Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Facebook, Inc.

Alexander A Sourov

Darius Snapkauskas

Lars Seren Backstrom

Christopher John Marra

Jeffrey R Aamodt

Alexandru Petrescu

Syed Shahbaz Ahmed

Keshav Puttaswamy

Preethi Ramani

Philip Yuen

Patrick Michael Conlan

Ludovic R Hauduc

Sundaravadivelan Paranthaman

Eric McQuaid Zenz

Govind Varshney

Maithili Dandige

Timothy B Harahan

Sainath Narendranath Thadkal

Charles H Burns, Iii

Kyle D Power

Ladislau Molnar

James Zhen Lin

Marcel P F Parent

Heather J O'Cull

Joseph Hammer

Rahul N Motwani

Daniil Magdalin

Lawrence D Boyes

A system transmits selected news feed stories to a client device in advance of receiving a request for news feed stories. As a result, stories are immediately available for viewing when a user interacts with the system. The system selects news feed stories to push based on criteria such as a likelihood that a user will interact with a story and the sizes of pushed stories. For example, the system selects news feed stories such that a total size of stories selected does not exceed a threshold value based on local memory at the client device. The system may determine a scheduled time at which the stories are selected and pushed. The scheduled time is based on factors including patterns of network connection speed or past user interactions, for example, a time range of the day during which the user most frequently viewed pushed stories.

Pushing news feed content to client devices

A mobile device receives ranked news feed stories from a server of a social networking system. The mobile device determines whether to adjust the ranking based on local information generated by applications executing on the mobile device or hardware of the mobile device. Examples of local information of the mobile device include information describing the mobile devices' network connection, geographical location, sensor readings, downloaded data on memory storage, and interactions of software applications executing on the mobile device. For example, if a network co-processor of a mobile device detects a slow network connection, the mobile device lowers the ranking of news feed stories expected to require further use of network bandwidth.

Ranking of news feed in a mobile device based on local signals

A data structure that represents a person is created. The data structure comprises a person object. The person object comprises one or more contact objects. When it is determined that the person is a global address list contact, first contact information for the person is obtained from a global address list store and stored in a first contact object. When it is determined that the person is an email contact, second contact information is obtained from a contact store and stored in a first memory cache. When it is determined that the second contact information includes a global address identifier, the global address identifier is stored in the second contact object. A person identifier is created for the person that identifies the person. The person identifier is stored in the first contact object and in the second contact object.

Build a person object from multiple contacts

Displaying a custom user interface in response to a determination that the application program is configured to display the custom user interface. To create the custom user interface, the end user can customize one or more default user interface files to create custom user interface files. The default user interface files can comprise one or more of a structure definition file, a content definition file, and a content display file. Additionally, the custom user interface can be associated with a program module function that can execute in connection with displaying the custom user interface.

Method and system for providing an extensible user interface

A timeline is generated from and fully integrated with a project schedule. The project schedule may be any graphical representation for displaying detailed information associated with a project. The timeline visually represents certain tasks, dates and other information associated with the project schedule such that an overview of the project schedule may be determined.

Method and system for generating a timeline associated with a project schedule

Displaying interrelated changes in a grid may be provided. Grid cells in a document may be modified when either a grid cell is directly changed by a user, or when a grid cell changes due to information residing in another cell changing. The modified grid cells allow the user to perceive how certain changes to data in one grid cell can affect other grid cells.

Displaying interrelated changes in a grid

A facility for storing extrinsic data is described. The facility receives data associated with a distinguished extrinsic data item of a specified type. The facility determines whether a flexible column directory table contains an entry mapping the distinguished extrinsic data item to a flexible column pool column. If the flexible column directory table does not contain an entry mapping the distinguished extrinsic data item to a flexible column pool column, the facility creates an entry in the flexible column directory table that maps the distinguished extrinsic data item to an available flexible column pool column of the specified type. The facility then copies the received data to the flexible column pool column mapped from the distinguished extrinsic data item.

Adding extrinsic data columns to an existing database schema using a temporary column pool

The present invention permits customization of shapes, sizes, and layout for data of nodes within a network diagram based upon node category or nodes selected by the user. The invention also permits a user to create his or her own data template for the layout of data within a certain category of nodes. The invention further provides a filter that highlights nodes in a network diagram according to parameters selected by a user. The invention can include a graphical user interface that permits rapid and easy selection of various options for nodes displayed within a network diagram. The system and method of the present invention also organizes and generates a network diagram that permits a user to display one or more nodes at one magnification level while displaying other nodes at a different magnification level.

System and method for creating customizable nodes in a network diagram

A multidimensional database report is automatically generated from data provided by an application without the need to access a server or server application. A client-side process takes the data from a desktop or client-side application and generates cube files that are stored locally with respect to the desktop application. A cube-consuming application retrieves the multidimensional data from the cube files and constructs a client-side generated report. The report is generated in real-time and respects the settings for the data used in the desktop application. The data in the generated cube files stays connected with the desktop application, so that when data is updated in the application, the data in the cube is also updated.

Advanced desktop reporting

A method and system for dynamic creation of an OLAP cube is disclosed which enables OLAP cubes to be created from custom database entities and custom database entity relationships. A created cube may be implemented on a local or remote data server using a variety of modular database protocols. A computer-readable medium and system for OLAP cube data permission derivation is also disclosed. OLAP cube data permissions are derived from category data associated with an OLAP database. The resulting cube data permissions are associated with data in the OLAP cube.

Dynamic cube services

Methods and systems are provided for managing dependencies between projects in a project management application. The methods and systems utilize one or more project webs which are shared web-based collaborative workspaces for managing dependencies between projects.

Method and system for providing cross project commitments

A network diagram layout engine can automatically determine the layout of nodes of information within a chart on a display screen while permitting manual adjustment of other nodes. The network diagram layout engine can also filter the types of nodes that will be displayed. The network diagram layout engine can support various automatic layout schemes or spatial arrangements of the nodes that can be modified or adjusted manually by the user. The network diagram layout engine can create a network diagram that highlights the interrelationships between respective nodes by substantially reducing intersections of links between nodes. That is, the network diagram layout engine can create a network diagram that includes a plurality of nodes that are linked together to form one or more node chains. The one or more node chains can provide a balanced and logical presentation of the interrelationships between the nodes where links between nodes flow in a substantially smooth manner between respective links.

Growing community of inventors

Seattle, WA, United States of America

Alexander A Sourov