Patent Publication Number: US-2013239005-A1

Title: Techniques for remote presence subscription

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     Users who spend time on the Internet or other communication networks may be able to provide their presence information to others. Presence information may be provided from a variety of applications, such as through social media sites, chat applications, instant messaging applications, Internet relay chat applications, and so forth. The providers of the presence information, e.g. the presence servers that support the applications, may use a variety of protocols in responding to requests for presence information and providing the presence information. Servers that request and retrieve presence information on behalf of a client application may be limited in the number of connections the servers may have to presence servers. Further, some client applications request presence information that may change frequently, while others may request presence information that rarely changes. It is with respect to these and other considerations that the present improvements have been needed. 
     SUMMARY 
     This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. 
     Various embodiments are generally directed to techniques for remote presence subscription. Some embodiments are particularly directed to techniques to providing a customizable subscription to another&#39;s presence information where the person, type of presence information and duration of the subscription may be customized. In one embodiment, for example, a technique may include presenting a view interface to a client, where the client user may select what kind of presence information, and for whom, they would like to receive. The techniques may further comprise receiving a selection of presence data through the view interface from the client; creating a view from the selection at a web service; translating the view into a request having a protocol useable by a presence server to retrieve information for the view; requesting and receiving the information for the view using the request; and providing the information for the view to the client. Other embodiments are described and claimed. 
     These and other features and advantages will be apparent from a reading of the following detailed description and a review of the associated drawings. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are explanatory only and are not restrictive of aspects as claimed. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  illustrates an embodiment of a system for remote presence subscription. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates an embodiment of a web services server to provide remote presence subscription. 
         FIG. 3  illustrates an embodiment of a view manager to provide remote presence subscription. 
         FIG. 4  illustrates an embodiment of a view interface. 
         FIG. 5  illustrates an embodiment of a logic flow to create and service a remote presence subscription. 
         FIG. 6  illustrates an embodiment of a logic flow to aggregate views. 
         FIG. 7  illustrates an embodiment of a computing architecture. 
         FIG. 8  illustrates an embodiment of a communications architecture. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     A user of a communication-enabled application may wish to watch the presence of remote users in a communication space. The communication space may include, for example, a unified communications space, an internal network, an external network, the Internet, and so forth. A communication-enabled application may include, for example, an instant message application, a chat application, an Internet relay chat application, a social media application, chat rooms in a web browser application, collaboration software, and so forth. Presence information may include whether a user is currently logged in; a status of a logged-in user, e.g. busy, available, or away; a location; contact information; an instant message availability; a video chat availability and so forth. A user may wish to watch one remote user&#39;s presence information, for example, a friend, indefinitely, but may want to watch another remote user&#39;s presence, for example, a meeting co-participant, for a shorter limited period. Conventional communication-enabled applications may provide a way to change the individuals whose presence on a user&#39;s wants to watch, but typically may not be able to customize anything else about what presence information is monitored or for how long. Further, a conventional communication-enabled application may only allow one configuration of watched presence information per client. That is, if a user wishes to use the same application to watch two separate sets of presence information, that is not conventionally possible. 
     To solve these and other limitations, various embodiments are directed to techniques for remote presence subscription. In an embodiment, a technique may include presenting a view interface to a client that allows a user of the client to customize which people to watch, what kind of presence information to retrieve and for how long to watch a person. The technique may further include receiving a selection of presence data through the view interface from the client, and creating a view from the selection at a web service. A view may be a data object that indicates the selections made by the user. The technique may further include translating the view into a protocol useable by a presence server to retrieve information for the view; requesting and receiving the information for the view using the protocol; and providing the information for the view to the client. The client may then display the presence information described in the view. The client may further create multiple views. As a result, the embodiments can improve efficiency and user experience of tracking remote users&#39; presence information. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates an embodiment of a system  100  for remote presence subscription. In one embodiment, for example, the system  100  may comprise a computer-implemented system  100  having multiple components, such as a web-service server  110 , a presence server  120 , and a client  130 . As used herein the terms “system” and “component” are intended to refer to a computer-related entity, comprising either hardware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. For example, a component can be implemented as a process running on a processor, a processor, a hard disk drive, multiple storage drives (of optical and/or magnetic storage medium), an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a server and the server can be a component. One or more components can reside within a process and/or thread of execution, and a component can be localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or more computers as desired for a given implementation. The embodiments are not limited in this context. 
     In the illustrated embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 , the system  100  may be implemented with one or more electronic devices. Examples of an electronic device may include without limitation a mobile device, a personal digital assistant, a mobile computing device, a smart phone, a cellular telephone, a handset, a one-way pager, a two-way pager, a messaging device, a computer, a personal computer (PC), a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a handheld computer, a server, a server array or server farm, a web server, a network server, an Internet server, a work station, a mini-computer, a main frame computer, a supercomputer, a network appliance, a web appliance, a distributed computing system, multiprocessor systems, processor-based systems, consumer electronics, programmable consumer electronics, television, digital television, set top box, wireless access point, base station, subscriber station, mobile subscriber center, radio network controller, router, hub, gateway, bridge, switch, machine, or combination thereof. Although the system  100  as shown in  FIG. 1  has a limited number of elements in a certain topology, it may be appreciated that the system  100  may include more or less elements in alternate topologies as desired for a given implementation. 
     In various embodiments, the system  100  may comprise a web services server  110 . Web services server  110 , also referred to herein as WSS  110 , may be one or more server devices that receive requests for data and/or services from client devices, such as client device  130 . One example of a WSS  110  is EXCHANGE SERVER from MICROSOFT® CORP. of Redmond, Wash., USA. The embodiments are not limited to this example. WSS  110  may generally provide services such as email services, contact management services, calendar services, document sharing services, presence information services, services through a web interface, collaboration services, and so forth. 
     In an embodiment, WSS  110  may be implemented with a cloud computing model. In a cloud computing model, applications and services may be provided as though the applications and data were on a local device, without having to install the applications and/or store the data on a local device. However, the applications and/or data storage may be implemented across many devices, servers, and data stores, accessible over a communication interface from a local device. In a cloud computing model, WSS  110  may be physically embodied on one or more servers, and in one or more physical locations. WSS  110  may be a sub-component of a larger cloud computing implementation of a group of services. Regardless of physical configuration, WSS  110  may appear, logically, as one device or system to external entities, such as client device  130 . 
     In an embodiment, the system  100  may comprise one or more presence servers, such as presence server  120 - 1 , and  120 - a , where a represents a positive integer. A presence server  120  may include one or more server devices that provide, at least, presence information  122  about a set of users on request. Examples of a presence server  120  may include without limitation LYNC®, SHAREPOINT®, WINDOWS LIVE®, and EXCHANGE SERVER, all from MICROSOFT® CORP. Different presence servers may respond to different protocols. A request for presence information  122 - 1  from presence server  120 - 1  may therefore need to be in a different format than a request for presence information  122 - a  from presence server  120 - a , when presence server  120 - 1  and  120 - a  follow different protocols. 
     In various embodiments, the system  100  may comprise one or more client devices, such as client device  130 - 1  and  130 - b , where b represents a positive integer. A client device  130  may include any electronic device capable of communicating information with WSS  110 . The communications may include, for example, configuring a view at an interface provided by WSS  110 , and receiving presence information  122  via WSS  110 . A client device  130  may include one or more applications  132  that may communicate with WSS  110  to receive or send data, and perform various functions. Such an application may include a communication-enabled application, an e-mail client application, a calendar application, a contact management application, a word processing application, a web browser, and so forth. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates an embodiment of a web services server  200  to provide remote presence subscription. Web services server  200  may be a representative embodiment of web services server  110 . In various embodiments, web services server  200  may include a view manager  220  and a subscription manager  230  to provide remote presence subscription services. Web services server  200  may be implemented with more or other components and are not limited to this example. 
     In various embodiments, view manager  220  may receive information from an application  132  executing on a client device  130  about what presence information is desired. The received information may constitute a view. View manager  220  may provide the view to the subscription manager  230 . In an embodiment, view manager  220  may convert the view into a protocol-specific format to provide to subscription manager  230 . In an embodiment, view manager  220  may convert the view into a protocol-neutral format to provide to subscription manager  230 . View manager  220  may also receive presence information from subscription manager  230  and may pass the presence information to the requesting application  132 . View manager  220  is described in further detail with respect to  FIG. 3 . 
     In various embodiments, subscription manager  230  may receive the view information from view manager  220  and may request the presence information described in the view from a presence server  120 . Subscription manager  230  may be aware of and handle the communication with a presence server  120  according to any protocol-specific or server specific requirements to obtain the presence information. Subscription manager  230  may inform view manager  220  as to when requested presence information was or was not obtained, and may pass presence information back to view manager  220 . Subscription manager  230  may, in an embodiment, not be aware of a view structure. 
     In various embodiments, web services server  210  may include user accounts  240 . A user account  240  may be issued to an individual user to allow the user to access web services server  210 . A user account  240  may include data about its user, such as a name, a password, an e-mail address, and so forth. In an embodiment, web services server  210  may authenticate a user who requests presence information using a user account  240  for that user. 
       FIG. 3  illustrates an embodiment of a view manager  300  to provide remote presence subscription. View manager  300  may be a representative embodiment of view manager  220 . In various embodiments, view manager  300  may comprise various functional components, such as a view interface  310  and a protocol translator  340 . The functions of view manager  300  may be implemented with more or other components and are not limited to this example. 
     In various embodiments, view manager  300  may include view interface  310 . View interface  310  may provide a user interface that displays, to a user of client device  130 , selection mechanisms that allow the user to indicate what presence information the user wants to receive. View interface  310  may be, for example, a graphical user interface (GUI), a form displayed in a web browser application, an applet, and so forth. In an embodiment, view interface  310  may be, instead, a stand-alone application executing on a client device  130 , in communication with view manager  300 . A selection may be through a touch gesture (e.g. tap) on a touch-sensitive input device, and/or through some other selection action (e.g. mouse, stylus, keyboard, selecting a menu option and so forth). 
     View interface  310  may, generally, provide one or more groups of remote users from which a configuring user may select. A group of remote users may include, for example, the configuring user&#39;s contacts from an e-mail application, a contact management application, an employee directory, a chat application, and so forth. In this context, “remote” may refer to an individual other than the configuring user. A remote user may also have a user account  240  on web services server  210 , or may have an account on a presence server  120  that is visible to web services server  210 . The embodiments are not limited to these examples. The configuring user may therefore select one or more remote users in view interface  310  for which he want presence information. 
     View interface  310  may also provide a set of options for what type of presence information can be obtained for user selection. Types of presence information may include, for example, an online availability status, contact information, an instant message availability status, a video chat availability status, a location, and so forth. The configuring user may select one or more types of presence information that he wants for the selected remote users. 
     View interface  310  may also provide a set of options for how frequently the presence information should be updated for the configuring user. Depending on the group of selected remote users, the type of presence information requested, or both, the frequency may be as often as with every change in presence information for any of the selected remote users. Selecting this kind of frequency may cause view manager  300  to request that the relevant presence server  120  push information to view manager  300  at every change. Frequency may be set to be scheduled, for example once an hour, once a day, and so forth. Scheduled updates may cause view manager  300  to poll the relevant presence server  120  for updates at the selected frequency. 
     The combination of selections for a group of remote users, type of presence information and frequency of updates, when complete and accepted by the configuring user, may be a discrete entity, such as a class object, a database entry, an object in a set, and so forth. The discrete entity is referred to herein as a view. In an embodiment, a client device  130 , and an application  132 , may generate multiple separate views. A view may be stored in views  320 . 
     In an embodiment, views  320  may be consolidated or aggregated by view manager  300 . For example, if more than one view  320  requests presence information for the same remote user “Joe Smith”, instead of requesting the presence information once for each view  320 , view manager  300  may consolidate the many views into one view that includes all of the requested types of presence information for Joe Smith. When presence information returns from the subscription manager  230 , it may then be distributed to the requesting clients according to the individual views  320 . 
     In various embodiments, view manager  300  may include a presence information cache  330 . Presence information cache  330  may be a memory store that holds some presence information received from one or more presence servers  120 . In an embodiment, presence information cache  330  may be used to hold presence information for frequently requested remote users and/or for presence information that does not change frequently. When using presence information cache  330 , view manager  300  may be able to provide requested presence information without having to query the presence servers  120 . 
     In various embodiments, view manager  300  may include protocol translator  340 . Protocol translator  340  may convert the information in a view  320  into a request  342  for presence information for a particular presence server  120 . Protocol translator  340  may determine which presence server  120  has the requested presence information in a particular view  320 , and may use the requested remote users and the types of presence information requested to construct the appropriate request  342  for the relevant presence server  120 . Protocol translator  340  may submit the request to the relevant server at the interval specified in the view  320 . In an embodiment, protocol translator  340  may provide the request  342  to view manager  300 , or a separate component (not shown) to submit the request  342 . 
     Protocol translator  340  may receive the presence information from the presence server  120  and may provide it to view manager  300  to return to the requesting client device  130 . In an embodiment, protocol translator  340  may format the received presence information for the requesting application  132 , or may provide the presence information unchanged. 
     In an embodiment, view manager  300  may monitor network conditions, the number of connections to a presence server  120 , and/or how often the presence information for a view changes. When server loads are high, when a limit on the number of connections is reached, or when the presence information for a view rarely changes, view manager  300  may change the frequency of updates for a view from real-time updates to scheduled, or polled, updates. This may reduce server load, and free up connections to a presence server that may then be used for other views. 
     The components of view manager  300 , such as view interface  310  and protocol translator  340  may be communicatively coupled via various types of communications media. The components  310  and  340  may coordinate operations between each other. The coordination may involve the uni-directional or bi-directional exchange of information. For instance, the components  310  and  340  may communicate information in the form of signals communicated over the communications media. The information can be implemented as signals allocated to various signal lines. In such allocations, each message is a signal. Further embodiments, however, may alternatively employ data messages. Such data messages may be sent across various connections. Exemplary connections include parallel interfaces, serial interfaces, and bus interfaces. 
       FIG. 4  illustrates an embodiment of a view interface  400 . View interface  400  may be a representative embodiment of view interface  310 . View interface  400  is one example, of many possible embodiments, of an interface through which a user can configure a view. View interface  400  may be displayed on a client device  130  within an application  132 , as a web page displayed on a web browser application, and so forth. 
     In various embodiments, view interface  400  may include a remote user selection pane  410 . Remote user selection pane  410  may include a selection field  412 . In an embodiment, a user may use selection field  412  to indicate the remote user or users that she wishes to create a view for. Selection field  412  may be, for example, a text box in which the user can type a name, a drop down menu that lists the remote users from which the user may choose, and so forth. The embodiments are not limited to these examples. 
     In various embodiments, view interface  400  may include a type selection pane  420 . Type selection pane  420  may provide options  422  for the types of presence information that can be requested in the view. The options  422  may be presented, for example, with selectable check boxes. Options  422  may also be presented as a drop-down menu, a dialog window separate from view interface  400 , and so forth. The embodiments are not limited to these examples. 
     In various embodiments, view interface  400  may include a frequency selection pane  430 . Frequency selection pane  430  may provide options for how often the requested information should be updated for the requesting user. The options may include a real-time option  432 . Selecting real-time option  432  may cause the view to use a push model, where the relevant presence server  120  notifies view manager  220  when the selected presence information changes. 
     Other options may include, without limitation, an at intervals option  434 . At intervals  434  may have sub-options to allow the user to specify the interval length. A number field  435  may allow the user to enter or select an integer that would indicate a number of times in a time period to update. The time period may be selected with time period options  436 . 
     Other interval options may be selected with other option  437 , and configured by selecting configure button  438 . Configure button  438  may open a separate interface (not shown) to allow the user to specify an interval that is not represented elsewhere in the frequency selection pane  430 . Other options may include, for example, specific days of the week, times of the day, or on the occurrence of an event. The embodiments are not limited to these examples. 
     When the user has made selections in view interface  400 , selecting the save button  440  may cause the view to be saved as a view  320 . The saved view may be associated with the user that saved the view, assuming that the user is somehow identified to view manager  300 , for example, through a user account  240 . 
     In an embodiment, view manager  220 ,  300  may assign an expiration date to a view  320 . When a view  320  is about to expire, for example, on the following day, view manager  220 ,  300  may notify the user that created the view that it is about to expire. The notification may, for example, be sent as an e-mail message to the user, or as an alert window that opens when the communication-enabled application used to receive presence information is launched or in use. The user may have the option to renew the view, which may reset the expiration date. When a view is not renewed, the view expires, and is no longer serviced, freeing the server resources for other views to be serviced. 
     Operations for the above-described embodiments may be further described with reference to one or more logic flows. It may be appreciated that the representative logic flows do not necessarily have to be executed in the order presented, or in any particular order, unless otherwise indicated. Moreover, various activities described with respect to the logic flows can be executed in serial or parallel fashion. The logic flows may be implemented using one or more hardware elements and/or software elements of the described embodiments or alternative elements as desired for a given set of design and performance constraints. For example, the logic flows may be implemented as logic (e.g., computer program instructions) for execution by a logic device (e.g., a general-purpose or specific-purpose computer). 
       FIG. 5  illustrates an embodiment of a logic flow  500  to create and service a remote presence subscription. The logic flow  500  may be representative of some or all of the operations executed by one or more embodiments described herein. 
     In various embodiments, logic flow  500  may present a view interface to a client in block  502 . For example, a client device  130  receive a control directive from a user to launch an application  132 , which may communicate with web services server  110 ,  200 . View manager  220 ,  300  may present a view interface  400  to application  132  in response to receiving a request to configure a view. 
     In various embodiments, logic flow  500  may receive a selection of presence data through the view interface from the client in block  504 . For example, via control directives to client device  130 , a user may select options in view interface  400  to select one or more remote users, one or more types of presence information, and an update frequency. When the selections are complete, the selections may be received by view manager  220 ,  300 . 
     In various embodiments, logic flow  500  may create a view from the selection at a web service in block  506 . For example, view manager  220 ,  300  may save the received selections as a view  320 . In an embodiment, view manager  220 ,  300  may aggregate the new view with other views for the same selected remote user. An example of this process is illustrated in  FIG. 6 . 
     In various embodiments, logic flow  500  may check if the requested presence information is in the cache in block  508 . For example, view manager  220 ,  300  may examine the contents of presence information cache  330  to determine whether the requested presence information is stored therein. 
     In various embodiments, logic flow  500  may retrieve the presence information from the cache in block  510 , when the presence information is in the cache. Logic flow  500  may proceed to block  516 , described below. 
     In various embodiments, logic flow  500  may translate the view into a request having a protocol useable by a presence server to retrieve information for the view in block  512 , when the presence information is not in the cache. For example, protocol translator  340  may determine the relevant presence server  120 , according to the selected remote users, and may determine a protocol used by the relevant server. Protocol translator  340  may then format a request  342  for the information in the view in the protocol used by the relevant presence server  120 . 
     In various embodiments, logic flow  500  may request and receive the information for the view using the request in block  514 . For example, subscription manager  230  may send the request  342  to the relevant presence server  120 , which may return presence information  122  to view manager  220 ,  300 . 
     In various embodiments, logic flow  500  may provide the information for the view to the client in block  516 . For example, view manager  220 ,  300  may pass or forward the presence information  122  to the application  132  on the client device  130  that requested the presence information. 
       FIG. 6  illustrates an embodiment of a logic flow  600  to aggregate views. The logic flow  600  may be representative of some or all of the operations executed by one or more embodiments described herein. 
     In various embodiments, logic flow  600  may examine the views in the active saved views in block  602 . For example, view manager  300  may inspect the selections within each view in views  320 . In an embodiment, view manager  300  may inspect just the selected remote users. In an embodiment, view manager  300  may inspect both the selected remote users and the presence information requested for them. 
     In various embodiments, logic flow  600  may determine that a remote user is selected in more than one view in block  604 . For example, view manager  300  may count the number of time each selected remote user appears in a view  320 . A remote user may appear in multiple views  320 , for example, when more than one requesting user has selected the remote user to be in a view, or when the same requesting user has included the selected remote user in more than one view. 
     In various embodiments, logic flow  600  may aggregate the views that include the remote user into an aggregated view and translate the aggregated view into one request in block  606 . For example, for a given selected remote user that appears in more than one view  320 , view manager  300  may also determine all of the presence information requested for that selected remote user from the different views. One view, for example, may request online availability, while another may request video chat availability, and still another may request contact information. View manager  300  may consolidate the views into one aggregated view for the given selected remote user that includes all of the requested presence information. The aggregated view may be translated into a request that subscription manager  230  can use to request information from a presence server  120  for that given selected remote user. This allows the web services server  110  to send only one request, rather than the three separate requests of the example, preserving connection resources for other requests. 
     In various embodiments, logic flow  600  may request and receive information about the remote user with the one request in block  608 . For example, subscription manager  230  may transmit the request to a presence server  120 . The presence server  120  may respond to the request and transmit the requested presence information  122  back to subscription manager  230 . 
     In an embodiment, the various views  320  that are for the same remote user may request updates at different intervals. In such a case, the one request may be sent to the relevant presence server  120  at the most frequent of the different intervals. 
     In various embodiments, logic flow  600  may provide the presence information  122  to all of the client devices  130  and/or applications  132  that created views requesting the presence information for the given selected user in block  610 . For example, view manager  300  may use the relevant views  320  to determine what presence information about the given selected remote user was requested in each view, and may provide that information to the client device  130  and/or application  132  that generated the view. 
     When a view  320  expires, view manager  300  may, if the expiring view is not renewed, delete the view from views  320 . If the expiring view was part of an aggregated view, the aggregated view may be re-aggregated to remove the view components that the expired view added to the aggregated view. 
       FIG. 7  illustrates an embodiment of an exemplary computing architecture  700  suitable for implementing various embodiments as previously described. The computing architecture  700  includes various common computing elements, such as one or more processors, co-processors, memory units, chipsets, controllers, peripherals, interfaces, oscillators, timing devices, video cards, audio cards, multimedia input/output (I/O) components, and so forth. The embodiments, however, are not limited to implementation by the computing architecture  700 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 7 , the computing architecture  700  comprises a processing unit  704 , a system memory  706  and a system bus  708 . The processing unit  704  can be any of various commercially available processors. Dual microprocessors and other multi-processor architectures may also be employed as the processing unit  704 . The system bus  708  provides an interface for system components including, but not limited to, the system memory  706  to the processing unit  704 . The system bus  708  can be any of several types of bus structure that may further interconnect to a memory bus (with or without a memory controller), a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety of commercially available bus architectures. 
     The system memory  706  may include various types of memory units, such as read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), Double-Data-Rate DRAM (DDRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), static RAM (SRAM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, polymer memory such as ferroelectric polymer memory, ovonic memory, phase change or ferroelectric memory, silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (SONOS) memory, magnetic or optical cards, or any other type of media suitable for storing information. In the illustrated embodiment shown in  FIG. 7 , the system memory  706  can include non-volatile memory  710  and/or volatile memory  712 . A basic input/output system (BIOS) can be stored in the non-volatile memory  710 . 
     The computer  702  may include various types of computer-readable storage media, including an internal hard disk drive (HDD)  714 , a magnetic floppy disk drive (FDD)  716  to read from or write to a removable magnetic disk  718 , and an optical disk drive  720  to read from or write to a removable optical disk  722  (e.g., a CD-ROM or DVD). The HDD  714 , FDD  716  and optical disk drive  720  can be connected to the system bus  708  by a HDD interface  724 , an FDD interface  726  and an optical drive interface  728 , respectively. The HDD interface  724  for external drive implementations can include at least one or both of Universal Serial Bus (USB) and IEEE 1394 interface technologies. 
     The drives and associated computer-readable storage media provide volatile and/or nonvolatile storage of data, data structures, computer-executable instructions, and so forth. For example, a number of program modules can be stored in the drives and memory units  710 ,  712 , including an operating system  730 , one or more application programs  732 , other program modules  734 , and program data  736 . The one or more application programs  732 , other program modules  734 , and program data  736  can include, for example, applications  132 , view manager  220 ,  300 , and subscription manager  230 . 
     A user can enter commands and information into the computer  702  through one or more wire/wireless input devices, for example, a keyboard  738  and a pointing device, such as a mouse  740 . Other input devices may include a microphone, an infra-red (IR) remote control, a joystick, a game pad, a stylus pen, touch screen, or the like. A camera and/or other sensing device may be used as an input device to record one or more users and capture motions and/or gestures made by users of a computing device. A sensing device may be further operative to capture spoken words, such as by a microphone and/or capture other inputs from a user such as by a keyboard and/or mouse. The sensing device may comprise any motion detection device capable of detecting the movement of a user. These and other input devices are often connected to the processing unit  704  through an input device interface  742  that is coupled to the system bus  708 , but can be connected by other interfaces such as a parallel port, IEEE 1394 serial port, a game port, a USB port, an IR interface, and so forth. 
     A monitor  744  or other type of display device is also connected to the system bus  708  via an interface, such as a video adaptor  746 . In addition to the monitor  744 , a computer typically includes other peripheral output devices, such as speakers, printers, and so forth. 
     The computer  702  may operate in a networked environment using logical connections via wire and/or wireless communications to one or more remote computers, such as a remote computer  748 . The remote computer  748  can be a workstation, a server computer, a router, a personal computer, portable computer, microprocessor-based entertainment appliance, a peer device or other common network node, and typically includes many or all of the elements described relative to the computer  702 , although, for purposes of brevity, only a memory/storage device  750  is illustrated. The logical connections depicted include wire/wireless connectivity to a local area network (LAN)  752  and/or larger networks, for example, a wide area network (WAN)  754 . Such LAN and WAN networking environments are commonplace in offices and companies, and facilitate enterprise-wide computer networks, such as intranets, all of which may connect to a global communications network, for example, the Internet. 
     When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer  702  is connected to the LAN  752  through a wire and/or wireless communication network interface or adaptor  756 . The adaptor  756  can facilitate wire and/or wireless communications to the LAN  752 , which may also include a wireless access point disposed thereon for communicating with the wireless functionality of the adaptor  756 . 
     When used in a WAN networking environment, the computer  702  can include a modem  758 , or is connected to a communications server on the WAN  754 , or has other means for establishing communications over the WAN  754 , such as by way of the Internet. The modem  758 , which can be internal or external and a wire and/or wireless device, connects to the system bus  708  via the input device interface  742 . In a networked environment, program modules depicted relative to the computer  702 , or portions thereof, can be stored in the remote memory/storage device  750 . It will be appreciated that the network connections shown are exemplary and other means of establishing a communications link between the computers can be used. 
     The computer  702  is operable to communicate with wire and wireless devices or entities using the IEEE 802 family of standards, such as wireless devices operatively disposed in wireless communication (e.g., IEEE 802.7 over-the-air modulation techniques) with, for example, a printer, scanner, desktop and/or portable computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), communications satellite, any piece of equipment or location associated with a wirelessly detectable tag (e.g., a kiosk, news stand, restroom), and telephone. This includes at least Wi-Fi (or Wireless Fidelity), WiMax, and Bluetooth™ wireless technologies. Thus, the communication can be a predefined structure as with a conventional network or simply an ad hoc communication between at least two devices. Wi-Fi networks use radio technologies called IEEE 802.7x (a, b, g, etc.) to provide secure, reliable, fast wireless connectivity. A Wi-Fi network can be used to connect computers to each other, to the Internet, and to wire networks (which use IEEE 802.3-related media and functions). 
       FIG. 8  illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary communications architecture  800  suitable for implementing various embodiments as previously described. The communications architecture  800  includes various common communications elements, such as a transmitter, receiver, transceiver, radio, network interface, baseband processor, antenna, amplifiers, filters, and so forth. The embodiments, however, are not limited to implementation by the communications architecture  800 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 8 , the communications architecture  800  comprises includes one or more clients  802  and servers  804 . The clients  802  may implement the client devices  130 . The servers  804  may implement the server systems for web services server  110 ,  200  and presence servers  120 . The clients  802  and the servers  804  are operatively connected to one or more respective client data stores  808  and server data stores  810  that can be employed to store information local to the respective clients  802  and servers  804 , such as cookies and/or associated contextual information. 
     The clients  802  and the servers  804  may communicate information between each other using a communication framework  806 . The communications framework  806  may implement any well-known communications techniques, such as techniques suitable for use with packet-switched networks (e.g., public networks such as the Internet, private networks such as an enterprise intranet, and so forth), circuit-switched networks (e.g., the public switched telephone network), or a combination of packet-switched networks and circuit-switched networks (with suitable gateways and translators). The clients  802  and the servers  804  may include various types of standard communication elements designed to be interoperable with the communications framework  806 , such as one or more communications interfaces, network interfaces, network interface cards (NIC), radios, wireless transmitters/receivers (transceivers), wired and/or wireless communication media, physical connectors, and so forth. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media includes wired communications media and wireless communications media. Examples of wired communications media may include a wire, cable, metal leads, printed circuit boards (PCB), backplanes, switch fabrics, semiconductor material, twisted-pair wire, co-axial cable, fiber optics, a propagated signal, and so forth. Examples of wireless communications media may include acoustic, radio-frequency (RF) spectrum, infrared and other wireless media. One possible communication between a client  802  and a server  804  can be in the form of a data packet adapted to be transmitted between two or more computer processes. The data packet may include a cookie and/or associated contextual information, for example. 
     Various embodiments may be implemented using hardware elements, software elements, or a combination of both. Examples of hardware elements may include devices, components, processors, microprocessors, circuits, circuit elements (e.g., transistors, resistors, capacitors, inductors, and so forth), integrated circuits, application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), programmable logic devices (PLD), digital signal processors (DSP), field programmable gate array (FPGA), memory units, logic gates, registers, semiconductor device, chips, microchips, chip sets, and so forth. Examples of software elements may include software components, programs, applications, computer programs, application programs, system programs, machine programs, operating system software, middleware, firmware, software modules, routines, subroutines, functions, methods, procedures, software interfaces, application program interfaces (API), instruction sets, computing code, computer code, code segments, computer code segments, words, values, symbols, or any combination thereof. Determining whether an embodiment is implemented using hardware elements and/or software elements may vary in accordance with any number of factors, such as desired computational rate, power levels, heat tolerances, processing cycle budget, input data rates, output data rates, memory resources, data bus speeds and other design or performance constraints, as desired for a given implementation. 
     Some embodiments may comprise an article of manufacture. An article of manufacture may comprise a storage medium to store logic. Examples of a storage medium may include one or more types of computer-readable storage media capable of storing electronic data, including volatile memory or non-volatile memory, removable or non-removable memory, erasable or non-erasable memory, writeable or re-writeable memory, and so forth. Examples of the logic may include various software elements, such as software components, programs, applications, computer programs, application programs, system programs, machine programs, operating system software, middleware, firmware, software modules, routines, subroutines, functions, methods, procedures, software interfaces, application program interfaces (API), instruction sets, computing code, computer code, code segments, computer code segments, words, values, symbols, or any combination thereof. In one embodiment, for example, an article of manufacture may store executable computer program instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform methods and/or operations in accordance with the described embodiments. The executable computer program instructions may include any suitable type of code, such as source code, compiled code, interpreted code, executable code, static code, dynamic code, and the like. The executable computer program instructions may be implemented according to a predefined computer language, manner or syntax, for instructing a computer to perform a certain function. The instructions may be implemented using any suitable high-level, low-level, object-oriented, visual, compiled and/or interpreted programming language. 
     Some embodiments may be described using the expression “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” along with their derivatives. These terms mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. 
     Some embodiments may be described using the expression “coupled” and “connected” along with their derivatives. These terms are not necessarily intended as synonyms for each other. For example, some embodiments may be described using the terms “connected” and/or “coupled” to indicate that two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact with each other. The term “coupled,” however, may also mean that two or more elements are not in direct contact with each other, but yet still co-operate or interact with each other. 
     It is emphasized that the Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. Section 1.72(b), requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various features are grouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment. In the appended claims, the terms “including” and “in which” are used as the plain-English equivalents of the respective terms “comprising” and “wherein,” respectively. Moreover, the terms “first,” “second,” “third,” and so forth, are used merely as labels, and are not intended to impose numerical requirements on their objects. 
     Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.