Tailored intergenerational historic snapshots

• US 20090150382A1
• Filed: 10/02/2008
• Published: 06/11/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/08/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: John W.L. Ogilvie
• Original Assignee: John W.L. Ogilvie
• Inventors: Ogilvie, John
• Granted Patent: US 8,224,817 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

A tailored intergenerational historic snapshot message informs a younger person about the world an older person lived in when they were young. The older person'"'"'s age and the younger person'"'"'s age are used to identify a historic time period in which the older person was the same age as the younger person. A circumstance which occurred in the historic time period is selected from a database or web search result. The message is tailored to the ages of the people involved. The message may also be tailored to recite circumstances specific to a topic area or a geographic location.

Claims

1. A method of producing a tailored intergenerational historic snapshot message, the method comprising the steps of:

obtaining an indication of a first person'"'"'s age, the first person also referred to herein as the older person;

receiving an indication of a second person'"'"'s age, the second person being a younger person than the older person;

identifying a historic time period in which the older person was the same age as the younger person'"'"'s received age;

selecting at least one circumstance having an occurrence date in the historic time period; and

automatically generating a tailored intergenerational historic snapshot message disclosing that the selected circumstance occurred when the older person was approximately the younger person'"'"'s age.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving an indication of a second person'"'"'s age receives the second person'"'"'s current age in years.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the historic time period satisfies at least one of the following conditions:

the historic time period is not greater than two months;

the historic time period is not greater than six months;

the historic time period is not greater than one year;

the historic time period is not greater than two years;

the historic time period is not greater than five years;

the historic time period is not greater than ten years.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting at least one circumstance comprises at least one of the following:

querying a database, contacting a web search engine.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting step selects a circumstance based at least in part on a user-specified topical preference.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a geographic location, and wherein the selecting step selects a circumstance based at least in part on the geographic location.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising presenting the message to a user for at least one of:

editing, approval.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising electronically transmitting the message to at least the younger person.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the message also discloses a familial relationship between the older person and the younger person.

10. A method of requesting a tailored intergenerational historic snapshot message, the method comprising the steps of:

giving a system an indication of a first person'"'"'s current age, the first person also referred to herein as the older person;

providing the system with an indication of a second person'"'"'s current age, the second person being a younger person than the older person; and

getting from the system a tailored intergenerational historic snapshot message which discloses that a particular circumstance occurred when the older person was approximately the younger person'"'"'s current age.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising submitting to the system personal history information of the older person for potential inclusion in the automatically generated message.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising specifying to the system how close in time the particular circumstance should be to a date when the older person was the younger person'"'"'s current age.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising specifying to the system a topic to be used in selecting the particular circumstance.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the topic specified to the system overlaps at least one of the following topic categories:

sports, technology, music, films, fine arts, literature, famous people, war, crime, exploration, fashion, automobiles, transportation, engineering, politics, economics, books, law, science, business, religion, philosophy, travel, food, adventure, hobbies.

15. The method of claim 10, further comprising specifying to the system a geographic location to be used in selecting the particular circumstance.

16. The method of claim 10, further comprising the step of choosing the particular circumstance from a list of circumstances displayed by the system.

17. The method of claim 10, further comprising instructing the system to send the message on a date that is the birthday of at least one of the following:

the younger person, the older person, a person instructing the system.

18. The method of claim 10, further comprising reviewing the message and then approving the message, in response to an inquiry from the system.

19. The method of claim 10, further comprising editing the message before it is sent to the younger person.

20. The method of claim 10, further comprising addressing the message to multiple people in a family group.