Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

John D Vert

Tammy Savage

Melora Zaner

Kathleen Patricia Mulcahy

Cesare John Saretto

Neel Ishwar Murarka

Eugene Mesgar

Rama Ranganath

Erica Sanders

Linda Stone

Asta Glatzer

Heather Ferguson

Eugene Zarahovsky

Rod N Gamache

Eugene Zarakhovsky

Eun-Kyung Chung

Mark H Lucovsky

Sunita Shrivastava

David N Cutler

Michael T Massa

Robert T Short

Geoffrey John Elliott

Darryl E Havens

Steven R Wood

Jacob Kappeler Oshins

Landy Wang

Bryan M Willman

Stephane Plante

David O Hovel

Brian J Guarraci

Aarthi Natarajan

Edward H Wayt

Jonathan N Sposato

Joe Walkush

Dan Alvin Hinsley

Rita Mang Chee Wong

A communication icon represents a shared connection allowing members of an online group to interact with each other and participate in different activities together. The icon through which the group interacts resides on each group member's desktop and has many attributes including click activation modes and drag and drop functionality. The icon provides each group member with a representation of the group's shared relationship. Any group member can change the group icon and have that change propagated to the computers of the other members of the group. The icon can be activated for both non-verbal and verbal communications as well as activity sharing. Online members of the group are kept apprised of the group's status and activities via a displayed status bar.

Visual group interface for group connectivity

A novel technique automatically stores synchronized group history related to an online group interaction and enables individual group members to later view and access the group history. In an embodiment of the invention, the group history is accessible by group members independently of group interactions at any later time. According to various embodiments of the invention, the group history may be presented in an overview form or a detailed form. With respect to the detailed form, the group history may be presented graphically, such as in an icon timeline or collage, textually, such as in list form, or in any combination of presentation formats. In a further embodiment of the invention, the synchronized group history is writable by group members in addition to being automatically maintained.

Shared online experience history capture and provision system and method

A novel application and user interface for facilitating group interactions over a network integrates messaging, file sharing, media playing, journaling, profiles, and gaming into a cohesive environment. The groups facilitated by the invention are persistent and mobile in that a user does not have to recollect and reconfigure the group each time he or she wants to interact with the group online and, while online, the group may be taken from one activity to another without having to disband and reconnect at the second activity. The application is modular so as to be extensible to include other activities and functionalities. In an embodiment, the group interaction application utilizes a peer-to-peer network environment to facilitate network communications between group members.

Integrated experience of vogue system and method for shared integrated online social interaction

Ordered list management is described. An item's position within an ordered list is represented by a path value. A globally unique identifier (GUID) is appended to the path value to enable simultaneous or near-simultaneous modifications to the ordered list without conflict. Furthermore, an ordered list-specific seed value may be prepended to each item's path value to ensure clustering of ordered list items when two or more ordered lists are merged.

Ordered list management

A novel virtual calling card system and method aid in the formation of online relationships, serving as an introduction tool and as a contact mechanism. The calling card is an exchangeable entity that is automatically updated, ensuring that the recipient or viewer sees the most current version of the card. The card may display an aspect ratio that is the same as that of a traditional business card, and has front side and a reverse side. Furthermore, the card provides a number of avenues for the card owner to express themselves, including an array of affiliation symbols, a most recent mood symbol, and a text field. The reverse side of the card can display a representation of the owner's social network, so that recipients of the card may identify common friends and associates. Thus, the server-based card exchange appears to users as an exchange in the physical world.

Virtual calling card system and method

A novel virtual calling card system and method aid in the formation of online relationships, serving as an introduction tool and as a contact mechanism. The calling card is an exchangeable entity that is automatically updated, ensuring that the recipient or viewer sees the most current version of the card. The card may display an aspect ratio that is the same as that of a traditional business card, and has a front side and a reverse side. Furthermore, the card provides a number of avenues for the card owner to express themselves, including an array of affiliation symbols, a most recent mood symbol, and a text field. The reverse side of the card can display a representation of the owner's social network, so that the recipients of the card may identify common friends and associates. Thus, the sewer-based card exchange appears to users as an exchange in the physical world.

System and method for shared integrated online social interaction

A novel virtual calling card system and method aid in the formation of online relationships, serving as an introduction tool and as a contact mechanism. The calling card is an exchangeable entity that is automatically updated, ensuring that the recipient or viewer sees the most current version of the card. The card may display an aspect ratio that is the same as that of a traditional business card, and has a front side and a reverse side. Furthermore, the card provides a number of avenues for the card owner to express themselves, including an array of affiliation symbols, a most recent mood symbol, and a text field. The reverse side of the card can display a representation of the owner's social network, so that the recipients of the card may identify common friends and associates. Thus, the server-based card exchange appears to users as an exchange in the physical world.

A method and system for adaptively throttling a computer is provided. Prior CPU utilization is calculated when a CPU enters an idle state. If the prior CPU utilization warrants a change in the CPU performance level, an appropriate CPU performance level is calculated. Policies, including thermal policies and battery charge policies, may be applied to increase or decrease the appropriate CPU performance level. If prior CPU utilization and/or policies dictate a different CPU performance level, the CPU performance level is changed.

Method and system for using idle threads to adaptively throttle a computer

The present invention includes a method of mirroring memory that reduces the down time for copying information from one physical memory subsystem to a redundant physical memory subsystem by separating the mirroring process into phases. The first phase copies information from the first physical memory subsystem to the redundant physical memory subsystem. During the first phase, applications are not restricted from accessing the first memory subsystem while the first phase of the memory mirroring operation copies the information. The second phase of the memory mirroring operation copies active information to the redundant physical memory subsystem. The active information includes information that was not copied during the first phase and information that changed during the first phase. During the second phase, applications are restricted from accessing the first physical memory subsystem. Because the second phase typically copies a smaller amount of information than the first phase, the down time associated with mirroring the memory is minimal.

System and method for mirroring memory with restricted access to main physical mirrored memory

A method and system provides for booting a computer system after configuration data becomes unusable. One method and system provides for booting the computer system from a set of configuration data that last booted the system properly. An embodiment is directed to attempting to boot the computer system from a first set of configuration data, and, if the attempt is unsuccessful, automatically booting the computer system using the second set of configuration data which successfully booted the computer system and was previously stored. In response to a successful boot of the computer system using the first set of configuration data, an embodiment is directed to updating second set of configuration data so that it is equivalent to the first set of configuration data as the second set of configuration data that successfully booted the computer system.

Booting a computer system using a last known good set of configuration data

A method and system for forming a new cluster of servers having state data that is consistent with the state data of a cluster that previously existed. The previous cluster preserves its state data by recording transactions to a log file in conjunction with a sequence number maintained by each node. The node that recorded the transaction then increments its copy of the sequence number and attempts to replicate the transaction to other nodes of the cluster. If the transaction is replicated, each other node commits the transaction and increments its sequence number. If the node fails before it can replicate the transaction, then no other nodes will increment their sequence numbers, whereby the next logged transaction has the same sequence number as the previously logged, but orphaned replicated transaction. When a new node forms a cluster, it unrolls the log file so as to become consistent with the state of the previous cluster. Logged transactions having duplicate sequence numbers indicate that the first such transaction was not fully replicated. To remain consistent, the first transaction is discarded and not used to update the state of the new cluster.

Method and system for discarding locally committed transactions to ensure consistency in a server cluster

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Seattle, WA, United States of America

John D Vert