Abstract: One or more colored films selectively change the color of the displayed light from one or more mobile devices to enable crowd participation is a multi-colored light show at public gatherings. The ability to change the color of a mobile device flash may also be useful for providing identification at a distance in low light conditions.

Abstract: One or more colored films selectively change the color of the displayed light from one or more mobile devices to enable crowd participation is a multi-colored light show at public gatherings. The ability to change the color of a mobile device flash may also be useful for providing identification at a distance in low light conditions.

Abstract: A dispensing device adapted for operative attachment to flanged cartridges containing viscous material. The device features an elongated support tube having a laterally translatable rod assembly therein which translates through rotation of the rod assembly to disperse material from an attached cartridge. The elongated device allows for the vicious material to be deposited in hard to reach areas between and behind appliances. Activation by rotation of the rod assembly allows for extremely accurate placement of material from the cartridge. Rotational activation also allows the device to reach under very low sitting appliances. The support tube and rod assembly may be assembled in various lengths from individual components allowing the device to be changed from an elongated form to shorter components for shipping or storage. An optional light is provided to illuminate target for deposit of viscous material.

Abstract: A subscribing user generates a private key and a corresponding public key stored locally in a “key-ring.” The public key is uploaded to a key repository on a communications server, where public keys of subscribers are maintained. When sending a secure message, the sender's key-ring is checked to determine whether the public key for the recipient is present. If yes, then the public key is used to encrypt the message. If no, then a lookup request is sent to the server to determine whether a public key is available for the recipient. If there is, then the public key is downloaded from the repository to the sender. When the recipient receives the secure message, the recipient's private key is used to decrypt the message. The sender's most recent public key also is transmitted with the message and stored in the recipient's key-ring for future messages sent back to the key owner. Automated key management features are included.

Abstract: WAN documents are stored locally in cache with a document expiration date. Ideally, content is unchanged prior to the expiration date and has changed after the expiration date. When requesting to view a WAN document while on-line, the document first is displayed from cache for display and verify mode. The web browser then sends a request to the web server to verify whether the document has been modified. If still valid, then the document is already displayed and time has been saved. If invalid, then the document is downloaded from the web server, stored in cache, and optionally or automatically displayed in place of the invalid document. A signal is communicated to the user, for example, to give the option to reload the document. Because document expiration times may be absent or unreliable, a soft and a hard expiration time are derived and adjusted dynamically based upon their reliability.

Abstract: A battery and battery lifting system for a mining or construction vehicle, the vehicle having a frame, the system having a battery, the battery having at least one slot, the at least one slot having vertical sidewalls which extend toward convergence, and at least one wedge-shaped arm for lifting the battery, the at least one wedge-shaped lifting arm having a bellcrank and a leveling arm for pivotally coupling to the frame, whereby the at least one wedge-shaped lifting arm is guided and aligned with the battery as the at least one wedge-shaped lifting arm moves inwardly in the direction of convergence along the vertical sidewalls. The at least one wedge-shaped lifting arm having a hydraulic cylinder. The hydraulic cylinder having a shaft with a locking plate located at the end of the shaft. The locking plate is used to lock the battery to the at least one wedge-shaped lifting arm.

Abstract: Computer system activity is monitored to identify triggers. A trigger is an event or sequence of events which is a reliable predictor of the subsequent occurrence of a specific repeated disk-intensive interval. A disk-intensive interval is an interval of time in which disk read and/or disk write operations occur at a much greater than average rate. Once a trigger and a corresponding repeated disk-intensive interval are identified, a time log constructor is invoked. The time log rearranges the input/output for faster access and loading of the cache. This reduces disk drive latency. When the trigger is detected, instead of waiting for the data request the computer processes the time log to preload the disk data into cache in advance of the data request. When the data request occurs thereafter, the data is already present in the cache.

Abstract: Launch time for a computer program is reduced by logging hard disk accesses during an initial launch, then processing the log file to accelerate subsequent launches. The log file is processed by identifying all the file portions accessed during the launch, eliminating any duplicate cluster accesses, then sorting the remaining accesses. The disk access log entries are sorted by physical address or are grouped by file, then organized by logical address within each group. The processed log file is stored with the application program. When the application program is launched thereafter, the processed log file is accessed first. All the disk accesses in the log file are performed moving all the data into RAM cache. When the program launch resumes, the launch occurs faster because all the data is already in cache.

Abstract: A computer program's launch time is reduced by reorganizing physical address storage of the program on a secondary storage device. Launch of the program is detected, then file access during the launch is monitored. A log file entry is created for each access to the secondary storage device. After launch is complete, the portions of the computer program accesses during the launch are moved into a contiguous area of the secondary storage device. Placement within the area corresponds to the access order during launch. Subsequent launches are faster because the launch portions of the program are contiguously located. Only the first access to a given memory block is considered in ordering the portions within the contiguous area The cluster size is used to estimate whether differing log entries correspond to the same address block.

Abstract: Disk I/O average access time is improved by estimating access time for pending I/O requests and selecting the request with the lowest estimated access time as the next request to be processed. To provide fast run-time estimation, disk characteristics are derived off-line and stored in files/tables for access during run-time estimation. A time (RT) to rotate the disk from a reference sector to each physical sector on the hard drive is derived and stored for each logical block address (LBA). A time (HT) for the heads to move an incremental number of cylinders also is derived. Access time of a destination LBA after completing access to a source LBA is estimated using estimated rotational times for the source and destination looked up in an RT table, and a head movement time estimate looked up in an HT table, based on a run-time calculated cylinder increment between the source and destination LBAs.