| Patent application number | Description | Published |
| 20080235170 | USING SCENARIO-RELATED METADATA TO DIRECT ADVERTISING - Mechanisms for directing advertising in search result presentation and/or scenario solution execution based upon a user's locality are provided. Locality refers to a collection of metadata created based upon scenario solutions executed by a user and/or enablers acquired by a user during scenario solution execution. For instance, embodiments of the present invention provide a mechanism by which scenario solutions or enablers related to commonly executed scenario solutions or enablers stored in association with the user's locality can be advertised to the user in conjunction with presentation of scenario solution-related search results. Additionally, embodiments of the present invention provide a mechanism by which more highly rated scenario solutions and/or enablers than those associated with the user's locality may be advertised during presentation of an executed scenario solution. | 09-25-2008 |
| 20080235179 | IDENTIFYING EXECUTABLE SCENARIOS IN RESPONSE TO SEARCH QUERIES - Systems, methods, and computer-readable media for identifying executable scenario solutions relevant to a user query and returning such executable scenario solutions as search results in response to the user query are provided. Upon receiving a user query, a plurality of results is returned, each result being representative of a series of steps which may be implemented to address a particular issue relevant to the received user query. Often, a series of steps or scenario includes a number of sub-scenarios, each of which is to be executed sequentially to achieve the desired result. Accordingly, upon selection of a particular search result, the user may be guided through a series of sub-scenario result options until an item having direct association to a series of steps is selected. Once selected, the executable scenario solution is presented to the user for execution. | 09-25-2008 |
| 20080235206 | USING SCENARIO-RELATED INFORMATION TO CUSTOMIZE USER EXPERIENCES - Methods for using scenario solution-related information to generate customized user experiences are provided. Upon receiving a user query, a plurality of results is returned, each result being representative of a scenario solution which may be utilized to address a particular issue relevant to the received query. At the time of authoring, each scenario solution is organized based upon one or more keywords and/or one or more categories (i.e., namespaces). Data associated with a namespace/keyword corresponding to a returned search result may be mined to determine information beyond basic scenario solution search results that may be of interest to the user. As the namespace(s)/keyword(s) in association with which to organize a particular executable scenario solution is determined by the author of the scenario solution, other information associated with the same namespace/keyword (and/or a namespace/keyword having a relationship thereto) is likely to be more relevant than information organized based upon keywords alone. | 09-25-2008 |
| 20080235229 | ORGANIZING SCENARIO-RELATED INFORMATION AND CONTROLLING ACCESS THERETO - Mechanisms for organizing scenario solution-related information based upon a user's locality are provided. Locality refers to a collection of metadata created based upon scenario solutions executed by a user and/or enablers acquired by a user during scenario solution execution. Such metadata may be stored in association with a scenario solution execution workspace and/or in association with a user-specific information store. Once such information is acquired, a user may desire to share the information, or a portion thereof, with one or more other users, for instance, the members of a user group. However, often times, the user would prefer that the information not be made available to the general public. Thus, mechanisms for controlling access to user-specific information are also provided. | 09-25-2008 |
| 20100107218 | SECURED COMPARTMENT FOR TRANSACTIONS - Systems and methods that establish a secured compartment that manages sensitive user transactions/information on a user's machine. The secured compartment qualifies user interaction with the machine, and separates such qualified interaction from other user activity on the machine. A user is switched to such secured compartment upon occurrence of a predetermined event, such as in form of: an explicit request (e.g., a secure attention sequence); an implicit request (e.g., inference of user activities); and presence of a peripheral device that is bound to the secured compartment (e.g., a USB)—wherein such actions typically cannot be generated by an application running outside the secured compartment. | 04-29-2010 |
| 20110010354 | USING SCENARIO-RELATED INFORMATION TO CUSTOMIZE USER EXPERIENCES - Methods for using scenario solution-related information to generate customized user experiences are provided. Upon receiving a user query, a plurality of results is returned, each result being representative of a scenario solution which may be utilized to address a particular issue relevant to the received query. At the time of authoring, each scenario solution is organized based upon one or more keywords and/or one or more categories (i.e., namespaces). Data associated with a namespace/keyword corresponding to a returned search result may be mined to determine information beyond basic scenario solution search results that may be of interest to the user. As the namespace(s)/keyword(s) in association with which to organize a particular executable scenario solution is determined by the author of the scenario solution, other information associated with the same namespace/keyword (and/or a namespace/keyword having a relationship thereto) is likely to be more relevant than information organized based upon keywords alone. | 01-13-2011 |
| Patent application number | Description | Published |
| 20090276620 | Client authentication during network boot - A secure mechanism for performing a network boot sequence and provisioning a remote device may use a private key of a public key/private key encryption mechanism to generate a command by a server and have the command executed by the device. The command may be used to verify the authenticity of the remote device, and may be used to establish ownership of the device. After authenticity and, in some cases ownership is established, bootable software may be downloaded and executed. The remote device may be provisioned with software applications. One mechanism for performing the initial encrypted commands is through a Trusted Platform Module. In many embodiments, the public key for the initial encrypted communication may be provided through a trusted second channel. | 11-05-2009 |
| 20100154026 | AUTOMATED SOFTWARE RESTRICTION POLICY RULE GENERATION - Software restriction policy rules can be automatically generated by parsing through a specified metadata source and generating the rules in accordance with indicated preferences. Metadata sources can include storage locations, such as folders, in which case rules for each executable file in the folder can be generated. Metadata sources can also include trusted publisher stores, installation logs, difference files, and other like data sources. Indicated preferences can select from among rules based on the publisher, for files that are signed, or rules based on hashes or path information for unsigned files. In generating rules to prevent the execution of specified files, if an optimized set of rules is desired, a check can be made to determine if an exception to an existing rule can be generated instead of a new rule. The automated parsing of the indicated metadata source can provide for both completeness and correctness. | 06-17-2010 |