Another patent via Gary Price, this time from Google:

Markup Language for Interactive Geographic Information System (filed June 12, 2007)

"Data-driven guarded evaluation of conditional-data associated with data objects is used to control activation and processing of the data objects in an interactive geographic information system. Methods of evaluating conditional-data to control activation of the data objects are disclosed herein. Data-structures to specify conditional data are also disclosed herein."

I don't really get this - but I think it's about giving the user more control of the display of large data sets. Perhaps readers can help me out?

Gary Price at Ask/Resource Shelf sent on this one:

Geographical Location Extraction (filed July 3, 2007)

"A geographical location extraction method and tool to infer a likely geographical location from one or more search terms entered as a query by a user on a search engine or the like."

From a quick look it seems to be a process of examining words to determine how likely it is they are geographic and intended as part of a geographic search. I supposed it's yet another way to try to determine location or location of interest, this time without GPS or Wi-FI or TV but using just words.

The two fellows behind the patent have worked on Book Search, StreetView and semantic tagging for YouTube videos and the sense is that the patent will allow text searching in those StreetView images as well as in videos. The application filed with World Intellectual Property Organization is here.

Google notes that it files patents all the time and only some turn into products and warns that we should not jumpt to conclusions about new products. That said, the patent app describes how such a tool might be used to advertise a McDonalds or provide a tour (with detailed information) about grocery store shelves.

InformationWeek

Scott Tatro shares the latest in an article at Directions Magazine.

This time it was UPS that settled with Acacia Research Corp.'s Telematics Corp. No details other that the lawsuit in question related to "tracking vehicles on a map."

- AP
- press release

The application for Location based media presentation describes a method for delivering different digital media content depending on where the user is located. Thus you get different information if you were in the U.S. vs. Spain, running uphill or down, or enterring a study hall. The location informatoin could come from GPS or be assigned.

The abstract:

Media can be presented based on location associated with presentation of media (e.g., physical location of a device that is to present media). Presentation of media can be effectively controlled in order to automatically present a first media content (e.g., a list of songs, an album) in accordance with a first set of media presentation attributes or parameters (e.g., volume associated with presentation of audible media) at a first location, while a second media content is automatically presented in accordance with a second set of media presentation attributes or parameters when the current location is changed to a second location.

via MacNN