Patent ID: 7571212
Filing Date: 2009-08-04
Classification: G06F,G06Q,H04L

Abstract:
1. A method for using chat messages, comprising: enabling a software object associated with a web browser operated by a first user on a computer to generate and pass chat messages understandable by a human being as though sent by the first user from the first user to one or more users when the first user changes a location of the first user's web browser, wherein each message from the first user contains the location of the first user's web browser; enabling a software object associated with a web browser operated by a second user on a computer to generate and pass chat messages understandable by a human being as though sent by the second user from the second user to one or more users when the second user changes a location of the second user's web browser, wherein each message from the second user contains the location of the second user's web browser; enabling a given software object associated with a browser operated by a user, on a computer that receives and displays the chat messages from the first user and the second user, to also receive the chat messages from the first user and the second user; enabling the user to follow the first user by causing the given software object to use the messages to change a location of the user's web browser to the locations contained in the messages received from the first user, and then subsequently follow the second user by causing the given software object to use the messages to change a location of the user's web browser to the locations contained in the messages received from the second user, wherein multiple messages are received from the first user or the second user and used to successively change the location of the user's web browser to the locations contained in each of the messages received from the first user or the second user; and enabling the given software object to receive the messages from the first user or the second user and not change the location of the user's web browser when the user does not follow the first user or the second user or after the user stops following the first user or the second user, whereby the messages are received by the given software object and the location of the user's web browser is not changed to the locations contained in the messages.