Abstract: Methods and apparatus for providing a scroll bar including a plurality of locations corresponding to a plurality of locations in a file are disclosed. One or more location criteria that are obtained are used to identify one or more desired locations in the file. One or more display criteria to be applied to designate the one or more desired locations are identified. In addition, one or more desired locations in the file are located according to the location criteria. The scroll bar is then displayed by applying the display criteria to one or more locations of the scroll bar corresponding to the desired locations in the file.

Abstract: A method of processing information and producing search response is performed at a server system. A search query is received from a client system or device. An Internet database is searched to identify a set of documents accessible via the Internet that match the search query, and a first response having information identifying at least a portion of the identified set of documents is generated. In addition, a determination is made as to whether the search query meets predefined criteria associated with current time inquiries. If the search query is determined to meet the predefined criteria associated with current time inquiries, a second response specifying a current time for at least one location is generated, and the first response and second response are returned to the client system or device for simultaneous display at the client system or device.

Abstract: A content search and display system capable of increasing opportunities for a user to encounter more unknown contents than ever. Operating situation detecting device detects an operating situation of search condition specifying device. According to the operating situation of the search condition specifying device, condition adding/modifying device adds or modifies a search condition. In the course of searching, opportunities are produced for the user to encounter unexpected unknown contents not randomly, but based on a certain search condition, by operating the search condition specifying device.

Abstract: A method and system for determining a feature of a particular pattern are provided. In particular, data records are received, and predetermined patterns that are associated with at least some of the data records are obtained. Using the system and method, particular information is extracted from at least a subset of the received data records, the particular information being indicative of the particular pattern in at least some of the data records. Then, it is determined whether the particular pattern is an unexpected pattern based on the obtained predetermined patterns. In addition, it is possible to classify and reduce data and/or parameters provided in the data records. First, the data records are received. Then, the data records which have at least one particular pattern are classified using a Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines technique. Thereafter, the data and/or parameters of the classified data records are shrunk using a Stein's Estimator Rule technique.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for textual searching of a database is provided herein. During operation a user will input a letter into a search engine. The search engine will score words based on the letter and display results of the highest-scored words. Another letter will again be received and the process repeated. In situations where titles are returned to the user, additional steps of associating the words with a title and scoring the title take place. The highest-scored titles are provided to the user as the displayed results.

Abstract: Many companies provide online search facilities that enable users to conduct computerized searches for documents. Unfortunately, these searches frequently provide results that include duplicate documents—that is, documents that are completely or substantially identical to each other. This problem is particularly vexing when searching news stories, for example. Moreover, the duplicate documents are intermixed in the search results, leaving users to manually manage the complexities of identifying and/or filtering them. Accordingly, the present inventors devised systems, methods, and software that facilitate the identification and/or grouping of duplicate documents in search results.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for timed tagging of content is featured. The method and apparatus can include the steps of, or structure for, obtaining at least one keyword tag associated with discrete media content; generating a timed segment index of discrete media content, the timed segment index identifying content segments of the discrete media content and corresponding timing boundaries of the content segments; searching the timed segment index for a match to the at least one keyword tag, the match corresponding to at least one of the content segments identified in the segment index; and generating a timed tag index that includes the at least one keyword tag and the timing boundaries corresponding to the least one content segment of the discrete media content containing the match.

Abstract: A method and system for generating ranking criteria used to rank items in a computer system. The ranking criteria is based, at least in part, on storage information related to each of the items to be ranked. The storage information includes a storage parameter and/or a backup parameter. In one embodiment, a list of items is received in which storage information associated with each of the items is gathered. The items are ranked according to a relationship between the determined ranking criteria and at least the storage information associated with each of the items.

Abstract: A system determines a freshness of a first document. The system determines whether a freshness attribute is associated with the first document. The system identifies, based on the determination, a set of second documents that each contain a link to the first document. The system assigns a freshness score to the first document based on a freshness attribute associated with each document of the set of second documents or the freshness attribute associated with the first document.

Abstract: An apparatus, system, and method for extracting the structure of song lyrics using a repeated pattern thereof are provided. The apparatus includes a lyric extractor extracting lyric information from metadata related to an audio file, a character string information extractor extracting an interlude section and a repeated character string based on the extracted lyric information, a paragraph extractor extracting a paragraph based on the repeated character string and then a set of paragraphs having the same repeated pattern among the extracted paragraphs, and a lyric structure generator arranging an interlude section, a character string, and a paragraph related to the audio file in a tree structure.

Abstract: The claimed subject matter provides a system and/or a method that facilitates conveying enhanced query results. An interface component can receive a query corresponding to data. A visual component can employ a search result based at least in part upon the query, wherein the search result includes a graphic identifying a location of at least one term of the query within the queried data.

Abstract: An improved method, apparatus, and computer instructions displaying search results. A query is received in a first language. A snippet in the document containing the word is selected in response to identifying a document in a second language in which the document contains a word matching a query word in the query. This snippet is translated into the first language.

Abstract: A capitalization-sensitive (“Cap-sensitive”) search is a feature that provides the ability to specify as search criteria both a term and a capitalization characteristic or signature of the term. There are conventional approaches that enable a capital-sensitive approach to be performed from within a document.

Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention provide a system that tracks progress on a plan. The system starts by receiving a one or more completed plan templates (which constitute plans) from a set of plan providers. The system then stores the plans in a plan database. Next, the system receives a request for a plan, for which the plan database contains one or more plans that can be used to fulfill the request. The system then provides a user interface (UI) to display the plans that fulfill the request. Next, the system receives a selection signal that selects a plan to fulfill the request. The system then displays the selected plan through the UI, which involves initially displaying projected progress on the plan at one or more intervals on a timeline.

Abstract: The present invention provides a software facility for identifying the items most relevant to a current query based on items selected in connection with similar queries. In preferred embodiments of the invention, the facility receives a query specifying one or more query terms. In response, the facility generates a query result identifying a plurality of items that satisfy the query. The facility then produces a ranking value for at least a portion of the items identified in the query result by combining the relative frequencies with which users selected that item from the query results generated from queries specifying each of the terms specified by the query. The facility identifies as most relevant those items having the highest ranking values.

Abstract: A method and system of visually coding search results is provided. Using a search query containing a plurality of search terms, a web search is conducted and a set of search results is obtained. Occurrence frequencies of the search terms in the returned document are tallied and used to formulate a number of occurrence indicators having color shades based on the occurrence frequencies of the search terms. The search results are then displayed in two levels of detail with a first portion of the search results displayed in a first format and a second portion displayed in a second format. The occurrence indicators for the search terms are displayed beside each returned document to indicate to a user the frequency of the search terms in the search results.

Abstract: A method for performing a location search includes receiving a location search query, determining key words corresponding to the location search query, identifying one or more documents that correspond to the key words in the location search query, and providing to a client system information identifying at least one location corresponding to the one or more documents.

Abstract: A network search function is disclosed. A network administrator enters a search term. The search function determines whether any items or network devices listed in a network control user interface match the search term. The network administrator can stipulate whether the match be either an explicit match or an implicit match. All of the matches, if any, are automatically highlighted and selected. Thereby, the network administrator can perform an operation on these matches based on the search function, without having to manually locate and then manually click to select the desired items or network devices.

Abstract: Enabling text searching that accommodates a search criteria corresponding to a capitalization characteristic. One or more search terms are received, and a determination is made as to a capitalization characteristic of at least one search term. One or more documents are identified from a collection of documents. The identification is based at least in part on the determination of the capitalization characterization of the search term, so that the search result satisfies the criteria of the capitalization characteristic.

Abstract: Some embodiments of a high-accuracy document information element-vector (IE-vector) encoding server have been presented. In one embodiment, the high-accuracy document IE-vector encoding server applies finite state automaton (FSA) to parse a document to identify one or more information elements (IEs) in the document. Then a DNA sequence of the document is derived based on the one or more IEs. The concept of DNA sequence of a document is powerful and can be used in building automated tools such as computer based processes to automatically reason and search for similarity, dissimilarity, equivalence and other relationships between structured, semi-structured and unstructured data and information. The DNA sequence of a document provides powerful paradigm to build sophisticated information and data search and retrieval techniques and tools.

Abstract: Techniques are disclosed that locate implicitly defined semantic structures in a document, such as, for example, implicitly defined lists in an HTML document. The semantic structures can be used in the calculation of distance values between terms in the documents. The distance values may be used, for example, in the generation of ranking scores that indicate a relevance level of the document to a search query.

Abstract: The present invention provides techniques for generating data that is used for ranking documents. In one embodiment, a method involves the step of extracting data features from a number of documents to be ranked. The data features extracted from the documents are established in conjunction with a first feature map and a second feature map, wherein the first feature map and the second feature map are capable of keeping the relative ordering between two document instances. In one embodiment, the two feature maps are specially a divide feature map and a minus feature map. Once the data is mapped, the method involves the step of generating pairwise preferences from the first feature map and the second feature map. Then the pairwise preferences are aggregated into a total order, which can be used to produce one or more relevancy scores.

Abstract: A method analyzes the visual content of media such as videos for collecting together visually-similar appearances in their constituent images (e.g. same scenes, same objects, faces of the same people.) As a result, the most relevant and salient (of clearest and largest presence) visual appearances depicted in the videos are presented to the user, both for the sake of summarizing the video content for the users to “see before they watch” (that is, judge by the depicted video content in a filmstrip-like summary whether they want to mouse-click on the video and actually spend time watching it), as well as for allowing to users to further refine their video search result set according to the most relevant and salient video content returned (e.g. largest screen-time faces).