Bizarre Patents
Method and apparatus for making a drink hop along a bar or counter
A method for generating a drink which appears to hop from a remote spot on the bar or counter and take one or more leaps, before landing in a patron's glass.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8079058 | Broadcasting and processing multiple data formats Various embodiments for broadcasting and processing multiple data formats are described. In one embodiment, a method includes sending scheduling information that identifies an encoding format of a data broadcast and a video viewer application capable of processing t... | 12/13/2011 |
| 8032917 | Method and system for directing the download of software and firmware objects over a network such as a cable television system A Download Control Message instructs a set-top terminal in a cable television system to located and immediately begin downloading a code or other data object available over the cable system. The Download Control Message specifies, for example, the size, name, versio... | 10/04/2011 |
| 7908638 | Signal processing apparatus and methods A unified system of programming communication. The system encompasses the prior art (television, radio, broadcast hardcopy, computer communications, etc.) and new user specific mass media. Within the unified system, parallel processing computer systems, each having ... | 03/15/2011 |
| 7827587 | Signal processing apparatus and methods A unified system of programming communication. The system encompasses the prior art (television, radio, broadcast hardcopy, computer communications, etc.) and new user specific mass media. Within the unified system, parallel processing computer systems, each having ... | 11/02/2010 |
| 7735110 | Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program storage medium The present invention provides an information processing apparatus, an information processing method and a program storage medium. The user of a personal computer selects a television program to be preset recorded from a program guide stored in an EPG server and dow... | 06/08/2010 |
| 7661122 | Method and device for initializing cable card and channel list using reset menu on OSD screen An apparatus and method are provided for initializing a cable card and a channel list using a reset menu on an OSD screen. The initialization of a cable card is achieved by receiving a cable card reset request through the reset menu on the OSD screen; and according ... | 02/09/2010 |
| 7603694 | Virtual channel table data structure, transport stream discrimination method, and digital broadcast receiver The present invention provides a virtual channel table (VCT) data structure, transport stream discrimination method, and digital broadcast receiver, by which streams transferred within a channel can be identified with VCT only by extending a VCT syntax according to ... | 10/13/2009 |
| 7444657 | Event masking for television signal receiver having an emergency alert function A television signal receiver having an emergency alert function provides a masked list of emergency events during a user setup process for the emergency alert function which makes the setup process easier for users, and also ensures that the emergency alert function... | 10/28/2008 |
| 7436811 | Multicasting data method in a radio communication system The present invention provides a method for receiving broadcast data in a system where broadcast data is transmitted on a plurality of frequencies. A user device monitors (302) a first frequency (108) for broadcast data to be transmitted on the first f... | 10/14/2008 |
| 7356029 | IP data encapsulation and insertion in a transport multiplexer A system and method of multiplexing data into an MPEG transport stream are described. In particular, an IP packet is examined to determine if it is a multicast IP packet. If so, the IP packet is repackaged into one or more MPEG packets for transmission in the MPEG t... | 04/08/2008 |
| 7349030 | Segment buffer loading in a deinterlacer A display processor integrated circuit includes a display processor portion and an on-chip programmable logic portion. The programmable logic portion can be configured to implement custom video and/or image enhancement functions. The display processor portion perfor... | 03/25/2008 |
| 7310808 | Method of and apparatus for supporting and enabling the selection and mixing of multiple streams of audio/video data from multiple sources within a receiving device allowing external control A method of and apparatus for supporting and enabling the selection and mixing of multiple input data streams from multiple sources within a receiving device allowing external control includes a receiving device, a control device and one or more source devices. The ... | 12/18/2007 |
| 7284261 | Broadcasting and processing multiple data formats A method broadcasts data. The method includes sending to a receiver scheduling information that includes a scheduled time and broadcasting data at the scheduled time. The scheduling information identifies an encoding format and one or more viewer applications capabl... | 10/16/2007 |
| 7281262 | Universal remote control system A remote control adapted for use with a releasable readable media storage device. A readable media storage device having data and target indicators. Electrical contacts provide releasable connection with the remote control. ... | 10/09/2007 |
| 7269842 | Time shifting enhanced television triggers Enhanced television broadcasts including triggers with expires attributes may be utilized in a variety of situations where the expires attribute may adversely affect the utilization of the trigger. For example, in situations where the broadcast is recorded, playback... | 09/11/2007 |
| 7246366 | System and method for automatically determining service groups in a subscriber network A decoder checks a table within its received input signal and tunes to at least one of the listed frequencies to determine its associated service group within a subscriber television system. The associated service group associates the decoder with the modulators, tr... | 07/17/2007 |
| 7231411 | Removable card system with downloadable agent for communicating with a digital television receiver or other host device A removable card is adapted for insertion into a corresponding receptacle of a host device, and includes a processor for running at least one application. An agent program is downloadable from the removable card to the host device. The agent program runs on a proces... | 06/12/2007 |
| 7231651 | System and method for insertion and modification of advertisements Advertisements or commercials are integrated into an entertainment program or display by designating locations or fields in the entertainment program or display into which targeted advertisements or commercials may in inserted and/or modified, so that the advertisem... | 06/12/2007 |
| 7222155 | Synchronous updating of dynamic interactive applications An automation server interfaces with broadcast scheduling systems of various types to automatically synchronize the behavior of interactive applications relative to various broadcast programs, such as television shows and commercials, so as to maintain the appropria... | 05/22/2007 |
| 7200858 | Data distribution system An interactive system for obtaining data for diagnostic purposes from a server having access to stores of said data wherein the server supplies the data and software to a data requesting user that enables the user to receive the data progressively so as to decide du... | 04/03/2007 |
| 7184959 | System and method for automated multimedia content indexing and retrieval The invention provides a system and method for automatically indexing and retrieving multimedia content. The method may include separating a multimedia data stream into audio, visual and text components, segmenting the audio, visual and text components based on sema... | 02/27/2007 |
| 7145609 | Method and apparatus of processing input signals of display appliance Disclosed are a method and apparatus of processing input signals of a display appliance having a plurality of external input terminals and connected to a set top box with a plurality of external input terminals. The method comprises the steps of: detecting a connect... | 12/05/2006 |
| 7134134 | Electronic program guide hardware card An electronic program guide (EPG) hardware card is disclosed. The card is insertable into a television tuning device having EPG capability. A non-volatile memory, such as flash memory, is situated within a case of the hardware card, and has data stored thereon repre... | 11/07/2006 |
| 7120926 | Method and system of identifying software and firmware objects available for download over a network such as a cable television system This method and system allow a subscriber to a cable television service to receiving a listing or menu of programming available for that subscriber's set-top terminal to upgrade or enhance the features available over the cable system. A Directory of Services (DoS) m... | 10/10/2006 |
| 7100193 | Rate controlled insertion of asynchronous data into a synchronous stream Disclosed is a system and method that provides rate controlled insertion of asynchronous data into a synchronous stream in a broadcast system. A calculation of the transmission time for an asynchronous data file is determined from the file size, available data trans... | 08/29/2006 |
| 7086076 | Method for changing channel information in digital TV receiver Method for changing channel information in a digital TV receiver which can deal with a channel cancellation/addition during broadcasting, including the steps of (1) determining a channel information of being changed from a broadcasting signal received at every prese... | 08/01/2006 |
| 7076794 | Methods and systems for broadcast data services The present invention provides for the collection and delivery of broadcast data. Broadcast data is captured by broadcast data sources from television broadcasts and the captured broadcast data is collected by a broadcast data source miniport. The miniport different... | 07/11/2006 |
| 7069578 | Settop cable television control device and method including bootloader software and code version table for maintaining and updating settop receiver operating system software A cable television settop receiver and method includes a software component and a frequency acquisition method for determining the ability of the operating system/control program in the settop receiver to operate the settop receiver. The software component, referred... | 06/27/2006 |
| 7061937 | Communication system A transmission schedule table of program data to be transmitted from a video server to a client is previously transmitted to a filter unit. The filter unit receives program information concerning a currently received program, from the client. Based on a transmission... | 06/13/2006 |
| 7058964 | Flexible digital cable network architecture A digital cable network architecture and services method includes a cable medium and a plurality of hosts that include a receiver. A policy file store contains policy files having at least one of a service provider section, a consumer section, and a manufacturer sec... | 06/06/2006 |
| 7051355 | Receiving apparatus, receiving method, and providing medium In a step S1, when the user executes a tuning operation (a service-number input operation) on an input section, the information is output to a control section. In a step S3, the control section determines whether the service number selected in the step... | 05/23/2006 |
| 7051325 | Apparatus and method for upgrading software An apparatus and method for upgrading a software, including a version comparing unit for comparing a version of a software code and a version of a previously installed software code to determine a newer version and an upgrade processing unit for installing the softw... | 05/23/2006 |
| 7042526 | Worldwide television tuning system with country code based tuning A worldwide television tuning system is configurable to the television standards and channel frequencies of multiple different countries based on a country's ITU long-distance country code. The tuning system maintains a country code table listing a plurality of coun... | 05/09/2006 |
| 7032236 | Multimedia system for processing program guides and associated multimedia objects A program guide information data structure and processing system facilitates both decoding and selectable program guide generation by a decoder. A decoder acquires a directory of object files associated with program guide information items and a map for associating ... | 04/18/2006 |
| 7032239 | Providing content description and connection information in digital broadcast networks A system enables connection information and content description information to be separately transmitted from a broadcaster to a receiver. Thus, the description of the content may be provided to a receiver prior to the time that the information needed to specify the... | 04/18/2006 |
| 7028331 | Content proxy method and apparatus for digital television environment The present invention describes and claims a new system and technique or method for decoupling the interpretation of broadcast content information from the display of this information. The information may exist in any of the available types, such as audio, video, or... | 04/11/2006 |
| 7024683 | System and method for adaptively interfacing different POD modules to a navigation device A method, system, and computer program product for adapting a navigation device to 5 operate with a plurality of different point of deployment (POD) modules that provide conditional access to video programming. A POD type for a POD module that is interfaced w... | 04/04/2006 |
| 7000836 | Method of self-testing IC card readers A method of self-testing an IC card reader. The IC card reader communicates data with an IC card. The IC card reader sends the result of the communication to a higher level apparatus. Before the higher level apparatus issues an IC card execution command, the IC card... | 02/21/2006 |
| 6990680 | System for scheduled caching of in-band data services A system for scheduling caching of in-band data operates as part of a computerized system to receive and store data broadcast in-band in a channel at a scheduled time. The scheduled caching system determines the scheduled time and channel for the in-band data broadc... | 01/24/2006 |
| 6981272 | Data processing apparatus and method for preventing unauthorized copying The present invention relates to a data processing system and method that control the outputs of a receiving apparatus depending upon a copy restriction code. The receiving apparatus determines whether the copy restriction code allows for one or no copies to be made... | 12/27/2005 |
