Abstract: Methods and apparatus of gaming implementable on or in connection with a computer social network prose for accepting entries, until a volume of those entries exceeds a prescribed limit; generating a winning value; identifying one or more of the entries nearest the winning value; and designating one or more of the entries nearest the winning value as winning entries. The entries can be accepted from one or more contestants and/or they can be generated on behalf of those contestants. Each of the entries can comprise one or more values from a predefined enumeration of values. That enumeration of values can, according to related aspects of invention, comprise values, each between a low numerical value and a high numerical value.

Abstract: A method is described which permits a computer programmer to write a program with the assistance of the computer itself. The computer will provide instant feedback, following the procedures herein described, to the result of performing each instruction. Therefore, the programmer may instantaneously observe the working of the program as the computer will perform it. Thus any difference in the result produced by the computer from what the programmer expects to happen may be recognized and, if appropriate, corrected. In a higher order implementation of this method the computer will display icons to link the in-process programming to a working routine resident on a remote computer. Thus, the tools and benefits of so-called Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) can be made available to the programmer. Employing the method of this invention, the computer becomes an integral part of the creative process of writing a program.

Abstract: A method is described which permits a computer programmer to write a program with the assistance of the computer itself. The computer will provide instant feedback, following the procedures herein described, to the result of performing each instruction. Therefore, the programmer may instantaneously observe the working of the program as the computer will perform it. Thus any difference in the result produced by the computer from what the programmer expects to happen may be recognized and, if appropriate, corrected. In a higher order implementation of this method the computer will display icons to link the in-process programming to a working routine resident on a remote computer. Thus, the tools and benefits of so-called Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) can be made available to the programmer. Employing the method of this invention, the computer becomes an integral part of the creative process of writing a program.

Abstract: An application server, configured for executing a messaging application defined by XML documents, is able to provide messaging services to a calling party for a remote subscriber based on retrieval of subscriber attribute information obtained from a remote information database server (such as LDAP) via an Internet Protocol (IP) network. The application server, upon receiving a voice application operation request having subscriber identifier information from a browser serving the calling party, obtains from the remote information database server attribute information for responding to the voice application operation request based on the subscriber identifier information. The application server generates an HTML document having media content and control tags for personalized execution of the voice application operation based on the attribute information obtained from the standardized database server.

Abstract: The invention is directed to techniques for notifying a client device of the occurrence of an event using a web application activated based on an application-state data record. A persistent process monitors incoming data for the occurrence of an event and provides the application-state data record that can be used to activate a session of an event notification application. The persistent process provides an event indicator to a proxy browser which then activates the event notification application. The event notification application provides an event notification to the proxy browser, which in turn provides an audio notification of the event to the client device, which may be a telephony device or other two-way audio communication device. The user of the client device can then respond to the event notification or otherwise interact with the event notification application via the proxy browser.

Abstract: An application server, configured for executing a messaging application defined by XML documents, is able to provide messaging services to a calling party for a remote subscriber based on retrieval of subscriber attribute information obtained from a remote information database server (such as LDAP) via an Internet Protocol (IP) network. The application server, upon receiving a voice application operation request having subscriber identifier information from a browser serving the calling party, obtains from the remote information database server attribute information for responding to the voice application operation request based on the subscriber identifier information. The application server generates an HTML document having media content and control tags for personalized execution of the voice application operation based on the attribute information obtained from the standardized database server.

Abstract: A web-based voice messaging system uses an application server, configured for executing a voice application defined by XML documents, that accesses subscriber attributes from a standardized information database server (such as LDAP), and messages from a standardized messaging server (such as IMAP). The application server, upon receiving a request from a browser serving a subscriber, accesses an IP based messaging server to obtain a stored message for the subscriber from a second party. The stored message identifies a text-based form. The application server converts the text-based form into an audible format. The application server generates an HTML document to present to the subscriber the form in audible format with audible prompts, based on the HTTP request and the text-based form. The application server then updates the text-based form based on an input from the subscriber. Thus, text-based forms can be retrieved and acted on via a telephone.

Abstract: A method of encoding and decoding calendar dates in multiple centuries to allow date data to be stored in a six-character format in a digital data processor. In an embodiment designed to allow existing programs to process date data correctly in the year 2000 and beyond, dates occurring before the year 2000 are characterized by two digit representations of each of the day, month, and year, while dates in the year 2000 and years thereafter are characterized by a year representation of "99" and a four-character month/day representation which is greater than 1231.The method comprises an Input Phase, in which date data are encoded from a conventional form into a six character format suitable for storage in a digital data processor, a Processing Phase, in which arithmetic and logical manipulation of date data may be performed, and an Output Phase, in which encoded date data are decoded into conventional numerical date designations.

Abstract: The invention comprises a method of completely sorting an unsorted data table in a single pass through the data. The method uses a relatively large amount of computer memory, but sorts the data at great speed. Specifically, each unsorted data word is scaled to a size equal to or less than the number of address locations in a sort table. The scaled value created for each unsorted data word is converted to an address increment which is added to the initial address of the sort table. The unsorted data word is then stored into the sort table at the above calculated address that is related to the value of the data word. In this way, most words are placed in a sorted arrangement without comparison or iteration. The invention also comprises a method for resolving conflicts where a calculated address for an unsorted data word already contains a sorted data word. In this case both words are then sorted with respect to each other to create a data subclass and stored in an auxiliary storage table.