US20010043364A1 - Document delivery system and related method for generating and delivering personalized activity publications - Google Patents
Document delivery system and related method for generating and delivering personalized activity publications Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US20010043364A1 US20010043364A1 US09/872,232 US87223201A US2001043364A1 US 20010043364 A1 US20010043364 A1 US 20010043364A1 US 87223201 A US87223201 A US 87223201A US 2001043364 A1 US2001043364 A1 US 2001043364A1
- Authority
- US
- United States
- Prior art keywords
- publication
- content
- profile
- subset
- document
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Abandoned
Links
- 230000000694 effects Effects 0.000 title claims abstract description 60
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 title claims abstract description 26
- 238000003860 storage Methods 0.000 claims description 23
- 230000000737 periodic effect Effects 0.000 claims description 2
- 230000000699 topical effect Effects 0.000 claims description 2
- 230000002787 reinforcement Effects 0.000 claims 1
- 230000006870 function Effects 0.000 description 24
- 238000010586 diagram Methods 0.000 description 15
- 239000003795 chemical substances by application Substances 0.000 description 14
- 230000018109 developmental process Effects 0.000 description 14
- 238000009826 distribution Methods 0.000 description 14
- 230000005540 biological transmission Effects 0.000 description 12
- 238000010276 construction Methods 0.000 description 9
- 230000004044 response Effects 0.000 description 9
- MWKFXSUHUHTGQN-UHFFFAOYSA-N decan-1-ol Chemical compound CCCCCCCCCCO MWKFXSUHUHTGQN-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 8
- 239000000463 material Substances 0.000 description 8
- 239000000976 ink Substances 0.000 description 5
- 230000003993 interaction Effects 0.000 description 5
- 238000004040 coloring Methods 0.000 description 4
- 238000004891 communication Methods 0.000 description 4
- 238000004458 analytical method Methods 0.000 description 3
- 230000002354 daily effect Effects 0.000 description 3
- 230000008569 process Effects 0.000 description 3
- 230000002776 aggregation Effects 0.000 description 2
- 238000004220 aggregation Methods 0.000 description 2
- 239000000284 extract Substances 0.000 description 2
- 230000000007 visual effect Effects 0.000 description 2
- 230000003466 anti-cipated effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000004364 calculation method Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000008859 change Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000008131 children development Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000002131 composite material Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000000470 constituent Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000003203 everyday effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 235000013305 food Nutrition 0.000 description 1
- 230000036541 health Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000002452 interceptive effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000004519 manufacturing process Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000007246 mechanism Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000003287 optical effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000000344 soap Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000000126 substance Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000003442 weekly effect Effects 0.000 description 1
Images
Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q30/00—Commerce
- G06Q30/02—Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
- G06Q30/0241—Advertisements
- G06Q30/0273—Determination of fees for advertising
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q50/00—Systems or methods specially adapted for specific business sectors, e.g. utilities or tourism
- G06Q50/10—Services
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F16/00—Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
- G06F16/90—Details of database functions independent of the retrieved data types
- G06F16/95—Retrieval from the web
- G06F16/953—Querying, e.g. by the use of web search engines
- G06F16/9535—Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
- G06F3/12—Digital output to print unit, e.g. line printer, chain printer
- G06F3/1201—Dedicated interfaces to print systems
- G06F3/1202—Dedicated interfaces to print systems specifically adapted to achieve a particular effect
- G06F3/1203—Improving or facilitating administration, e.g. print management
- G06F3/1204—Improving or facilitating administration, e.g. print management resulting in reduced user or operator actions, e.g. presetting, automatic actions, using hardware token storing data
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
- G06F3/12—Digital output to print unit, e.g. line printer, chain printer
- G06F3/1201—Dedicated interfaces to print systems
- G06F3/1223—Dedicated interfaces to print systems specifically adapted to use a particular technique
- G06F3/1229—Printer resources management or printer maintenance, e.g. device status, power levels
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
- G06F3/12—Digital output to print unit, e.g. line printer, chain printer
- G06F3/1201—Dedicated interfaces to print systems
- G06F3/1278—Dedicated interfaces to print systems specifically adapted to adopt a particular infrastructure
- G06F3/1279—Controller construction, e.g. aspects of the interface hardware
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q10/00—Administration; Management
- G06Q10/06—Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
- G06Q10/063—Operations research, analysis or management
- G06Q10/0631—Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q10/00—Administration; Management
- G06Q10/08—Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q30/00—Commerce
- G06Q30/02—Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
- G06Q30/0241—Advertisements
- G06Q30/0251—Targeted advertisements
- G06Q30/0264—Targeted advertisements based upon schedule
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q30/00—Commerce
- G06Q30/02—Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
- G06Q30/0241—Advertisements
- G06Q30/0251—Targeted advertisements
- G06Q30/0269—Targeted advertisements based on user profile or attribute
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q30/00—Commerce
- G06Q30/02—Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
- G06Q30/0241—Advertisements
- G06Q30/0251—Targeted advertisements
- G06Q30/0269—Targeted advertisements based on user profile or attribute
- G06Q30/0271—Personalized advertisement
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q30/00—Commerce
- G06Q30/02—Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
- G06Q30/0241—Advertisements
- G06Q30/0272—Period of advertisement exposure
-
- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
- Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10S707/00—Data processing: database and file management or data structures
- Y10S707/99931—Database or file accessing
- Y10S707/99932—Access augmentation or optimizing
-
- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
- Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
- Y10T83/00—Cutting
- Y10T83/525—Operation controlled by detector means responsive to work
- Y10T83/541—Actuation of tool controlled in response to work-sensing means
- Y10T83/543—Sensing means responsive to work indicium or irregularity
Definitions
- This invention generally relates to the printing field and, more particularly, to a document delivery system facilitating aggregation of periodic content.
- a method for generating a publication comprises receiving a publication profile from a requesting user, creating a lesson plan based on at least a subset of a plurality of information in accordance with the received publication profile, and periodically generating the publication for delivery to at least the requesting user from at least a subset of content received from one or more content providers dynamically selected to satisfy at least a subset of the lesson plan.
- FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a document delivery system of one embodiment of the invention
- FIGS. 2 - 4 illustrate flow charts detailing the operation of the transmission module and the printing module of the document delivery system of one embodiment of the invention
- FIG. 5 illustrates how user profile information is acquired from a user in one embodiment of the invention
- FIG. 6 shows how user profile information is acquired from a user in one embodiment of the invention
- FIG. 7 shows a print schedule for the delivery of documents in one embodiment of the invention
- FIG. 8 shows how the print schedule of FIG. 7 can be modified by the user
- FIGS. 9 A- 9 B shows a document printed by the printing device according to one embodiment of the invention.
- FIG. 10 shows a document printed by the printing device according to one embodiment of the invention.
- FIGS. 11 A- 11 D show a document printed by the printing device according to one embodiment of the invention.
- FIG. 12 shows a document printed by the printing device according to one embodiment of the invention
- FIG. 13 illustrates a block diagram of an example print manager, according to one embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 14 is a block diagram of an example edit module, according to one embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 15 is a block diagram of an example knowledge module, according to one embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 16 is a flow chart of an example method for dynamically generating a personalized activity publication, according to one aspect of the present invention.
- FIG. 17 is a graphical illustration of an example lesson plan, according to one aspect of the present invention.
- FIG. 18 is a graphical illustration of an example educational development profile, suitable for use by the edit module
- FIG. 19 illustrates a block diagram of an example storage medium comprising a plurality of executable instructions including at least a subset of which that, when executed, implement an edit module according to FIG. 14.
- FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a document delivery system of one embodiment of the invention.
- Document delivery system 10 contains document server 100 .
- document server 100 is operatively coupled via network 200 to a variety of personal computers, printing devices, and other electronic devices, collectively referred to as devices 300 .
- Document server 100 contains edit module 120 , transmission module 150 and knowledge module 170 .
- Edit module 120 receives inputs from one or more content providers 50 , and/or one or more advertising providers 80 .
- Distribution module 400 is operatively coupled to document server 100 .
- document server 100 is a minicomputer/server, such as an HP 9000 server sold by the Hewlett-Packard Company, although those skilled in the art will appreciate that document server 100 could be any type of other computing or electronic device(s) that performs the functions described herein and still fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.
- Network 200 is preferably the Internet, although an Intranet, local area network, or other type of public or private network, either wired (e.g., telephone, cable TV, etc.) or wireless (e.g., satellite, radio, cell phone, etc.), could also or additionally be used.
- Devices 300 are shown in FIG. 1 as being capable of being configured in a wide variety of ways.
- personal computer 310 is shown connected to printing device 320 , which prints document 10320 for user 20320 .
- personal computer 310 is operatively coupled to network 200 .
- printing device 330 which prints document 10330 for user 20330 , is operatively coupled to network 200 without an intervening personal computer or other electronic device.
- Printing device 350 which prints document 10350 for user 20350 , is shown connected to electronic device 340 , which could be a set top box, television set, palmtop personal digital assistant (PDA) or other type of electronic device that is operatively coupled to network 200 .
- PDA personal digital assistant
- printing device 370 which prints document 10370 for user 20370 , is connected to electronic device 360 , which is operatively connected to network 200 .
- the printing devices shown in FIG. 1 could be printers, such as the HP DeskJet 890 printer, HP LaserJet V printer, or other models of printers manufactured by HP or others; so-called “mopiers” or other multi-function printing devices that can print, fax, scan, and/or copy, or any other device capable of transferring information to a printable media such as plain paper, specialty paper, transparencies, or other media capable of tangibly receiving such information and which can be easily carried about by the user.
- document delivery system 100 includes a printing module 380 and a transmission module 150 .
- Transmission module is preferably located with document server 100 , and is used to transmit a personalized publication to one or more requesting users.
- printing module 380 may well be located in any of the devices 300 , such as in personal computer 310 , printing device 330 , or electronic device 340 , operatively coupled via network 200 to document server 100 , or it could be located within document server 100 itself, such as in knowledge module 170 .
- transmission module 150 and printing module 380 represent software functions, stored in one or more storage device(s), that execute on suitably programmed microprocessor(s) within a device 300 and/or document server 100 . It will be appreciated, however, that special purpose hardware or other mechanisms could be employed to implement the innovative features and functions described below.
- FIG. 13 illustrates a block diagram of an example printing module 380 is presented.
- printing module 380 resides within one or more of devices 300 and, in response to user interaction with a user interface (not shown), schedules and manages the delivery of one or more documents to a printing device. Any of a number of user interfaces may be used to utilize the features and functions of printing module 380 .
- a web page is projected to a device 300 by document server 100 , content provider 50 and/or advertisers 80 , wherein the web page includes one or more iconic function calls to one or more of the features/functions provided by printing module 380 .
- printing module 380 includes one or more controller(s) 402 , a print function 404 , a scheduler function 406 , a document translation/interpretation function 408 , a memory/storage system 410 , an input/output (I/O) interface 412 , and optionally one or more applications 413 , each coupled as shown.
- controller(s) 402 includes one or more controller(s) 402 , a print function 404 , a scheduler function 406 , a document translation/interpretation function 408 , a memory/storage system 410 , an input/output (I/O) interface 412 , and optionally one or more applications 413 , each coupled as shown.
- I/O input/output
- printing module 380 and its associated elements 402 - 413 may well be embodied as a series of executable instructions which, when executed by a host processor of devices 300 , implement the features and functions of printing module 380 to be discussed below.
- controller(s) 402 selectively invoke one or more functions 404 - 408 and/or applications 413 in response to user interaction with a user interface, e.g., a web page.
- the user interface includes iconic selectors, e.g., buttons, that when selected by the user cause controller 402 to selectively invoke an instance of a function associated with the conic selector.
- controller 402 communicates with external elements via input/output (I/O) interface(s) 412 .
- controller 402 provides a user with a user interface from applications 413 .
- I/O interface(s) 412 are intended to include one or more of any of a number of communication interfaces known in the art including, but not limited to, a direct connect communication interface (e.g., a serial interface, a parallel interface, a Universal Serial Bus (USB), an Advanced Graphic Port (AGP), etc.), a local area network interface (e.g., an Ethernet interface, a Token Ring interface, etc.), or a wide area network interface.
- printing module 380 may communicate with any of a number of external and remote devices using an appropriate one of a plurality of wired and/or wireless I/O interfaces 413 .
- Automated print function 404 is selectively invoked by controller 402 in response to a user indication to immediately print a document (e.g., within the next several seconds) without first viewing or displaying the document.
- a user interface projected by printing module 380 or from an external source e.g., document server 100
- the iconic selector is referred to herein as an “automated print” icon, or an “instant print” icon.
- the user interface provides controller 402 with information regarding the associated one or more documents.
- user interface provides controller 402 with a name/identifier and storage location of the one or more documents.
- Controller 402 provides the name/identifier and location information to automated print function 404 to queue the document for printing.
- automated print function generates and issues a request to retrieve the identified document(s) from the identified storage location via I/O interface 412 .
- the retrieved documents are stored in memory locations 414 A, 414 B, etc. of memory 410 .
- document translation/interpretation function 408 is selectively invoked to interpret/translate and print the retrieved document.
- the retrieved documents are queued and printed substantially instantaneously (e.g., within the subsequent several seconds). In alternate embodiments, the retrieved document(s) are printed according to a print schedule defined by the user.
- the document associated with an iconic selector is retrieved from a provider into memory 410 of print module 380 and immediately printed without invoking an application associated with the document. That is, translation/interpretation function 408 reads the stored document(s), interprets the textual, image, formatting, etc. content of the document(s) to print the document on an operatively coupled printer without having to invoke the application associated with the retrieved document(s), and without having to display the document(s) to the user prior to printing.
- an application 413 e.g., Microsoft Word, Adobe Acrobat, etc.
- controller 402 invokes the document, but neither the document nor the application 413 are displayed to the user so, from the user's perspective, the application is not launched.
- automated print function 404 enables a user to immediately print a remote document without having to manually download, launch and print the document, thereby providing the user with the convenience and selection of electronic publications, with the physical reading experience introduced by the Gutenberg press.
- the scheduling function 406 enables a user to establish a print schedule 390 for documents of interest.
- scheduling function 406 is selectively invoked by controller 402 in response to a user's indication to add the document to a print schedule 390 .
- the printing schedule 390 may be located in devices 300 , document server 100 or any other accessible location.
- FIG. 14 illustrates a block diagram of an example edit module.
- edit module 120 resides within document delivery server 100 and, in response to a print schedule 390 developed by a print module 380 , assembles content from one or more content providers into a personalized publication.
- edit module 120 selectively generates a personalized activity publication targeted to satisfy a lesson plan dynamically generated from one or more of a user profile, a publication profile, an educational development profile and the like.
- information profiles e.g., user profile, publication profile, educational development profile
- the information profiles are stored in disparate storage devices (not shown) throughout document delivery system 10 such as, for example, knowledge module 170 , edit module 120 , and/or devices 300 .
- edit module 120 is depicted comprising one or more controller(s) 502 , publishing agent 504 , virtual editor 506 , memory space 508 and one or more input/output (I/O) interface(s) 510 , each coupled as depicted.
- edit module 120 may well contain one or more application(s) 512 executable by controller(s) 502 .
- application(s) 512 executable by controller(s) 502 .
- edit module 120 includes an innovative set of publishing tools 512 that enable a producer (e.g., a registered user) to establish a publication profile that is used by edit module 120 to automatically generate a lesson plan from which it produces a personalized activity publication on behalf of the requesting user.
- edit module 120 and its constituent elements 502 - 510 may well be embodied as a series of executable instructions which, when executed by a host processor, implement the features and functions of edit module 120 to be discussed below.
- controller(s) 502 selectively invoke one or more of the virtual editor 506 to generate a custom document for a requesting and/or subscribing user, or publishing agent 504 to complete the layout and optimize the delivery schedule of such custom documents.
- Controller(s) 502 may initiate construction and/or delivery of a custom document in response to user interaction with a user interface (e.g., a web page), or to accommodate a user-selected delivery schedule.
- controller 502 communicates with external applications (e.g., web page) or other elements (e.g., a user profile) via input/output (I/O) interface(s) 510 .
- external applications e.g., web page
- other elements e.g., a user profile
- controller 502 provides a user with a user interface with which to request/build a custom document using one or more of applications 512 .
- controller(s) 502 are intended to represent any of a broad range of control devices known in the art including, but not limited to, a programmable logic array (PLA), microprocessor, special purpose controller, application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and the like.
- controller(s) 502 are embodied as a series of executable instructions which, when executed, implement the control logic described herein.
- Memory device 508 and I/O interface(s) 510 are each intended to represent such devices commonly known in the art.
- I/O interface(s) 510 are intended to include one or more of any of a number of communication interfaces known in the art including, but not limited to, a direct connect communication interface (e.g., a serial interface, a parallel interface, a Universal Serial Bus (USB), an Advanced Graphic Port (AGP), etc.), a local area network interface (e.g., an Ethernet interface, a Token Ring interface, etc.), or a wide area network interface.
- edit module 120 may communicate with any of a number of external and remote devices using an appropriate one of a plurality of wired and/or wireless 1 /O interfaces 510 .
- virtual editor 506 personalizes publications for a unique, composite publication based on a number of factors.
- virtual editor 506 includes a content manager 518 and a construction agent 520 .
- the content manager 518 includes an analysis/wrapper agent 522 , a contract administrator function 524 and a transaction agent 526 .
- editor module 120 receives content from one or more content providers, content manager 518 is selectively invoked by controller(s) 502 .
- the analysis/wrapper agent 522 analyzes the received content and categorizes it based on any one or more of a number of attributes including, source, subject matter, length, cost, etc.
- analysis/wrapper agent 522 encapsulates the content object in a wrapper with a unique identifier. It will be appreciated, based on the description to follow, that the encapsulating wrapper enables virtual sensors (not shown) in the document distribution system to accurately track distribution, receipt and disposition of content objects. According to one embodiment, virtual sensors are embedded within printing modules 380 to track distribution, receipt and disposition of encapsulated content objects.
- the contract administrator 524 is a database driven component that manages all of the contractual obligations of the users (subscribers, content providers, etc.) of the document delivery system.
- contract administrator 524 maintains royalty calculation and display agreements for select content providers (e.g., artists), the advertising rates for other content providers (e.g., advertisers), subscription information for select users, and the like.
- contract administrator 524 accesses one or more content provider databases to identify content object distribution, to compute royalty payments, advertising bills and subscription bills for distribution to appropriate users via the transaction agent 526 .
- contract administrator 524 ensures that contractual obligations of the document delivery system are adhered to.
- Transaction agent 526 is the primary interface between the document delivery system and a public/private e-commerce financial system (e.g., the CheckFreeTM financial network offered by CheckFree Corporation). As introduced above, the transaction agent 526 is responsible for executing payments and account credit/debit transactions with user accounts based, at least in part, on the distribution of content objects in accordance with the terms and conditions maintained in contract administrator 524 . It should be noted that although depicted as an element of edit module 120 , those skilled in the art will appreciate that content manager 518 may well be deployed as an separate and independent functional entity without deviating from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
- the construction agent 520 of virtual editor 506 extracts content objects to generate a custom document according to one or more key contributors.
- the key contributors include one or more of a requesting/subscribing user's interests, demographics, seasonality, document server requirements, and content provider usage criteria, and the like.
- construction agent 520 extracts content objects which are likely to be of interest to a particular user and generates a personalized publication for that user.
- the construction agent 520 utilizes information received via overt and covert processes of document delivery system 10 to log a user's interaction and disposition of received material, as well as soliciting feedback from the user, to improve the user's satisfaction with subsequent personalized publications.
- construction agent 520 Information gathered as a result of these overt/covert processes are used by construction agent 520 to update a user profile associated with the user, which is accessed when generating a personalized publication.
- construction agent 520 performs functions commonly associated with a physical editor of, say, a magazine: publication content decisions, layout and format decisions, advertising and the like, yet it factors in other key information such as personal preferences to generate personalized publications for up to millions of individuals.
- publishing agent 504 Once construction agent 520 has extracted content objects to generate the publication, it is passed to publishing agent 504 , to finalize layout and schedule delivery of the personalized publication to the intended recipient(s).
- publishing agent 504 is presented comprising schedule manager 514 and layout manager 516 .
- layout manager 516 receives the content objects from construction manager 506 and finalizes at least a partial layout of the personalized publication.
- layout manager 516 maintains a record of the time required to complete at least a partial layout of the publication in order to determine the complexity of the personalized publication. This indicator of complexity is subsequently used by publishing agent 504 in estimating the time required to layout future publications containing one or more of the same content objects, and to aid schedule manager 514 in estimating the time required to complete publication.
- schedule manager 514 completes the publication layout (e.g., with last minute content objects, or updates to such objects), and schedules delivery of the personalized publication.
- schedule manager 514 utilizes information from a number of available sources to schedule delivery of the publication. More particularly, schedule manager 514 utilizes information from the user's personal profile, a complexity measure from layout manager 516 , and an indication from printing devices associated with the user confirming that an adequate amount and type of media is available for printing the publication. Based, at least in part, on such information, schedule manager 514 works to establish an optimum publication schedule for one or more personalized publications.
- edit module 120 includes an innovative publishing tool set 512 from which a producer can register to publish publications utilizing the innovative features of document server 100 .
- publishing tool set 512 includes a user interface (UI) which, when invoked, enables a user to create and/or update a publication profile ( 640 ).
- the publication profile includes information regarding one or more of the publication title, producer contact information, the topic or genre of the publication, the scope of the publication, the content providers and/or advertising providers to use, publication layout information, a publication schedule, and the like.
- the publication profile created/updated by the publishing tool set 512 is maintained in knowledge module 170 .
- publishing tool set 512 includes an innovative personalized activity publication publishing tool 513 that dynamically generates a personalized activity publication for delivery to at least the requesting user.
- personalized activity publication tool 513 dynamically generates a lesson plan from one or more of a publication profile, user profile, education development profile, and the like.
- the lesson plan is utilized by virtual editor 506 and publishing agent 504 to assemble content and format a personalized activity publication that satisfies at least a subset of the content of the lesson plan.
- additional personalized activity publications are prepared and periodically published until all of the topics of the lesson plan are exhausted.
- personalized activity publication tool 513 enables a user to manually generate a lesson plan from a number of topics provided in the educational development profile ( 650 ), or from other topical information found, for example, on the Internet.
- the publishing agent 504 recognizes the publication as a personalized activity publication and formats the content of the publication into one or more subsets consisting of, for example, an instructor subset of content, a student subset of content, and the like to assist the parent/instructor/coach in preparing for and presenting the activity publication.
- the instructor subset of content may well comprise the first page of the publication, with the student subset of content comprising subsequent pages.
- the personalized activity publication tool 513 offers a powerful, yet flexible tool to enable parents, teachers, coaches and the like to generate activity based educational material for students/players of all ages, backgrounds and ability.
- publishing tool set 512 may also include other advanced publishing tools that, for example, aid the producer in selecting an appropriate publication layout, provide readership demographic information for targeted advertising, and the like.
- publishing agent 504 and/or edit module 506 establish publication schedules based, at least in part, on the information maintained in the publication profile to automatically schedule generation and publication of publications without further invocation/input from the producer.
- the producer merely establishes a publication profile from which document server 100 automatically gathers appropriate content to generate a publication on a schedule dictated by the publication profile.
- FIG. 15 illustrates an example knowledge module 170 , according to one embodiment of the present invention.
- knowledge module 170 comprises user profile information 602 , content provider information 620 , contract administrator information 630 , publication profile information 640 , educational development profile information 650 and optionally printing module 380 and printing schedule 390 .
- knowledge module 170 may well be implemented as a “loose” affiliation of otherwise disparate information sources remotely located throughout the document delivery system.
- knowledge module 170 includes logic to access/retrieve information from such information sources to support the document delivery services described herein.
- document delivery system 10 in general, and edit module 120 in particular, continuously acquires and/or solicits information from users requesting personalized publications from the document delivery system, in order to better anticipate the informational and advertising (cumulatively, content) needs of the user.
- any of a number of personal information attributes are maintained in user profile information database 602 .
- Content provider profile 620 includes information received from virtual sensors, distributed throughout the document delivery system, regarding content object distribution, receipt and user disposition.
- Contract administrator profile 630 includes information regarding the terms of use, usage/layout requirements, fee structures/schedules and the like for each of the content providers that provide content objects to document delivery system 10 .
- Publication profile 640 includes information provided by a publisher from which a document server (e.g., 100 ) automatically generates and distributes publications.
- Educational development profile 650 includes information leveraged by edit module 120 to dynamically generate a lesson plan based, at least in part, on information contained in one or more of the user profile information 602 , the publication profile 640 , and the like. According to one implementation, educational development profile 650 includes suggested educational topics and activities associated with a number of educational and general interest subjects which may be of interest to the requesting user—a conclusion drawn from information contained in the user profile and/or the publication profile. In an alternate implementation, edit module 120 provides a user interface, e.g., a projected web page, which enables a user to select one or more topics from the educational development profile 650 to generate the lesson plan from which the personalized activity publication is generated.
- a user interface e.g., a projected web page
- knowledge module 170 may well be utilized by other document servers (not shown) in document delivery system 10 , or may well be integrated in another and/or stand-alone element of document delivery system 10 without deviating from the scope or spirit of the present invention.
- FIGS. 2 - 4 flowcharts detailing the operation of transmission module 150 and a first mode of operation of printing module 380 are presented, according to one embodiment of the invention.
- the flow diagram shown in the left column is executed by transmission module 150 of document server 100
- the flow diagram in the right column is executed by printing module 380 .
- the flow diagram for transmission module 150 starts in block 1000
- the flow diagram for printing module 380 starts in block 2000 . Since there is a great deal of interaction between these two flow diagrams, as represented by dashed lines connecting the two columns, the operation of the two flow diagrams will be described simultaneously.
- user profile data is sent to document server 100 to be stored in the user profile.
- This user profile data can take on many different forms, from simple to very detailed.
- FIG. 5 shows a very simply acquisition of user profile data, such as that used in an Instant Delivery service, originally offered by Hewlett-Packard Company. In this service, only three pieces of information are stored in the user profile: type of printer, email address, and whether the service provider can contact the user.
- FIG. 6 shows a more complicated user profile than that currently used in the Instant Delivery service, which includes the user's name, email address, company name, city, state, country, zip or postal code, phone number, printer information, and areas of interest.
- FIGS. 1 shows a very simply acquisition of user profile data, such as that used in an Instant Delivery service, originally offered by Hewlett-Packard Company. In this service, only three pieces of information are stored in the user profile: type of printer, email address, and whether the service provider can contact the user.
- FIG. 6 shows a more complicated user profile than that currently used in
- block 1100 receives the user profile data sent by block 2100 .
- Block 1200 stores the user profile data, preferably in knowledge module 170 .
- the user profile data could be stored in device 300 or in some other local or remote location.
- Block 2200 checks to see whether a document should be received form document server 100 . This is done by checking print schedule 390 which is preferably stored on a device 300 or document server 100 , but may be stored in some other local or remote location.
- Printing schedule 930 preferably contains information that can be used to determine when documents should be printed by the printing device, such as upon document creation, user requested time, lapse of specified time period, and/or occurrence of one or more external events (e.g., a stock price or index reaching a specified value, a final score of a sporting event, etc.).
- Printing schedule 390 may be associated with an individual user, a device or a group or users and/or devices. In addition, each entry of printing schedule 390 could result in the printing of one or more documents.
- FIG. 7 shows one example of printing schedule 390 , of the type that might be used in an enhanced version of the Instant Delivery service.
- the title of delivery, delivery schedule, next delivery data and time, and the last deliver status are shown.
- the user can select what time a document should be printed, whether it should be printed on a specific day of the week or month, weekdays, or weekends, and whether the printing schedule should expire after a specific period of time or continue indefinitely.
- printing module 380 monitors printing schedule 390 to see if a document should be requested from document server 100 or from another source.
- block 2200 determines that a document should be requested from document server 100 or from another source
- block 2200 is answered affirmatively, and block 2300 automatically requests the document without user intervention from server 100 or from another source, as will be described in greater detail below.
- printing module 380 is located on device 300
- block 2200 operates in a “pull” mode—where the document is “pulled” from document server 100 or another source to device 300 .
- block 2200 operates in a “push” mode—where the document is “pushed” from document server 100 or another source to device 300 . If block 2300 determines that the document is located on document server 100 or at another source accessible via network 200 , and if device 300 is currently in a disconnected state where it is not operatively coupled to the network 200 , block 2300 will sign on to or otherwise enter a connected state with network 200 , so that device 300 is operatively coupled to network 200 .
- block 1300 checks to see if a document has been requested from printing module 380 in block 2300 . Once it determines that such a document has been requested, block 1400 generates the document for printing module 380 . Block 1500 then sends the document to printing module 380 . Block 2400 checks to see whether a document has been received from document server 100 via block 1500 . Once such a document has been received, block 2500 automatically prints the document, without user intervention, on a printing device. The term “without user intervention” means that a user is not directly involved in the printing operation; the document is sent automatically to a device 300 to be printed out by a printing device.
- the user does not press any print buttons or otherwise be directly involved in the printing process; in fact, the user may not even be present in the same room, city, state, or country as device 300 during the printing operation.
- the printing operation automatically occurs in an unattended state—regardless of whether the user is present or not.
- print schedule 390 is stored in a device-independent manner, such as on document server 100 , a traveling user could “log in” to document server 100 and have his or her customized document sent to a device 300 that is convenient to the user's current location.
- block 2600 checks to see whether the document printed successfully. If not, block 2800 performs error handling, such as attempting to print the document again, notifying the user that the printing device is out of paper or has some other error condition, or simply deciding not to print the document. When the document prints successfully, block 2900 informs document server 100 that the document printed successfully. Block 1600 waits for an indication from printing module 380 that the document did print successfully. When such an indication is received, block 1700 updates the user profile with this information.
- error handling such as attempting to print the document again, notifying the user that the printing device is out of paper or has some other error condition, or simply deciding not to print the document.
- block 2900 informs document server 100 that the document printed successfully.
- Block 1600 waits for an indication from printing module 380 that the document did print successfully. When such an indication is received, block 1700 updates the user profile with this information.
- FIGS. 2 - 4 need be implemented, or implemented according to the order denoted, to fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention. More specifically, according to one implementation, flow of control moves from block 2600 to block 4100 of FIG. 4, as will be discussed later, and from block 1500 back to block 1300 of FIG. 2.
- An alternate embodiment has been contemplated where other information is transmitted back to document server 100 in block 2900 to update the user profile preferably stored in knowledge module 170 .
- This other information could be ink usage (total usage or usage broken out by ink color), printable media usage (number of pages printed, type of media used, etc.), or other types of information.
- another alternate embodiment has been contemplated where some or all of the information contained in the user profile stored in knowledge module 170 came from a source other than the user via printing module 380 .
- publicly or privately available information about the user, and/or the devices 300 he/she/they use could be acquired from a wide variety of different sources and inserted into the user profile preferably stored in knowledge module 170 .
- Block 1800 examines the user profile preferably stored in knowledge module 170 to determine whether a product subsidy should be provide to the user. For example, if the information in the user profile indicates that this user has printed off his 1000th document, such as a “preferred” document that contains advertising from advertising providers 80 or is otherwise under the control of edit module 120 , providing a product subsidy to the user may be warranted.
- a “product subsidy” could be a print consumable or other product.
- a “print consumable” is an inkjet cartridge for an inkjet printer, ink for such an inkjet cartridge, a toner cartridge for a laser printer, toner for such a toner cartridge, or any other product or substance that is depleted when a document gets printed, including printer ribbons, etc.
- the “ink” referred to above would typically be of a permanent variety, but erasable ink, such as that sold by the Eink Company, could also be used.
- the product subsidy referred to herein is preferably funded at least in part by advertising revenue received from advertising providers 80 (FIG. 1), but an embodiment has been contemplated where the product subsidy is funded at least in part from the distribution revenue received from content providers 50 (FIG. 1).
- information (such as statistical information) about what was printed by whom is preferably provided to content providers 50 and/or advertising providers 80 —preferably as a document that is automatically sent to one or more printing devices according to the teachings of this invention.
- printable media such as plain paper, specialty paper, transparencies, and the like
- devices 300 such as printing devices, electronic devices, and personal computers.
- other products such as a subscription price to a document, or even a product not directly related to the document delivery system shown herein, such as soap or dog food, are subsidized.
- block 1900 requests that distribution module 400 provides such a subsidy to the user.
- distribution module 400 simply mails a product such as a print consumable or other product such as the type described above to a user at the address specified in the user profile.
- distribution module 400 mails or electronically generates a coupon that the user can use to receive a free or discounted product of the type described above. Regardless of whether block 1800 is answered affirmatively or negatively, flow of control then returns back to block 1300 (FIG. 2) to see if another document has been requested from the printing module 380 .
- Block 4100 (FIG. 4), which checks with document server 100 to see what the current version of printing module 380 is.
- Block 3100 checks to see whether such a request has been received, and when it is, block 3200 sends information concerning the current version of the printing module to printing module 380 .
- Block 4200 compares this information from document server 100 with its own version and determines whether an updated version of printing module is available. For example, if printing module 380 is running version 4.0, and document server 100 indicates that version 4.1 is the current version of printing module 380 , block 4200 would determine that an updated version of printing module 380 is available, and flow control would move to block 4300 .
- Block 4300 checks to see whether this updated version of printing module 380 should be requested to be downloaded. While a user would typically be asked whether such a download should be requested or not, and would typically perform this download at a convenient time, such a step could also be performed automatically without user intervention. If such a download is requested, block 4400 is answered affirmatively, and block 3500 downloads the updated printing module, which is then installed in block 4500 . Regardless of how blocks 4200 and 4300 are answered, flow of control moves to block 4600 , which checks to see if a disconnected state should be entered. If block 2300 (FIG.
- the title of document 11000 specifies a network address, such as an Internet Uniform Resource Locator (URL) that contains the network location of a document to be printed.
- URL Internet Uniform Resource Locator
- edit module 120 of document server 100 merely goes out to the Internet at the URL indicated (which would be shown in FIG. 1 as one of the content providers 50 ), and captures the indicated document, which is then transmitted to a printing device via transmission module 150 and printing module 380 , as has been discussed.
- device 300 could go directly out to the URL itself without assistance from document server 100 ; in this case, block 2300 (FIG. 2) requests document 11000 from another source—directly from the content provider 50 (at the indicated URL) via network 200 .
- document 12000 is not a document that originates with a content provider 50 via the Internet, but instead is stored directly on device 300 , such as a printing device, personal computer, or other electronic device.
- device 300 such as a printing device, personal computer, or other electronic device.
- An example of such a document could be a daily calendar from a program such as Microsoft Outlook, which the user has requested be printed automatically to his printer, without any user intervention, at 7:00 a.m. every weekday morning.
- printing module 380 does not need to request the document from document server 100 , since it can access the documents without going through network 200 .
- block 2300 of FIG. 2 requests the document from another source—device 300 .
- block 2900 would still preferably indicate that the document was printed, and while block 1700 would still preferably update the user profile in knowledge module 170 , printing such a document would preferably not generate any type of credit towards a product subsidy, since such a document would not be considered a “preferred” document, e.g., not a document under the control of edit module 120 .
- Document 13000 is referred to as a “personalized document”.
- a personalized document is a document that is assembled by edit module 120 of document server 100 from a variety of content providers 50 and advertising providers 80 , based on information contained in the user profile stored in knowledge module 170 .
- document 13000 is a personalized document.
- Edit module 120 examines the user's interests as specified in the user profile stored in knowledge module 170 to assemble the document from selected content providers 50 in which the user has indicated an interest.
- Edit module 120 also inserts advertising from selected advertising providers 80 —again based on the user profile stored in knowledge module 170 .
- FIG. 8 shows how the print schedule 390 of FIG. 7 can be edited by the user.
- the user can use the publisher's recommended schedule, use a default schedule the user has set, or use a custom schedule for delivery. If a custom schedule is selected, the user can select a daily, weekly, or monthly delivery, or select a delivery once every specified number of days, or specify every weekday.
- the time of day can also be specified: once at a designated time, multiple times during the day, or multiple times separated by a specified period of time. While not shown here, the user could also edit print schedule 390 to request that a document be sent upon creation, or upon the occurrence of an external event.
- FIGS. 9 A- 9 B show document 11000 printed by the printing device according to one embodiment of the invention. Note that this document came from one content provider 50 via network 200 (either through document server 100 or directly), and contains no advertising. While document 11000 is preferably formatted by content provider 50 such that the information contained in the document is optimized to be printed, such formatting is not necessary.
- FIG. 10 shows document 12000 printed by the printing device according to one embodiment of the invention. Note that this document is a user's daily calendar which came directly from device 300 and not from document server 100 via network 200 .
- FIGS. 11 A-D show document 1300 printed by the printing device according to one embodiment of the invention.
- this document is a user's personalized newspaper which contains information in which the user has indicated a specific interest in, as stored in the user profile in knowledge module 170 .
- this document contains advertising that edit module 120 determined the user would also be interested in, again based on the information contained in the user profile stored in knowledge module 170 .
- the user may receive a product subsidy of a print consumable or other product(s).
- FIG. 12 shows document 14000 printed by the printing device according to one embodiment of the present invention.
- document 14000 is the “Instant Delivery Times”—a document located on document server 100 . While this document does not contain advertising per se, it is still considered to be a preferred document, since it is under the control of edit module 120 . Document 14000 informs users of Instant Delivery of new releases or new information about the Instant Delivery service.
- FIGS. 16 - 19 introduce a system and related methods for dynamically generating and delivery personalized activity publications, in accordance with one aspect of the present invention.
- edit module 120 of document delivery server 100 dynamically generates personalized publications from content assembled from one or more content providers 50 , 80 based, at least in part, on special interests denoted in a publication profile. It will be appreciated that the look, feel, and style of the publication largely depends on the informational interest of the user, determined from one or more of the publication profile, user profile, etc.
- edit module 120 may well generate personalized activity publications to satisfy user requests.
- personalized activity publications are intended to include a wide range of publications intended to educate and/or instruct, and which are formatted to include a instructor subset of content and a student subset of content. According to one implementation, the student subset of content includes interactive content.
- the content of the personalized activity publication is dynamically chosen by edit module 120 to satisfy at least a subset of topics of a lesson plan, which may be manually or automatically generated.
- An example method for generating such personalized activity publications is presented with reference to FIG. 16, in accordance with one aspect of the present invention.
- an example method for publishing a personalized activity publication begins with block 16002 wherein edit module 120 receives an indication to publish a personalized activity publication.
- this indication may well be received from a print module 380 based, at least in part, on a print schedule 390 denoting that it is time to publish a periodically published personalized activity publication.
- the indication may be received from a document server 100 , in response to a request received from a client computing system (e.g., via a user interface executing on the client computer).
- edit module 120 attempts to identify a lesson plan associated with the requesting user, block 16004 . If a lesson plan cannot be identified, edit module 120 prompts the user as to whether they wish to manually generate a lesson plan, block 16006 . More particularly, in accordance with one example embodiment, edit module 120 selectively invokes an instance of personalized activity publication tool(s) 513 , which determines whether the user wants to manually generate a lesson plan, or whether the user wants the document delivery system to generate a proposed lesson plan based on one or more attributes of the requesting user or the user's intended audience, in block 16008 .
- personalized activity publication tool(s) 513 determines whether the user wants to manually generate a lesson plan, or whether the user wants the document delivery system to generate a proposed lesson plan based on one or more attributes of the requesting user or the user's intended audience, in block 16008 .
- personalized activity publication tool 513 receives an indication that the user wants to manually generate a lesson plan
- publication tool 513 provides the user with a user interface comprising a list of suggested topics, and also with a field in which the user can input their own topic(s), block 16010 .
- publication tool 513 obtains a list of activity topics from one or more of educational development profile 650 , content provider(s) 50 , 80 , and the like.
- personalized activity publication tool 513 selects certain of a plurality of activity topics for presentation to the user based, at least in part, on information contained in one or more of user profile, publication profile, etc.
- edit module 120 receives user topic selections, from which a lesson plan is generated.
- publication tool 513 dynamically generates a lesson plan for a requesting user, and appends the lesson plan to information contained within the user profile.
- publication tool 513 generates a lesson plan associated with a user which is stored as a publication profile 640 associated with the personalized activity publication of the user. In either case, the lesson plan is utilized by edit module 120 to dynamically generate the personalized activity publication for subsequent delivery to at least the requesting user.
- personalized activity publication tool 513 automatically identifies lesson plan topics based, at least in part, on information contained in one or more of the user profile, publication profile, education development profile, and the like.
- personalized activity publication tool 513 may request the user for additional information such as, for example, demographic information describing the intended audience (e.g., a five year-old boy).
- publication tool 513 scours the educational development profile 650 , and content currently available from one or more content providers 50 , 80 to develop a list of lesson plan topics which are designed to be educational (i.e., build confidence, improve skill level/performance, re-emphasize school subjects, introduce new subjects) and/or entertaining.
- the educational development profile 650 is created by experts in each of a number of fields such as, Kir, child development, sports, youth groups, counselors and the like.
- personalized activity publication tool 513 dynamically generates a proposed lesson plan based, at least in part, on the topics identified in block 16014 .
- the proposed lesson plan is presented to the requesting user for certification before implementation, wherein the user may change one or more aspects of the lesson plan to suit their individual objectives.
- the instructor, parent, coach may utilize the tool 513 to reject the proposed lesson plan requesting the tool to generate another lesson plan, or utilize the tool to manually assemble material from one or more content providers 50 , 80 to generate the personalized activity publication.
- a publication schedule for the personalized activity publication is established.
- the publication schedule is generated by publication tool 513 in response to user input.
- a publication schedule may be generated in accordance with content publication schedule(s) provided by the one or more content providers 50 , 80 which contribute material to the personalized activity publication.
- edit module 120 assembles content to publish the personalized activity publication.
- edit module 120 selects material for inclusion in the publication which satisfy at least a subset of the generated lesson plan.
- edit module 120 formats content selectively assembled from one or more content providers 50 , 80 to publish the personalized activity publication.
- edit module 120 formats the publication to include an instructor subset of content and a student subset of content.
- the instructor subset of content is presented on the first page of the publication, while the student content is presented on the second and subsequent pages of the publication.
- the instructor subset of content is only presented in an instructor version of the publication, wherein versions of the publication to be delivered to others does not include the instructor subset of content.
- edit module 120 updates the lesson plan to denote which topics have been covered.
- edit module 120 forwards the publication to transmission module 150 for delivery to at least the requesting user.
- a user may specify additional recipients of the personalized activity publication in, for example, the user profile, publication profile, lesson plan, etc.
- transmission module sends at least the instructor subset of content to the requesting user, and at least the student subset of content to the other denoted recipients of the personalized activity publication.
- FIG. 17 a graphical illustration of an example lesson plan is presented, according to one aspect of the present invention.
- a lesson plan targeted to parents and preschoolers (2-6 years) is presented.
- the lesson plan denotes publication Monday through Saturday although other publication dates and aggregations may be set (including the instructor cover page).
- a print schedule 390 may be developed, wherein an actual time for publication and delivery is further noted.
- the requesting user (presumably, the parent or day-care provider) will receive a cover page of instructor content for each instance of the personalized activity publication.
- the cover page is targeted for the parent/instructor/coach with content describing the nature and objectives of the student subset of content.
- the cover page may also include targeted advertising associated with content presented in the personalized publication.
- advertising only appears, if at all, in the instructor subset of content. In alternate embodiments, advertising may be selectively placed throughout the personalized activity publication.
- the personalized activity publication includes student subset of content.
- the student subset of content may well include one or more of coloring printables, a treasure map, activities, paper games, recipes, and the like.
- the coloring printables feature characters with numbers, letters, shapes, safety, magazine coloring pages, and the like.
- the activities, paper games, recipes and other content is designed to educational, instructional as well as entertaining. Activities may be targeted towards arts and crafts, sports, and the like.
- the content of the individual elements of the personalized activity publication carry common threads, designed to instruct and reinforce each other to better educate the child.
- personalized activity publication published during Black History Month may begin with a story about Althea Gibson, followed by a coloring page of a picture of Ms. Gibson and activities for developing motor skills with a tennis ball. In this way, each of the activities reinforces the educational theme/topic of the lesson.
- personalized activity publications may be generated which promote skills building for individual and team sports, musicianship, civics, and the like.
- FIG. 18 illustrates an example layout of a personalized activity publication, in accordance with one embodiment.
- a personalized activity publication format 18000 is presented comprising an instructor subset of content 18002 and a student subset of content 18004 .
- the instructor subset of content 18002 comprises a cover page of the personalized activity publication, while the student subset of content comprises subsequent pages of content 18004 A . . . N.
- alternate formats may well be used wherein the instructor subset of content and the student subset of content are commingled on one or more of the pages of the personalized activity publication.
- FIG. 19 illustrates a block diagram of an example storage medium comprising a plurality of executable instructions including at least a subset of which that, when executed, implement an edit module according to FIG. 14.
- storage medium 19000 is intended to represent any of a number of storage devices and/or storage media known to those skilled in the art such as, for example, volatile memory devices, non-volatile memory devices, magnetic storage media, optical storage media, and the like.
- the executable instructions are intended to reflect any of a number of software languages known in the art such as, for example, C++, Visual Basic, Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), Java, extensible Markup Language (XML), and the like. Accordingly, the software implementation of FIG. 19 is to be regarded as illustrative, as alternate storage media and software embodiments are anticipated.
Abstract
A method for and apparatus capable of generating a personalized activity publication includes the receipt of a publication profile from a requesting user. A lesson plan based, at least in part, on at least a subset of a plurality of information in accordance with the received publication profile is dynamically generated. Periodically, a targeted publication is assembled for delivery to the requesting user to satisfy at least a subset of the lesson plan generated from the publication profile.
Description
- The present invention is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/325,040 filed on Jun. 7, 1999 titled “Document Delivery System for Automatically Printing a Document on a Printing Device”, by Brewster, et al.
- This invention generally relates to the printing field and, more particularly, to a document delivery system facilitating aggregation of periodic content.
- In the mid-1400's, Johann Gutenberg revolutionized how information is disseminated through his invention of the movable type press. With the publication of the Mazarin Bible, documents which were once held in the exclusive domain of a chosen few were now widely available to the masses. Nearly 550 years later, the mass media revolution that Gutenberg started is alive and well, complete with newspapers such as the New York Times and the Washington Post, magazines such as Newsweek and Sports Illustrated, and literally thousands upon thousands of other publications.
- While these thousands of publications cover a wide range of interests, from news to sports to fashion to model rocketry, they have one thing in common: they are intended to be read by a mass market. Unlike the pre-Gutenberg days, where a document would literally be read by only one person of a very small number of people, it is not economically viable for today's publications to have such a small readership, due at least in part to high marketing, production and distribution costs. In fact, many of today's publications are funded to a very large extent by the advertising contained within them. These advertisers are attracted to publications that can consistently deliver a large, reliable audience of consumers that will be exposed to their advertising.
- While this mass-market publication model has worked well for hundreds of years, it is not without its problems. One such problem is that a typical reader of a publication has a wide variety of interests, and no single mass market publication will be able to satisfy all of these interests. For example, a reader who is interested in international news, golf, fly-fishing, Genealogy, and computers may have to subscribe to several different publications to satisfy these interests. Of course, since these publications are intended for the mass market, they will also contain a significant amount of material that our reader is not interested in and will not read. It goes without saying that if there is a significant amount of material a read isn't reading, there is a significant amount of advertising that the reader isn't reading either—as well as a significant amount of paper that is wasted. Advertisers know this, and agree to pay considerably less to a mass market magazine or newspaper per 1000 exposures to their ad than they would pay to a direct-mail generator that can provide a more specific guarantee that the people exposed to their ad are of a demographic group that will be much more likely to read and be receptive to their ad.
- In addition, it is neither cost-effective nor time effective for most readers to subscribe to and/or read a large number of publications. Generally, the typical reader will only subscribe to a few publications that are of the most interest to them. The reduced readership level of the publications our typical reader chooses not to subscribe to, even though she might be interested in at least some of the editorial and advertising content contained inside, means that the publication receives less subscription and advertising revenue than they otherwise would. If many other readers make the same decision, the continued health of the publication may be in jeopardy, and the publication may be forced out of business. In fact, many publications do go out of business yearly for failing to attract a sustaining number of advertisers and readers—even if there are a large number of readers that would be interested in reading their publication, and a corresponding number of advertisers anxious to have these readers exposed to their ads. In general, publications that fail to attract a substantial mass market of people willing to pay for and/or read them cease publication. This is a shame, since many of these publications would enrich the diversity of information available to all readers, and would provide an avenue for lesser known writers and artists to practice their wares.
- In more recent years, a new type of publication has emerged: the electronic publication. Readers of these publications typically sign into the Internet through their computer, and read the publications online. Some of these publications, such as CNN.com and pointcast.com, allow users to state personal preference(s) on what type of material they would like to read. Often, these personalized publications include advertising, usually in the form of a banner ad that is placed on or along a periphery of the visual display (top, bottom, side, etc.).
- While these electronic publications have been an interesting development in the distribution of information, they still represent only a tiny fraction of the information that is published under the more traditional post-Gutenberg model. Many readers of these electronic publications complain that they are very difficult to read (on the video display), especially for long periods of time. While it might be convenient for a reader to sign onto the Internet to look at the CNN.com web site for a brief summary of late breaking news, this reader would most likely only spend a few minutes at the site, and would likely still subscribe to the more traditional print media such as Newsweek or the Washington Post. They would also likely spend significantly more time reading the more traditional printed publication than they would spend reading the electronic publication, and correspondingly, spend more time being exposed to the ads in the traditional printed publication. Accordingly, printed publications continue to flourish today—more than five centuries after Gutenberg made them possible—and after more than a decade after the innovation of the electronic publication.
- While these printed publications have certainly benefited modern society, no significant attempt has been made thus far to solve the underlying problems with these publications discussed above. Just such a solution is provided herein.
- A method for generating a publication comprises receiving a publication profile from a requesting user, creating a lesson plan based on at least a subset of a plurality of information in accordance with the received publication profile, and periodically generating the publication for delivery to at least the requesting user from at least a subset of content received from one or more content providers dynamically selected to satisfy at least a subset of the lesson plan.
- FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a document delivery system of one embodiment of the invention;
- FIGS.2-4 illustrate flow charts detailing the operation of the transmission module and the printing module of the document delivery system of one embodiment of the invention;
- FIG. 5 illustrates how user profile information is acquired from a user in one embodiment of the invention;
- FIG. 6 shows how user profile information is acquired from a user in one embodiment of the invention;
- FIG. 7 shows a print schedule for the delivery of documents in one embodiment of the invention;
- FIG. 8 shows how the print schedule of FIG. 7 can be modified by the user;
- FIGS.9A-9B shows a document printed by the printing device according to one embodiment of the invention;
- FIG. 10 shows a document printed by the printing device according to one embodiment of the invention;
- FIGS.11A-11D show a document printed by the printing device according to one embodiment of the invention;
- FIG. 12 shows a document printed by the printing device according to one embodiment of the invention;
- FIG. 13 illustrates a block diagram of an example print manager, according to one embodiment of the present invention;
- FIG. 14 is a block diagram of an example edit module, according to one embodiment of the present invention;
- FIG. 15 is a block diagram of an example knowledge module, according to one embodiment of the present invention;
- FIG. 16 is a flow chart of an example method for dynamically generating a personalized activity publication, according to one aspect of the present invention;
- FIG. 17 is a graphical illustration of an example lesson plan, according to one aspect of the present invention;
- FIG. 18 is a graphical illustration of an example educational development profile, suitable for use by the edit module;
- FIG. 19 illustrates a block diagram of an example storage medium comprising a plurality of executable instructions including at least a subset of which that, when executed, implement an edit module according to FIG. 14.
- FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a document delivery system of one embodiment of the invention.
Document delivery system 10 containsdocument server 100. In the preferred embodiment,document server 100 is operatively coupled vianetwork 200 to a variety of personal computers, printing devices, and other electronic devices, collectively referred to asdevices 300.Document server 100 containsedit module 120,transmission module 150 andknowledge module 170.Edit module 120 receives inputs from one or more content providers 50, and/or one or more advertising providers 80.Distribution module 400 is operatively coupled todocument server 100. In a preferred embodiment,document server 100 is a minicomputer/server, such as an HP 9000 server sold by the Hewlett-Packard Company, although those skilled in the art will appreciate thatdocument server 100 could be any type of other computing or electronic device(s) that performs the functions described herein and still fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.Network 200 is preferably the Internet, although an Intranet, local area network, or other type of public or private network, either wired (e.g., telephone, cable TV, etc.) or wireless (e.g., satellite, radio, cell phone, etc.), could also or additionally be used. -
Devices 300 are shown in FIG. 1 as being capable of being configured in a wide variety of ways. For example,personal computer 310 is shown connected toprinting device 320, which printsdocument 10320 foruser 20320.Personal computer 310 is operatively coupled tonetwork 200. In contrast,printing device 330, which printsdocument 10330 foruser 20330, is operatively coupled tonetwork 200 without an intervening personal computer or other electronic device.Printing device 350, which printsdocument 10350 foruser 20350, is shown connected toelectronic device 340, which could be a set top box, television set, palmtop personal digital assistant (PDA) or other type of electronic device that is operatively coupled tonetwork 200. Finally,printing device 370, which prints document 10370 for user 20370, is connected toelectronic device 360, which is operatively connected tonetwork 200. The printing devices shown in FIG. 1 could be printers, such as the HP DeskJet 890 printer, HP LaserJet V printer, or other models of printers manufactured by HP or others; so-called “mopiers” or other multi-function printing devices that can print, fax, scan, and/or copy, or any other device capable of transferring information to a printable media such as plain paper, specialty paper, transparencies, or other media capable of tangibly receiving such information and which can be easily carried about by the user. - As shown,
document delivery system 100 includes aprinting module 380 and atransmission module 150. Transmission module is preferably located withdocument server 100, and is used to transmit a personalized publication to one or more requesting users. As FIG. 1 shows,printing module 380 may well be located in any of thedevices 300, such as inpersonal computer 310,printing device 330, orelectronic device 340, operatively coupled vianetwork 200 todocument server 100, or it could be located withindocument server 100 itself, such as inknowledge module 170. According to one embodiment of the invention,transmission module 150 andprinting module 380 represent software functions, stored in one or more storage device(s), that execute on suitably programmed microprocessor(s) within adevice 300 and/ordocument server 100. It will be appreciated, however, that special purpose hardware or other mechanisms could be employed to implement the innovative features and functions described below. - FIG. 13 illustrates a block diagram of an
example printing module 380 is presented. According to one embodiment,printing module 380 resides within one or more ofdevices 300 and, in response to user interaction with a user interface (not shown), schedules and manages the delivery of one or more documents to a printing device. Any of a number of user interfaces may be used to utilize the features and functions ofprinting module 380. According to a preferred embodiment, to be described more fully below, a web page is projected to adevice 300 bydocument server 100, content provider 50 and/or advertisers 80, wherein the web page includes one or more iconic function calls to one or more of the features/functions provided byprinting module 380. - As shown in FIG. 13,
printing module 380 includes one or more controller(s) 402, aprint function 404, ascheduler function 406, a document translation/interpretation function 408, a memory/storage system 410, an input/output (I/O)interface 412, and optionally one ormore applications 413, each coupled as shown. It will be appreciated that, although denoted as separate functional blocks, one or more elements 402-413 may well be combined without deviating from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Moreover, although depicted in accordance with a hardware paradigm, those skilled in the art will appreciate thatprinting module 380 and its associated elements 402-413 may well be embodied as a series of executable instructions which, when executed by a host processor ofdevices 300, implement the features and functions ofprinting module 380 to be discussed below. - As shown, controller(s)402 selectively invoke one or more functions 404-408 and/or
applications 413 in response to user interaction with a user interface, e.g., a web page. According to one embodiment, the user interface includes iconic selectors, e.g., buttons, that when selected by theuser cause controller 402 to selectively invoke an instance of a function associated with the conic selector. In this regard,controller 402 communicates with external elements via input/output (I/O) interface(s) 412. In an alternate embodiment,controller 402 provides a user with a user interface fromapplications 413. - As used herein, I/O interface(s)412 are intended to include one or more of any of a number of communication interfaces known in the art including, but not limited to, a direct connect communication interface (e.g., a serial interface, a parallel interface, a Universal Serial Bus (USB), an Advanced Graphic Port (AGP), etc.), a local area network interface (e.g., an Ethernet interface, a Token Ring interface, etc.), or a wide area network interface. In this regard,
printing module 380 may communicate with any of a number of external and remote devices using an appropriate one of a plurality of wired and/or wireless I/O interfaces 413. -
Automated print function 404 is selectively invoked bycontroller 402 in response to a user indication to immediately print a document (e.g., within the next several seconds) without first viewing or displaying the document. According to one embodiment, a user interface projected by printingmodule 380 or from an external source (e.g., document server 100) includes an iconic selector associated with one or more documents to invoke theautomated print function 404 to print the one or more documents. Insofar as selection of the iconic selector associated with the one or more documents automatically causes the documents to be queued for printing (e.g., within the subsequent several seconds), the iconic selector is referred to herein as an “automated print” icon, or an “instant print” icon. - When the automated print icon associated with one or more documents is selected by a user, the user interface provides
controller 402 with information regarding the associated one or more documents. According to one implementation, user interface providescontroller 402 with a name/identifier and storage location of the one or more documents.Controller 402 provides the name/identifier and location information to automatedprint function 404 to queue the document for printing. As will be described in more detail below, automated print function generates and issues a request to retrieve the identified document(s) from the identified storage location via I/O interface 412. The retrieved documents are stored inmemory locations memory 410. Once retrieved, document translation/interpretation function 408 is selectively invoked to interpret/translate and print the retrieved document. According to one implementation, the retrieved documents are queued and printed substantially instantaneously (e.g., within the subsequent several seconds). In alternate embodiments, the retrieved document(s) are printed according to a print schedule defined by the user. - According to one aspect of the invention, to be described more fully below, the document associated with an iconic selector is retrieved from a provider into
memory 410 ofprint module 380 and immediately printed without invoking an application associated with the document. That is, translation/interpretation function 408 reads the stored document(s), interprets the textual, image, formatting, etc. content of the document(s) to print the document on an operatively coupled printer without having to invoke the application associated with the retrieved document(s), and without having to display the document(s) to the user prior to printing. - In an alternate embodiment, an application413 (e.g., Microsoft Word, Adobe Acrobat, etc.) associated with the document is invoked by
controller 402 to print the document, but neither the document nor theapplication 413 are displayed to the user so, from the user's perspective, the application is not launched. In either case,automated print function 404 enables a user to immediately print a remote document without having to manually download, launch and print the document, thereby providing the user with the convenience and selection of electronic publications, with the physical reading experience introduced by the Gutenberg press. - The
scheduling function 406 enables a user to establish aprint schedule 390 for documents of interest. According to one embodiment of the present invention,scheduling function 406 is selectively invoked bycontroller 402 in response to a user's indication to add the document to aprint schedule 390. As shown in FIG. 1, theprinting schedule 390 may be located indevices 300,document server 100 or any other accessible location. - FIG. 14 illustrates a block diagram of an example edit module. According to one embodiment,
edit module 120 resides withindocument delivery server 100 and, in response to aprint schedule 390 developed by aprint module 380, assembles content from one or more content providers into a personalized publication. In accordance with one aspect of the present invention,edit module 120 selectively generates a personalized activity publication targeted to satisfy a lesson plan dynamically generated from one or more of a user profile, a publication profile, an educational development profile and the like. According to one embodiment, such information profiles (e.g., user profile, publication profile, educational development profile) are accessed throughknowledge module 170. According to an alternate embodiment, the information profiles are stored in disparate storage devices (not shown) throughoutdocument delivery system 10 such as, for example,knowledge module 170,edit module 120, and/ordevices 300. - In accordance with the illustrated example embodiment of FIG. 14,
edit module 120 is depicted comprising one or more controller(s) 502,publishing agent 504,virtual editor 506,memory space 508 and one or more input/output (I/O) interface(s) 510, each coupled as depicted. According to one implementation of the invention,edit module 120 may well contain one or more application(s) 512 executable by controller(s) 502. Indeed, according to one embodiment to be described more fully below,edit module 120 includes an innovative set ofpublishing tools 512 that enable a producer (e.g., a registered user) to establish a publication profile that is used byedit module 120 to automatically generate a lesson plan from which it produces a personalized activity publication on behalf of the requesting user. It will be appreciated that although depicted as separate and distinct functional entities, one or more functional blocks 502-510 may well be combined into multi-functional entities. Moreover, although depicted in accordance with a hardware paradigm, those skilled in the art will appreciate thatedit module 120 and its constituent elements 502-510 may well be embodied as a series of executable instructions which, when executed by a host processor, implement the features and functions ofedit module 120 to be discussed below. - As shown, controller(s)502 selectively invoke one or more of the
virtual editor 506 to generate a custom document for a requesting and/or subscribing user, orpublishing agent 504 to complete the layout and optimize the delivery schedule of such custom documents. Controller(s) 502 may initiate construction and/or delivery of a custom document in response to user interaction with a user interface (e.g., a web page), or to accommodate a user-selected delivery schedule. In this regard,controller 502 communicates with external applications (e.g., web page) or other elements (e.g., a user profile) via input/output (I/O) interface(s) 510. In an alternate embodiment,controller 502 provides a user with a user interface with which to request/build a custom document using one or more ofapplications 512. But for implementation of the teachings of the present invention, controller(s) 502 are intended to represent any of a broad range of control devices known in the art including, but not limited to, a programmable logic array (PLA), microprocessor, special purpose controller, application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and the like. In an alternate embodiment, controller(s) 502 are embodied as a series of executable instructions which, when executed, implement the control logic described herein. -
Memory device 508 and I/O interface(s) 510 are each intended to represent such devices commonly known in the art. I/O interface(s) 510, in particular, are intended to include one or more of any of a number of communication interfaces known in the art including, but not limited to, a direct connect communication interface (e.g., a serial interface, a parallel interface, a Universal Serial Bus (USB), an Advanced Graphic Port (AGP), etc.), a local area network interface (e.g., an Ethernet interface, a Token Ring interface, etc.), or a wide area network interface. In this regard,edit module 120 may communicate with any of a number of external and remote devices using an appropriate one of a plurality of wired and/orwireless 1/O interfaces 510. - According to one aspect of the present invention,
virtual editor 506 personalizes publications for a unique, composite publication based on a number of factors. As shown,virtual editor 506 includes acontent manager 518 and aconstruction agent 520. Thecontent manager 518 includes an analysis/wrapper agent 522, acontract administrator function 524 and atransaction agent 526. Aseditor module 120 receives content from one or more content providers,content manager 518 is selectively invoked by controller(s) 502. The analysis/wrapper agent 522 analyzes the received content and categorizes it based on any one or more of a number of attributes including, source, subject matter, length, cost, etc. In addition, analysis/wrapper agent 522 encapsulates the content object in a wrapper with a unique identifier. It will be appreciated, based on the description to follow, that the encapsulating wrapper enables virtual sensors (not shown) in the document distribution system to accurately track distribution, receipt and disposition of content objects. According to one embodiment, virtual sensors are embedded withinprinting modules 380 to track distribution, receipt and disposition of encapsulated content objects. - According to one implementation, the
contract administrator 524 is a database driven component that manages all of the contractual obligations of the users (subscribers, content providers, etc.) of the document delivery system. According to one implementation,contract administrator 524 maintains royalty calculation and display agreements for select content providers (e.g., artists), the advertising rates for other content providers (e.g., advertisers), subscription information for select users, and the like. Periodically,contract administrator 524 accesses one or more content provider databases to identify content object distribution, to compute royalty payments, advertising bills and subscription bills for distribution to appropriate users via thetransaction agent 526. In this regard,contract administrator 524 ensures that contractual obligations of the document delivery system are adhered to. -
Transaction agent 526 is the primary interface between the document delivery system and a public/private e-commerce financial system (e.g., the CheckFree™ financial network offered by CheckFree Corporation). As introduced above, thetransaction agent 526 is responsible for executing payments and account credit/debit transactions with user accounts based, at least in part, on the distribution of content objects in accordance with the terms and conditions maintained incontract administrator 524. It should be noted that although depicted as an element ofedit module 120, those skilled in the art will appreciate thatcontent manager 518 may well be deployed as an separate and independent functional entity without deviating from the spirit and scope of the present invention. - The
construction agent 520 ofvirtual editor 506 extracts content objects to generate a custom document according to one or more key contributors. As used herein, the key contributors include one or more of a requesting/subscribing user's interests, demographics, seasonality, document server requirements, and content provider usage criteria, and the like. As will be described in greater detail below,construction agent 520 extracts content objects which are likely to be of interest to a particular user and generates a personalized publication for that user. Theconstruction agent 520 utilizes information received via overt and covert processes ofdocument delivery system 10 to log a user's interaction and disposition of received material, as well as soliciting feedback from the user, to improve the user's satisfaction with subsequent personalized publications. Information gathered as a result of these overt/covert processes are used byconstruction agent 520 to update a user profile associated with the user, which is accessed when generating a personalized publication. In this regard,construction agent 520 performs functions commonly associated with a physical editor of, say, a magazine: publication content decisions, layout and format decisions, advertising and the like, yet it factors in other key information such as personal preferences to generate personalized publications for up to millions of individuals. Onceconstruction agent 520 has extracted content objects to generate the publication, it is passed topublishing agent 504, to finalize layout and schedule delivery of the personalized publication to the intended recipient(s). - In accordance with the illustrated example embodiment,
publishing agent 504 is presented comprisingschedule manager 514 andlayout manager 516. As will be described in greater detail below,layout manager 516 receives the content objects fromconstruction manager 506 and finalizes at least a partial layout of the personalized publication. According to one aspect of the invention,layout manager 516 maintains a record of the time required to complete at least a partial layout of the publication in order to determine the complexity of the personalized publication. This indicator of complexity is subsequently used by publishingagent 504 in estimating the time required to layout future publications containing one or more of the same content objects, and to aidschedule manager 514 in estimating the time required to complete publication. - Once
layout manager 516 has completed at least a partial layout of the publication,schedule manager 514 completes the publication layout (e.g., with last minute content objects, or updates to such objects), and schedules delivery of the personalized publication. According to one embodiment,schedule manager 514 utilizes information from a number of available sources to schedule delivery of the publication. More particularly,schedule manager 514 utilizes information from the user's personal profile, a complexity measure fromlayout manager 516, and an indication from printing devices associated with the user confirming that an adequate amount and type of media is available for printing the publication. Based, at least in part, on such information,schedule manager 514 works to establish an optimum publication schedule for one or more personalized publications. - As introduced above,
edit module 120 includes an innovative publishing tool set 512 from which a producer can register to publish publications utilizing the innovative features ofdocument server 100. According to one implementation, publishing tool set 512 includes a user interface (UI) which, when invoked, enables a user to create and/or update a publication profile (640). The publication profile includes information regarding one or more of the publication title, producer contact information, the topic or genre of the publication, the scope of the publication, the content providers and/or advertising providers to use, publication layout information, a publication schedule, and the like. The publication profile created/updated by the publishing tool set 512 is maintained inknowledge module 170. - According to one aspect of the present invention, publishing tool set512 includes an innovative personalized activity
publication publishing tool 513 that dynamically generates a personalized activity publication for delivery to at least the requesting user. In accordance with this aspect of the present invention, personalizedactivity publication tool 513 dynamically generates a lesson plan from one or more of a publication profile, user profile, education development profile, and the like. The lesson plan is utilized byvirtual editor 506 andpublishing agent 504 to assemble content and format a personalized activity publication that satisfies at least a subset of the content of the lesson plan. According to one implementation, additional personalized activity publications are prepared and periodically published until all of the topics of the lesson plan are exhausted. In addition to the automated lesson plan generation, personalizedactivity publication tool 513 enables a user to manually generate a lesson plan from a number of topics provided in the educational development profile (650), or from other topical information found, for example, on the Internet. Thepublishing agent 504 recognizes the publication as a personalized activity publication and formats the content of the publication into one or more subsets consisting of, for example, an instructor subset of content, a student subset of content, and the like to assist the parent/instructor/coach in preparing for and presenting the activity publication. According to one implementation, the instructor subset of content may well comprise the first page of the publication, with the student subset of content comprising subsequent pages. It is to be appreciated that the personalizedactivity publication tool 513 offers a powerful, yet flexible tool to enable parents, teachers, coaches and the like to generate activity based educational material for students/players of all ages, backgrounds and ability. - In addition to the registration, publication profile, and personalized activity publication interfaces, publishing tool set512 may also include other advanced publishing tools that, for example, aid the producer in selecting an appropriate publication layout, provide readership demographic information for targeted advertising, and the like. Once the publication profile is set,
publishing agent 504 and/or editmodule 506 establish publication schedules based, at least in part, on the information maintained in the publication profile to automatically schedule generation and publication of publications without further invocation/input from the producer. Thus, according to this innovative aspect of the present invention, the producer merely establishes a publication profile from whichdocument server 100 automatically gathers appropriate content to generate a publication on a schedule dictated by the publication profile. - FIG. 15 illustrates an
example knowledge module 170, according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown,knowledge module 170 comprisesuser profile information 602,content provider information 620,contract administrator information 630,publication profile information 640, educationaldevelopment profile information 650 and optionally printingmodule 380 andprinting schedule 390. Although depicted as being co-located, those skilled in the art will appreciate thatknowledge module 170 may well be implemented as a “loose” affiliation of otherwise disparate information sources remotely located throughout the document delivery system. In such an implementation,knowledge module 170 includes logic to access/retrieve information from such information sources to support the document delivery services described herein. - As introduced above,
document delivery system 10 in general, and editmodule 120 in particular, continuously acquires and/or solicits information from users requesting personalized publications from the document delivery system, in order to better anticipate the informational and advertising (cumulatively, content) needs of the user. In this regard, any of a number of personal information attributes are maintained in userprofile information database 602. -
Content provider profile 620 includes information received from virtual sensors, distributed throughout the document delivery system, regarding content object distribution, receipt and user disposition.Contract administrator profile 630 includes information regarding the terms of use, usage/layout requirements, fee structures/schedules and the like for each of the content providers that provide content objects to documentdelivery system 10.Publication profile 640 includes information provided by a publisher from which a document server (e.g., 100) automatically generates and distributes publications. -
Educational development profile 650 includes information leveraged byedit module 120 to dynamically generate a lesson plan based, at least in part, on information contained in one or more of theuser profile information 602, thepublication profile 640, and the like. According to one implementation,educational development profile 650 includes suggested educational topics and activities associated with a number of educational and general interest subjects which may be of interest to the requesting user—a conclusion drawn from information contained in the user profile and/or the publication profile. In an alternate implementation,edit module 120 provides a user interface, e.g., a projected web page, which enables a user to select one or more topics from theeducational development profile 650 to generate the lesson plan from which the personalized activity publication is generated. - Although depicted as a functional element of
document server 100, those skilled in the art will appreciate thatknowledge module 170 may well be utilized by other document servers (not shown) indocument delivery system 10, or may well be integrated in another and/or stand-alone element ofdocument delivery system 10 without deviating from the scope or spirit of the present invention. - Turning to FIGS.2-4, flowcharts detailing the operation of
transmission module 150 and a first mode of operation ofprinting module 380 are presented, according to one embodiment of the invention. In FIGS. 2-4, the flow diagram shown in the left column is executed bytransmission module 150 ofdocument server 100, and the flow diagram in the right column is executed byprinting module 380. - Referring now to FIG. 2, the flow diagram for
transmission module 150 starts inblock 1000, and the flow diagram forprinting module 380 starts inblock 2000. Since there is a great deal of interaction between these two flow diagrams, as represented by dashed lines connecting the two columns, the operation of the two flow diagrams will be described simultaneously. - In
block 2100, user profile data is sent to documentserver 100 to be stored in the user profile. This user profile data can take on many different forms, from simple to very detailed. FIG. 5 shows a very simply acquisition of user profile data, such as that used in an Instant Delivery service, originally offered by Hewlett-Packard Company. In this service, only three pieces of information are stored in the user profile: type of printer, email address, and whether the service provider can contact the user. FIG. 6 shows a more complicated user profile than that currently used in the Instant Delivery service, which includes the user's name, email address, company name, city, state, country, zip or postal code, phone number, printer information, and areas of interest. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that more or less user profile data from those shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 could be sent totransmission module 150 inblock 2100 and still fall within the spirit and scope of the invention, and that at least some of this information could come from a source other than a user. For example, the user profile data could also include household income, age, and sex of the user, among other things. In any event,block 1100 receives the user profile data sent byblock 2100.Block 1200 stores the user profile data, preferably inknowledge module 170. Alternately, the user profile data could be stored indevice 300 or in some other local or remote location. -
Block 2200 checks to see whether a document should be receivedform document server 100. This is done by checkingprint schedule 390 which is preferably stored on adevice 300 ordocument server 100, but may be stored in some other local or remote location. Printing schedule 930 preferably contains information that can be used to determine when documents should be printed by the printing device, such as upon document creation, user requested time, lapse of specified time period, and/or occurrence of one or more external events (e.g., a stock price or index reaching a specified value, a final score of a sporting event, etc.).Printing schedule 390 may be associated with an individual user, a device or a group or users and/or devices. In addition, each entry ofprinting schedule 390 could result in the printing of one or more documents. - FIG. 7 shows one example of
printing schedule 390, of the type that might be used in an enhanced version of the Instant Delivery service. In this example, the title of delivery, delivery schedule, next delivery data and time, and the last deliver status are shown. Preferably, the user can select what time a document should be printed, whether it should be printed on a specific day of the week or month, weekdays, or weekends, and whether the printing schedule should expire after a specific period of time or continue indefinitely. - Referring again to FIG. 2,
printing module 380monitors printing schedule 390 to see if a document should be requested fromdocument server 100 or from another source. Whenblock 2200 determines that a document should be requested fromdocument server 100 or from another source,block 2200 is answered affirmatively, and block 2300 automatically requests the document without user intervention fromserver 100 or from another source, as will be described in greater detail below. Note that ifprinting module 380 is located ondevice 300,block 2200 operates in a “pull” mode—where the document is “pulled” fromdocument server 100 or another source todevice 300. However, ifprinting module 380 is located remotely fromdevice 300, such as indocument server 100,block 2200 operates in a “push” mode—where the document is “pushed” fromdocument server 100 or another source todevice 300. Ifblock 2300 determines that the document is located ondocument server 100 or at another source accessible vianetwork 200, and ifdevice 300 is currently in a disconnected state where it is not operatively coupled to thenetwork 200,block 2300 will sign on to or otherwise enter a connected state withnetwork 200, so thatdevice 300 is operatively coupled tonetwork 200. - Meanwhile, block1300 checks to see if a document has been requested from
printing module 380 inblock 2300. Once it determines that such a document has been requested,block 1400 generates the document forprinting module 380.Block 1500 then sends the document toprinting module 380.Block 2400 checks to see whether a document has been received fromdocument server 100 viablock 1500. Once such a document has been received,block 2500 automatically prints the document, without user intervention, on a printing device. The term “without user intervention” means that a user is not directly involved in the printing operation; the document is sent automatically to adevice 300 to be printed out by a printing device. According to this mode of operation, the user does not press any print buttons or otherwise be directly involved in the printing process; in fact, the user may not even be present in the same room, city, state, or country asdevice 300 during the printing operation. The printing operation automatically occurs in an unattended state—regardless of whether the user is present or not. In addition, ifprint schedule 390 is stored in a device-independent manner, such as ondocument server 100, a traveling user could “log in” todocument server 100 and have his or her customized document sent to adevice 300 that is convenient to the user's current location. - Referring now to FIG. 3, block2600 checks to see whether the document printed successfully. If not, block 2800 performs error handling, such as attempting to print the document again, notifying the user that the printing device is out of paper or has some other error condition, or simply deciding not to print the document. When the document prints successfully,
block 2900 informsdocument server 100 that the document printed successfully.Block 1600 waits for an indication fromprinting module 380 that the document did print successfully. When such an indication is received,block 1700 updates the user profile with this information. - It will be appreciated that not all of the blocks in FIGS.2-4 need be implemented, or implemented according to the order denoted, to fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention. More specifically, according to one implementation, flow of control moves from
block 2600 to block 4100 of FIG. 4, as will be discussed later, and fromblock 1500 back to block 1300 of FIG. 2. - An alternate embodiment has been contemplated where other information is transmitted back to
document server 100 inblock 2900 to update the user profile preferably stored inknowledge module 170. This other information could be ink usage (total usage or usage broken out by ink color), printable media usage (number of pages printed, type of media used, etc.), or other types of information. In addition, another alternate embodiment has been contemplated where some or all of the information contained in the user profile stored inknowledge module 170 came from a source other than the user viaprinting module 380. For example, publicly or privately available information about the user, and/or thedevices 300 he/she/they use, could be acquired from a wide variety of different sources and inserted into the user profile preferably stored inknowledge module 170. -
Block 1800 examines the user profile preferably stored inknowledge module 170 to determine whether a product subsidy should be provide to the user. For example, if the information in the user profile indicates that this user has printed off his 1000th document, such as a “preferred” document that contains advertising from advertising providers 80 or is otherwise under the control ofedit module 120, providing a product subsidy to the user may be warranted. For purposes of this invention, a “product subsidy” could be a print consumable or other product. A “print consumable” is an inkjet cartridge for an inkjet printer, ink for such an inkjet cartridge, a toner cartridge for a laser printer, toner for such a toner cartridge, or any other product or substance that is depleted when a document gets printed, including printer ribbons, etc. Note that the “ink” referred to above would typically be of a permanent variety, but erasable ink, such as that sold by the Eink Company, could also be used. - Note that the product subsidy referred to herein is preferably funded at least in part by advertising revenue received from advertising providers80 (FIG. 1), but an embodiment has been contemplated where the product subsidy is funded at least in part from the distribution revenue received from content providers 50 (FIG. 1). In either case, information (such as statistical information) about what was printed by whom is preferably provided to content providers 50 and/or advertising providers 80—preferably as a document that is automatically sent to one or more printing devices according to the teachings of this invention.
- Other forms of products that are contemplated to be subsidized by this invention include printable media, such as plain paper, specialty paper, transparencies, and the like, and may also include
devices 300 such as printing devices, electronic devices, and personal computers. In fact, alternate embodiments have been contemplated where other products, such as a subscription price to a document, or even a product not directly related to the document delivery system shown herein, such as soap or dog food, are subsidized. Ifblock 1800 determines that such a subsidy is warranted, block 1900 requests thatdistribution module 400 provides such a subsidy to the user. In one embodiment,distribution module 400 simply mails a product such as a print consumable or other product such as the type described above to a user at the address specified in the user profile. In another embodiment,distribution module 400 mails or electronically generates a coupon that the user can use to receive a free or discounted product of the type described above. Regardless of whetherblock 1800 is answered affirmatively or negatively, flow of control then returns back to block 1300 (FIG. 2) to see if another document has been requested from theprinting module 380. - Referring again to FIG. 3, after
block 2900 informsdocument server 100 that the document printed successfully, flow of control moves to block 4100 (FIG. 4), which checks withdocument server 100 to see what the current version ofprinting module 380 is.Block 3100 checks to see whether such a request has been received, and when it is,block 3200 sends information concerning the current version of the printing module toprinting module 380.Block 4200 compares this information fromdocument server 100 with its own version and determines whether an updated version of printing module is available. For example, ifprinting module 380 is running version 4.0, anddocument server 100 indicates that version 4.1 is the current version ofprinting module 380,block 4200 would determine that an updated version ofprinting module 380 is available, and flow control would move to block 4300.Block 4300 checks to see whether this updated version ofprinting module 380 should be requested to be downloaded. While a user would typically be asked whether such a download should be requested or not, and would typically perform this download at a convenient time, such a step could also be performed automatically without user intervention. If such a download is requested,block 4400 is answered affirmatively, and block 3500 downloads the updated printing module, which is then installed inblock 4500. Regardless of howblocks device 300 was in a disconnected state when the document was requested, as discussed above (i.e., not operatively coupled to network 200),block 4600 is answered affirmatively, andblock 4700 reenters the disconnected state. In any event, flow of control returns to block 2200 of FIG. 2. - Referring again to print
schedule 390 shown in FIG. 7, it can be seen that many different types of documents can be requested to be printed. For example, the title ofdocument 11000 specifies a network address, such as an Internet Uniform Resource Locator (URL) that contains the network location of a document to be printed. Note that this URL may be partially or completely hidden from the user, as is the case with the URL for document 15000 (http://www.beloitdailynews.com). In this scenario,edit module 120 ofdocument server 100 merely goes out to the Internet at the URL indicated (which would be shown in FIG. 1 as one of the content providers 50), and captures the indicated document, which is then transmitted to a printing device viatransmission module 150 andprinting module 380, as has been discussed. Alternatively,device 300 could go directly out to the URL itself without assistance fromdocument server 100; in this case, block 2300 (FIG. 2) requests document 11000 from another source—directly from the content provider 50 (at the indicated URL) vianetwork 200. - In contrast,
document 12000 is not a document that originates with a content provider 50 via the Internet, but instead is stored directly ondevice 300, such as a printing device, personal computer, or other electronic device. An example of such a document could be a daily calendar from a program such as Microsoft Outlook, which the user has requested be printed automatically to his printer, without any user intervention, at 7:00 a.m. every weekday morning. In such an embodiment,printing module 380 does not need to request the document fromdocument server 100, since it can access the documents without going throughnetwork 200. In this embodiment, block 2300 of FIG. 2 requests the document from another source—device 300. Whileblock 2900 would still preferably indicate that the document was printed, and whileblock 1700 would still preferably update the user profile inknowledge module 170, printing such a document would preferably not generate any type of credit towards a product subsidy, since such a document would not be considered a “preferred” document, e.g., not a document under the control ofedit module 120. - Referring again to FIG. 7, a print schedule of
document 13000 is shown.Document 13000 is referred to as a “personalized document”. Such a personalized document is a document that is assembled byedit module 120 ofdocument server 100 from a variety of content providers 50 and advertising providers 80, based on information contained in the user profile stored inknowledge module 170. For example,document 13000 is a personalized document. Our user has requested thatdocument 13000—his personalized newspaper—be printed at 6:00 a.m. every day.Edit module 120 examines the user's interests as specified in the user profile stored inknowledge module 170 to assemble the document from selected content providers 50 in which the user has indicated an interest.Edit module 120 also inserts advertising from selected advertising providers 80—again based on the user profile stored inknowledge module 170. - FIG. 8 shows how the
print schedule 390 of FIG. 7 can be edited by the user. The user can use the publisher's recommended schedule, use a default schedule the user has set, or use a custom schedule for delivery. If a custom schedule is selected, the user can select a daily, weekly, or monthly delivery, or select a delivery once every specified number of days, or specify every weekday. In addition, the time of day can also be specified: once at a designated time, multiple times during the day, or multiple times separated by a specified period of time. While not shown here, the user could also editprint schedule 390 to request that a document be sent upon creation, or upon the occurrence of an external event. - FIGS.9A-
9 B show document 11000 printed by the printing device according to one embodiment of the invention. Note that this document came from one content provider 50 via network 200 (either throughdocument server 100 or directly), and contains no advertising. Whiledocument 11000 is preferably formatted by content provider 50 such that the information contained in the document is optimized to be printed, such formatting is not necessary. - FIG. 10 shows document12000 printed by the printing device according to one embodiment of the invention. Note that this document is a user's daily calendar which came directly from
device 300 and not fromdocument server 100 vianetwork 200. - FIGS.11A-
D show document 1300 printed by the printing device according to one embodiment of the invention. Note that this document is a user's personalized newspaper which contains information in which the user has indicated a specific interest in, as stored in the user profile inknowledge module 170. Note also that this document contains advertising thatedit module 120 determined the user would also be interested in, again based on the information contained in the user profile stored inknowledge module 170. As has already been discussed, when the user prints a sufficient number of such “preferred” documents, the user may receive a product subsidy of a print consumable or other product(s). - FIG. 12 shows document14000 printed by the printing device according to one embodiment of the present invention. Note that
document 14000 is the “Instant Delivery Times”—a document located ondocument server 100. While this document does not contain advertising per se, it is still considered to be a preferred document, since it is under the control ofedit module 120.Document 14000 informs users of Instant Delivery of new releases or new information about the Instant Delivery service. - Having introduced an example document delivery system architecture and associated operational methods above, attention is now drawn to FIGS.16-19, wherein another aspect of the invention is presented. More particularly, FIGS. 16-19 introduce a system and related methods for dynamically generating and delivery personalized activity publications, in accordance with one aspect of the present invention.
- As introduced above,
edit module 120 ofdocument delivery server 100 dynamically generates personalized publications from content assembled from one or more content providers 50, 80 based, at least in part, on special interests denoted in a publication profile. It will be appreciated that the look, feel, and style of the publication largely depends on the informational interest of the user, determined from one or more of the publication profile, user profile, etc. In this regard, as a subset of personalized publications,edit module 120 may well generate personalized activity publications to satisfy user requests. As used herein, personalized activity publications are intended to include a wide range of publications intended to educate and/or instruct, and which are formatted to include a instructor subset of content and a student subset of content. According to one implementation, the student subset of content includes interactive content. The content of the personalized activity publication is dynamically chosen byedit module 120 to satisfy at least a subset of topics of a lesson plan, which may be manually or automatically generated. An example method for generating such personalized activity publications is presented with reference to FIG. 16, in accordance with one aspect of the present invention. - In accordance with the illustrated example embodiment of FIG. 16, an example method for publishing a personalized activity publication is presented, in accordance with one aspect of the present invention. As shown, the method begins with
block 16002 whereinedit module 120 receives an indication to publish a personalized activity publication. As introduced above, this indication may well be received from aprint module 380 based, at least in part, on aprint schedule 390 denoting that it is time to publish a periodically published personalized activity publication. Alternatively, the indication may be received from adocument server 100, in response to a request received from a client computing system (e.g., via a user interface executing on the client computer). - In response,
edit module 120 attempts to identify a lesson plan associated with the requesting user, block 16004. If a lesson plan cannot be identified,edit module 120 prompts the user as to whether they wish to manually generate a lesson plan, block 16006. More particularly, in accordance with one example embodiment,edit module 120 selectively invokes an instance of personalized activity publication tool(s) 513, which determines whether the user wants to manually generate a lesson plan, or whether the user wants the document delivery system to generate a proposed lesson plan based on one or more attributes of the requesting user or the user's intended audience, inblock 16008. - If, in
block 16008, personalizedactivity publication tool 513 receives an indication that the user wants to manually generate a lesson plan,publication tool 513 provides the user with a user interface comprising a list of suggested topics, and also with a field in which the user can input their own topic(s), block 16010. According to one implementation,publication tool 513 obtains a list of activity topics from one or more ofeducational development profile 650, content provider(s) 50, 80, and the like. According to one implementation, personalizedactivity publication tool 513 selects certain of a plurality of activity topics for presentation to the user based, at least in part, on information contained in one or more of user profile, publication profile, etc. - In
block 16012,edit module 120 receives user topic selections, from which a lesson plan is generated. According to one example implementation,publication tool 513 dynamically generates a lesson plan for a requesting user, and appends the lesson plan to information contained within the user profile. In accordance with an alternate implementation,publication tool 513 generates a lesson plan associated with a user which is stored as apublication profile 640 associated with the personalized activity publication of the user. In either case, the lesson plan is utilized byedit module 120 to dynamically generate the personalized activity publication for subsequent delivery to at least the requesting user. - Returning to block16008, if
publication tool 513 receives an indication that the user does not want to manually generate a lesson plan, publication tool itself will generate a lesson plan, block 16014. More particularly, in accordance with one example implementation, personalizedactivity publication tool 513 automatically identifies lesson plan topics based, at least in part, on information contained in one or more of the user profile, publication profile, education development profile, and the like. For purposes of illustration, and not limitation, personalizedactivity publication tool 513 may request the user for additional information such as, for example, demographic information describing the intended audience (e.g., a five year-old boy). Based on such information,publication tool 513 scours theeducational development profile 650, and content currently available from one or more content providers 50, 80 to develop a list of lesson plan topics which are designed to be educational (i.e., build confidence, improve skill level/performance, re-emphasize school subjects, introduce new subjects) and/or entertaining. According to one embodiment, theeducational development profile 650 is created by experts in each of a number of fields such as, academia, child development, sports, youth groups, counselors and the like. - In
block 16016, personalizedactivity publication tool 513 dynamically generates a proposed lesson plan based, at least in part, on the topics identified inblock 16014. According to one implementation, the proposed lesson plan is presented to the requesting user for certification before implementation, wherein the user may change one or more aspects of the lesson plan to suit their individual objectives. Alternatively, the instructor, parent, coach may utilize thetool 513 to reject the proposed lesson plan requesting the tool to generate another lesson plan, or utilize the tool to manually assemble material from one or more content providers 50,80 to generate the personalized activity publication. - In
block 16018, a publication schedule for the personalized activity publication is established. According to one implementation, the publication schedule is generated bypublication tool 513 in response to user input. Alternatively, a publication schedule may be generated in accordance with content publication schedule(s) provided by the one or more content providers 50, 80 which contribute material to the personalized activity publication. - In
block 16020,edit module 120 assembles content to publish the personalized activity publication. In accordance with the teachings of the present invention,edit module 120 selects material for inclusion in the publication which satisfy at least a subset of the generated lesson plan. - In
block 16022,edit module 120 formats content selectively assembled from one or more content providers 50, 80 to publish the personalized activity publication. In accordance with one embodiment,edit module 120 formats the publication to include an instructor subset of content and a student subset of content. According to one implementation, the instructor subset of content is presented on the first page of the publication, while the student content is presented on the second and subsequent pages of the publication. In accordance with one implementation, the instructor subset of content is only presented in an instructor version of the publication, wherein versions of the publication to be delivered to others does not include the instructor subset of content. In either case, as edit module completes publication of a personalized activity publication targeted to satisfy at least a subset of the lesson plan, editmodule 120 updates the lesson plan to denote which topics have been covered. - In
block 16026,edit module 120 forwards the publication totransmission module 150 for delivery to at least the requesting user. According to one embodiment, a user may specify additional recipients of the personalized activity publication in, for example, the user profile, publication profile, lesson plan, etc. In accordance with such an embodiment, transmission module sends at least the instructor subset of content to the requesting user, and at least the student subset of content to the other denoted recipients of the personalized activity publication. - Turning to FIG. 17, a graphical illustration of an example lesson plan is presented, according to one aspect of the present invention. In accordance with the illustrated example embodiment of FIG. 17, a lesson plan targeted to parents and preschoolers (2-6 years) is presented. As shown, the lesson plan denotes publication Monday through Saturday although other publication dates and aggregations may be set (including the instructor cover page). From this lesson plan, a
print schedule 390 may be developed, wherein an actual time for publication and delivery is further noted. - As shown, the requesting user (presumably, the parent or day-care provider) will receive a cover page of instructor content for each instance of the personalized activity publication. The cover page is targeted for the parent/instructor/coach with content describing the nature and objectives of the student subset of content. In accordance with one example implementation, the cover page may also include targeted advertising associated with content presented in the personalized publication. In accordance with one implementation of the present invention, advertising only appears, if at all, in the instructor subset of content. In alternate embodiments, advertising may be selectively placed throughout the personalized activity publication.
- In addition to the cover page, the personalized activity publication includes student subset of content. In accordance with the illustrated example implementation, the student subset of content may well include one or more of coloring printables, a treasure map, activities, paper games, recipes, and the like. The coloring printables feature characters with numbers, letters, shapes, safety, magazine coloring pages, and the like. Similarly, the activities, paper games, recipes and other content is designed to educational, instructional as well as entertaining. Activities may be targeted towards arts and crafts, sports, and the like. According to one aspect of the present invention, the content of the individual elements of the personalized activity publication carry common threads, designed to instruct and reinforce each other to better educate the child. To illustrate this point, an example personalized activity publication published during Black History Month may begin with a story about Althea Gibson, followed by a coloring page of a picture of Ms. Gibson and activities for developing motor skills with a tennis ball. In this way, each of the activities reinforces the educational theme/topic of the lesson. In alternate embodiments, personalized activity publications may be generated which promote skills building for individual and team sports, musicianship, civics, and the like.
- FIG. 18 illustrates an example layout of a personalized activity publication, in accordance with one embodiment. In accordance with the illustrated example embodiment of FIG. 18, a personalized
activity publication format 18000 is presented comprising an instructor subset ofcontent 18002 and a student subset of content 18004. According to one implementation, the instructor subset ofcontent 18002 comprises a cover page of the personalized activity publication, while the student subset of content comprises subsequent pages ofcontent 18004A . . . N. In alternate embodiments, alternate formats may well be used wherein the instructor subset of content and the student subset of content are commingled on one or more of the pages of the personalized activity publication. - FIG. 19 illustrates a block diagram of an example storage medium comprising a plurality of executable instructions including at least a subset of which that, when executed, implement an edit module according to FIG. 14. As used herein, storage medium19000 is intended to represent any of a number of storage devices and/or storage media known to those skilled in the art such as, for example, volatile memory devices, non-volatile memory devices, magnetic storage media, optical storage media, and the like. Similarly, the executable instructions are intended to reflect any of a number of software languages known in the art such as, for example, C++, Visual Basic, Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), Java, extensible Markup Language (XML), and the like. Accordingly, the software implementation of FIG. 19 is to be regarded as illustrative, as alternate storage media and software embodiments are anticipated.
Claims (29)
1. A method for generating a publication comprising:
receiving a publication profile from a requesting user;
creating a lesson plan from at least a subset of a plurality of information in accordance with the received publication profile; and
periodically generating the publication for delivery to at least the requesting user from at least a subset of content received from one or more content providers dynamically selected to satisfy at least a subset of the lesson plan.
2. A method according to , wherein the received publication profile includes information regarding an intended audience of the publication.
claim 1
3. A method according to , wherein the information regarding the intended audience of the publication includes at least one or more of: an average age of the audience, activities in which the audience is engaged, likes of the audience, dislikes of the audience, educational topics needing reinforcement in the audience, and the number of individuals in the audience.
claim 2
4. A method according to , further comprising:
claim 1
delivering the generated publication to the requesting user.
5. A method according to , wherein delivering the publication includes one or more of printing the publication at a printing device denoted in the publication profile, sending the publication to an email address(es) denoted in the publication profile, and/or sending the publication to a facsimile machine at a telephone number denoted in the publication profile.
claim 4
6. A method according to , wherein the publication includes an instructor subset of content and a student subset of content.
claim 1
7. A method according to , further comprising:
claim 6
delivering at least the instructor subset of content to the requesting user.
8. A method according to , further comprising:
claim 7
delivering at least the student subset of content to one or more recipients denoted in the publication profile.
9. A method according to , further comprising:
claim 6
delivering the periodically published publication to the requesting user; and
delivering only the student subset of content to one or more recipients denoted in the publication profile.
10. A method according to , wherein creating a lesson plan comprises:
claim 1
reviewing information in accordance with the publication profile;
extrapolating lesson plan topic(s) based, at least in part, on the reviewed information; and
developing a topical publication schedule, wherein each publication is devoted to at least a subset of the lesson plan topic(s) extrapolated from the reviewed publication profile.
11. A method according to , wherein extrapolating lesson plan topic(s) from the reviewed publication profile comprises:
claim 10
comparing information received in the publication profile against an educational development profile; and
identifying lesson plan topic(s) from topics appearing in both the publication profile and the educational development profile.
12. A method according to , wherein publishing a publication comprises:
claim 1
comparing content available from one or more content providers against the lesson plan to identify content that satisfies one or more lesson plan topics;
selecting a lesson plan topic based, at least in part, on the available content; and
generating a publication comprising one or more of an instructor subset of content and/or a student subset of content, in accordance with a format denoted in the publication profile.
13. A method according to , further comprising:
claim 12
iteratively repeating the step of periodically generating the publication utilizing new content until all of the lesson plan topics of the dynamically created lesson plan are exhausted.
14. A storage medium comprising a plurality of executable instructions which, when executed by a computing system, implement a method according to .
claim 1
15. A document delivery server comprising:
a storage device for storing publication content received from one or more content providers; and
an edit module, coupled to the storage device, to periodically generate and deliver a targeted publication from content stored in the storage device to satisfy at least a subset of a lesson plan dynamically generated in accordance with a publication profile received from a requesting user.
16. A document delivery server according to , further comprising:
claim 15
a knowledge module, coupled to the edit module, to receive and maintain publication profiles for each of a plurality of requesting users.
17. A document delivery server according to , wherein the edit module dynamically generates the lesson plan from at least a subset of information contained within the publication profile of a requesting user, the lesson plan including one or more educational topics which are emphasized in the targeted publication(s).
claim 15
18. A document delivery server according to , wherein the edit module generates the lesson plan by comparing information received in the publication profile against an education profile to identify suitable educational topics.
claim 17
19. A document delivery server according to , wherein the edit module selects an educational topic from the lesson plan and assembles content from at least the storage device to generate the publication.
claim 15
20. A document delivery server according to , wherein the edit module actively solicits one or more content providers for current information associated with the educational topic of a targeted publication.
claim 19
21. A document delivery server according to , wherein the publication includes an instructor subset and a student subset.
claim 15
22. A document delivery server according to , wherein the edit module schedules delivery of at least the instructor subset to the requesting user.
claim 21
23. A document delivery server according to , wherein the edit module schedules delivery of at least the student subset of the publication to a recipient list denoted in the publication profile.
claim 21
24. A document delivery system according to , wherein the edit module delivers the instructor subset of the publication to the requesting user, and the student subset of the publication to members of a recipient list denoted in the publication profile.
claim 21
25. A storage device comprising a plurality of executable instructions which, when executed on a computing system, implement an edit module to review information contained within a publication profile of a user requesting periodic delivery of a publication and dynamically generate a lesson plan, wherein the edit module utilizes the lesson plan to periodically generate a targeted publication of content associated with educational topic(s) for delivery to at least the requesting user.
26. A storage device according to , wherein the edit module generates the lesson plan by comparing information contained within the publication profile against an educational profile to identify educational topics which may be of interest to members of a recipient list denoted in the publication profile.
claim 25
27. A storage device according to , wherein the members of the recipient list are students of the requesting user.
claim 26
28. A storage device according to , wherein the publication includes an instructor subset of content and a student subset of content.
claim 25
29. A storage device according to , wherein the edit module selectively delivers at least the instructor subset of content to the requesting user, and only the student subset of content to members of a recipient list denoted in the publication profile.
claim 28
Priority Applications (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US09/872,232 US20010043364A1 (en) | 1999-06-07 | 2001-05-31 | Document delivery system and related method for generating and delivering personalized activity publications |
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US09/325,040 US7065497B1 (en) | 1999-06-07 | 1999-06-07 | Document delivery system for automatically printing a document on a printing device |
US09/872,232 US20010043364A1 (en) | 1999-06-07 | 2001-05-31 | Document delivery system and related method for generating and delivering personalized activity publications |
Related Parent Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US09/325,040 Continuation-In-Part US7065497B1 (en) | 1999-06-07 | 1999-06-07 | Document delivery system for automatically printing a document on a printing device |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
US20010043364A1 true US20010043364A1 (en) | 2001-11-22 |
Family
ID=23266180
Family Applications (9)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US09/325,040 Expired - Lifetime US7065497B1 (en) | 1999-06-07 | 1999-06-07 | Document delivery system for automatically printing a document on a printing device |
US09/523,264 Expired - Lifetime US6826534B1 (en) | 1999-06-07 | 2000-03-10 | Agent and method for dynamically scheduling publication in an automated document delivery system |
US09/545,990 Expired - Lifetime US6731393B1 (en) | 1999-06-07 | 2000-04-10 | System and related methods for automatically determining media type in a printing device media tray |
US09/762,542 Expired - Lifetime US7136177B1 (en) | 1999-06-07 | 2000-06-01 | Multi-sourced extensible publishing and editorial system and related methods |
US09/762,578 Expired - Lifetime US7136178B1 (en) | 1999-06-07 | 2000-06-01 | System and related methods for dynamically compiling a publication |
US09/611,682 Expired - Lifetime US6972861B1 (en) | 1999-06-07 | 2000-07-07 | Automated content handling system and related methods |
US09/805,667 Abandoned US20010017707A1 (en) | 1999-06-07 | 2001-03-13 | Document delivery system facilitating aggregation of periodic content |
US09/872,232 Abandoned US20010043364A1 (en) | 1999-06-07 | 2001-05-31 | Document delivery system and related method for generating and delivering personalized activity publications |
US09/917,014 Expired - Lifetime US6972875B2 (en) | 1999-06-07 | 2001-07-26 | Document delivery system for automatically suspending delivery of an electronic document |
Family Applications Before (7)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US09/325,040 Expired - Lifetime US7065497B1 (en) | 1999-06-07 | 1999-06-07 | Document delivery system for automatically printing a document on a printing device |
US09/523,264 Expired - Lifetime US6826534B1 (en) | 1999-06-07 | 2000-03-10 | Agent and method for dynamically scheduling publication in an automated document delivery system |
US09/545,990 Expired - Lifetime US6731393B1 (en) | 1999-06-07 | 2000-04-10 | System and related methods for automatically determining media type in a printing device media tray |
US09/762,542 Expired - Lifetime US7136177B1 (en) | 1999-06-07 | 2000-06-01 | Multi-sourced extensible publishing and editorial system and related methods |
US09/762,578 Expired - Lifetime US7136178B1 (en) | 1999-06-07 | 2000-06-01 | System and related methods for dynamically compiling a publication |
US09/611,682 Expired - Lifetime US6972861B1 (en) | 1999-06-07 | 2000-07-07 | Automated content handling system and related methods |
US09/805,667 Abandoned US20010017707A1 (en) | 1999-06-07 | 2001-03-13 | Document delivery system facilitating aggregation of periodic content |
Family Applications After (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US09/917,014 Expired - Lifetime US6972875B2 (en) | 1999-06-07 | 2001-07-26 | Document delivery system for automatically suspending delivery of an electronic document |
Country Status (13)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (9) | US7065497B1 (en) |
EP (3) | EP1101171B1 (en) |
JP (3) | JP2003501748A (en) |
KR (4) | KR20010072329A (en) |
CN (2) | CN1146822C (en) |
AU (3) | AU5458700A (en) |
BR (2) | BR0006690A (en) |
CA (2) | CA2339767A1 (en) |
DE (2) | DE60041431D1 (en) |
ES (1) | ES2223530T3 (en) |
HK (1) | HK1042148B (en) |
MX (1) | MXPA01001480A (en) |
WO (3) | WO2000076204A1 (en) |
Cited By (26)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US20020040374A1 (en) * | 2000-10-04 | 2002-04-04 | Kent Donald A. | Method for personalizing and customizing publications and customized publications produced thereby |
US20020113120A1 (en) * | 2000-12-01 | 2002-08-22 | Torao Yajima | System, apparatus, and method for issuing receipts and providing advertising |
US20020129063A1 (en) * | 2001-03-09 | 2002-09-12 | Kosak Donald M. | Serving content to a client |
US20030004999A1 (en) * | 1997-05-23 | 2003-01-02 | Walker Jay S. | System and method for providing a customized index with hyper-footnotes |
US20050018229A1 (en) * | 2003-07-24 | 2005-01-27 | International Business Machines Corporation | System and method for enhanced printing capabilities using a print job manager function |
US20050050442A1 (en) * | 2003-08-29 | 2005-03-03 | Carter Pope | System and method of publication |
US20050131778A1 (en) * | 2003-12-11 | 2005-06-16 | International Business Machines Corporation | Customized subscription builder |
US20050132067A1 (en) * | 2003-12-11 | 2005-06-16 | International Business Machines Corporation | Intelligent subscription builder |
US20080005167A1 (en) * | 2006-06-30 | 2008-01-03 | International Business Machines Corporation | Method, system, and computer program product for managing content received from multiple content feeds |
US20080172358A1 (en) * | 2005-06-10 | 2008-07-17 | Michael Has | Method and Assembly For Creating a Document |
US20100088321A1 (en) * | 2007-12-31 | 2010-04-08 | Peer 39 Inc. | Method and a system for advertising |
US20100125502A1 (en) * | 2008-11-18 | 2010-05-20 | Peer 39 Inc. | Method and system for identifying web documents for advertisements |
US20110161793A1 (en) * | 2009-12-31 | 2011-06-30 | Juniper Networks, Inc. | Modular documentation using a playlist model |
US20110231754A1 (en) * | 2005-04-28 | 2011-09-22 | Xerox Corporation | Automated document localization and layout method |
US8041711B2 (en) | 2000-05-08 | 2011-10-18 | Walker Digital, Llc | Method and system for providing a link in an electronic file being presented to a user |
US20130268881A1 (en) * | 2012-03-06 | 2013-10-10 | Drew Charles Bartkiewicz | Letter Generation, Communication, And Management |
US8725590B2 (en) | 2012-02-12 | 2014-05-13 | LookingNew, Inc. | Methods and systems for generating customized user plans |
US20140281853A1 (en) * | 2005-07-29 | 2014-09-18 | Gary T. Bender | Apparatuses, methods and systems for a composite multimedia content generator |
US20140320892A1 (en) * | 2013-04-29 | 2014-10-30 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Recommending and installing scheduled delivery print applications |
US20150120676A1 (en) * | 2013-10-29 | 2015-04-30 | Apollo Group, Inc. | Automatically publishing course offerings for different types of courses according to a plurality of policies and educational institutions |
US20150248840A1 (en) * | 2014-02-28 | 2015-09-03 | Discovery Learning Alliance | Equipment-based educational methods and systems |
US20160189557A1 (en) * | 2004-11-17 | 2016-06-30 | The New England Center For Children, Inc. | Method And Apparatus For Customizing Lesson Plans |
US9665876B2 (en) * | 2003-10-23 | 2017-05-30 | Monvini Limited | System of publication and distribution of instructional materials and method therefor |
US10013536B2 (en) * | 2007-11-06 | 2018-07-03 | The Mathworks, Inc. | License activation and management |
US10489826B2 (en) | 2016-12-27 | 2019-11-26 | Rovi Guides, Inc. | Systems and methods for submitting user selected profile information to an advertiser |
US11282102B2 (en) * | 2019-03-08 | 2022-03-22 | Sang Hyun Shin | Method for providing rewards based on consumption of contents and apparatus thereof |
Families Citing this family (222)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
CA2339764A1 (en) * | 1999-06-07 | 2000-12-14 | Hewlett-Packard Company | An agent and method for dynamically scheduling publication in an automated document delivery system |
US7065497B1 (en) * | 1999-06-07 | 2006-06-20 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Document delivery system for automatically printing a document on a printing device |
US7039863B1 (en) | 1999-07-23 | 2006-05-02 | Adobe Systems Incorporated | Computer generation of documents using layout elements and content elements |
US7158986B1 (en) * | 1999-07-27 | 2007-01-02 | Mailfrontier, Inc. A Wholly Owned Subsidiary Of Sonicwall, Inc. | Method and system providing user with personalized recommendations by electronic-mail based upon the determined interests of the user pertain to the theme and concepts of the categorized document |
JP4952964B2 (en) * | 1999-11-25 | 2012-06-13 | 修一 大津 | Electronic publishing system |
JP2001222525A (en) * | 1999-11-30 | 2001-08-17 | Canon Inc | Device, system and method for managing document and storage medium |
US6564064B1 (en) * | 1999-12-01 | 2003-05-13 | Trimble Navigation Limited | Cellular telephone using pseudolites for determining location |
CA2404487A1 (en) * | 2000-03-27 | 2001-10-04 | Transactive Solutions, Inc. | Method and system for delivering content and direct marketing over a network |
CA2407688A1 (en) * | 2000-04-28 | 2001-11-08 | James Grossman | Method of distributing printed advertising |
US8086697B2 (en) | 2005-06-28 | 2011-12-27 | Claria Innovations, Llc | Techniques for displaying impressions in documents delivered over a computer network |
US7475404B2 (en) | 2000-05-18 | 2009-01-06 | Maquis Techtrix Llc | System and method for implementing click-through for browser executed software including ad proxy and proxy cookie caching |
US20020135624A1 (en) * | 2000-07-11 | 2002-09-26 | Seiko Epson Corporation | Coloring agent amount recording apparatus, coloring agent materials cost processing apparatus, coloring agent cartridge, and collection of the cartridge |
US8732038B2 (en) * | 2000-07-19 | 2014-05-20 | Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha | Service management method, product-in-circulation to which the same is applied, service management device, service management network system, service management program, and computer readable program product with the program stored thereon |
US20020077979A1 (en) * | 2000-07-19 | 2002-06-20 | Masaya Nagata | Service management method, product-in-circulation to which the same is applied, service management device, service management network system, service management program, and computer-readable program product with the program stored thereon |
JP3877944B2 (en) * | 2000-08-03 | 2007-02-07 | シャープ株式会社 | Image output device control system |
GB2367643B (en) * | 2000-09-14 | 2005-03-30 | Wecomm Ltd | Distributing displayable data |
CA2426995A1 (en) * | 2000-10-18 | 2002-04-25 | Opentv, Corp. | Push advertising model using multiple digital streams |
ATE552562T1 (en) | 2000-11-10 | 2012-04-15 | Aol Musicnow Llc | DIGITAL CONTENT DISTRIBUTION AND SUBSCRIPTION SYSTEM |
US6845374B1 (en) | 2000-11-27 | 2005-01-18 | Mailfrontier, Inc | System and method for adaptive text recommendation |
USRE43841E1 (en) | 2000-12-14 | 2012-12-04 | F. Poszat Hu, Llc | Printing by active tiling |
GB2374688B (en) | 2001-04-19 | 2004-12-29 | Ibm | A method and system for distributing software features to a computer |
JP4774622B2 (en) * | 2001-04-27 | 2011-09-14 | ソニー株式会社 | Information exchange method and information exchange system |
WO2002094566A1 (en) * | 2001-05-25 | 2002-11-28 | Manyworlds Consulting, Inc. | A method and system for customized print publication and management |
JP2002366471A (en) * | 2001-06-05 | 2002-12-20 | Ricoh Co Ltd | Printing system |
JP3741001B2 (en) * | 2001-06-14 | 2006-02-01 | 日本電気株式会社 | Additional information printing system, method, and program, and additional information printing support method and program |
GB0114862D0 (en) | 2001-06-19 | 2001-08-08 | Secr Defence | Image replication system |
US7181488B2 (en) * | 2001-06-29 | 2007-02-20 | Claria Corporation | System, method and computer program product for presenting information to a user utilizing historical information about the user |
US20030050806A1 (en) * | 2001-06-29 | 2003-03-13 | Friesen Scott T. | Method and apparatus for managing hotel transactions from a gaming device |
US7227658B2 (en) | 2001-08-01 | 2007-06-05 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Content management in a broadband printing system |
US7202966B2 (en) * | 2001-08-24 | 2007-04-10 | Seiko Epson Corporation | Printing medium, printing medium unit, printing system, consumption control server, consumption control system, and consumption control method |
US6761422B2 (en) | 2001-10-30 | 2004-07-13 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Ink rationing based on page composition |
US7113301B2 (en) | 2001-10-31 | 2006-09-26 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | System and method for automated access of a network page |
US7385720B2 (en) * | 2001-11-05 | 2008-06-10 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Systems and methods for scheduling print jobs |
US8539344B2 (en) | 2001-11-19 | 2013-09-17 | Ricoh Company, Ltd. | Paper-based interface for multimedia information stored by multiple multimedia documents |
US7149957B2 (en) * | 2001-11-19 | 2006-12-12 | Ricoh Company, Ltd. | Techniques for retrieving multimedia information using a paper-based interface |
JP2003170645A (en) * | 2001-12-06 | 2003-06-17 | Olympus Optical Co Ltd | Recording sheet and image recorder |
US20030115318A1 (en) * | 2001-12-13 | 2003-06-19 | Microsoft Corporation. | Concentric user-targeting delivery system and methods |
US7523208B2 (en) * | 2001-12-14 | 2009-04-21 | International Business Machines Corporation | Message filtering |
DE10161684B4 (en) * | 2001-12-15 | 2005-11-10 | Schoder, Detlef, Prof. Dr. | System and method for producing a customized printed product |
US7068380B2 (en) * | 2001-12-21 | 2006-06-27 | Microsoft Corporation | Print media catalog service |
JP3700659B2 (en) * | 2002-03-01 | 2005-09-28 | ブラザー工業株式会社 | Image forming apparatus, program, and control method of image forming apparatus |
JP2003263454A (en) * | 2002-03-11 | 2003-09-19 | Hitachi Ltd | Documentary information retrieval/delivery device |
US7146434B2 (en) | 2002-05-15 | 2006-12-05 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Method for downloading data via the internet to a browser enabled computer |
US7321887B2 (en) * | 2002-09-30 | 2008-01-22 | Sap Aktiengesellschaft | Enriching information streams with contextual content |
US7370276B2 (en) * | 2002-05-17 | 2008-05-06 | Sap Aktiengesellschaft | Interface for collecting user preferences |
US20040003097A1 (en) * | 2002-05-17 | 2004-01-01 | Brian Willis | Content delivery system |
US7346668B2 (en) * | 2002-05-17 | 2008-03-18 | Sap Aktiengesellschaft | Dynamic presentation of personalized content |
AU2003238886A1 (en) * | 2002-05-23 | 2003-12-12 | Phochron, Inc. | System and method for digital content processing and distribution |
US8201085B2 (en) * | 2007-06-21 | 2012-06-12 | Thomson Reuters Global Resources | Method and system for validating references |
AU2002950122A0 (en) * | 2002-07-11 | 2002-09-12 | Webnd Technologies | Software process for management of electronic pages in a distributed environment |
US20040122692A1 (en) * | 2002-07-13 | 2004-06-24 | John Irving | Method and system for interactive, multi-user electronic data transmission in a multi-level monitored and filtered system |
US20040111423A1 (en) * | 2002-07-13 | 2004-06-10 | John Irving | Method and system for secure, community profile generation and access via a communication system |
US20040103122A1 (en) * | 2002-07-13 | 2004-05-27 | John Irving | Method and system for filtered web browsing in a multi-level monitored and filtered system |
US8838622B2 (en) * | 2002-07-13 | 2014-09-16 | Cricket Media, Inc. | Method and system for monitoring and filtering data transmission |
US20040103118A1 (en) * | 2002-07-13 | 2004-05-27 | John Irving | Method and system for multi-level monitoring and filtering of electronic transmissions |
US8886701B1 (en) | 2002-07-15 | 2014-11-11 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Network based software agent to allow dynamic resource access |
US7254772B2 (en) * | 2002-07-30 | 2007-08-07 | Xerox Corporation | Systems and methods for visually representing the aging and/or expiration of electronic documents |
DE10245322A1 (en) * | 2002-09-27 | 2004-04-08 | Man Roland Druckmaschinen Ag | Process for cross cutting a web |
JP3841071B2 (en) * | 2002-10-30 | 2006-11-01 | セイコーエプソン株式会社 | Method, program, and printer host for accessing a Web page where consumables can be purchased |
US7130844B2 (en) * | 2002-10-31 | 2006-10-31 | International Business Machines Corporation | System and method for examining, calculating the age of an document collection as a measure of time since creation, visualizing, identifying selectively reference those document collections representing current activity |
US20040088224A1 (en) * | 2002-10-31 | 2004-05-06 | International Business Machines Corporation | Method and system for delivering commodities |
US7603341B2 (en) | 2002-11-05 | 2009-10-13 | Claria Corporation | Updating the content of a presentation vehicle in a computer network |
US8699054B2 (en) * | 2002-11-22 | 2014-04-15 | Codonics, Inc. | Media selection methods in a multi-media printer utilizing print client indicators |
US20040133850A1 (en) * | 2003-01-06 | 2004-07-08 | Nitzberg Mark J. | System and method for securely composing, storing, and delivering digital media |
US20040177149A1 (en) * | 2003-03-05 | 2004-09-09 | Zullo Paul F. | System and method for presentation at the election of a user of media event information and further media event information of media events all related to a preselected time period |
US20050289461A1 (en) * | 2003-05-23 | 2005-12-29 | Manoel Amado | System and method for digital content processing and distribution |
JP2005004251A (en) * | 2003-06-09 | 2005-01-06 | Seiko Epson Corp | Network printing system and printer |
JP4005534B2 (en) * | 2003-06-27 | 2007-11-07 | シャープ株式会社 | Document reading apparatus, electronic device, and document reading method |
US7318226B2 (en) * | 2003-10-16 | 2008-01-08 | International Business Machines Corporation | Distributed autonomic solutions repository |
US7310807B2 (en) | 2003-10-29 | 2007-12-18 | Sbc Knowledge Ventures, L.P. | System and method for local video distribution |
US7375838B2 (en) * | 2003-11-17 | 2008-05-20 | Manyworlds Inc. | Method and system for customized print publication and management |
US8170912B2 (en) | 2003-11-25 | 2012-05-01 | Carhamm Ltd., Llc | Database structure and front end |
USRE45770E1 (en) | 2003-11-28 | 2015-10-20 | World Assets Consulting Ag, Llc | Adaptive recommendation explanations |
US7539652B2 (en) | 2003-11-28 | 2009-05-26 | Manyworlds, Inc. | Adaptive self-modifying and recombinant systems |
US8600920B2 (en) | 2003-11-28 | 2013-12-03 | World Assets Consulting Ag, Llc | Affinity propagation in adaptive network-based systems |
US7606772B2 (en) | 2003-11-28 | 2009-10-20 | Manyworlds, Inc. | Adaptive social computing methods |
US20090018918A1 (en) | 2004-11-04 | 2009-01-15 | Manyworlds Inc. | Influence-based Social Network Advertising |
US7526458B2 (en) | 2003-11-28 | 2009-04-28 | Manyworlds, Inc. | Adaptive recommendations systems |
US8566263B2 (en) | 2003-11-28 | 2013-10-22 | World Assets Consulting Ag, Llc | Adaptive computer-based personalities |
US7526459B2 (en) | 2003-11-28 | 2009-04-28 | Manyworlds, Inc. | Adaptive social and process network systems |
US7711742B2 (en) | 2003-12-11 | 2010-05-04 | International Business Machines Corporation | Intelligent data query builder |
US20050188056A1 (en) * | 2004-02-10 | 2005-08-25 | Nokia Corporation | Terminal based device profile web service |
KR100657263B1 (en) | 2004-02-13 | 2006-12-14 | 삼성전자주식회사 | Media of photo-printer and printing method thereof |
JP3903995B2 (en) * | 2004-03-03 | 2007-04-11 | コニカミノルタビジネステクノロジーズ株式会社 | Image data distribution apparatus, image data distribution method, and computer program |
US7744468B2 (en) * | 2004-03-15 | 2010-06-29 | Igt | Event calendar at electronic gaming device |
DE102004013160A1 (en) * | 2004-03-17 | 2005-10-13 | Siemens Ag | printing process |
JP2005309745A (en) * | 2004-04-21 | 2005-11-04 | Nec Corp | Document management network system for managing original image document information and postscript information, and image document delivery server |
TWI276888B (en) * | 2004-04-22 | 2007-03-21 | Novatek Microelectronics Corp | Data transferring method |
US8477331B2 (en) * | 2004-05-27 | 2013-07-02 | Property Publications Pte Ltd. | Apparatus and method for creating an electronic version of printed matter |
US8631077B2 (en) * | 2004-07-22 | 2014-01-14 | International Business Machines Corporation | Duplicate e-mail content detection and automatic doclink conversion |
US8904458B2 (en) | 2004-07-29 | 2014-12-02 | At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. | System and method for pre-caching a first portion of a video file on a set-top box |
US8584257B2 (en) | 2004-08-10 | 2013-11-12 | At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. | Method and interface for video content acquisition security on a set-top box |
US7104627B2 (en) * | 2004-08-11 | 2006-09-12 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Varying printing speed based upon the differentiation between porous and swellable media via ink/toner dry time profiles |
US8255413B2 (en) | 2004-08-19 | 2012-08-28 | Carhamm Ltd., Llc | Method and apparatus for responding to request for information-personalization |
US20060041625A1 (en) | 2004-08-19 | 2006-02-23 | International Business Machines Corporation | System and method for sectional e-mail transmission |
US8078602B2 (en) | 2004-12-17 | 2011-12-13 | Claria Innovations, Llc | Search engine for a computer network |
US8086261B2 (en) | 2004-10-07 | 2011-12-27 | At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. | System and method for providing digital network access and digital broadcast services using combined channels on a single physical medium to the customer premises |
US8434116B2 (en) | 2004-12-01 | 2013-04-30 | At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. | Device, system, and method for managing television tuners |
US7716714B2 (en) | 2004-12-01 | 2010-05-11 | At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. | System and method for recording television content at a set top box |
US7474359B2 (en) | 2004-12-06 | 2009-01-06 | At&T Intellectual Properties I, L.P. | System and method of displaying a video stream |
US7757166B2 (en) * | 2004-12-10 | 2010-07-13 | Jostens, Inc. | System and method for yearbook creation |
US7693863B2 (en) | 2004-12-20 | 2010-04-06 | Claria Corporation | Method and device for publishing cross-network user behavioral data |
US7307574B2 (en) | 2005-02-02 | 2007-12-11 | Sbc Knowledge Ventures, Lp | Remote control, apparatus, system and methods of using the same |
US8214859B2 (en) | 2005-02-14 | 2012-07-03 | At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. | Automatic switching between high definition and standard definition IP television signals |
US8645941B2 (en) | 2005-03-07 | 2014-02-04 | Carhamm Ltd., Llc | Method for attributing and allocating revenue related to embedded software |
AU2006220611A1 (en) * | 2005-03-08 | 2006-09-14 | Wink International Llc | A system and method for management of the production of printed material |
US8073866B2 (en) | 2005-03-17 | 2011-12-06 | Claria Innovations, Llc | Method for providing content to an internet user based on the user's demonstrated content preferences |
US20060215215A1 (en) * | 2005-03-23 | 2006-09-28 | Kumaran O R S | System and method for printer-based syndication |
US20060227368A1 (en) * | 2005-03-30 | 2006-10-12 | Jiang Hong | Approach for providing scheduled printing of electronic documents |
US20060253572A1 (en) * | 2005-04-13 | 2006-11-09 | Osmani Gomez | Method and system for management of an electronic mentoring program |
JP4928821B2 (en) * | 2005-04-28 | 2012-05-09 | オセ−テクノロジーズ ビーブイ | Handling digital documents in network systems |
US7265370B2 (en) * | 2005-04-28 | 2007-09-04 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Sensing light |
US7647423B2 (en) * | 2005-04-29 | 2010-01-12 | Morgan Stanley | Workflow based and metadata driven reporting system |
US11362897B2 (en) * | 2005-05-19 | 2022-06-14 | International Business Machines Corporation | Site policy administrative agent |
US8054849B2 (en) | 2005-05-27 | 2011-11-08 | At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. | System and method of managing video content streams |
US20060271384A1 (en) * | 2005-05-31 | 2006-11-30 | Microsoft Corporation | Reference data aggregate service population |
US8893199B2 (en) | 2005-06-22 | 2014-11-18 | At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. | System and method of managing video content delivery |
US7908627B2 (en) | 2005-06-22 | 2011-03-15 | At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. | System and method to provide a unified video signal for diverse receiving platforms |
US8635659B2 (en) | 2005-06-24 | 2014-01-21 | At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. | Audio receiver modular card and method thereof |
US8282476B2 (en) | 2005-06-24 | 2012-10-09 | At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. | Multimedia-based video game distribution |
US8365218B2 (en) | 2005-06-24 | 2013-01-29 | At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. | Networked television and method thereof |
US8190688B2 (en) | 2005-07-11 | 2012-05-29 | At&T Intellectual Property I, Lp | System and method of transmitting photographs from a set top box |
TW200705299A (en) * | 2005-07-21 | 2007-02-01 | Yu-Chung Chu | Method and system for consumer photograph based advertisement and information distribution |
US7873102B2 (en) | 2005-07-27 | 2011-01-18 | At&T Intellectual Property I, Lp | Video quality testing by encoding aggregated clips |
US7877750B2 (en) * | 2005-07-27 | 2011-01-25 | Sap Ag | Scheduled job execution management |
JP4671824B2 (en) * | 2005-09-29 | 2011-04-20 | 株式会社沖データ | Image forming apparatus |
US20070121820A1 (en) * | 2005-11-14 | 2007-05-31 | Ahmann Christian N | System and process for controlling the sending of information to subscribers |
US20090313044A1 (en) * | 2005-12-05 | 2009-12-17 | Koninklijke Philips Electronics, N.V. | Flexible care plan methods and apparatuses |
US7753371B2 (en) * | 2005-12-12 | 2010-07-13 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Media jam and bent corner detector |
JP4725726B2 (en) * | 2005-12-13 | 2011-07-13 | 富士ゼロックス株式会社 | Image processing apparatus, job log management program, and image processing system |
KR100746028B1 (en) | 2006-01-03 | 2007-08-06 | 삼성전자주식회사 | Device, system, and method for handing printing operation on home network |
US20070214218A1 (en) * | 2006-03-08 | 2007-09-13 | Ward Patricia A | Publication management system |
US7814116B2 (en) * | 2006-03-16 | 2010-10-12 | Hauser Eduardo A | Method and system for creating customized news digests |
US7802243B1 (en) * | 2006-04-20 | 2010-09-21 | Open Invention Network Llc | System and method for server customization |
US20080028043A1 (en) * | 2006-07-31 | 2008-01-31 | International Business Machines Corporation | Method and system for providing preferred media sources for content |
US20080059288A1 (en) * | 2006-08-14 | 2008-03-06 | Backchannelmedia Inc. | Systems and methods for accountable media planning |
US20080059874A1 (en) * | 2006-08-31 | 2008-03-06 | Spencer Lawrence D | Facilitated generation of highly personalized communications |
KR101250589B1 (en) * | 2006-10-02 | 2013-04-03 | 삼성전자주식회사 | PoC System And Method and Terminal Apparatus for Establishing and Managing Multimedia PoC Session to Processing Multimedia Calling Service |
US20080103906A1 (en) * | 2006-10-26 | 2008-05-01 | Gurvinder Singh | Online publishing of multimedia content |
US20080109535A1 (en) * | 2006-11-06 | 2008-05-08 | First Data Corporation | Point of sale device configuration systems and methods |
US8826281B2 (en) * | 2006-11-07 | 2014-09-02 | Microsoft Corporation | Managing document publication using time-driven job scheduling |
US20080176194A1 (en) | 2006-11-08 | 2008-07-24 | Nina Zolt | System for developing literacy skills using loosely coupled tools in a self-directed learning process within a collaborative social network |
US10547698B2 (en) | 2006-11-08 | 2020-01-28 | Cricket Media, Inc. | Dynamic characterization of nodes in a semantic network for desired functions such as search, discovery, matching, content delivery, and synchronization of activity and information |
US8620952B2 (en) | 2007-01-03 | 2013-12-31 | Carhamm Ltd., Llc | System for database reporting |
US20080228568A1 (en) * | 2007-03-16 | 2008-09-18 | Microsoft Corporation | Delivery of coupons through advertisement |
US8289538B2 (en) * | 2007-03-28 | 2012-10-16 | Moore Wallace North America, Inc. | Systems and methods for managing print jobs |
US20080250450A1 (en) | 2007-04-06 | 2008-10-09 | Adisn, Inc. | Systems and methods for targeted advertising |
US7809610B2 (en) * | 2007-04-09 | 2010-10-05 | Platformation, Inc. | Methods and apparatus for freshness and completeness of information |
US7949560B2 (en) * | 2007-06-13 | 2011-05-24 | Palo Alto Research Center Incorporated | System and method for providing print advertisements |
US20080313036A1 (en) * | 2007-06-13 | 2008-12-18 | Marc Mosko | System and method for providing advertisements in online and hardcopy mediums |
US9542394B2 (en) * | 2007-06-14 | 2017-01-10 | Excalibur Ip, Llc | Method and system for media-based event generation |
US8291799B2 (en) * | 2007-06-29 | 2012-10-23 | Quad/Graphics, Inc. | Adjustable trimming assembly |
US8117094B2 (en) * | 2007-06-29 | 2012-02-14 | Microsoft Corporation | Distribution channels and monetizing |
US20090031242A1 (en) * | 2007-07-24 | 2009-01-29 | Seth Zeitlin | Methods and apparatus for presenting a targeted presentation |
US20090070125A1 (en) * | 2007-09-06 | 2009-03-12 | Doron Geva | Updating of an electronic periodical |
US20090112725A1 (en) * | 2007-10-30 | 2009-04-30 | International Business Machines Corporation | Errata notification for printed material |
US9182932B2 (en) * | 2007-11-05 | 2015-11-10 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Systems and methods for printing content associated with a website |
US8249245B2 (en) | 2007-11-13 | 2012-08-21 | Amazon Technologies, Inc. | System and method for automated call distribution |
US8184304B2 (en) * | 2007-11-19 | 2012-05-22 | Moore Wallace North America, Inc. | System and method of operating a raster image processor |
US20090132403A1 (en) * | 2007-11-21 | 2009-05-21 | Microsoft Corporation | Licensing interface for user generated content |
US20090132435A1 (en) * | 2007-11-21 | 2009-05-21 | Microsoft Corporation | Popularity based licensing of user generated content |
US20090132422A1 (en) * | 2007-11-21 | 2009-05-21 | Microsoft Corporation | Machine-readable and enforceable license |
US8051455B2 (en) | 2007-12-12 | 2011-11-01 | Backchannelmedia Inc. | Systems and methods for providing a token registry and encoder |
US8564808B2 (en) * | 2007-12-18 | 2013-10-22 | R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company | Systems and methods for processing of variable documents |
US20090271283A1 (en) * | 2008-02-13 | 2009-10-29 | Catholic Content, Llc | Network Media Distribution |
US20090210333A1 (en) * | 2008-02-14 | 2009-08-20 | Microsoft Corporation | Micro-licensing of composite content |
US8060904B1 (en) | 2008-02-25 | 2011-11-15 | Qurio Holdings, Inc. | Dynamic load based ad insertion |
EP2300926A4 (en) * | 2008-05-08 | 2013-07-31 | Epals Inc | Object-based system and language for dynamic data or network interaction including learning management |
WO2009155368A1 (en) | 2008-06-17 | 2009-12-23 | Jostens, Inc. | System and method for yearbook creation |
US8208160B2 (en) * | 2008-08-27 | 2012-06-26 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | System and method for printing a user guide for a product |
US8886556B2 (en) * | 2008-10-06 | 2014-11-11 | Xerox Corporation | System and method for generating and verifying targeted advertisements delivered via a printer device |
US8160064B2 (en) | 2008-10-22 | 2012-04-17 | Backchannelmedia Inc. | Systems and methods for providing a network link between broadcast content and content located on a computer network |
US9094721B2 (en) | 2008-10-22 | 2015-07-28 | Rakuten, Inc. | Systems and methods for providing a network link between broadcast content and content located on a computer network |
US20100110467A1 (en) * | 2008-11-06 | 2010-05-06 | Coniglio Paul A | System and Method of Rasterizing PDF Files using Multiple Processors |
US20100153581A1 (en) * | 2008-12-17 | 2010-06-17 | Xerox Corporation | Method and system for optimizing network transmission of rendered documents |
US8441668B2 (en) * | 2009-04-08 | 2013-05-14 | Palo Alto Research Center Incorporated | Permanence estimation and policy enforcement for transient printing |
US8255820B2 (en) | 2009-06-09 | 2012-08-28 | Skiff, Llc | Electronic paper display device event tracking |
US20100318888A1 (en) * | 2009-06-10 | 2010-12-16 | Firstpaper Llc | System and method for providing sub-publication content in an electronic device |
US20110010370A1 (en) * | 2009-07-10 | 2011-01-13 | Rodger Cosgrove | Method of Generating a Publication |
KR20110012841A (en) * | 2009-07-31 | 2011-02-09 | 삼성전자주식회사 | Host apparatus connected to a plurality of image forming apparatus and rearrangement setting method thereof |
US9088649B2 (en) * | 2009-08-25 | 2015-07-21 | Amazon Technologies, Inc. | Systems and methods for customer contact |
US8600035B2 (en) * | 2009-08-25 | 2013-12-03 | Amazon Technologies, Inc. | Systems and methods for customer contact |
EP2489177B1 (en) | 2009-10-13 | 2020-06-17 | Cricket Media, Inc. | Dynamic collaboration in social networking environment |
US8489603B1 (en) | 2009-10-23 | 2013-07-16 | Amazon Europe Holdings Technologies Scs | Automatic item categorizer |
US8805838B1 (en) | 2009-12-22 | 2014-08-12 | Amazon Technologies, Inc. | Systems and methods for automatic item classification |
US20110191662A1 (en) * | 2010-01-29 | 2011-08-04 | Poteet Ii David Crawford | Travel guides formed by aggregation of location-aware content from multiple publishers through a unified interface |
US9082139B2 (en) * | 2010-03-10 | 2015-07-14 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Printer credit management |
WO2011159843A2 (en) | 2010-06-15 | 2011-12-22 | Thomson Reuters (Scientific) Inc. | System and method for citation processing, presentation and transport for validating references |
US8570568B2 (en) * | 2010-10-15 | 2013-10-29 | Xerox Corporation | Web/cloud hosted publish and subscribe service |
US8503664B1 (en) | 2010-12-20 | 2013-08-06 | Amazon Technologies, Inc. | Quality review of contacts between customers and customer service agents |
US8340275B1 (en) | 2010-12-21 | 2012-12-25 | Amazon Technologies, Inc. | Selective contact between customers and customer service agents |
US8958542B1 (en) | 2010-12-28 | 2015-02-17 | Amazon Technologies, Inc. | Followup of customer service agents |
US20120203618A1 (en) * | 2011-02-07 | 2012-08-09 | Upwave, Inc. | Image printing systems and methods |
US8451303B2 (en) | 2011-02-07 | 2013-05-28 | International Business Machines Corporation | Print media characterization |
US9152357B2 (en) | 2011-02-23 | 2015-10-06 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Method and system for providing print content to a client |
US9137394B2 (en) | 2011-04-13 | 2015-09-15 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Systems and methods for obtaining a resource |
CN103797811B (en) | 2011-09-09 | 2017-12-12 | 乐天株式会社 | The system and method for the control contacted for consumer to interactive television |
WO2013059958A1 (en) | 2011-10-25 | 2013-05-02 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Automatic selection of web page objects for printing |
EP2798552A4 (en) * | 2011-12-14 | 2015-08-26 | Outback Software Pty Ltd | Systems and methods for minimizing a total number of cuts to separate media instances imaged onto a media sheet |
US9471262B2 (en) * | 2012-02-29 | 2016-10-18 | Ricoh Company Ltd. | Systems, methods and computer-readable media for network printing with user-selectable options |
US11403795B2 (en) * | 2012-04-16 | 2022-08-02 | Airstrip Ip Holdings, Llc | Systems and methods for displaying patient data |
US10402782B2 (en) | 2012-04-16 | 2019-09-03 | Airstrip Ip Holdings, Llc | Systems and methods for and displaying patient data |
US9254363B2 (en) | 2012-07-17 | 2016-02-09 | Elwha Llc | Unmanned device interaction methods and systems |
US9044543B2 (en) | 2012-07-17 | 2015-06-02 | Elwha Llc | Unmanned device utilization methods and systems |
US9773214B2 (en) | 2012-08-06 | 2017-09-26 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Content feed printing |
US20140092435A1 (en) * | 2012-09-28 | 2014-04-03 | International Business Machines Corporation | Applying individual preferences to printed documents |
JP2014075020A (en) * | 2012-10-04 | 2014-04-24 | Riso Kagaku Corp | Print job management apparatus |
US9183375B2 (en) | 2013-01-30 | 2015-11-10 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Use of resource up to extension value by subscription device |
WO2014120187A1 (en) * | 2013-01-31 | 2014-08-07 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Ink subscription management |
US20140211243A1 (en) | 2013-01-31 | 2014-07-31 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Printing from untrustworthy source |
US11132719B2 (en) * | 2013-01-31 | 2021-09-28 | Facebook, Inc. | Real-time feedback of advertisement review |
US9715645B2 (en) | 2013-06-03 | 2017-07-25 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Marking agent subscription credits |
WO2015012824A1 (en) | 2013-07-24 | 2015-01-29 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Marking agent credit adjustments |
EP3066556B1 (en) | 2013-08-23 | 2021-09-29 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Mobile device for automatically delivering print jobs to printers |
US20160093135A1 (en) | 2014-09-26 | 2016-03-31 | Igt | Casino floor service management system and method |
US10082992B2 (en) | 2014-12-22 | 2018-09-25 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Providing a print-ready document |
US10445391B2 (en) | 2015-03-27 | 2019-10-15 | Jostens, Inc. | Yearbook publishing system |
CN106327036A (en) * | 2015-06-23 | 2017-01-11 | 北大方正集团有限公司 | Cloud proof control method and system thereof |
HK1221864A2 (en) * | 2016-04-07 | 2017-06-09 | Paperfly Ltd | A computerised system and method for bespoke publishing |
US10530970B2 (en) | 2016-09-02 | 2020-01-07 | Microsoft Technology Licensing, Llc | Automatic output metadata determination based on output device and substrate |
JP6753265B2 (en) * | 2016-10-19 | 2020-09-09 | 富士通株式会社 | Display control programs, devices, and methods |
US10082994B1 (en) * | 2017-03-22 | 2018-09-25 | Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba | System and method for cloud-based document content collaboration with scheduled printing |
Citations (9)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US5649186A (en) * | 1995-08-07 | 1997-07-15 | Silicon Graphics Incorporated | System and method for a computer-based dynamic information clipping service |
US5754939A (en) * | 1994-11-29 | 1998-05-19 | Herz; Frederick S. M. | System for generation of user profiles for a system for customized electronic identification of desirable objects |
US5761662A (en) * | 1994-12-20 | 1998-06-02 | Sun Microsystems, Inc. | Personalized information retrieval using user-defined profile |
US5872638A (en) * | 1995-03-27 | 1999-02-16 | Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha | Facsimile machine for storing and printing communication log information depending on whether the log information meets a specific condition |
US5907837A (en) * | 1995-07-17 | 1999-05-25 | Microsoft Corporation | Information retrieval system in an on-line network including separate content and layout of published titles |
US6038601A (en) * | 1997-07-21 | 2000-03-14 | Tibco, Inc. | Method and apparatus for storing and delivering documents on the internet |
US6044205A (en) * | 1996-02-29 | 2000-03-28 | Intermind Corporation | Communications system for transferring information between memories according to processes transferred with the information |
US6146148A (en) * | 1996-09-25 | 2000-11-14 | Sylvan Learning Systems, Inc. | Automated testing and electronic instructional delivery and student management system |
US6334779B1 (en) * | 1994-03-24 | 2002-01-01 | Ncr Corporation | Computer-assisted curriculum |
Family Cites Families (67)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
JPS60184891A (en) * | 1984-03-02 | 1985-09-20 | セイコーインスツルメンツ株式会社 | Cutting system of sheet of paper in automatic drawing machine |
US5241464A (en) | 1990-08-17 | 1993-08-31 | Moore Business Forms, Inc. | Desktop forms order system |
JP2741973B2 (en) | 1991-06-24 | 1998-04-22 | 大日本スクリーン製造株式会社 | Image processing system |
JPH06169395A (en) * | 1992-11-27 | 1994-06-14 | Sharp Corp | Image forming device |
JPH0761044A (en) | 1993-08-31 | 1995-03-07 | Sony Corp | Printer |
US5583994A (en) * | 1994-02-07 | 1996-12-10 | Regents Of The University Of California | System for efficient delivery of multimedia information using hierarchical network of servers selectively caching program for a selected time period |
US5694546A (en) * | 1994-05-31 | 1997-12-02 | Reisman; Richard R. | System for automatic unattended electronic information transport between a server and a client by a vendor provided transport software with a manifest list |
US5715416A (en) | 1994-09-30 | 1998-02-03 | Baker; Michelle | User definable pictorial interface for a accessing information in an electronic file system |
US6460036B1 (en) * | 1994-11-29 | 2002-10-01 | Pinpoint Incorporated | System and method for providing customized electronic newspapers and target advertisements |
US5513254A (en) * | 1994-12-28 | 1996-04-30 | At&T Corp. | Method and apparatus for processing facsimile transmissions |
JPH08256174A (en) * | 1995-03-16 | 1996-10-01 | Hitachi Ltd | Electronic transmission and read system for publication |
US5793497A (en) * | 1995-04-06 | 1998-08-11 | Infobeat, Inc. | Method and apparatus for delivering and modifying information electronically |
US5761684A (en) * | 1995-05-30 | 1998-06-02 | International Business Machines Corporation | Method and reusable object for scheduling script execution in a compound document |
JP3927600B2 (en) * | 1995-05-30 | 2007-06-13 | コーポレーション フォー ナショナル リサーチ イニシアチブス | System for distributed task execution |
KR960042251A (en) * | 1995-05-31 | 1996-12-21 | 김광호 | How to Instruct Maintenance of Image Recording Equipment |
US5740549A (en) | 1995-06-12 | 1998-04-14 | Pointcast, Inc. | Information and advertising distribution system and method |
US6230173B1 (en) * | 1995-07-17 | 2001-05-08 | Microsoft Corporation | Method for creating structured documents in a publishing system |
US5878421A (en) * | 1995-07-17 | 1999-03-02 | Microsoft Corporation | Information map |
US5860073A (en) * | 1995-07-17 | 1999-01-12 | Microsoft Corporation | Style sheets for publishing system |
JPH0976555A (en) | 1995-09-12 | 1997-03-25 | Canon Inc | Printer and its printing method |
US6591245B1 (en) * | 1996-02-02 | 2003-07-08 | John R. Klug | Media content notification via communications network |
US5970469A (en) * | 1995-12-26 | 1999-10-19 | Supermarkets Online, Inc. | System and method for providing shopping aids and incentives to customers through a computer network |
US6012071A (en) * | 1996-01-29 | 2000-01-04 | Futuretense, Inc. | Distributed electronic publishing system |
US6047327A (en) * | 1996-02-16 | 2000-04-04 | Intel Corporation | System for distributing electronic information to a targeted group of users |
US5948031A (en) * | 1996-02-23 | 1999-09-07 | Nec Technologies, Inc. | Vehicle passenger sensing system and method |
US5862325A (en) | 1996-02-29 | 1999-01-19 | Intermind Corporation | Computer-based communication system and method using metadata defining a control structure |
JPH09305602A (en) | 1996-05-13 | 1997-11-28 | Sanyo Electric Co Ltd | Document processor, document processing method and storage medium |
US5727950A (en) | 1996-05-22 | 1998-03-17 | Netsage Corporation | Agent based instruction system and method |
US5945988A (en) * | 1996-06-06 | 1999-08-31 | Intel Corporation | Method and apparatus for automatically determining and dynamically updating user preferences in an entertainment system |
US5845259A (en) * | 1996-06-27 | 1998-12-01 | Electronic Consumer Concepts, L.L.C. | Electronic coupon dispensing system |
US5850520A (en) * | 1996-07-01 | 1998-12-15 | Electronic Data Systems Corporation | Method and system for electronic publication distribution including return receipt |
US5933811A (en) * | 1996-08-20 | 1999-08-03 | Paul D. Angles | System and method for delivering customized advertisements within interactive communication systems |
US5890152A (en) | 1996-09-09 | 1999-03-30 | Seymour Alvin Rapaport | Personal feedback browser for obtaining media files |
US6138151A (en) * | 1996-09-23 | 2000-10-24 | Motorola, Inc. | Network navigation method for printed articles by using embedded codes for article-associated links |
US5995724A (en) * | 1996-11-01 | 1999-11-30 | Mikkelsen; Carl | Image process system and process using personalization techniques |
US5721827A (en) * | 1996-10-02 | 1998-02-24 | James Logan | System for electrically distributing personalized information |
US6049801A (en) * | 1996-10-07 | 2000-04-11 | Whitmyer, Jr.; Wesley W. | Web site providing professional services |
US5793368A (en) | 1996-11-14 | 1998-08-11 | Triteal Corporation | Method for dynamically switching between visual styles |
US5970231A (en) * | 1996-11-27 | 1999-10-19 | Pen Industries, Inc. | Electronic newspaper and electronic publishing medium |
JPH10215376A (en) | 1997-01-30 | 1998-08-11 | Fuji Photo Film Co Ltd | Photographic print preparation device |
JP2970593B2 (en) * | 1997-05-14 | 1999-11-02 | 日本電気株式会社 | Information distribution system and machine-readable recording medium recording program |
US6585341B1 (en) * | 1997-06-30 | 2003-07-01 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Back-branding media determination system for inkjet printing |
JP3592491B2 (en) | 1997-07-03 | 2004-11-24 | 株式会社リコー | Printer system |
US6222634B1 (en) | 1997-07-11 | 2001-04-24 | International Business Machines Corporation | Apparatus and method for printing related web pages |
US6321231B1 (en) * | 1997-08-11 | 2001-11-20 | Marshall, O'toole, Gerstein, Murray & Borun | Data management and order delivery system |
US6134596A (en) * | 1997-09-18 | 2000-10-17 | Microsoft Corporation | Continuous media file server system and method for scheduling network resources to play multiple files having different data transmission rates |
US6157924A (en) * | 1997-11-07 | 2000-12-05 | Bell & Howell Mail Processing Systems Company | Systems, methods, and computer program products for delivering information in a preferred medium |
US6385728B1 (en) * | 1997-11-26 | 2002-05-07 | International Business Machines Corporation | System, method, and program for providing will-call certificates for guaranteeing authorization for a printer to retrieve a file directly from a file server upon request from a client in a network computer system environment |
US6097497A (en) * | 1998-02-19 | 2000-08-01 | Compaq Computer Corporation | System and method for automating print medium selection and for optimizing print quality in a printer |
US6229534B1 (en) * | 1998-02-27 | 2001-05-08 | Sabre Inc. | Methods and apparatus for accessing information from multiple remote sources |
US6167382A (en) | 1998-06-01 | 2000-12-26 | F.A.C. Services Group, L.P. | Design and production of print advertising and commercial display materials over the Internet |
US6325420B1 (en) * | 1998-08-17 | 2001-12-04 | Inspectron Corporation | Method for embedding non-intrusive encoded data in printed matter and system for reading same |
US6453078B2 (en) * | 1998-08-28 | 2002-09-17 | Eastman Kodak Company | Selecting, arranging, and printing digital images from thumbnail images |
US6397231B1 (en) * | 1998-08-31 | 2002-05-28 | Xerox Corporation | Virtual documents generated via combined documents or portions of documents retrieved from data repositories |
US6206750B1 (en) * | 1998-10-30 | 2001-03-27 | Mattel, Inc. | Personalized toys and methods for manufacturing and delivering the same |
US6859212B2 (en) * | 1998-12-08 | 2005-02-22 | Yodlee.Com, Inc. | Interactive transaction center interface |
US6450634B2 (en) * | 1999-01-29 | 2002-09-17 | Hewlett-Packard Company | Marking media using notches |
US6694316B1 (en) * | 1999-03-23 | 2004-02-17 | Microstrategy Inc. | System and method for a subject-based channel distribution of automatic, real-time delivery of personalized informational and transactional data |
US6154766A (en) * | 1999-03-23 | 2000-11-28 | Microstrategy, Inc. | System and method for automatic transmission of personalized OLAP report output |
US7065497B1 (en) * | 1999-06-07 | 2006-06-20 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Document delivery system for automatically printing a document on a printing device |
US6772396B1 (en) * | 1999-10-07 | 2004-08-03 | Microsoft Corporation | Content distribution system for network environments |
US6718369B1 (en) * | 2000-04-03 | 2004-04-06 | International Business Machines Corporation | Method, system and program for efficiently distributing serial electronic publications |
US6718361B1 (en) * | 2000-04-07 | 2004-04-06 | Network Appliance Inc. | Method and apparatus for reliable and scalable distribution of data files in distributed networks |
US20020154157A1 (en) * | 2000-04-07 | 2002-10-24 | Sherr Scott Jeffrey | Website system and process for selection and delivery of electronic information on a network |
US6697838B1 (en) * | 2000-05-03 | 2004-02-24 | Software Leader, Llc | Method and system for annotating information resources in connection with browsing, in both connected and disconnected states |
AU2001271763A1 (en) * | 2000-06-30 | 2002-01-14 | Zinio Systems, Inc. | System and method for encrypting, distributing and viewing electronic documents |
US6766362B1 (en) * | 2000-07-28 | 2004-07-20 | Seiko Epson Corporation | Providing a network-based personalized newspaper with personalized content and layout |
-
1999
- 1999-06-07 US US09/325,040 patent/US7065497B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
-
2000
- 2000-03-10 US US09/523,264 patent/US6826534B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 2000-04-10 US US09/545,990 patent/US6731393B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 2000-06-01 KR KR1020017001649A patent/KR20010072329A/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 2000-06-01 ES ES00936448T patent/ES2223530T3/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 2000-06-01 WO PCT/US2000/015122 patent/WO2000076204A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 2000-06-01 CN CNB008015996A patent/CN1146822C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 2000-06-01 BR BR0006690A patent/BR0006690A/en not_active IP Right Cessation
- 2000-06-01 US US09/762,542 patent/US7136177B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 2000-06-01 CA CA 2339767 patent/CA2339767A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 2000-06-01 KR KR1020017001651A patent/KR20010112211A/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 2000-06-01 US US09/762,578 patent/US7136178B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 2000-06-01 JP JP2001502002A patent/JP2003501748A/en active Pending
- 2000-06-01 WO PCT/US2000/015194 patent/WO2000075799A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 2000-06-01 CN CNB008016445A patent/CN1196316C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 2000-06-01 JP JP2001502001A patent/JP2003521019A/en active Pending
- 2000-06-01 BR BR0006689A patent/BR0006689A/en not_active IP Right Cessation
- 2000-06-01 EP EP00939489A patent/EP1101171B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 2000-06-01 CA CA 2339812 patent/CA2339812A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 2000-06-01 AU AU54587/00A patent/AU5458700A/en not_active Abandoned
- 2000-06-01 AU AU54568/00A patent/AU777820B2/en not_active Ceased
- 2000-06-01 KR KR1020017001652A patent/KR20010110407A/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 2000-06-01 JP JP2001502351A patent/JP2003501768A/en not_active Withdrawn
- 2000-06-01 WO PCT/US2000/015126 patent/WO2000075798A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 2000-06-01 EP EP00936448A patent/EP1108326B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 2000-06-01 AU AU51763/00A patent/AU762485B2/en not_active Ceased
- 2000-06-01 KR KR1020017001644A patent/KR20010110406A/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 2000-06-01 DE DE60041431T patent/DE60041431D1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 2000-06-01 EP EP00939508A patent/EP1145134A4/en not_active Withdrawn
- 2000-06-01 MX MXPA01001480A patent/MXPA01001480A/en active IP Right Grant
- 2000-06-01 DE DE2000613233 patent/DE60013233T2/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 2000-07-07 US US09/611,682 patent/US6972861B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
-
2001
- 2001-03-13 US US09/805,667 patent/US20010017707A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 2001-05-31 US US09/872,232 patent/US20010043364A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 2001-07-26 US US09/917,014 patent/US6972875B2/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
-
2002
- 2002-05-27 HK HK02103929.8A patent/HK1042148B/en not_active IP Right Cessation
Patent Citations (9)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US6334779B1 (en) * | 1994-03-24 | 2002-01-01 | Ncr Corporation | Computer-assisted curriculum |
US5754939A (en) * | 1994-11-29 | 1998-05-19 | Herz; Frederick S. M. | System for generation of user profiles for a system for customized electronic identification of desirable objects |
US5761662A (en) * | 1994-12-20 | 1998-06-02 | Sun Microsystems, Inc. | Personalized information retrieval using user-defined profile |
US5872638A (en) * | 1995-03-27 | 1999-02-16 | Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha | Facsimile machine for storing and printing communication log information depending on whether the log information meets a specific condition |
US5907837A (en) * | 1995-07-17 | 1999-05-25 | Microsoft Corporation | Information retrieval system in an on-line network including separate content and layout of published titles |
US5649186A (en) * | 1995-08-07 | 1997-07-15 | Silicon Graphics Incorporated | System and method for a computer-based dynamic information clipping service |
US6044205A (en) * | 1996-02-29 | 2000-03-28 | Intermind Corporation | Communications system for transferring information between memories according to processes transferred with the information |
US6146148A (en) * | 1996-09-25 | 2000-11-14 | Sylvan Learning Systems, Inc. | Automated testing and electronic instructional delivery and student management system |
US6038601A (en) * | 1997-07-21 | 2000-03-14 | Tibco, Inc. | Method and apparatus for storing and delivering documents on the internet |
Cited By (41)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US20030004999A1 (en) * | 1997-05-23 | 2003-01-02 | Walker Jay S. | System and method for providing a customized index with hyper-footnotes |
US7484172B2 (en) * | 1997-05-23 | 2009-01-27 | Walker Digital, Llc | System and method for providing a customized index with hyper-footnotes |
US8041711B2 (en) | 2000-05-08 | 2011-10-18 | Walker Digital, Llc | Method and system for providing a link in an electronic file being presented to a user |
US9396476B2 (en) | 2000-05-08 | 2016-07-19 | Inventor Holdings, Llc | Method and system for providing a link in an electronic file being presented to a user |
US20020040374A1 (en) * | 2000-10-04 | 2002-04-04 | Kent Donald A. | Method for personalizing and customizing publications and customized publications produced thereby |
US20020113120A1 (en) * | 2000-12-01 | 2002-08-22 | Torao Yajima | System, apparatus, and method for issuing receipts and providing advertising |
US6719197B2 (en) * | 2000-12-01 | 2004-04-13 | Seiko Epson Corporation | System, apparatus, and method for issuing receipts and providing advertising |
US7228493B2 (en) * | 2001-03-09 | 2007-06-05 | Lycos, Inc. | Serving content to a client |
US20020129063A1 (en) * | 2001-03-09 | 2002-09-12 | Kosak Donald M. | Serving content to a client |
US20050018229A1 (en) * | 2003-07-24 | 2005-01-27 | International Business Machines Corporation | System and method for enhanced printing capabilities using a print job manager function |
US20050050442A1 (en) * | 2003-08-29 | 2005-03-03 | Carter Pope | System and method of publication |
US9665876B2 (en) * | 2003-10-23 | 2017-05-30 | Monvini Limited | System of publication and distribution of instructional materials and method therefor |
US20050132067A1 (en) * | 2003-12-11 | 2005-06-16 | International Business Machines Corporation | Intelligent subscription builder |
US20050131778A1 (en) * | 2003-12-11 | 2005-06-16 | International Business Machines Corporation | Customized subscription builder |
US7970889B2 (en) | 2003-12-11 | 2011-06-28 | International Business Machines Corporation | Intelligent subscription builder |
US20160189557A1 (en) * | 2004-11-17 | 2016-06-30 | The New England Center For Children, Inc. | Method And Apparatus For Customizing Lesson Plans |
US20110231754A1 (en) * | 2005-04-28 | 2011-09-22 | Xerox Corporation | Automated document localization and layout method |
US20080172358A1 (en) * | 2005-06-10 | 2008-07-17 | Michael Has | Method and Assembly For Creating a Document |
US7991789B2 (en) * | 2005-06-10 | 2011-08-02 | Oce Printing Systems Gmbh | Method and assembly for creating a document |
US20110225201A1 (en) * | 2005-06-10 | 2011-09-15 | Michael Has | Method and assembly for creating a document |
US20140281853A1 (en) * | 2005-07-29 | 2014-09-18 | Gary T. Bender | Apparatuses, methods and systems for a composite multimedia content generator |
US20080005167A1 (en) * | 2006-06-30 | 2008-01-03 | International Business Machines Corporation | Method, system, and computer program product for managing content received from multiple content feeds |
US10013536B2 (en) * | 2007-11-06 | 2018-07-03 | The Mathworks, Inc. | License activation and management |
US9117219B2 (en) | 2007-12-31 | 2015-08-25 | Peer 39 Inc. | Method and a system for selecting advertising spots |
US20100088321A1 (en) * | 2007-12-31 | 2010-04-08 | Peer 39 Inc. | Method and a system for advertising |
US20100125523A1 (en) * | 2008-11-18 | 2010-05-20 | Peer 39 Inc. | Method and a system for certifying a document for advertisement appropriateness |
US10346879B2 (en) * | 2008-11-18 | 2019-07-09 | Sizmek Technologies, Inc. | Method and system for identifying web documents for advertisements |
US20100125502A1 (en) * | 2008-11-18 | 2010-05-20 | Peer 39 Inc. | Method and system for identifying web documents for advertisements |
US20110161793A1 (en) * | 2009-12-31 | 2011-06-30 | Juniper Networks, Inc. | Modular documentation using a playlist model |
US8392829B2 (en) * | 2009-12-31 | 2013-03-05 | Juniper Networks, Inc. | Modular documentation using a playlist model |
US8725590B2 (en) | 2012-02-12 | 2014-05-13 | LookingNew, Inc. | Methods and systems for generating customized user plans |
US20130268881A1 (en) * | 2012-03-06 | 2013-10-10 | Drew Charles Bartkiewicz | Letter Generation, Communication, And Management |
US20140320892A1 (en) * | 2013-04-29 | 2014-10-30 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Recommending and installing scheduled delivery print applications |
US9158482B2 (en) * | 2013-04-29 | 2015-10-13 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Recommending and installing scheduled delivery print applications |
US20150120676A1 (en) * | 2013-10-29 | 2015-04-30 | Apollo Group, Inc. | Automatically publishing course offerings for different types of courses according to a plurality of policies and educational institutions |
WO2015131190A3 (en) * | 2014-02-28 | 2015-11-26 | Discovery Learning Alliance | Equipment-based educational methods and systems |
US20150248840A1 (en) * | 2014-02-28 | 2015-09-03 | Discovery Learning Alliance | Equipment-based educational methods and systems |
US10489826B2 (en) | 2016-12-27 | 2019-11-26 | Rovi Guides, Inc. | Systems and methods for submitting user selected profile information to an advertiser |
US11244358B2 (en) | 2016-12-27 | 2022-02-08 | Rovi Guide, Inc. | Systems and methods for submitting user selected profile information to an advertiser |
US11830038B2 (en) | 2016-12-27 | 2023-11-28 | Rovi Product Corporation | Systems and methods for submitting user selected profile information to an advertiser |
US11282102B2 (en) * | 2019-03-08 | 2022-03-22 | Sang Hyun Shin | Method for providing rewards based on consumption of contents and apparatus thereof |
Also Published As
Similar Documents
Publication | Publication Date | Title |
---|---|---|
US20010043364A1 (en) | Document delivery system and related method for generating and delivering personalized activity publications | |
US6981214B1 (en) | Virtual editor and related methods for dynamically generating personalized publications | |
US20020078171A1 (en) | Document delivery system with integrated feedback generation facilities | |
US7038796B1 (en) | Document delivery system for automatically printing a document on a printing device | |
US20030223089A1 (en) | Document delivery system for automatically printing a document on a printing device | |
EP1139258A1 (en) | A system and related methods for tracking and managing content distribution | |
MXPA01001479A (en) | Document delivery system for automatically printing a document on a printing device | |
MXPA01001482A (en) | A multi-sourced extensible publishing and editorial system and related methods |
Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
AS | Assignment |
Owner name: HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY L.P., TEXAS Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:HEWLETT-PACKARD COMPANY;REEL/FRAME:014061/0492 Effective date: 20030926 Owner name: HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY L.P.,TEXAS Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:HEWLETT-PACKARD COMPANY;REEL/FRAME:014061/0492 Effective date: 20030926 |
|
STCB | Information on status: application discontinuation |
Free format text: ABANDONED -- FAILURE TO RESPOND TO AN OFFICE ACTION |