John W Blanchard

US Patent:

20050166158, Jul 28, 2005

Filed:

Jan 12, 2004

Appl. No.:

10/755833

Inventors:

John Blanchard - Algonquin IL, US
Jennifer Martin - Chicago IL, US

Assignee:

International Business Machines Corporation - Armonk NY

International Classification:

G06F003/00
G09G005/00

US Classification:

715768000, 715792000, 715797000, 715856000, 715810000, 345629000

Abstract:

The present invention provides a method that increases screen space of a computing device by using semi-transparent functional areas that overlap non-functional content areas on the screen. This method allows for relatively large functional targets on the screen—thus mitigating the usability problems associated with tiny buttons and other images—while also allowing the underlying content on the screen to be clearly visible. A main design feature of this invention is that two functional areas are never allowed to overlap. An overlap condition would cause user confusion as to which layer is active. Instead, the interface is designed to foreground functionality in all instances.

US Patent:

20080072145, Mar 20, 2008

Filed:

Sep 19, 2006

Appl. No.:

11/533058

Inventors:

John A. Blanchard - Algonquin IL, US
Jennifer Martin - Chicago IL, US

International Classification:

G06F 17/00
G06F 3/048

US Classification:

715273, 715256, 715808

Abstract:

A Tag Cloud Customizer (TCC) provides an interactive legend and a tag cloud generator that allows a user to customize a tag cloud. The interactive legend allows users to map custom display characteristics to a plurality of tag attributes. The tag cloud generator creates a custom tag cloud using the custom display characteristics. The user can also sort the order of tags in the tag cloud by any of the plurality of tag attributes. In one embodiment of TCC, the user can define a custom tag attribute.