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- Category: Philadelphia Flyers Top Prospects
Jason Akeson, RW
Shoots: R
Height: 5-10
Weight: 192
Born: 1990-06-03
Hometown: Orleans, ON, CAN
Drafted: signed by Philadelphia
Dec 2014- After going scoreless in 12 games to start the season, Philadelphia sent Akeson down to Lehigh Valley on Novmeber 28th. Akeson struggled, especially in his own zone, and quickly fell into coach Craig Berube's healthy scratch carousel. Flyers General Manager Ron Hextall would like to see Akeson play a full 200 feet and has tasked Phantoms coach Terry Murray with getting Akeson back to the basics Zach Hopkins
Oct 2014- Akeson has made the Flyers roster out of training camp as a winger on the fourth line with energy guy Zac Rinaldo and 29-year-old rookie Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. The trio seemed to mesh well in camp and solidified the Flyers plan to roll four skilled lines and forgo carrying a true heavyweight enforcer for the first time since the 1970s. –Zach Hopkins
April 2014: Another call-up, another point. Akeson tallied an assist in the last game of the NHL season for the Flyers. He led Adirondack (by a wide margin) in scoring and, although his opportunities are few and far between, he's doing his best to take full advantage of them. An underrated player who could surprise as an NHLer as early as 2015. - Dobber
April 2013: Jason Akeson finally got a taste of NHL action in the Flyers last game of the season in Ottawa. Playing in his hometown, Akeson scored his first NHL goal on his second shift of the game. He showed great instinct on the play, driving the net hard and beating Craig Anderson with an absolute rocket to the top right corner; a goal scorers goal. Although it's the smallest sample size possible (one game), Akeson looked solid in his debut. Nathan Martin
April 2013 - Jason Akeson was recalled by the Philadelphia Flyers earlier this month, joining a few of his Adirondack teammates who also got the call. The Flyers are going to kick their tires on prospects with just three games remaining on the schedule, and Akeson certainly warrants that opportunity. Although the Phantoms will miss the postseason yet again, Akeson was a consistent presence on right wing, netting 20 goals for the first time in his pro career. The Flyers' coaching staff will look for Akeson to restore some of the fire he had in his OHL days when he was an absolute force for the Kitchener Rangers. Look for the Orleans, Ontario native to make his debut in the Flyers' next three games. Nathan Martin
August 2012 – After leading the OHL in assists (84) and tying Tyler Toffoli for the league scoring crown with 108 points, the undrafted Akeson secured a contract with the Flyers. The signing has already proved to be astute, as Akeson led the low-scoring Phantoms (AHL) in scoring as a rookie with 55 points in 76 games. He is a top setup man who in a constant struggle to prove his doubters wrong - and he's succeeding. With so little competition in the Flyers' pipeline, Akeson is first in line for a phone call when the big club needs an injury replacement on a scoring line.
A boom or bust guy who should get his shot relatively soon. Would flourish with a sniper.
Akeson scores the first goal in this little highlight package:
Buy the latest Fantasy Prospects Report here.


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Product Specs
Product Description
The best things in life are glittery! Glitter favor boxes add shine and glamour to any bridal shower or wedding reception theme. Decked out in gold glitter, these favor boxes are finished off with an elegant white satin ribbon pull tab. Simply fill with fun trinkets or delicious treats and place on tables for an stunning décor item.

subset: commoncrawl


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Musical siblings: The Band Perry takes off
Rising group teams sister and two brothers for winning combination
"I love what Bruce Springsteen said about Johnny," Kimberly said.
"He said he that Johny was the perfect balance of the rebellion of rock and the stories of country music, and (that's) what we try to do. We always try to honor the songs -- we always start with acoustic instruments when we're writing the songs. Then, in the studio, we groove it up with drums and electric instruments. With me being a singer, we try to mix and match a lot of things. But they are all different musical flavors that we really love."
Like San Diego's Grammy Award-winning Nickel Creek, now sadly dormant, The Band Perry started young.
"We celebrate 13 years on the road this year," Kimberly said proudly. "It's a labor of love. We've cut out every distraction and gone headfirst into it. And here we are, a decade later, getting to see some of the dreams we have come true...
"When we started out, there were more people on stage than out in the audience. We had no idea what we were doing, but we wouldn't trade those experiences for anything. We have made it our mission to play for one person as we would for a thousand."


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APNewsBreak: Antigua to seek sanctions against US
Antigua in 2003 initiated WTO dispute proceedings against U.S. federal and state laws barring foreign participation in U.S. Internet gambling markets. The WTO, in rulings in 2004 and 2005, found that the U.S. had violated its 1994 General Agreement on Trade in Services, or GATS, which the WTO says allows Internet gambling.
The WTO has upheld rulings striking down the U.S. ban. The trade body said Washington was violating trade law by targeting online gambling without equal application of the rules to American operators offering remote betting on horse and dog racing.
But in 2006, Washington stopped U.S. banks and credit card companies from processing payments to online gambling businesses outside the country. The decision closed off the most lucrative region in a growing market worth about $15.5 billion at the time. About half of the world's online gamblers are based in the U.S.
Washington also responded to its legal defeat by announcing it would take the unprecedented step of revising the conditions under which it signed the GATS. That allowed a number of countries to seek compensation under a separate process. But the U.S. has failed to do so with Antigua.
As a result, Antigua gained the right to penalize U.S. services and intellectual property until Washington either permits Americans to gamble over foreign-based sites or eliminates exceptions for off-track betting on horses, including over the Internet.
Lovell said the U.S. Trade Representative's office recently rejected efforts to have the trade dispute referred to the WTO for arbitration, prompting the islands to pursue countermeasures.
He said Antigua has also been following with interest U.S. complaints on pirating and fake goods in China and its threats to take the Asian giant to the WTO's dispute resolution board.
"We believe that the same rules that apply to big countries should be the same rules that apply to small countries. It is very difficult for us to sit back and hear the United States speak about unfair trade practices that are alleged against China, and at the same time ... we've played by the rules, we've done everything that we were required to do, we were successful - and yet we have not been able to arrive at a proper conclusion to this matter," Lovell said.
David McFadden on Twitter: http://twitter.com/dmcfadd


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26 year old woman | Chapel Hill, NC, USA | Seeking men 24-35 within 50 miles
I want to rock your gypsy soul." - Van Morrison
I'm an easygoing, open-minded graduate student who has lived in Chapel Hill a little over a year. I moved here to obtain a masters degree in social work, and I'm currently in my final year! :) I'm driven and passionate about life, and I'm looking to meet people who may share my interests, ideological values, and desire to never stop learning. I highly value being around people who are open to new ideas and opinions, are intellectually curious, and who are socially conscious. Seeing as graduate school is very time-consuming, it would be great to meet someone who is understanding when it comes to its demanding nature. Although school keeps me busy, I love to go to live music shows, have a few drinks at laid-back bars, go to the movies, and enjoy the many wonderful things life has to offer outside of the academic world! Confidence, compassion, ambition, and a sense of humor are important qualities in a partner. If you enjoy thought provoking/intelligent conversation (social justice issues, politics, religion, etc.), going to live music shows, laughing, and don't take yourself too seriously, I would love to hear from you!
Alumni connections , Book club , Camping , Coffee and conversation , Movies/Videos , Music and concerts , Exploring new areas , Political interests , Travel/Sightseeing , Volunteering , Wine tasting
Basketball, Billiards / Pool, Other types of exercise, Swimming, Walking / Hiking
I exercise 1-2 times per week.
I have Cats
I like Dogs
I have one nifty kitty.
Asheville, NC; St. Augustine, FL; Amsterdam, Netherlands; Paris, France; Greensboro, NC; Charlotte, NC. In the Chapel Hill/Carrboro area- The Cave, Cat's Cradle, Local 506
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Diverse taste in music, mostly "alternative"- metal, classic rock, reggae, jam bands, folk, indie, funk. Anything but country Movies-Tenacious D in the POD,Walk Hard: Dewey Cox Story, Boondock Saints, Pulp Fiction, Documentaries, Clerks1 & 2
Trying new things, exploring new places, traveling, amusement parks, road trips, concerts, festivals, learning, nature, giving back to my community, psychology, spending time with family and friends, and all of the other beautiful things in life.
I'm always reading research and journal articles, textbooks, and about current events for school. For fun I'm re-reading No One Here Gets Out Alive (biography of Jim Morrison), and A Lifetime of Wisdom by the fourteenth Dalai Lama.
Z{{Cta}} {{#if HasMoreInfo}} ?{{CtaSecondary}} {{/if}}
|What she is looking for
|5'8" (172cms)
|5'7" (170cms) to 6'11" (210cms)
|Body type:
|No preference
|No preference
|Light brown
|No preference
|I'll tell you later
|No preference
|Social Drinker
|No preference
|Nonprofit / Volunteer / Activist
|No preference
Social work graduate student and intern.
|I'll tell you later
|No preference
|Never Married
|No preference
|Have kids:
|Wants kids:
|Not sure
|No preference
|White / Caucasian
|No preference
|No preference
I am fascinated by the various religions of the world, however I do not affiliate myself with one. Although, I am particularly fond of Buddhism and wish to study it in greater depth.
|Graduate degree
|Bachelors degree, Graduate degree
I'm currently a graduate student in a master of social work program specializing in mental health and addiction.


text:
8174 on Toshiba Satellite with ACPI "legacy free"
View Single Post
Dr. Tyrell
Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 100
Re: 8174 on Toshiba Satellite with ACPI "legacy free"
(--) NVIDIA(0): 1372 x 1050 @ 60Hz
(--) NVIDIA(0): Pixel Clock : 108.00 MHz
BIG problems there.
Should be 1400x1050 and 224 MHz
All Nvidia Linux proprietary drivers since 5336 have misdetected this.
Xorg's nv driver detects properly.
And I must say once again that because of that 108.00 MHz I'm therefore limited to modelines calculated with 108.00, and therefore cannot get all the possible modes of this display.
In fact, I can only get 1400x1050 properly, and at 56 Hz. I lost count but have tried more than 40 modelines from different sources and the two noted in my xorg.conf are the only ones that give near-full refresh at 1400.
The "black bar" issue is referred to many many times in this forum, and now that I am limited to that 108 I am very very limited.
What's causing that 108? Toshiba or you guys?
The 1372 can be dealt with IFF the 108 can be raised.
Thanks again and I think this thread is relevant for lots of people.
Dr. Tyrell
View Public Profile
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Although Redskins' defenders don't know much about Nick Foles, they are sure of this: they can't afford to let their guard down simply because the Eagles' rookie will be making his first NFL start
Redskins Coach Mike Shanahan met with his team on Tuesday morning to clarify the comments he made after Sunday's game, according to several players.
Most of the Redskins were happy to learn that the NFL and referees association had come to an agreement to end the lockout of the officials who have come to be known as the real refs.Im excited to
A little late with this, here are is a look at the snap counts for the game against the Bengals.
The Redskins have made their roster decisions and have signed Markus White and Doug Worthington to replace the injured Brian Orakpo and Adam Carriker on the 53-man roster.


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CAF (Grayline) day tours out of Florence
In GB, we took several great day tours with minivan companies but I can't find similar companies in Florence for day tours around the area. CAF seems to be a leading tour company there, affiliated with Grayline. Reviews of their tours on TripAdvisor are all over the map, excellent to horrible. Any experiences with them here, or suggestions for better choices in Tuscany/Umbria? Thanks.


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Walgreen Co is the nation's largest drugstore chain with fiscal 2008 sales of $59 billion. The company operates 6,902 drugstores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The company is member of the S&P 500 and was a recent addition to the S&P Dividend Aristocrats index.
Walgreen Co has paid dividends for more than 76 years and consistently increased payments to common shareholders every year for 34 years. The company recently announced a 22.2% raise in its quarterly dividends.
Between June of 1999 up until June 2009 this dividend growth stock has delivered an annual average total return of 0.70% to its shareholders. The stock is changing hands at the same levels it was trading a decade ago.
The company has managed to deliver a 14.90% average annual increase in its EPS between 1999 and 2008. Earnings per share are expected to decrease to $2 in FY 2009, before recovering to $2.30 by FY 2010. Sales are also expected to increase from $59 billion in 2008 to $68 billion in 2010. Unlike its competitors, Walgreen seems to focus on internal growth either through opening new stores or focusing on proper location of in store merchandise, growth of products offered and making its operations more efficient. The company plans to slow down on the growth rate of opening new stores from high single digits to low single digits by 2011.
The Return on Equity has slightly decreased over the past decade from 19.70% in 1999 to 18% in 2008. Rather than focus on absolute values for this indicator, I generally want to see at least a stable return on equity over time.
Annual dividends have increased by an average of 13.40 % annually since 1999, which is lower than the growth in EPS.
A 13 % growth in dividends translates into the dividend payment doubling every five years. If we look at historical data, going as far back as 1976, Walgreen Co has actually managed to double its dividend payment every five and a half years on average.
The dividend payout ratio has ranged between 13.6% and 20.9%. A lower payout is always a plus, since it leaves room for consistent dividend growth minimizing the impact of short-term fluctuations in earnings. The low payout has enabled Walgreen to spend more on growing its business. As its markets become saturated I expect the company to increase its payout over time.
Currently Walgreen Co is trading at 14.50 times earnings and yields 1.90%. While the price earnings multiple and the dividend payout are attractive, the dividend yield is below my 3% entry criteria. I would only consider initiating a position in Walgreen on dips below $18.50. If the stock drops to $25 and premiums increase I would consider selling longer dated covered puts at strikes $20 or $17.50.
Full Disclosure: None
Relevant Articles:
- An alternative strategy to covered calls
- Walgreen's 22% Dividend Increase Analysis
- Bemis Co (BMS) Dividend Stock Analysis
- Emerson Electric (EMR) Dividend Stock Analysis
Friday, July 24, 2009
Walgreen Co (WAG) Dividend Stock Analysis
Labels: stock analysis
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Selmer STS280 La Voix II Tenor Saxophone Outfit LacquerProduct #463726 Selmer 463726 KDDB Intermediate Tenor Saxophones https://www.esnapw.com/rses/ESnapServlet?MerchantNumberSent=63655
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Inheriting the pure intonation and fluid keywork of the original La Voix saxophones. The new La Voix II instruments return to a more traditional bell size that offers the player a tone with more focus and ease of blending. Ideal for concert band and solo playing.
- Clear Lacquered body, neck, and bell
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Reviewed by 1 customer
Comments about Selmer STS280 La Voix II Tenor Saxophone Outfit:
These saxes compare with the best horns I have ever played. 35 years playing and have owned Mark VI as well. You cannot beat the sound of these horns for the money!!!!! The lows are easy and the action is fast. High notes are crisp and always in tune. Great buy!!!!!


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52 year old man | Charlotte, NC, USA | Seeking women 40-52 within 30 miles
You are only as free as you imagine yourself to be!
Ten random things about me: * I'm happy with my life as is, I would be happier sharing the joy of living it with someone special. * Have two boys, 11 and 9, in shared custody with their mother. They bring me joy and keep me young, very proud of them. * I had a very eventful life who taught me many things and trades. You can ask for homemade pizza or to fix your car brakes. * I've roamed 4 continents, lived in two, witnessed some huge changes and events, lived an intense and eventful life. * There is humor in just about any aspect of life, light bantering is one of my favorites, keeps people around me on their toes. * My motorcycle addiction is a lifelong middle age crisis that started when I was 14 years old and it will never end. * I love Winter and snow, Spring when life rebound, Summer mountains and beaches, Fall mountain cabins with roaring fireplaces. * Won't bungee jumping or parachute for a million dollars, two I may think about it. Everything else is open for discussion. * My lifelong dream is to fly on a Navy Blue Angel back seat 50 feet off the ground, well over the speed of sound. * Two things I will not do for more than one hour: 1) Watch sports 2) Lay down on a sun scorched beach doing nothing. I'm looking for a one of a kind woman who isn't afraid to hop on a bike for a little adventure, likes to snuggle in a mountain cabin, welcomes a visit to a museum or historical place, enjoys an evening out for some live music, is comfortable on a couch watching something on TV or reading a book in a lousy rainy day, she is happy with herself, but most of all she knows that giving is much more rewarding than taking. Are you up for the challenge?
Camping , Coffee and conversation , Business networking , Cooking , Dining out , Fishing/Hunting , Gardening/Landscaping , Hobbies and crafts , Movies/Videos , Museums and art , Music and concerts , Exploring new areas , Performing arts , Political interests , Shopping/Antiques , Travel/Sightseeing , Video games , Volunteering , Watching sports , Wine tasting
Auto racing / Motorcross, Basketball, Billiards / Pool, Bowling, Cycling, Skiing, Swimming, VolleyBall, Walking / Hiking, Weights / Machines
I exercise 1-2 times per week.
Don't display my sign
I like Birds, Cats, Dogs, Exotic Pets, Fish, Horses
Anywhere with you! Paris, Venice, Tuscany, Charleston SC, Loire Castles, Savannah, Provence, Rome, Istanbul, Barcelona, Munich, Vienna, California Red Woods, Budapest, Berlin, Nordkapp, Niagara Falls, Oslo, Copenhagen, Blue Ridge Parkway, ...
Mountain cabin with a roaring, wood burning fireplace, snow falling. Thunderstorms, watching the rain fall while dangling in an hammock. The excitement in a kid eyes discovering something new. A walk on a beach, wind blowing in my face.
Living life. Traveling anywhere, especially to historical places. Mountain rides with cabin overnights. Beach trips, live music, motorcycle rides, anything that isn't extreme, concerts, target shooting.
A road map.
Z{{Cta}} {{#if HasMoreInfo}} ?{{CtaSecondary}} {{/if}}
|What he is looking for
|6'2" (187cms)
|5'2" (157cms) to 8'11" (271cms)
|Body type:
|About average
|Slender, About average, Athletic and toned, A few extra pounds
|Black, Blue, Brown, Grey, Green, Hazel
|Dark brown
|Auburn / Red, Black, Light brown, Dark brown, Blonde, Salt and pepper, Dark blonde
|No Way
|No Way
|Social Drinker
|Never, Social Drinker, Regularly, Moderately
|Technical / Science / Computers / Engineering
|No preference
Information Technology - Web Development - Software
|$75,001 to $100,000
|No preference
|Never Married, Widow / Widower, Currently Separated, Divorced
|Have kids:
|Yes, and they sometimes live at home (2)
|Yes, and they sometimes live at home, No, Yes, and they live away from home, Yes, and they live at home
|Wants kids:
|No, but it's OK if my partner has kids
|Probably not, No, but it's OK if my partner has kids
|White / Caucasian
|No preference
|Spiritual but not religious
|No preference
|English, Italian, Other
|I'll tell you later
|No preference


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Let's face it, I'm not a great blogger. There, I said it. Phew that feels better! Since 2014 was no exception, I thought it seemed appropriate to do a little round up of some of my favorite images from 2014. See you in 2016! I kid (maybe).
(If you are a client and you don't see a photo from your session, rest assured that I loved your session too and I certainly don't hate you. One of my sweet dear lovely children got their hands on the plug to one of my back up hard drives and, unfortunately, I won't be able to access them for a few days until my new plug arrives. If I'm feeling ambitious, I may come back and add them into the post once I can get my hands on them).


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Tag Archives: Bernie Machen
UF Organizations Protest Outside O'Connell Center
University of Florida Dream Defenders and UF Students for a Democratic Society protested outside O'Connell Center Friday night.
New UF Football Coach Jim McElwain Welcomed at Press Conference
New University of Florida head football coach Jim McElwain was welcomed at a press conference Saturday morning. UF President Bernie Machen, Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley and McElwain spoke.
Foley, Machen, Players Address Muschamp's Dismissal At Press Conference
President Bernie Machen and Athletic Director Jeremy Foley spoke of Muschamp's dismissal at a press conference held Monday. Will Muschamp commented at the conference that he is leaving with no regrets or hard feelings.
UF Breaks Ground On New Chemistry Building
UF held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new chemistry and chemical biological building Friday. The building, which will cost $67 million, is one of six major construction projects on campus.
UF President Participates in ALS 'Ice Bucket Challenge'
University of Florida President Bernie Machen participated in the ALS "Ice Bucket Challenge" on Monday. Machen nominated all YouTube viewers as well as the president of UF Student Government and the vice president of the UF Division of Student Affairs.
UF Begins Second Search for 12th University President
The University of Florida launched the new presidential search process on Thursday.
In the News: Homeowner Shoots Intruder, Alachua County Receives Grant Help Mentally Ill, UF Search for Machen's Successor, UConn Wins NCAA Championship
Cops: Winter Haven homeowner fatally shot intruder – A homeowner in Winter Haven shot and killed an intruder who was breaking into his family's home. Even after firing a warning shot, the intruder continued to break in. Police said the […]
New Round of Fund Allocations Focuses on Increasing UF's Preexisting Strengths
The second wave of fund allocations for the University of Florida to reach top ten preeminence is underway.
Machen Outlines Major Initiatives For Last Year As UF President
During a discussion on Wednesday with the Retired Faculty of UF, Bernie Machen outlined the three initiatives he plans to focus on in his last year as president.
Gatorade Inventor Honored With Great Floridian Award
The inventor of Gatorade was honored with the Great Floridian award on Thursday. The ceremony took place at Gainesville's Cade Museum.


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A method and apparatus that permits a user to electronically make a notation of a recorded music selection that he or she would like to take a later action on. Such later actions might include purchase actions or information gathering actions as well as other actions. The user actuates a button on a portable music player that plays music stored on a removable storage medium (e.g., a minidisc) and the music player stores identifying information that identifies the currently playing track of music. By connection of the music player to a personal computer, the user can then download the marked tracks to the personal computer and carry out actions over the Internet with service providers to complete transactions or queries.
1. A media player apparatus, comprising:
a music player for playback of music selections stored on a storage medium;
a processor that controls a portion of operation of the player;
a user interface that receives commands from a user and sends those commands to the processor;
a memory coupled to the processor; and
wherein, upon receipt of a mark command from the user interface, the processor stores an identifier in the memory that identifies a music selection that is playing at the time of receipt of the mark command.
2. The apparatus according to
3. The apparatus according to
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5. The apparatus according to
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8. The apparatus according to
9. The apparatus according to
10. The apparatus according to
11. The apparatus according to
12. The apparatus according to
13. The apparatus according to
14. The apparatus according to
15. A method of operation of a media player, comprising:
playing a music selection stored on a storage medium;
receiving a mark command from a user interface; and
responsive to the mark command from the user interface, storing an identifier in a memory to identify the music selection that is playing at the time of receipt of the mark command.
16. The method according to
17. The method according to
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21. The method according to
22. The method according to
23. An electronic storage medium storing instructions which, when executed on a programmed processor, carry out the method of operation of a media player according to
24. A method of operation of a media player, comprising:
playing a music selection stored on a storage medium;
receiving a mark command from a user interface;
responsive to the mark command from the user interface, storing an identifier in a memory to identify the music selection that is playing at the time of receipt of the mark command;
connecting the media player to a computer;
sending the identifier to the computer; and
conducting a transaction over the Internet relating to the music selection identified by the identifier.
25. The method according to
26. The method according to
27. The method according to
28. The method according to
29. The method according to
30. The method according to
presenting a menu of actions available for the music selection identified by the identifier;
receiving an indication of a selected action from the user; and
conducting a transaction determined by the indication of the selected action from the user.
31. The method according to
32. The method according to
33. The method according to
34. The method according to
35. A method of obtaining information, comprising:
retrieving a list of identifiers from a media player, the list of identifiers identifying tracks that have been marked for later retrieval by a user action of issuing a mark command to identify a currently playing track, the list containing at least one identifier; and
conducting a transaction over the Internet relating to the music selection identified by the identifier.
36. The method according to
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40. The method according to
41. The method according to
presenting a menu of actions available for the track identified by the identifier;
receiving an indication of a selected action from the user; and
conducting a transaction determined by the indication of the selected action from the user.
42. The method according to
43. The method according to
44. An electronic storage medium storing instructions which, when executed on the computer, carries out the method of obtaining information comprising:
retrieving a list of identifiers from a media player, the list of identifiers identifying tracks that have been marked for later retrieval by a user action of issuing a mark command to identify a currently playing track, the list containing at least one identifier; and conducting a transaction over the Internet relating to the music selection identified by the identifier.
45. The electronic storage medium according to
46. The electronic storage medium according to
47. The electronic storage medium according to
48. The electronic storage medium according to
49. The electronic storage medium according to
presenting a menu of actions available for the track identified by the identifier;
receiving an indication of a selected action from the user; and
conducting a transaction determined by the indication of the selected action from the user.
50. A method of updating a table of contents (TOC) of a recorded medium, comprising:
retrieving a list of identifiers from a media player, the list of identifiers identifying tracks that have been marked for later retrieval by a user action of issuing a mark command to identify a currently playing track, the list containing at least one identifier;
comparing the list of identifiers with a database to obtain further information regarding the list of identifiers; and
updating the recorded medium's table of contents with the updated information.
51. The method according to
52. The method according to
53. The method according to
presenting a menu of actions available for each track identified by each identifier;
receiving an indication of a selected action from the user; and
conducting a transaction determined by the indication of the selected action from the user.
54. A media player apparatus, comprising:
an electronic media player that plays selections from a storage medium;
a user interface to the electronic media player;
a memory; and
means, responsive to receipt of a signal from the user interface, for retrieving an identifier that identifies a selection currently playing on the electronic media player and for storing the identifier in the memory.
55. The apparatus according to
56. The apparatus according to
57. The apparatus according to
58. The apparatus according to
59. The apparatus according to
60. An electronic media player apparatus, comprising:
a media player device for playback of audio content from a removable electronic storage medium;
an electronic memory; and
a processor within the media player that, in response to receipt of a mark command from a user, obtains identifying information from the electronic storage medium and stores the identifying information in the electronic memory, wherein the mark command identifies a music selection that is playing at the time of receipt of the mark command.
61. The apparatus according to
62. The apparatus according to
63. The apparatus according to
64. The apparatus according to
65. A minidisc playback apparatus, comprising:
a minidisc player mechanism for playback of audio content from a minidisc;
an electronic memory; and
a processor that obtains identifying information from the minidisc and stores the identifying information in the electronic memory in response to receipt of a mark command from a user received during playback of a track of the minidisc.
66. The apparatus according to
67. The apparatus according to
68. A minidisc playback apparatus, comprising:
a minidisc player mechanism for playback of audio content from a minidisc;
an electronic memory;
a user interface; and
a processor that obtains identifying information from the minidisc in response to a mark command from the user interface received during playback of a track and stores the identifying information associated with the track that is playing in the electronic memory.
69. The apparatus according to
70. The apparatus according to
This application is related to and claims priority benefit of U.S. Provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/353,909 filed Jan. 31, 2002 to Joseph Novelli, et al., entitled MiniDisc Music Marking System "Music Marker", which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
This invention relates generally to the field of recorded audio or other content. More particularly, in certain embodiments, this invention relates to methods and apparatus for enhancing a user's experience in enjoying recorded music by permitting the user to make a notation of an audio track that a user wishes to reference at a later time in order to carry out some specific action related thereto.
Traditionally, a user's experience with audio products, and perhaps particularly with portable audio products, has been limited to a passive experience. For example, current personal portable audio products such as Sony Corporation's Walkman� series products do not allow the user to interact with their music. Music is simply played back from the portable music device and the user passively listens to the playback.
Often, a user's interest in a particular song or artist will peek at the moment they are listening to that certain song or artist. For example, during playback of a certain song from a certain artist, the user may have interest in purchasing an earlier album from that artist or an album from a similar artist. Other examples of desired interactivity may be interest in learning when the artist will be coming to their area for a concert or learning when a new album will be released, or interest in similar music, or interest in purchasing artist merchandise or exchange information about the artist or song samples with a friend. There are numerous examples where a user's interactive interest in the music peaks during playback, but this interest will most likely subside shortly after this time and may be forgotten altogether. Also, with portable music devices, playback will often take place in remote locations (away from the home, office or computer). Thus, a user's interest may be lost any time between the moment of music playback (moment of interest) and the moment the user returns to their PC (a convenient place to facilitate the interest via the Internet).
The present invention relates generally to a recorded music marking system and methods therefor. Objects, advantages and features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention.
In one embodiment consistent with certain aspects of the present invention, a method and apparatus permits a user to electronically make a notation of a recorded music selection that he or she would like to take a later action on. Such later actions might include purchase actions or information gathering actions as well as other actions. The user actuates a button on a portable music player and the music player stores identifying information that identifies the currently playing track of music. By connection of the music player to a personal computer, the user can then transfer the identified information to the personal computer and carry out actions over the Internet with service providers to complete transactions or queries.
The above summaries are intended to illustrate exemplary embodiments of the invention, which will be best understood in conjunction with the detailed description to follow, and are not intended to limit the scope of the appended claims.
The features of the invention believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself however, both as to organization and method of operation, together with objects and advantages thereof, may be best understood by reference to the following detailed description of the invention, which describes certain exemplary embodiments of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail specific embodiments, with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an example of the principles of the invention and not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments shown and described. In the description below, like reference numerals are used to describe the same, similar or corresponding parts in the several views of the drawings.
Recently, the personal computer has become a centerpiece of equipment for audio entertainment. Many users frequently save music, often in compressed form, for playback on a portable playback device. Many such devices are currently available and can often store hundreds of music selections in a very small portable device making for a very convenient playback experience for the user. However, heretofore, there has been no convenient method for storing a user's interest (with the artist/song) at that moment of playback that can be later retrieved and processed according to the user's wish using a appropriate apparatus such as a PC.
Turning now to
One exemplary playback device 100 consistent with certain embodiments of the present invention, the playback device 100 may also be used to record to the music storage media. In the example illustrated, the playback device may be, for example, a minidisc™ (MD) player/recorder such as those consistent with the commercially available NetMD™ series product line from Sony Corporation. In the embodiment illustrated, the playback device incorporates an MD player/ recorder 100 that receives MD discs 124 as the recording media. Operation of the player 100 of the current exemplary embodiment is controlled by an internal processor 130, such as a microcomputer or specialized controller circuit. The processor 130 has associated internal or external memory 134 which is preferably persistent memory such as battery backed up random access memory (RAM), flash memory or other suitable electronic memory. The processor 130 communicates with a computer interface 138 such as a USB interface to provide communication with the PC 104. The user interacts with the player device 100 using any suitable user interface 140 which may have various buttons and other controls suitable for input of user commands such as play, stop, pause, etc.
In accordance with certain embodiments of the present invention, the user is able to take advantage of a feature programmed into the processor 130 and PC 104 that is referred to herein as "Music Marker". This feature provides a solution for storing a reminder of a user's interest in a particular music selection, artist, etc. at the moment of playback. The Music Marker feature also provides the user with the ability to later retrieve the reminder and facilitates fulfilling a user's desire for information or other action using a request carried out via the Internet. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the Music Marker feature can be built into any digital music player or player/recorder containing some form of memory storage, and removable media. The MD player/recorder of the current example is intended to be illustrative of one exemplary embodiment of a minidisc type media player.
When the user's marked selections are transferred to the PC 104, and a transaction is selected by the user, any one or more of many types of transactions can be carried out. Generally, however, the transactions can be carried out in one or more of at least three basic categories: 1) an information query relating to the music selection, 2) a financial transaction relating to the music selection, and 3) a communication function relating to the music selection. An exemplary information query might be to obtain background information about the artist or the musical selection. An exemplary financial transaction might involve purchase of music or merchandise related to the selection. An exemplary communication function might involve communicating a music sample to a friend, or forwarding a playlist to a friend. Certain transactions may involve more than one of these categories or may be outside these categories without departing from the invention.
At least two forms of the Music Marker application are contemplated—a Basic System, designed to meet the current software support system available at the commercial introduction of Sony Corporation's NetMD™ series product line and an Advanced System, designed for a enhanced functionality. The advanced system is based upon modifications to the basic hardware and/or software used with the exemplary embodiment.
The software architecture of the Music Marker Basic System is illustrated in FIG. 2. In this system, the exemplary MD player 100 plays an MD disc 124. Media player 100 is coupled to the PC 104 that has HDD 108 containing identified content. The PC runs a Jukebox application such as Sony Corporation's OpenMG™ Jukebox 150, as well as the Music Marker Application 160. The Music Marker Application creates and optionally manages an optional Marker History List (MHL) 170.
In a first and simplest embodiment of the basic system, there is no MHL 170. Thus, there is no need for the music marker application to create and manage the MHL 170. In this first embodiment, the music marker application retrieves the list of marked tracks from the media player 100 and directly interfaces with the HDD 108 to identify the marked tracks. No record of the tracks is retained in the MHL 170. Otherwise, operation is as described below wherein the music marker application creates and manages the MHL 170.
In all implementations of the basic embodiment, there is no interaction between the Jukebox software 150 on the PC and the Music Marker Application 160 for the purpose of registering, identifying or any other interaction with the media player 100. The Music Marker Application 160 runs the identification process using the MHL table 170 for identifying and recognizing or correcting any other information about the content on the HDD 108. Any new content recognition can be done periodically by a timed task. In this implementation, writing to the Table Of Contents (TOC) area on the MD during the recording stage is not contemplated. That limitation reduces the possible number of Native Discs and therefore suggests that the user may have to frequently insert the media with the marked track into the media player for identification purposes.
Identifying, for purposes of this document, means that a particular selection of music is determined to be associated with a particular code or text that can be used for purposes of later retrieval of information related to the track of music, and/or associated with a location on a particular album, CD or other media. By way of example, but not limitation, a particular track might be identified by an identifier such as an ID3 tag as used in MP3 files, Title or other file descriptor that can be used to uniquely identify the selection.
The Music Marker Application 160 interacts with media player 100 independently of Jukebox 150 in the Basic system described. The MHL 170 database created by the Music Marker Application 160 tracks the location of the track in the HDD 108, the MD Identifier or identifiers (MDID) associated with the track and the location of the track on the MD as well as possibly a unique identifier of that track (i.e., a track UPC number). In this system, the only time that an MD can provide TOC information to the MHL 170 is when a track that is on that MD has been marked and that mark is now downloaded to the PC. Since in the Music Marker Basic implementation there is no interaction between the Jukebox 150 and the Music Marker Application 160, no special action takes place during times of recording. When a connection is made between the media player 100 and the computer 104 during the marking and download process, all TOC information is pulled from the media to the MHL 170.
In accordance with certain preferred implementations of the present invention, the current Music Marker application 160 is designed to interface with Sony Corporation's OpenMG™ Jukebox—a music player application that runs on PC 104 which is designed to allow for secure content transfer between the PC and a portable music player such as a NetMD™ series MD player. The OpenMG™ Jukebox is built as a user interface, however other jukebox applications could also be used without departing from the present invention. Sony Corporation's OpenMG™ technology is used as the background mechanism that provides a copyright security mechanism for content transfer between player/recorder devices and the personal computer.
In accordance with one aspect consistent with the present invention, the user may "mark" the currently playing track in order to later find out the information desired or carry out other activities desired. This is carried out, for example, by activating a dedicated "mark button" on the player 100 or by activating a dual use (or multiple use) button on the player 100. By way of example, the player's play button can be used to mark a selection by holding the play button in the activated position for, e.g., one second or more while the selection is playing. When the selection is marked, a notation is made in memory 134 (and preferably on a display of the media player 100) that the currently playing track has been marked. This can be accomplished in any suitable manner including, but not limited to, storing a media and track identifier in a suitable location in the memory 134.
Once the media player 100 is connected to personal computer (PC) 104, at 212 (for example when the user returns home), the software residing in the PC 104 queries the media player 100 and determines that marks have been made. Those marks are then downloaded to a PC and identified at 216 in a local database on HDD 108 or a remote database at a service provider such as 112. In certain embodiments, this identification process may make additional information available that can be stored for later use in the TOC of the media 124. In this embodiment, the TOC may be updated at 220.
At this point, the user may make various requests or take various actions associated with the marked tracks at 224. This may be carried out in one embodiment by presenting the user with a list of all known actions that can be taken with respect to each of the marked tracks using a window or menu format. The user can then make his or her desired selections and the personal computer 104 then takes appropriate action to fulfill the user's desires. This is often accomplished by sending appropriate queries to one or more service providers such as 112 via the Internet at 228. When the results are received, they are presented to the user for further action at 228. The process then ends at 234.
In the embodiment just described, the music marker application runs on PC 104 to effect a user interface as well as an interface between the HDD 108 and the media player 100. However, this should not be considered limiting, since an equivalent application can be developed that is totally web based. That is, the content can be identified and the other basic functions of the music marker application can be realized in a Web based server application rather than a PC based client application. Such an embodiment can utilize vast databases of content to assist in the identification process that exceeds that which might be present on the HDD in a user transparent manner.
Thus, by this process, the user is able to simply press a button on the portable music player to create an electronic reminder that he or she wishes to carry out a future action associated with that music track at a later time.
In order to utilize this invention, an installation and initialization process 300 such as that shown in
If the driver is not installed at 314, the installation proceeds after insertion of the program carrying media into the computer at 310. If a software update is known and it is desired to update the software at 320, the update is downloaded using any known download process at 324. The software and/or download is then installed on the PC 104 and the PC 104 is rebooted if necessary at 330. Once the new software has been installed, a process is carried out at 340 to identify all of the music stored on the HDD 108 of the computer 104.
In carrying out the initial identification process, many of the tracks may be identified by their ID3 tag or by a disk and track identifier or other information known to the PC. Other reference media, for example, foreign media may require manual input from the user in order to create an unique identifier for the track. In any event, once they are identified, the initialization process and software installation process 300 of the current embodiment is complete. Other processes may also be used to carry out an installation and initialization of the software.
Thus, the first time that the media player 100 of the exemplary embodiment is connected to the PC 104 (e.g., via USB connection), assuming there are marks stored in the media player 100, the user is prompted to install the Music Marker Application 160 on the PC 104. Part of the software installation process takes the user through the process of recognizing tracks that exist on their HDD 108. That process might utilize Internet connectivity for the purpose of matching a track with information existing on a remote database. A progress bar can be provided indicating progress in the recognition process for recognition of tracks on the HDD 108. A counter can also be provided to show the number or percentage of tracks recognized and possibly indicating estimated remaining time for completion of the recognition process. In the current embodiment, the Music Marker Application 160 is automatically started at the time of installation. Next time that the MD player 100 is connected to the PC 104, the Music Marker Application interface automatically starts only if new marks exist on the MD player 100.
Once the software is installed and initialized, the user can playback music on the media player 100 and make marks as desired and the one time installation process need not be repeated except to repair corrupted files or update the software applicaiton. This process, in accordance with certain embodiments of the invention, is described in connection with
When the media player 100 is connected to the computer 104 at 418, the computer 104 determines if there are any marks at 422. If not, the Music Marker program 160 terminates at 426. If there are marks at 422, a process is carried out at 430 to automatically identify any such marks. (This process 430 is also the entry point from 318 of
Once all automated resources to identify a track have been exhausted at 430, the software determines if all tracks have been identified at 434. If not, a manual process of track identification is carried out at 440. In certain embodiments, this can involve having the user manually type in or otherwise enter suitable information such as track names, album names, artist names, record company, etc. in order to manually associate enough information with the track to permit a suitable query for the further information that the user might wish to ascertain or carry out other action as the user might wish to carry out.
When all of the tracks have been identified, and if the media player 100 is also capable of recording to the media, the user may be given an option to update the table of contents (TOC) data stored on the media to include the information learned during processes 430 and 440 at 444. The TOC can then be updated at 448 or 448 can be bypassed according to the selection at 444. In either event, control next passes to 454 where the user is presented with a menu showing all of the marked and now identified tracks and of the options available to the user for obtaining further information or carrying out additional actions. The user can then select an action from the menu at 460 and if the action selected is not to halt the program at 464, the computer 104 connects to the Internet (if necessary) and presents an appropriate query to an appropriate service provider to carry out the user's desired action. In one simple scenario depicted in process 400, a simple query may be executed to inquire about a concert schedule for the artist of the track or make some other information query at 470. Results of this query are then returned and presented to the user at 474. In other scenarios, other actions can develop from 470 to fulfill the users request for a particular action without departing from the invention. Control ultimately returns to the menu at 454 until the user elects to exit the program at 464. When this occurs, the user is prompted to clear the marks stored in the media player memory at 480 and the process ends at 426. Many variations in this process will occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the present invention.
In certain preferred embodiments of the invention, the media player 100 is realized as a minidisc player/recorder that is compatible with Sony Corporation's NetMD™ series of minidisc players, as has been described.
If marks are present at 510, the marks are retrieved from the MD player 100 at 518 and a table of marks is created in the PC 104 at 522. In accordance with this embodiment, though it should not be considered limiting, the table of marks is sorted first by the MD's identification number (MDID) and second by the particular track number that was marked. By use of this sorting order, each of the marked tracks from a single MD (or other media) is handled while the media resides in the media player. Thus, if multiple tracks of a single MD are marked, they are identified while the media is in the media player 100 without regard for the order in which the tracks were marked. This prevents the user from having to reinsert the same media into the media player 100 repeatedly during a single identification session. Starting with the first entry of the sorted table, a table entry is retrieved at 526. The PC 104 contains a database of all of the music stored on the PC and identified by the Music Marker software application. This database creates a record in the Marked History List (MHL) 170 that contains the MDID, track number and a song identifier (which could be a UPC number, an ID3 identifier, a title, etc.) for all content that has been identified in the Music Marker application.
At 530, the process determines if the MDID is present in the MHL 170. If so, and if the content is recognized at 534, the table is updated with the identified tracks at 538. If the current entry is not the last table entry at 542, the process returns to 526 where the next table entry is retrieved and similarly processed.
In the event the MDID is not present in the MHL 170 then the user is prompted to insert the MD containing the track at 544. The system then attempts to identify the track from information in the TOC of the MD at 558. If the track is identified, control passes to 538. If the track is not identified, control passes to 564 where the user is prompted to manually enter available identifying information. Similarly, if the content is not recognized at 534, control passes to 564.
Once the track is identified, the user is presented with the option at 570 of updating the TOC (and prompted to insert the MD if necessary). The user may then either accept or decline to update the TOC of the MD and control returns to 538.
Once all tracks have been processed at 542, control passes to 580 where a table of all marks is displayed and the user can take desired actions to carry out transactions or conduct queries associated with each marked music selection. After carrying out all such queries and transactions, the user is prompted to delete the marks from the MD player/recorder at 590 and the application is closed at 514.
At 580, when the user is presented with the list of marked tracks and options for actions to carry out associated with each track, any suitable user interface can be developed to carry out this function.
As part of the mark processing described in process 500, the MD player or other content player 100 is connected to the PC 104 (In this example as illustrated in the flow chart, the MD 124 is not inserted into the media player.). The MDID, Track# and TOC are read by the Music Marker Application 160. The information is compared to the existing information in the Marking History List 170 (MHL). If there is no match to any existing MDID in the MHL 170 the MD is considered a Foreign Disc (A foreign disc is an MD that has no MDID that is listed in the MHL 170. In general, the foreign MD was either recorded using a different PC from the one reading the marks, recorded by means other than a PC or can be a Native Disc that was in any way altered (track deleted, added or change of track order on the MD) after being recorded using the Jukebox application).
The track from the foreign disc can be identified by either using information on the TOC area (requiring the user to insert the MD into the media player) or manual data entry by the user. In the case of a Native Disc (an MD that has an MDID that is listed in the MHL 170), the track information is compared to the data in the MHL 170. If track is still not identified it is considered Foreign Content that can be identified by the user. (Foreign Content is content stored on the MD that cannot be identified but still has an MDID that is recorded in the MHL 170 ). This unidentified content can be the result of having older content on the MD. That content might have been recorded on the MD before the Music Marker Application identified the content on the HDD. Note that the MD can contain some new content that was recorded to it through a jukebox (Native Content) in addition to the foreign content. Also some foreign content can be recorded through means other than the PC (i.e., direct recording from a CD player)).
The track recognition process continues until all marked content in the Marking List is processed. Once processed, the Marking List is displayed with the identified information and the possible options related to each track. The user selects his or her desired option and by doing so, launches a service corresponding to the option (i.e., find information about artist/album, show merchandise options, etc.).
One illustrative example of a user interface 600 suitable for carrying out one embodiment consistent with the present invention is illustrated as FIG. 7. In accordance with this embodiment, a box 604 indicates that the MD player is connected to the PC and that there are eight (in this example) marks stored in the MD player's memory. Box 608 shows a list of the marks stored in the MD player's memory chronologically and identified by the MD number, track number and title. Those tracks marked "untitled" are tracks whose title was never updated. These tracks can still be identified tracks. The box 612 shows relevant information about the marked tracks after identification by the Music Marker software 160. In this example, the song title, artist and album are identified.
Buttons 616 are provided for each music selection to play back the marked track. Box 620 illustrates one limited form of action that the user can take for each of the selected tracks according to this embodiment. In this box, the user can check off boxes to indicated that he or she wishes to obtain all available additional information about the track, purchase a CD via mail order or purchase the track via Electronic Music Distribution (download). Other selections can also be provided including emailing information or a music sample to another user regarding a particular selection, purchase other merchandise or join an artist fan club. Other actions too numerous to mention are possible without departing from the invention.
Box 624 is used to identify one or all of the tracks that are untitled as well as add tracks or remove tracks from the marking list to a list of previously identified tracks.
Once a user has made the query or other action selections in box 620, they are submitted by selecting (double clicking) button 630. The user interface described is intended to be an illustrative example. Many other suitable user interfaces can be devised without departing from the present invention.
While much of the present discussion has related to identification of actual tracks of information on a recorded disc, the term "track" should be broadly interpreted to encompass either actual disc tracks or files stored in volatile or nonvolatile memory or other storage media in the form of data files.
As described above, the Music Marker application provides a solution for storing an indication of interest in a selection of content such as a music selection or other recorded selection at the moment of playback. The Music Marker application 160 also provides a solution for later retrieval on the PC 104 and a method for facilitating the user's request via the Internet. Music Marker can be built into any digital music player such as Sony Corporation's NetMD™ series product line containing some form of electronic memory storage and removable media. By use of this Music Marker feature the user is able to interact with the content that he or she is playing on their MiniDisc player or other media player 100. Thus, the functionality of the MD is expanded by providing tighter integration with one or more Internet music related services. As such music service offerings become more robust, the value of the Music Marker feature further increases. The music marker function allows the user to set a mark associated with a specific track of music that they are listening to on the MD. The user can define what they desire from marking this music later when they return to their PC or wherever they are able to interact with a service using other suitable connections such as a wireless connection or direct connection to a service.
The above-described system provides the user with the ability to:
To further summarize, without limitation, the general operation of certain embodiments of the present invention, during playback of a track of music (contained on MD media), the user presses Music Marker button, which activates music marker function. The media player hardware device stores track number and MD media ID in available memory area in MD hardware. Next, the user inserts different MD media into media player and the above process is repeated. Next, the user connects media player to PC via, e.g., the USB interface or any suitable digital communication interface including, but not limited to IEEE 1394 or wireless communication methods. Upon connecting the hardware, Music Marker PC application is launched. The Music Marker application reads the list of marked tracks from the media player and communicates with a music identification service to identify track and artist; and transfers track and artist information to music service. The Music Identification Service fulfils the user's request.
In addition to the basic system described above, there is contemplated an Advanced system as previously mentioned. The contemplated Music Marker Advanced System architecture is illustrated in FIG. 8 and uses the capability of the PC 104 to identify all MD's that were recorded with the same PC that was used for the marking identification process. However, since content on the HDD 108 or any Native Disc is tracked and identified by the Music Marker Application 160, there is no need to insert the MD into the MD player device (i.e., NetMD™) unless it is a Foreign Disc or Foreign Content. The Music Marker Advanced System provides all of the features described in the Music Marker Basic System above but avoids the need for the user to identify every individual track on their Hard Drive. Instead, an automatic one-time identification is carried out along with creating an automatic identification for any future MD recording. In this Advanced system, there is no need to insert the MD into the media player 100 in order to identify music unless it is one of the following two cases: Foreign Disc or Foreign Content.
In this advanced system, the Marking History List 170 of the basic system is replaced by a Recorded History List (RHL) 770. The RHL 770 performs all of the same functions as the MHL 170 of the basic system and is used for further functions as will be described below.
In order to carry out the additional functionality of the advanced system, a media player device interface 190 is implemented as a plug-in that can communicate with the Music Marker Application 160 as well as the Jukebox. This is illustrated in FIG. 8. Exchange of information related to the OpenMG™ technology and HDD 108 activities can be communicated through the Plug-in 190 to the Music Marker Application 160 in order to register all tracks in the RHL 770. In addition, the Plug-in 190 is able to write updated track information to the TOC area on the MD 124 in order to facilitate any future identification tasks. Thus, the RHL 770 is recording based and not marking based only as in the basic embodiment's MHL 170, but other functions operate in a similar manner.
The operation of the Advanced Music Marker application with Plug-in 190 is illustrated in
In process 700, when an MD 124 is inserted into the media player (with the media player connected to the PC) or when a media player 100 containing an MD 124 is connected to the PC 104 at 708, the MDID, Track# and TOC are read at 712 by the Plug-in 190 and the information is communicated to the Music Marker Application 160 at 716. Until the download of information is completed at 720, this process continues. At 724, the information is compared to the existing information in the Recording History List (RHL) 770. If there is a match to an existing MDID in the RHL 770 the corresponding tracks have been previously identified. If all the tracks are identified at 728, the process ends at 732. However, if there is at least one unidentified track at 728, an identification process or processes are carried out at 736. The user is then given the option to update the TOC at 742. If no update is desired, the process ends at 732. If an update of the TOC is desired, the update is written at 748 and the process ends at 732.
The Music Marker Application 160 identifies when the recording process is done in order to read the correct and final MDID from the media player 100. In order to do that, the Plug-in 190 triggers a recording complete event and sends a notification of the event to the Music Marker Application 160. The new MDID, Track# and TOC are now read by the Plug-in 190 and are sent to the Music Marker Application 160. The Music Marker Application 160 replaces the MDID and Track# for these tracks that require change in the old RHL data, or stores the new information in the RHL if no older MDID is found. Using the TOC information and the RHL matching process the Music Marker Application 160 identifies a particular track. In case that there is an unidentified track (Foreign Content) the user can help identify content by manually entering information related to that track (artist, album, genre, etc.) as with the basic application. The Music Marker Application 160 uses the information to identify tracks as described with the Basic Application. Once identified, the Music Marker Application 160 writes this information into the RHL 770 and to the TOC area on the MD 124.
Unlike the MHL 170 of the Music Marker Basic Application, the RHL 770 in the Music Marker Advanced Application contains records of all MDs recorded on the PC 104. In the Music Marker Basic Application, it is quite possible that an MD is treated as a Foreign Disc in spite of the fact that it was recorded on the same PC used for reading that marks. In the Music Marker Advanced System, any PC-based editing process (recording, renaming, changing track order, deleting, etc.) that happened after the Music Marker Application was installed essentially keeps the MD a Native Disc.
Thus, the Music Marker application allows the user of a media player device to interact with music by marking specific music tracks that are important for that user. The Music Marker application reads media ID and track number from media player 100's memory area and stores this information in local database on the personal computer 104. The Music Marker application displays a "Marking List" to the user and identifies information matches between the data on the MD and data in a reference database (RHL) on the PC. In case that there is no match, the user can insert the MD into the media player 100 for further identification. Upon insertion of the correct media, the Music Marker application reads the TOC area of media and reads the title associated with the track # being identified. Additionally, in certain embodiments, the Music Marker application can call up a service to identify title, artist, album, etc.
In certain embodiments, the Music Marker application displays a list of the marked and identified tracks with a list of possible user requests associated with that track list. The user can select an action for each mark in list and the Music Marker calls up a service to facilitate the request placed by the user, e.g., via the Internet. The user can view, track, update and manage their list of marks and the user can exchange lists of marks with other users in order to share playlists, taste, and exchange tracks or other information related to tracks.
While the above embodiments have used an MD as an illustrative removable recording medium storing the music selections (or non-music recorded tracks), other removable recording media is equally suitable without departing from the invention. For example, the storage medium could be any of a minidisc, a compact disc, a magnetic disc, an optical disc, a video disc, a memory stick, a removable memory card, a battery backed removable volatile memory and a removable nonvolatile memory.
Certain embodiments of the Music Marker Application allow for identification of content on Native Disc, Native Discs with Foreign Content as well as Foreign Discs. Other embodiments are contemplated to improve the user experience with the Music Marker feature by, for example, eliminating the need to insert MD into the media player 100 for the process of track identification and improve the track identification. Such improvements may require hardware and/or software modifications over the systems described previously herein.
In one modified embodiment, a change to the software and/or hardware allow the MD player to send a small portion of a track from the media player 100 back to the PC 104. This allows the Music Marker Application to locally identify the track or to send the short data stream for identification service. In the second case, the short data stream is analyzed at a remote location using acoustic property analysis tools. The information is then matched with a database for identification. This feature also allows users to exchange short portions of tracks in order to share tastes or recommend tracks or artists to each other. The sharing of content in that manner can occur via an exchange of Marking List using a PC and Internet connection or via a direct exchange of a marks between players by means of cable connection or wireless communication.
In another embodiment, a larger memory can be provided in the media player to permit the table that stores the list of marks to store more data to aid in the identification process and minimize need to reinsert the media. By way of example, the MDID, track number, title, and other identifying information could be stored in the media player as a result of a user marking a selection. Additionally, a portion of the actual track that has been marked (or even the entire track) could be stored to assist in identification. In such embodiments, the need for the user to reinsert the media which is marked can be reduced or eliminated. Other embodiments will occur to those skilled in the art.
The ability to mark music and share these marks with peers can provide a shared music experience between users. Marks can be transferred between users in order to demonstrate a similar taste or in order to recommend an artist to a peer. Sharing can be done via physical exchange of MD, wireless, wired or other manner. A list of marks can be exchanged via email or using other electronic communication technology or can be posted on a web page.
In one embodiment of the current Music Marker Application, implementations of the media player can only store a limited amount of information. The information may be limited to MDID and track number for every mark in either the Basic and Advanced forms of the implementation. However, it is contemplated that in later implementations, storage can be expended to include more information such as universal track ID. There are various universal track identification systems. In all these systems an alphanumeric string identifies an individual track (can also distinguish between different recordings of same song). Increasing memory size on the media player 100 to include a longer string will allow recognition of tracks on foreign disc as well as prevent the need of inserting MD into the media player.
For ease of explanation, this document concentrated on an embodiment using a MiniDisc player, specifically Sony Corporation's NetMD™ series product line. However, the Music Marker feature described can be implemented on any audio capable device which is referred to herein generically as a media player. Applications of Music Marker can be in the area of Home Audio, Car Audio, Boombox and any other device capable of playing music from removable media and any form of internal memory storage.
Since the process of initializing the HDD 108 of the user takes place under the Music Marker feature it is now possible to use the information in order to better manage content using the same interface. The Music Marking feature can be used within a jukebox 150 as another way of displaying favorites, it can also be stored separately as a set of playlists or can be communicated to or from another Jukebox application 150 (personal jukebox preference).
Those skilled in the art will recognize that the present invention has been described in terms of exemplary embodiments based upon use of a programmed processor. However, the invention should not be so limited, since the present invention could be implemented using hardware component equivalents such as special purpose hardware and/or dedicated processors which are equivalents to the invention as described and claimed. Similarly, general purpose computers, microprocessor based computers, micro-controllers, optical computers, analog computers, dedicated processors and/or dedicated hard wired logic may be used to construct alternative equivalent embodiments of the present invention.
The present invention, as described in embodiments herein, is implemented using a programmed processor executing programming instructions that are broadly described above in flow chart form that can be stored on any suitable electronic storage medium or transmitted over any suitable electronic communication medium. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the processes described above can be implemented in any number of variations and in many suitable programming languages without departing from the present invention. For example, the order of certain operations carried out can often be varied, additional operations can be added or operations can be deleted without departing from the invention. Error trapping can be added and/or enhanced and variations can be made in user interface and information presentation without departing from the present invention. Such variations are contemplated and considered equivalent.
While the invention has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications, permutations and variations will become apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the foregoing description. Accordingly, it is intended that the present invention embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variations as fall within the scope of the appended claims.
Patent Citations
Non-Patent Citations
Referenced by
Legal Events
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The Department of Education (DoE) has amended the nursery admission guidelines by reworking the point allocation system and released a new admission schedule for this academic session.
This comes in the wake of the department receiving numerous complaints about parents misusing the interstate transfer points.
With the deletion of interstate transfer points (5 points), admission to schools will now take place on a 95 points system — "the points determined only as per neighbourhood, sibling studying in school and parent alumni of school criteria", a notification by the DoE stated.
Schools will also have to modify the first list of selected candidates, by vacating seats given to interstate transfer applicants. Children already selected based on neighbourhood, sibling and alumni criteria will retain their seats. Those children with 70 points who were selected in the draw of lots will also retain their seats.
"If a school has already conducted draw of lots for applicants with 70 points, the draw shall remain valid for selected/confirmed candidates only. Fresh draw of lots will be held for remaining applicants, who have 70 points, including wait-listed applicants and those applicants who were securing 75 points because of the interstate transfer points category case," states the order.
Fresh draw of lots will now be conducted in all schools.
In the previous system, of a total of 100 points, 70 are given to children living in the neighbourhood of the school, 20 if the applicant's sibling studies in the same school and five points each if either parent is an alumnus and if it is an interstate transfer case.
Only those having 75 points out of 100 were considered for the draw of lots while those having 90 points were automatically admitted.
Instead of February 28, the first list of selected candidates, including those belonging to the economically weaker section and disadvantaged group, has been extended to March 15.
The date of display of second list, if any, will be March 20. The date of display of subsequent lists , if any will be from March 21 to March 31, 2014. The admission process will close on March 31.
"Parents have really appreciated the changes made. But parents of those children, who were genuine interstate transfer cases, are now contemplating legal recourse," Sumit Vohra, founder of admissionsnursery.com, a portal representing the parent community in Delhi, said.
Who will make the cut


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Get fit for free + Fitness
With a week's free offer on British Military Fitness across the UK, Hannah Waldram went along to her local Cardiff sessions to see if she could grit the mud, sweat and 6am starts
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Ditch the gym this year and take up these easy exercises instead. For more totally free exercises don't miss your guide to getting fit for free, in the Guardian this Saturday


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10.32.110 Obstructing Private Driveways.
Except as otherwise provided herein, it shall be unlawful for any person to stop or park any vehicle so as to obstruct a private driveway in any manner which includes stopping or parking any vehicle within five feet of the outer portion of a curb cut on a private driveway; provided, however, that in the congested district a vehicle may be parked at the entrance to a driveway providing ingress and egress to a business conducted on the adjacent premises, only between the period of time after the business served by such driveway has been closed for the day and opening of business on the following day, unless prohibited by signs posted by the Director of Public Works and Utilities. (Ord. 16951 §70; March 11, 1996: prior Ord. 15641 §11; July 9, 1990: P.C. §10.28.150: Ord. 8282 §28; December 16, 1963: Ord. 7794 §9; July 16, 1962: Ord. 5699 §614; April 12, 1954).
Chapter 10.32


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CLEVELAND (AP) — The Cavaliers are missing starting All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving and his backup, Jarrett Jack, against Indiana.
Irving is out for the third straight game with a bruised knee. Jack was expected to make his third start in a row for Irving, but he was a late scratch for Sunday's game with back spasms. The Cavs said Jack couldn't get his back loose while warming up before the game.


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You can now invite anyone to meet at your favorite Starbucks.
Limited-time feature
59 year old man | Half Moon Bay, CA, USA | Seeking women 45-55 within 40 miles
Any man can love a thousand women (especially on Match) but a gentleman loves one woman in a thousand ways.
There's a Seinfeld episode (that show still cracks me up) where George approaches a woman he wants to meet and says, "Hi. I'm George. I'm bald, unemployed, and live with my parents". The woman is so intrigued with his honesty (or maybe she was hard-up for a date) that she immediately becomes infatuated with totally transparent George. I thought about starting off my self-description that way but realized that I'm probably not going to earn your infatuation if I do that . . . but ya gotta love George's creative, "don't have anything to lose" approach, right? :). Anyway . . . as transparent as I can be . . . here is who I am. I see myself as a laid-back, fun-loving, loves-to-laugh type of guy, genuine, kid at heart, compassionate towards people and passionate about life, honest, big giver, and classic romantic - all totally unbiased. I look at each day as one more opportunity to take advantage of all the fun, beauty, and excitement that life offers. So there . . . if you don't email me now, I don't know what the problem is. Originally, I am from the midwest (near Chicago) and relocated to LA to do doctoral work at USC in the area of counseling. After completing the doctorate, I began working at 'SC first as a counselor and then as a director. Several years ago, I worked with a non-profit organization in San Francisco whose goal is to stop human trafficking. After a year, I returned to the LA area to become a Dean of Academics of a small college and am now back in the Bay Area to start a nonprofit education organization to help high school kids get into college, become employable, graduate, and land a job. I act "young", probably from being around academia and college students all my work life. I grew up playing all types of sports but swimming has always been my passion. I swam competitively from the age of 5 through college and now swim about 5 miles/week for fun and fitness and love it!!! I love flapping around in the ocean like a big kid, bodysurfing, or throwing a football or frisbee. I also like to bike, hike and ski. I enjoy traveling and exploring and in the past five years have been to Nova Scotia, Canada (the land of my Canadian father); Puerto Vallarta; Los Cabos; Playa Del Carmen; and the Grenadines, a group of Caribbean islands near Venezuela. I gotta get more of Europe in my future itinerary. Anyone game? Although it's fun traveling all over the U.S. and world, I can't get enough of the beauty of California - the ocean and beaches and coastal drives, mountains, desert, wine country, etc. It would be great to take a walk on the beach or sit in the sand and share wine and cheese and great conversation with a wonderful partner. I am looking to share my life with a fun, open-minded, quick-witted, independent, good thinking, strong, and easy-to-be-with woman. That's not much to ask for, is it? If you think you are that kind of person, I hope to hear from you. Life is too short not to take a risk and who wants to be on Match forever!! Carpe Diem!!!!
Alumni connections , Camping , Coffee and conversation , Business networking , Cooking , Dining out , Gardening/Landscaping , Movies/Videos , Museums and art , Music and concerts , Exploring new areas , Nightclubs/Dancing , Performing arts , Playing sports , Political interests , Religion/Spiritual , Travel/Sightseeing , Volunteering , Watching sports , Wine tasting
Baseball, Basketball, Cycling, Football, Inline skating, Other types of exercise, Skiing, Swimming, Tennis / Racquet sports, Walking / Hiking
I exercise 5 or more times per week.
Don't display my sign
I like Dogs, Horses
In the past five years, I've been to Playa del Carmen, Los Cabos, Puerto Vallarta, ventured out on my own to the Grenadines, a small group of islands near Venezuela, and snorkeled and hiked in Belize.
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Music: Like U2, the Muse, Jack Johnson, Coldplay, and Nora Jones. Food: Love pizza and chocolate. TV shows: Seinfeld, Arrested Development (15 new episodes, eh?); House of Cards
In my free time, I like to ride my bike along the ocean, take hikes, swim, travel, and visit new local spots.
Reading travel book on Costa Rica. Would like for this to be my next trip.
Z{{Cta}} {{#if HasMoreInfo}} ?{{CtaSecondary}} {{/if}}
|What he is looking for
|5'11" (180cms)
|5'0" (152cms) to 8'0" (243cms)
|Body type:
|Athletic and toned
|Slender, About average, Curvy, Athletic and toned, Full-figured
|No preference
|Light brown
|Auburn / Red, Black, Light brown, Dark brown, Blonde, Salt and pepper, Dark blonde, Grey
|No Way
|No Way
|Social Drinker
|No preference
|Other profession
|No preference
I have worked in academia all my life - 22 years at a private university and 10 years at a local community college, all in LA. I'm now starting a nonprofit education organization - exciting, scary, fun, challenging, meaningful!!!
|I'll tell you later
|No preference
|No preference
|Have kids:
|Yes, and they live away from home (3)
|No preference
|Wants kids:
|No, but it's OK if my partner has kids
|Not sure, Probably not, No, No, but it's OK if my partner has kids
|White / Caucasian
|No preference
|Christian / Protestant
|Agnostic, Christian / Catholic, Christian / LDS, Christian / Protestant, Jewish, Spiritual but not religious, Christian / Other
Regardless of one's label, I believe what's important is how we live each and every day. In this world, we need a lot of love, support, forgiveness, and gracefulness.
|No preference
|PhD / Post Doctoral
|Some college, Associates degree, Bachelors degree, Graduate degree, PhD / Post Doctoral
I value people with good hearts and open minds.


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- Barcelona Province, Alt Penedes Area
- Barcelona Province, Anoia Area
- Barcelona Province, Bages Area
- Barcelona Province, Baix Llobregat Area
- Barcelona Province, Barcelona
- Barcelona Province, Bergueda Area
- Barcelona Province, Maresme Area
- Barcelona Province, Osona Area
- Barcelona Province, Riells del Fai Area
- Barcelona Province, Sitges - Garraf Area
- Barcelona Province, Valles Occidental Area
- Barcelona Province, Valles Oriental
- Costa Brava - Girona, Costa Brava
- Costa Brava - Girona, Girona
- Costa Brava - Girona, Girones
- Costa Brava - Girona, La Garrocha
- Costa Brava - Girona, Osona - Girona
- Costa Brava - Girona, Pirineo Catalan - Gerona
- Costa Brava - Girona, Pla de l'Estany
- Costa Dorada - Tarragona, Alto Campo
- Costa Dorada - Tarragona, Conca de Barbera
- Costa Dorada - Tarragona, Costa Dorada
- Costa Dorada - Tarragona, Priorat
- Costa Dorada - Tarragona, Ribera de Ebro
- Costa Dorada - Tarragona, Tarragona
This property allows you to book online with a credit card. After submitting a reservation request, the owner or manager has 24 hours to accept, at which time your card will be charged and you will receive an email confirmation
Catalunya Travel Tips
Beautiful Catalunya Vacation Rentals in Northeast Spain
The northeast Spain region of Catalunya is as beautiful an area as any in Europe. Travelers to Catalunya villas will find it convenient to fly to the capital city of the region, Barcelona, via Madrid International Airport. Without a doubt, the best way to really explore the region itself is by car. There is so much to see here.
Certain parts of the region are blessed with a Mediterranean climate which is generally warm throughout the year. Other parts are more Alpine, with distinctly cooler winters and warm summers.
The Cities of Catalunya
The Capital of Barcelona is Spain's second largest and a modern, cosmopolitan city set on the coast of the Iberian Peninsula. Its Mediterranean climate attracts visitors all year. It is a unique, ancient city with wonderful modern architecture sitting next to buildings dating back centuries. Visitors choosing Catalunya villas will find a walkable city with a variety of art galleries, museums with impressive collections by artists such as Picasso, theaters, and restaurants serving everything from traditional regional dishes to international cuisine. The heart of Barcelona is Ciutat Vella, the old Gothic area with narrow streets and a bohemian atmosphere. It is a paradise for those who love to explore the bookstores, antiques and wonderful off-beat restaurants. In the Gothic Quarter of Barrio Gotico is the 11th-century cathedral where visitors will be treated to spectacular views over the city when they climb the tower. Like most European cities, it also provides great nightlife.
Step back in time with a visit to Tarragona City, close to Catalunya vacation rentals. With its Roman ruins and 10th-century cathedral, this hill-top port city is a must-see. Visitors will also want to see Sant Sadurni d'Anoia which dates back to 1080. This city is the capital of the area of Cava, famous for its fabulous sparkling wines. Here, visitors can see some of the world's oldest wine cellars.
Along the coast, and running along the French border, is the area of Costa Brava, with the towns of Portbou, Girona and Blanes. Visitors here will enjoy exploring the coves at Begur and Palafrugell, and the Sant Sebasti Lighthouse. This delightful area is also home to the Banyoles Lakes, a renowned area of natural beauty. To discover more of the region's past, visit the medieval villages of Pals where the Tower of Hours, the church of Sant Pere, still remains. You can also visit Peratallada with its castle and Main Square. At the Iberian Settlement of Ullastret, visitors can explore museums and visit the village on the side of a mountain with incredible ramparts, and square and circular towers. At the 1,000-year-old town of Girona, visitors will want to see the cathedral and narrow alleys of the Jewish Quarter.
The Natural Beauty of Catalunya
Out of the towns, the region boasts areas such as Garrotxa Volcanic Area Natural Park, a placea of outstanding natural beauty. Also worth a visit is Catalunya's first land and sea park at Cap de Creus Natural Park. While here, visitors can visit Cadaqu, a small fishing village made world-famous by artists such as Picasso and Dal. For a unique trip, visitors should head to the natural park of Medes Islands and Montrg Massif where a park of seven inlets leads to the sea at Montgr. Visitors can view the stunning array of underwater flora and fauna. The wetlands between the rivers of Muga and Fluvi are home to over 300 species of birds and a huge variety of plants and flowers.
Catalunya Villas are Beautiful Homes in a Beautiful Region
Whether you are looking for Catalunya accommodation that is a stylish modern base in the heart of one of the cities or a beach-front property to take advantage of the wonderful beaches, visitors will find the perfect property. Each property is packed full of the little extras that turn a house into a home. Choose a penthouse in Barcelona with amazing views, a duplex with a roof terrace or a spacious Costa Brava vacation home with room for the kids to play. With superb properties throughout the region, there is plenty of choice for discerning visitors.


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- Filed Under
Polk City will increase its contribution to the Polk City Development Corporation over previous years' payments in order to help the organization's cash flow.
John Calhoun, executive director of the development group, asked the Polk City City Council Monday to contribute $5,000 yet this year to help a shortfall in revenue. The group has a calendar-year budget and received $5,000 less than requested from Polk County, Calhoun said.
Calhoun also asked the city to support the development corporation with $45,000 for 2014, but pay it in 2013 as well. ...