SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR AN INTERNET COMPETITION NETWORK

A service that allows collecting, process and sharing data about any activity in which one or more beings compete. Human, Organization or Robot users using any connected device are provided with a centralized profile where they can view their data, challenge other users and judge or be judged by other users. The service also allows users to add all means they use to compete as Dependent members such as Animals, Plants, Vehicles, Humans, Teams or Tools. The service also provides means to create activities with custom Data types, Formulas, Ranking systems and Top competitor selection criteria as a representation of an existing live or virtual activity; or modify preexisting templates to adapt them to his needs. Relationships between members are automatically assigned based on operations members do. Users can also compare two or more elements of the network or just follow other members by receiving constant updates about them.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Species have competed since the beginning of time for food, mating or survival. Unlike other living species most of the modern human competition activities are for fun, recreation or personal growth. With the exception of war which is the highest level of competition, most of the modern competition activities are designed to cultivate the human body, using the body as a competition element or competing alongside with other means like vehicles, animals or tools.

One particular problem is that most of the data generated by actual competition activities like amateur sports, beauty contest, farm fairs or paint contest are not recorded or taken into account by actual social networks. This leads to the situation where each organization that wants to promote their members records and achievements have to develop and maintain a separate website, making the data of a particular activity dispersed and disorganized.

Data on small organized networks like videogames are segregated due to competition between companies. Users who have more than one console or mobile device don't have a central place to see the data and achievements they generate on networks like Xbox Live, PlayStation network or BattleNet.

Sports social networks are still tied to the Social network model requiring the users to join and post their data without means of validation from the organization they belong. Those networks are in their majority followers of big sports activities giving their members only the information from well-established sports and teams and not from their local communities. Another drawback of the Sports social networks is that they lack a tool where the users can create their own sports or recreational activities, forcing the users to choose from a set of predefined activities from well-known sports with few choices for modification or customization.

Second, there is a need for recreational institutions or little sports leagues like little league baseball, football or amateur soccer for a centralized tool to keep and maintain current and historical data about their members to impact their local community. The lack of resources or knowledge is leading that well established sports are getting almost all the attention from the fans.

The adaptation and following of rules when a small organization joins a regional, national or international organization also presents difficulties when maintaining their websites. Many sports and recreational organizations have little variations of the rules depending on geographical region, age or staff preferences.

Another limitation is that most of the current networks are constructed based on what users like, not on what they do or have; making difficult for users who share a common activity to find each other, share experiences or to team up. It is said that many people like baseball or football but not all of them practice those sports.

Examples of operations that users can't make on actual social networks are:a) Find Photographers who live in Boston and have a Canon 7D DSLR and invited them to a photo safari.b) Find Hip Hop dancers that graduated at Olmsted Performing Arts dance Academy and invite them to a dance contest.c) Find a female singer, a drummer and two guitars players and contact them to form a rock band.d) Find all 2011 Chevrolet Camaro owners from Florida and contact them to form a Camaro owner's club.e) Find and contact a female British Bulldog owner from The Bronx, N.Y. to ask for assistance and recommendationsf) Find golf players who live in Toronto, Canada and have a handicap of 10 and invite them to participate in a golf tournament.g) Compare two geographic regions based on competition or activities data.h) Vote as “Dislike” or rate as 1 to 5 stars on people, topics or organizationsi) Vote daily as a fan for one of the participants of a beauty contest.

Rare competition activities have little or no support on the web, making them difficult to be discovered by other people in their local communities. Competitors of math tournaments, mustache contest, extreme sports or garden contest rarely see their data or achievements on the web. In most cases even if a small organization has their website, data about competition events is disorganized and is not maintained with time. This is causing that in most cases a web site visitor can't see the winners from previous years.

On the other hand most social networks require that users must declare a close relationship with other users to allow them to interact. Users are forced to declare their teachers, trainers, mentors, roommates and teammates as friends even if they're not considered as such by the users.

Other main limitation of the current networks is that their design is specifically for connecting people; animals, pets, plants, vehicles, gadgets and tools are out of their operational model. Animals in some cultures are considered as part of the family and people love to talk and share information about their pets. On the other hand people who have some tool, vehicle or gadget find it difficult to find and associate with others because they lack a tool to find people based of what they have. Lots of people like a Chevrolet Camaro, but even fewer people have a Chevrolet Camaro.

One big obstacle for actual networks is that COPPA (Children Online Privacy Protection Act) law established that websites who directly collect information from their children must have a written content from their parents if the child is younger than 13 years of age, making it difficult to collect competition data from underage people. Also the before mentioned law requires that websites must physically delete at parent request all data that could lead to directly contacting the child, making it difficult to design with databases that can support orphan data.

Also talent seekers lack a tool to compare talented competitors (men, animals, machines or tools) from different geographic regions, disciplines and ages, by using their own search methods, formulas or calculation criteria to compute raw data the way they want.

The lack of and administration tool where a person can direct and administer all aspect of a competition or recreational activity is preventing that nonprofessional sports organizations from posting their information to the internet. In addition most of the professional organizations lack a tool for posting historic data from each member, leaving that data on paper sheets on files in their offices, causing historic information on competition and recreational activities to disappear with time because of the deterioration of those sheets.

Other organizations have spreadsheets to manage their data, which in the long run can cause data loss due to the lack of backup procedures, or it could be tedious to maintain data structure and rules when new data is added each year.

Therefore a new type of network must be established with a total differentiation from social networks and with its own set of rules, user types, member interactions, activities, user policies and the addition of other non-human elements such animals, plants, vehicles or tools.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention is comprised by systems and methods to allow internet connected users to record, evaluate and maintain data related to virtual or live activities. All data related to a User, Organization, Competitor or Dependent is concentrated into a single profile allowing users to have all their activities in one place. Any profile can be followed by users in the network having the “Follower” user role. Users with elevated privileges can create activities on the network with their own custom set of data types, rules and ranking systems to mimic any virtual or live activity. Users can also add dependent profiles which can accommodate data about all means they use to compete such as animals, plants, tools, gadgets, vehicles, humans, organizations or teams. Also follower users can subscribe to receive continuous up to date information about other users, competitors, organizations, dependents, events or activities.

Internet enabled services are provided to allow a group of users such as people, organizations or artificial intelligences to connect, follow and compete between them. The system can also be used by users to store data about live or virtual competition activities or events. The system receives its configuration parameters formulas for statistics calculation, preferences for ranking, top competitor criteria, user roles and privileges from one or more databases located on one or more servers. Parameters can be predefined to mimic well known competition activities like baseball or football or can be created from scratch by users with elevated privileges (Commissioner Role) to mimic any virtual or live activity. Also users are provided with templates with data, rules and ranking systems of most popular sports and competition activities which they can modify and adapt to their needs.

Using any internet connected device such as cellphones, smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktop computers, video game consoles, portable video game consoles, smart TVs or PDAs one or more users can connect to a central or distributed server farm. Operations on this server farm are performed on multiple servers such as web servers, database servers, application servers, mobile app servers, backup servers, security servers or load balancing servers.

Information in the network can be stored on both SQL and No-SQL databases. Information in the database is comprised of but not limited to general information on each user such as name or email, general or detailed data about competition activities and roles that users have in the network. Users can have one or more roles in the network. User roles govern what users can do or see in the network.

Members relate or interact with others based on his competition data; members can then have conversations if they belong to the same team or organization or if they compete against each other in an event. In an Internet Competition Network there is no such thing as friend request, family request or discussion groups. Users interact with each other using automatically assigned competition driven relationships such as teammate, roommate, mentor, colleague, rival or opponent.

User roles governs what users can do or see in an Internet Competition Network, those roles can comprise:a) Follower: follows other users, organizations, teams, dependents, and events.b) Competitor: competes on events, can challenge other competitorsc) Arbiter: Validates events and certify datad) Commissioner: Creates and administer activities, invites to eventse) Scout: Can search for talented competitors to propose a contract or offer.f) Sponsor: Can create activities and events related to his brand or name.g) Annotator: Enters or capture competition data on an eventh) Administrator: Administers the network, reserved for employees of the company who runs the network.

For the sake of comprehension from now on when we mention a user having or using a specific role it will be named with the name of the role followed by the word “User” or “Users”.

All members of the network such as humans, organizations, teams, plants, gadgets, or tools can also be evaluated based on their participation on events by a reputation system; the reputation system can calculate reputation by won, lost or disqualification, but other actions can lower the reputation like not attending to a previously confirmed event.

Competitor users can set preferences based on reputation; an example could be a user not accepting challenge request from other users with reputation lower than 90%; however not accepting certain number of challenge request can also lower the reputation of the user.

Arbiter users are also governed by the reputation system; in that manner the decision of an arbiter can be impugned by participating users on the event he judged, disputes are then solved by the user who is in charge of the activity (Commissioner User). Not attending to events and the total of “dislikes” votes he receives can lower his reputation. When attending to an event, competitors can see the arbiters and their reputation, and are also able to propose another arbiter in case the reputation the arbiters does not meet the expectations.

User interaction on an Internet Competition Network can be initiated or terminated by sending requests such as:a) Team request: invitation to associate two or more users to forma teamb) Mentor request: request asking for assistance or tutorshipc) Scout request: Request directed to a Commissioner user to see and evaluate data related to his activity.d) Challenge request: Invitation directed to one or more Competitor users asking them to participate in an event.e) Arbiter request: Invitation to attend, evaluate and certify data of an event.f) Revoke request: directed to an Arbiter or Commissioner user to review or reevaluate the results of an event, award, record or achievement.g) Link request: directed to a Commissioner user from a Competitor to link all data related to the first; After this request is accepted all data related to the Competitor is shown in his profileh) Organizational request: Invitation from an organization to a superior organization to be accepted as a member.Appeal request: directed to a Commissioner or Arbiter user to reconsider a decision.Delete request: a special request from a parent to a Commissioner user asking to delete all data that can lead to contact an underage child directly.

The network also allows organizations to add their members by creating standalone profiles that can be linked to users later on. In that sense a competitor can be part of the network without being an active user.

Because an email or other personal information is not required to subscribe to the network underage children can subscribe freely with just entering a username and their age. Further operations the user can do or see are then allowed taking the specified age into account. This model does not directly collect personal information about underage children or any information than can lead to contact the child. Directing or staff members can add standalone profiles by registering general information about those children as they had on paper. Underage children and their parents can view their managed profiles with the same consent they gave by taking the child and registering in the organization.

Also to comply with COPPA regulations parents can send a “Delete request” to a Commissioner user on any activity, in this case the Commissioner user is obligated to delete all personal information about the child. If the Commissioner user does not respond to the request in a reasonable time frame then Administrator users can take action to attend to the parent request and comply with COPPA regulations, sending an admonition message to the Commissioner user for not responding to the parent request. Failing to answer several delete request from parents can cause the Commissioner user to lose his role, and his activity can be cancelled or deactivated.

When a “Delete request” is answered by a Commissioner user or Administrator user all personal information of the user profile is physically deleted from the database and the username is named “Deleted user” or “Deleted competitor”, however all data related to competition events, awards and interaction are not deleted to maintain data consistency. A unique identifier or “ID” will be used to identify the user profile and prevent orphaned data. This ID is sent via email to the parents with information on how to reestablish the profile and reconnect the data in case they change their minds or the child grows and decide to join the network by himself.

The network also allows users to add as “Dependent” all means they use to compete such as animals, plants, tools, vehicles, gadgets or teams. Those dependents can compete along with the user or in his name. Each dependent has his separate profile an can be followed by users; in this manner Follower users can receive continuous updated information about a talented dog, a special vehicle or a team of people who are dependents of a coach or manager.

Some activities in the network could require that members need to have a certain dependent with specific characteristics in order to participate in events. In this manner a mountain bike activity could require a bike with specific properties, a golf players club could require a specific handicap or a Desert Rally club could require the appliers to have an Hummer H3 SUV or a Harley Davidson motorcycle to be accepted as members.

When invited to an event where dependent competitors will be used, all attending Competitor users can view profiles of other attending competitors and their dependents. In that manner by example all attending competitors to a paint ball competition can see the weapons each other will use.

The network also provides means to compare any member of based on their competition data and other public available data. Other comparison options are like or dislike votes or 1 to 5 star rating. Users can view and compare any element of the network based on geographic regions or other criteria or activity and see how they was ranked on previous years.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A) Field of the Invention

This invention generally relates those activities in which beings compete between each other; those beings can be living organism like humans or animals, virtual intelligences or robots or legal persons like organizations or teams. Those activities can be either live if is taking place in the physical world or virtual if is taking places in a computer generated virtual world. In particular this invention is directed to live and virtual competition activities such as sports, contest or videogames.

This invention also relates to internet connected networks, web services and particularly to systems and methods to allow internet connected users to record data about live or virtual competition activities, define their own by adding data definitions and formulas to mimic any live or virtual competition activity and add all means they use to compete such as animals, plants, vehicles or tools.

The invention also relates to web services and technologies to allow non-competing users to follow or stay in touch by receiving continuous up to date information about users, organizations or dependents members (animals, plants, vehicles or tools) they're interested in.

The invention also relates to systems and methods to compare two elements of the network based on internal data from one or more databases. This comparison can also be complemented with public available data. The comparison system can determine the winner automatically by analyzing the data and the rules containing them.

The invention is also related with systems and methods to allow users with elevated privileges to create one or more custom set of formulas and data definitions to manage the data they're in charge of; or creating custom reports with their own formulas and process steps to view the data the way they want. Only users with the Commissioner, Sponsor or Scout roles can create said custom reports.

FIG. 1is a diagram showing the internet structure where the invention is implemented. Here a user1connects to one or more services of the network through the internet cloud2using one or more internet connected devices20-29. One or more server farms3are responsible of those services, the server farm can comprise of one or more Application servers30, Mobile Application servers31, Web servers32, or Database servers33. Other servers can be added to the server farm to cover support operations such as load balancing, backup or firewalling.

The user1can be a human, an Organization or an Artificial intelligence (robot), the user can access the services of the network by using a Portable computer or PDA20, a desktop PC21, a Tablet computer22, a Laptop computer23, a Dumb phone24, a Smartphone25, a Videogame console26, a Portable videogame console27, a Smart TV28or other device that can connect to the internet cloud2.

Server farms3can be located on a single geographical region or distributed across multiple regions for load balancing purposes. The Server farms3can be comprised of one or more Application server30, Mobile Application server31, Web server32or Database server33to cover the demand of information from the users.

Application servers30provide connection services and perform calculations to send the results to connected devices20-29through the internet cloud2.

Mobile Application servers31, provides connection and services for applications running on devices20-29connected to the internet cloud2, applications or Apps on internet connected devices20-29then perform the calculations by themself.

Web servers32are responsible for providing connection and services to web browsers running on internet connected devices20-29.

One or more Database servers33store data and send by demand elements of information34to other servers30-33such as: Events, User data, Formulas, Challenge requests, Activities, Rules, Top Competitors or StatisticsFIG. 4.

FIG. 2is a diagram showing the user roles related to each user type and the dependents each user can have. Three types of users1-3can subscribe to the network to perform operations and a fourth type of user4that perform administrative tasks and enforce user policies of the company that runs the network.

A Human user type1is used by a living person who can access the network through an internet enabled deviceFIG. 120-29. A Human user can have one or more user roles such as: Follower10, Competitor11, Arbiter12, Commissioner13, Scout14, Sponsor15, or Annotator16. Also Human users can have one or more dependent members such as: Humans20, Animals21, Plants22, Robots23, Vehicles24, Teams25, or Tools26.

An Organization User2can be used by one or more members of the organization to connect and perform operation in its name. An Organization user2can have one or more roles such as: Follower10, Competitor11, Arbiter12, Commissioner13, Scout14, Sponsor15or Annotator16. Also Organization users2can have one or more dependent members such as: Humans20, Animals21, Plants22, Robots23, Vehicles24, Teams25or Tools26.

A Robot user3is an artificial intelligence that can be permanently logged to the network or can be connected by a limited time. Robot users3can be programs or games that other users can challenge or compete against, or can be software attached to physical devices to compete in live events. Robots users3have limited roles such as: Competitor11, Arbiter12or Annotator16. Also Robot users3can only have as dependent members other Robots23, Vehicles24and Tools26.

The Administrator user type4is a special user who works for the company that runs the network. His main task is to ensure data consistency, resolve technical problems and ensure all server infrastructure is working as planned. Also Administrator users4can solve disputes between users and can take action against any person, user, organization, activity or event that violates company rules or user agreements.

Like any other network they are regulations that govern user types, the roles or the type of dependent the users1-3can have in the network such as:a) Users1-3can't have both Competitor11and Arbiter user roles in the same event, with the exception of Robot users3.b) A Robot user3can't have living beings as dependent members such as: Humans20, Animals21, or Plants22.

Dependent members20-26are those means the users1-3use to compete along with or in their name, such as: Humans20, Animals21, Plants22, Robots23, Vehicles24, Teams25, or Tools26. There are cases when users1-3can become dependents of other users, e.g.: when a Human user1joins an Organization2, or when an Organization2builds a Robot3. In that sense another example of dependent members can be a baseball team where all players have their Human user account1, but also are dependents of an Organization2(the team) which is also dependent of a Coach who has another Human user account1.

Human dependent members20are human beings who could be an active user or not. This dependent member type is designed for young humans like babies, underage children, people who don't know how to use internet connected devicesFIG. 120-29or those who don't want to be an active member in the network. This type of membership is also reserved for those humans that compete in the name of others humans or organizations.

Animal dependent members21are faunal living beings that are used to compete in the name of the users1-3or alongside them.

Plant dependent members22are floral living beings that are used to compete in the name of the users1-3or alongside them.

Robot dependent members23are artificial intelligences that are attached to physical devices or are deployed in computer environments. Those intelligences can compete in the name of the users1-3or alongside them.

Vehicle dependent members24are devices that can move themselves from one point to another. Those vehicles can be used by users1-3to compete along with them or in their name.

Team dependent members25are groups of Vehicles24, Robots23, Animals21, Humans20or any combination of them that can be used by users1-3to compete along with them or in their names.

Tool dependent members26are those gadgets that users1-3use to compete; a tool is a device that cannot compete by itself.

For the sake of comprehension from now on when describing a user using one user role to do an operation will be named by the Role followed by the word “user” or “users” e.g.: When a Human user FIG.2:1uses the Commissioner role FIG.3:13to do an operation, it will be named as “Commissioner user”.

FIG. 3is a conceptual diagram showing the main database entities and the access rights users FIG.2:1-3can have according with their role FIG.2:10-16. There are three main type of access:a) Read only: users can only see data the way it was predefined by Commissioner13or Sponsor14Users.b) Interaction: users can enter data and do some operations. Those operations are governed by formulas and rules previously defined by Commissioner13or Sponsor14users.c) Read and write: users can change data, rules and formulas.

Database entities20-26are those logically separated spaces in the memory of one or more database servers FIG.1:33that are designed to store data, formulas, rules and other definitions for future retrieval, calculus or to be used as a guide for one or more processes.

The Activity database entity20contains the main information about those topics in which competitors can compete in the network. Specifying main activity data is the first step in the competition creation process.

The competition database entity21contains data types, validation rules, references to other data types and default values. This data definition entity controls what information can be stored in an activity and how is validated.

The formula database entity22contains instructions on how to calculate data stored in the Competition data entity21. Those instructions can be for data grouping, summarization, mathematical operations or comparison between elements of the Competition database entity21.

The Event database entity23is the repository for storing and retrieving data about Activity20occurrences. Each occurrence of an Activity20can have one or more Events23occurrences. Therefore for each occurrence of an Event23all Activity20definitions, Competition data20definitions and calculation Formulas22are applied. All Events23conserve all definitions and formulas for each occurrence for data consistency, in that sense a change of Competition data21or Formula22database entities won't affect past Events23.

The Statistics database entity24is the result of calculations of the data stored in the Event23database entity and the application of one or more formulas stored in the Formula22database entity. This entity stores the results of those calculations to serve as cache for the servers FIG.1:30-32reducing wait time for other calculation operations.

The Rank database entity25contains rules and formulas that are used to reward competitors with one or more distinctions when their statistics reaches some point or a rule is applied. Users FIG.2:1-3and dependent members FIG.2:20-26can have one or more ranks applied to their profileFIG. 8. Also the Ranks database entity25conserves each instance when a ranking rule is applied, in that manner previous ranks applied to users or dependent members can be preserved.

The Top Competitor database entity26contains rules to determine the best Competitors11of one or more Activities20. Top competitors can show awards as achievements in their generated profiles FIG.4:10. Rules can be arranged in one or more time cycles so top competitors can be determined in a periodic way. Each time a top competitor is determined by the rules a new instance is created so Competitors11can retain their past awards.

Based on de definition of the database entities20-26and the type of access operations users can perform in the network having an specific role11-16can be as follow:

The Follower user role10is designed for noncompetitive task. This role allows a user to subscribe to one or more elements in the network and receive up to date information about those elements of his interest. Operations that users can perform having the Follower role10include:a) Follow one or more Users FIG.2:1-3and view their statistics24, Ranks25and Top competitors26awards.b) Follow one or more Activities10and view Statistics24of its Events23.c) Follow one or more Events23by viewing Statistics24and other data as they're produced.d) Vote on polls, surveys or contests to qualify any element of the network.

The Competitor role11is reserved for those users that compete in Events23. Competitor users11can have access to Events23by accepting “Challenge request”FIG. 9from Commissioner users or Sponsor users; or an special event can be created when a Competitor user accepts a Challenge Request from other Competitor user. Operations that user can perform having the Competitor11role include:a) View statistics24and Top competitors26of an Activity he is invited to or belongs to.b) Send or accept challenge request.c) Propose or Reject an Arbiter12on an Event23he is invited to.d) View statistics24or Activities20and Events20he participated in.e) Share any Rank25, Top Competitor26award or achievement he received.f) Ask a Commissioner13or Arbiter user12to review, disqualify or cancel Events23, other Arbiters users12or Competitors11.g) Send, accept or reject requests such as Team, Challenge or follow.h) View ratings and reputation they have received by attending to EventsFIG. 13,FIG. 15,FIG. 17. Competitors can receive votes from follower users such as Like/Dislike or 1 to 5 star rating. Reputation is calculated according to a formula that can be defined by a Commissioner user13.

The Arbiter user role12is designed for users that interact with the Event database entity23to enforce rules and certify its data. There is a restriction that prevents users from having both the Competitor11and Arbiter12role in the same Event instance, only Robot users FIG.2:3can have both Competitor11and Arbiter12user roles in the same event instance23.

The Arbiter user role12can be temporarily assigned to a user if he is chosen by Competitor users11that want to compete between them; in that case an Arbiter requestFIG. 11is sent to the user. After accepting the Arbiter requestFIG. 12to judge an Event23users having the Arbiter user role12can perform operations such as:a) Approve and certify the data captured in an Event23instance.b) Disqualify Competitors11and specific data.c) Reschedule, cancel or postpone an Event23.d) View general information of the Activity20that the Event23belongs.e) Review Competition data21, Formulas22, and other rules that govern the event23.f) View Statistics24of all Competitors11attending to the Event23.g) View profiles of all Competitors11attending to the Event23and the Dependent members FIG.2:20-26they will use if any.g) View the qualifications he received by attending to Events23and his reputationFIG. 16. Arbiters can receive votes such as: likes, dislikes or 1 to 5 star qualifications.

The Commissioner user role13is the highest role; a Commissioner user can govern all aspect of an Activity20, and all instances of Competition data21, Formula22, Event23, Statistics24, Rank25and Top Competitors26database occurrences of the Activity that belongs to him. This role can be obtained when a User FIG.2:1-3creates an Activity20, or when a Sponsor user14, passes him full control of an Activity20he created. Operations that a user can perform having the Commissioner user role13include:a) Create or change competition Activities20with all related databases occurrences in the database instances21-26.b) Accept “Commissioner requests” from one or more Sponsor users14to manage an Activity20they created.c) Define or change Competition data21, Formulas22, Rank systems25, and Top Competitors26criteria at any time.d) Deactivate or disqualify Event23instances, forcing statistics for all users attending to those events to be recalculated.e) Send invitations to other users to subscribe to the Activity20he is in charge of.f) Approve subscriptions to the Activity20he is in charge.g) When attending to an Event23, a Commissioner13can have all functions of an Arbiter user12if he is not competing in the same event.h) Disqualify one or more Arbiters users12, and solve disputes by responding to “Dispute request” from users subscribed to his Activity20.i) Close his Activity20. When this operation is performed all data and achievements remain and the Statistics24and Ranks25of the Competitors users11remain in their profilesFIG. 13.j) Transfer his role to other user in case he decides not to support his Activity20anymore.

The Sponsor user role14is designed for those users FIG.2:1-3who want to create and promote competition activities related to their brand or name. Sponsors users14can create Activities20with all related database entities and instances21-26and transfer the administration to other users later on. Sponsor users14can retain some rights over the Activities20they created and perform some operations such as invite to Events23or Managing Formulas22to view statistics the way they want. Operations a user can do having the Sponsor user role14include:a) Create a competition Activity20with all related database instances21-26to later transfer administrative functions to another user who then become the Commissioner13of the Activity20.b) View all database instances he created21-26related to the activity20he created.c) Define and Apply his own Formulas22to view Statistics24from the Activity20he created the way he wants.

e) View Ranks25and Top Competitors26awards of the Activity20he created.

f) Send Challenge requestFIG. 10to other Users FIG.2:1-3asking them to participate on one or more Events23of the activity he created.

The Scout user role15is reserved for users who want to find talented Competitors11, Dependent Members FIG.2:20-26or other elements of the networks with special conditions of their interest. Scout users15must be accepted by Commissioner users to see the data of any given Activity20. After being accepted in an Activity20Scout users15can perform operations that include:a) Define or apply his own Formulas22to see the Statistics24of an Activity20the way he wants.b) View Ranks25and Top Competitors26awards of an Activity20.

The Annotator user role16is designed for users that capture or enter data to Event instances23. Data entered by Annotator users can be marked as “unofficial” until is certified by an Arbiter or Commissioner user. Operations that users can do having the Annotator user role16include:a) Interact with the event23database instance to enter data. All data entered in the event instance is validated according to the Data definition FIG.4:3, and Data rules FIG.4:4database entities that the Commissioner user defined when created the Activity20.b) View the statistics of the Event10he is annotating.

All database entities20-26, User roles10-16and any other operation can be monitored by one or more Administrator users4to enforce policies and solve disputes.

FIG. 4is a block diagram showing a detailed description of database entities, entity relations and the information flow needed to generate a user profile to show all activities related to a given user. The diagram shows several database entities1-10connected by one to may relationships. A database entity can be allocated on one or more physical or virtual database servers FIG.1:33and can comprise of one or more tables managed by relational or non-relational database engines.

Therefore database entities with few changes over time like User1or Activity2can be normalized and managed by relational database engines. On the other hand Data definition3, Data Rules4, Raw Data5, Formulas6, Statistics7, Ranks8and Top Competitors9are more likely to be stored in narrative XML language because his semi structured schema. Those narrative database entities are more likely to me managed by one or more No-SQL database engines located in one or more Database servers FIG.1:33.

In the User database entity1only basic user data is kept such as email if the user is older than 13, an Internal ID or assigned User roles FIG.2:10-16. Other personal information can be entered when the user subscribe to an Activity FIG.3:20only if the information is marked as required to subscribe. Commissioner FIG.3:13or Sponsor FIG.3:14users can declare this information as required when defining the data types in the Competition Data database entity FIG.3:21.

When a user decides to leave the network only the email data entry if the user is older than 13 is physically deleted from the User Database Entity1leaving ID, user roles and other linking data fields intact for consistency purposes. Also when this situation occurs all personal data that the user entered in all activities is substituted by the words “Deleted user” or “Deactivated profile”

The Activity database entity2is the grand parent of all related data in the network and connects a user with all data generated on each entry or database instance3-10. General information about the activity can be specified here such as: Title, Subtitle, Activity Logo, Company Logo or Activity class. Contents of this entity can be created or modified in the Activity Definition ScreenFIG. 5by Commissioner FIG.3:13or Sponsor FIG.3:14user.

The data definition database entity3contains general specifications about the data that can be stored such as: Data name or Data Type. This entity also contains general rules about the type of information that can be stored such as Number, Letters, or if a data entry is required to have a value. Contents on this entity can be created or modified in the Activity data definition screenFIG. 6by a Commissioner FIG.3:13or Sponsor FIG.3:14user.

The Data Rules database entity4contains one or more set of rules that must be validated when entering data in an Event FIG.3:23. This set of rules may vary from one event to another and can be applied to one or more data entries of the Raw Data database entity5to validate en ensure rules that the Commissioner FIG.3:13or Sponsor FIG.3:14have set. Contents on this entity can be created or modified in the Activity data definition screenFIG. 6by a Commissioner FIG.3:13or Sponsor FIG.3:14user.

The Raw Data database entity5is the primary source for all data calculations by containing special fields to link the data with Event Occurrences FIG.3:23ensuring data consistency. Each time a data is entered in an Event FIG.3:23an entry in the Raw Data database entity5is created, and then is validated using the rules defined on the Data Definition3and Data Rules4database entities. Contents of this database entity are created or updated when an Annotator user FIG.3:16enters the data in the name of the Competitor FIG.3:11that is attending to an Event FIG.3:23.

The formula database entity6contains the necessary calculation steps and connection specifications between data elements to produce one or more Statistics7. Contents on this entity can be created or modified in the Formula definition screenFIG. 7by a Commissioner FIG.3:13or Sponsor FIG.3:14user.

The Statistics database entity7contains the results of one or more Formulas6grouped by Activity2. Contents of this database entity are generated automatically in time periods regulated by Administrator users FIG. 3:4 to ensure the high availability of completion results.

The Ranks database entity8contains a set of awards that can be applied to the users and the rules they must meet to receive those distinctions. Awards definitions in this entity can contain letters, numbers, graphics or any combination of the three. Contents on this entity can be created or modified in the Rank definition screenFIG. 8by a Commissioner FIG.3:13or Sponsor FIG.3:14user.

The top Competitors database entity9contains rules for calculating and selecting the best competitors of an Activity2. Data for this calculation and selection criteria are taken from the Statistics database entity7. A time frame can be set by a Commissioner FIG.3:13or Sponsor user FIG. 3:14 to calculate the best competitors of the activity, in that manner the best Competitors of an Activity FIG.3:20can be shown by period of time such as: hourly, daily, weekly monthly or yearly.

The Activity Profile database entity10contains on demand results from the Statistics,7, Ranks8and Top Competitors9database entities. Results stored in this database entity may vary each time a user logs into the network and his profile is shown or when internal database calculations are made and his profile is refreshed. A User FIG.2:1-3can have multiple Statistics7, Ranks8or Top competitor9results from one or more activities2. In this manner the Activity profile database entity10provides a centralized way for Users FIG.2:1-3to see all results for one or more activities2.FIG. 14,FIG. 15,FIG. 16.

Other database entities are used for internal operations such as: Activity linking, user security, account restoration, chat sessions, sending and accepting request, COPPA rules or cache operations. Those database entities were not shown because they're not needed to comprehend the invention.

Exemplary dynamically generated user profiles are shown from FIG. 5 toFIG. 27, with the exception ofFIG. 13. Those user profiles have common areas, icons and operation indicators the user can activate, those common elements include:

The User identification section1that can be conform of a picture, a nickname and a link that takes the user to modify his main profile data.

The Activities section2that can be conformed of icons and text hyperlinks that the user can use to go to other sections of his profile or to perform operations according to his user role FIG.3:10-16.

The Connection section3shows the subscription the user has to share his statistics or achievements on other networks.

The Outer frame4at the top line can be conformed of the site logo, a generated internal ID of the user at the top and the copyright information along with other text or graphics links managed by the company that runs the network at the bottom.

The Search bar section5can take the user to the search sectionFIG. 27to find topics of his interest or to Challenge other usersFIG. 10.

Profile Settings section6takes the user to an administrative section where he can change his privacy settings, manage subscriptions or deactivate his account.

Advertisement sections7and8are shown based on operations the user is doing or where he is going on the network. Those advertisements are managed by the company that runs the network and are based on user age; no advertisement is shown below the age limit stated by COPPA (13 or younger by 2013).

Operation icons9are graphics representations of status or operations a user can do in his profile. Those operations icons can change when he is visiting another profile such as: another user FIG.2:1-3, or Dependent Member FIG.2:20-26.

When representing one or more status those icon can be:a) Chain: representing a link to other section of the network.b) Film slate: representing a video link.c) Padlock: indicating that the data shown is locked and cannot be changed.

When representing one or more operations those icons can be:a) Plus sign: indicating that when pressed a new element will be added.b) Check mark: indicating that when pressed data will be saved.c) X sign: indicating that when pressed all new edits will be discarded.d) Padlock: indicating that when pressed all new edits will be disallowed.

Other examples of dynamically generated user profiles screens such as: Activity subscription, Dispute request, Contact management, Profile preferences or Login section where not included because they're not needed to comprehend the invention.

FIG. 5shows the first step of the activity definition process: The main activity definition by a Commissioner FIG.2:13or Sponsor FIG.2:14user. The Key activity data definition table10contains the fields and definitions that will identify the activity in the network. This information is stored in the Activity database entity FIG.4:2.

One or more activity definition fields can be defined in the Key Activity data table10such as:a) Title: is the primary text line which is shown as the main identification of the activity in the network.b) Subtitle: a second line which shows more information about the activity.c) Activity logo12: is a graphical representation of the activity that the user can upload by pressing the Upload button11. The uploaded picture or graphic is shown along with the title of the activity in the network.d) Competition type: defines the environment where the activity takes place: the user can choose from “live” if it takes place on a physical environment or “virtual” if the activity takes place in cyberspace or a computer generated environment.e) Activity class: is an internal classification of the activities made by the company that runs the network, the user can create a new Activity class if he wants.f) Activity group: is an internal sub classification of the activities made by the company that runs the network, the user can create a new Activity group if he wants.g) Activity type: Defines if the activity is managed by an organization and if their results will be marked as “official” in Competitors user profilesFIG. 15.h) Subscription type: governs which type of competitors can join an activity, in this case only members of the organization can join the activity.i) Organization logo13: is the graphical representation of the organization to which the activity belongs.

The “NEXT” text hyperlink14when pressed takes the user to the next step of the activity definition process: the Activity data definitionFIG. 6.

FIG. 6shows the second step of the activity definition process: two tables on the screen are used for Activity data definition: the Data definition table20and de Default event rule table21. Entries in the Data definition table20are stored in the Data definition database entity FIG.4:3while the contents of the Default event rule table are stored in the Data Rules database entity FIG.4:4. Predefined attributes in conjunction with other fields that the user must fill can be used to create a data definition.

Definitions in the Data definitions table20can be made by filling the filling columns in the Data definition table20such as:a) Name30: A custom name for each data definition can be defining by the user by typing any name.b) Type31: predefined data types can be used to define de behavior of each data definition such as:1) Number: Only numbers are allowed.2) Competitor type: defines what kind of competitor or users can compete in the activityFIG. 2.3) Event group: Defines a container for one or more events.4) Event part: Defines a member event for an event container.5) Event duration: defines a time period in which the event should take place and a top limit in which the event should end.6) Counter: defines a numeric container to store the result of a sequence of addition or subtraction of numeric values.7) Arbiter rule: Indicates a value, data or operation that one or more Arbiter users FIG.3:12must enforce when judging an Event FIG.3:23.c) Containing32: are predefined containers that can be set to control the kind of information a data definition can store such as:1) Numbers: Only numbers are allowed.2) Human Only: Only Human users FIG.2:1are allowed.3) Double elimination: Indicate that attending Competitors FIG.3:11to an Event FIG.3:23must lose twice to be defeated.4) Time: a numeric value representing time intervals.5) Letters: only alphanumeric characters are allowed.d) Required33: indicates if a data definition is required or can be omitted.e) Referring to34: indicates if the current definition is applied as a rule to a previously defined element. The name of the Data definition element30can be specified on each row. Also predefined rules can be applied such as:1) User: rule is applied to the user FIG.2:1-3.2) Event: rule is applied to the event FIG.3:23.f) Default rules and values can be defined on each data definition entry in the Data definition table20by adding values to corresponding lines in the Default event Rule table21. Values on both Default rule35and Value36columns can be combined to enforce rules such as:1) More than: A value or quantity must be higher than a given amount or quantity.2) Arbiter check: indicates that the Arbiter FIG.2:12must manually check or verify a rule.3) Best of: evaluates several win/lost counts of a series of events to determine the winner, the amount of events are usually odd numbers.4) Descending: indicates a descending order for a time data type.5) Ascending: indicates a ascending order for a time data type.6) Win: defines which reward, point or punishment the competitor will receive for winning7) Lose: defines which reward, point or punishment the competitor will receive for losing.8) Draw: defines which reward, point of punishment the competitor will receive for ending tied in an Event FIG.2:23.

Therefore by analyzing the Data definition20and the Default event rule21tables we can conclude that all Event instances FIG.3:23of this exemplary videogame activity will have the following behavior:a) Configuration: A double elimination tournament, judging the best of 3 matches of five rounds of 99 seconds. The event is divided into three parts: Qualification, Semifinals and Finals.b) Restrictions: only humans14or older are accepted.c) Points and rewards: win, lose and draw counts valued as 1 and are enforced by Arbiters FIG.3:12. Competitors can gain points for participating such as: 3 when winning, 2 when losing and 1 when tying.d) Rules: All characters are allowed and Competitors FIG.3:11which are called “Players” in the event can use their own gamepads.

FIG. 7shows the third step of the definition process: The Formula definition. Here the user can define formulas that will be used to calculate statistics FIG.3:24. Definitions on this screen are stored in the Formula Database entity FIG.4:6.

One or more formulas can be defined by adding a Primary definition comprising of a Title10plus a Short name11,12. Then calculations steps and parts can be added on the corresponding operations table20,30with specifications columns such as:a) Data field21: containing the data field that will be the source of the calculation. The fields that the user can choose in this column correspond to one of the fields he defined in the Key activity data screenFIG. 6and are taken from the Data definition database entity FIG.4:3.b) Short name22: containing an abbreviation for the name.c) Operation23: containing a name for the mathematical or logical operation that will be performed using the data stored in the Data field21such as: Add, Subtract, Multiply, Divide or Power.d) Value24: containing a value specified by the user.e) Connector25: containing the name of a mathematical operation that will also serve as a connector to another line or group of operations31,32.

At the bottom of each operation table20,30a result formula field34is shown. Users can also specify the formula by typing onto this field; the Operations table20,30are then filled with lines or groups after this field is validated.

Users can either add a line or a group by pressing the Plus icon33, then group indicators31,32marks the beginning and end of each group.

All fields that can be chosen on Operation tables20,30correspond to Data types and definitions of the Data Definition database entity FIG.4:3to make sure the user is applying formulas to previously defined data. Some validations rules can be applied to make sure the user is not applying wrong operations to previously defined data like multiplying an alphanumeric value.

FIG. 8shows the fourth step of the Activity definition process: the Ranks definition. The rules to define ranks are stored in the Ranks database entity FIG.4:8. All database fields and specifications are taken from the data Definition database entity FIG. 4:3 to avoid users referring to invalid data.

Ranks definitions are made by adding Lines20or Groups 21 to the Ranks definition table10containing definition columns such as:a) Logo11: a graphical representation of the rankb) Name12: a name that the user can specify by typing directly to the cell.c) Short name13: an abbreviation of the name that the user can specify by typing directly to the cell.d) Data14: A field from the Data definition database entity FIG.4:3that is used to calculate the rank or award.e) Condition15: a rule or calculation used to determine the rank or award, such as:1) Default: applied if no other value exists.2) More than: applied when the data passes a specified numeric value.3) Between: applied when the data is in between two numeric values specified in Value 116and Value 217columns.f) Value 116: containing the first value used to evaluate the condition15g) Value 217: containing the second value used to evaluate the condition15.h) Prerequisite18: indicating if a rank from a previous line is also required.

Group definitions21can be added to apply a rank or award which requires more than one line of specification. Users can add a group by pressing the Add group link26. Group definitions are marked by highlighted lines23and can contain lines of definitions or links to previous definitions24to apply all of them as a whole.

Therefore by analyzingFIG. 8we can conclude that the following ranks will applied to the competitors called “Players” in an exemplary Paint ball activity:a) Recruit: when the player joins the activity and has no data.b) Private: When the player has more than 5 kills.c) Skill level 1: when the player experience is more than 100 points.d) Skill level 2: when the player experience is more than 1,000 points.e) Skill level 3: when the player experience is more than 10,000 points.f) Commander: when the player experience is between 100 and 500 points having the Private Rank.g) Sergeant: when the player has Private, Commander and Skill level 1 applied.h) Captain: when the player has both Sergeant and Skill level 2 ranks applied.i) Colonel: when the player have both Captain and Skill level 3 applied.

When participating on this exemplary activity, a player having 12 kills and 754 experience points is awarded with the following awards: Private, Skill Level 1, Commander and Sergeant.

FIG. 9shows the last step in the activity creation process: the Top Competitors criteria definition. Top Competitors criteria definitions are stored in the Top Competitors database entity FIG.4:9. Commissioner FIG.2:13or Sponsor FIG.2:14users can specify Top competitor rules by specifying the Criteria10and the relevant Data fields20to be taken into account in the selection process.

The selection criteria11can have pre-defined selection rules such as:a) Top 100: only the best 100 competitors are awarded.b) Top 10: only the best 10 competitors are awarded.c) Top 5: only the best 5 competitors are awarded.d) Top 3: only the best 3 competitors are awarded.e) Ladder: When a competitor loses in an event, he changes position with the competitor who defeated him; if he wins he goes up one position.f) Sequential ladder: When a competitor loses in an event, he goes down one position, if he wins goes up one position.

When defining data fields20that are used to choose the best competitors of an Activity FIG.3:20, the user can add them user the New field link24. All fields that can be specified22in the Specification fields table21correspond to those defined in the Data definition database entity FIG.4:3to ensure the user is referring to existing data. After a Field22is specified in the Data fields table20a rule23can be defined for that field such as:a) More: The competitor with the higher quantity is taken into account.b) Less: The competitor with the lower quantity is taken into account.c) Title: The competitor with a predefined alphanumeric value is taken into account.

Therefore by analyzingFIG. 9we can conclude that for an exemplary Paint ball activity the top competitors called “Players” will the 10 with most experience point and kills, but with less times being killed by other players.

When the user presses the FINISH link30the process of creating an activity is concluded and the activity is ready. At this point a Sponsor user FIG.3:14can pass the administration of the activity to a Commissioner user FIG.3:13.

In an internet competition network interpersonal relationships are established by the interaction of the users in relation to the activities they do or the organizations they belong. That way real live relationships are recreated such as:a) Teammate: designed for all members of the same team. Once a competitor joins a team, he and all other members are related with this relationship. Once the competitor leaves the team or is expelled this relationship is lost.b) Mentor: designed for staff members that lead competitors, teams or organizations. Once a competitor joins a team or organization all mentors of the team or organization becomes his mentors. The relation is lost when a competitor leaves the team or organization or is expelled. The mentorship relation can also be automatically assigned when a user ask for assistance to another user sending a “Mentorship request” and is lost when the asking user declares his problem solved.c) Colleague: Designed for mentors or staff members that support the same team or belong to the same organization. Once the user is accepted as mentor or staff all other mentors or staff members become his colleagues. The relationship is lost when the user leaves the organization or is expelled.d) Opponent: A temporary relationship designed for competitors FIG.3:11that compete against each other for the duration of an event. FIG.3:23. This relationship is lost when the event ends.e) Rival: Designed for Competitors that compete against each other on a regular basis.f) Enemy: Designed for competitors who compete in one or more events to eliminate each other. This relationship is reserved for Robot users FIG.2:3or competitors belonging to Virtual world or computer generated environments.

FIG. 10shows the process of sending challenges requests to competitors of an exemplary video game activity. Users to invite can be found using the Search bar5; by choosing one or more users to challenge the Invite table20is populated. The invite table20can contain challenge specification columns such as:a) Name21: name of the user.b) Country22: name of the country the user is from, also the country flag.c) Rep.23: reputation of the competitorFIG. 14.d) Won24: number of events won.e) Lost25: number of events lost.f) Awards26: awards and ranks received.g) Dependents27: a link with the number of dependent member profilesFIG. 19,FIG. 20.

Users can be added to the Added users table30using the Challenge icon28, this table can contain the following columns:a) Competitors31: contains one or more Mini profilesFIG. 14of the users that will be invited to the event.b) Activity32: Contains a general description of the activity that will be seen by the invited users, this description is taken from in the Main activity data definitionFIG. 5. The user can add another activity to make a multi activity event by pressing the Add another button.c) Proposed Arbiter33: contains one or more Mini profilesFIG. 14of the users that will serve as Arbiters having the Arbiter user role FIG.3:12during the event. The user can add another arbiter by pressing the Add another button.d) Event date34: contains one or more calendar control specifying the date or dates of the event. The user can click on one or more numbers representing days to set the date or dates of the event and then press the Set date button to save the changes.

Once finished selecting the Competitors FIG.3:11and the Arbiters FIG.3:12the user can press the check mark button on the Activity buttons bar9to set the event and send all ChallengeFIG. 11and Arbiter requestFIG. 12to the respective users.

FIG. 11shows exemplary pending challenge invitations in a Competitor user profile. Pending challenges are displayed in the Challenges table20that containing specification columns such as:a) Challenge21: a brief description30of the activity that can be comprised of a title, a subtitle, and one or more logos as defined in the Main activity definitionFIG. 5. The user can accept, reject or set it to respond later by pressing the Accept, Reject or Maybe buttons31.b) From22: contains the mini profile32,FIG. 14of the user who sends the challenge request or invitation. The user can report the activity or event as a fraud by pressing the Report sender button33. In case that the invitation is sent by an official organization or company40the user may not be able to report the event as a fraud or scam.c) Arbiter23: contains one or more Mini profile34,FIG. 14of one or more arbiters attending to the event. The user can accept, reject or suggest another arbiter by pressing either Accept, Reject or Propose another arbiter button35. When the challenge is sent by an official organization the user may not be able to reject or propose another arbiter.d) Date24: contains a read only calendar control36showing the day or days of the event. The user can suggest or propose another date for the event by pressing the Propose another date button37. When the challenge is sent by an official organization the user may not be able to suggest another date for the event.e) Competitors25: contains one or more Mini profilesFIG. 14of all competitors attending to the event. The user can report a fraudulent competitor by pressing the Reject one competitor button39.

The user can see more of his pending challenges by pressing the More link80.

FIG. 12shows exemplary pending arbiter request on a user profile. The events are shown in the Arbiter request table20which contains definition columns such as:a) Challenge21: containing general information of the activity31that can comprise of a Title and one or more logos or pictures as defined in the Main activity profileFIG. 5. The user can accept, reject or set it to respond later by pressing either Accept, Reject or Maybe buttons30.b) From22: containing the Mini profile32,FIG. 14of the user who sent the request. The user can report the user and the activity as a fraud by pressing the Report sender button33. This column can also contain an image or logo41representing an official organization or company. In case that the request is sent by an official organization or company the user may not be able to report the activity as a fraud.c) Date23: containing a calendar control34showing the day or days of the event. After accepting the request the user can propose other date or unilaterally change the date by clicking any numeric values in the calendar and pressing either Propose another date or Change date buttons35.d) Competitors24: containing Mini profiles36,FIG. 14of all competitors attending to the event. After accepting the invitation to the event the user can disqualify, reject or propose competitors by pressing either Disqualify, competitor, Reject one competitor or Propose competitor buttons37. In case that the request is sent by an official organization or company the user may not be able to reject competitors but the ability to disqualify or propose others competitors is retained by clicking either Disqualify competitor or Propose competitor buttons43.

FIG. 13shows an exemplary list of activities and reputation as competitor on a user profile. The reputation table20can contain specification columns such as:a) Activity21: containing the Title and the logo of the activity30as defined by its creatorFIG. 5.b) Reputation22: containing a Percentage31or an alphabetic letter showing the qualification of the competitor on each activity.c) Points23: containing points quantities earned by winning or losing events.d) Events24: containing a counter showing the number of events that the user was invited to.e) Won25: containing a counter of won events.f) Lost26: containing a counter of lost events.g) Rejected27: containing a counter of rejected events.h) Disqualified28: containing a counter of event in which the user was disqualified.

A Summary line32containing a average of the reputation of all events and a total of each Points23, Events24, Won25, Lost26, Rejected27and Disqualified28columns is shown at the bottom. Also the Formula33used for the calculation is also shown below the Summary line33.

FIG. 14shows various exemplary Mini profiles which are a quick way to identify the user and his general data. Information on Mini profiles is always up to date and reflects how well or bad a competitor is performing on the network. Mini profiles can be conformed of an outer frame that can be filled with color according with the reputation qualification; in that sense a Mini profile can have its background color as follows:a) Green1,5: if the user reputation is A or above 80%.b) Orange2,6: if the user reputation is B or between 60% and 79%.c) Yellow3,7: if the user reputation is C or between 40% and 59%d) Red8: if the reputation is D or below 40%e) White4: if the user is new and has not participated in any event.

Mini profiles can have other indicators such as: a User picture20,27, the Username or Nickname21, Win/Lost counter22, Reputation qualification23,28, Country flag24and Country Name25. Information on Mini profiles is updated each time an Event FIG.3:23is closed and Statistics FIG.3:24, FIG.4:7are recalculated.

FIG. 15shows and exemplary listing of activities along with rank awards and reputation. Activities are shown in the Activities table20having specification columns such as:a) Activity21: containing the title and logo of the ActivityFIG. 5.b) Reputation22: containing the reputation calculation.c) Events23: containing a counter of event requests received.d) Accepted24: containing a counter of the events attended.e) Rejected25: containing a counter of the events rejected.f) Points26: containing a total of points gained for winning or losing events.g) Rank27: containing the title and logo of the Rank appliedFIG. 8.

A summary line28is shown at the bottom containing and average of all reputations and a total for the other columns.

FIG. 16shows an exemplary Arbiter reputation listing on a user profile. Activities are shown in the Activities table20with specification columns such as:a) Activity21: containing the title and logo of the ActivityFIG. 5.b) Reputation22: containing the reputation calculation.c) Events23: containing a counter of event requests received.d) Accepted24: containing a counter of the events attended.e) Rejected25: containing a counter of the events rejected.f) Dislikes26: containing a counter of dislikes votes received.g) Points27: containing a total of points gained for attending to events.

A summary line32is shown at the bottom with an average of the reputation of all activities and a total for the other columns. The Reputation formula33used for calculation is also shown below the Summary line32.

FIG. 17shows an exemplary summary of statistics and awards by activity on a user profile. The list of activities is grouped by activity type such as: Board games20, Video games30or Sports40. Each group table20,30,40can contain specification columns such as:a) Official21: containing a total of won and lost events that were managed by an organization or company.b) Unofficial22: containing a total of won and lost events that were not managed by an organization or company.c) Opposed 23: containing a total of won and lost event that are being verified by Arbiters FIG.3:12or Commissioner FIG.3:13users.d) Total 24: containing a total of all won and lost events from previous columns.e) Awards/Rank25: containing one or more links of Ranks and Awards receivedFIG. 8.f) Online31: containing a total of won and lost online events.g) Tournament32: containing a total of won and lost tournament type eventsFIG. 25.h) Lan-Party33: containing a total of won and lost of Lan-Party videogame events.

All grouping definition and classification of statistics are managed by Administrator users FIG.3:4to maintain data consistency. Information presented in this screen is generated from the Statistics FIG.4:7, Ranks FIG.4:8and Top Competitors FIG.4:9database entities and are presented as hyperlinks that can take the user to see more details if pressed.

FIG. 18shows an exemplary list of awards on a user profile. Awards shown in the Awards table20can contain a Picture30and a Hyperlink31that can take the user to see more details if pressed. If awards on consecutive years a Column with highlighted title21is shown and all related awards are arranged in the same column sorted by year.

FIG. 19shows an exemplary list of dependent members FIG.2:20-26on a user profile. The dependent members are listed one for each cell in the Dependents table20, each cell has the name of the dependent as a highlighted title21each describing cell can contain a Picture30, along with one or more Hyperlinks31that can take the user to the dependent member profileFIG. 20or see awards the dependent has received.

FIG. 20shows an exemplary dependent member profile FIG.2:21on a user profile. Data is presented to be reviewed or changed in the Profile data10, General information20and Additional info30sections. Those sections can have data types according to the Data types defined for each ActivityFIG. 6and additional data that the user can add as complement. The section can also contain links to the awards the dependent member has received. The structure of the Describing sections10,20,30can be as follows:a) Main profile data10: comprising of a title cell, a data cell and the profile picture. This section shows the data types defined by the creator of the activityFIG. 6that apply to the dependent member and are data that the user must fill in order to participate in the Activity.b) General information20: comprising of a title cell and a detail cell. This table is a combination of user added data and generated competition results. The user can also add Pictures21and Links22that can connect to other dependent member profiles.c) Additional info30: comprising of a title cell and one or more detailing cells. This table is a combination of user added data and other data generated by the system. A list of past owners if any is also shown with cells containing the Picture31and a Link32with the name of the Past owners in case the dependent member has been sold or lent from other users. The link32can take the user to visit the profile of the past owner.

FIG. 21shows an exemplary baseball annotation screen on a user profile. General data about the two competing teams20,50are shown along with the reputation percentage24. The “VS”40indicator shows the connection of the performing Pitcher23and the current Batter52. Annotation tables are shown below each player description, those annotation tables have description columns such as:a) Annotations: contains the name of the data field.b) Current: contains plus (+) or minus (−) buttons which the user can press to increase or decrease the counters.c) Game: contains the statistics of the current game which is the result of pressing the (+) or (−) buttons.d) Year: contains the grand total of each data field for the current year.

Connector indicators41show the user that the incrementing of any data in the Pitcher table20is connected to the Batter table50, therefore by incrementing the Triple [H3]25data field of the Pitcher table20is also incrementing the Triple [H3] field53in the Batter table50.

There are other buttons the user can use to perform other operations such as:a) Change26,55: used to register a player change.b) Disqualify54: used to disqualify a player.c) Next56: used to change the next batter in the lineup.

Active roster tables30,60are also shown to let the Annotator FIG.3:16or Arbiter FIG.3:12user select players to change or disqualify. The Roster tables30,60can have description columns describing the Name31and Position32of the players.

The annotation screen can have other annotation cell such as:a) Run by team22,51: contains the runs for each team, the cell also has (+) and (−) annotation buttons and a highlighted title indicating which team is losing or winningb) Pitch70: containing the current pitch as a number and two arrow buttons that the user can use to increment or decrement the number.c) Inning71: containing three cells one with the “INNING” title, other with the Current inning and other with the indicator if is the Top or Bottom of the inning Two arrow buttons are shown below the cell which can be used by the user to increase or decrease the inning

FIG. 22shows an exemplary math tournament virtual event. In this event while a countdown timer15is still counting users can answer questions in the Discrete math10and the Simple math20tables. Both tables are filled questions set by Commissioners FIG.3:13or Sponsor FIG.3:14users. Both tables can comprise of columns such as:a) Problem11: containing the title of the problem.b) Text12: containing the text of the problem.c) Answer13: containing a field where the user can type the answer to the problem to be evaluated.d) Result14: containing a text indicator showing if the answer is correct or incorrect.

Also a Top players ladder table30is shown at the bottom. This table corresponds to a previously defined Top Competitor evaluation method FIG.3:26, FIG.4:9for the Activity. The top players table is refreshed periodically and can have definition columns such as:a) Name31: containing the name of the player or Competitorb) Points32: containing a total of points gained by the Player or Competitor and an arrow indicating if he is ascending, descending or staying in the ladder. Arrows are colored blue if staying, green if ascending or red if descending.

FIG. 23shows the following of two distinct events on a user profile. In this example a user is following the results of a Baseball game10,FIG. 21, and a Math tournament2,FIG. 22. Each event has a Title11and a generated table10,20with columns and cells containing data relevant to the each activity.

For the Baseball game the user can see the Runs by Inning table10, also the Pitcher12and the Batter14tables containing numeric information13,15that is updated as they are entered by Annotator usersFIG. 21, FIG.3:16.

For the Math tournament a Top players ladder table20, FIG.22:30, a Countdown timer22and a Top 3 competitors table23are shown. The top 3 competitors table23contains the Mini profiles24,FIG. 14of the players with the highest scores and is constantly updated during the event.

FIG. 24shows the results of an exemplary Single event competition: A sack race. Results of the race are shown in the results table10with the names of the top winners along with a highlighted circle indicating their position in the race; the seconds they took to complete the race are shown in another column. A video section11is also shown where the user can watch the video of the race if any. A chat section21is also shown with text messages of the users about the race. The text section can contain a picture20and the text22for each message posted.

FIG. 25shows an exemplary result of a single elimination videogame tournament. Here profile pictures of players are shown in a single elimination bracket20showing the winner with a cup icon21above his profile picture22, the player who won second place is shown with his profile picture23and a highlighted circle with the number2above the profile picture23. A Video section30is also shown where the user can watch videos of the tournament if any.

FIG. 26shows the result of an exemplary beauty contest event. Here a picture profile for each competitor is shown in the Participants10, Third finalist20, Second finalist30, First finalist40and Winners50tables. Winners table50have in a single colored cell51the profile picture shown in a bigger size than the competitors who won honor awards52. Competitors who won honor awards are shown with their Profile picture53below the Award title54. A Video section60is shown where the user can watch videos of the contest if any.

FIG. 27shows the results of two exemplary round robin tournaments. Two tables show results for the Group A10and Group B20categories. The two tables show a Title11with the name of the group and the age range, a first column with Team names12, a first name with Team names and a Total column13,21with a total of all games won by each team. Other cell contains a 1 if the team won the game or a 0 if the team lost the event. A blocked dark cell for each cross section of the same team is also shown on each table to prevent the user for entering data of a team playing against itself

FIG. 28shows an exemplary global search on the network. Once the user types the topic is searching in the Search bar5Results tables20,30,40are populated with each search with description columns such as:a) Name21: containing the name of the competitor, organization, dependent member, or user. This column can contain just a hyperlink with the name or a combination of a hyperlink with the name and a picture41,42,43.b) Country flag22: containing a small flag picture.c) Country23: containing the country name.d) Rep.24: containing the reputation qualificationFIG. 13as a percentage number or an alphanumeric letter.e) Won25: containing a total of events won.f) Lost26: containing a total of events lost.g) Awards27: containing hyperlinks of awards and ranksFIG. 8.h) Dependents28: containing a total of dependent member profiles that the competitor has.FIG. 2,FIG. 19.i) Owner44: containing the name of the Owner if the element listed is a dependent member.j) ORG.31: containing a small logo32of the organization the competitor belongs.

Users can see more search results on each table by pressing one of the [More] hyperlink33. Also the user can click on any category of the Categories column10to filter resulting tables20,3040. More precision searches can be made by using the generated filters of the Filters column12such as: Gender13or City14.

FIG. 29shows an exemplary comparison between two geographic regions: USA vs. Brazil. To select the regions the user wants to compare the user can click in the interactive map40region showing a zoom capable map which the user can user to identify the region he wants to compare. After the user clicks and selects the region he can use the Select button42to add the selected geographic region to the Selected regions list44. The user also has the option to search a specific region by typing directly in the Search field43.

Once any geographic region44is selected, system generated categories are shown in the Categories column10with activities11and sub activities12the user can then click on any of those to filter the comparison. For each geographic region a Master comparison table50is shown. Those tables can have a Topic column51with the name of the activity and one or more dependent columns52, one for each year of data. Cells on dependent columns52shows the rank of the geographic region representing by a number along with a colored arrow54. This arrow54shows the changes in the rank from previous years and can be colored green if the region is going up in the rank, red if is going down or blue if have no change. Data sources for the Master comparison table50of geographic regions can be taken from the network or from other official sources.

A Top activities table60is also shown for each geographic region. Those tables can have description columns such as:a) Top Activities61: containing the name of the Activity FIG.3:20.b) Type62: containing a classification of the Activity FIG.3:20.c) REP.63: containing the Reputation qualification represented by a percentage number or an alphabetical letter.FIG. 13,FIG. 15.d) Won64: containing a total of events won.e) Lost65: containing a total of events lost.

Once the reputation is calculated from all the activities, a reputation qualification is shown on each Country cell53, those cell can be comprise of a Mini map of the region and the reputation qualification represented as a number or letter.

FIG. 30shows three examples of comparisons that the user can do in the network: a Military aircraft20, Celebrities30and Vehicles40. The comparison engine can search and collect data from other sources on the internet to combine those with data produced in the network. The comparison engine can highlight automatically the topic where an element is better than the other based on predefined rules for each data. e.g.: for Speed of a vehicle the higher number is better.

Therefore for the first table20comparing the F-2222raptor vs. the PAK-FA23the comparison engine can highlight as green any specification obtained from official websites. The comparison columns also contain charts24or diagrams and the total of User votes25such as: Likes, Dislikes, Neutral and a Grand total of votes.

For the second table30comparing Celebrities31,32, the comparison engine can look for data from web sources like Forbes and can combine them with user votes in the network, this combination can be shown as reputation33,34.

The third table40comparing vehicles, the engine can look for official websites to receive technical data from the models,41,42and combine with User votes to determine the reputation.

While the present invention has been described in connection with the preferred of the various Figs., it is to be understood that other similar embodiment may be used or modifications and additions may be made to the described embodiments for perform the same function of the present invention without deviating therefrom.