U.S. patent application number 11/260720 was filed with the patent office on 2007-05-03 for newsmaker verification and commenting method and system.
This patent application is currently assigned to NewsDB, Inc.. Invention is credited to Upendra Shardanand.
Application Number | 20070100863 11/260720 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37968639 |
Filed Date | 2007-05-03 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070100863 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Shardanand; Upendra |
May 3, 2007 |
Newsmaker verification and commenting method and system
Abstract
An on-line article comprising instances of newsmakers is
provided by an Internet connected news server or news aggregator
server and the names of the newsmakers are automatically identified
by a newsmaker verification and commenting module. The article is
displayed to a reader on an Internet connected client computer. The
instances of the newsmakers in the article are emphasized such that
they stand out in the article. The reader initiates a verification
process by indicating that he is a newsmaker. The newsmaker
verification and commenting module is in communication with a
verification database and the identity of the reader is verified as
the newsmaker through a series of questions and answers. After
verification, comments provided by the reader are stored by the
newsmaker verification and commenting module. The comments and
article are published such that the comments are displayed
conspicuously with the article on any client computer accessing the
article.
Inventors: |
Shardanand; Upendra; (New
York, NY) |
Correspondence
Address: |
ELLIOT FURMAN
15 WEST 81ST STREET #11J
NEW YORK
NY
10024
US
|
Assignee: |
NewsDB, Inc.
|
Family ID: |
37968639 |
Appl. No.: |
11/260720 |
Filed: |
October 27, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 ;
707/999.102; 707/E17.116 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 16/958 20190101;
Y10S 707/943 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
707/102 |
International
Class: |
G06F 7/00 20060101
G06F007/00 |
Claims
1. A newsmaker verification and commenting method for internet
based on-line publishing wherein on-line articles served from one
or more news servers connected to the internet are displayed on an
internet connected client computer operable to access and display
the articles to a reader, the method comprising the steps of:
providing an article comprising text, wherein at least some of the
text comprises an instance comprising the name of a newsmaker;
automatically identifying the name of the newsmaker; displaying the
article to the reader; electronically verifying the identity of the
reader as the newsmaker; if the identity of the reader is verified
as the newsmaker, storing comments provided by the reader; and
publishing the comments and the article; whereby the comments are
displayed conspicuously with the article.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of publishing comprises
generating computer readable code which when read by a computer
causes a web browser to display web browser content, whereby the
computer readable code is accessible to any computer connected to
the internet.
3. The method of claim 1 further comprising after said step of
electronically verifying, if the identity of the reader is verified
as the newsmaker, creating a user account for the reader.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of electronically
verifying comprises generating out-of-wallet questions from a
verification database, transmitting out-of-wallet information to
the verification database, comparing the out-of-wallet information
to the verification database, and receiving comparison results.
5. The method of claim 4 wherein said steps of transmitting and
receiving comprise transmitting and receiving by way of the
internet.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of displaying comprises
emphasizing the instance such that the instance is set apart from
the text.
7. The method of claim 6 wherein said step of emphasizing comprises
modifying text attributes of the instance, wherein the text
attributes comprise a font type, a font size, and a font color.
8. The method of claim 6 wherein said step of emphasizing comprises
displaying the newsmaker in a list.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of automatically
identifying comprises analyzing the text of the article with entity
extraction methods.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein the instance comprises an image
of the newsmaker.
11. A newsmaker verification and commenting method for internet
based on-line publishing wherein on-line articles served from one
or more news servers connected to the internet are displayed on an
internet connected client computer operable to access and display
the articles to a reader, the method comprising the steps of:
providing an article comprising text, wherein at least some of the
text comprises an instance comprising the name of a newsmaker;
automatically identifying the name of the newsmaker, wherein said
step of automatically identifying comprises analyzing the text of
the article with entity extraction methods; displaying the article
to the reader, wherein said step of displaying comprises
emphasizing the instance such that the instance is set apart from
the text; electronically verifying the identity of the reader as
the newsmaker, wherein said step of electronically verifying
comprises generating out-of-wallet questions from a verification
database, transmitting out-of-wallet information to the
verification database, comparing the out-of-wallet information to
the verification database, and receiving comparison results; if the
identity of the reader is verified as the newsmaker, storing
comments provided by the reader; and publishing the comments and
the article; whereby the comments are displayed conspicuously with
the article.
12. A newsmaker verification and commenting system for internet
based on-line publishing wherein news articles served from one or
more news servers connected to the internet are displayed on an
internet connected client computer operable to access and display
the articles to a reader, the system comprising: means for
providing an article comprising text, wherein at least some of the
text comprises an instance comprising the name of a newsmaker;
means for automatically identifying the name of the newsmaker;
means for displaying the article to the reader; means for
electronically verifying the identity of the reader as the
newsmaker; means for storing comments provided by the reader; and
means for publishing the comments and the article.
13. The system of claim 12 wherein said means for automatically
identifying further comprises entity extraction means for analyzing
text and extracting the name.
14. The system of claim 12 wherein said means for displaying
further comprises means for emphasizing the instance.
15. The system of claim 12 wherein said means for electronically
verifying further comprises verification database means for
generating out-of-wallet questions and comparing out-of-wallet
information with a verification database.
16. The system of claim 12 further comprising means for flagging
the identity of the reader as the newsmaker.
17. A newsmaker verification and commenting method for internet
based on-line publishing wherein on-line articles served from one
or more news servers connected to the internet are displayed on an
internet connected client computer operable to access and display
the articles to a reader, the method comprising the steps of:
providing an article comprising text, wherein at least some of the
text comprises an instance comprising the name of a newsmaker;
identifying the name of the newsmaker; displaying the article to
the reader, wherein said step of displaying comprises emphasizing
the instance such that the instance is set apart from the text;
verifying the identity of the reader as the newsmaker; if the
identity of the reader is verified as the newsmaker, storing
comments provided by the reader; and publishing the comments and
the article.
18. The method of claim 17 wherein said step of identifying
comprises automatically identifying the name of the newsmaker.
19. The method of claim 17 wherein said step of identifying
comprises manually identifying the name of the newsmaker.
20. The method of claim 17 wherein said step of verifying comprises
electronically verifying the identity of the reader as the
newsmaker.
21. The method of claim 17 wherein said step of verifying comprises
manually verifying the identity of the reader as the newsmaker.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] Internet users have available to them many news sources.
Referring to FIG. 1, which shows an exemplary prior-art system for
on-line news distribution, client computer 18 is connected to the
Internet 16 and a user reads articles displayed on web browser 19.
Articles are delivered to client computer 18 by Internet connected
news servers 10, 12, and/or 14. There may be many more news servers
than what is shown. As is well known, articles are displayed in web
browser 19 simply by typing in the web address, (universal resource
locator or universal resource identifier) of any of the news
servers 10, 12, or 14. News servers such as 10, 12, and 14 may
supply news from sources such as Agence France-Press (AFP),
Reuters, Associated Press (AP), Los Angeles Times, New York Times,
USA Today, National Public Radio (NPR), CNN.com, Slashdot.org and
thousands of other online local, regional, national, and
international news outlets.
[0002] There are many other websites where Internet users can
receive news, such as Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com) and
Google News (http://news.google.com). While these, and like
websites do not typically generate any original news content, they
do provide a convenient way for Internet users to view articles
from a multiplicity of sources. For example, Internet connected
news aggregator server 20 receives articles from news servers 10,
12, and 14. Client computer 18 connects to news aggregator server
20, and may optionally connect directly to any other news server
connected to the Internet.
[0003] A news story, or article, whether supplied directly from a
news server such as news servers 10, 12, and 14, or from a news
aggregator server, such as news aggregator server 20, comprises
text, and optionally images. A newsmaker is anyone who appears in
the news story. An article may comprise one or more than one
newsmaker. For example, a story written about a policy proposed by
the President of the United States may contain a quote from the
president, from the president's spokesman, from a senator, from a
judge, from a political commentator, and from a "man on the
street". All of these people are newsmakers.
[0004] Some news servers and news aggregator servers provide
forums, also called discussion forums, comment forums, comment
boards, message boards, and the like, for readers to comment on a
selected story. In most cases, a reader can enter the forum
associated with a story by clicking a link available at the bottom
of the story. For example, news server 14 communicates with forums
15, and news aggregator server 20 communicates with forums 21.
Forums 15 enables a user at client 18 to comment on an article
supplied by news server 14, whereas forums 21 enables a user at
client 18 to comment on any story or article aggregated by news
aggregator server 20, such as articles from news servers 10, 12 and
14. Forums are well understood by those of ordinary skill in the
art.
[0005] FIG. 2 shows an exemplary prior-art screenshot image of an
on-line article displayed in a web browser. Almost every on-line
article accessible via the Internet and displayed in a web browser
is comprised similarly, although the exact layout may differ. The
web page is comprised of the following: the name of the news source
or news aggregator 29; a search bar or search function 23; the
story including the headline and the author 22; an image 24; online
advertising 25; an "email story" link or button 26; a "print" link
or button 28; and, as discussed above, a "discuss" link or button
27 to enter a forum associated with the article.
[0006] A forum associated with a popular article may receive
hundreds or even thousands of comments a day. While providing an
outlet for readers to express their opinion, these forums do not
necessarily provide any useful, valid, or enlightening information.
In fact, it is well known that posts to forums such as these are
rarely pertinent to the story, and often consist of outrageous or
shocking comments meant to provoke others. It is nearly universally
true that readers who post comments have no relation to any of the
newsmakers in the story, and their comments amount to little more
than chatter between readers. This remains the case even for
moderated forums where a person, that is the moderator, or a group
of people who are registered to moderate such as in Slashdot.org,
reads through each comment submitted by every reader and approves
each post. This is clearly impractical and extremely time consuming
for popular forums, and besides, provides little, if any, benefit
in terms of enhancing the content of the article.
[0007] In the event a newsmaker, that is someone who is mentioned
in an article, desires to comment on the article, the newsmaker may
post a comment in the same manner as any other reader. Newsmakers,
however, almost never comment in these forums; it is a waste of
time because, among other things, there is no differentiation
between a comment from a newsmaker and a comment from a random
reader. And it is extremely common for readers to post comments
pretending to be a newsmaker. For example, in a story where the
newsmaker is Bill Gates, it is almost a certainty that a reader who
is not Bill Gates will post a comment using the name "BillG",
"BillGates", or similar. Whether the reader actually expects to be
believed as the newsmaker is irrelevant; the effect is that the any
residual relevancy the forum may have had to the article or
newsmaker is completely eroded. As a result, even if the newsmaker
posts a comment, the comment gets lost in the chatter of the
forum.
[0008] In addition to this, a newsmaker who desires to correct or
formally comment on the article has no expeditious, convenient, and
reliable way to do so; the only recourse is to attempt to contact
the publisher, the author of the article, or the editor of the
article and implore them to publish a correction or addendum
containing the newsmakers comments or corrections. Unsurprisingly,
publishers are loath to do this. In the unlikely event the
newsmaker is successful, at best, the publisher, author, or editor
publishes an edited version of the newsmaker's comments, sometimes
days after the original article was published. Thus a need
presently exists for a newsmaker verification and commenting
system.
SUMMARY
[0009] The present invention provides a newsmaker verification and
commenting method and system. In Internet based on-line publishing,
on-line articles are served from one or more news servers or news
aggregator servers connected to the Internet. The articles are
displayed on an Internet connected client computer operable to
access and display the articles. The articles are displayed in a
web browser. In the present invention, an article is provided. The
article comprises text and at least some of the text comprises an
instance comprising the name of a newsmaker. There may be more than
one newsmaker and more than one instance. A newsmaker verification
and commenting module in communication with a news server or news
aggregator server automatically identifies the name of the
newsmaker. If there is more than one newsmaker, all of the names
are identified. The names are automatically identified by analyzing
the text of the article with, for example, entity extraction
methods. Next the article is displayed to the reader at the client
computer. The instance of the newsmaker is emphasized such that the
instance is set apart from the text of the article. A verification
process is initiated when the reader, desiring to comment on the
article, selects one of the emphasized names. The verification
process electronically verifies the identity of the reader as the
newsmaker. Electronically verifying comprises generating
out-of-wallet questions from a verification database in
communication with the newsmaker verification and commenting
module, transmitting out-of-wallet information to the verification
database, comparing the out-of-wallet information to the
verification database, and receiving comparison result at the
newsmaker verification and commenting module. If the comparison
results are favorable, that is, the identity of the reader is
verified as the newsmaker, comments provided by the reader are
stored by the newsmaker verification and commenting module.
Finally, the comments and the article are published such that the
comments are displayed conspicuously with the article on any
Internet connected client computer accessing the article.
[0010] The foregoing paragraph has been provided by way of general
introduction, and it should not be used to narrow the scope of the
following claims. The preferred embodiments will now be described
with reference to the attached drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] FIG. 1 is an prior art on-line news distribution system.
[0012] FIG. 2 is an prior-art screenshot image of an on-line
article displayed in a web browser.
[0013] FIG. 3 is a newsmaker verification and commenting
system.
[0014] FIG. 4 is a newsmaker verification and commenting
method.
[0015] FIG. 5 is a screenshot image of a web page displaying the
published article and newsmaker comments.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0016] In a newsmaker verification and commenting system, shown in
FIG. 3, an on-line article is provided. As discussed above, the
article is provided via the Internet 16 from news servers 10, 12
and/or 14, or from news aggregator server 20. The article is
displayed at Internet connected client computer 18 in web browser
19. The article may be a news article or any other type of article,
whether or not it contains current news, such as background
information, bios, sources of information, and the like. The
article may also comprise aggregated content from a multiplicity of
other articles. The article comprises text, with at least some of
the text comprising the name of a newsmaker. The article may
further comprise an image or images, links to audio and video,
embedded audio and video, links to other articles, links to web
pages and blogs, and the like. As used herein, the term "web
browser content" is understood to mean, either by themselves or in
combination, text, an image or images, links to audio and video,
embedded audio and video, links to other articles, links to web
pages and blogs, and other types of content that are displayable or
accessible in a web browser.
[0017] Recall, a newsmaker is anyone who appears in the news story.
A newsmaker may be the subject of a sentence in the article, the
object of a sentence in the article, the author of the article, the
editor of the article, the publisher of the article, a publicist or
similar person representing the newsmaker, a company or
organization wherein the company or organization has an official
representative or spokesperson, and the like. Each mention, or
occurrence of the name of the newsmaker in the article is referred
to herein as an instance. There may be more than one newsmaker in
the article, with each newsmaker having one or more instances. It
is understood that any disclosure directed to one newsmaker also
applies to more than one newsmaker.
[0018] A newsmaker verification and commenting (NVC) module 30, the
workings of which will be discussed below, is in communication with
news aggregator server 20 and with a verification database 32.
Briefly, the article is displayed to a reader at client computer 18
on web browser 19; the reader, who is also a newsmaker, desires to
comment on the article; the reader accesses NVC 30 via the Internet
16; the reader's identification is electronically verified as the
newsmaker with verification database 32 in communication with NVC
30; the reader provides comments which are stored in a database in
NVC 30; and the comments are published with the article such that,
henceforth, any Internet connected computer accessing the article
through news aggregator server 20 will display the article and the
comments from the newsmaker.
[0019] NVC 30 comprises computer readable code which when executed
by a computer causes the computer to perform a newsmaker
verification and commenting method which is disclosed in detail
below, with reference to FIG. 4. News aggregator server 20 may
comprise NVC 30, in which case NVC 30 is in direct communication
(34) with news aggregator server 20. Alternatively, NVC 30 may be a
separate computer in which case NVC 30 is in communication (38)
with news aggregator server 20 via the Internet 16, or via any
other prior art communications network. In any case, it is
understood that the placement of NVC 30, and the means of
communication between NVC 30 and news aggregator server 20, is in
no way limiting to the present invention.
[0020] Likewise, verification database 32 and NVC 30 are in direct
communication (36), in which case the verification database 32 and
NVC 30 are stored on the same computer. In another embodiment,
verification database 32 and NVC 30 are physically separate and are
in communication (42) via the Internet.
[0021] FIG. 3 additionally shows another newsmaker verification and
commenting module 46 in communication with news server 12, and yet
another newsmaker verification and commenting module 48 in
communication with the Internet 16. An NVC may be shared among
multiple news servers and news aggregators. For example, NVC 48 may
be in communication with news servers 10 and 12 and other news
servers and news aggregator servers not shown. NVCs 46 and 48 are
shown merely to illustrate that individual news servers may host
their own NVCs in addition to, separate from, or complementary to
NVC 30. With this in mind, it is understood than any discussion of
NVC 30 and verification database 32, and their communications,
methods, functions, systems, and operations with news aggregator
server 20, may be equivalently extended to any other news
aggregator server, news server, and any other equivalent device
whether or not shown in any of the figures.
[0022] As was discussed with reference to FIG. 1, optional prior
art forums 21 is shown in communication with news aggregator server
20, and optional prior art forums 15 is shown in communication with
news server 14. The presence or absence of the prior art forums
have no bearing on the present invention.
[0023] FIG. 4 shows a newsmaker verification and commenting method
which operates in an on-line publishing system wherein on-line news
articles served from one or more news sources connected to the
Internet are displayed on an Internet connected client computer.
The client computer is operable to access and display the one or
more news sources to the reader, by way of, for example, a web
browser.
[0024] Examining FIG. 4, an article is provided (step 50). The
article comprises text. The article may also optionally comprise
images and other web browser content. At least some of the text
comprises the name of a newsmaker. Each mention, or occurrence of
the name of the newsmaker in the article is referred to as an
instance. There may be more than one newsmaker in the article, with
each newsmaker having one or more instances. As already discussed,
any discussion directed to one newsmaker may be equivalently
applied to more than one newsmaker.
[0025] Next, the name of the newsmaker is automatically identified
(step 52). If there is more than one newsmaker, then all of the
names of the newsmakers are automatically identified. The term
"automatically identified" is used, rather than the word
"identified" to indicate that the article is electronically
analyzed or parsed, and the names of the newsmakers obtained or
extracted, when the article is provided and without human
intervention.
[0026] Extracting information from documents such as on-line
articles and web pages is generally referred to by those skilled in
the art as information extraction, and specifically as entity
extraction, or named entity recognition. Many well understood
linguistic, knowledge-based, statistical, probabilistic, and hybrid
methods for entity extraction may be employed. In one embodiment
Hidden Markov Models are used. In other embodiments, rule-based
methods, machine learning techniques such as Support Vector Machine
learning methods, and Conditional Random Fields are implemented
either by themselves or in combination. Furthermore, there are many
commercial products available employing these and other techniques,
for example IdentiFinder.TM. from BBN Technologies, products from
Basis Technology Corp., Verity Inc., Convera, and Inxight Software
Inc. as well as freely available software for developing and
deploying software components that process human language, such as
GATE (General Architecture for Text Engineering). These methods,
models, algorithms, systems, and products are well understood by
those of ordinary skill in the art.
[0027] Once the newsmakers in the article are identified, the
article is displayed to a reader (step 54). The article is
displayed for example as a webpage in the web browser of a computer
connected to the Internet. So as to distinguish the newsmaker(s) in
the article from the other text, at least one instance of the
newsmaker is optionally emphasized by, for example, modifying text
attributes of the text comprising the instance. For example the
font type, or font size, or font color, or a combination of the
three may be modified. In one example, the text of the article
comprises black text, and the instance comprises text that is blue
and bold, or underlined, or italicized, or the like. In an
alternative embodiment the newsmakers' names are displayed in a
list, for example alongside the article. The list may comprise the
newsmakers' names in text, photos of the newsmakers, descriptions,
and the like.
[0028] In the intuitive world of web site navigation, emphasizing
the instance suggests to the reader to move the mouse cursor over
the instance, or to click on the instance. In one embodiment, when
the reader moves the mouse cursor over the instance and clicks on
the instance, the reader is directed to a verification web page,
which is displayed in the web browser. In another embodiment, when
the reader moves the mouse cursor over the instance and/or clicks
on the instance a dialog box, a window or a pop-up is displayed
containing a query. One exemplary query is, "Are you [name of
newsmaker]? Yes or No". If the reader is the newsmaker, the reader
selects "Yes" and a verification web page is displayed. Other
embodiments may include one or more, including equivalents, of the
following: the dialog box window, or pop-up is displayed only when
the reader clicks on the instance; a question such as "Click here
if you are a newsmaker in the this article" is displayed
conspicuously with the article, for example under the article's
headline, and upon clicking, the reader may select from among a
list of the newsmakers automatically identified; a list of all of
the newsmakers are displayed conspicuously with the article, for
example in a panel to the right or left of the article, and each
newsmaker instance in the list may by clicked on, directing the
reader to a verification web page.
[0029] After displaying the article to the reader (step 54), the
identity of the reader is electronically verified (step 56) to
determine if the reader actually is the newsmaker. Electronic
verification (step 56) is commenced when the reader indicates that
they are the newsmaker, for example by clicking on an instance as
described above. A verification web page is displayed to the
reader. The verification page comprises a multiplicity of
out-of-wallet questions. Out-of-wallet questions are questions
based on credit profiles, credit account information, home mortgage
information, and other highly confidential, and difficult to obtain
information. The questions, and the answers, called out-of-wallet
information, are referred to as "out-of-wallet" because it is
information not easily accessible or knowable by anyone but the
correct person, even if the correct person were to lose their
wallet.
[0030] There may be more than one verification page. In one
embodiment, electronic verification is commenced and a first set of
simple out-of-wallet questions are generated. A first verification
page is displayed showing the newsmaker's name and the first set of
out-of-wallet questions. By way of example, the first set of
out-of-wallet questions ask for the reader's address, telephone
number, and social security number. The reader provides answers,
that is out-of-wallet information, to the first set of
out-of-wallet questions, and the out-of-wallet information is
transmitted to a verification database. The out-of-wallet
information is compared to data in the verification database. If
the out-of-wallet information matches data stored in the record for
the newsmaker in the database, a second set of much more
challenging out-of-wallet questions is generated from other data in
the record of the newsmaker in the database. For example, the
second set of out-of-wallet questions asks for home mortgage
information, information from credit bureaus such as loan amounts,
and information from the Department of Motor Vehicles. The reader
provides answers, that is out-of-wallet information, to the second
set of out-of-wallet questions, and the out-of-wallet information
is transmitted to the verification database, the out-of-wallet
information is compared to the data in the newsmaker's record in
the database, and results of the comparison are received from the
verification database.
[0031] In another embodiment, a single verification page poses a
multiplicity of out-of-wallet questions. An a priori determination
of the actual identity of the newsmaker is made from the article,
and/or from other sources such as other articles and public
records.
[0032] This is possible, in particular, for high profile
newsmakers, such as politicians or celebrities, where there is an
abundance of information about them publicly available. In this
embodiment, the a priori determination is made and the multiplicity
of out-of-wallet questions are generated by referencing the record
for the newsmaker in the verification database. Next the reader's
answers, that is the out-of-wallet information, is transmitted to
the verification database. Then, the out-of-wallet information is
compared to data in the record of the newsmaker in the verification
database. Next, the results of the comparison are received from the
verification database.
[0033] In one embodiment the results of the comparison comprise a
simple Boolean yes/no answer to the question of whether the reader
is the newsmaker. In another embodiment the results of the
comparison comprise a risk score, for example a percentage such as
80/100, the higher the percentage the higher the confidence of
positive verification. In this embodiment a tolerance level is set
so that if the percentage is below the tolerance level the
verification is considered false, and if it is above the tolerance
level the verification is considered to be positive.
[0034] Upon positive reader verification the reader is optionally
invited to create a user account comprising a unique username and
password. Once created the reader/newsmaker may simply log on to
the account, thereby bypassing the verification process for any
future commenting.
[0035] The verification database comprises several sub-databases,
such as databases from credit bureaus, department of motor
vehicles, the US postal service, phone directories, public records,
social security numbers, state records, and federal records. Other
databases such as health records, criminal databases, and the like,
may also be accessed. There are many commercially available
products for identity verification employing these and other
database. For example, "VPid" from verifiedperson.com, and Consumer
Authentication Service (CAS) from Verisign, Inc.
[0036] Communications with the verification database, which
comprise confidential information, are encrypted. For example, all
verification data transmitted to and received from the verification
database, out-of-wallet information transmitted from the client,
and other sensitive communications use at least one
industry-standard protocol such as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL),
HTTPS, passwords, digital certificates, and Kerberos tickets. Most
commercially available databases, employ these and other protocols
and authentication methods. Most commercially available databases
also provide an application programming interface (API), for
example a JAVA API, to minimize complexity in interfacing and
communicating with the verification database. Other standards may
be employed, such as XML (Extensible Markup Language), for
communicating data between web sites, databases, and other Internet
connected resources.
[0037] Turning back to FIG. 4, after positive verification, or
logon in the event the reader has previously been verified and has
created a user account, comments provided by the reader are stored
(step 58). A web page is displayed into which the reader may enter
comments, corrections, opinions, and other text. The reader may
optionally attach files, links, and documents such as photos, URLs
and URls, RSS and other content syndication feeds, video files,
audio files, links to audio files, links to video files, images,
and links to articles. These and other submissions are referred to
herein broadly as "comments". Briefly referring back to FIG. 3, the
comments, along with any other information, such as user account
information, are stored in NVC 30.
[0038] Finally, the comments and the article are published (step
60) such that the comments are displayed conspicuously with the
article on any Internet connected client computer accessing the
article. For example a request from a client computer (18 of FIG.
3) to view an article from a news aggregator server (20 of FIG. 3)
causes both the article and the comments associated with the
article to be compiled into a web page and delivered to the
client.
[0039] The newsmaker's comments may be displayed in many ways: in
their entirety, in an abridged version, as a headline or other
"teaser" within or next to the article, and where clicking on the
headline displays the full comments; in a separate pane next to or
within the text of the article; and such that when a mouse cursor
passes over an instance the newsmaker's comments are displayed in a
pop-up. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that there are
many ways of displaying the article and newsmaker comments on a web
page.
[0040] Referring to FIG. 5, an exemplary screen shot of a web page
displaying the published article and comments is shown. The web
page shares many similarities to the prior art web page of FIG. 2,
for example the name of the news source or news aggregator 29, a
search bar or search function 23, the story including the headline
and the author 22, an image 24, online advertising 25, an "email
story" link or button 26, a "print" link or button 28, and a
"discuss" link or button 27. Additionally, the published article
includes newsmaker comments 62, displayed conspicuously with the
article, and positioned such that the text of the article flows
around the newsmaker's comments. It is appreciated by those skilled
in the art that many other layouts for the published article and
comments are possible.
[0041] With the above disclosure in mind, it is noted that other
modifications to the present invention are possible. For example,
other readers may flag a reader who was falsely identified as a
newsmaker. If upon reading a newsmaker's comments, other readers
are suspicious that that the comments are fraudulent, the other
readers may flag the newsmaker's comments. Flagging may have many
consequences, for example, the newsmaker's comments cease being
displayed until the newsmaker can be re-verified, the newsmaker's
identity is forced to be re-verified, and the newsmaker's identity
is forced to be manually verified, that is, to be verified by a
person.
[0042] Manually verifying the identity of the reader as the
newsmaker may be performed as a supplement to the step of
electronically verifying. In some cases, manually verifying may be
the only form of verification. Also, the names of the newsmakers
may be manually identified, that is, a person such as an editor may
identify the newsmakers by reading the article.
[0043] In the unlikely event that two or more newsmakers share the
same name in an article, the step of verifying may include a step
of selecting the newsmaker that refers to the reader. For example,
if an article comprises two different newsmakers each named John
Doe, the step of verification may include a page displaying both
names with additional information such as "Click here if you are
the John Doe who said [quote from first John Doe in the article]"
and "Click here if you are the John Doe who said [quote from second
John Doe in the article]". If quotes are not available in the
article, other identifying information from the article may be
used. After selecting a John Doe, the step of verification
continues as detailed above.
[0044] Finally, it is noted that an article may comprise other
content. For example a "newsmaker topic web page" may be an
article. A newsmaker topic page comprises content related to or
connected with a newsmaker. The content may comprise articles in
which the newsmaker is mentioned, comments the newsmaker has made,
other articles, news, background information, a biography,
miscellaneous comments by the newsmaker which are not in response
to an article, and similar information connected to the newsmaker.
As described above, the article is displayed to a reader and the
article, that is the newsmaker topic page, further comprises a link
such as "Click here if you are [name of newsmaker] or a
representative of [name of newsmaker]" which, upon clicking,
initiates the step of verifying the reader. In this way the
newsmaker may modify and add content on the newsmaker's topic
page.
[0045] The foregoing detailed description has discussed only a few
of the many forms that this invention can take. It is intended that
the foregoing detailed description be understood as an illustration
of selected forms that the invention can take and not as a
definition of the invention. It is only the following claims,
including all equivalents, that are intended to define the scope of
this invention.
* * * * *
References