text:
Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder to Sing at Whitney Houston Funeral
Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder will sing at the private funeral Saturday of Whitney Houston in what promises to be a very musical service.
Publicist Kristen Foster also confirms that invitations went out to Houston's ex-husband, Bobby Brown; her co-star in "The Bodyguard," Kevin Costner; and Oprah Winfrey.
Houston's longtime musical mentor, Clive Davis, will speak at the funeral. The eulogy will be given by gospel singer and longtime family friend Marvin Winans.
Organizers were getting the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, N.J., ready Thursday for the musical part of the service, setting up speakers and drums in the aisles.
Fans without invitations will be kept far away. Newark police say streets will be shut down for six square blocks around the church.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)


text:
About Summerlin Hospital:
Summerlin Hospital is a 485-bed hospital featuring emergency services; a busy maternity department with an average of 450 deliveries per month; a Children's Medical Center with a NICU, a pediatric ICU and separate pediatric ER; advanced cardiovascular care, surgical services, women's health and oncology care. Summerlin Hospital is an accredited Chest Pain with PCI facility and a Primary Stroke Center, and has received multiple awards from the American Heart Association Get With the Guidelines program.
Job Description:
Position is responsible for performing patient care/service activities/procedures as outlined by the state board of nursing and within the Nevada Nurse Practice Act. Position performs assigned duties under the supervision of licensed nursing staff.
Copyright © Society for Vascular Ultrasound
4601 Presidents Drive, Suite 260
Lanham, MD 20706-4831

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Monday, February 16, 2009
What's Killing the Videogame Business?
Slate has an interesting article on the state of the videogame industry. While sales are rising, budgets are rising faster. That's leading to financial losses and layoffs.
The development cost of a game is now in the area of $40 million, which is the cost of a mid-range animated feature. The gaming industry is pursuing a Hollywood model, hoping that blockbusters make enough money to offset losses on other releases. I'm not sure how smart it is for anyone to raise the stakes in a time of economic uncertainty.
I'd love to know how many artists the gaming industry employs relative to TV and feature animation. It's possible that gaming employs more than the two of them put together. If that's true, I hope that the game producers know what they're doing.
5 comments:
- laughingwolf said...
mark, it's all centred around greed... but then, little is not :(
- February 16, 2009 8:22 PM
- /\/\ikeB said...
Its not just artists being layed off. Programmers and QA testers, even gourmet chefs were working in some studios.
- February 16, 2009 11:59 PM
- Steve Schnier said...
Game developers have fallen into the "Bigger is Better" trap, putting more frills into each game.
They should take a page from Nintendo in developing the Wii system; Instead of joining the escalating resolution and bit-rate wars, Wii's developers instead went in a different direction and focused on a new user interface.
Instead of throwing more money at software development, the game developers might want to consider exploring other directions.
- February 17, 2009 9:27 AM
Steve is right. Leaping into the 'more is better' pit helped lead to the current Wall Street morass. How much companies can spend is limited. Imagination is (theoretically) limitless.
- February 20, 2009 8:38 PM
- Martin Juneau said...
I already talked about the videogames industry who being much monotonous and the fact that many peoples take them too seriously than their real lifes. They are ready to buy their homes for a damnit videogame consoles newage.
- February 21, 2009 6:52 PM


text:
The Red Sox and Terry Francona this morning finalized terms of a three-year extension that will take the Sox manager through the 2011 season, the team confirmed today. ...The Globe has quotes:
The agreement was reached after the sides met last night and again this morning. ... [T]he new deal is expected to place Francona among the highest-paid managers in the game, which would place him in the $3 million to $4 million range. ... The deal also includes club options for 2012 and 2013.
Theo Epstein: "Terry Francona has done an outstanding job in managing the Red Sox over the last four seasons. This is demonstrated not only in the three playoff appearances and two World Series victories but also in the way in which he handles the demands of managing in Boston on a day-to-day basis, both on and off the field. It also represents a strong and sincere commitment by our ownership.Ian Browne, redsox.com:
Francona: "I want to thank the Red Sox ownership and management for their tremendous support. From the resources provided by the ownership group and front office to a great collection of players and the passion and loyalty of the fans, there is no doubt that Boston is the best place to manage in the major leagues. I look forward to being in a Red Sox uniform for many years to come."
Last October, Francona became the first manager in Major League history to win his first six World Series games. That streak was extended to eight when the Red Sox swept the World Series for the second time in as many tries, this time against the Colorado Rockies. ...
His 375 wins in his first four years on the job are the most any Boston manager has won in his first four seasons.


text:
Paul Ryan says he is returning to Congress.
The failed Republican vice presidential nominee said Wednesday that he will be seated when the new House convenes in January.
But first, he says he's looking forward to spending some time with his family before resuming his responsibilities as House Budget Committee chairman.
Ryan was re-elected to his House seat from Wisconsin the same night that he and Mitt Romney came up short in their bid to unseat President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.
Advisers had been weighing whether Ryan would be best served by returning to Congress for an eighth term if he were planning to run for president in 2016.


text:
Want a Well Behaved Dog?
Come. Sit. Stay a while. After a short time at Best Friends, your wish for a "good dog" is our command.
We offer a wide variety of dog training classes to fit dogs from puppyhood to adult. Our unique Board & Train program allows your pet to have one-on-one training while he stays the night. Imagine, going away and coming back to a dog who no longer eats your shoes!
Our training techniques, taught by experienced instructors, are always positively reinforced. And class sizes are small, ensuring your pet gets the attention he or she deserves.
Puppies get special care – and not just because they're cute. They learn the basics of sit, down, come, stay, "leave it" and settle, plus learn to walk on the leash without pulling you into oncoming traffic.
Pet already have some bad habits? Best Friends will help your dog break the cycle. Say goodbye to potty accidents, chewing, biting, digging and incessant barking.
For those dogs that have already graduated from the basics, we offer more advanced classes, including trick training and agility courses. Private, in-home training is also available.
For both pets and their owners, training at Best Friends is the REAL treat.
Play and Stay »Whether your dog loves social group play, or is the more independent type, we have a boarding option that fills the day with fun & excitement!
Boarding »Play all day, stay the night. All in luxe comfort with plenty of TLC. This is boarding with Best Friends.
Day Camp »Your dog will enjoy safe, supervised social play with certified Doggy Day Camp counselors. You'll wish you could come, too.
Grooming »From a quick shampoo to a full day of pampering, our groomers will make your pet "paw"sitively gorgeous.


text:
HadarW needed a new web page design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 28 designs submitted by 9 freelance designers.
InterFAX runs a very successful internet fax service with send and receive capability. InterFAX serves tens of thousands of users worldwide, who send and receive over 60 million pages a year.
Our main focus is on the enterprise market, as well as on developers who use our open API to integrate our faxing services with existing software packages.
We are looking to redesign our pricing page in such a way that it is clearer to the customer exactly what he or she will be getting for his money. Due to the complex nature of service that we offer, the fact that we serve many different international regions, have both inbound and outbound services and offer discounted prices for larger volumes, this is not an easy task. To get a better idea, you can view our existing pricing page at http://www.interfax.net/en/prices.
The new page needs to show the pricing for both the inbound and outbound services (users can register for either service separately or both together).
By selecting a service and the particular criteria that relate to that service, the page should display, in an understandable way, the cost and also the number of pages that will be included in that package as well as the cost per page.
At the moment, the page will be for information purposes only.
However, we are considering making the pricing page the first step in the registration process, meaning that, in addition to viewing pricing information about the different packages, the user will also be able to select the desired package from this page. If you can bear this in mind and maybe explain how you see us achieving that goal, we would appreciate it.
The attached wireframe shows a concept for the page that we came up with internally. But you don't need to follow it.
Some points which are important to be aware of:
1. Inbound service is based on a monthly subscription. The cost of the subscription depends on the location of the fax number being selected and the type of number selected (e.g. regular, toll-free etc.)
2. Outbound service is based on prepaid packages. There is no subscription to pay (hence the button emphasizing that). Our idea was to have a slider where the user can select his desired prepaid card and we will display the relevant details for him below depending on the selected destination (i.e number of pages, cost per page).
3. All the numbers (shown in green on the wireframe) are generated dynamically from our back end database.
4. There should be a nice, bold Register Now/Sign Up button to encourage users to go straight to the registration screens from the pricing page.
5. The overall colour scheme should fit in to our existing site's style. See http://www.interfax.net.
Our home page is http://www.interfax.net
Our current pricing page is at http://www.interfax.net/en/prices
This site has the pricing options laid out nice and clearly:


text:
Graphical web browsing interface for spatial data navigation and method of navigating data blocks
A Graphical User Interface (GUI) (and method for navigating data blocks) includes a display window, and a retrieval object displayed on the display window for assisting a user in retrieving data which is spatially organized in N-dimensions and displaying the data on the window.
Latest IBM Patents:
The present application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/893,789, filed on Jun. 29, 2001, to Marcos Novaes, entitled "METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SPATIAL INFORMATION RETRIEVAL FOR HYPERLINKED DOCUMENTS", to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/893,790 filed on Jun. 29, 2001, to Christopher Codella et al., entitled "METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PREDICTIVE DIRECTIONAL DATA CACHING", and to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/893,599 filed on Jun. 29, 2001, to Marcos Novaes, entitled "METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR COLLABORATIVE WEB RESEARCH", each assigned to the present assignee, and incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to indexing of information and its retrieval, and it is particularly related to the information retrieval from networks such as the World Wide Web (WWW).
Prior to turning to the conventional techniques and systems for information retrieval, some basic principles in this field will be described hereinbelow.
First, a metadata relationship must be defined which will define the significance of the search space. The specific relationship utilized in the present invention is a text matching procedure similar to the matching procedure used in Web search engines today such as Yahoo!, Google, IBM's Clever, etc. Nevertheless, the method of the invention described hereinbelow is not restricted to this implementation, and the utilization of any other metadata relationship does not deviate from the spirit of this invention.
The metadata can be described as an additional block of information which is stored with the indexed data block, which contains information about the data which is contained in the block.
For example, a metadata block with the text "picture of sail boat" attached to a Joint Pictures Experts Group (JPEG) file (binary representation of a photograph) will be extremely helpful in retrieving the photograph when a user of the database posts a query like "retrieve pictures of a sail boat".
Without the metadata information, it would be more difficult to retrieve the picture. It would be necessary to construct a "picture template" which describes the basic features of a sailboat, and then employ sophisticated pattern matching techniques in order to recognize a sailboat from the binary representation.
Some metadata information can be contained in the stored data block itself, and not in an additional metadata block. For example, Web pages written in HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) contain tags (special text, defined by the HTML language) and text which are rich in metadata information.
For example, the text: "</TITLE Pictures of Sailboats/TITLE>" can be used to find a Web page which has "links" to pictures of sailboats. A link is a special tag in the HTML language which references another data block. Links are of special significance in the organization of the World Wide Web, and there are several techniques which study the patterns with which data blocks stored on the Web are linked to each other.
For example, a web searching technique utilized in search engines such as Google (e.g., see www.google.com) and IBM's Clever (e.g., see "Enhanced Hypertext Categorization using Hyperlinks", Proceedings of the ACM SIGMOD, Seattle, Wash., 1998) give special value to data blocks which are pointed to by several other data blocks. These "convergence" blocks are called "authorities".
Another important linkage pattern is defined when a single block contains several links to other blocks in which are related to "the same subject". A "subject", in the context of the present application, is a specific metadata relationship which relates data to a segment of text which describes the subject.
2. Description of the Related Art
Turning now to the conventional techniques, the definition of subject relationships is of primary importance in the construction of World-Wide Web ("Web") directories. However, prior to the present invention, there has been no efficient, reliable method for determining where a user may be interested in going and no efficient way to present the user with information without there existing a certain latency in presenting pages or documents.
For example, a well known search engine (e.g., the Yahoo! search engine) utilizes human specialists to sift through the Web maze to organize its directory. However, this search engine is problematic in that it is a manually-compiled Internet directory which uses human experts to read a document to determine a relationship and associations between the documents and then group them by interest. As known, Yahoo! also has a search engine facility in which a user can enter a word and a search is performed to find relevant documents (e.g., documents including the entered word). Yahoo! employs conventional techniques in which a matrix is built (e.g., a "term-by-document" matrix) including rows (e.g., terms starting with, for example, the letter "A" and so forth, similarly to words in a dictionary) and columns (e.g., indicating the percentage that the words occur in any given document).
Thus, for example, assuming a term(s) of interest is "IBM", a search would be conducted throughout a number of documents, and the number of occurrences (e.g., hits) found for "IBM" in each of a number of documents, would be reflected in the score for that document (e.g., if a document had 50 occurrences of "IBM", then it would have a relatively high score as compared to a document having only two (2) occurrences).
However, attempting to relate "IBM" to "computers" is more difficult. That is, Yahoo! does not provide a facility for determining such a relationship. Instead, a Boolean search (e.g., "IBM" and "computers" must be linked by the term "and") must be performed. This is cumbersome.
A second technique is found in the "Google" search engine. Google is a new approach which attempts to find links between items. Hence, Google does not merely scan a page looking for terms. Instead, the Google directory is built automatically by an autonomous process, called a "Web Crawler", which recognizes the specific metadata relationships described above. Thus, Google finds/counts the number of links coming in for a certain page and if Google sees a page which is pointed to by many other pages, then Google considers such a page as an "authority" on the subject of interest and ranks that page higher. For example, assuming a researcher publishes a very good paper on a topic and the paper is referenced/cited by many other authors in their papers, such a "very good" paper would be an "authority", and thus the papers would have to link to a page having the very good paper. Thus, Google would find all such pages having such a link to the very good paper, and would rank the page having the paper higher.
A third approach is IBM's Clever which utilizes both of the techniques above in Yahoo! and Google and in addition has the capability of detecting a "directory", which is a page that has several links to other pages and in which the degree of that page is very high. Hence, extending the example above, a compilation of all papers looking in a subject can be found and many links may be found to other references in that subject.
Thus, these conventional directories are utilized by users of the directory service in order to retrieve information which is related to a certain subject. Most of the directories today are utilized according to the following procedure which in the present application is referred to as a "traditional Web Navigation", as shown in
The term "navigation" refers to the order in which the user retrieves a document. This procedure is important to the present invention, because it describes a method for information organization which makes possible a navigation pattern very distinct to the traditional Web Navigation, and much more powerful.
Turning to the conventional navigation technique, as shown in the method 100 of
In step 110, the search engine will then return a list of links to Web pages which are related to the search criteria. As noted above, this list may be ordered utilizing "search scores" obtained from some other criteria derived from the metadata, as explained above.
In step 115, the user can then browse this list, which typically contains the page titles and excerpts from the page where words contained in the search criteria were found. Then, in steps 120 or 125, the user will browse this list and select the link which may contain the desired information, or even lead to the desired information.
The term lead is here of special significance. For example, sometimes articles posted by news services, e-mail notes, and even chat records are returned as the result of a search. Now, the user may select to follow a link to one of such documents because of the possibility that the document in turn may contain a link to another document which has the right information (step 130).
Sometimes, the user may have to follow several of these links, until either the information is found (step 135) or the user comes to a "dead end" (e.g., steps 140, 145, 150, 155). A "dead end" in the Web navigation process occurs when the user follows a link to a document which is not relevant to his search and that contains no other links which are relevant to the search (steps 140–155).
When the user encounters such a dead end, the user has the choice of "backing up" (e.g., step 150 of going back) to the previous page, or to any of the other previously visited pages. The previously visited pages are collectively called "the search history". Then, the user can choose other links contained in pages in the search history to traverse. When no more interesting links are left in the search history, the user may go back to the original list of links returned by the search engine and select a new starting point for the traversal (e.g., step 115).
The user iterates on this process until either the information is found or the search list is exhausted. If the search list is exhausted, the user may resort to try another search criteria (e.g., step 120) which either describes the subject or is related to the subject that is being searched. The navigation process is then repeated. Hence, the conventional navigation technique of
That is, many times the user is searching for information which cannot be exactly defined by an exact search criteria, and as a result too many results are returned (in the range of thousands). In this case, the conventional navigation pattern described above will make it very hard to find the desired information, as shown in
That is,
As shown in
As evident from
Thus, prior to the invention, there has been no satisfactory method in which to find and navigate data in Web pages, databases, etc.
In view of the foregoing and other problems, drawbacks, and disadvantages of the conventional methods and structures, an object of the present invention is to provide a method and structure having a new Web and general database navigation pattern.
Another object is to provide a method for navigating the Web which does not require traversal of HTML links.
Yet another object is to provide a method (and system) in which data blocks are organized according to a spatial function derived from the metadata (and hyperlink information) which is contained within each block.
A still further object is to provide a graphical facility for enabling the new spatial navigation.
Yet another object is to provide a graphical facility which can guide a human researcher into the navigation and retrieval of documents in the World Wide Web.
Another object is to provide a method (and apparatus) for predictively caching data that can be used to reduce the latency with which documents can be retrieved from remote network systems, such as the World Wide Web.
A further object is to provide a method and apparatus which can be utilized by a plurality of human researchers that engage in collaborative research.
A still further object is to provide a portal which can correlate the usage habits of each human researcher and can notify a researcher of a given topic that other researchers are currently working in related topics.
In a first aspect of the present invention, a graphical facility is provided which is capable of guiding a human researcher into the navigation and retrieval of documents in the World Wide Web.
More specifically, the graphical facility (and method) according to the present invention includes a display window, and a retrieval object displayed on the display window for assisting a user in retrieving data which is spatially organized in N-dimensions and displaying the data on the window.
The facility is capable of correlating the human researcher's actions with the responses from previous users in the system, and is therefore capable of learning behavior (e.g., adaptive to the user) and of guiding the researcher to the appropriate information, as described below.
In a second aspect of the present invention, a method of navigating data blocks, includes opening a first data block of a plurality of data blocks of interest, the plurality of data blocks being spatially indexed in N dimensions, viewing a closeness relationship between the first data block opened and a second plurality of data blocks based on their content, and accessing a second data block of the second plurality of data blocks which is viewed to be closest to the first data block.
With the invention, a graphical facility is provided which can guide a human researcher into the navigation and retrieval of documents in the World Wide Web.
The foregoing and other purposes, aspects and advantages will be better understood from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention with reference to the drawings, in which:
Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to
Prior to discussing the first embodiment in detail and for purposes of clearly showing the revolutionary nature of the invention over conventional techniques, it is again noted that typically, web users start the Navigation process utilizing a search engine as described above and as shown in
First Preferred Embodiment
Turning now to
In contrast with the conventional navigation technique described above, the spatial navigation technique utilized in the present invention does not rely exclusively in the traversal of links in order to retrieve documents from the World Wide Web. That is, the inventive distance function allows the invention to move from one page to another without traversing a link (e.g., without opening up a document by clicking with a browser or the like).
In the spatial navigation model of the invention, the data blocks (Web pages, pictures and so forth) are indexed such that each data block resides in a specific point in a N-dimensional coordinate system. The placement of the data blocks in this coordinate system is performed such that data blocks which are relatively "close" to each other are related to the same subjects.
The "closeness" between any two data blocks is given by the Euclidean distance of two points in a N-dimensional space:
D(P1, P2)=√{square root over (SD(P1D−P2D)2)}
The specific metadata method used to place the data blocks in the N-dimensional space ensures that the distance relationship between any two points indeed reflects the "affinity" of the data stored at the specific coordinates.
A data block is said to have "affinity" to another data block if both data blocks have high search score results for at least one subject. The mapping space has N dimensions, where N is the number of subjects. The distance relationship is the sum of the distances according to all subjects, and will therefore provide a meaningful measure of the affinity of any two data blocks.
Again, the mapping relationship utilized to place the data blocks in the N-dimensional coordinate system is a key aspect of the present invention, and is described below.
The mapping of the data blocks into N-dimensional state enables a unique different type of Web navigation based on space coordinates. This new web navigation model is described now.
Turning to the flowchart of
That is, the user provides a list of subjects and a measure of weight of each subject according to the user's intuition of how relevant that subject is to the search. For example, a user wanting information on "Patents, Filed, IBM", could supply the following search criteria: "{(Patents, 40), (Filed,20), (IBM,40)}". Such criteria would give more weight for pages related to "Patents" and "IBM", while reducing the weight of the term "filed", which is just used to refine the search, thereby to avoid retrieving material about patents that were "issued" as opposed to just "filed". This expression is translated to a point in the N-dimensional coordinate system.
Because the mapping procedure also normalizes weights to 100, the point generated will have the value 40 for the "Patents" coordinate, 40 for the "IBM" coordinate, 20 for the "filed" coordinate and 0 in all other coordinates. This point is named the "current location" in the search space (e.g., insertion point), which is the point that marks the position of the search relative to the N-dimensional space.
The spatial search engine can now produce a list (e.g., a so-called "proximity list") of links to documents which are related to the search by finding the points which are the closest, according to the distance formula above, to the point of insertion (step 320). Preferably, the proximity list is ordered in ascending order of proximity, with the closest point being listed first.
At step 320, the user now has several navigation choices.
First, the user may choose to visit one of the documents by following a link in the proximity list (e.g., step 330).
Alternatively, the user may choose to reorder the "proximity list" by changing the coordinate of the current location directly (e.g., step 360). For example, the user may notice that the proximity list includes too many documents which are related to "Patents", but not many related to "IBM". Thus, the user may decide to manually change the current location to {(Patents,30),(Filed,20), (IBM,50)}.
If the user decides to visit a document (e.g., step 330) in the proximity list, then the current position is changed to the position of the visited document, and the proximity list is changed accordingly. Thus, the user can now consult the page and a proximity list which shows other documents which are more closely related to the currently visited page. Then, the user has several methods of document traversal at his disposal.
First, the user may follow a link from a page, as was done in the traditional navigation scheme described above and shown in
Secondly, the user may follow an item in the proximity list, which allows the user to navigate independently of links found in other documents.
Thirdly, the user may manually alter the current position in order to change the proximity list.
Thus, depending upon where the insertion point is, a virtual space is created having reduced dimensions, such that the user obtains more resolution in the direction moved toward the desired document. That is, the resolution increases as the user moves in the direction of the document that the user is looking for.
As shown in
That is, getting to D1 allows one to traverse to document D8 (e.g., because D8 is on D1's proximity list), even though there is no hypertext link from D1 to D8. Further, because D8 is "close" to D10 (e.g., D10 is on the proximity list of D8), it is possible to go from D8 to D10 without traversing a link. Hence, in three steps ("clicks" or operations), one can go from the search results page to the most relevant document D10 (without necessarily traversing a link).
While the invention works with hypertext links (and thus the Web), it is noted that the invention also works in database systems without hypertext links since the invention uses content to plot documents in space. Thus, for example, the invention would be beneficial for a large database of books, since the invention could search for content even though the books may be different and could navigate any collection of information (e.g., in the case of the book database, to find two books which are the most related). Hence, documents are being plotted in space based on their content.
As evident from the above, the invention allows plotting documents in space based on their content which allows a user to quickly go to the documents and see their relationship (their affineness or "closeness") based on the calculation of the distance function, without traversing each link, without clicking on each link and without getting deeper and deeper into a search (e.g., a vertical search in which the user is forced to go to the top of the search time after time). Instead, based on the proximity list, the user is able to traverse documents horizontally as opposed to only vertically, to find the document(s) most relevant to the information sought.
The method 500 utilizes N dimensions, where N is the number of words (keywords) or subjects in a selected corpus. The method 500 has a computational complexity which grows linearly with the magnitude of N, and therefore method 500 can be used even if N is very large. The method 500 involves the traversal of document links, which leads to the discovery of cross-subject affinities.
In method 500, the inputs may include a collection of data blocks which are to be indexed. These data blocks may contain data and metadata, as well as links to other data blocks. Further input is a search depth which is a parameter which defines how many links are to be followed during the search process. Additionally, a corpus (collection) of text strings labeled 1 to N is input. These text strings are used as search criteria in the spatial indexing process.
The outputs of the method 500 are a collection of index blocks which maps each of the data blocks given as an input to a N-dimensional space.
The data structures include a unique data block identifier which is created for each data block. In this particular implementation, which is targeted at WWW applications, the unique identifier of a data block is the URL (Unique Resource Locator) of the data block. Other applications may use different unique identifiers.
Another data structure is the index record. That is, for each data block given as input, an index record is created which will be used to store the search results which relate the data block to each of the strings in the corpus.
A third data structure is a global index record array, which is a data structure which contains the index records for each of the data blocks given as input.
Now, turning to the flowchart of
In step 510, it is determined whether the index record i is less than M (e.g., the number of blocks in the database). If "YES", then the process proceeds to step 515, at which j is set to 0.
In step 520, it is determined whether j is less than N (e.g., the number of keywords in the search corpus). If "YES", then the process continues to step 525.
In step 525, the search result Rj is calculated as the number of occurrences of word Wj in the data block B(i). The search result Rj is stored in the index of block B(i), in step 530. Then, in step 540, j is incremented by "1" and the process loops back to step 520.
If a "NO" occurs in step 520, then the process proceeds to step 545 at which index record i is incremented by "1" and then the process loops to step 510.
If "NO" in step 510, then the process loops to step 550 and step 555. In step 555, the vector R( ) is stored in the index of each block B(i) as the spatial coordinate of each document Bi. Then, the process ends.
First, in step 605, input data block B(c) is read. Then, in step 610, the search results R1 to Rn stored in the index in block B are read.
In step 615, i is set to "1", and in step 620, it is determined whether is less than M (e.g., the number of blocks in the database).
If "YES", then the process continues to step 625 where j is set to 1 and the distance is set to 0.
In step 630, it is determined whether j is less than N (e.g., the number of key words in the corpus). If "YES", then the process continues to step 635 where the distance is incremented to a sum of the previous distance and the absolute value of BcRj−BiBj. That is, the absolute value is found of the difference between result Rj of block Bc and result Rj of block Bj. Then, in step 640, j is incremented by "1" and the process loops to step 630.
If, in step 630, it is determined that J is not less than N (e.g,. a "NO"), then i is incremented by "1" in step 645 and the process loops to step 620.
If, in step 620, it is determined that i is not less than M, (e.g., a "NO") then the process continues to step 650.
In step 650, the proximity list is built by listing the data blocks B(i) wherein 0<i<M by ascending order according to the value of distance (i). Thus, the process terminates and the proximity list has been calculated for a data block.
It is noted that the above-described pattern 400 of spatial information retrieval, as shown in
To assist the user in the spatial navigation process, it is desirable to provide the user the ability to position the search focus and to direct the coordinates of the search in a way that is meaningful, according to the spatial navigation pattern described above.
That is, the spatial navigation can be aided by graphical user interfaces which show the projection of the N-dimensional space into two-, three-, or more dimensions (as shown in
In the current example, a projection in three dimensions would be shown, obtained by first selecting all data blocks in the space which have a non-zero value for the coordinates (Patents, Filed, IBM), and then by making the value of all other coordinates equal to zero.
The results can then be displayed in a scatter-plot, which will reveal a geometric solid with dense and sparse areas. This solid is oriented in the three axis, and therefore the points which are at the center are related of all three subjects. A point with a high value in the "Patent" axis, and low values in the other two will contain data blocks which are relevant only to the term "Patent", but not to "IBM" or the term "Filed".
The most significant pages will be in the most densely populated area that is not skewed towards any particular axis. The current position of the search is also shown in the scatter-plot, and now the user can navigate in the scatter plot using either a mouse, a joy stick, or other input device. As the user navigates the three dimensional scatter plot, the current position changes and so does the proximity list.
In this spatial search, the user may be aided by tools derived from geometry. For instance, the user may request the current position to be placed in "the center of the most densely populated area". This navigational pattern gives a whole new degree of freedom to Web navigation, which is much superior than the traditional link following. Actually, it is unnecessary for the documents to contain any inter-document links, which makes this procedure applicable outside of the scope of web navigation.
Second Embodiment
The spatial navigation interface 700 includes "Search criteria" 710, a proximity list 720, as well as a window 730 indicating human researchers who are in the area of interest and whether they can be contacted on-line or off-line and their contacts numbers/addresses, a message window 740, and "Trails" 750.
The window 710 allows the user to enter weights for a number of search terms. The weights are used as spatial values with the axis corresponding to each search term, and the list of weighted terms is then translated to a point in the N-dimensional space. This point defines the position where the user is first placed within the search space, and will determine the first proximity list sent to the user. After being placed in this original point of search, the user can move in the direction of any of the search terms by modifying the weight of the term.
When the user retrieves a data block, the "Trails" window 750 will display the next document most likely to be received based on the usage of previous users of the system.
That is, as shown especially in the left-hand side of
The facility 800 allows for correlating the human researcher's actions with the responses from previous users in the system, and is therefore capable of learning behavior (e.g., adaptive to the user) and of guiding the researcher to the appropriate information.
That is, the researcher is guided to the appropriate material utilizing the "Trails Index". Each time that a researcher retrieves a sequence of documents (i.e., D1 and then D2), this action creates a record (D1D2=1) in the Trail Index of the first document. As other researchers repeat this sequence of retrievals (D1 and then D2), the record D1D2 is incremented. The Trails Index window allows a user which has retrieved document D1 to see the action taken by previous users which have retrieved the same document. Thus, the Trails Index is capable of "learning" the preference of users in retrieving the next document, given that a certain document has been retrieved.
The portal also provides another aid to the researcher. That is, as the researcher retrieves documents, the spatial coordinates of the documents retrieved form the boundaries of an "area of interest" for the given researcher. The area which is bounded by these points is then compared with the area of interest of other researchers, and whenever the areas of interest of two researchers intersect, both researchers are notified. The percentage of the intersection area is included in the notification, so that a researcher can evaluate how closely related his research is to that of another researcher with an intersecting area of interest.
It is noted that, in the example above, finding the proximity (e.g., "closeness") of the documents to one another is performed by finding the distance between documents. While an exemplary algorithm is provided above for finding the distance, many other distance measurement algorithms may be used besides finding a vector distance between certain points in space. Other distance functions and spatial mappings are possible, including optimization algorithms.
Indeed, for example, a dictionary may have 30,000 entries which may present difficult computation issues in finding all of the permutations of the distance vectors closest to the item of interest. Hence, to reduce the number of dimensions, possibly 1,000 entries, which are specifically related to a certain field of interest, may be selected to reduce the space and reduce the computation. Moreover, smart algorithms can be used Thus, the present invention should not be construed as requiring the above specific distance measurement algorithm and implementation.
Third Embodiment
Referring now to
The Web caching portal of the invention uses this capability to automatically download the most likely documents to the client browser before they are requested by the user, thereby greatly reducing the response time experienced by the user for retrieving documents.
The predictive Web portal according to the present invention utilizes the N-dimensional space indexing technique described above to construct an indexed database of documents which are to be retrieved by the human researcher. The predictive web cache is based on a distance function which is partly derived from the Euclidean distance of documents in the N-dimensional space described above and from the usage pattern of other users of the Web portal.
A key benefit of the predictive Web caching procedure is that it allows an estimate to be made of the next point in the N-dimensional space that a user is most likely to traverse, given the "current search position". To estimate the "next point of traversal", the web caching technique attempts to compute a direction of trajectory given the user's recent traversals (e.g., document retrieval pattern), and also considering the recent traversals of other users of the caching portal.
The document traversal pattern of a given user is called a "traversal trail", or simply "trail", in the scope of this application and is illustrated in the Graphical User Interface Facility of
Hereinbelow, trails 750 and their utilization in predictive Web caching will be described with reference to
The predictive Web caching portal of the invention is advantageously utilized by users of the WWW to retrieve documents with a minimum response time. The inventive portal retains the memory (e.g., a record) of the sequence in which documents are traversed by any given user.
When a user retrieves two documents in sequence, the first document is considered the "origin" of a movement and the second document is considered the "destination". The portal will add an entry, named "trail count record", in the search record index of the origin document labeled with the Unique Resource Identifier (in this case the URL) of the destination document, or increment the trail count record, if one already exists.
Two documents are considered to be retrieved "in sequence" if the user retrieves them within the scope of a single search operation. The point of origin of a trail is the point of insertion of the search (e.g., the point that is defined by the search criteria initially posted by the user in a search operation).
A metadata index block is created corresponding to the point of insertion, which becomes the point of origin of the traversal. Then, the search results are sent to the user, and also the documents for which the index position are the closest to the point of origin.
Then, the user will select one of the documents from the search result, and, as a result, a "trail count record" is created at the point of origin labeled with the URL of the document selected, or an existing one is incremented. The point of origin now becomes the position index of the recently retrieved document.
When the user initiates the retrieval of a document, the Web caching portal will consult the index record. Then, it will compute which points are the closest to the origin, using Euclidean distances, and also compute which documents are the most likely to be traversed next based on the previous usage of other users. This is done by consulting the trail records of the index.
The predictive Web caching portal of the invention will then return:
1) The document which the user requested;
2) The documents for which the positioning index is the closest to the requested document; and
3) The documents for which the trail count record of the requested document indicates that are the most likely to be retrieved next.
It is noted that the trail count record of a given document is not restricted to the linkage pattern of the World Wide Web, in this particular implementation. This is because the inventive predictive Web portal also enables spatial document navigation. Therefore, the following scenario is possible.
That is, a user retrieves a document A. As a result a new "proximity list" is returned to the user, indicating which documents are the closest to A. (The closest documents are also returned and cached at the client for further retrieval).
The user now selects another document, B, from the proximity list, even though there was no HTML link from document A to document B. This is possible because of the N-dimensional indexing described above. The proximity list in this case provides another kind of "linkage" between documents. That is, the proximity list provides a non-HTML linkage between documents.
As a result of this selection, a trail count record is made in the index of document A, recording the fact that "one user retrieved B in sequence to A". This trail count record will be incremented any time that other users make the same retrieval sequence.
Now, assuming that another user retrieves document A, the predictive Web portal of the present invention is able to estimate that the user is potentially interested in document B (although, again, there is no HTML link from A to B), and therefore it can send document B also to the client, for future retrieval.
Hence, the trails mechanism 750 is independent from HTML links, and this feature clearly distinguishes this technique from any other traditional Web caching technique.
Additionally, in another aspect and turning to Web usage tags for client side caching (trail index), it is also possible to deploy a client side implementation of the predictive Web caching portal, as shown on the client side 900A of
The client side implementation allows the Web Browser software itself to make the determination of which documents are likely to be retrieved next by a user. It is noted that this limitation has a reduced capability, because it relies entirely in HTML links. It also relies on the adoption of a special HTML tag for links which contain a counter of the number of times that a user has traversed that link. Each time that a user traverses a link, the counter is incremented. Hence, the Web document is actually modified, to reflect the value of the link tag. This implementation is much less powerful than the predictive Web caching portal, but it may be valuable in the context of "peer-to-peer" computing.
Turning now to the specific operations shown in
Then, on the server side 900B, the server sends to the client browser the mostly like pages to be visited using the Trails index stored in the metadata of block B1 (step 930B). The client browser on the client side 900A then stores the predicted blocks in its local cache (step 930A).
Then, a user retrieves data block B2 from the server or from its cache (step 940A), and the server sends to the client browser the most likely pages to be visited using the Trails index stored in the metadata of block B2 (step 940B).
Thereafter, the client notifies the server of the ID of the block being accessed (step 950A) and the server calculates a vector V using the spatial indexes of the blocks B1 and B2 (step 950B).
Then, on the client side, block B1 is set to B2 (step 960A), and loops back to step 930A at which the client browser stores the predicted block(s) in the local cache.
Meanwhile, the servers sends to the client the data blocks whose indexes lie with the space close to the trajectory of the vector V (step 960B), and increments the trail index of block B1 in the direction of block B2, and stores the index in the metadata of block B1.
Thereafter, B1 is set equal to B2 (step 980B) and the process loops back to step 930B.
Hence, the invention uses techniques in the server to determine the content which the user would most likely fetch next, given that the user has already fetched one document from that portal. As described above, the two techniques that are used to determine which is the most likely content (document) that the user will want to access next, include the "trails" map 750 and links (e.g., listed in the proximity list 720) which the user may click on given that he is viewing a certain page. These windows (e.g., trails 750 and the links) are preferably opened/displayed in conjunction with the page the user is currently viewing.
As described above, on the server side 900B of the "Trails" technique, the server keeps a count/record attached to the file of how many times any given user has retrieved a page given that the user has retrieved a first page. Hence, after a user X has opened a first page using the caching portal, and then opens a second page, the server keeps a history of such a sequence of opening pages, and the server increments a count each time such a sequence is followed by the user. Hence, given the user's earlier access, the most likely materials of interest can be retrieved next. This information is used to calculate the probability that the user will access a second page after a first page has been opened.
To provide a concrete example of the above method and as an exemplary implementation of the this aspect of the invention, consider a researcher who is interested in the Space Shuttle.
That is, assume that there exists a page having an article (text) on the Space Shuttle Project and on that page there is a link to a picture (image) of the launching of the Space Shuttle, and it has been discovered that almost all users (e.g., 99%) have accessed the picture (clicked on the link) of the launch after having first opened the first page (e.g., the article).
By knowing this information (e.g., that the probability is extremely high that the launch image will be opened by users having first accessed the text article), the server can cache the picture of the Shuttle launch in advance and in anticipation of the user wanting to view this image, based on the user having first opened the page having the article on the Space Shuttle.
That is, the server caches the launch image while the user is reading the article on the Space Shuttle, thereby reducing any client side latency and instantly displaying the launch image as soon as the user clicks on the launch image. Such an image can be stored in the buffer memory of the client side. Thus, there is substantially no wait (e.g., no latency) on the client side.
For basis of comparison, it is known that a conventional browser has a cache and that the browser keeps a history of the previous 10–15 accesses. However, the invention differs from this simple caching by the browser in that the invention predicts, based on a user's opening of a first page, which page(s) will most likely be opened next by the user.
Further, it is noted that the history of usage is based on a history of all users of the system and not necessarily the specific user currently accessing the page(s). Hence, these user(s) are connected to the inventive portal so that the tracking (and storage) of the users' accessing behaviors can be accomplished. Thus, the invention can predict what the user wants to view next based on prior users' access usage behavior.
With this aspect of the invention, the predictive caching of data can reduce the latency with which documents can be retrieved from remote systems, such as the World Wide Web. The inventive method estimates which documents or data blocks are most likely to be visited by a certain human researcher, given that a number of documents and data blocks have already been retrieved by the user, in a given order.
Further, this aspect of the invention employs the knowledge of the order with which previous documents have been retrieved, and is capable of making a spatial interpolation which indicates which documents are most likely to be retrieved next.
Hence, with the invention, the data caching apparatus continuously sends to the client machine the documents which are most likely to be accessed next, thereby to reduce latency times.
Further, it is noted that a user's movements can be tracked based on the indexing discussed above. For example, assume that a user is interested in (e.g., researching) patents filed by IBM and that the user is determined/observed to be concentrating on a certain axis (e.g., the IBM axis) of the special coordinate system. Now, if the user is researching patents of IBM's directed to the "Clever" project, then the user's movement vector would tilt (lead) along the axis based on the word "Clever". Hence, by observing that two pages were retrieved in sequence, then a vector can be determined in space and a next page could be sent which would be reached typically by inertia (and a lengthy search). Hence, by retrieving two pages and each page has a position in space, then a vector can be formed based on the two points and the vector can be projected in the direction of time.
It is noted again that the invention can cache a plurality of images and is not limited to merely caching only the one image with the highest probability. Hence, the "depth" of the prediction can be configurable (e.g., similar to the "Preferences" features typically found at the Web Browsers today, the "Preferences" at the server side could be configured to cache more (or less) images and to recycle the images more or less often). Hence, a "Predictive Web Cache" feature/object could be found at the server side which could be configurable by the user or system designer.
It is further noted that the prediction capability of the invention may be based on the last document accessed, or based on the last plurality (e.g., 5, 10, 100, etc.) of documents. Thus, a likelihood function at the server side (of the Web) is applied, which is most predictive of the next document to be requested, whether it be the last page or the last several pages.
Fourth Preferred Embodiment
Turning now to
This aspect of the invention developed out of a desire in the assignee's company to link together and leverage researchers' (in numerous research centers around the world) efforts in common fields. As such, the present inventor recognized that it would be very beneficial to enable researchers to browse the Web using this portal.
Hitherto the invention, there was no facility to search the right project page, etc. since there was no optimum organization of the material to enable a researcher to find other researchers in the same area. Thus, with this aspect, the Web can be browsed using this portal and such similar researchers can be found. Additionally, this aspect runs the indexing procedure described above to find such similar papers and researchers, and thus is available to the server.
In this aspect, which uses a graphical user interface (GUI) similar to those of
Preferably, the users of this portal are registered users (e.g., similar to Yahoo!) so that the users' access can be restricted (e.g., access restricted only to a certain company's researchers or the like). Further, another researcher doing similar research and also housing the invention and connected to the Web through the portal would be allowed to know of similar users and the server would automatically send messages of the existence of such similar users (e.g., each system being provided with a point of insertion on the network) and enable them to trade the documents that each user has already retrieved. This concept can be thought of simplistically as "trading bookmarks."
The inventive operation may be performed while the users are browsing, or the server may store the other users' sessions while a particular user is off-line and then the server may inform the user automatically when the user comes on-line again that other researchers have been researching a particular area within the last few days, weeks, months, etc. Hence, the user can compare the intersection of the research areas of the other researchers with his own.
If the collection of the documents that the user has retrieved is very similar to the collection that another user has retrieved, then the intersection area is relatively larger. Hence, an affinity with another researcher can be determined, and it can be determined where the other closely-affine researcher has been (e.g., researching an area) that a user has not been. Hence, some interesting material can potentially be found. Then, the user can go to such areas/documents. Thus, a "peer bookmark" can be created and the user can follow other researchers' (e.g., peers) "bookmarks" to supplement and further the user's own research.
Hence, this aspect correlates the usage habits of each human researcher and notifies a researcher of a given topic that other researchers are currently working in related topics. This facility may be used by researchers to find potential collaborators for a research task, and can be used in knowledge management applications at research institutions.
Thus, the collaborative Web search portal is a facility with which Web users can discover other user with similar interests. The measure of proximity among users is a function of distance which is derived from both the N-dimensional mapping scheme and the trails index described above. This non-Euclidean distance function can be expressed as:
where S is the non-Euclidean distance of the two points p1 and p2 in hyperspace, and D is the Euclidean between points p1 and p2, given by the formula below
D(P1, P2)=√{square root over (SD(P1D−P2D)2)}
where T is the Trail estimate between points p1 and p2 calculated as explained above.
The estimate S is used in the collaborative Web portal to estimate the proximity between any two users. The portal allows a user to subscribe to the proximity of another user, to initiate a chat online and to exchange a variety of information with other users.
One of the particular kinds of information exchange which is particular to the inventive collaborative Web portal is a "trail of research." A trail of research is a specific sequence of bookmarks that lead a researcher to a specific point in cyberspace. The collaborative Web portal is shown in the right side of the graphical user interface of
Turning to
First, regarding the client side 1000A, first the user logs into the collaborative research portal according to the invention (step 1010A).
In step 1020A, the user selects an existing research session, or creates a new one.
In step 1030A, the user retrieves a data block B.
In step 1040A, the user receives notifications of other researchers with a common interest.
In step 1050A, the user receives the index of other data blocks relevant to his research.
On the server side 1000B, after step 1010A by the client, the server sends to the client a list of previously created research sessions (step 1015B).
In step 1035B, after steps 1020A and 1030A by the client, the server adds the spatial coordinates of block B to the collection of vertices to the research session.
Then, in step 1045B, the server recalculates the areas occupied by the vertices of the research session.
In step 1055B, the servers calculates the intersection of the research sessions with the research sessions created by other users.
In step 1065B, it is determined whether any sessions intersect. If "NO", then the process continues to step 1070B and loops back to step 1035B.
If "YES" in step 1065B, then in step 1080B, the server notifies the users that created the intersecting sessions, and then in step 1090B the server sends to the users of the intersecting session the geometry of the other intersecting sessions.
Thus, this aspect allows several human researchers to engage in collaborative research and notifies researchers of other researchers and their efforts in a common area of interest.
The CPUs 1111 are interconnected via a system bus 1112 to a random access memory (RAM) 1114, read-only memory (ROM) 1116, input/output (I/O) adapter 1118 (for connecting peripheral devices such as disk units 1121 and tape drives 1140 to the bus 1112), user interface adapter 1122 (for connecting a keyboard 1124, mouse 1126, speaker 1128, microphone 1132, and/or other user interface device to the bus 1112), a communication adapter 1134 for connecting an information handling system to a data processing network, the Internet, an Intranet, a personal area network (PAN), etc., and a display adapter 1136 for connecting the bus 1112 to a display device 1138 and/or printer 1139 (e.g., a digital printer or the like).
In addition to the hardware/software environment described above, a different aspect of the invention includes a computer-implemented method for performing the above method. As an example, this method may be implemented in the particular environment discussed above.
Such a method may be implemented, for example, by operating a computer, as embodied by a digital data processing apparatus, to execute a sequence of machine-readable instructions. These instructions may reside in various types of signal-bearing media.
Thus, this aspect of the present invention is directed to a programmed product, comprising signal-bearing media tangibly embodying a program of machine-readable instructions executable by a digital data processor incorporating the CPU 1111 and hardware above, to perform the method of the invention.
This signal-bearing media may include, for example, a RAM contained within the CPU 1111, as represented by the fast-access storage for example. Alternatively, the instructions may be contained in another signal-bearing media, such as a magnetic data storage diskette 1200 (
Whether contained in the diskette 1200, the computer/CPU 1111, or elsewhere, the instructions may be stored on a variety of machine-readable data storage media, such as DASD storage (e.g., a conventional "hard drive" or a RAID array), magnetic tape, electronic read-only memory (e.g., ROM, EPROM, or EEPROM), an optical storage device (e.g. CD-ROM, WORM, DVD, digital optical tape, etc.), paper "punch" cards, or other suitable signal-bearing media including transmission media such as digital and analog and communication links and wireless. In an illustrative embodiment of the invention, the machine-readable instructions may comprise software object code, compiled from a language such as "C", etc.
While the invention has been described in terms of several preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
1. A computer implemented method of navigating data blocks, comprising:
- opening a first data block of a plurality of data blocks of interest, said plurality of data blocks being spatially indexed in N dimensions;
- viewing a closeness relationship between said first data block opened and a second plurality of data blocks based on their content;
- accessing a second data block of said second plurality of data blocks which is viewed to be closest to said first data block; and
- spatially indexing a collection of data blocks using a collection of text strings 1 to N as a search criteria,
- wherein said spatially indexing includes: determining whether an index record i is less than a number M of blocks in the database and if so setting a number j to 0; determining whether j is less than the number N of keywords in a search corpus, and if so, calculating a search result Rj as a number of occurrences of word Wj in the data block B(i); storing the search result Rj in an index of block B(i); and incrementing j by "1" and determining whether j is less than N.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein a user views said first data block and views its relationship with other data blocks based on a calculation of a distance function, and without traversing a hypertext link, and without subsequently accessing a prior search results page.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein said distance function comprises:
- a distance function in Euclidean space.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
- each time a data block is accessed, building a proximity list indicating a closeness of another plurality of data blocks to the data block accessed currently, such that the user traverses data blocks horizontally to find a most relevant data block to information sought.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein N is a number of words or subjects in a selected corpus.
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
- inputting, by a user, an input indicating a search to be performed, the input including a collection of data blocks which are to be indexed, said data blocks selectively containing data, metadata, and links to other data blocks.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the user further inputs a search depth defining how many links are to be followed during a search process and a collection of text strings 1 to N is input, said text strings being used as search criteria in a spatial indexing process.
8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:
- creating, for each data block given as an input, an index record for storing search results which relate each said data block to each of the strings in the collection; and
- creating a global index record array which contains index records for each of the data blocks given as an input.
9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
- calculating and displaying a proximity list for a data block.
10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
- positioning, by the user, a search focus and directing coordinates of a search.
11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
- providing a graphical user interface which shows a projection of the N-dimensional space into a plurality of dimensions.
12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:
- displaying the projection in three dimensions obtained by first selecting all data blocks in the space which have a non-zero value for coordinates (x, y, z), where x, y, and z are search criteria, and then by making a value of all other coordinates equal to zero.
13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:
- displaying search results in a scatter-plot, thereby to reveal a geometric solid with dense and sparse areas, such that the solid is oriented in the three axes, and points which are at the center are related to all three subjects and such that points with a relatively high value in one axis, and relatively low values in the remaining axes will contain data blocks which are relevant only to the term relevant to the one axis, but not to terms relevant to the remaining axes.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein most significant Web pages are displayed in a most densely populated area that is not skewed towards any particular axis, and
- wherein a current position of the search is shown in the scatter-plot, such that a user navigates documents in the scatter-plot using a hand-held input mechanism.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein said hand-held input mechanism comprises at least one of a mouse, a touchpad, a light pointer, a keyboard, and a joy stick.
16. The method of claim 14, further comprising:
- as the user navigates the three dimensional scatter-plot, changing a current position and a proximity list.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein, during a spatial search, the user positions the current position in a center of the most densely populated area.
18. The method of claim 1, wherein said data blocks comprise documents, said method further comprising:
- selectively providing documents with or without any inter-document links.
19. The method of claim 1, wherein said viewing comprises:
- displaying information according to a location in an N-dimensional space.
20. The method of claim 1, wherein said closeness relationship comprises:
- a relationship of a Euclidean distance between points in an N-dimensional space.
21. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
- reading an input data block B(c);
- reading search results R1 to Rn stored in an index in block B;
- setting i to "1", and determining whether i is less than a number M of blocks in the database and if so, setting j to 1 and a distance to 0;
- determining whether j is less than a number N of key words in a search corpus, and if so incrementing the distance to a sum of a previous distance and an absolute value of a difference between a result Rj of block Bc and the result Rj of block Bj, and incrementing j.
22. The method of claim 1, wherein N is a number of words or subjects in a selected corpus, and
- wherein said viewing includes displaying information according to a location in an N-dimensional space, and
- wherein said closeness relationship includes a relationship of a Euclidean distance between points in the N-dimensional space.
23. A computer implemented method of navigating data blocks, comprising:
- opening a first data block of a plurality of data blocks of interest, said plurality of data blocks being spatially indexed in N dimensions;
- viewing a closeness relationship between said first data block opened and a second plurality of data blocks based on their content;
- accessing a second data block of said second plurality of data blocks which is viewed to be closest to said first data block;
- inputting, by a user, an input indicating a search to be performed, the input including a collection of data blocks which are to be indexed, said data blocks selectively containing data, metadata, and links to other data blocks; wherein the user further inputs a search depth defining how many links are to be followed during a search process and a collection of text strings 1 to N is input, said text strings being used as search criteria in a spatial indexing process,
- creating, for each data block given as an input, an index record for storing search results which relate each said data block to each of the strings in the collection; and
- creating a global index record array which contains index records for each of the data blocks given as an input,
- wherein said indexing of the data blocks includes: determining whether an index record i is less than a number M of blocks in the database and if so setting a number j to 0; determining whether j is less than the number N of keywords in a search corpus, and if so, calculating a search result Rj as a number of occurrences of word Wj in the data block B(i); storing the search result Rj in the index of block B(i); and incrementing j by "1" and determining whether j is less than N.
24. The method of claim 23, further comprising:
- if j is determined to be less than N, incrementing the index record i and determining whether i is less than the number M of blocks in the database.
25. The method of claim 24, further comprising:
- if i is not less than M, then storing a vector R( ) in the index of each block B(i) as a spatial coordinate of each document Bi.
26. A computer implemented method of navigating data blocks, comprising:
- opening a first data block of a plurality of data blocks of interest, said plurality of data blocks being spatially indexed in N dimensions;
- viewing a closeness relationship between said first data block opened and a second plurality of data blocks based on their content;
- accessing a second data block of said second plurality of data blocks which is viewed to be closest to said first data block; and
- calculating and displaying a proximity list for a data block, said calculating comprising: reading an input data block B(c); reading search results R1 to Rn stored in the index in block B; setting i to "1", and determining whether i is less than a number M of blocks in the database and if so, setting j to 1 and a distance to 0;
- determining whether j is less than a number N of key words in a search corpus, and if so incrementing the distance to a sum of a previous distance and an absolute value of a difference between a result Rj of block Bc and the result Rj of block Bj, and incrementing j.
27. The method of claim 26, further comprising:
- if j is determined to be not less than N, then incrementing i and again determining if i is less than M.
28. The method of claim 26, further comprising:
- if it is determined that i is not less than M, then building a proximity list by listing the data blocks B(i) wherein 0<i<M by ascending order according to a value of distance (i), thereby to calculate the proximity list for the data block.
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Patent History
Type: Grant
Filed: Jun 29, 2001
Date of Patent: Oct 3, 2006
Patent Publication Number: 20030004995
Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation (Armonk, NY)
Inventor: Marcos Nogueira Novaes (Hopewell Junction, NY)
Primary Examiner: William Bashore
Assistant Examiner: Quoc A. Tran
Attorney: McGinn IP Law Group, PLLC
Application Number: 09/893,788
International Classification: G06F 15/00 (20060101);


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Honey Seems to Soothe Coughs in Toddlers
Parents of young children who have a cough that keeps them up at night may want to give their little ones honey for some relief, a randomized trial showed.
Action Points
- Parents of young children who have a cough that keeps them up at night may want to try giving them honey for some relief.
- Note that adverse events were few and not significantly different between the groups who received either honey or a placebo (silan date extract).
Parents of young children who have a cough that keeps them up at night may want to try giving their little ones honey for some relief, a randomized trial showed.
Compared with placebo, single doses of three different types of honey resulted in significantly greater gains on a number of subjective outcomes, including cough frequency, in children with a median age of 2.4 years, according to Herman Avner Cohen, MD, of Tel Aviv University in Israel, and colleagues.
There were few adverse events, the researchers reported online ahead of the September issue of Pediatrics.
"Honey may be a preferable treatment of cough and sleep difficulties associated with childhood upper respiratory tract infections," they wrote, noting that honey should not be used in infants because of the risk of infantile botulism.
Parents have limited options when it comes to treating cough and cold symptoms, as most over-the-counter medications sold in the U.S. state that they should not be used in children younger than 4. In Canada, use is restricted to children 6 and older.
Many home and herbal remedies have been used to treat a nagging cough, including honey, which the World Health Organization lists as a potential treatment.
However, evidence supporting that use for honey is limited. Of two studies showing a benefit for honey, one tested only buckwheat honey and the other was not blinded.
To further explore the issue, Cohen and colleagues conducted a double-blind, randomized, controlled trial involving 300 children, ages 1 to 5, who had upper respiratory tract infections, a nocturnal cough, and an illness duration of less than a week. The participants were enrolled from six general pediatric community clinics.
The placebo in the study was a silan date extract, chosen because its structure, color, and taste are similar to those of honey. The three types of honey evaluated were eucalyptus, citrus, and labiatae.
The patients were randomized to receive a single 10-gram dose of placebo or one of the honey products within 30 minutes of bedtime.
Parents completed a survey the day before the intervention and the day after. It contained five questions covering the frequency and severity of the child's cough, how bothered the child was by the cough, and how the cough affected both the child's and the parents' sleep. Each measure was rated on a seven-point Likert scale.
Placebo and all three types of honey were associated with improvements from 1 day to the next, which could be indicative of the natural course of upper respiratory tract infections. However, the gains were larger in the honey groups for all of the outcomes.
Cough frequency, for example, improved by 1.77 to 1.95 points in the honey groups compared with 1.00 point in the placebo group (P<0.001).
When all of the outcomes were combined together, the improvements were 9.88 points with eucalyptus honey, 10.10 points for citrus honey, and 9.51 points for labiatae honey. All of those gains were significantly larger than the 5.82-point improvement with the date extract (P<0.001).
Adverse events included stomach ache, nausea, and vomiting. There were two cases in the citrus honey group and one each in the other two honey groups and the placebo group.
The researchers noted that it is unclear what characteristic of honey is responsible for the improvements, adding, however, that honey has been found to have both antioxidant and antimicrobial properties.
It also was not likely that the date extract worsened cough and cold symptoms because those patients did show some improvement. In addition, "there is also no reason to believe silan caused allergic symptoms or bronchospasm because dates are not a common food allergen in the Israeli population," they said.
Another possible factor to explain at least part of the effect of honey could involve the central nervous system; there is a close anatomic relationship between the sensory nerve fibers involved in coughing and the gustatory nerve fibers involved in tasting sweetness.
"This theory may explain some of the observed effect in patients treated with silan date extract because this is also a sweet substance," the authors wrote.
They acknowledged some limitations of their study, including the use of a single dose of honey, subjective assessments of outcomes, and the inability to ensure compliance with honey and placebo administration. They also pointed out that the dropout rate was higher for children receiving citrus and eucalyptus honey, possibly because both of those substances are more aromatic, which the children may not have liked.5 comments


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Fund a sewage outfall pipe
To the Editor:
The Herald's editorial in the June 6-12 issue, concerning the Bay Park Sewage Plant ("Protect the bays — fund the Bay Park pipe"), was refreshing to read.
The editorial rightfully agrees with many Bay Park and East Rockaway residents who have been fighting for years to make an ocean outfall pipe a reality. For a plant that discharges 70 million gallons of nitrogen-rich wastewater a day, the outfall pipe will do much to improve our environment, save fish and marine life and keep our children and families safe — especially my constituents in the Bay Park, East Rockaway, Oceanside and Island Park communities.
Nassau County, Executive Ed Mangano and Legislator Howard Kopel were on the right track in making millions of dollars worth of long-needed upgrades and enhancements of operational and odor control systems when Sandy innundated the plant with more than nine feet of saltwater. They should be commended for their efforts, and I'm pleased their good works will continue.
The long-needed ocean outfall pipe from the plant into the Atlantic will do much to improve our bays and waterways, as the Herald notes. Federal funds the county is due through FEMA Sandy reimbursements will be put to good use making this happen. The Cedar Creek Sewage Treatment Plant in Wantagh already has a 3.5-mile-long pipe to disperse effluent into deep water — the Bay Park plant would benefit if it had one too.
The federal government and Gov. Andrew Cuomo should prioritize these funds to extend the Bay Park plant's outflow pipe into the Atlantic. For too long, it was pie in the sky — now that we continue to recover from Sandy and its horrendous tidal flooding, those federal funds will help our neighbors and local fisherman by being put to use funding the outfall pipe.
Anthony J. Santino
Councilman, Town of Hempstead


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Disney Live Coming to Sioux Falls
Mickey Mouse and his band of friends, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy, will be performing in a music mash-up of mega proportions when Disney Live! Mickey's Music Festival comes to the Sioux Falls Arena.
The show will feature an all star line-up of more than 25 Disney characters plus you'll hear the greatest hits from blockbuster movies Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, and Toy Story remixed to rock, pop, reggae, hip-hop,and country.
Two shows are scheduled on Sunday January 19th 1:30 & 4:30. Tickets are available right now at the Arena box offices, or at Ticketmaster.com.


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Are you a Terrier Owner who loves their Jack Russell Terrier? Then these custom designed Premium Pillow Covers are a MUST HAVE! These throw pillow covers are made from our premium 50/50 Poly-Cotton blend for ultra soft comfort. Each cover features a one-sided print and is finished with a concealed zipper for ease of care.
Each pillow cover measures 16" x 16". Does not include pillow insert...And you can get them NOW, but only for a limited time!
We ship with a USPS tracking number. Shipping takes between one to two weeks.
Click the red "Buy It Now" button! Limited Quantity - Will sell out fast!


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By Michael H. Marvins
"Lives Remembered: Photographs of a Small Town in Poland 1897-1939" illustrates Jewish life in Europe before the Holocaust through reproductions of more than 100 photographs of the small town of Szczuczyn, Poland.
These photographs capture the ordinary lives of the residents during the years leading up to the Nazi invasion. These photographs were taken by Zalman Kaplan in Szczuczyn, where he established a business as the local photographer.
Kaplan's grandson, Michael Marvins, spent years collecting photographs by his grandfather from the descendants of the families that lived in Szczuczyn.
The photographs reveal another side of the small Polish town contrary to the often associated images of Orthodox Jews. They show a rich and diverse way of life that was not so different from our own today. This exhibit puts faces on the millions of men, women and children who perished in the Holocaust. The photographs are of ordinary people leading common lives. The exhibit shows what can happen to everyday people when hate and intolerance are allowed to flourish.
This glimpse into life before the war shows the people of Szczuczyn as similar to many around the world — enjoying life, advancements in technology and living free of labels or hate. Upon close examination, one must wonder, were their lives so different from our own?
This exhibition is generously underwritten by Kempner Capital Management, Inc.; The Wortham Foundation, Inc.; BP America; Bridgeway Foundation; Gainer, Donnelly & Desroches; The Harris and Eliza Kempner Fund; and Marathon Oil Corporation, with special thanks to Continental Airlines, official airline of Holocaust Museum Houston.


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2006 Tetra
Tetra—a harmonious fusion of four. Our 2006 Tetra Red Wine is a classic blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet franc and Petit Verdot. Each lot was individually harvested from exceptional vineyards in the cooler southern part of the Napa Valley, and then vinified separately in order to fully capture and showcase the essence of the fruit sources. Fermentation variables included cold soak (to increase extractability of color and tannin), inclusion of whole berries (to amplify primary fruit), fermentation temperature, cap management, and extended maceration (to soften tannins and stabilize color). Following fermentation, the free run was racked to small French oak barrels (75% new), where the wines underwent malolactic conversion. Wines were aged for 18 months in barrel, and then the final blend was painstakingly crafted through many sessions of trial-and-error tastings, finally honing in on the best-of-the-best. The wine was bottled without fining or filtration to maximize flavors and textures.


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Nimbus® Precision Balances: NBL 8201e
Durable and reliable, Nimbus precision balances deliver a full breadth of readabilities ranging from 1mg to 0.1g. Innovative design enables a compact footprint, so it occupies minimal space but retains a high level of performance.
For science labs, the Nimbus balance offers 5 weighing applications including density determination, percentage weighing and dynamic weighing.
The Nimbus' single-piece construction offers greater balance stability, producing highly repeatable results. The weighing sensor in the Nimbus is crafted from a single block, and contains fewer parts than a traditional force motor balance. This optimized internal mechanism is fabricated using hardened materials, helping the Nimbus tolerate rigorous laboratory use.
Nimbus balances are suitable for use in universities, medical laboratories and vets. For more information about the Nimbus precision balance, please contact us.
NBL 8201e Specifications
- Capacity
- 8200g
- Readability
- 0.1g
- Repeatability
- 0.2g
- Weighing Units
- g, kg, ct, GN, N, lb, oz, ozt, dwt, custom unit
- Calibration
- External calibration
- Stabilization Time
- 3.0
- Pan Size
- 6.3" ø / 160mm ø
- Linearity
- 0.2g
- Power Supply
- 18VDC 830mA adapter
- Construction
- Extruded aluminum base with a die-cast aluminum case
- Interface
- Operating Temperature
- 15° to 35°C / 59° to 95°F
- Net Weight
- 6.8lb / 3.1kg
- Overall Dimensions
- 8.7"x12.2"x3.5" / 220x310x90mm (wxdxh)
- Electrical Safety Mark
- CE, cUL
- Approvals
- Display Digit Height
- 0.8" / 20mm
- California Residents
- Click here for Proposition 65 warning
Features and Benefits
- Color-coded keys facilitate quick recognition of the most frequently used buttons
- Level indicator and adjustable feet ensure proper balance setup for optimum weighing results
- Removable draft shield on models with 0.001g readability helps to reduce errors caused by air currents
- Robust metal housing protects internal components in harsh environments
- Sealed keypad protects against dirt and spills
- USB and RS-232 interfaces provide speedy communication with computers and printers
- Large, grade 304 stainless steel pan allows swift cleaning
- Vivid, backlit LCD easily visible in any lighting conditions
- Lockdown device to secure balance
- External calibration allows for verification and adjustment with weights
- Printouts include date and time for data tracking within Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) guidelines
- Selectable digital filtering helps minimize effects of vibration and disturbances
- Zero-tracking feature ensures display returns to zero reading
- Multilingual display permits use in various regions
- Vivid, backlit LCD easily visible in any lighting conditions
- AC adapter included
- Manual (English): Nimbus® Precision Balances - NBLe_i_UM_EN.pdf
- Manual (English): Nimbus® Precision Balances - NBL_Setup_Guide_EN.pdf
- Manual (中文): Nimbus® Precision Balances - NBL_Setup_Guide_CN.pdf
- Manual (中文): Nimbus® Precision Balances - NBL_UM_CN.pdf
- Manual (Français): Nimbus® Precision Balances - NBLe_i_UM_FR.pdf
- Manual (Español): Nimbus® Precision Balances - NBL_UM_ES.pdf
- Manual (Español): Nimbus® Precision Balances - NBLe_i_UM_ES.pdf
- Manual (Multi_Language): Nimbus® Precision Balances - NBL_CM.pdf
- Datasheet (English): Nimbus® Precision Balances - NBL-Nimbus-2-DS-LT-EN.pdf
- Datasheet : Nimbus® Precision Balances - Nimbus Brochure (2227) A4 email.pdf
- Datasheet (Español): Nimbus® Precision Balances - NBL-Nimbus-2-DS-LT-SP.pdf
- Datasheet (Français): Nimbus® Precision Balances - NBL-Nimbus-2-DS-LT-FR.pdf
- Density determination
- Dynamic / animal weighing
- Parts counting
- Percentage weighing
- Weighing
Technical Highlights
- Backlit display
- Below balance weighing
- Date
- External calibration
- GLP/ISO Print Reports
- Security lock down
- Tare Function
- Time
Here is a list of our available related products and suitable accessories:


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Ministers should resist calls to expand grammar schools because they are "stuffed full" of middle-class children and fail to improve social mobility, according to the head of Ofsted.
Academic selection works well for a tiny minority of pupils while consigning large numbers of other children to educational failure, said Sir Michael Wilshaw.
He said the number of poor pupils admitted to state grammars – currently around three per cent – was "nonsense" and suggested that campaigners pushing for an expansion were misplaced.
The comments come just days after ministers rejected plans for a new grammar school site in Sevenoaks, Kent, because it failed to pass a legal test put in place by the last Labour government.
In further remarks, Sir Michael also warned that an influx of migrants from Romania and Bulgaria next year could put a major strain on the state education system, saying it was "very brittle in parts".
The Ofsted chief also appeared to criticise the traditional six-week summer holiday as "too long".
But his comments sparked outrage among grammar school supporters who insisted they remained hugely popular with parents.
Robert McCartney, chairman of the National Grammar Schools Association, said: "I think it is astonishing.
"The real question here is not about grammars versus state comprehensives, it is about whether we have enough good schools.
"The fact is, we have 10 to 15 applications for every grammar school place and the reason so many aspirational parents are determined to get their children in is because they recognise they are good schools. In reality we need more, not fewer, grammar schools to meet this demand."
He added: "It surprises me that someone in his position should mount an attack on that one section of the state education system that is providing top class results. He should be preserving the best and worrying about the rest."
Plans for the new grammar – supposedly an "annexe" of an existing school – were rejected by the Department for Education last week because they fell foul of legislation banning the opening of wholly new state grammars in England.
It would have created 1,300 new places in the Kent town.
But speaking to The Observer, Sir Michael said grammar schools were not the answer to driving up standards.
"Grammar schools are stuffed full of middle-class kids," he said. "A tiny percentage are on free school meals: three per cent. That is a nonsense.
"Anyone who thinks grammar schools are going to increase social mobility needs to look at those figures. I don't think they work.
"The fact of the matter is that there will be calls for a return to the grammar school system. Well, look what is happening at the moment."
Northern Ireland currently has a fully-selective education system but Sir Michael claimed the country performed worse than England in international rankings.
"The grammar schools might do well with 10 per cent of the school population, but everyone else does really badly," he said. "What we have to do is make sure all schools do well in the areas in which they are located."
In further comments, Sir Michael said England had a "big job" to ensure it had enough quality teachers in the system to cope with a booming pupil population on the back of the expansion of the EU in 2014.
"Obviously I have got concerns about that," he said. "If we get huge numbers of children from overseas and from eastern Europe coming in, we have to have enough teachers to teach them and resources available in schools."
Sir Michael also said he would like to see changes to the academic year, adding: "I think the six-week [summer] holiday is too long."


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This past Wednesday, July 24, 2013 Videograss held the world premiere for their new movie, The Last Ones. Premieres totally kick ass. They're a perfect reason to get together with your friends, watch a new snowboard movie, yell at the screen, and party with chicks. That's exactly what happened at this premiere. Everyone from Mt. Hood, Portland, Seattle, and everywhere else got together, watched a seriously awesome snowboard movie, and just had a great time.
We could tell you what went down in this video, rider by rider, trick by trick. But we're not going to. Just watch the movie, you'll get more enjoyment out of it that way. But what we will tell you is that this might be the best VG movie ever made. Every part is solid, starting with a killer opener, all the way to one of the heaviest enders in a while. But like I said, I'm not going to spoil any of it.
Check out The Last Ones as soon as you can. It features riding from Bryan Fox, Chris Bradshaw, Danimals, Danny Larsen, Darrell Mathes, Gus Engle, Jake Kuzyk, Jake Olson Elm, Joe Sexton, Jonas Michilot, Jordan Mendenhall, Justin Fronius, Keegan Valaika, Nick Dirks, Scott Stevesn, Zac Marben, and it totally kicks ass.