Author: claimsbot

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
providing to a user at least one category from which to make a selection;
registering a selection by the user;
providing, in response to the selection a mission, said mission comprising:
a stimulus,
a plurality of response options, one of the response options comprising a preferred response option and
a path to a content site, the preferred response in said mission being correlated with content at the content site perceptible to the user; registering a selection of a response by the user; and
providing a response to the user in correspondence with whether or not the response indicates selection of the preferred response.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising establishing an incentive account for the user and incrementing said account in response to receipt indicating selection by the user of a preferred response in response to a stimulus.
3. The method of claim 2 further comprising providing the user a next mission after selection of a next response.
4. The method of claim 3 comprising grouping a preselected number of missions into an activity, detecting a response by a user indicative of completion of an activity and providing the user a message in response to completion of an activity.
5. The method according to claim 4 further comprising registering correct and incorrect responses of a user.
6. The method according to claim 5 further comprising registering user selection of the path and user activity at the destination of said path.
7. The method according to claim 6 further comprising generating a report indicative of user correct answers.
8. The method according to claim 7 further comprising registering the occurrence of selection of non-preferred alternative responses, visits by the path to the destination and subsequent user selections of preferred responses.
9. The method according to claim 8 wherein said mission comprises a multiple choice question.
10. The method according to claim 9 wherein said mission comprises a game move.
11. A machine readable medium that provides instructions which when executed by a processor cause said processor to perform operations comprising:
providing to a user at least one category from which to make a selection;
registering a selection by the user;
providing in response to the selection a mission, said mission being included in the category associated with the category selected by the user, said mission comprising:
a stimulus,
a plurality of response options, one of the response options comprising a preferred response option and
a path to a content site, the preferred response in said mission being correlated with content at the content site perceptible to the user;
registering a selection of a response by the user; and
providing a response to the user in correspondence with whether or not the response indicates selection of the preferred response.
12. The machine readable medium of claim 11 further comprising instructions to cause establishing an incentive account for the user and incrementing said account in response to receipt indicating selection by the user of a preferred response in response to a stimulus.
13. The machine readable medium of claim 12 further comprising instructions to cause providing the user a next mission after selection of a next response.
14. The machine readable medium of claim 12 further comprising instructions to cause grouping a preselected number of missions into an activity, detecting a response by a user indicative of completion of an activity and providing the user a message in response to completion of an activity.
15. The machine readable medium of claim 12 further comprising instructions to cause registering correct and incorrect responses of a user.
16. The machine readable medium of claim 12 further comprising instructions to cause registering user selection of the path and user activity at the destination of said path.
17. The machine readable medium of claim 12 further comprising instructions to cause generating a report indicative of user correct answers.
18. The machine readable medium of claim 12 further comprising instructions to cause registering the occurrence of selection of non-preferred alternative responses, visits by the path to the destination and subsequent user selections of preferred responses.
19. The machine readable medium of claim 12 further comprising instructions to cause said mission to comprise a multiple choice question.
20. The machine readable medium of claim 12 further comprising instructions to cause said mission comprises a game move.
21. A system comprising a marketing server to provide interfaced to a telecommunication system;
a processor coupled to said marketing server and to a database, said processor comprising:
a registration module,
an marketing module, and
an accounting module, said marketing module causing provision to a user of alternative categories selections and responding to a selection of said user to provide missions to the user comprising a stimulus, plurality of responses, one of which comprises a preferred response and a path to a content server comprising content correlated with contents of the mission; and
an marketing database coupled to said processor containing said missions.
22. The system according to claim 12 further comprising means for registering selections by a user of preferred alternatives and providing responses to the user in accordance with whether the selections are or are not in correspondence with the preferred response.
23. The system according to claim 13 wherein said processor registers preferred selections by a user and records activity of the user in selecting the path and activity at a destination accessed by the path.
24. The system according to claim 14 where said processor generates reports indicative of learned correct responses by a user subsequent to selection of the path.
25. The system according to claim 15 wherein said processor comprises an accounting modules for generating reports indicative of user activity and user learning of preferred responses.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1-18. (canceled)
19. A method to visually detect leaky EL elements in a matrix-structured electronic device, said device includes a plurality of EL elements, a plurality of first lines, and a plurality of second lines, wherein said plurality of first lines intersect said plurality of second lines, and said plurality of EL elements are at said intersections and are coupled to said plurality of first lines and said plurality of second lines, said method comprising:
(t) selecting a particular one of said plurality of first lines;
(u) applying a first voltage to said particular first line that is selected;
(v) applying a second voltage to one or more of said plurality of first lines that are not selected;
(w) floating said plurality of second lines; and
(x) visually determining if one or more of said plurality of EL elements coupled to said selected first line emits light.
20. The method of claim 19 further comprising
(y) if one or more of said plurality of EL elements coupled to said selected first line emits light, then noting said one or more of said plurality of EL elements that emit light.
21. The method of claim 20 further comprising
performing parts (t) thru (y) for each of remaining first lines of said plurality of first lines so that all of said plurality of first lines are selected once in part (t).
22. The method of claim 21 further comprising
if a particular one of said plurality of EL elements coupled to a particular one of said plurality of second lines is not one of said plurality of noted EL elements that emit light but all other remaining EL elements coupled to said particular second line are EL elements of said plurality of noted EL elements that emit light, then concluding that said particular one of said plurality of EL elements is a leaky EL element. of EL elements emit light, then concluding that said matrix-structured electronic device includes at least one leaky EL element.
24. The method of claim 19 wherein said first voltage is significantly lower than said second voltage.
25. The method of claim 19 wherein said first voltage is OV and said second voltage is greater than 6V.
26. The method of claim 19 wherein said matrix-structured electronic device is an OLED display, and said plurality of elements is a plurality of EL elements.
27. A method to optically detect leaky elements in a matrix-structured electronic device, said device includes a plurality of elements, a plurality of first lines, and a plurality of second lines, wherein said plurality of first lines intersect said plurality of second lines, and said plurality of elements are at said intersections and are coupled to said plurality of first lines and said plurality of second lines, said method comprising:
selecting a particular one of said plurality of first lines, applying a first voltage to said particular first line that is selected;
applying a second voltage to one or more of said plurality of first lines that are not selected;
floating said plurality of second lines; and
optically detecting a characteristic of each of said plurality of elements.
28. The method of claim 27 wherein said characteristic is a temperature, and an average detected temperature is determined for each of said plurality of elements, and further comprising
if a particular one of said plurality of elements coupled to a particular one of said plurality of second lines has a significantly higher average detected temperature than all other remaining elements coupled to said particular second line, then concluding that said particular one of said plurality of elements is a leaky element.

1. A document verification system for verifying whether a document is an original, the system comprising:
an information storage device;
an information registration device including a registration information acquisition component for acquiring, as registration information, at least one of feature information, indicating a feature of a nonreproducible disorder portion in a printing region on a document serving as an original, and state information, indicating at least one of a surface state and a thickness-expressing spots state, in a non-printing region on the document and a storage processing component for storing the registration information acquired by the registration information acquisition component in the information storage device; and
a document verification device including an verification information acquisition component, for acquiring, as ascertainment information, information corresponding to the registration information in the document to be verified, a readout component for reading out the registration information from the information storage device, and an verification component for comparing the verification information acquired by the verification information acquisition component with the registration information read out by the readout component and verifying whether the document to be verified is the original on the basis of a result of the comparison.
2. The document verification system of claim 1, wherein at least one set of the information storage device, the information registration device and the document verification device is connected via a network.
3. The document verification system of claim 1, wherein
the information registration device further includes a condition information acquisition component for acquiring condition information, which indicates conditions at the time when the registration information acquired by the registration information acquisition component was obtained from a document serving as the original, and a condition information storage processing component for storing the condition information acquired by the condition information acquisition component in the information storage device, and
the document verification device further includes a condition information readout component for reading out the condition information from the information storage device, and a correction component for correcting the verification information acquired by the verification information acquisition component on the basis of the condition information read out by the condition information readout component.
4. The document verification system of claim 1, wherein the feature information is information indicating a scattering state of an image forming material for the document serving as the original andor information indicating a state of penetration nonuniformity of the image forming material for the document.
5. The document verification system of claim 1, wherein the state information is information obtained by receiving at least one of reflected light from the document serving as the original and transmitted light through the document serving as the original.
6. The document verification system of claim 1 further comprising:
a recording device comprising an identification information recording component for recording, on the document serving as the original, identification information capable of identifying a document; and
a readout device comprising an identification information readout component for reading out the identification information of a document to be verified,
wherein the storage processing component in the information registration device further stores the identification information, which was recorded on the document serving as the original by the identification information recording component in the recording device in the information recording device, so as to be associated with the registration information on the document, and
the readout component in the document verification device reads out, from the information storage device, registration information associated with identification information corresponding to the identification information read out by the identification information readout component in the readout device.
7. The document verification system of claim 1, wherein
the information storage device associates and further stores position information, which indicates installation positions of the information registration device and the document verification device, and device identification information capable of identifying the information registration device and the document verification device, and
each of the information registration device and the document verification device further includes a device identification information storage component for storing the corresponding device identification information, and a device identification information transmission component for transmitting the device identification information stored in the device identification information storage component to the outside.
8. A document verification method for verifying whether a document is an original, the method comprising the steps of:
acquiring, as registration information, at least one of feature information indicating a feature of a nonreproducible disorder portion in a printing region on a document serving as an original and state information indicating at least one of a surface state and a thickness-expressing spots state, in a non-printing region on the document, and storing the registration information in the information storage device, by using an information registration device; and
acquiring, as verification information, information corresponding to the registration information in a document to be verified, reading out the registration information from the information storage device, comparing the acquired verification information with the read out registration information and verifying whether the document to be verified is the original on the basis of a result of the comparison, by using a document verification device.
9. The document verification method of claim 8, wherein the feature information is at least one of information indicating a scattering state of an image forming material for the document serving as the original and information indicating a state of penetration nonuniformity of the image forming material for the document.
10. The document verification method of claim 8, wherein the state information is at least one of information obtained by receiving at least one of light reflected and light transmitted through the document serving as the original.
11. An information registration device for registering in an information storage device, information used to verify whether a document is an original the information registration device comprising:
a registration information acquisition component for acquiring, as registration information, at least one of feature information indicating a feature of a nonreproducible disorder portion in a printing region on a document serving as an original and state information indicating at least one of a surface state andor a thickness-expressing spots state in a non-printing region on the document; and
a storage processing component for storing the registration information in the information storage device.
12. The information registration device of claim 11, wherein the feature information is at least one of information indicating a scattering state of an image forming material for the document serving as the original and information indicating a state of penetration nonuniformity of the image forming material for the document.
13. The information registration device of claim 11, wherein the state information is at least one of information obtained by receiving at least one of light reflected from the document serving as the original and light transmitted through the document serving as the original.
14. A recording medium comprising an information registration instruction recorded thereon, the information registration instruction causing a computer to execute processing of registering, in an information storage device, information used to verify whether a document is an original, the information registration instruction comprising the steps of:
acquiring, as registration information, at least one of feature information indicating a feature of a nonreproducible disorder portion in a printing region on a document serving as an original and state information indicating at least one of a surface state and a thickness-expressing spots state in a non-printing region on the document; and
storing the registration information in the information storage device.
15. A document verification device for verifying whether or not a document is the original by reading out registration information from an information storage device, in which at least one of feature information indicating a feature of a nonreproducible disorder portion in a printing region of a document serving as an original and state information indication at least one of a surface state and a thickness-expressing spots state in a nonprinting region in the document has been registered as the registration information the document device comprising:
an verification information acquisition component for acquiring, as verification information, information corresponding to the registration information in a document to be verified;
a readout component for reading out the registration information from the information storage device; and
an verification component for comparing the verification information acquired by the verification information acquisition component with the registration information read out by the readout component, and verifying whether the document to be verified is the original on the basis of a result of the comparison.
16. The document verification device of claim 15, wherein the feature information is at least one of information indicating a scattering state of an image forming material for the document serving as the original and information indicating a state of penetration nonuniformity of the image forming material for the document.
17. The document verification device of claim 15, wherein the state information is at least one of information obtained by receiving at least one of light reflected from the document serving as the original and light transmitted through the document serving as the original.
18. A recording medium comprising a document verification instruction recorded thereon, the document verification instruction causing a computer to execute processing for verifying whether or not a document is the original by reading out registration information from an information storage device, in which at least one of feature information indicating a feature of a nonreproducible disorder portion in a printing region of a document serving as an original and state information indication at lest one of a surface state and a thickness-expressing spots state in a nonprinting region in the document has been registered as the registration information, the document verification instruction comprising the steps of:
acquiring, as verification information, information corresponding to the registration information in a document to be verified;
reading out the registration information from the information storage device; and
comparing the verification information acquired at the verification information acquisition step with the registration information read out at the readout step, and verifying whether the document to be verified is the original on the basis of a result of the comparison.
19. A document verification database used to verify whether a document is an original, wherein
at least one of feature information indicating a feature of a nonreproducible disorder portion in a printing region on a document serving as an original and state information indicating at least one of a surface state and a thickness-expressing spots state in a non-printing region on the document is registered in the document verification database as registration information.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. A proximity sensor for detecting a presence of an object within a first distance of an exterior surface of a protective layer of a portable electronic device, comprising:
a light emitting device arranged to emit light at a primary frequency in a direction outward and away from the portable electronic device;
a light detecting device arranged to detect light at least at the primary frequency;
a collimator placed between the light detecting device and the light emitting device, the collimator causing a substantial portion of the light emitted by the light emitting device to impinge the protective layer of the portable electronic device at a low angle of incidence thereby reducing an amount of emitted light that reflects from the interior surface of the protective layer and detected by the light detecting device;
a filtering layer applied to the interior surface of the protective layer arranged to filter out frequencies of light other than the primary frequency, thereby substantially reducing the likelihood of the light detecting device from detecting light other than that of the primary frequency; and
a uniform transparent structure applied to an inner surface of the filtering layer, the uniform transparent structure having a size and shape in accordance with the proximity sensor, the uniform transparent structure arranged to absorb substantially all light incident thereon thereby reducing an amount of light detected by light detecting device not associated with light reflected from the object.
2. The proximity sensor as recited in claim 1, wherein the primary frequency if infrared (IR).
3. The proximity sensor as recited in claim 1, wherein at least the light emitting device is place a second distance from the interior surface of the protective glass, the second distance being sufficiently long that most of the light emitted by the light emitting device impinges on the interior surface of the protective layer at the low angle of incidence, thereby substantially reducing reflected light detected by the light detecting device.
4. The proximity sensor as recited in claim 1, wherein the collimator comprises:
a base portion; and
a shaped upper portion integrally formed from the base portion, the shaped upper portion having an edge shape that causes only a selected portion of the light from the light emitting device from being detected by the light detecting device, thereby reducing an amount of cross talk between the light emitting device and the light detecting device.
5. The proximity sensor as recited in claim 2, wherein the filtering layer comprises IR transparent ink.
6. The proximity sensor as recited in claim 1, wherein the uniform transparent structure is optically transparent structure.
7. The proximity sensor as recited in claim 1, wherein the uniform transparent structure is has an oval shape.
8. The proximity sensor as recited in claim 1, wherein the light emitting device is located a collimating distance from the protective layer, the collimating distance being that distance whereby light from the light emitting device is substantially collimated when incident upon the interior surface of the protective layer.
9. A method of manufacturing a proximity sensor for use in a portable electronic device having a protective layer, the proximity sensor used to detect the presence of an object within a first distance of an exterior surface of the protective layer, comprising:
providing a substrate;
attaching a light emitting device to the substrate, the light emitting device arranged to emit light at a primary frequency in a direction outward and away from the portable electronic device;
attaching a light detecting device to the substrate in proximity to the light emitting device, the light detecting device arranged to detect light at least at the primary frequency;
attaching a collimator to the substrate between the light emitting device and the light detecting device, the collimator causing a substantial portion of the light emitted by the light emitting device to impinge an interior surface of the protective layer at a low angle of incidence;
placing a filtering layer on the interior surface of the protective layer, the filtering layer arranged to filter out frequencies of light other than the primary frequency thereby substantially reducing the likelihood of the light detecting device from detecting light other than that of the primary frequency; and
placing a uniform transparent structure applied to an inner surface of the filtering layer, the optically opaque layer having a size and shape in accordance with the proximity sensor, the optically opaque layer arranged to absorb substantially all light incident thereon thereby reducing an amount of light detected by light detecting device not associated with light reflected from the object.
10. The method as recited in claim 9, wherein the primary frequency if infrared (IR).
11. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein at least the light emitting device is place a second distance from the interior surface of the protective glass, the second distance being sufficiently long that most of the light emitted by the light emitting device impinges on the interior surface of the protective layer at the low angle of incidence, thereby substantially reducing reflected light detected by the light detecting device.
12. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein the collimator comprises:
a base portion; and
a shaped upper portion integrally formed from the base portion, the shaped upper portion having an edge shape that causes only a selected portion of the light from the light emitting device from being detected by the light detecting device, thereby reducing an amount of cross talk between the light emitting device and the light detecting device.
13. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein the filtering layer comprises IR transparent ink.
14. The method as recited in claim 9, wherein the uniform transparent structure is optically opaque transparent structure.
15. The method as recited in claim 9, wherein the uniform transparent structure is has an oval shape.
16. A portable computing device, comprising
a housing having an opening;
a display assembly having a size and shape in accordance with the display assembly; a protective layer disposing within the opening, the protective layer having an exterior surface and an interior surface; and
a proximity sensor for detecting a presence of an object within a first distance of the exterior surface of the protective layer, comprising:
a light emitting portion,
a light detecting portion in proximity to the light emitting portion,
a uniform transparent structure disposed at the lower surface of the protective layer,
a collimating portion disposed between the light emitting portion and the light detecting portion, wherein the proximity sensor detects a presence of an object at or within an activation distance of the exterior surface of the protective layer by establishing an optical path between the light emitting portion and the light detecting portion, wherein light passing from the light emitting portion to the light detecting portion along the optical path is directed by the collimating portion and modified by the optically opaque layer.
17. The portable computing device as recited in claim 16, the light emitting portion comprising:
a light emitting device arranged to emit light at a primary frequency in a direction outward and away from the portable electronic device.
18. The portable computing device as recited in claim 17, wherein the light emitting device is located a collimating distance from the protective layer, the collimating distance being that distance whereby light from the light emitting device is substantially collimated when incident upon the interior surface of the protective layer.