: Apple Computer, Inc.Inventors: Thomas J. Conrad, Yin Yin Wong
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Patent number: 6642944Abstract: A window management mechanism allows a user to open a window as a drawer or, perhaps more appropriately named, a pop-up window. The drawer is an opened window that a user has dragged down to a drawer region at the bottom of the screen such that only the title bar or some drawer handle illustration is left showing. When the user does this, the window remains open but is kept offscreen. The user may momentarily pop the window back onto the screen by clicking on the window title bar or drawer handle, or by dragging the cursor into the window icon during a drag. The window stays onscreen as long as no other windows are selected. As soon as a user selects another window, or opens a file with a double click within the drawer, the window slides back offscreen. This allows the user to set up easy access windows. Another feature of a drawer window allows the user to open them during a drag. To do so, the user drags an object or the cursor into the drawer window that is desired to be opened.Type: GrantFiled: August 3, 1999Date of Patent: November 4, 2003Assignee: Apple Computer, Inc.Inventors: Thomas J. Conrad, Elizabeth Ann Robinson Moller
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Publication number: 20030174172Abstract: A window management mechanism allows a user to open a window as a drawer or, perhaps more appropriately named, a pop-up window. The drawer is an opened window that a user has dragged down to a drawer region at the bottom of the screen such that only the title bar or some drawer handle illustration is left showing. When the user does this, the window remains open but is kept offscreen. The user may momentarily pop the window back onto the screen by clicking on the window title bar or drawer handle, or by dragging the cursor into the window icon during a drag. The window stays onscreen as long as no other windows are selected. As soon as a user selects another window, or opens a file with a double click within the drawer, the window slides back offscreen. This allows the user to set up easy access windows. Another feature of a drawer window allows the user to open them during a drag. To do so, the user drags an object or the cursor into the drawer window that is desired to be opened.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 4, 2003Publication date: September 18, 2003Inventors: Thomas J. Conrad, Elizabeth Ann Robinson Moller
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Publication number: 20020175947Abstract: A window management mechanism allows a user to open a window as a drawer or, perhaps more appropriately named, a pop-up window. The drawer is an opened window that a user has dragged down to a drawer region at the bottom of the screen such that only the title bar or some drawer handle illustration is left showing. When the user does this, the window remains open but is kept offscreen. The user may momentarily pop the window back onto the screen by clicking on the window title bar or drawer handle, or by dragging the cursor into the window icon during a drag. The window stays onscreen as long as no other windows are selected. As soon as a user selects another window, or opens a file with a double click within the drawer, the window slides back offscreen. This allows the user to set up easy access windows. Another feature of a drawer window allows the user to open them during a drag. To do so, the user drags an object or the cursor into the drawer window that is desired to be opened.Type: ApplicationFiled: August 3, 1999Publication date: November 28, 2002Inventors: THOMAS J. CONRAD, ELIZABETH ANN ROBINSON MOLLER
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Publication number: 20020054113Abstract: A new behavior in a graphical user interface allows the user to open and close enclosures, while dragging an object. When the user pauses, gestures, or rolls over a hot spot on top of an icon or text representing a closed enclosure, a temporary window for the closed enclosure is “sprung open” to allow the user to browse inside the enclosure and possible open another enclosure contained within the temporary window. This process can be carried on throughout a hierarchy of windows as the user browses for a destination window for the drag operation. All of the temporary windows except the destination are closed when the mouse button is released, signaling the end of a drag. The user may close sprung open windows by simply moving the cursor out of the sprung open window, or by making some other gesture.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 25, 2001Publication date: May 9, 2002Applicant: Apple Computer, Inc.Inventors: Thomas J. Conrad, Yin Yin Wong
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Patent number: 6307545Abstract: A new behavior in a graphical user interface allows the user to open and close enclosures, while dragging an object. When the user pauses, gestures, or rolls over a hot spot on top of an icon or text representing a closed enclosure, a temporary window for the closed enclosure is “sprung open” to allow the user to browse inside the enclosure and possible open another enclosure contained within the temporary window. This process can be carried on throughout a hierarchy of windows as the user browses for a destination window for the drag operation. All of the temporary windows except the destination are closed when the mouse button is released, signaling the end of a drag. The user may close sprung open windows by simply moving the cursor out of the sprung open window, or by making some other gesture.Type: GrantFiled: May 5, 2000Date of Patent: October 23, 2001Assignee: Apple Computer, Inc.Inventors: Thomas J. Conrad, Yin Yin Wong
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Patent number: 6133918Abstract: A window management mechanism allows a user to open a window as a drawer or, perhaps more appropriately named, a pop-up window. The drawer is an opened window that a user has dragged down to a drawer region at the bottom of the screen such that only the title bar or some drawer handle illustration is left showing. When the user does this, the window remains open but is kept offscreen. The user may momentarily pop the window back onto the screen by clicking on the window title bar or drawer handle, or by dragging the cursor into the window icon during a drag. The window stays onscreen as long as no other windows are selected. As soon as a user selects another window, or opens a file with a double click within the drawer, the window slides back offscreen. This allows the user to set up easy access windows. Another feature of a drawer window allows the user to open them during a drag. To do so, the user drags an object or the cursor into the drawer window that is desired to be opened.Type: GrantFiled: August 17, 1998Date of Patent: October 17, 2000Assignee: Apple Computer, Inc.Inventors: Thomas J. Conrad, Elizabeth Ann Robinson Moller
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Patent number: 6061061Abstract: A new behavior in a graphical user interface allows the user to open and close enclosures, while dragging an object. When the user pauses, gestures, or rolls over a hot spot on top of an icon or text representing a closed enclosure, a temporary window for the closed enclosure is "sprung open" to allow the user to browse inside the enclosure and possible open another enclosure contained within the temporary window. This process can be carried on throughout a hierarchy of windows as the user browses for a destination window for the drag operation. All of the temporary windows except the destination are closed when the mouse button is released, signaling the end of a drag. The user may close sprung open windows by simply moving the cursor out of the sprung open window, or by making some other gesture.Type: GrantFiled: July 8, 1997Date of Patent: May 9, 2000Assignee: Apple Computer, Inc.Inventors: Thomas J. Conrad, Yin Yin Wong
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Patent number: 5956030Abstract: A window management mechanism allows a user to open a window as a drawer or, perhaps more appropriately named, a pop-up window. The drawer is an opened window that a user has dragged down to a drawer region at the bottom of the screen such that only the title bar or some drawer handle illustration is left showing. When the user does this, the window remains open but is kept offscreen. The user may momentarily pop the window back onto the screen by clicking on the window title bar or drawer handle, or by dragging the cursor into the window icon during a drag. The window stays onscreen as long as no other windows are selected. As soon as a user selects another window, or opens a file with a double click within the drawer, the window slides back offscreen. This allows the user to set up easy access windows. Another feature of a drawer window allows the user to open them during a drag. To do so, the user drags an object or the cursor into the drawer window that is desired to be opened.Type: GrantFiled: June 11, 1993Date of Patent: September 21, 1999Assignee: Apple Computer, Inc.Inventors: Thomas J. Conrad, Elizabeth Ann Robinson Moller
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Patent number: 5680562Abstract: A new behavior in a graphical user interface allows the user to open and close enclosures, while dragging an object. When the user pauses, gestures, or rolls over a hot spot on top of an icon or text representing a closed enclosure, a temporary window for the closed enclosure is "sprung open" to allow the user to browse inside the enclosure and possible open another enclosure contained within the temporary window. This process can be carried on throughout a hierarchy of windows as the user browses for a destination window for the drag operation. All of the temporary windows except the destination are closed when the mouse button is released, signaling the end of a drag. The user may close sprung open windows by simply moving the cursor out of the sprung open window, or by making some other gesture.Type: GrantFiled: June 7, 1995Date of Patent: October 21, 1997Assignee: Apple Computer, Inc.Inventors: Thomas J. Conrad, Yin Yin Wong
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Patent number: 5583984Abstract: A new behavior in a graphical user interface allows the user to open and close enclosures, while dragging an object. When the user pauses, gestures, or rolls over a hot spot on top of an icon or text representing a closed enclosure, a temporary window for the closed enclosure is "sprung open" to allow the user to browse inside the enclosure and possible open another enclosure contained within the temporary window. This process can be carried on throughout a hierarchy of windows as the user browses for a destination window for the drag operation. All of the temporary windows except the destination are closed when the mouse button is released, signaling the end of a drag. The user may close sprung open windows by simply moving the cursor out of the sprung open window, or by making some other gesture.Type: GrantFiled: June 11, 1993Date of Patent: December 10, 1996Assignee: Apple Computer, Inc.Inventors: Thomas J. Conrad, Yin Y. Wong