Technique for identifying and collecting record-keeping information

• US 7,558,777 B1
• Filed: 01/31/2007
• Issued: 07/07/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/31/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intuit, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Intuit, Inc.
• Inventors: Santos, Todd A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Wong; Don
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen; Merilyn P
• Application Number:
  US11/701,071
• Time in Patent Office: 888 Days
• Field of Search: 707 1- 3, 707/102, 707/10, 705/35, 705/39, 705/44, 705/38, 705/36
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

A system for collecting information is described. During operation, this system aggregates information from multiple information sources based on user preferences. Then, the system requests additional information from a user about ambiguities or variations in the aggregated information. These ambiguities are associated with changes in user activities, and the changes may be determined using a user-activity history and/or user preferences. Note that the system can repeat the aggregating and requesting operations multiple times.

Claims

1. A method for collecting record-keeping information, comprising:

aggregating information from multiple information sources based on user preferences;

requesting additional information from a user about ambiguities in the aggregated information;

classifying user activities into personal activities or business activities based in part on the user preferences, expense categories associated with the aggregated information, and meta-data comprising location and payment method associated with the aggregated information;

producing a result which indicates the classification of user activities; and

repeating the aggregating and requesting operations multiple times,

wherein the ambiguities are associated with changes in user activities, and wherein the changes are determined using a user-activity history or the user preferences.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the aggregating and requesting operations are repeated when content in the multiple information sources is updated or changed.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the aggregating and requesting operations are periodically repeated.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving the user preferences prior to aggregating the information.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the ambiguities are identified by comparing aggregated information from at least two of the multiple information sources.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising classifying the aggregated information into different information types based on meta data associated with the aggregated information.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the aggregating involves scraping websites.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the websites include a web log of the user.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the aggregating involves accessing data structures for software applications that are used by the user.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the software applications include financial-accounting software, income-tax preparation software, email, or calendar software.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the aggregating involves using financial transaction data elements and types to generate relevant queries to a user, thereby eliciting expository information from the user to facilitate the creation of diaries or chronologies.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the aggregating involves accessing financial records of the user.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the financial records include credit card, banking, or investment records.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the aggregated information comprises a personal or business diary.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising providing the aggregated information to a web log of the user.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the aggregated information comprises financial information for the user.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising providing the aggregated information to financial-accounting software or income-tax preparation software that is used by the user.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the financial-accounting software includes Quicken™

or QuickBooks™

.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the income-tax preparation software includes TurboTax™

.

20. A computer program product for use in conjunction with a computer system, the computer program product comprising a computer-readable storage medium and a computer-program mechanism embedded therein for configuring the computer system, the computer-program mechanism including:

instructions for aggregating information from multiple information sources based on user preferences;

instructions for requesting additional information from the user about ambiguities in the aggregated information;

instructions for classifying user activities into personal activities or business activities based in part on the user preferences, expense categories associated with the aggregated information, and meta-data comprising location and payment method associated with the aggregated information;

instructions for producing a result which indicates the classification of user activities; and

instructions for repeating the aggregating and requesting operations multiple times,

wherein the ambiguities are associated with changes in user activities, and wherein the changes are determined using a user-activity history or the user preferences.

21. A computer system, comprising:

a processor;

memory;

a program module, wherein the program module is stored in the memory and configurable to be executed by the processor, the program module including;

instructions for aggregating information from multiple information sources based on user preferences;

instructions for requesting additional information from a user about ambiguities in the aggregated information;

instructions for classifying user activities into personal activities or business activities based in part on the user preferences, expense categories associated with the aggregated information, and meta-data comprising location and payment method associated with the aggregated information;

instructions for producing a result which indicates the classification of user activities; and

instructions for repeating the aggregating and requesting operations multiple times,

wherein the ambiguities are associated with changes in user activities, and wherein the changes are determined using a user-activity history or the user preferences.