Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Google Inc.

Pavani Naishadh Diwanji

James A Gosling

David W Connelly

Pavan Kumar Desikan

Jonathan McPhie

Matthew Stephen Steiner

David Cohen

Jessica Nicola Staddon

Sean Liu

Martin Patterson

David S Allison

Karthik Murili Nagaraj

David M Brownell

Geoffrey G Baehr

Dennis Troper

Alex M Cook, Iii

Michael Nestler

Michael R Sheridan

Steven Peart

Bryan Christopher Horling

Ronald Ho

Daniel Wesley Dulitz

Vivek Paul Gundotra

Sagar Kamdar

David Mark Byttow

Sara Lee Su

Peter Vanderbilt

Moti Yung

Neguine Navab

Methods, systems, and computer programs are presented for managing interaction between users in a social network. One method includes receiving one or more first user interactions made by a user account in a social network system with content presented in a user interface on a display device. The content is associated with a first entity account in the social network system. The first user interactions include one or more endorsements of the content or the first entity account. The method further includes calculating, by at least one processor, a level of endorsement of the first entity account by the user account based on the endorsements. The method further includes providing a limited level of access to the first entity account to add one or more posts to a stream of the user account in a stream user interface of the social network system based on the level of endorsement.

Multi-level following mechanic for a social network

Methods, systems, and computer programs are presented for managing interaction between users in a social network. One method includes providing a user account having information that identifies a person associated with the user account. The method further includes receiving interactivity of the person on the user account. The received interactivity identifying endorsements made by the person utilizing the user account, and the endorsements made by the person are associated to a soft following metric. The method also includes identifying entities selected for following by the person of the user account. The selection for following triggered by direct action by the person on the user account to add an entity to one or more groups created at the user account. The selection for following being associated with a hard following metric that allows the entity having an entity account to post data to the user account of the user.

A system and method for predicting one or more sharing settings for a social network user is provided. The relevant user data is received and analyzed. Based on the analysis of the relevant user data, one or more of the user's desired sharing settings is predicted. In some embodiments, statistical analysis is used to analyze and/or predict the user's desired sharing settings. One or more predictions including a suggested sharing setting are generated. In one embodiment, the user's sharing settings are automatically adjusted based on the one or more predictions. In one embodiment, the one or more predictions are sent for display to the user. In one embodiment, feedback is obtained from the user accepting or rejecting the predictions. In one embodiment, the feedback is used to adjust one or more of the algorithms for analyzing the user data, predicting the user's desired sharing settings, or both.

Various ways to automatically select sharing settings

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for information retrieval. In one aspect, a method includes receiving a search input including one or more search terms; determining whether the search input includes a particular token; in response to determining that the search input includes the particular token, determining whether the one or more search terms are associated with a particular social page; in response to determining that the one or more search terms are associated with the particular social page, providing the particular social page without providing search results.

Triggering social pages

A system and method for adjusting privacy protection for a user in a plurality of applications is disclosed. A privacy protection request is sent to a user device. In one embodiment, the request is displayed on user device in the form of a pop-up window. In another embodiment, the request is displayed in a privacy settings area. The privacy protection request includes a plurality of protection levels. Once a protection level is selected the protection level is sent back and received by the system. Privacy settings are adjusted according to the selected privacy protection level based on information stored in a master template. In some embodiments, the privacy protection level is translated to associated privacy settings. Once the privacy settings have been adjusted, the privacy settings are applied to a plurality of online applications associated with the user based on the privacy protection level selected.

System and method for applying privacy settings to a plurality of applications

A system and method for generating privacy-enhanced aggregate statistics within a social network system is provided. Data is collected and processed to gather information to generate the aggregate statistics. A threshold is assigned. The threshold includes a criterion used in making a determination on what aggregate statistic will be generated. In some embodiments, the threshold is a numerical value. In some embodiments, the numerical value, or quantitative data is then translated into qualitative descriptors. In some embodiments, noise is then added to randomize the assigned threshold. In other embodiments, noise is added to the collected data. In some embodiments, checks to guard against attacks from adversarial users are performed. Examples of indications of adversarial behavior include, but are not limited to, manipulation of profiles, continuous manipulation of affinity groups, and manipulation of preferences for one or more users. The threshold is applied and aggregate statistics are generated.

System and method for generating privacy-enhanced aggregate statistics

A method and apparatus for operating a local server computer of a client-server network includes a technique to receive a request from a client computer of the client-server network. A determination is made whether the request requires dynamically generated information from a servlet object of the client-server network. If so, a specified servlet object corresponding to the request may be uploaded from a remote server computer of the client-server network. The specified servlet object is then executed to obtain dynamically generated information corresponding to the request.

Apparatus and method for processing servlets

Dynamic generation of information using servlet object

A method and apparatus for managing connections between objects in a distributed object system includes a method and apparatus for terminating connections between objects. In one aspect, the method for terminating a connection, a connection end message is sent from a server to a client indicating to the client that the server will no longer accept requests before the connection is terminated. Preferably a connection end code is included with the connection end message. In another aspect, the invention includes a method for making connections between objects are formed by intelligently closing existing connections that meet the criteria of being established and across which no unfulfilled requests or unforwarded replies are pending. If several connections meet these criteria, the oldest unused connection is terminated. The methods and apparatus described provide for the creation and termination of connections efficiently and robustly by allowing the controlled shut down of connections between clients and servers without invoking an error state.

Method and apparatus for managing connections for communication among objects in a distributed object system

A communication appliance with a desktop unit and a secondary unit. The desktop unit includes an outer casing, bottom feet, openings in the outer casing for control elements, a plurality of heat-producing electronic components and at least one speaker. The bottom feet extend from a bottom of the outer casing and support the outer casing on a surface such that the bottom of the outer casing is spaced from the surface. The control elements are used for operating the communication appliance. The outer casing includes a plurality of cooling slots for cooling electronic components found in the interior of the communication appliance so that a fan or other external device is not needed.

Appliance for integrating multiple forms of communication

Housing for communication appliance

A variety of methods, apparatus, and data structures for managing transient and persistent distributed objects are disclosed. Objects for use as object references are described, both for transient and persistent objects. In one aspect of the invention, a data structure that is intended for use as an object reference for a transient object is disclosed having a set of endpoint addresses, an incarnation number, and an object key. These elements serve to uniquely identify and locate the transient object. In another aspect of the invention, an object that is intended for use as an object reference for a persistent object is disclosed having a host computer name, a locator identification, an object key, and a subobject identifier. The first three elements serve as an indirection to the persistent object and the third element is for use by the persistent object. These data structures enable a distributed object operating environment which integrates both transient and persistent objects. A variety of methods utilizing one or more of the elements of the abovementioned object references to provide a system resource efficient interaction between a client requesting service from a server object. One particular method selects the fastest transport mode between the client and the server object. Another specific method teaches reading addressing information directly from local cache memory. If the addressing information is not available in cache memory, the information is first found and then stored in cache memory thereby perpetuating the efficiency of the invention.

Methods, apparatus and data structures for managing objects

Apparatus and method for dynamically generating information with

Growing community of inventors

Los Gatos, CA, United States of America

Pavani Naishadh Diwanji