ELECTRONIC MESSAGE SYSTEMS AND METHODS

• US 20110191693A1
• Filed: 02/03/2011
• Published: 08/04/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/03/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Inky Technology Corporation
• Original Assignee: Arcode Corporation
• Inventors: Smith, Simon Gregory, Baggett, David M.
• Granted Patent: US 9,600,806 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/752
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/35 Clustering; Classification
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]

Abstract

Methods and systems to process computer readable electronic messages, such as electronic mail messages or e-mail. Methods and system include auto-tagging based on one or more of statistical machine learning based clustering techniques, custom parsers, and crowd-sourced message tagging. Methods and systems further include relevancy determination based on combinations of features, user-configurable hybrid web browser/e-mail client rendering, tabbed rendering, plug-in based local computational features, implied social graph based decision making, and automatic detection of account settings.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

discovering electronic message account settings based on a user account identification (ID) and a corresponding user password.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the user account ID includes an electronic mail (e-mail) address.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the user account ID includes a user login name.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the discovering includes:

parsing a user name and a domain from the user account ID;

constructing a list of electronic message hosts from the parsed domain;

attempting to establish a connection with one or more of the hosts using one or more combinations of user name, ports, and transports;

identifying a combination of user name, ports, and transports when the corresponding attempt to establish a connection is successful.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the attempting to establish a connection includes:

using one or more combinations of ports and transports from a list of ports and transports.

6. The method of claim 5, further including:

populating the list of ports and transports with previously encountered ports and transports.

7. The method of claim 5, further including:

populating the list of ports and transports with ports and transports associated with one or more hosts.

8. The method of claim 4, wherein the attempting to establish a connection includes:

attempting to establish the connection using one or more combinations of user identified ports and transports.

9. The method of claim 4, further including:

generating a plurality of potential user names from one or more of the parsed user name and additional user name-related information associated with the user;

wherein the attempting to establish a connection includes attempting to establish the connection using one or more combinations of the plurality of potential user names.

10. The method of claim 4, further including:

attempting one or more additional commands to a host when the corresponding attempt to establish a connection is successful; and

associating a combination of user names, ports, and transports with the electronic message account when the corresponding attempt to establish a connection and the corresponding one or more additional commands are successful.

11. The method of claim 4, further including:

performing the discovering in a multi-threaded processing environment, including processing connection attempts to a particular host within one of the threads.

12. The method of claim 11, further including:

limiting simultaneous connection attempts within a pre-determined maximum number of simultaneous connection attempts.

13. The method of claim 1, further including:

maintaining a repository of electronic message account settings in a repository computer system;

wherein the discovering includes selecting electronic message account settings from the repository when the electronic message account settings are available in the repository, for each of a plurality of users.

14. The method of claim 13, further including:

adding electronic message account settings discovered on behalf of users to the repository.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein:

the maintaining of the repository includes maintaining a plurality of repositories of electronic message account settings; and

the discovering includes selecting electronic message account settings from one or more of the repositories when the electronic message account settings are available in the one or more of the repositories, for each of a plurality of users.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the maintaining of the plurality of repositories includes:

designating a first one of the repositories as a primary repository of an entity, based on one or more repository-specific features; and

designating a second one of the repositories as an alternate repository;

wherein the discovering includes selecting electronic message account settings from the primary repository, with respect to a user associated with the entity, when the electronic message account settings are available in the primary repository, and selecting the electronic message account settings from the alternate repository with respect to the user when the electronic message account settings are not available in the primary repository.

17. The method of claim 13, further including:

configuring client electronic message computer systems to connect only with electronic message servers for which electronic message account settings are available in the repository.

18. The method of claim 13, further including:

selectively determining, in the repository computer system, to disable an electronic message account setting in response to one or more failures to connect to a corresponding electronic message server with respect to the electronic message account setting.

19. The method of claim 13, further including:

storing information associated with users for which electronic message account setting are determined, in the repository computer system.

20. The method of claim 1, further including:

analyzing electronic messages with respect to one or more features associated with the electronic messages; and

performing one or more recipient-specific tasks with respect to the electronic messages based on results of the analyzing.

21. An apparatus, comprising:

a system to discover electronic message account settings based on a user account identification (ID) and a corresponding user password.

22. A computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having computer program logic stored therein, wherein the computer program logic includes:

logic to cause a processor to discover electronic message account settings based on a user account identification (ID) and a corresponding user password.

23. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

analyzing electronic messages with respect to one or more features associated with the electronic messages; and

performing one or more recipient-specific tasks with respect to the electronic messages based on results of the analyzing.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein:

the analyzing includes identifying an electronic message as an electronic message that corresponds to a parser template; and

the performing includes parsing the identified electronic message in accordance with the parser template.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the performing further includes:

assigning a descriptive tag associated with the parser to the identified electronic message.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the performing further includes:

displaying information parsed from the electronic message within a tabbed browser.

27. The method of claim 23, wherein the performing includes:

associating descriptive tags to electronic messages based on the one or more features.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the associating of descriptive tags includes:

associating a descriptive tag based at least in part on crowd-sourced tagging rules.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein the associating of descriptive tags includes:

clustering electronic messages based on the one or more features; and

associating a descriptive tag to a cluster of electronic messages.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the associating of the descriptive tag to the cluster of electronic messages includes:

associating a user-identified tag to a user-identified electronic message;

identifying features of the user-identified electronic message; and

associating the user-identified tag to other electronic messages that have features similar to the features of the user-identified electronic message.

31. The method of claim 23, wherein the performing includes:

determining a relevancy of the electronic messages with respect to a recipient of the electronic messages.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the determining of the relevancy includes:

analyzing an electronic message with respect to an implied social graph.

33. The method of claim 23, wherein the analyzing includes one or more of:

parsing syntactic features associated with the electronic messages;

recognizing named entities associated with the electronic messages;

recognizing acronyms associated with the electronic messages;

analyzing sentiments expressed within the electronic messages;

analyzing semantic roles associated with the electronic messages; and

analyzing with respect to an implied social graph.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the performing includes one or more of:

associating descriptive tags to the electronic messages based on results of the analyzing; and

determining relevancy of the electronic messages with respect to a recipient of the electronic messages.

35. The method of claim 23, wherein the performing includes:

generating web-page-like interactive user-interfaces based at least in part on metadata associated with the electronic messages.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein the performing further includes:

aggregating a plurality of the web-page-like interactive user-interfaces in a tab-view.

37. The method of claim 23, further including:

hosting a user-programmable electronic messaging client; and

performing the analyzing and the performing within the hosted user-programmable electronic messaging client.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein the hosting includes:

hosting a Python-extensible thick-client electronic messaging system.

39. The method of claim 37, wherein the hosting includes one or more of:

using a browser plug-in; and

using an application shell.

40. The method of claim 23, wherein the performing includes:

performing a recipient-specific task with respect to an electronic message based on a combination of a task performed by another recipient of the electronic message and an implied social graph relationship between the recipient and the other recipient.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein the performing further includes:

performing the task performed by the other recipient when the recipient and the other recipient are relatively close within the implied social graph.

42. The method of claim 23, wherein the performing includes:

searching the electronic messages based at least in part on one or more features associated with the electronic messages.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein the searching includes:

searching the electronic messages based on a file name extension type associated with attachments to the electronic messages.

44. The method of claim 42, wherein the searching includes:

searching the electronic messages based on information tagged within the electronic messages.

45. The method of claim 23, further including:

discovering electronic message account settings based a user electronic message address and a corresponding user password.

46. An apparatus, comprising:

a system to analyze electronic messages with respect to one or more features associated with the electronic messages; and

one or more additional systems to perform one or more recipient-specific tasks with respect to the electronic messages based on results of the analyzing.

47. A computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having computer program logic stored therein, wherein the computer program logic includes:

analyzer logic to cause one or more processors to analyze electronic messages with respect to one or more features associated with the electronic messages; and

one or more additional logic modules to cause the one or more processors to perform one or more recipient-specific tasks with respect to the electronic messages based on results of the analyzing.

48. A computer-implemented, comprising:

identifying a sender and a recipient of a first electronic message; and

determining a relevance of the first electronic message with respect to the recipient as a function of at least one of,

a distance between the sender and the recipient within an implied social,

a syntactic structure of the first electronic message,

metadata associated with the first electronic message,

a language used in the first electronic message,

a character set used in the first electronic message,

a quality of a relationship between the sender and the recipient,

an action taken by the recipient with respect to a second electronic message for which one or more features are similar to one or more corresponding features of the first electronic message, and

an action taken by another recipient with respect to a third electronic message for which one or more features are similar to one or more corresponding features of the first electronic message.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein the determining of the relevance includes:

determining the relevance based at least in part on the distance.

50. The method of claim 48, wherein the determining of the relevance includes:

determining the relevance based at least in part on the syntactic structure.

51. The method of claim 48, wherein the determining of the relevance includes:

determining the relevance based at least in part on the metadata.

52. The method of claim 48, wherein the determining of the relevance includes:

determining the relevance based at least in part on the language.

53. The method of claim 48, wherein the determining of the relevance includes:

determining the relevance based at least in part on the character set.

54. The method of claim 48, wherein the determining of the relevance includes:

determining the relevance based at least in part on the quality of the relationship.

55. The method of claim 48, wherein the determining of the relevance includes:

determining the relevance based at least in part on the action taken by the recipient.

56. The method of claim 48, wherein the determining of the relevance includes:

determining the relevance based at least in part on the action taken by the other recipient.

57. The method of claim 48, wherein the determining of the relevance includes:

determining the relevance based on a combination of a plurality of,

the distance,

the syntactic structure,

the metadata,

the language,

the character set,

the quality of the relationship,

the action taken by the recipient,

the action taken by the other recipient.

58. The method of claim 48, further including:

determining a similarity between electronic messages based on one or more of,

distances between a sender and a recipient of the corresponding electronic messages,

syntactic structures of the electronic messages,

metadata associated with the electronic messages,

languages used in the electronic messages,

character sets used in the electronic messages, and

quality of relationships between the sender and the recipient of the corresponding electronic messages.

59. An apparatus, comprising:

a system to identify a sender and a recipient of a first electronic message; and

a system to determine a relevance of the first electronic message with respect to the recipient as a function of at least one of,

a distance between the sender and the recipient within an implied social,

a syntactic structure of the first electronic message,

metadata associated with the first electronic message,

a language used in the first electronic message,

a character set used in the first electronic message,

a quality of a relationship between the sender and the recipient,

an action taken by the recipient with respect to a second electronic message for which one or more features are similar to one or more corresponding features of the first electronic message, and

an action taken by another recipient with respect to a third electronic message for which one or more features are similar to one or more corresponding features of the first electronic message.

60. A computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having computer program logic stored therein, wherein the computer program logic includes:

logic to cause one or more processors to identify a sender and a recipient of a first electronic message; and

logic to cause the one or more processors to determine a relevance of the first electronic message with respect to the recipient as a function of at least one of,

a distance between the sender and the recipient within an implied social,

a syntactic structure of the first electronic message,

metadata associated with the first electronic message,

a language used in the first electronic message,

a character set used in the first electronic message,

a quality of a relationship between the sender and the recipient,

an action taken by the recipient with respect to a second electronic message for which one or more features are similar to one or more corresponding features of the first electronic message, and

an action taken by another recipient with respect to a third electronic message for which one or more features are similar to one or more corresponding features of the first electronic message.

61. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

parsing information from a first electronic message directed to a first recipient;

assigning a meaning to the first electronic message based on the parsed information;

identifying a second electronic message directed to, and tagged by a second recipient; and

defining a tag for the first electronic message based on a combination of the meaning of the first electronic message, the tag assigned to the second electronic message, and a relationship between the first and second recipients.

62. The method of claim 61, wherein the parsing includes:

parsing information from a body of the electronic message and from metadata associated with the electronic message.

63. The method of claim 61, further including:

determining the relationship between the first and second recipients with respect to an implied social graph.

64. An apparatus, comprising:

a parse system to parse information from a first electronic message directed to a first recipient;

a system to assign a meaning to the first electronic message based on the parsed information;

a system to identify a second electronic message directed to, and tagged by a second recipient; and

a system to define a tag for the first electronic message based on a combination of the meaning of the first electronic message, the tag assigned to the second electronic message, and a relationship between the first and second recipients.

65. The apparatus of claim 64, wherein the parse system is configured to parse information from a body of the electronic message and from metadata associated with the electronic message.

66. The apparatus of claim 64, further including:

a system to determine the relationship between the first and second recipients with respect to an implied social graph.

67. A computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having computer program logic stored therein, wherein the computer program logic includes:

parse logic to cause one or more processors to parse information from a first electronic message directed to a first recipient;

logic to cause the one or more processors to assign a meaning to the first electronic message based on the parsed information;

logic to cause the one or more processors to identify a second electronic message directed to, and tagged by a second recipient; and

logic to cause the one or more processors to define a tag for the first electronic message based on a combination of the meaning of the first electronic message, the tag assigned to the second electronic message, and a relationship between the first and second recipients.

68. The computer program product of claim 67, wherein the parse logic includes logic to cause the one or more processors parse information from a body of the electronic message and from metadata associated with the electronic message.

69. The computer program product of claim 67, further including:

logic to cause the one or more processors to determine the relationship between the first and second recipients with respect to an implied social graph.

70. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

reading metadata associated with each of a plurality of electronic messages;

organizing the electronic messages into a first organization based on the metadata and content of the messages; and

presenting a first body of information associated with the electronic messages through a graphical user interface in accordance with the first organization.

71. The method of claim 70, further including:

organizing the electronic messages into a second organization based on the metadata and content of the electronic messages; and

presenting a second body of information associated with the electronic messages through the graphical user interface in accordance with the second organization.

72. The method of claim 71, further including:

presenting of the first and second bodies of information under corresponding first and second tabs of the graphical user interface.

73. A client message apparatus, comprising:

a system to read metadata associated with each of a plurality of electronic messages;

a system to organize the electronic messages into a first organization based on the metadata and content of the messages; and

a system to present a first body of information associated with the electronic messages through a graphical user interface in accordance with the first organization.

74. The apparatus of claim 73, further including:

a system to organize the electronic messages into a second organization based on the metadata and content of the electronic messages; and

a system to present a second body of information associated with the electronic messages through the graphical user interface in accordance with the second organization.

75. The apparatus of claim 74, wherein the systems to present the first and second bodies of information are each configured to present the first and second bodies of information under corresponding first and second tabs of the graphical user interface.

76. A computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having computer program logic stored therein, wherein the computer program logic includes:

logic to cause one or more processors to read metadata associated with each of a plurality of electronic messages;

logic to cause the one or more processors to organize the electronic messages into a first organization based on the metadata and content of the messages; and

first display logic to cause the one or more processors to present a first body of information associated with the electronic messages through a graphical user interface in accordance with the first organization.

77. The computer program product of claim 76, further including:

logic to cause the one or more processors to organize the electronic messages into a second organization based on the metadata and content of the electronic messages; and

second display logic to cause the one or more processors to present a second body of information associated with the electronic messages through the graphical user interface in accordance with the second organization.

78. The computer program product of claim 77, wherein the first and second display logic each include logic to cause the one or more processors to present the first and second bodies of information under corresponding first and second tabs of the graphical user interface.

79. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

reading a plurality of electronic messages, including reading one or more of message bodies, metadata, attachments, and previously assigned tags;

applying a query to the plurality of electronic messages, wherein the query includes a literal component and a reference to an unknown desired component associated with the literal component;

identifying a set of the electronic messages that include a reference to the literal component;

identifying a subset of the set of the electronic messages that include the desired component; and

retrieving information from the subset of electronic messages that satisfy the query.

80. An apparatus, comprising:

a system to read a plurality of electronic messages, including reading one or more of message bodies, metadata, attachments, and previously assigned tags;

a system to apply a query to the plurality of electronic messages, wherein the query includes a literal component and a reference to an unknown desired component associated with the literal component;

a system to identify a set of the electronic messages that include a reference to the literal component;

a system to identify a subset of the set of the electronic messages that include the desired component; and

a system to retrieve information from the subset of electronic messages that satisfy the query.

81. A computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having computer program logic stored therein, wherein the computer program logic includes:

logic to cause one or more processors to read a plurality of electronic messages, including reading one or more of message bodies, metadata, attachments, and previously assigned tags;

logic to cause the one or more processors to apply a query to the plurality of electronic messages, wherein the query includes a literal component and a reference to an unknown desired component associated with the literal component;

logic to cause the one or more processors to identify a set of the electronic messages that include a reference to the literal component;

logic to cause the one or more processors to identify a subset of the set of the electronic messages that include the desired component; and

logic to cause the one or more processors to retrieve information from the subset of electronic messages that satisfy the query.