International Business Machines Corporation

Lenovo (singapore) Pte. Ltd.

Kunihiko Miwa

Norishige Morimoto

Hiroya Kobayashi

Hiroshi Itoh

Fusanobu Nakamura

Shuichi Shimizu

Susumu Shimotono

Akihiko Mizutani

Satoko Tonegawa

A method and apparatus is provided for switching from a regular desktop screen to a password input screen for a user to input a password. An apparatus may comprise a first screen display as the password input screen, a second screen display as the regular desktop screen, and a switching system. The switching system may be configured to switch a screen item position between the first screen display and the second screen display. The switching system may receive a user selection of a sequence of screen items as a password input and may switch operation of the apparatus between the first screen display to the second screen display.

Password input method using visual object

The present invention is to support the retrieval of an ambiguous file stored on a computer. Desktop space images are generated at predetermined time intervals, and metadata for each desktop space image is created from internally used data and externally input data existing at the time. The metadata consists of multiple pieces of tag data, and part of tag data is a target file to be searched for. Upon searching for the target file, a user selects a desktop space image that evokes the target file from among the multiple desktop space images initially displayed. The selected desktop space image is displayed and the target file is selected from the metadata associated with the desktop space image displayed. The desktop space image can refresh a user's recollection about the target file, and hence allows the user to narrow down the scope of search.

Computer capable of retrieving ambiguous information

A computer system having an operating environment configured for enabling boot up in a relatively short time is disclosed. A hard disk is utilized to store a boot file. A run process list registers a process to be run during boot up. When the computer system is being booted up, if the run process list registers a process to load the boot file, a process control unit does not control a process management unit, so that the process is run as usual. If the process is not registered, the process management unit suspends the process. When the suspended process is called by another process later, the process control unit makes the process resumed on demand.

Method for shortening the boot time of a computer system

In providing a system that can manage access to data to effectively prevent illegal access to the data or the like, there is provided a system for embedding access management information that prepares management information for managing access to the data, and embeds the management information in the data through data transformation without changing amount of data. In managing access to data, there is provided a method that extracts management information embedded in the data through data deformation without changing amount of data, and manages access to the data according to the extracted management information. There is also provided a method for changing management of access to the data according to the type of medium in which the data is stored (RAM or ROM). The management information further contains information for controlling recording of the data, reception of the data, playback of the data, interference of output of the data, duplication history of the data, or modification of the management information. The access management method can prevent illegal duplication of data or the like, and can effectively protect a work.

Method and system for managing access to data through data transformation

An object of the Invention is to provide a system and method for effecting a secure data control using an electronic watermarking with a low manufacturing cost. A solution of the objective is a data control system is built which comprises; embedding a control flag indicating to control data using an electronic watermarking technique, preparing a token having information as to how to control the data by using the content of the data, distributing the token appended to the data, detecting the control flag from the distributed data, reading the token appended to the data when the control flag is detected, and controlling the data according to a predefined control rule of the token or the control flag. In addition, a subsequent data control is further suppressed by modifying the token in controlling the data.

Data control system

Management information is embedded by directly controlling media with a date hiding technique. A system which accesses (regenerates or records) media data by using the management information is controlled based on this management information, and according to the contents of the management information, the access to media data is inhibited. Therefore, illegal duplication of data can be prevented, and consequently, works can be effectively protected. More particularly, in a system for accessing media data stored on a storage medium 51, the system comprises means 52 for reading out data from the storage medium, means 56 for specifying an embedding region, in which management information for managing access to the media data was embedded, from the read-out data and for extracting the management information in accordance with a status of the embedding region by referring to an extraction rule where the status of the embedding region is caused to correspond to the contents of data to be extracted, means 60 for generating an access interference signal, and means 59 for selectively outputting either the read-out signal or a signal generated by both the read-out signal and the access interference signal, in accordance with the contents of the management information.

Growing community of inventors

Hiratsuka, Japan

Kunihiko Miwa