Method and system for displaying and interacting with an informational message based on an information processing system event

• US 6,067,570 A
• Filed: 07/10/1998
• Issued: 05/23/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 10/20/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Resource Consortium Limited, LLC
• Original Assignee: The DelFin Project, Inc.
• Inventors: Kreynin, Vadim, Mosely, Joseph M., Makar, Michael G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Follansbee, John A.
• Application Number:
  US09/113,453
• Time in Patent Office: 683 Days
• Field of Search: 709/227, 709/217, 709/218, 705/404, 705/418, 364/479.01, 345/347, 345/342
• US Class Current: 709/227
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0489 using dedicated keyboard keys or combinations thereof

Abstract

A method is illustrated the flow diagram 100 of FIG. 1. A processor 1001 renders a message 1025 for the processor operator'"'"'s education during times of processor latency 1015 such as dialing onto any network such as the Internet. This wait time 1017 is normally non-productive and therefore can be used in such a way as to be non-invasive. It is also understood that this time is short so as to make other actions such as getting up from the desk not attractive. Finally even if the wait time was or became very short the present invention provides the first message 1025 to the process operator, that has been filtered. This filtering is a balance of the message owner'"'"'s willingness to out bid other messages, the time of the day, the location of the operator, and finally the operator'"'"'s likes and dislikes.

Claims

1. A method in a data processing system having a display device for displaying an informational message comprising the steps of:

receiving at least one informational message from a computer readable medium, wherein said informational message has been chosen based on a geographical location of said data processing system prior to being delivered to the data processing system;

displaying a dialog-box on said display device for providing status on a processing event during connection to a network;

resizing said dialog-box automatically on said display device so as to display at least part of said status; and

displaying said information message on said display device coterminously with said display of said status, until said processing event completes.

2. The method for displaying an informational message in claim 1 wherein said step of displaying a dialog-box includes displaying a dialog-box that occupies the full displayable area of said display.

3. The method for displaying an informational message in claim 1 wherein said step of displaying a dialog-box includes displaying a dialog-box for a dial-up connection screen of a dial-up service provider.

4. The method for displaying an informational message in claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

selecting which informational message to be displayed on said data processing system based upon predefined user preferences.

5. The method for displaying an informational message in claim 1, wherein said step of displaying an information message includes displaying said information message that has a scrollable HTML compatible window with active hypertext links to other information messages.

6. The method for displaying an informational message in claim 5, wherein said step of receiving said information message included receiving at least one information message from a removable computer readable storage medium.

7. The method for displaying an informational message in claim 5 wherein said step of displaying an information message includes displaying an informational message previously stored in said data processing system whereby said informational message is directed to the current time of day stored in said data processing system.

8. The method for displaying an informational message in claim 5 wherein said step of displaying an information message includes displaying an informational message previously stored on said data processing system whereby said informational message is directed to the current date stored in said data processing system.

9. The method for displaying an informational message in claim 5, wherein said information message is part of a related series of informational messages, and the method further including the step of:

responding to a user selection to display at least part of any remaining informational message previously stored in said data processing system.

10. The method for displaying an informational message in claim 5 further comprising the steps of:

tracking which informational message to be displayed on said data processing system in a log; and

transferring said the contents of said log to a remote storage location; and

providing at least part of said contents of said log in said remote storage location to a sponsor of said informational message.

11. The method for displaying an informational message in claim 5 further comprising the step of:

updating the messages stored in said data processing system from a remote storage location based upon predefined user preferences.

12. The method for displaying an informational message in claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

receiving a user input responsive to said informational message; and

responding to said user input by connecting to a predetermined host machine.

13. The method for displaying an informational message in claim 12 wherein said step of responding to said user input by connecting to a predetermined host machine includes connecting to a predetermined Web-page.

14. The method for displaying an informational message in claim 12 further comprising the step of:

selecting an informational message to display based on a price paid for an informational message.

15. A method in a local data processing system having a display device for displaying an informational message comprising the steps of:

connecting to a remote data processing system to receive one or more informational messages that have been chosen based on a geographical location of said local data processing system prior to being delivered to said local data processing system;

storing said one or more informational messages on said local data processing system;

receiving at least one identifier which uniquely identifies a user of said data processing system;

displaying a dialog-box on said display device for providing status on a processing event;

selecting said one or more informational messages which have been stored on said local data processing system based upon at least one identifier of the user; and

displaying said one or more informational messages on said display device coterminously with displaying said dialog box.

16. The method for displaying an informational message in claim 15, wherein said step of selecting an information message includes selecting said informational message based on the time of day stored in said data processing system.

17. A method in a data processing system, with a local time/date clock, for rendering an informational message comprising the steps of:

receiving at least one informational message from a computer readable medium, wherein said informational message has been chosen based on a geographical location of said information processing system prior to being delivered to said information processing system;

storing said informational message on said data processing system;

executing said user command; and

receiving a user input from a user to initiate an application task;

executing said application task;

rendering status related to the progress of said executing said application task; and

rendering said informational message coterminously with said rendering status, during a period of inactivity between said information processing system and the user, where said period of inactivity is terminated by either after additional user input is received or after said application task completes, wherein said informational message is selected locally on said data processing system based on said time/date clock.

18. The method in a data processing system of claim 17,

wherein said step of receiving includes receiving said information message from a removable computer readable storage medium.

19. The method in a data processing system of claim 17 wherein said step of rendering an informational message includes playing an audio message.

20. The method in a data processing system of claim 17, wherein said step of executing includes executing a printing task and said step of rendering said informational message includes rendering a message during said executing of said printing task.

21. The method in a data processing system of claim 20, wherein said step of executing includes executing an operating system shutdown task and said step of rendering said informational message includes rendering a message during said executing of said shutdown task.

22. The method in a data processing system of claim 20, wherein said step of executing includes executing an operating system startup task and said step of rendering said informational message includes rendering a message during said executing of said startup task.

23. The method in a data processing system of claim 20, wherein said step executing includes executing a dial-up connection service task to an Internet Service Provider and said step of rendering said informational message includes rendering a message during said executing of said dial-up connection service task of rendering an informational message includes rendering a message based on the current date stored in said data processing system.

24. The method in a data processing system of claim 20, further comprising the step of:

selecting locally on said data processing system said informational message to render based on a price paid for an informational message.

25. The method in a data processing system of claim 20, further comprising the steps of:

tracking which said informational message is rendered in a log;

transferring the contents of said log to a remote storage location; and

providing at least part of said contents of said log in said remote storage location to a sponsor of said informational message.

26. The method in a data processing system of claim 17, further comprising the step of:

selecting which said informational message to be displayed on said data processing system based upon predefined user preferences.

27. The method in a data processing system of claim 20 further comprising the step of:

updating the messages stored in said data processing system from a remote storage location based upon predefined user preferences.

28. A computer readable medium containing programming instructions for rendering an informational message on an information processing system with a local time/date clock, said program instructions comprising instructions for:

receiving at least one informational message from a computer readable medium, wherein said informational message has been chosen based on a geographical location of said information processing system prior to being delivered to said information processing system;

storing said informational message on said data processing system;

receiving a user input to initiate an application task;

executing said application task;

rendering status related to the progress of said executing said application task; and

rendering said informational message coterminously with said rendering status, during a period of inactivity between said information processing system and the user, where said period of inactivity is terminated by either after additional user input is received or after said application task completes, wherein said informational message is selected locally on said data processing system based on said time/date clock.

29. The computer readable medium of claim 28,

wherein said program instruction of receiving includes receiving said information message from a removable computer readable storage medium.

30. The computer readable medium of claim 28, wherein said program instruction of executing includes executing a printing task and said programming instruction of rendering said informational message includes playing an audio message during said executing of said printing task.

31. The computer readable medium of claim 28, wherein said program instruction of executing includes executing an operating system startup task and said programming instruction of rendering said informational message includes rendering a message during said executing of said startup task previously stored on said data processing system.

32. The computer readable medium of claim 31, wherein said program instruction of executing includes executing an operating system startup task and said programming instruction of rendering said informational message includes rendering a message during said executing of said startup task.

33. The computer readable medium of claim 31, wherein said program instruction of executing a dial-up connection service task to an Internet Service Provider and said programming instruction of rendering said informational message includes rendering a message during said executing of said dial-up connection service task.

34. The computer readable medium of claim 31, wherein said program instruction of rendering an informational message includes rendering a message based on the current date stored in said data processing system.

35. The computer readable medium of claim 31, further comprising the instructions for:

selecting locally on said data processing system said informational message to render based on a price paid for an informational message.

36. The computer readable medium of claim 31 further comprising the instructions for:

tracking which informational message is rendered in a log;

transferring the contents of said log to a remote storage location; and

providing at least part of said contents of said log in said remote storage location to a sponsor of said informational message.

37. The computer readable medium of claim 28 further comprising the instructions for:

selecting which informational message to be displayed on said data processing system based upon predefined user preferences.

38. The computer readable medium of claim 31 further comprising the instructions for:

updating the messages stored in said data processing system from a remote storage location based upon predefined user preferences.

39. A computer readable medium containing programming instructions for rendering an informational message on a local data processing system, said program instructions comprising instructions for:

connecting to a remote data processing system to receive one or more informational messages that have been chosen based on a geographical location of said local data processing system prior to being delivered to said local data processing system;

storing said one or more informational messages on said local data processing system;

receiving at least one identifier which uniquely identifies a user of said data processing system;

displaying a dialog-box on said display device for providing status on a processing event;

selecting said one or more informational messages which have been stored on said local data processing system based upon at least one identifier of the user; and

displaying said one or more informational messages on said display device coterminously with displaying said dialog box.

40. The computer readable medium of claim 39, wherein said instruction for selecting said information message includes selecting an informational message based on the time of day stored in said data processing system.

41. An data processing system having a display device for providing an informational message during a processing event, said data processing system comprising:

receiving at least one informational message from a computer readable medium, wherein said informational message has been chosen based on a geographical location of said data processing system prior to being delivered to the data processing system;

status display means for displaying a dialog-box on said display device for providing status on a processing event during connection to a network;

resizing means for resizing said dialog-box automatically on said display device so as to display at least part of said status; and

information display means for displaying said information message on said display device coterminously with said display of said status, until said processing event completes.

42. The data processing system in claim 41 wherein said information display means further comprises displaying a dialog-box that occupies the full displayable area of said display.

43. The data processing system in claim 41 wherein said information display means further comprises displaying a dialog-box for a dial-up connection screen of a dial-up service provider.

44. The data processing system in claim 41 further comprising:

selecting means for selecting which informational message to be displayed on said data processing system based upon predefined user preferences.

45. The data processing system in claim 41, wherein said information display means further comprises displaying said information message that has a scrollable HTML compatible window with active hypertext links to other information messages.

46. The data processing system in claim 45, wherein said information display means further comprises receiving said information message included receiving at least one information message from a removable computer readable storage medium.

47. The data processing system in claim 45 wherein said information display means further comprises displaying an informational message previously stored in said data processing system whereby said informational message is directed to the current time of day stored in said data processing system.

48. The data processing system in claim 45 wherein said information display means further comprises displaying an informational message previously stored on said data processing system whereby said informational message is directed to the current date stored in said data processing system.

49. The data processing system in claim 45, wherein said information message is part of a related series of informational messages, and the method further comprising:

response means for responding to a user selection to display at least part of any remaining informational message previously stored in said data processing system.

50. The data processing system in claim 45 further comprising:

receiving means for receiving a user input responsive to said informational message; and

responding means for responding to said user input by connecting to a predetermined host machine.

51. The data processing system in claim 45 further comprising:

updating means for updating the messages stored in said data processing system from a remote storage location based upon predefined user preferences.

52. The data processing system in claim 41 further comprising:

tracking means for tracking which informational message to be displayed on said data processing system in a log;

transferring means for transferring said the contents of said log to a remote storage location; and

providing means for providing at least part of said content transferred to said remote storage location to a sponsor of said informational message.

53. The data processing system in claim 52 wherein said responding means includes responding to said user input by connecting to a predetermined host machine includes connecting to a predetermined Web-page.

54. The data processing system in claim 52 further comprising:

selecting means for selecting an informational message to display based on a price paid for said informational message.

55. A local data processing system having a display device for providing an informational message during a processing event, said data processing system comprising:

connecting to a remote data processing system to receive one or more informational messages that have been chosen based on a geographical location of said local data processing system prior to being delivered to said local data processing system;

storing said one or more informational messages on said local data processing system;

receiving at least one identifier which uniquely identifies a user of said data processing system;

display means for displaying a dialog-box on said display device for providing status on a processing event;

selecting said one or more means for selecting an informational messages which have been stored on said local data processing system based upon at least one identifier of the user; and

display means for displaying said one or more informational message on said display device coterminously with displaying said dialog box.

56. The data processing system in claim 55, said selecting means for selecting said information message includes selecting an informational message based on the time of day stored in said data processing system.

57. The data processing system in claim 55, said selecting means for selecting an information message includes selecting an informational message based the price payed for said informational message.