Container reputation

• US 8,626,771 B2
• Filed: 06/29/2007
• Issued: 01/07/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Estrada, Julio, Fowler, J Clinton Paul
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham, Hung Q
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHEUNG, HUBERT G
• Application Number:
  US11/771,569
• Publication Number:
  US 20090006434A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,384 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 707/748
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

A method of creating a reputation for a container that contains data is disclosed. A user reviews a container that is stored on a network and the user posts an opinion rating of the container. The opinion rating is stored along with an user identification. The opinion rating and the user identification are added to a database and the data in the database is used to calculate a reputation for the container.

Claims

1. A method of creating a reputation for a container that contains data comprising:

storing the container created by an author comprising a plurality of media files on a server;

storing opinion ratings from different users that download the container, statistics related to downloads of the container, and statistics related to transfers of the container between computing devices associated with the different users in a database on the server;

calculating a reputation for the container based on one or more of the opinion ratings from the different users that download the container, the statistics related to downloads of the container, and the statistics related to transfers of the container between the computing devices associated with the different users;

associating the calculated reputation with the container on the server, such that the container includes the plurality of media files and the calculated reputation;

downloading the container to a first computing device from the server over a computer network when the first computing device is online and communicating with the server;

allowing a user to transfer the container from the first computing device to a second computing device while the first computing device and the second computing device are offline;

on the second computing device, allowing the user to provide an opinion rating of the container when the second computing device is offline;

receiving the provided opinion rating and a user identification of the user when the second computing device is online and communicating with the server;

storing the provided opinion rating and the user identification in the database;

re-calculating the calculated reputation of the container using at least the provided opinion rating of the user;

updating the calculated reputation of the container at the first computing device when the first computing device is online and communicating with the server; and

updating the calculated reputation of the container at the second computing device when the second computing device is online and communicating with the server.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising creating groups of users that appear to have common interests by selecting the users that had similar opinion ratings of a same container to be part of a group.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the re-calculating the reputation of the container further comprises creating a weighted average of the opinion ratings of the container from the different users.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising adding increased weight to the different users that have rated previous containers similarly to the weighted average rating of the rated previous containers.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising adding a decreased weight to the different users that have rated previous containers dissimilarly to the weighted average rating of the rated previous containers.

6. The method of claim 3, further comprising adding an increased weight to the different users that have used the container for a longer time than the different users that have used the container for a shorter time.

7. The method of claim 3, further comprising adding an increased weight to the different users that have one selected from the group comprising:

used the computer network more and used the computer network more recently.

8. The method of claim 3, further comprising creating a prediction of a user'"'"'s opinion rating using previous opinion ratings of similar containers and adding an increased weight to the user'"'"'s opinion rating that is closer to the created prediction of the user'"'"'s opinion rating.

9. The method of claim 3, further comprising creating a prediction of a user'"'"'s opinion rating using previous opinion ratings by a community of users of containers created by the author previously and adding an increased weight to the user'"'"'s opinion rating that is closer to the created prediction of the user'"'"'s opinion rating.

10. A computer storage medium comprising computer executable instructions to:

store a container comprising a plurality of media files on a server;

store opinion ratings from different users that download the container, statistics related to downloads of the container, and statistics related to transfers of the container between computing devices associated with the different users in a database on the server;

calculate a reputation for the container based on one or more of the opinion ratings from the different users that download the container, the statistics related to downloads of the container, and the statistics related to transfers of the container between the computing devices associated with the different users;

associate the calculated reputation with the container on the server, such that the container includes the plurality of media files and the calculated reputation;

download a duplicate of the container to a first portable media player from the server over a computer network when the first portable media player is online and communicating with the server;

allow a user to transfer the duplicate of the container from the first portable media player to a second portable media player while the first portable media player and the second portable media player are offline;

on the second portable media player, allow the user to provide an opinion rating of the duplicate of the container when the second portable media player is offline;

receive the provided opinion rating and a user identification of the user when the second portable media player is online and communicating with the server;

store the provided opinion rating and the user identification in the database;

re-calculate the calculated reputation of the container using at least the provided opinion rating of the user for the duplicate of the container;

when the first portable media player is in communication with the server, update the calculated reputation of the duplicate of the container stored on the first portable media player; and

when the second portable media player is in communication with the server, update the calculated reputation of the duplicate container stored on the second portable media player.

11. The computer storage medium of claim 10, further comprising computer executable instructions for creating groups of users that appear to have common interests by selecting the users that had similar opinion ratings of a same container to be part of a group.

12. The computer storage medium of claim 10, wherein the re-calculating the reputation of the container further comprises creating a weighted average of the opinion ratings of the container from the different users.

13. The computer storage medium of claim 12, further comprising computer executable instructions for adding increased weight to the different users that have rated previous containers similarly to the weighted average rating of the rated previous containers and adding a decreased weight to the different users that have rated previous containers dissimilarly to the weighted average rating of the rated previous containers.

14. The computer storage medium of claim 12, further comprising computer executable instructions for adding an increased weight to the different users that have used the container for a longer time than the different users that have used the container for a shorter time.

15. The computer storage medium of claim 12, further comprising computer executable instructions for creating a prediction of a user'"'"'s opinion rating using previous opinion ratings of similar containers and adding an increased weight to the user'"'"'s opinion rating that is closer to the created prediction of the user'"'"'s opinion rating.

16. A computer system comprising a processor physically configured to execute computer executable instructions, a memory for assisting in storing and processing the computer executable instructions and an input/output circuit, the computer executable instructions comprising instructions for:

storing a container comprising a plurality of media files on a server;

storing opinion ratings from different users that download the container, statistics related to downloads of the container, and statistics related to transfers of the container between computing devices associated with the different users in a database on the server;

calculating a reputation for the container based on one or more of the opinion ratings from the different users that download the container, the statistics related to downloads of the container, and the statistics related to transfers of the container between the computing devices associated with the different users;

associating the calculated reputation with the container on the server, such that the container includes the plurality of media files and the calculated reputation;

downloading a duplicate of the container to a first portable media player from a server when the first portable media player is online and communicating with the server;

allowing a user to transfer the duplicate of the container from the first portable media player to a second portable media player when the first portable media player and the second portable media player are offline;

on the second portable media player, allowing the user to provide an opinion rating of the duplicate of the container;

receiving the provided opinion rating and a user identification of the user when the second portable media player is online and communicating with the server;

storing the provided opinion rating and the user identification in the database,

re-calculating the calculated reputation of the container using a weighted average of opinion ratings calculated from the provided opinion rating of the user and the one or more of the opinion ratings from the different users that downloaded the container; and

when the first portable media player is in communication with the server, updating the calculated reputation of the duplicate container stored on the first portable media player; and

when the second portable media player is in communication with the server, updating the calculated reputation of the duplicate container stored on the second portable media player.

17. The computer system of claim 16, further comprising computer executable instructions for creating groups of users that appear to have common interests by selecting the users that had similar opinion ratings of a same container to be part of a group.

18. The computer system of claim 16, further comprising computer executable instructions for adding increased weight to the different users that have rated previous containers similarly to the weighted average rating of the rated previous containers and adding a decreased weight to the different users that have rated previous containers dissimilarly to the weighted average rating of the rated previous containers.

19. The computer system of claim 16, further comprising computer executable instructions for creating a prediction of a user'"'"'s opinion rating using previous opinion ratings of similar containers and adding an increased weight to the user'"'"'s opinion rating that is closer to the created prediction of the user'"'"'s opinion rating.