Thomas W Springer

US Patent:

20030194468, Oct 16, 2003

Filed:

Apr 12, 2002

Appl. No.:

10/121637

Inventors:

Amy Konkoly - Eden Prairie MN, US
Marthena Baker - Plymouth MN, US
Penny Norquist - St. Paul MN, US
Tonya Schoenfuss - St. Louis Park MN, US
Thomas Springer - Crystal MN, US
Michelle Zacho - Anoka MN, US

International Classification:

A23C009/12

US Classification:

426/034000

Abstract:

A method for the production of an acidified nutritionally fortified cultured dairy beverage or yogurt product and the resulting product containing live and active cultures comprising preparing a non-fermented fluid dairy base, homogenizing and pasteurizing said base mix, adding a yogurt to said base mix, adding an acid blend to said base mix, comminuting said base mix to reduce particle size, adding a flavor and a color to said base mix, and packaging to provide an acidified nutritionally fortified cultured dairy beverage composition containing live and active cultures, having a finished product culture count of at least 1.5×10cfu/gram, a viscosity of 400 to 3500 cps at a temperature of 1 C. to 7 C. and a final pH of 3.8 to 4.5.

US Patent:

20040019658, Jan 29, 2004

Filed:

Jul 18, 2003

Appl. No.:

10/623235

Inventors:

Daniel Plastina - Sammamish WA, US
John Terrell - Bothell WA, US
Jason McCartney - Redmond WA, US
Keith Toussaint - Seattle WA, US
David Hostetter - Redmond WA, US
Thomas Springer - Redmond WA, US
Aaron Starkey - Seattle WA, US

Assignee:

Microsoft Corporation

International Classification:

G06F015/16

US Classification:

709/217000

Abstract:

Obtaining metadata for media content. Software according to the invention requests the metadata via a metadata query data structure (MDQ) such as a uniform resource locator and receives metadata in response via a metadata return data structure (MDR). The invention includes namespace identifiers such as WMContentID, WMCollectionID, and WMCollectionGroupID for instance-specific associations between media content and metadata. The invention also includes namespace identifiers such as WMPrimaryClassID and WMSecondaryClassID to classify the media content.

US Patent:

20040034650, Feb 19, 2004

Filed:

Aug 15, 2002

Appl. No.:

10/219456

Inventors:

Thomas Springer - Redmond WA, US
Jason McCartney - Redmond WA, US
Keith Toussaint - Seattle WA, US

Assignee:

Microsoft Corporation

International Classification:

G06F007/00

US Classification:

707/102000

Abstract:

A media identifier registry for managing metadata records. The registry stores a unique logical identifier for each of the records as well as a base type corresponding to each of the logical identifiers. The base types are representative of the information contained in the respective metadata records for the corresponding logical identifiers. The registry further defines associations between the logical identifiers and base types. Improvements in identifying media content and related information according to the invention permit building a media data warehouse capable of aggregating data from many different sources, uniquely identify the same piece of content from different data providers, in different cultures, and in different physical forms to allow a consistent set of data to be stored and retrieved.

US Patent:

20050055372, Mar 10, 2005

Filed:

Sep 4, 2003

Appl. No.:

10/654726

Inventors:

Thomas Springer - Redmond WA, US
Jason McCartney - Redmond WA, US

International Classification:

G06F017/00

US Classification:

707104100

Abstract:

Providing standardized metadata associated with media content responsive to input metadata. The invention extracts one or more tokens from the input metadata. Each of the extracted tokens represents a portion of the input metadata. The invention creates a token group comprising a plurality of selected tokens. The invention searches the database of standardized metadata using a multi-pass approach using the token group and the extracted tokens to identify the standardized metadata associated with the input metadata.

US Patent:

20050171961, Aug 4, 2005

Filed:

Jan 30, 2004

Appl. No.:

10/769075

Inventors:

Aaron Culbreth - Bellevue WA, US
Roderick Toll - Sammamish WA, US
James Hall - Bellevue WA, US
Thomas Springer - Redmond WA, US
Wei Wei Ada Cho - Bellevue WA, US
C. Evans - Duvall WA, US

International Classification:

G06F007/00

US Classification:

707100000

Abstract:

Techniques and tools are described for creating and using application identifiers that act as “fingerprints” for applications. In one aspect, an identifier generation algorithm is applied to application data and an application identifier is generated. The application data comprises graphical icon data, and can further comprise other data (e.g., executable name, registry data). The identifier generation algorithm can be a hashing algorithm that generates a hash value. The application identifier can be sent in a database query, and a database can return results indicating, for example, whether metadata can be obtained from a metadata service, or whether the software application is of a particular type (e.g., a gaming-related application). Application identifiers can be stored, for example, in a data file along with one or more other application identifiers for other software applications. Described techniques and tools can be used in a graphical user interface-based gaming activity center.

US Patent:

20060240149, Oct 26, 2006

Filed:

Jun 23, 2006

Appl. No.:

11/474008

Inventors:

Amy Konkoly - Eden Prairie MN, US
Marthena Baker - Plymouth MN, US
Penny Norquist - St. Paul MN, US
Tonya Schoenfuss - St. Louis Park MN, US
Thomas Springer - Crystal MN, US
Michelle Zacho - Anoka MN, US

International Classification:

A23C 9/12

US Classification:

426034000

Abstract:

A method for the production of an acidified nutritionally fortified cultured dairy beverage or yogurt product and the resulting product containing live and active cultures comprising preparing a non-fermented fluid dairy base, homogenizing and pasteurizing said base mix, adding a yogurt to said base mix, adding an acid blend to said base mix, comminuting said base mix to reduce particle size, adding a flavor and a color to said base mix, and packaging to provide an acidified nutritionally fortified cultured dairy beverage composition containing live and active cultures, having a finished product culture count of at least 1.5×10cfu/gram, a viscosity of 400 to 3500 cps at a temperature of 1 C. to 7 C. and a final pH of 3.8 to 4.5.

US Patent:

20070073767, Mar 29, 2007

Filed:

Nov 13, 2006

Appl. No.:

11/559149

Inventors:

Thomas Springer - Redmond WA, US
Jason McCartney - Redmond WA, US
Keith Toussaint - Seattle WA, US

Assignee:

Microsoft Corporation - Redmond WA

International Classification:

G06F 7/00

US Classification:

70710300R

Abstract:

A media identifier registry for managing metadata records. The registry stores a unique logical identifier for each of the records as well as a base type corresponding to each of the logical identifiers. The base types are representative of the information contained in the respective metadata records for the corresponding logical identifiers. The registry further defines associations between the logical identifiers and base types. Improvements in identifying media content and related information according to the invention permit building a media data warehouse capable of aggregating data from many different sources, uniquely identify the same piece of content from different data providers, in different cultures, and in different physical forms to allow a consistent set of data to be stored and retrieved.