Shared web 2.0 annotations linked to content segments of web documents

BACKGROUND

0001The present invention relates to the field of collaboration software and Web 2.0 technologies and, more particularly, to shared Web 2.0 annotations linked to content segments of Web documents.

0002Web 2.0 is focused around content sharing and end-users adding value to Web content accessible by other users. Web 2.0 technologies transform a Web content paradigm from being one-way content pushing from a serving source to end-users to being a more interactive process in which users participate. Common Web 2.0 technologies include, but are not limited to, WIKIs, BLOGS, MASH-UPS, social networking sites, usenet, and the like. User reviews to purchased products, services, and/or items in which users can post comments/opinions/ratings to other users and see comments/opinions/ratings from other users is considered a Web 2.0 technique.

0003One problem with Web 2.0 environments is that user comments are often difficult to manage, especially when free-form content is permitted. That is, when many people provide their comments/content to parent document, it can rapidly become challenging to manage these comments in a reasonable and non-distracting fashion. For example, one content contributor can often “dominate” a Web 2.0 forum it by posting long and/or frequent content. Popular Web 2.0 forums can include on-line arguments among two or more people, which drown out other participants. Different user groups also place different emphasis on different content within a Web 2.0 forum. For example, one user can focus upon core content only and not wish to be distracted by user additions, another can want to see threaded ‘arguments” or discussions about a particular point between a small set of communicators, still another can desire to see an “overview” public opinions based upon a cross section of postings. Web 2.0 techniques for shorting/filtering/policing user provided content lack a robustness to handle varying user concerns in an intuitive fashion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

0004<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref> is a set of flow charts for adding annotations to Web content and acquiring/viewing annotations with Web content in accordance with an embodiment of the inventive arrangements disclosed herein.

0005<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref> illustrates sample user interfaces enabled for annotations in accordance with an embodiment of the inventive arrangements disclosed herein.

0006<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref> is a schematic diagram of a system for implementing annotations in accordance with an embodiment of the inventive arrangements disclosed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

0007The present invention can allow users to collaborate on Web content, using annotations that are distinct from a parent document (e.g. URL addressable Web page). In one embodiment, the annotations can be able to be related to a specific item or content segment of the parent document. For example, an annotation can appear as a pop-up or fly-over window proximate to a portion of a parent document to which it relates, which can be optionally emphasized, such as through highlighting. Further, each annotation can include multiple tags, which permit annotation indexing and searching based at least in part upon the tags. Other attributes, such as an expiration date, an annotation type, and the like can be associated with each annotation. In one embodiment, other users can rate annotations, where the ratings can appear proximate to the annotation when presented. This “meta data” for each annotation can be used to sort and/or filter annotations in a recipient specific manner. For example, different people viewing the same Web content can be presented with a different annotation set for the Web content, which is tailored or customized to suit the viewer.

0008As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, the present invention may be embodied as a system, method or computer program product. Accordingly, the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in any tangible medium of expression having computer usable program code embodied in the medium.

0009Any combination of one or more computer usable or computer readable medium(s) may be utilized. The computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be, for example but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagation medium. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer-readable medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CDROM), an optical storage device, a transmission media such as those supporting the Internet or an intranet, or a magnetic storage device. Note that the computer-usable or computer-readable medium could even be paper or another suitable medium upon which the program is printed, as the program can be electronically captured, for instance, via optical scanning of the paper or other medium, then compiled, interpreted, or otherwise processed in a suitable manner, if necessary, and then stored in a computer memory. In the context of this document, a computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be any medium that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The computer-usable medium may include a propagated data signal with the computer-usable program code embodied therewith, either in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. The computer usable program code may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc.

0010Computer program code for carrying out operations of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).

0011The present invention is described below with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

0012These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable medium that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

0013The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

0014<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref> is a set of flow charts for adding annotations to Web content and acquiring/viewing annotations with Web content in accordance with an embodiment of the inventive arrangements disclosed herein. Annotations can be used by users to share commentary with others and to view commentary by others, where the commentary relates to an associated Web document. An unlimited number of annotations can be associated with a single Web document. In one embodiment, the annotations can be presented within a user interface section for annotations, which is distinct from a user interface construct used to present the Web document. For example, an annotation window can be implemented as a fly-over window that automatically appears/hides based upon a pointer positioning within a window in which the Web document is presented.

0015More specifically, annotations can be software artifacts containing digitally encoded user-provided content, metadata, and an association with a Web document. The digitally encoded information is user commentary to a Web document, specified within the association. The commentary can relate to a specific content segment of the Web document. The metadata can be compared against filtering criteria to ensure that end-users are only provided with a filtered set of annotations relevant to them. Annotations can be an enhancement to existing Web 2.0 servers and/or can be implemented within an annotation server communicatively linked to, but distinctly implemented from Web server(s) that serve the Web documents to which the annotations relate. Two principle processes (from an end-user perspective) involving annotations are an add annotation process <b>110</b> and an acquire/view annotations process <b>140</b>.

0016The add annotation process <b>110</b> can be a process used by users to create a new annotation that is associated with a user viewed Web content. New annotations can be conveyed to a network server, where they can be shared with others. Process <b>110</b> can begin in step <b>120</b>, where a user views a Web document in a user interface. This user interface can support annotations. In one embodiment, the user interface can be a browser and the Web document can refer to any Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) addressable content object. In step <b>122</b>, a user can select an interface control to add an annotation to the Web document. In step <b>124</b>, a content segment of the Web document to which the new annotation is to apply can be selected. For example, a user can highlight a content segment of the Web document after being prompted to do so.

0017In step <b>126</b>, an annotation editing interface can be presented. In step <b>128</b>, a user can input content for the annotation into the editing interface. Input content can include text and other media. In step <b>130</b>, the user can optionally add meta data for the annotation. For example, a user can manually enter a title, a category, an annotation type, and other such data. In step <b>132</b>, additional meta data for the annotation can be automatically retrieved from a user profile/system resource and added to the annotation. For example, a current time can be one meta data element automatically added using a system resource, a computing device identifier can be another meta data element extracted from an operating system registry and added to the annotation, etc. A user profile can include a set of previously configured elements, which are added to every annotation created by the user, which can include elements such as a user name, a user occupation, alternative user identifiers (e.g., social networking user name(s), email address(es), aliases, etc.), and the like.

0018In step <b>134</b>, association data can be added to an association of the annotation (i.e., software artifact that contains the annotation data). This annotation data can identify the Web document, such as by using the URI of the Web document. Further, the annotation data can specify a region or content segment of the Web document to which the annotation applies. In step <b>136</b>, the annotation can be finalized (e.g., the software artifact that contains application data can be saved as a distinct software object). In step <b>138</b>, the annotation (e.g., software artifact) can be conveyed over a network to a shared repository for annotations.

0019Process <b>140</b> shows how annotations can be acquired and/or viewed by users. From a user perspective, relevant annotations can automatically appear within a user interface when Web documents are acquired/presented within a user interface. Process <b>140</b> can begin in step <b>150</b>, where a Web document that is to be presented within a user interface can be identified. In step <b>152</b>, an annotation repository can be queried for a set of annotations associated with the Web document. In step <b>154</b>, the set of potential annotations relevant to the identified Web document can be determined in response to the query.

0020Annotations, however, can be filtered by user specific criteria to ensure only those annotations believed to be relevant/of interest to a user are conveyed to that user. In step <b>156</b>, user/presentation device (e.g., a client computer used by a user) specific filtering criteria can be ascertained for the annotations. In step <b>158</b>, metadata of the potential annotations (those returned from the query) can be compared against filtering criteria. Additional data can be acquired from data sources as needed during this step <b>158</b>. For example, one potential filter can limit annotations to those written by users having a “close” relationship to a current user to whom the annotations are presented. Closeness can be based upon a calculated affinity score, derived from social networking data (e.g., the data source). In step <b>160</b>, a filtered annotation set can be determined.

0021In step <b>162</b>, the Web document can be rendered within a user interface, such as a browser. In step <b>164</b>, visual indicators can be established and presented within the user interface in which the Web content is presented that indicate content segments associated with annotations of the filtered set. For example, phrases and/or words that have an associated annotation set can be highlighted, presented in large font, depicted by a graphic icon, or can be visually distinguished in some other manner.

0022In step <b>166</b>, an annotation presentation event can be detected. This event can vary significantly depending upon implementation specific choices and/or presentation characteristics established for an annotation window. For example, in one embodiment, an annotation window can be implemented as a fly-over window, which is shown when a pointer is positioned over an associated content segment of the presented Web document. The mouse-over event can be the annotation presentation event in that example. The invention is not limited in this regard, however, and an annotation interface can be an interface provided in a pane of a browser, in a pop-up window, and the like. Each implementation can have different events/triggers associated that relate to annotation presentation. In step <b>168</b>, an annotation that is to be presented responsive to the event can be determined. User configured presentation options can also be retrieved at this step. In step <b>170</b>, the determined annotation can be presented in accordance with the configured presentation options. For instance, one or more meta data element can be optionally presented along with annotation content. When a presentation event changes, a different annotation can be presented and/or a currently presented annotation can be hidden/changed, as shown by process <b>140</b> progressing from step <b>170</b> to step <b>166</b>. When a new Web document is loaded, the process <b>140</b> can repeat for that document, as shown by progressing from step <b>170</b> to step <b>150</b>.

0023<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref> illustrates sample user interfaces <b>210</b>, <b>250</b> enabled for annotations in accordance with an embodiment of the inventive arrangements disclosed herein. The interfaces <b>210</b>, <b>250</b> are not intended to be comprehensive or definitive. That is, deviations and alterative user interfaces are contemplated and the invention is not to be construed as limited in this regard.

0024Interface <b>210</b> shows a browser configured to present <b>212</b> a Web document. This interface <b>210</b> can include a toolbar <b>220</b> for annotations. The toolbar can include a number of user selectable controls, such as one for establishing a new annotation <b>222</b>, one to show/hide <b>223</b> annotations, one or selectively apply annotation filters <b>224</b>, one indicating an active annotation persona <b>225</b>, one to configure annotation related options <b>226</b>, and the like. Use of a toolbar <b>220</b> is just one contemplated way of providing a user with annotation related options, and menus, hot-key combinations, and other interface control types can be used in other implementations to approximately equivalent effect.

0025An annotation window <b>230</b> can exist that is distinct from the section <b>212</b> of interface <b>210</b> in which the Web document is presented. Annotation window <b>230</b> can be implemented as a selective presentable pane of browser <b>210</b>, as a pop-up window, as a fly over window (as illustrated), and the like. Annotation window <b>230</b> can present annotation content <b>232</b> and one or more optional meta data elements <b>233</b>, <b>236</b>. Annotation window <b>230</b> can also have a set of controls, such as a navigation control to navigation among a set of annotations for the Web document <b>212</b> rendered in the interface <b>210</b>. Presentation options, such as configuring annotation metadata presentation/hiding can also be included within window <b>230</b>. For example, an annotation author and creation date <b>233</b> can be optionally shown in window <b>230</b>, as can an annotation rating <b>236</b>, and other meta data related content.

0026Content <b>212</b> of a Web document can be annotated to visually depict content segments <b>214</b> that are associated with an annotation. Visual indicators for content segments <b>214</b> can include highlighting the segment, using a distinctive font type/typeface option/size/foreground color/background color, using a graphic to indicate a presence of an annotation, and the like. As illustrated, the content segment <b>214</b> is highlighted as enabled for mouse-over event detection. That is, when a pointer <b>216</b> is positioned proximate to the region <b>214</b> for an established time, window <b>230</b> is automatically presented, with annotation content <b>232</b> associated with region <b>214</b> being loaded. When the pointer <b>216</b> is moved, fly-over window can be hidden. Multiple different annotations can be associated with a single content segment <b>214</b>, such as when a threaded discussion related to an initially commentary exists. In one embodiment, window <b>230</b> can concurrently show multiple annotations <b>232</b> when each relates to a single segment <b>214</b>. In one embodiment, multiple different windows <b>230</b> can concurrently be displayed, where each presents content <b>232</b> related to a selected content segment <b>214</b> (assuming multiple annotations are associated with a single segment <b>214</b>.

0027Although interface <b>210</b> is shown as a browser interface, the disclosure is not to be limited in this regard. In various contemplated embodiments, Web content/Web documents and their corresponding annotations can be presented within any type of interface, such as a rich internet interface (RII), an internet-enabled desktop gadget, and the like. Further interfaces <b>210</b>, <b>230</b>, <b>250</b> are not limited to graphical user interfaces (GUIs), but can be implemented as text user interfaces (TUIs), voice user interfaces (VUIs), multimodal interfaces, and the like in various contemplated embodiments.

0028Configuration interface <b>250</b> is a sample interface for configuring annotation behavior. Various user configurable settings are shown, such as permitting a user to specify filter criteria <b>280</b> and to define presentation characteristics <b>270</b>, <b>272</b> of the interface <b>210</b> and/or window <b>230</b>. The presentation characteristics can include an option <b>270</b> changing an annotation window from different types of “window” containers. For example, the annotation window <b>230</b> can be selectively changed from a fly-over window, to a pop-up, to a pane, as shown. In addition, an option <b>272</b> can permit metadata relating to an annotation to be either shown or suppressed. This control can be performed at lower levels, as shown by the “configure metadata option” illustrated in window <b>230</b>.

0029Any number of user settings can be used to establish different filter criteria <b>280</b>. For example, relationship filtration criteria can be established that selects annotations based upon a relationship of the author to a user. Another filter criteria <b>280</b> can be to permit different groups of authors to either be included or excluded. Groups can be based upon any definable factor. As shown, auto mechanics (e.g., annotations from any author who is an auto mechanic) can be explicitly excluded when filtering, and hobbyist groups for “big waves” and “surfing” in general can be explicitly allowed. Business owners, shown as unmarked in the community filter criterion are ignored when filtering (i.e., other filter criteria can be used to determine if annotations authored by business owners are to be included in a filtered set or excluded). Filtering can be performed based upon tags of the annotations and sets of keywords (sets as shown include surfer, sport, wave, and board). These keyword sets can function as white and black lists when compared against tags of annotations. Other criteria can be based upon a community score value, whether a tag has expired as per an internal expiration element or calculated from creation date, and the like. In one embodiment, an evaluation order for the filter criteria <b>280</b> can be established to resolve potential conflicts among different filter criteria. In another embodiment, the various criteria can result in criteria specific scores, which form an annotation score, which determines whether an annotation is filtered or not (i.e., the annotation score can be compared against an upper and/or lower threshold value for including/excluding annotations).

0030Personas <b>260</b> represent a recognition that browser usages can differ situationally, as can user desired annotations. Different personas <b>260</b> can represent different environments and/or purposes for which browsing of Web documents occurs. For example, annotations specific to work-related purposes (and associated relevant annotations) can different substantially from annotations applicable to academic situations, personal curiosity situations, and the like. Thus, a single user can specify different annotation filtering criteria depending upon a browsing situation. Thus, a user can have a work persona, a school persona, and/or a recreational persona, each having different annotation settings. Further, evaluation processing of different criteria <b>280</b> can vary based upon different personas. For example, a relationship criteria for a work persona can be evaluated differently than a relationship criteria for a recreational persona. Personas can also affect an annotation profile, which is a profile that automatically determines metadata that is to be included for newly created (using control <b>222</b>) annotations.

0031<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref> is a schematic diagram of a system <b>300</b> for implementing annotations in accordance with an embodiment of the inventive arrangements disclosed herein. System <b>300</b> can be used to implement method <b>100</b>. In system <b>300</b>, a computing device <b>310</b>, Web server <b>330</b>, annotation server <b>340</b>, and one or more data sources <b>335</b> can be communicatively linked to a network <b>350</b>. The Web server <b>330</b> can include a data store <b>332</b> of Web documents, which can be served to computing device <b>310</b>. For example, a browser <b>312</b> of device <b>310</b> can request a Web document by URI, which is conveyed by server <b>330</b>, processed by device <b>310</b> hardware, and presented upon an output device, such as a display.

0032The browser <b>312</b> can include an annotation engine <b>314</b> that conveys the URI of the Web document to an annotation server <b>340</b>. The annotation server <b>340</b> can query a data store <b>342</b> of annotations <b>360</b> and convey a set of annotations <b>360</b> having the URI <b>366</b> to device <b>310</b>. These annotations <b>360</b> can be presented in a user interface when the associated Web document, as shown and described in interface <b>210</b>. In one embodiment, the annotations <b>360</b> presented in the user interface can be filtered based upon device <b>310</b> specific or user (of device <b>310</b>) specific criteria. For example, various filtration criteria can be compared against metadata <b>370</b> values of the annotations. Information from one or more data source <b>335</b> can be needed to evaluate the filtration criteria.

0033Each annotation <b>340</b> can include semantic content <b>362</b>, an association <b>364</b>, and meta data <b>370</b>. The semantic content <b>362</b> can be user provided and shared content that is a commentary on a Web document. The association <b>364</b> can include a Web document identifier <b>366</b> and a content segment identifier <b>367</b>. The Web document identifier can be any identifier, such as a URI. The content segment identifier <b>367</b> can indicate a portion of the Web document to which the semantic content <b>362</b> applies. In one embodiment, the content segment <b>367</b> can be associated with a text string (e.g., text such as a word, phrase, paragraph, etc.), a media object (e.g., graphic, table, video, sound file), and any other identifiable object of a Web document. When the content segment <b>367</b> is blank (or set to a reserved value) the annotation <b>360</b> can be considered a general annotation applying to the entire Web document. In one embodiment, the association <b>364</b> can be enhanced to point to a different annotation and/or annotation segment, which is useful when annotations are permitted against other annotations.

0034The metadata <b>370</b> can include any of a variety of elements including, but not limited to, elements <b>372</b>-<b>379</b>. One element can be a user <b>372</b> element indicating an author of the annotation <b>360</b>. A date created element <b>373</b> can indicate when the annotation <b>360</b> was authored. Expiration element <b>374</b> can indicate a time/date that an annotation <b>360</b> is to self-terminate. Topic element <b>375</b> can include a subject or title of the annotation <b>360</b>. Rating element <b>376</b> can be a community established rating of the relevancy and/or value of the annotation <b>360</b>. The tags element <b>377</b> can include a set of one or more tags, such as community established tags or tags representing key words corresponding to the semantic content <b>362</b>. The affiliation element <b>378</b> can include a set of one or more groups associated with the user <b>372</b>. The annotation type element <b>379</b> can include a value for a predefined category suitable for the annotation <b>360</b>.

0035Data store <b>316</b> of computing device <b>310</b> can include device <b>310</b> and/or user specific data, such as presentation profile <b>317</b> and annotation metadata profile <b>318</b>. The presentation profile <b>317</b> can include user configured presentation settings for annotations. The annotation metadata profile <b>318</b> can be a profile of metadata elements that are to be applied automatically when a user of device <b>310</b> creates a new annotation <b>360</b>.

0036It should be appreciated that the component arrangements of system <b>300</b> are specific to one embodiment and the disclosure is not to be limited in this manner. For example, in one contemplated embodiment, the profiles <b>317</b>, <b>318</b> can be stored within data store <b>342</b> and many functions attributed to engine <b>314</b> can be implemented by annotation server <b>340</b>. In another embodiment, the annotation engine <b>340</b> and annotations <b>360</b> can be integrated with Web server <b>330</b> and stored Web documents.

0037As used in system <b>300</b>, a Web document can refer to any electronic document able to be uniquely identified. A Web document can be a HTML based document, an application document, a text document, a media object, and any other type of digitally file.

0038Browser <b>312</b> is any application able to render a Web document as defined above and to show associated annotations. A browser <b>312</b> can include a Web browser, a stand-alone application, a rich internet interface (RII), a desktop gadget, and the like.

0039Computing device <b>310</b> can be any machine that permits a user to interact with Web documents and annotations. For example, computing device <b>310</b> can include, but is not limited to, a personal computer, a kiosk, a mobile phone, a Web tablet, and the like.

0040Server <b>330</b> and/or server <b>340</b> can each be implemented as a set of one or more devices that serve documents/annotations over network <b>350</b> to requesting devices <b>310</b>. Server <b>330</b>, <b>340</b> can include hardware, software, and firmware components capable of performing the functions described herein. Each of the servers <b>330</b>, <b>340</b> can be implemented as stand-alone computing devices, as a distributed set of computing devices, as a virtual server, as a cluster of devices, and the like.

0041Data store <b>316</b>, <b>332</b>, <b>342</b>, and <b>340</b> can be physically implemented within any type of hardware including, but not limited to, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a semiconductor memory, a digitally encoded plastic memory, a holographic memory, or any other recording/storage medium. The data store <b>316</b>, <b>332</b>, <b>342</b>, and <b>340</b> can be a stand-alone storage unit as well as a storage unit formed from a plurality of physical devices, which may be remotely located from one another. Additionally, information can be stored within each data store <b>316</b>, <b>332</b>, <b>342</b>, and <b>340</b> in a variety of manners. For example, information can be stored within a database structure or can be stored within one or more files of a file storage system, where each file may or may not be indexed for information searching purposes.

0042Network <b>350</b> can include any hardware/software/and firmware necessary to convey digital content encoded within carrier waves. Content can be contained within analog or digital signals and conveyed through data or voice channels and can be conveyed over a personal area network (PAN) or a wide area network (WAN). The network <b>350</b> can include local components and data pathways necessary for communications to be exchanged among computing device components and between integrated device components and peripheral devices. The network <b>350</b> can also include network equipment, such as routers, data lines, hubs, and intermediary servers which together form a packet-based network, such as the Internet or an intranet. The network <b>350</b> can further include circuit-based communication components and mobile communication components, such as telephony switches, modems, cellular communication towers, and the like. The network <b>350</b> can include line based and/or wireless communication pathways.

0043The flowchart and block diagrams in the <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 1-3</figref> illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.