International Business Machines Corporation

Scenera Technologies, LLC

Swift Creek Systems, LLC

Robert J Sundstrom

Diane Phylis Pozefsky

Renee Marie Kovales

J Smith Doss

Baiju Dhirajlal Mandalia

David Mark Ogle

Joseph Gary Rusnak

Paul W Haverstock

Geoffrey David Alexander

John Raithel Hind

James M Mathewson, Ii

Haim Schneider

Mary A Curran

Andrew N Capella

Methods, systems, and computer program products for providing predicted likelihood of communication between users are disclosed. According to one aspect, the subject matter described herein includes a method for providing predicted likelihood of communication between users. The method includes predicting a likelihood that a first user will initiate communication with a second user based on stored information for the first user that indicates the second user, associating the predicted likelihood with status information for the first user, and providing for indicating the status information with the predicted likelihood to the second user.

Methods, systems, and computer program products for providing predicted likelihood of communication between users

Automatically linking a cursor to a hotspot in a hypervideo stream comprising a plurality of video frames that are associated with at least one selectable hotspot include receiving a hypervideo stream of a first video frame associated with a selectable hotspot in a first activiation region of the first video frame, and determining whether a first position of a cursor is substantially within the first activiation region corresponding to the selectable hotspot. The cursor is associated with the selectable hotspot when the first position of the cursor is substantially within the first activiation region corresponding to the selectable hotspot in the first video frame. The hypervideo stream of a second video frame associated with the selectable hotspot in a second activation region different from the first activation region is received, and the cursor is automatically moved to a second position in the second video frame based on the association.

Method and system for automatically linking a cursor to a hotspot in a hypervideo stream

A method for providing data handling information for use by a client of a pub/sub service to handle data published by the pub/sub service includes receiving a subscription request to a data tuple that includes source data from a client of the pub/sub service. When the request is received, a first subscription is provided for the client to the data tuple and a second subscription, distinct from the first subscription, is automatically provided for the client to a data handling tuple that is associated with the data tuple and that includes data handling information defining how the source data of the data tuple is to be handled by the client. A first notification message including the source data is generated and a second notification message, distinct from the first notification message, is generated that includes the data handling information.

Method and system for providing data handling information for use by a publish/subscribe client

Methods and systems are described for automatically linking a cursor to a hotspot in a hypervideo stream comprising a plurality of video frames that are associated with at least one user selectable hotspot. One method includes establishing an association between a selectable hotspot in a first activation region of a first video frame received for presentation in a video presentation space and a cursor when a first position of the cursor is within the first activation region corresponding to the selectable hotspot. The method also includes receiving a second video frame that includes the selectable hotspot in a second activation region different from the first activation region, and determining whether a second position of the cursor is outside of the second activation region of the second video frame. Responsive to the determination, the second video frame is presented with a visual indicator associating the cursor with the selectable hotspot based on the association between the cursor and the selectable hotspot.

Method and system for automatically associating a cursor with a hotspot in a hypervideo stream using a visual indicator

Background blurring is provided when capturing an image using an image capture device. Input is received for initiating an image capture process for capturing an image at an image capture device, the image including at least a subject and a background. The image capture device is automatically focused closer than the subject for capturing the image with the background blurred responsive to receiving the input for initiating the image capture process.

Method and system for providing background blurring when capturing an image using an image capture device

Methods, systems, and computer program products for calendar-based coverage monitoring are disclosed. According to one aspect, a method includes receiving a coverage rule defining at least one covering entity for performing an activity for a covered entity and at least one period of time during which the multiple covering entities is to perform the activity. Individual calendars for the at least one covering entity are monitored and a change in one of the calendars is detected. It is then determined whether the change causes a threshold criteria to be met, and in response to determining that the change causes the coverage rule to be violated, a coverage warning notification indicating a potential for violation of the coverage rule is automatically generated.

Methods, systems, and computer program products for calendar-based coverage monitoring

A method of automatically conducting a conference can include determining availability for each of a plurality of conference participants and selecting a date and time for the conference based upon the availability of each of the plurality of conference participants. The method further can include automatically initiating the conference among the conference participants on the date and at approximately the time for the conference.

Automatic scheduling and establishment of conferences

Techniques are disclosed for keeping calendars up-to-date, whereby a person's working hours, events, and actual availability are accurately reflected. In response to user-generated input and/or application-generated input, working hours can be updated and calendar events can be added to, deleted from, or changed on the user's calendar. This makes it easy for users to keep calendars (including working hours) up-to-date and helps both people and applications that use calendar data. Profiles are preferably used to specify working hours, and a particular user may have one or more profiles available (including a default profile); the user can then easily select from among these profiles to update the working hours for a date/day, or a range of dates/days. Preferences may be associated with the profiles, providing a convenient way of isolating information that applies only to a particular set of working hours.

Keeping working hours and calendar entries up-to-date

Keeping working hours and calendar entries up-to date

Background blurring is provided when capturing an image using an image capture device. Input is received for initiating an image capture process for capturing an image at an image capture device. A background is automatically blurred based on a depth of field automatically adjusted towards the image capture device for capturing the image with background blurring in response to receiving the input for initiating the image capture process.

A first data store is provided for storing individual subscriptions, including match criteria and an action specification. A second data store is also provided for storing group subscriptions, including a use counter and a list of pointers to the individual subscriptions. When a new individual subscription is submitted, it is registered/stored in the individual subscription data store. Upon registration, its criteria are checked against the criteria of existing subscriptions in the group subscription data store. If there is a match, a use counter corresponding to the matching group subscription is incremented, and a pointer is added to a list of pointers to associate the matching group subscription with the individual subscription. If there is not a match, a new group subscription is added to the group subscription data store, and the group subscription is registered with the pub/sub engine. A use counter corresponding to the group subscription is incremented, and a pointer is added to a list of pointers.

Method, system, and program product for providing automatic group subscriptions

Methods, systems, and computer program products for calendar-based coverage monitoring are disclosed. According to one aspect, a method includes receiving a coverage rule defining at least one covering entity for performing an activity for a covered entity and at least one period of time during which the multiple covering entities is to perform the activity. Individual calendars for the at least one covering entity are monitored and a change in one of the calendars is detected. It is then determined whether the change causes the coverage rule to be violated, and in response to determining that the change causes the coverage rule to be violated, a notification indicating violation of the coverage rule is automatically generated.

A method and system are described for providing background blurring when capturing an image using an image capture device. According to one aspect, input is received for initiating an image capture process for capturing an image of a subject at an image capture device. A depth of field for capturing the image of the subject in a half of the depth of field furthest from the image capture device is automatically determined. The image is captured using the automatically adjusted depth of field to provide background blurring in the captured image.

Methods, systems, and computer program products for calendar-based coverage monitoring are disclosed. According to one aspect, a method includes receiving a coverage rule defining multiple covering entities for performing an activity for a covered entity and at least one period of time during which the multiple covering entities is to perform the activity. Individual calendars for the multiple covering entities are monitored and a change in one of the calendars is detected. It is then determined whether the change causes the coverage rule to be violated, and in response to determining that the change causes the coverage rule to be violated, a notification indicating violation of the coverage rule is generated.

A method of automatically organizing a meeting can include selecting a customer profile associated with a customer, identifying a representative according to the customer profile, and determining an availability for the representative based upon context information for the representative. The method further can include scheduling a meeting between the customer and the representative based upon the availability of the representative, and storing the meeting. A measure of availability for the representative can be determined according to the context information and a rating for the customer can be determined. A determination that the representative is not available can be overridden according to the measure of availability for the representative and the rating for the customer.

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Cary, NC, United States of America

Robert J Sundstrom