Author: claimsbot

1. A measuring device, comprising:
a tick count timer configured to provide a sequence of signals;
an optical emitter coupled to the tick count timer and configured to emit a first beam;
an optical receiver coupled to the tick count timer and configured to receive a second beam;
a reflective surface optically coupled to the optical emitter and capable of providing the second beam in accordance with the first beam;
a loop including electrical path and optical path and configured to pass through the optical emitter, wherein the loop includes an electrical portion and an optical portion capable of facilitating conversion between optical signal and electrical signal;
a click counter coupled to the loop and configured to count pulse that travels around the loop; and
a distance computing element coupled to the tick count timer and capable of providing a distance in response to number of pulses.
2. The device of claim 1, wherein the tick count timer includes a counter capable of providing ticks in accordance with counting of time.
3. The device of claim 2, wherein the tick count timer includes an electronic circuit capable of generating number of clicks in response to the first and the second beams.
4. The device of claim 3, wherein an accumulated number of ticks indicates a distance in accordance with a predefined number of ticks.
5. The device of claim 1, wherein the optical emitter is a laser capable of converting electrical energy to an outgoing beam.
6. The device of claim 5, wherein the laser includes a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser.
7. The device of claim 1, wherein the optical receiver includes a photodiode configured to detect a return beam, wherein the optical receiver is capable of converting optical energy to electrical signal.
8. The device of claim 2, wherein the distance computing element obtains a number of ticks and a number of clicks from the tick count timer.
9. The device of claim 8, wherein the distance is calculated in response to the number of ticks and the number of clicks in accordance with a calibration value.
10. A method of measuring, comprising:
generating a plurality of outgoing optical beams from an optical emitter to a reflective surface;
receiving a plurality of returning optical beams from the reflective surface;
identifying a loop having an electrical path and an optical path;
generating a pulse by converting a first electrical signal to a first optical signal and converting a second optical signal to a second electrical signal;
counting the pulses traveling through the loop; and
calculating a distance between a reference point and a surface of the reflective surface in response to number of pulses.
11. The method of claim 10, further comprising calibrating a measuring device with two reference points.
12. The method of claim 10, further comprising calibrating a measuring device with a predefined calibrating table.
13. The method of claim 10, wherein generating a plurality of outgoing optical beams from an optical emitter includes activating a laser to convert an electrical signal to an optical light.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein receiving a plurality of returning optical beams includes enabling a photodiode to convert optical light to an electrical signal.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein identifying a loop having an electrical path and an optical path further includes amplifying optical delay detected on the optical path.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein counting pulses traveling through the loop includes detecting a pulse by identifying electrical signals and optical signals.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein detecting a pulse includes:
emitting an outgoing optical light;
detecting a returning optical light;
converting the returning optical light into an electrical signal; and
forwarding the electrical signal to the optical emitting device.
18. The method of claim 12, wherein calculating a distance between a reference point and a surface of the reflective surface in response to number of pulses further includes computing a light travel distance between a surface of light emitter device and a surface of reflective surface in response to the pulses and calibrations.
19. A method for determining a distance between a measuring device and a reflective surface, the method comprising:
identifying a loop having an electrical path and an optical path and allowing a pulse to cycle through the loop;
converting the pulse to electrical signal when it travels through the electrical path and converting the pulse to optical signal when it travels through the optical path;
counting clicks in response to number of the pulses of an oscillating signal from an oscillating path, the oscillating path having the electrical path component and the optical path component, the optical path component having an outgoing beam to the reflective surface, and a return beam from the reflective surface;
counting ticks in response to a number of signals from a clock timer in accordance with passage of time; and
computing the distance between the measuring device and the reflective surface in response to the clicks and the ticks.
20. The method of claim 19, further comprising enabling the oscillating path in response to an input at an interface to the measuring device.
21. The method of claim 20, wherein the interface comprises a universal serial bus (USB) interface.
22. The method of claim 19, further comprising enabling the oscillating path such that the sample period is greater than a predetermined time.
23. The method of claim 19, further comprising aligning the reflective surface to a laser in the controller device, the laser generating the outgoing beam.
24. The method of claim 19, further comprising aligning the reflective surface to a photodiode in the controller device, the photodiode detecting the return beam.
25. The method of claim 19, further comprising computing the distance by dividing the number of ticks of the clock per a fixed number of clicks of the oscillating path over a calibration quantity to obtain a distance value.
26. The method of claim 19, further comprising computing the distance by dividing the number of clicks of the oscillating path per a fixed number of ticks of the clock over a calibration quantity to obtain a distance value.
27. An apparatus of measuring, comprising:
means for generating a plurality of outgoing optical beams from an optical emitter to a reflective surface;
means for receiving a plurality of returning optical beams from the reflective surface;
means for identifying a loop having an electrical path and an optical path;
means for generating a pulse by converting a first electrical signal to a first optical signal and converting a second optical signal to a second electrical signal;
means for counting the pulses traveling through the loop; and
means for calculating a distance between a reference point and a surface of the reflective surface in response to number of pulses.
28. The apparatus of claim 27, further comprising means for calibrating a measuring device with two reference points.

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 phase synthesizing diversity receiver having receiving means for generating modulation signals from signals received by a plurality of reception antennas and outputting the modulation signals, said receiver comprising:
envelope detection means for detecting envelopes of said modulation signals and generating envelop detection signals;
low pass filter means for low-pass filtering said envelop detection signals to generate feature extraction signals indicating features of envelops of said modulation signals;
adder means for adding together said feature extraction signals generated by said low pass filter means to generate addition feature extraction signals:
adaptation synthesizing means for shifting said modulation signals at each predetermined delay time, multiplying each shifted signal by a tap coefficient to generate a multiplication result for each of the modulation signals, and adding together multiplication results to generate modulation signals as prediction signals; and
tap coefficient altering means for automatically adjusting said tap coefficients to approximate said modulation signals as prediction signals generated by said adaptation synthesizing means to said addition feature extraction signals,
wherein said low pass filter means is provided such that:
when the modulation signals outputted from the receiving means are AM-modulated signals, the low pass filter means switches over to a cut-off frequency which is higher than a frequency band of an AM-demodulated signal,
when the modulation signals outputted from the receiving means are FM-modulated signals, the low pass filter means switches over to a cut-off frequency which is lower than an AM altering frequency generated due to a frequency selective fading of the modulation signals outputted from the receiving means.
2. The phase synthesizing diversity receiver according to claim 1,
further comprising demodulation means for demodulating the modulation signals serving as said prediction signals generated by the adaptation synthesizing means.
3. A reception method for use in a phase synthesizing diversity receiver having receiving means for generating modulation signals from signals received by a plurality of reception antennas and outputting the modulation signals, said method comprising:
an envelope detection step for detecting envelopes of said modulation signals and generating envelop detection signals;
a filtering step for low-pass filtering said envelop detection signals to generate feature extraction signals indicating features of envelops of said modulation signals;
an adding step for adding together said feature extraction signals generated in said filtering step to generate addition feature extraction signals;
an adaptation synthesizing step for shifting said modulation signals at each predetermined delay time, multiplying each shifted signal by a tap coefficient to generate a multiplication result for each of the modulation signals, and adding together multiplication results to generate modulation signals as prediction signals; and
a tap coefficient altering step for automatically adjusting said tap coefficients to approximate said modulation signals as prediction signals generated in said adaptation synthesizing step to said addition feature extraction signals,
wherein in said filtering step:
when the modulation signals outputted from the receiving means are AM-modulated signals, a cut-off frequency is selected which is higher than a frequency band of an AM-demodulated signal,
when the modulation signals outputted from the receiving means are FM-modulated signals, a cut-off frequency is selected which is lower than an AM altering frequency generated due to a frequency selective fading of the modulation signals outputted from the receiving means.
4. (canceled)
5. (canceled)
6. (canceled)

1. A method of making a cased wellbore comprising at least the steps of:
assembling a lower segment of a drill string comprising in sequence from top to bottom a first hollow segment of drill pipe, a latching subassembly means, a directional drilling means, and a rotary drill bit having at least one mud passage for passing drilling mud from the interior of the drill string to the outside of the drill string;
periodically halting rotary drilling, introducing into said wellbore a directional surveying means to determine the direction of the wellbore being drilled, and thereafter removing said directional surveying means from said wellbore;
rotary drilling the well into the earth in a desired direction to a predetermined depth with the drill string by attaching successive lengths of hollow drill pipes to said lower segment of the drill string and by circulating mud from the interior of the drill string to the outside of the drill string during rotary drilling so as to produce a wellbore;
after said predetermined depth is reached, pumping a latching float collar valve means down the interior of the drill string with drilling mud until it seats into place within said latching subassembly means;
pumping a bottom wiper plug means down the interior of the drill string with cement until the bottom wiper plug means seats on the upper portion of the latching float collar valve means so as to clean the mud from the interior of the drill string;
pumping any required additional amount of cement into the wellbore by forcing it through a portion of the bottom wiper plug means and through at least one mud passage of the drill bit into the wellbore;
pumping a top wiper plug means down the interior of the drill string with water until the top wiper plug seats on the upper portion of the bottom wiper plug means thereby cleaning the interior of the drill string and forcing additional cement into the wellbore through at least one mud passage of the drill bit;
allowing the cement to cure;
thereby cementing into place the drill string to make a cased welbore.
2. Rotary drilling apparatus to drill a borehole into the earth comprising a hollow drill string possessing directional drilling means comprising a jet deflection bit having at least one mud passage for passing the drilling mud from within the hollow drill string to the borehole, a source of drilling mud, a source of cement, and at least one latching float collar valve means that is pumped with the drilling mud into place above the jet deflection bit to install said latching float collar means within the hollow drill string above said jet deflection bit that is used to cement the drill string and said jet deflection bit into the earth during one pass into the formation of the drill string to make a steel cased well.
3. A method of directional drilling a well from the surface of the earth and cementing a drill string into place within a wellbore to make a cased well in a formation using an apparatus having at least a hollow drill string attached to a rotary drill bit, the drill bit having at least one mud passage to convey drilling mud from the interior of the drill string to the wellbore, a source of drilling mud, a source of cement, and at least one latching float valve, comprising:
pumping the latching float valve from the surface of the earth through the hollow drill string with drilling mud so as to seat the latching float valve above the drill bit; and
pumping cement through the seated latching float valve to cement the drill string and rotary drill bit into place within the wellbore.
4. A method for drilling and casing a wellbore, comprising:
providing a drill string and an earth removal member operatively connected to the drill suing, at least a portion of the drill string comprising casing;
drilling the wellbore using the drill string;
using the casing portion to line the wellbore;
pumping a latching float valve from the surface of the earth through the drill string with drilling mud so as to seat the latching float valve above the earth removal member, wherein the earth removal member possesses at least one mud passage to convey drilling mud from the interior of the drill string to the wellbore; and
pumping cement through the seated latching float valve to cement the drill string and the earth removal member into place within the wellbore.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the earth removal member comprises a drill bit.
6. The method of claim 4, further comprising performing logging of a surrounding geological formation.
7. The method of claim 4, further comprising curing the cement under hydrostatic conditions.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein curing the cement under hydrostatic conditions comprises:
pumping a first wiper plug through the drill string; and
pumping a second wiper plug through the drill string.

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 method for providing targeted questions to a user of a social networking system, the method comprising:
providing a question interface to the user of the social networking system for display, the question interface comprising a plurality of selectable topics, each selectable topic associated with one or more tags stored by the social networking system;
receiving a selection of a topic in the question interface from the user;
retrieving profile information related to the user, the profile information including the user’s tag affinities;
selecting questions based on tags related to the selected topic;
sorting the questions based on the user’s affinities for the tags; and
providing one or more of the sorted questions in the question interface for display to the user.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting questions based on tags related to the selected topic further comprises:
selecting questions based on tags hierarchically under the tag corresponding to the selected topic.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting questions based on tags related to the selected topic further comprises:
selecting questions based on tags corresponding to the user’s tag affinities.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the profile information further includes a history of the user’s interactions with questions on the social networking system and wherein selecting questions based on tags related to the selected topic further comprises:
determining a frequency of interaction for each of at least one past tag associated with the history of the user’s interactions with questions on the social networking system; and
selecting questions based on the past tags with a frequency of interaction that meets a predetermined threshold.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the profile information further includes the user’s connections’ tag affinities and wherein selecting questions based on tags related to the selected topic further comprises selecting questions based on tags corresponding to the user’s connections’ tag affinities.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein sorting the questions based on a model utilizing the user’s tag affinities further comprises:
for each of the questions, determining a score for the question by combining the user’s tag affinities for the tags associated with the question; and
ordering the questions by the corresponding scores from highest score to lowest score.
7. The method of claim 5, wherein sorting the questions based on a model utilizing the user’s tag affinities further comprises:
for each of the questions, determining a score for the question by combining the user’s tag affinities for the tags associated with the question and the user’s connections’ tag affinities for the tags associated with the question; and
ordering the questions by the corresponding scores from highest score to lowest score.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the profile information further includes a history of the user’s interactions with questions on the social networking system and wherein sorting the questions based on a model utilizing the user’s tag affinities further comprises:
determining a frequency of interaction with past tags associated with the history of the user’s interactions with questions on the social networking system;
for each of the questions, determining a score for the question by the frequency of interaction with the past tags; and
ordering the questions by the corresponding scores from highest score to lowest score.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the profile information further includes a time lapse measurement for the duration of time elapsed since the user last interacted with a question related to the selected topic and wherein sorting the questions based on a model utilizing the user’s tag affinities further comprises:
comparing the time lapse measurement to an average time lapse measurement for the selected topic;
determining an adjustment for the selected topic based on the comparison;
for each of the questions, determining a score for the question by combining the user’s tag affinities for the tags associated with the question;
applying the adjustment to the scores for the questions associated with the selected topic; and
ordering the questions by the corresponding scores from highest score to lowest score.
10. A method for providing questions in an interface to a user of a social networking system, the method comprising:
retrieving profile information related to the user, the profile information including the user’s tag affinities;
selecting questions based on tags related to the user’s tag affinities;
sorting the questions based on a model utilizing the user’s tag affinities; and
providing the highest sorted question in the interface for display to the user.
11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:
receiving an answer to the question in the interface from the user;
modifying the profile information related to the user to indicate affinities for the tags associated with the question; and
storing the answer on the social networking system.
12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:
receiving a selection of a link in the interface that indicates the user directing the question to a connected user of the social networking system; and
providing the question to the connected user in a separate interface for display within the social networking system.
13. The method of claim 10, wherein selecting questions based on tags related to the user’s tag affinities further comprises:
determining a similarity index value of the user; and
selecting questions answered by other users of the social networking system having the similarity index value.
14. The method of claim 10, further comprising:
determining a trustworthiness value of the user from the received profile information; and
responsive to the trustworthiness value meeting a predetermined threshold, providing the question in the interface for display to the user.
15. The method of claim 10, wherein the user represents a page on the social networking system and answers the question on behalf of the page.
16. The method of claim 10, wherein the question polls other users of the social networking system and returns an answer interface displaying responses.
17. The method of claim 10, wherein providing the highest sorted question in the interface for display to the user further comprises:
embedding the interface in an external website associated with the social networking system; and
providing the question in the embedded interface with selectable links to direct the user to the social networking system.
18. The method of claim 10, wherein providing the highest sorted question in the interface for display to the user further comprises:
embedding the interface in a third party application associated with the social networking system; and
providing the question in the embedded interface with selectable links to direct the user to the social networking system.
19. The method of claim 10, wherein providing the highest sorted question in the interface for display to the user further comprises:
displaying the interface as an instant message associated with the social networking system; and
providing the question in the instant message with selectable links to direct the user to the social networking system.
20. The method of claim 10, wherein providing the highest sorted question in the interface for display to the user further comprises:
providing the interface as an advertisement associated with the social networking system; and
providing the question in the advertisement with selectable links to direct the user to the social networking system.