1. An active microscope light filtering system comprising:
at least one first light source capable of generating a range of visible or non-visible wavelengths of light, wherein said at least one first light source is configured to act as an excitation filter which produces only a wavelength of light necessary for the excitation of a fluorophore in a specimen of a microscope;
at least one dichroic mirror;
at least one second light source capable of generating a range of visible or non-visible wavelengths of light, wherein said at least one second light source is configured to act as a barrier filter to separate said fluorescense emanating from said fluorophore from other background light;
at least one carrier configured to contain said at least one first light source, said at least one second light source, and said at least one dichroic mirror;
at least one microprocessor;
said at least one microprocessor including at least one software component coded to output wavelengths of light and colors available within the limits of said at least one first light source and said at least one second light source;
at least one user interface coupled to said at least one microprocessor which allows a user to select any wavelengths of light for output by said at least one first light source and said at least one second light source.
2. The active microscope light filtering system according to claim 1 that incorporates at least one color mixing lens.
3. The active microscope light filtering system according to claim 1 that incorporates at least one lookup table to enable said software to automatically configure said at least one second light source as a barrier filter with respect to an excitation filter wavelength applied to said at least one first light source.
4. The active light filtering system according to claim 1 that incorporates at least one video display.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
What is claimed is:
1. A method for generating an electronic mail receipt, comprising:
receiving a first set of purchase information concerning a first item purchased by a purchaser, the first set of purchase information including identifying information for the first item, price paid for the first item, and category information for the first item;
accepting a first set of store data comprising a store identifier associated with a first store;
storing the first set of purchase information and the store data in a database; and
generating an electronic mail receipt detailing at least a portion of the first set of purchase information and at least a portion of the first set of store data.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of transmitting the electronic mail receipt across a network to a purchaser’s electronic mail address.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the electronic mail receipt is transmitted as an attachment to an electronic mail message.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the electronic mail message comprises:
an HTML-formatted portion containing the electronic receipt as an embedded object; and
a comma delimited file comprising:
an item line number;
an item number;
an item name;
an item subtotal; and
an item category.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the embedded object comprises:
a store name;
a store address;
a store phone number;
a store branch number;
a transaction number;
a date of transaction;
a time of transaction;
a subtotal;
a tax percentage;
a tax amount;
a total sale number; and
a method of payment.
6. The method of claim 2, further comprising the steps of:
receiving an electronic mail address corresponding to the purchaser; and
storing the purchaser’s electronic mail address in the database.
7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:
creating in the database a record comprising the first set of purchase information;
receiving a second set of purchase information concerning a second item purchased by the purchaser, the second set of purchase information including identifying information for the second item, price paid for the second item, and category information for the second item;
appending the second set of purchase information to the record; and
updating a sales total for the purchaser, the sales total comprising the total of all prices paid.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the purchase information comprises:
a purchaser transaction data set; and
a transaction line item data set.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the purchaser transaction data set comprises:
a sale date;
a sale time;
a sale amount;
a transaction number;
a subtotal amount;
a tax amount; and
a method of payment.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the transaction line item data set comprises:
a sequence number;
an item number;
an item description;
an item price; and
an item category.
11. The method of claim 10, further comprising linking the transaction line item data set to the purchaser transaction data set in the database.
12. The method of claim 2, further comprising:
receiving a second set of purchase information concerning a second item purchased by a purchaser, the second set of purchase information including identifying information for the second item, price paid for the second item, and category information for the second item;
accepting a second set of store data comprising a store identifier associated with a second store;
storing the second set of purchase information and the second set of store data in a database; and
generating an electronic mail receipt for transmission to the purchaser, the electronic mail receipt detailing at least a portion of the second set of purchase information and at least a portion of the second set of store data.
13. The method of claim 2, wherein the steps of generating an electronic mail receipt comprising the item, price, and store data and transmitting the electronic mail receipt automatically occur in response to receiving purchase information from a point of purchase.
14. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of transmitting the electronic mail receipt occurs every six hours.
15. A business method for generating and transmitting electronic mail receipts, comprising:
receiving at least one set of purchase information concerning a first item purchased by a purchaser;
storing the at least one of set of purchase information as a first record in a database;
in response to a predetermined signal, generating an electronic mail receipt for the at least one of set of purchase information; and
generating a business report partially based on the at least one of set of purchase information.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein the at least one of set of purchase information is chosen from the group comprising:
a store data set;
a purchaser data set;
a transaction data set; and
a transaction line item data set.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the business report comprises a summary report comprising:
a total of purchasers shopping at the store;
a total of purchase prices from the store; and
a breakdown of purchase prices by category of goods.
18. The method of claim 16, wherein the business report comprises a purchaser spending report comprising:
a breakdown of purchase prices by category of goods; and
an average purchase price per purchaser per category of goods.
19. The method of claim 16, wherein the business report comprises a transaction report comprising:
a total of purchase prices per purchaser per store; and
a date on which each purchase was made.
20. An electronic mail receipt generated for a purchaser, comprising:
an electronic mail address corresponding to the purchaser;
a purchaser transaction field;
a purchaser transaction line item;
a store identifier; and
wherein the electronic receipt is arranged according to a transmission format.
21. The electronic mail receipt of claim 20, wherein the transmission format comprises a PDF format.
22. The electronic mail receipt of claim 20 wherein the purchaser transaction field comprises:
a sale date;
a sale time;
a sale amount;
a transaction number;
a subtotal amount;
a tax amount; and
a method of payment.
23. An electronic coupon for redemption at a point of purchase, comprising:
a point of purchase name;
a point of purchase address;
a point of purchase store number;
coupon text detailing a coupon benefit;
a unique coupon number; and
an expiration date.
24. The electronic coupon of claim 23, wherein the electronic coupon is generated in response to criteria specified by a user.
25. The electronic coupon of claim 23, wherein the electronic coupon is generated in response to predetermined criteria.
26. The electronic coupon of claims 24 and 25, wherein the electronic coupon is electronically transmitted to an electronic mail address associated with at least one purchaser satisfying the criteria.