Author: claimsbot

1. A method of routing contacts within an automatic contact distribution system having a plurality of automatic contact distributors, the method comprising:
receiving a request for contact from a human client through a public communication system; and
a processor tendering the contact request to some subset of less than all of the plurality of automatic contact distributors with a skewed probability of receipt of the contact request in favor of at least some of the subset of the plurality of automatic contact distributors.
2. The method of routing contacts as in claim 1 further comprising skewing the probability of receipt of the contact request in favor of at least some of the plurality of automatic contact distributors having more signed-in agents.
3. The method of routing contacts as in claim 1 further comprising skewing the probability of receipt of the contact request in favor of at least some of the plurality of automatic contact distributors with more signed-in agents having at least one predetermined skill type.
4. The method of routing contacts as in claim 1 further comprising skewing the probability of receipt of the contact request in favor of at least some of the plurality of automatic contact distributors based upon run-time statistics of the system.
5. The method of handling contact requests as in claim 3 further comprising including a set of required skills for handling the contact request within the tendered contact request.
6. The method of handling contact requests as in claim 5 further comprising including a set of desired skills for handling the contact request within the tendered contact request.
7. The method of handling contact requests as in claim 6 further comprising a contact broker receiving the contact from a public communication network along with contact associated information.
8. The method of handling contact requests as in claim 7 further comprising the contact broker identifying a set of required skills for handling the contact from the contact associated information.
9. The method of handling contact requests as in claim 8 further comprising the contact broker identifying a set of desired skills for handling the contact from the contact associated information.
10. The method of handling contact requests as in claim 9 further comprising the contact broker composing the contact request and forwarding the composed contact request to a system router for forwarding to the subset.
11. The method of handling contact requests as in claim 10 further comprising each automatic contact distributors of the subset preparing and sending a response to the contact broker including an indication of relative ability to handle the contact.
12. The method of handling contact requests as in claim 11 further comprising the contact broker determining whether any automatic contact distributor has an agent with both the required and desired skills and, if not, then assigning the contact to a contact center with an agent having the required skills.
13. An apparatus for routing contacts within an automatic contact distribution system having a plurality of automatic contact distributors, the apparatus comprising:
means for receiving requests for contacts from a human client through a public communication system; and
means for tendering contact requests to some subset of less than all of the plurality of automatic contact distributors with a skewed probability of receipt of the tendered contact request in favor of some of the subset of the plurality of automatic contact distributors.
14. The apparatus for routing contacts as in claim 13 further comprising means for skewing the probability of receipt of the tendered contact request in favor of at least some of the plurality of automatic contact distributors having more signed-in agents.
15. The apparatus for routing contacts as in claim 13 further comprising means for skewing the probability of receipt of the tendered contact request in favor of at least some of the plurality of automatic contact distributors with more signed-in agents having at least one predetermined skill type.
16. The apparatus for routing contacts as in claim 13 further comprising means for skewing the probability of receipt of the contact request in favor of at least some of the plurality of automatic contact distributors based upon run-time statistics of the system.
17. The apparatus for handling contact requests as in claim 15 further comprising means for including a set of desired skills for handling the contact request in the randomly tendered contact request.
18. The apparatus for handling contact requests as in claim 17 further comprising means within each of the plurality of automatic contact distributors for determining whether an agent with the required skills is available.
19. The apparatus for handling contact requests as in claim 18 further comprising means for determining whether any contact center of the plurality of automatic contact distributors has an agent with both the required and desired skills and, if not, then assigning the contact to a automatic contact distributors with an agent having the required skills.
20. The apparatus for handling contact requests as in claim 13 further comprising a contact broker that receives the contact from a public communication network.
21. The apparatus for handling contact requests as in claim 20 further comprising means for retrieving contact associated information received by the contact broker along with the received contact.
22. The apparatus for handling contact requests as in claim 21 further comprising means for determining a set of required skills for handling the contact from the contact associated information.
23. The apparatus for handling contact requests as in claim 22 further comprising means for determining a set of desired skills for handling the contact from the contact associated information.
24. The apparatus for handling contact requests as in claim 22 further comprising means within the broker for composing the tendered request including the required and desired skills.
25. An apparatus for routing contacts within an automatic contact handling system having a plurality of contact centers, the apparatus comprising:
a contact broker that receives a request for contact from a human client through a public communication system; and
a router that receives the contact request from the contact broker and that tenders the contact request to some subset of less than all of the plurality of automatic contact centers with a skewed probability of receipt of the tendered contact request in favor of at least some of the subset of the plurality of contact centers.
26. The apparatus for routing contacts as in claim 25 wherein the router further comprises a random number generator that randomizes identifiers of the plurality of automatic contact distributors.
27. The apparatus for routing contacts as in claim 25 further comprising a list of signed-in agents within the router that is used to skew the probability of receipt of the tendered contact request in favor of at least some of the plurality of contact centers having more signed-in agents.
28. The apparatus for routing contacts as in claim 25 further comprising an agents skills list within the router that is used to skew the probability of receipt of the tendered contact request in favor of at least some of the plurality of contact centers with more signed-in agents having at least one desired skill type.
29. The apparatus for routing contacts as in claim 25 further comprising a system monitoring processor that skews the probability of receipt of the contact request in favor of at least some of the plurality of automatic contact distributors based upon run-time statistics of the system.
30. The apparatus for handling contact requests as in claim 25 wherein the tendered contact request further comprises a tender offer packet sent by the router to each automatic contact distributor of the subset that includes a set of required skills for handling the contact request.
31. The apparatus for handling contact requests as in claim 30 further comprising an agent selection processor within each of the plurality of automatic contact distributors that receives the tender offer packet, determines whether an agent with the required skills is available and that sends a tender offer response back to the contact broker.
32. The apparatus for handling contact requests as in claim 31 further comprising a comparator within the contact broker that determines whether any contact center of the plurality of contact centers has an agent with both the required and desired skills and, if not, then selecting an automatic contact distributor of the subset with an agent having the required skills for assignment of the contact.
33. The apparatus for handling contact requests as in claim 25 further comprising a communication processor that transfers the contact to the selected automatic contact distributor.

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 projection system comprising:
a modulator to modulate light in accordance with a plurality of sub-frames of a frame of image data; and,
an Offner relay to differently aim, in accordance with each sub-frame, the light as modulated.
2. The projection system of claim 1, further comprising an aperture through which the Offner relay is to differently aim, in accordance with each sub-frame, the light as modulated.
3. The projection system of claim 2, wherein the aperture and the modulator are at least substantially coplanar to one another.
4. The projection system of claim 2, wherein the aperture is a variable aperture such that the light transmitted through the aperture is dynamically controllable.
5. The projection system of claim 4, wherein the variable aperture functions to crop the light transmitted therethrough in accordance with one or more parameters.
6. The projection system of claim 2, further comprising a projection lens mechanism to outwardly project the light differently aimed through the aperture.
7. The projection system of claim 1, wherein the Offner relay comprises:
a first reflective surface; and,
a second reflective surface to be physically adjusted to differently aim; in accordance with each sub-frame, the light as modulated.
8. The projection system of claim 7, wherein the light modulated by the modulator is reflected by the first reflective surface onto the second reflective surface, and then is reflected by the second reflective surface back onto the first reflective surface.
9. The projection system of claim 7, wherein the first reflective surface is an aspherical reflective surface.
10. The projection system of claim 7, wherein the second reflective surface is a conical reflective surface.
11. A projection system comprising:
a modulator to modulate light in accordance with a plurality of sub-frames of a frame of image data; and,
an optical relay mechanism to differently aim, in accordance with each sub-frame, the light as modulated, prior to zoom-related actions being performed on the light.
12. The projection system of claim 11, further comprising a zooming mechanism to perform zoom-related actions on the light after the optical relay mechanism has differently aimed, in accordance with each sub-frame, the light as modulated.
13. The projection system of claim 11, wherein the optical relay mechanism comprises an Offner relay.
14. The projection system of claim 11, wherein a portion of the optical relay mechanism is physically adjusted to differently aim, in accordance with each sub-frame, the light as modulated.
15. The projection system of claim 11, further comprising a variable aperture through which the optical relay mechanism is to differently aim, in accordance with each sub-frame, the light as modulated,
wherein the variable aperture is dynamically controllable to crop the light transmitted therethrough in accordance with one or more parameters.
16. The projection system of claim 15, wherein the variable aperture and the modulator are at least substantially coplanar to one another.
17. The projection system of claim 11, further comprising a projection lens mechanism to outwardly project the light.
18. A projection system comprising:
means for modulating light in accordance with a plurality of sub-frames of a frame of image data; and,
means for differently aiming, in accordance with each sub-frame, the light as modulated, prior to performing zoom-related actions on the light.
19. The projection system of claim 18, further comprising means for performing zoom-related actions on the light after the light has been differently aimed, in accordance with each sub-frame.
20. An optical relay mechanism for a projection system comprising:
a first reflective surface to receive light modulated in accordance with a plurality of sub-frames of a frame of image data; and,
a second reflective surface to receive the light as reflected by the first reflective surface, to differently aim, in accordance with each sub-frame, the light as modulated and to reflect the light back onto the first reflective surface.
21. The optical relay mechanism of claim 20, wherein the first reflective surface is further to reflect the light, as reflected back thereon by the second reflective surface, outward from the optical relay mechanism.
22. The optical relay mechanism of claim 20, wherein the second reflective surface is to differently aim, in accordance with each sub-frame, the light as modulated by being physically adjusted in accordance with each sub-frame.
23. The optical relay mechanism of claim 20, wherein the first reflective surface is an aspherical reflective surface and the second reflective surface is a conical reflective surface.
24. A method comprising:
modulating light in accordance with a plurality of sub-frames of each of a plurality of frames of image data;
reflecting the light as modulated by a first reflective surface onto a second reflective surface;
differently aiming, in accordance with each sub-frame, the light by the second reflective surface, via physical adjustment of the second reflective surface;
reflecting the light as differently aimed by the second reflective surface back onto the first reflective surface; and,
reflecting the light by the first reflective surface through an aperture.
25. The method of claim 24, further comprising dynamically cropping the light by the aperture as transmitted therethrough.
26. The method of claim 25, wherein dynamically cropping the light by the aperture as transmitted therethrough comprises physically adjusting the aperture.
27. The method of claim 25, wherein dynamically cropping the light by the aperture as transmitted therethrough comprises monitoring at least two sides of the frames of the image data for dark content, such that the dark contents of the frames of the image data are cropped from the light transmitted through the aperture.
28. The method of claim 27, wherein monitoring at least two sides of the frames of the image data for dark content is accomplished on a frame-by-frame basis or a group of frames-by-group of frames basis.
29. The method of claim 27, wherein monitoring at least two sides of the frames of the image data for dark content is accomplished for a predetermined length of time after a change in video synchronization of the frames of the image data.
30. The method of claim 29, wherein dynamically cropping the light by the aperture as transmitted therethrough further comprises monitoring at least sides of the frames of the image data for dark content where a portion of the frames of the image data contains non-dark content that is being masked, resulting from cropping of the light by the aperture.

What is claimed is:

1. A dynamic recovery system, comprising:
a plurality of render nodes each adapted to render data received from a master node, each of the render nodes further adapted to receive a render command from the master node indicating a portion of the data to be rendered by the corresponding render node; and
a control application coupled to each of the render nodes and adapted to automatically reallocate the portion of the data rendered by at least one of the render nodes among a remaining portion of the render nodes in response to an event corresponding to the at least one render node.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the master node is adapted to poll each of the render nodes to determine an operating status corresponding to each of the render nodes.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the control application is adapted to designate at least one of the plurality of render nodes as a spare render node.
4. The system of claim 3, wherein the control application is adapted to reallocate to the spare render node the portion of the data rendered by the at least one render node corresponding to the event.
5. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of render nodes comprises:
a plurality of active render nodes; and
at least one spare render node.
6. The system of claim 1, wherein the master node is further adapted to transmit the render command to a compositor.
7. The system of claim 1, wherein each render node comprises a converter adapted to generate pixel data.
8. The system of claim 1, wherein the master node is adapted to establish a communication connection to each of the render nodes.
9. The system of claim 1, further comprising a compositor adapted to combine each of the rendered portions of the data relative to each other.
10. The system of claim 1, wherein the event comprises a failure corresponding to one of the render nodes.
11. A method for dynamic recovery, comprising:
transmitting data to each of a plurality of render nodes;
transmitting a render command to each of the render nodes indicating a portion of the data to be rendered by the corresponding render node; and
automatically reallocating the portion of the data rendered by at least one of the render nodes among a remaining portion of the render nodes in response to an event corresponding to the at least one of the render nodes.
12. The method of claim 11, further comprising designating at least one of the plurality of render nodes as a spare render node.
13. The method of claim 11, further comprising automatically updating each render node in response to the reallocation.
14. The method of claim 11, further comprising determining a quantity of available render nodes.
15. The method of claim 14, further comprising transmitting the render command to a compositor.
16. The method of claim 11, wherein reallocating comprises reallocating the portion in response to a failure corresponding to one of the render nodes.
17. The method of claim 11, further comprising combining each of the rendered portions of the data relative to each other.
18. A dynamic recovery system, comprising:
a graphics application adapted to receive graphical data from a master node;
a converter adapted to generate pixel data from the graphical data corresponding to a predetermined display portion; and
a control application adapted to receive a render command modifying the predetermined display portion.
19. The system of claim 18, wherein the control application is adapted to transmit an identification command to the master node.
20. The system of claim 18, wherein the control application is adapted to receive the render command increasing the predetermined display portion.
21. The system of claim 18, wherein the control application is adapted to receive the render command decreasing the predetermined display portion.
22. The system of claim 18, wherein the converter is adapted to transmit the pixel data to the master node.
23. A dynamic recovery system, comprising:
means for transmitting data to each of a plurality of render nodes;
means for transmitting a render command to each of the render nodes, the render command indicating a portion of the data to be rendered by a corresponding render node; and
means for reallocating a portion of the data rendered by at least one of the render nodes among a remaining portion of the render nodes in response to an event corresponding to the at least one render node.
24. The system of claim 23, further comprising means for designating at least one of the plurality of render nodes as a spare render node.
25. The system of claim 23, wherein the means for reallocating comprises means for automatically reallocating the portion of the data.
26. The system of claim 25, further comprising means for combining the rendered data relative to each other.
27. The system of claim 23, further comprising means for transmitting the render command to a compositor.
28. The system of claim 23, further comprising means for establishing a connection to each of the render nodes.
29. The system of claim 23, further comprising means for determining which of the render nodes comprise active render nodes.
30. A dynamic recovery system, comprising:
a graphics application adapted to transmit graphical data to each of a plurality or render nodes; and
a control application adapted to reallocate a display portion assigned to at least one of the render nodes in response to an event corresponding to the at least one of the render nodes.
31. The system of claim 30, wherein the graphics application is further adapted to establish a connection to the render nodes.
32. The system of claim 30, wherein the control application is adapted to designate at least one of the plurality of render nodes as a spare render node.
33. The system of claim 30, wherein the control application is adapted to transmit a render command to a compositor.
34. The system of claim 30, wherein the event comprises a failure corresponding to one of the render nodes.
35. The system of claim 30, wherein the control application is adapted to determine a quantity of active nodes from the plurality of render nodes.
36. The system of claim 30, further comprising a compositor adapted to receive pixel data from at least a portion of the render nodes corresponding to a display portion assigned to each corresponding render node.

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 device for shaping a pastel stick and storing pastel powder from the pastel stick, said device comprising:
a powder receptacle defining an opening and an interior volume accessible through said opening;
a screen removably carried by said powder receptacle in said opening, said screen defining a surface for shaping a pastel stick, whereby pastel powder generated by shaping the pastel stick is received in said powder receptacle through said screen; and
a lid for securing said screen and for selectively sealing said interior volume, said lid including:
a lid ring configured to be received over said powder receptacle opening and said screen such that said screen is securely mounted on said powder receptacle, said lid ring defining an opening to cooperate with said powder receptacle opening for receiving a pastel stick to be shaped; and
a seal member configured to be removably received between said screen and said lid ring when said screen is mounted on said powder receptacle and between said powder receptacle and said lid ring when said screen is removed, said seal member being further configured to cover said lid ring opening such that powder received within said powder receptacle is retained when said lid ring and said seal member are mounted on said powder receptacle.
2. The device of claim 1 wherein screen defines a selected three-dimensional geometric configuration for achieving a selected geometric configuration on an end of the pastel stick, said screen defining an upper end and a lower end, said lower end extending into said powder receptacle.
3. The device of claim 2 wherein said screen defines a conical configuration for achieving a conical point on the pastel stick.
4. The device of claim 2 wherein said screen defines a collar at said upper end thereof, said collar being configured to be received between said powder receptacle and said lid.
5. The device of claim 1 wherein said powder receptacle is transparent, whereby contents within said powder receptacle are readily discernable.
6. The device of claim 1 wherein said powder receptacle defines a threaded portion about said powder receptacle opening, and wherein said lid ring defines a cooperating threaded portion, whereby said lid ring is selectively and threadably engaged with said powder receptacle for selectively securing at least one of said screen and said seal member to said powder receptacle.
7. The device of claim 1 further comprising at least one ring configured to be received between said screen and one of said powder receptacle and said lid ring, each of said at least one ring being configured to define an opening to cooperate with said lid ring opening and said powder receptacle opening for receiving a pastel stick to be shaped.
8. A device for shaping a pastel stick and storing pastel powder from the pastel stick, said device comprising:
a powder receptacle defining an opening and an interior volume accessible through said opening;
a screen removably carried by said powder receptacle in said opening, said screen defining a surface for shaping a pastel stick, whereby pastel powder generated by shaping the pastel stick is received in said powder receptacle through said screen, said screen defining a selected three-dimensional geometric configuration for achieving a selected geometric configuration on an end of the pastel stick, said screen defining an upper end and a lower end, said lower end extending into said powder receptacle; and
a lid for securing said screen and for selectively sealing said interior volume, said lid including:
a lid ring configured to be received over said powder receptacle opening and said screen such that said screen is securely mounted on said powder receptacle, said lid ring defining an opening to cooperate with said powder receptacle opening for receiving a pastel stick to be shaped; and
a seal member configured to be removably received between said screen and said lid ring when said screen is mounted on said powder receptacle and between said powder receptacle and said lid ring when said screen is remover, said seal member being further configured to cover said lid ring opening such that powder received within said powder receptacle is retained when said lid ring and said seal member are mounted on said powder receptacle.
9. The device of claim 8 wherein said screen defines a conical configuration for achieving a conical point on the pastel stick.
10. The device of claim 8 wherein said screen defines a collar at said upper end thereof, said collar being configured to be received between said powder receptacle and said lid.
11. The device of claim 8 wherein said powder receptacle is transparent, whereby contents within said powder receptacle are readily discernable.
12. The device of claim 8 wherein said powder receptacle defines a threaded portion about said powder receptacle opening, and wherein said lid ring defines a cooperating threaded portion, whereby said lid ring is selectively and threadably engaged with said powder receptacle for selectively securing at least one of said screen and said seal member to said powder receptacle.
13. The device of claim 8 further comprising at least one ring configured to be received between said screen and one of said powder receptacle and said lid ring, each of said at least one ring being configured to define an opening to cooperate with said lid ring opening and said powder receptacle opening for receiving a pastel stick to be shaped.
14. A device for shaping a pastel stick and storing pastel powder from the pastel stick, said device comprising:
a powder receptacle defining an opening and an interior volume accessible through said opening;
a screen removably carried by said powder receptacle in said opening, said screen defining a surface for shaping a pastel stick, whereby pastel powder generated by shaping the pastel stick is received in said powder receptacle through said screen, said screen defining a selected three-dimensional geometric configuration for achieving a selected geometric configuration on an end of the pastel stick, said screen defining an upper end and a lower end, said lower end extending into said powder receptacle;
a lid for securing said screen and for selectively sealing said interior volume, said lid including:
a lid ring configured to be received over said powder receptacle opening and said screen such that said screen is securely mounted on said powder receptacle, said lid ring defining an opening to cooperate with said powder receptacle opening for receiving a pastel stick to be shaped; and
a seal member configured to be removably received between said screen and said lid ring when said screen is mounted on said powder receptacle and between said powder receptacle and said lid ring when said screen is remover, said seal member being further configured to cover said lid ring opening such that powder received within said powder receptacle is retained when said lid ring and said seal member are mounted on said powder receptacle;

a first ring configured to be received between said screen and said powder receptacle, said first ring being configured to define an opening to cooperate with said powder receptacle opening for receiving said lower end of said screen; and
a second ring configured to be received between said screen and said lid ring, said second ring being configured to define an opening to cooperate with said lid ring opening for receiving a pastel stick to be shaped.
15. The device of claim 14 wherein said screen defines a conical configuration for achieving a conical point on the pastel stick.
16. The device of claim 14 wherein said screen defines a collar at said upper end thereof, said collar being configured to be received between said powder receptacle and said lid.
17. The device of claim 14 wherein said powder receptacle is transparent, whereby contents within said powder receptacle are readily discernable.
18. The device of claim 14 wherein said powder receptacle defines a threaded portion about said powder receptacle opening, and wherein said lid ring defines a cooperating threaded portion, whereby said lid ring is selectively and threadably engaged with said powder receptacle for selectively securing at least one of said screen and said seal member to said powder receptacle.