Method and apparatus for obtaining entity-related decision support information based on user-supplied preferences
First Claim
1. A method of obtaining ternary “
- acceptable”
, “
unacceptable”
, or “
undecidable”
entity-related decision support information with a portable computing device by way of matching the results of internet data retrieval against user-supplied, persistent preferences, said portable computing device having at least one kind of input, at least one kind of output, and a data communication interface, and the user-supplied, persistent preferences taking the form of an acceptance profile having a list of internet information resources to examine, and a list of acceptability criteria pertaining to said resources, said method comprising;
waiting for user-initiated entity identification,receiving at least one user input via said input device identifying an entity,automatically trying to obtain information about said identified entity from each internet information resource of said user'"'"'s acceptance profile,automatically determining for every criterion of said user'"'"'s acceptance profile whether said criterion has been met or violated based on said obtained information,automatically outputting a clearly discernible ternary indicator indicating the overall acceptability of said indentified identified entity based on said user'"'"'s acceptance profile,outputting an indicator indicating “
acceptable”
if at least one criterion has been met and no criterion has been violated, oroutputting an indicator indicating “
unacceptable”
if at least one criterion has been violated, oroutputting an indicator indicating “
undecidable”
otherwise.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In a portable computing device having at least one kind of input, at least one kind of output, and a data communications interface, a method and apparatus for obtaining entity-related “acceptable or unacceptable” decisions based on matching the results of internet information retrieval against user-supplied, persistent preferences are described. User-supplied preferences consist of a list of internet information resources the user wants to be examined to obtain a decision about whether or not an entity is acceptable, and of a list of criteria that an entity from said internet information resources has to meet to be found acceptable by the user. In one embodiment, a graphical user interface on the portable computing device is provided, allowing the identification of an entity. Identification of an entity automatically initiates information retrieval about the identified entity from the internet information resources of the user'"'"'s preferences, automatically yielding, upon completion, a clearly discernible output in the form of a ternary “acceptable”/“unacceptable”/“undecidable” indicator on the portable computing device. The “acceptable” indicator is output if at least one criterion from the user'"'"'s preferences has been met and no criterion from the user'"'"'s preferences has been violated; the “unacceptable” indicator is output if at least one criterion from the user'"'"'s preferences has been violated; the “undecidable” indicator is output otherwise.
-
Citations
24 Claims
-
1. A method of obtaining ternary “
- acceptable”
, “
unacceptable”
, or “
undecidable”
entity-related decision support information with a portable computing device by way of matching the results of internet data retrieval against user-supplied, persistent preferences, said portable computing device having at least one kind of input, at least one kind of output, and a data communication interface, and the user-supplied, persistent preferences taking the form of an acceptance profile having a list of internet information resources to examine, and a list of acceptability criteria pertaining to said resources, said method comprising;waiting for user-initiated entity identification, receiving at least one user input via said input device identifying an entity, automatically trying to obtain information about said identified entity from each internet information resource of said user'"'"'s acceptance profile, automatically determining for every criterion of said user'"'"'s acceptance profile whether said criterion has been met or violated based on said obtained information, automatically outputting a clearly discernible ternary indicator indicating the overall acceptability of said indentified identified entity based on said user'"'"'s acceptance profile, outputting an indicator indicating “
acceptable”
if at least one criterion has been met and no criterion has been violated, oroutputting an indicator indicating “
unacceptable”
if at least one criterion has been violated, oroutputting an indicator indicating “
undecidable”
otherwise. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
- acceptable”
-
14. A machine for obtaining ternary “
- acceptable”
, “
unacceptable”
, or “
undecidable”
entity-related decision support information on a portable computing device, said machine comprising;a memory which is able to store user-supplied, persistent preferences taking the form of an acceptance profile having a list of internet information resources to examine, and a list of acceptability criteria pertaining to said resources, one or more input means capable of identifying on or more entities, one or more output means capable of outputting a clear discernible ternary indicator indicating the overall acceptability of each said identified entity in the form of an “
acceptable”
indicator, an “
unacceptable”
indicator, or an “
undecidable”
indicator,a memory controller which will; wait for user-initiated entity identification, receive at least one user input via one of said input means identifying an entity, automatically try to obtain information about said identified entity from each internet information resource of said user'"'"'s acceptance profile, automatically determine for every criterion of said user'"'"'s acceptance profile whether the criterion has been met or violated based on said obtained information, automatically output a clearly discernible ternary indicator indicating the overall acceptability of said identified entity based on said user'"'"'s acceptance profile, outputting an indicator indicating “
acceptable”
if at least one criterion has been met and no criterion has been violated, oroutputting an indicator indicating “
unacceptable”
if at least one criterion has been violated, oroutputting an indicator indicating “
undecidable”
otherwise. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
- acceptable”
Specification