Author: claimsbot

1-9. (canceled)
10. A method of reducing a titanium oxide in a solid state in an electrolytic cell which includes an anode, a cathode formed at least in-part from the titanium oxide, and a molten electrolyte which includes cations of a metal that is capable of chemically reducing the cathode titanium oxide, said method includes:
operating the cell at a potential that is above a potential at which cations of the metal that is capable of chemically reducing the cathode titanium oxide deposit as the metal on the cathode, whereby the metal chemically reduces the cathode titanium oxide; and
operating the cell at constant current and refreshing the electrolyte in later stages of the operation of the cell as required having regard to reactions occurring in the cell and a concentration of oxygen in the titanium oxide in the cell in order to produce high purity titanium (\u03b1Ti).
11. The method defined in claim 10, wherein the metal deposited on the cathode is soluble in the electrolyte and can dissolve in the electrolyte and thereby migrate to the vicinity of the cathode titanium oxide.
12. The method defined in claim 10, wherein the electrolyte is a CaCl2-based electrolyte that includes CaO as one of a plurality of constituents of the electrolyte.
13. The method defined in claim 12, wherein the cell potential is above a decomposition potential of CaO, at which potential Ca metal can deposit on the cathode.
14. The method defined in claim 12, wherein the cell potential is below the decomposition potential of CaCl2.
15. The method defined in claim 12, wherein a graphite anode is employed, and said cell is operated at a temperature in the range of 600-1100\xb0 C., with the cell potential being between 1.3 and 3.5V.
16. The method defined in claim 12, wherein the CaCl2-based electrolyte is a commercially available source of CaCl2 that partially decomposes on heating and produces CaO or otherwise includes CaO.
17. The method defined in claim 12, wherein the CaCl2-based electrolyte includes CaCl2 and CaO that are added separately or pre-mixed to form the electrolyte.
18. The method defined in claim 10, wherein the anode is graphite or an inert anode.
19. A method of reducing titanium oxide in a solid state in an electrolytic cell in order to produce high purity titanium (\u03b1Ti), the electrolytic cell including an anode, a cathode formed at least in-part from the titanium oxide, and a molten electrolyte which includes cations of a metal that is capable of chemically reducing the cathode titanium oxide, the method comprising:
operating the cell at a potential that is above a potential at which cations of the metal that is capable of chemically reducing the cathode titanium oxide deposit as the metal on the cathode, whereby the metal chemically reduces the cathode titanium oxide;
operating the cell at a constant current; and
refreshing the electrolyte in the cell based on a concentration of oxygen present in the titanium oxide at different stages of the titanium oxide reduction.
20. The method defined in claim 19, wherein the metal deposited on the cathode is soluble in the electrolyte and can dissolve in the electrolyte and thereby migrate to the vicinity of the cathode titanium oxide.
21. The method defined in claim 19, wherein the electrolyte is a CaCl2-based electrolyte that includes CaO as one of a plurality of constituents of the electrolyte.
22. The method defined in claim 21, wherein the cell potential is above a decomposition potential of CaO, at which potential Ca metal can deposit on the cathode.
23. The method defined in claim 21, wherein the cell potential is below the decomposition potential of CaCl2.
24. The method defined in claim 21, wherein a graphite anode is employed, and said cell is operated at a temperature in the range of 600-1100\xb0 C., with the cell potential being between 1.3 and 3.5V.
25. The method defined in claim 21, wherein the CaCl2-based electrolyte is a commercially available source of CaCl2 that partially decomposes on heating and produces CaO or otherwise includes CaO.
26. The method defined in claim 21, wherein the CaCl2-based electrolyte includes CaCl2 and CaO that are added separately or pre-mixed to form the electrolyte.
27. The method defined in claim 19, wherein the anode is graphite or an inert anode.
28. A method of operating an electrolytic cell in order to produce high purity titanium (\u03b1Ti) by reducing titanium oxide in a solid state in the electrolytic cell, the electrolytic cell including an anode, a cathode formed at least in-part from the titanium oxide, and a molten electrolyte which includes cations of a metal that is capable of chemically reducing the cathode titanium oxide, the method comprising:
operating the operating the cell at a potential that is above a potential at which cations of the metal that is capable of chemically reducing the cathode titanium oxide deposit as the metal on the cathode, whereby the metal chemically reduces the cathode titanium oxide;
operating the cell at a constant current; and
refreshing the electrolyte andor changing the electrolyte composition in the electrolytic cell in order to remove oxygen from partially reduced titanium oxide at later stages of the reduction process.
29. The method defined in claim 28, wherein the high purity titanium is obtained without processing the titanium oxide outside of the electrolytic cell.

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 non-transitory computer storage medium having instructions that when executed by a computer perform a method of monitoring transactions associated with a person’s real property, comprising the steps of:
storing information in a database pertaining to a public record transaction affecting the real property,
receiving from a subscriber and storing in the database subscriber information, said subscriber information including a property address of the real property to monitor;
iteratively monitoring the database by a processor-implemented search process for an occurrence of the property address stored in the database to find a first match; and
identifying via a processor an indication of the public record transaction stored in the database associated with the property address and the first match.
2. The computer storage medium of claim 1, further comprising:
sending a request for information about a name of the real property owner to the database.
3. The computer storage medium of claim 1, further comprising:
comparing the indication of the public record transaction to a list of transactions to find a second match, the list of transactions include a plurality of public record transaction types and a degree of seriousness rating corresponding to each of the plurality of public record transactions; and
retrieving a degree of seriousness rating corresponding to the second match in the list of transactions, wherein the degree of seriousness rating being selected from a group having least three gradations of seriousness.
4. The computer storage medium of claim 1, wherein the public record transaction is a tax lien.
5. The computer storage medium of claim 1, wherein the public record transaction is a lien against the real property, and the lien having a property address associated with the real property.
6. The computer storage medium of claim 1, further comprising:
comparing the indication of the public record transaction with a list of transactions to find a second match, the list of transactions including a plurality of public record transaction types and a remedy associated with each of the plurality of public record transaction types; and
retrieving the remedy corresponding to the second match in the list of transactions, wherein the remedy is selected from a group of remedies including
an adding of a subsequent transaction remedy associated with a first transaction type,
a correction of the transaction remedy associated with a second transaction type, and
a removal of the transaction remedy associated with a third transaction type, wherein the plurality of public record transaction types include
the first transaction type
the second transaction type, and
the third transaction type.
7. The computer storage medium of claim 3, further comprising assigning a default degree of seriousness rating to the public record transaction after the second match for the public record transaction is not found in the list of transactions.
8. A non-transitory computer storage medium having instructions that when executed by a computer perform a method of retrieving an information regarding a tax lien associated with a property, comprising the steps of:
obtaining property information pertaining to a property from a third party source;
storing the property information in a database;
receiving an address of the property to monitor;
transmitting a property information request including the address to the database;
iteratively searching with a processor the property information for a first match with the address;
retrieving information regarding a tax lien associated with the first match;
comparing the tax lien with a list of tax liens for a second match;
retrieving a degree of seriousness rating corresponding to the second match in the list of tax liens; and
transmitting the tax lien to a device to notify a property owner of the tax lien related to their property,
wherein the degree of seriousness rating being selected from a group having at least three gradations of seriousness.
9. The computer storage medium of claim 8, further comprising the step of comparing the tax lien to a list of tax liens for a second match and retrieving a remedy corresponding to the second match in the list of tax liens.
10. The computer storage medium of claim 8, further comprising the step of assigning a default degree of seriousness rating to the transaction after the second match cannot be found in the list of tax liens.
11. A non-transitory computer storage medium having instructions that when executed by a computer perform a method of monitoring an absence of a tax lien associated with a person’s real property comprising the steps of:
storing information pertaining to the real property in a database;
receiving a request from a subscriber to monitor for the tax lien, the request including a property address associated with the public record transaction, the request including a datum transaction associated with the tax lien;
iteratively monitoring the database with a processor for the tax lien; and
transmitting a notification to a device if the tax lien has not occurred within a predetermined time period relative to the datum transaction.
12. A computer-based method of monitoring a database for an occurrence of a lien event, comprising:
extracting loan data from a client loan portfolio;
defining the lien event relatable to the loan data by one or more lien-related criterion;
iteratively monitoring with a processor for an occurrence of the lien event; and
notifying a client of the occurrence of the lien event.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein the loan data comprises borrower identification data, property data, or combinations thereof.
14. The method of claim 12, wherein the lien event being a tax lien.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein the lien event database comprises a public record database, a credit reporting database, or combinations thereof, and wherein the lien event database is updated periodically to reflect changes pertinent to the loan data.
16. The method of claim 12, wherein the notifying comprises:
generating a report that records the occurrence of the lien event.
17. A computer-based method of monitoring a database for an occurrence of a lien event relatable to a property, comprising:
receiving, using a processor, loan data from a client loan portfolio and one or more lien-related criterion from a client;
automatically iteratively monitoring, using the processor, the database for lien events defined by the one or more lien-relatable criterion;
generating, using the process, a lien event report based on the automatically monitoring; and
storing, using a memory, the lien event report.

1. A circuit comprising:
a bulk silicon integrated circuit (IC);
a first metallization layer that is arranged adjacent to said bulk silicon IC;
phase change memory (PCM) that is arranged adjacent to said first metallization layer and that comprises a plurality of PCM cells, each PCM cell including:
a phase-change material,
a heater that selectively heats said phase-change material, and
a diode in series with said phase-change material, wherein said diode includes crystallized islands that are crystallized using a seeding metal layer and that are crystallized from an amorphous silicon layer that is deposited over said first metallization layer; and

a conductive barrier material arranged between said first metallization layer and said diode.
2. A circuit comprising:
a bulk silicon integrated circuit (IC);
a first metallization layer that is arranged adjacent to said bulk silicon IC; and
phase change memory (PCM) that is arranged adjacent to said first metallization layer and that comprises a plurality of PCM cells, each PCM cell including:
a phase-change material,
a heater that selectively heats said phase-change material, and
a diode in series with said phase-change material,
wherein said diode includes crystallized islands chat are crystallized using a seeding metal layer and chat are crystallized from an amorphous silicon layer that is deposited over said first metallization layer, and
wherein said first metallization layer comprises copper.
3. The circuit of claim 1 wherein said barrier material comprises titanium nitride.
4. A circuit comprising:
a bulk silicon integrated circuit (IC);
a first metallization layer that is arranged adjacent to said bulk silicon IC; and
phase change memory (PCM) that is arranged adjacent to said first metallization layer and that corn rises a plurality of PCM cells, each PCM cell including:
a phase-change material,
a heater that selectively heats said phase-change material, and
a diode in series with said phase-change material,
wherein said diode includes crystallized islands chat are crystallized using a seeding metal layer and chat are crystallized from an amorphous silicon layer that is deposited over said first metallization layer, and
wherein said seeding metal layer comprises nickel.
5. A circuit comprising:
a bulk silicon integrated circuit (IC);
a first metallization layer that is arranged adjacent to said bulk silicon IC; and
phase change memory (PCM) that is arranged adjacent to said first metallization layer and that comprises a plurality of PCM cells, each PCM cell including:
a phase-change material,
a heater that selectively heats said phase-change material, and
a diode in series with said phase-change material, wherein said diode includes crystallized islands that are crystallized using a seeding metal layer and that are crystallized from an amorphous silicon layer that is deposited over said first metallization layer,
wherein said diode comprises an n-type layer,
wherein said seeding metal layer crystallizes said n-type layer, and
wherein said diode comprises a metal layer arranged adjacent to said n-type layer.
6. The circuit of claim 5 wherein said metal layer comprises titanium.
7. A system comprising:
a circuit comprising:
a bulk silicon integrated circuit (IC),
a first metallization layer that is arranged adjacent to said bulk silicon IC, and
phase change memory (PCM) that is arranged adjacent to said first metallization layer and that comprises a plurality of PCM cells, each PCM cell including;
a phase-change material,
a heater that selectively heats said phase-change material, and
a diode in series with said phase-change material, wherein said diode includes crystallized islands that are crystallized using a seeding metal layer and that are crystallized from an amorphous silicon layer that is deposited over said first metallization layer; and
a non-memory circuit that includes said first metallization layer, wherein said PCM is integrated with said non-memory circuit, and wherein said diode thermally communicates with said first metallization layer.
8. A system comprising:
a circuit comprising:
a bulk silicon integrated circuit (IC),
a first metallization layer that is arranged adjacent to said bulk silicon IC, and
phase change memory (PCM) that is arranged adjacent to said first metallization layer and that comprises a plurality of PCM cells, each PCM cell including
a phase-change material,
a heater that selectively heats said phase-change material, and
a diode in series with said phase-change material, wherein said diode includes crystallized islands that are crystallized using a seeding metal layer and that are crystallized from an amorphous silicon layer that is deposited over said first metallization layer; and
a memory circuit that includes said first metallization layer, wherein said PCM is integrated with said memory circuit, and wherein said diode thermally communicates with said first metallization layer.
9. A circuit comprising:
a bulk silicon integrated circuit (IC);
a first metallization layer that is arranged adjacent to said bulk silicon IC; and
phase change memory (PCM) that is arranged adjacent to said first metallization layer and that comprises a plurality of PCM cells, each PCM cell including:
a phase-change material,
a heater that selectively heats said phase-change material, and
a diode in series with said phase-change material,
wherein said diode includes crystallized islands that are crystallized using a seeding metal layer and that are crystallized from an amorphous silicon layer that is deposited over said first metallization layer, and
wherein N bits of user data are stored in each of said plurality of PCM cells, where N is an integer greater than one.
10. A circuit comprising:
a bulk silicon integrated circuit (IC);
a first metallization layer that is arranged adjacent to said bulk silicon IC; and
phase change memory (PCM) that is arranged adjacent to said first metallization layer and that cormprises a plurality of PCM cells, each PCM cell including:
a phase-change material,
a heater that selectively heats said phase-change material, and
a diode in series with said phase-change material, wherein said diode includes crystallized islands that are crystallized using a seeding metal layer and that are crystallized from an amorphous silicon layer that is deposited over said first metallization layer,
wherein said heater includes a resistive material partially surrounding a dielectric material,
wherein said resistive material and said dielectric material form a first planar surface, and
wherein said phase-change material includes a second planar surface arranged adjacent to said first planar surface of said heater element.
11. The circuit of claim 10,
wherein said first metallization layer includes a first side and a second side,
wherein said bulk silicon IC comprises a transistor that is adjacent to said first side of said first metallization layer, and
wherein said diode is arranged adjacent to said second side of said first metallization layer.
12. The circuit of claim 5 wherein said metal layer of said diode is arranged between said n-type silicon layer and said heater.

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 downloading data to a client using dynamic intelligent mirror selection of mirrors from a plurality of mirrors in a network, the method comprising:
assigning, using a microprocessor at said client, a first quality value to each of said plurality of mirrors based on one or more characteristics regarding said plurality of mirrors, said one or more characteristics including, at least, a number of times a mirror has been used to download data to said client, wherein said quality value comprises a usage bonus based on said number of times a mirror has been used to download data to said client, wherein a mirror that has been used a fewer number of times receives a larger usage bonus than a mirror that has been used a greater number of times, wherein said plurality of mirrors comprise identical portions of data for downloading;
selecting a first mirror from said plurality of mirrors based on said first quality value of said first mirror;
first downloading a first portion of said data from said first mirror;
assigning, using a microprocessor at said client, a second quality value to each of said plurality of mirrors based on said one or more characteristics regarding said plurality of mirrors including one or more characteristics of said first mirror observed during said first downloading;
selecting at said client a second mirror from said plurality of mirrors based on said second quality value of said second mirror; and
second downloading a second portion of said data from said second mirror.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein said one or more characteristics regarding said plurality of mirrors comprise characteristics of said plurality of mirrors observed during previous downloads of data from said plurality of mirrors.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein said assigning further comprises allotting each mirror of said plurality of mirrors a random bonus value, wherein said random bonus value provides disparity in quality values between similarly situated mirrors.
4. The method of claim 2, wherein said one or more characteristics comprise an error count, and wherein a mirror is penalized for each error in said error count.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein data errors are penalized more than transient network errors.
6. The method of claim 2, wherein said one or more characteristics comprises a mirror load value, and wherein said method further includes randomly penalizing a mirror once a threshold mirror load value is observed.
7. The method of claim 2, wherein said one or more characteristics comprises a transfer speed between a mirror and said client.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein said transfer speed comprises normalizing said speed of connection of a mirror with respect to a transfer speed of an origin.
9. The method of claim 2, wherein a decay value is applied to said one or more characteristics based upon an amount of time since said one or more characteristics were observed, and wherein said decay value is greatest for the oldest observed characteristics.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein once a mirror is used a predetermined number of times said usage bonus goes to zero.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein said first mirror and said second mirror are different.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein said method is repeated until all of said data is downloaded.
13. A computer-based system for downloading a data set using dynamic intelligent mirror selection of mirrors from a plurality of mirrors in a network, the system comprising:
an interface module operative to communicate with said plurality of mirrors;
a mirror characteristic storage module in operative communication with said interface module and operative to store, in a storage device, one or more characteristics of each of said plurality of mirrors based on observation of communication between said mirrors and said interface module said one or more characteristics including, at least, a number of times a mirror has been used to download data to said client;
a mirror quality calculation module, including a microprocessor, in operative communication with said mirror characteristic storage module and operative to calculate a quality value for each of said plurality of mirrors based on said one or more characteristics of said plurality of mirrors, wherein said calculating comprises allotting a usage bonus based on said number of times a mirror has been used to download data to said client, wherein a mirror that has been used a fewer number of times receives a larger usage bonus than a mirror that has been used a greater number of times; and
a mirror comparison module in operative communication with said mirror quality calculation module to receive said quality values for each of said plurality of mirrors, wherein said mirror comparison module is operative to designate to said interface module a mirror selection of one of the plurality of mirrors based on said quality values of the plurality of mirrors from which said interface module is to download data;
wherein said computer-based system operates to dynamically update said mirror selection based on transient network conditions after downloading a portion of said data set.
14. The system of claim 13, wherein said mirror characteristic storage module is operative to store characteristics for said plurality of mirrors observed at a plurality of instances.
15. The system of claim 13, wherein said system is operative to download a plurality of data portions from a plurality of mirrors, and said mirror comparison module is operative to designate to said interface module a mirror selection after the download of each of said plurality of data portions.