David Snelling

obtaining, by one or more configured computing systems of a group discussion prediction service, information about a distributed group discussion involving a plurality of users, wherein the obtained information includes first information about a plurality of content items already submitted by the plurality of users during one or more time periods and includes second information about one or more predictions by the group discussion prediction service regarding future content items that will be… Show more

obtaining, by one or more configured computing systems of a group discussion prediction service, information about a distributed group discussion involving a plurality of users, wherein the obtained information includes first information about a plurality of content items already submitted by the plurality of users during one or more time periods and includes second information about one or more predictions by the group discussion prediction service regarding future content items that will be submitted by users for the distributed group discussion during one or more future time periods; Show less

obtaining, by one or more configured computing systems of a group discussion prediction service, information about a distributed group discussion involving a plurality of users submitting a plurality of content items for the distributed group discussion over multiple time periods, wherein the plurality of content items include multiple content items submitted during each of the multiple time periods;

obtaining, by one or more configured computing systems of a group discussion analysis service, information about a distributed group discussion that involves a plurality of users submitting a plurality of textual comments on a plurality of topics for the distributed group discussion;

Techniques are described for analyzing user-supplied information, including in at least some situations to predict future aspects of additional related information that will be supplied by users. The user-supplied information that is analyzed may, for example, include distributed group discussions that involve numerous users and occur via user comments made to one or more social networking sites and/or other computer-accessible sites. The analysis of user-supplied information may, for example… Show more

Techniques are described for analyzing user-supplied information, including in at least some situations to predict future aspects of additional related information that will be supplied by users. The user-supplied information that is analyzed may, for example, include distributed group discussions that involve numerous users and occur via user comments made to one or more social networking sites and/or other computer-accessible sites. The analysis of user-supplied information may, for example, include determining particular topics that are of interest for a specified category during one or more periods of time, quantifying an amount of user interest in particular topics and the category during the period of time, predicting future amounts of user interest in the particular topics and the category during one or more future period of times, and taking one or more further actions based on the predicted information. Show less

One embodiment of the present invention sets forth a cloud computing environment that includes a service cloud and one or more services accessing the service cloud. The service cloud includes multiple resources of different types that support the execution of the services accessing the service cloud. Each resource and service in the cloud computing environment is configured via a centralized configuration service. In addition, resource allocation and predictive performance monitoring engines… Show more

One embodiment of the present invention sets forth a cloud computing environment that includes a service cloud and one or more services accessing the service cloud. The service cloud includes multiple resources of different types that support the execution of the services accessing the service cloud. Each resource and service in the cloud computing environment is configured via a centralized configuration service. In addition, resource allocation and predictive performance monitoring engines allocate resources and monitor the resources allocated to the services accessing the service cloud. Show less

A system, apparatus, and method is provided for enabling commerce transactions, and other forms of commercial activity among participants in a gaming or other forms of virtual environment and the real world, or between a participant in one virtual environment and a participant in a second virtual environment, using or taking advantage of the services of an Identity Bridge or Gateway. In particular, a real-time commercial activity system is implemented through user interface interactions, and… Show more

A system, apparatus, and method is provided for enabling commerce transactions, and other forms of commercial activity among participants in a gaming or other forms of virtual environment and the real world, or between a participant in one virtual environment and a participant in a second virtual environment, using or taking advantage of the services of an Identity Bridge or Gateway. In particular, a real-time commercial activity system is implemented through user interface interactions, and middle-ware interactions. A financial transaction between the users is facilitated through a third party finance service provider, using proprietary identities of the users. Since the system obtains and verifies the relationship between proprietary and real identities of the users, the financial transaction can be facilitated in a secure and trusted fashion without revealing real identities. Show less

The present invention is directed to a system, apparatus, and method for enabling communications and other forms of interaction between participants in a gaming or other form of virtual environment and the real world, or between a participant in one virtual environment and a participant in a second virtual environment. In particular, systems are provided to share presence information between participants, including information relating to their images and commercial activities. The presence… Show more

The present invention is directed to a system, apparatus, and method for enabling communications and other forms of interaction between participants in a gaming or other form of virtual environment and the real world, or between a participant in one virtual environment and a participant in a second virtual environment. In particular, systems are provided to share presence information between participants, including information relating to their images and commercial activities. The presence information is user information that is used by real-time messaging systems to represent the user's current presence and identity. The presence information of a user is presented to other users to help them to decide when or if to communicate with the user. Show less

A system, apparatus, and method for enabling communications, commerce transactions, and other forms of interaction between participants in a gaming or other form of virtual environment and the real world, or between a participant in one virtual environment and a participant in a second virtual environment. These and other types of interactions are enabled with a sufficient degree of trust between the participants to encourage such interactions, while at the same time not compromising certain… Show more

A system, apparatus, and method for enabling communications, commerce transactions, and other forms of interaction between participants in a gaming or other form of virtual environment and the real world, or between a participant in one virtual environment and a participant in a second virtual environment. These and other types of interactions are enabled with a sufficient degree of trust between the participants to encourage such interactions, while at the same time not compromising certain desired characteristics of the gaming or other experience, such as immersion in the experience and the ability to maintain a high degree of anonymity. Show less

Described is a technology by which phishing-related data sources are processed into aggregated data and a given site evaluated the aggregated data using a predictive model to automatically determine whether the given site is likely to be a phishing site. The predictive model may be built using machine learning based on training data, e.g., including known phishing sites and/or known non-phishing sites. To determine whether an object corresponding to a site is likely a phishing-related object… Show more

Described is a technology by which phishing-related data sources are processed into aggregated data and a given site evaluated the aggregated data using a predictive model to automatically determine whether the given site is likely to be a phishing site. The predictive model may be built using machine learning based on training data, e.g., including known phishing sites and/or known non-phishing sites. To determine whether an object corresponding to a site is likely a phishing-related object are described, various criteria are evaluated, including one or more features of the object when evaluated. The determination is output in some way, e.g., made available to a reputation service, used to block access to a site or warn a user before allowing access, and/or used to assist a hand grader in being more efficient in evaluating sites. Show less

Content searching and configuration of search results are described. In an implementation, a method includes in response to a search query, selecting a keyword based on heuristic data which describes a plurality of previously performed searched. A search is performed utilizing the search query and the selected keyword to locate content.

A search engine receives a search query from a user and forwards the received query to a partner by way of a call to a generic proxy with the query for the partner. The generic proxy receives and processes the query, forwards the processed query to the partner, receives search results responsive to the forwarded query from the partner, and processes the received search results, all according to the configuration information corresponding to the partner. The generic proxy then forwards the… Show more

A search engine receives a search query from a user and forwards the received query to a partner by way of a call to a generic proxy with the query for the partner. The generic proxy receives and processes the query, forwards the processed query to the partner, receives search results responsive to the forwarded query from the partner, and processes the received search results, all according to the configuration information corresponding to the partner. The generic proxy then forwards the processed search results to the search engine for further forwarding to the querying user. Accordingly, each of several partners has corresponding configuration information unique thereto and only the generic proxy need be developed for all of the several partners. Show less

A system and method for template creation and execution is disclosed. Template execution is subdivided into steps requiring a higher degree of technical knowledge and steps requiring a higher degree of business/organizational knowledge. During template execution, files from each step in the template creation process are retrieved. A template file is parsed for tags, the tags call a definition file, and the definition file accesses a configuration file. Updated configuration information from the… Show more

A system and method for template creation and execution is disclosed. Template execution is subdivided into steps requiring a higher degree of technical knowledge and steps requiring a higher degree of business/organizational knowledge. During template execution, files from each step in the template creation process are retrieved. A template file is parsed for tags, the tags call a definition file, and the definition file accesses a configuration file. Updated configuration information from the configuration file is inserted into the tags. Show less

There is provided a system and method for human verification by a contextually iconic visual public Turing test. There is provided a method comprising receiving a request to verify whether a client is human controlled, selecting, by contextual criteria, a plurality of images each having one or more associated tags from a database, generating a challenge question and a corresponding answer set based on associated tags of a subset of the plurality of images, presenting the plurality of images and… Show more

There is provided a system and method for human verification by a contextually iconic visual public Turing test. There is provided a method comprising receiving a request to verify whether a client is human controlled, selecting, by contextual criteria, a plurality of images each having one or more associated tags from a database, generating a challenge question and a corresponding answer set based on associated tags of a subset of the plurality of images, presenting the plurality of images and the challenge question to the client, receiving a submission to the challenge question from the client, and responding to the request by verifying whether the submission is contained in the answer set to determine whether the client is human controlled. The contextual criteria may comprise subject matter, branding, or intended audience of a content provider sending the request, thereby facilitating human responses while deterring automated systems. Show less

A system and method for rendering pages, and a configuration server are disclosed. The system comprises at least one rendering server, at least one composition service server, and a configuration server. The method comprises receiving a request to render, checking cache for a web service, requesting the web service, and rendering. The configuration server comprises a storage module and a transmit module.