Abstract: Many computing scenarios involve an item cache or index, comprising items corresponding to source items that may change without notice, rendering the item in the item cache or index stale. It may not be possible to guarantee the freshness of the items, but it may be desirable to reduce staleness in an efficient manner. Therefore, the refreshing of items may be prioritized by first predicting the query frequency of respective item representing the rate at which an item is retrieved from the item cache (e.g., by monitoring queries for the item), predicting an update frequency representing the rate at which the source item is updated by the source item host (e.g., by classifying the source item type), and computing a refresh utility representing the improvement in cache freshness achieved by refreshing the item. Respective items may then be prioritized for refreshing according to the computed refresh utilities.

Abstract: Techniques and systems are disclosed providing improved ranking of results to an online search-based query. One or more user types are identified for a search-based query, and may correspond to a number of user relevant results, and which user results are selected. A user profile can be determined for the respective user types for the search-based query, which may identify a proportion of the users that belong to that type, and how many results are relevant to that type. A set of relevant results can be identified for the respective user types for the search-based query, based on a number of results used by the user type. An improved ranking of the results can be determined for the search-based query, from the one or more sets of relevant results, based on user profiles and a desired user satisfaction metric for a desired number of users.

Abstract: A computing device configured to select a channel that is open in a local environment of the computing device and to attempt to communicate with another computing device on the selected available channel is described herein. The computing device selects the available channel based on selection probabilities for a plurality of available channels, the selection probabilities defined by an exponentially decaying distribution curve.

Abstract: Techniques and systems are disclosed providing improved ranking of results to an online search-based query. One or more user types are identified for a search-based query, and may correspond to a number of user relevant results, and which user results are selected. A user profile can be determined for the respective user types for the search-based query, which may identify a proportion of the users that belong to that type, and how many results are relevant to that type. A set of relevant results can be identified for the respective user types for the search-based query, based on a number of results used by the user type. An improved ranking of the results can be determined for the search-based query, from the one or more sets of relevant results, based on user profiles and a desired user satisfaction metric for a desired number of users.

Abstract: Techniques and systems are disclosed providing improved ranking of results to an online search-based query. One or more user types are identified for a search-based query, which may correspond to a number of user relevant results and which ones are selected. A user profile can be determined for the respective user types for the search-based query, which may identify a proportion of the users that belong to that type, and how many results are relevant to that type. A set of relevant results can be identified for the respective user types for the query, based on a number of results used by the user type. An improved ranking of the results can be determined for the query, from the one or more sets of relevant results, based on the user profiles and a desired user satisfaction metric for a desired number of users.

Abstract: A computing device configured to select a channel that is open in a local environment of the computing device and to attempt to communicate with another computing device on the selected available channel is described herein. The computing device selects the available channel based on selection probabilities for a plurality of available channels, the selection probabilities defined by an exponentially decaying distribution curve.

Abstract: Providing for scheduling tasks in a distributed system based on an inefficiency of each task on a particular machine as compared with available networked machines is described herein. By way of example, a distribution component can receive a plurality of tasks at a machine assigned by at least one independent agent. In addition, an ordering component can schedule each task on a machine as a function of non-decreasing inefficiency. Such a policy can be implemented locally at the machine, minimizing inter-device communication, while only marginally increasing completion time for the set of tasks. In such a manner, the subject disclosure provides for load balancing of distributed systems in a manner that utilizes fewer resources than conventional approaches.

Abstract: Many computing scenarios involve an item cache or index, comprising items corresponding to source items that may change without notice, rendering the item in the item cache or index stale. It may not be possible to guarantee the freshness of the items, but it may be desirable to reduce staleness in an efficient manner. Therefore, the refreshing of items may be prioritized by first predicting the query frequency of respective item representing the rate at which an item is retrieved from the item cache (e.g., by monitoring queries for the item), predicting an update frequency representing the rate at which the source item is updated by the source item host (e.g., by classifying the source item type), and computing a refresh utility representing the improvement in cache freshness achieved by refreshing the item. Respective items may then be prioritized for refreshing according to the computed refresh utilities.

Abstract: Techniques and systems are disclosed providing improved ranking of results to an online search-based query. One or more user types are identified for a search-based query, which may correspond to a number of user relevant results and which ones are selected. A user profile can be determined for the respective user types for the search-based query, which may identify a proportion of the users that belong to that type, and how many results are relevant to that type. A set of relevant results can be identified for the respective user types for the query, based on a number of results used by the user type. An improved ranking of the results can be determined for the query, from the one or more sets of relevant results, based on the user profiles and a desired user satisfaction metric for a desired number of users.

Abstract: A tournament-style gaming scenario exploration system and method for interactively exploring current and future scenarios of a tournament and associated pick'em pool. The system and method include a prediction module (including a game constraint sub-module), and a key event detection module. Embodiments of the prediction module include a binary integer that represents tournament outcomes. The prediction module generates predictions of tournament outcomes using an exhaustive or a sampling technique. The sampling technique includes random sampling, where the tournament bracket is randomly sampled, and a weighted sampling technique, which sample portions of the tournament bracket more densely than others areas. Embodiments of the game constraint sub-module allow real-world results constraints and user-supplied constraints to be imposed on the tournament outcomes.

Abstract: Providing for scheduling tasks in a distributed system based on an inefficiency of each task on a particular machine as compared with available networked machines is described herein. By way of example, a distribution component can receive a plurality of tasks at a machine assigned by at least one independent agent. In addition, an ordering component can schedule each task on a machine as a function of non-decreasing inefficiency. Such a policy can be implemented locally at the machine, minimizing inter-device communication, while only marginally increasing completion time for the set of tasks. In such a manner, the subject disclosure provides for load balancing of distributed systems in a manner that utilizes fewer resources than conventional approaches.

Abstract: A method of streaming data, comprising: receiving an input stream of data, at a transmitter; dividing the input stream into a plurality of blocks, at least one of which blocks is incomplete; generating a plurality of first packets based on at least one block of data; generating at least one second packet from at least one as yet incomplete block of data; said block comprising recently received data; transmitting said at least one first packet and at least one second packet to a receiver that can reconstruct said stream from said first packets and said second packets, said transmitting utilizing a differential protocol by which different parts of the data are transmitted at different rates, so that a receiver can join the transmission at any time and start receiving the data at a minimum delay; and generating at least one third packet from said at least one incomplete block; said at least one third packet being based at least in part on data received subsequent to data forming the basis for the at least one se

Abstract: A method of streaming data, comprising: receiving an input stream of data, at a transmitter; dividing the input stream into a plurality of blocks, at least one of which blocks is incomplete; generating a plurality of first packets based on at least one block of data; generating at least one second packet from at least one as yet incomplete block of data; said block comprising recently received data; transmitting said at least one first packet and at least one second packet to a receiver that can reconstruct said stream from said first packets and said second packets, said transmitting utilizing a differential protocol by which different parts of the data are transmitted at different rates, so that a receiver can join the transmission at any time and start receiving the data at a minimum delay; and generating at least one third packet from said at least one incomplete block; said at least one third packet being based at least in part on data received subsequent to data forming the basis for the at least one se