Patent Publication Number: US-2005131992-A1

Title: System, method and apparatus for selecting, displaying, managing, tracking and transferring access to content of web pages and other sources

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The invention pertains in general to the World Wide Web, and more particularly to a method, system and apparatus for selecting, displaying, managing, tracking and transferring access to content accessible by computing devices on the World Wide Web and other sources.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      Interconnected computer systems, such as those interconnected by the Internet, and the like, provide fast and convenient means for obtaining information from various sources throughout the world, and for sharing the information with others. In the world of the Internet, one of the forms of this information is the web page.  
      An Internet web page can contain a large amount of information and a large number of individual items, such as text, photographs, moving images and the like. The present invention enables Users to quickly and conveniently focus on and display separately selected items of content of a web page, and to share those selected items with other individuals or systems over the network.  
      The World Wide Web uses a growing variety of media, styles and elements arranged in the form of web pages. These web pages contain various types of content, including text, pictures and other compelling visual formats. As a rule, web pages have a finite amount of usable space in which to place text, images, and other content. Because of this, the authors of the web pages must make compromises in regards to how much space is reserved for textual information, and how much for the other visual aspects (images, animation, video, etc). An analogy can be made to a newspaper. Each section of the paper is provided its own ‘space’ on the paper itself, with boundaries defining where topics, stories and pictures appear. Since a web page also follows many of these same layout restrictions, elements within a web page are typically restricted to given areas on the page.  
      One notable difference between the pages of printed matter and the pages of a web site lies in the digital format of the web page. The web page can be dynamic and changeable, whereas the printed pages are fixed and unchanging. But because web pages share much of their layout characteristics with the printed page, even the digital format must obey the space restrictions placed upon it. This is what determines how much space a picture or image gets, in comparison to the text on a page. Text, be it on a printed page or web page, follows normal publishing rules regarding size, font, spacing and other factors affecting the page design. Images, pictures and other rich content, however, are restricted by the remaining limited space available on the page. There is, therefore, a need for a method, system and apparatus that allows users to display selected content from web pages and other sources in separate, scalable, and re-sizeable windows.  
      Often, as users view web pages, they find that they have no easy or practical way to simultaneously view content from two different web pages or web sites. Some of the methods that have been devised to overcome this limitation include launching multiple instances of a web browser, or opening a link in a new window (both launch a new full instance of the browser). This allows users to try to resize the content within each page or browser instance, and fit both on the screen together. Most browsers will resize, but the contents within the page often will not. Additionally, by opening another fully enabled browser instance, users consume more memory resources than one browser instance would consume. By opening a link in a new window (if permitted), users are still running another full browser instance, and downloading that whole page in its entirety, regardless of which part of the page interests them, wasting time and bandwidth. Most web browsers (and web sites) display one web page at a time. To display more than one page, additional browser instances would be opened. There is, therefore, a need for a method, system and apparatus that allows users to simultaneously display selected content from different web pages in a manner that does not require the user to launch multiple fully-enabled browsers.  
      If a user wants to share web page content with others, the current and easiest existing method is to E-mail a ‘link’ to that content. The user would simply copy the URL in the address bar of their browser and paste it into an E-mail message. Another method that is considerably faster is that of Instant Messaging. Online, the user would copy and paste the URL of the shared web page in real-time. This has significant speed advantages, and allows for an almost ‘virtual meeting’ to take place. Unfortunately, the web pages do not always indicate the URL for the web page a user is viewing. This makes it difficult, if not impossible for the user to ‘share’ the location of this web page with another user. Another problem is caused by dynamic, form driven pages. These pages may have a number of drop-down lists from which the user could choose, or blank fields that might require user input. Because the URL for the resulting page may not be visible to the end user, it is difficult for a user show another user selected content. Much time is wasted by users having to ‘walk’ the other user through the entire web site in order for them to see the same results on their browser. There is, therefore, a need for a method and system that allows users to ‘share’ selected visual content from web pages with other users. There is also, therefore, a need for a method, system and apparatus that allows users to share only selected content from web pages in a manner that saves time and reduces bandwidth use.  
      The current invention also relates to the ‘tracking’ of online activity of web users. Existing methods of tracking online activity often involve the use of a ‘cookie’, which is a small file written to, and then subsequently read from a user&#39;s computer. Advertising companies that serve up ‘banner ads’ are predominant users of these cookie files. As users ‘surf’ (i.e. view) web pages, ‘cookies’ are created for the purpose of tracking what pages or web sites the user visits. Companies track, record and sell this information to other companies that are interested in obtaining such data. Many users and privacy advocates are speaking out against the invasive tracking method of using cookies.  
      While it is true that users can simply choose not to accept a cookie while on a specific web site, much, if not all, of the web site&#39;s functionality often becomes inaccessible by doing so. In effect, the web site forces the user to accept the cookies in order to fully use the site. On any given web page, the user can be prompted several times to ‘accept’ a cookie if their browser settings do not accept them automatically. While the cookie was originally created to allow users to enjoy dynamic content and other rich experiences, today it is mainly a tracking measure. Users have begun to rely on third party software programs to purge their computers of cookie files, only to often have them recreated when they return to the web.  
      Another tracking method is the ‘web bug’. Just as the name implies, web bugs are actually tiny graphics, usually 1 pixel×1 pixel in size. Because of the tiny size of these special graphics, they are extremely hard to notice or even find if you look for them. Much like the cookie file, the web-bugs function is to report back to its server the IP address and other data of a user viewing the web page. Most users have no idea that the web bug is there, let alone what it does. To properly illustrate the hiding power of the web bug, imagine that a microphone is implanted within this very paper you are reading. The size of this microphone is the size of the period at the end of this sentence, and it is painted white to match the paper color perfectly. As newer and more brazen methods of tracking user activity are developed, users continue to develop methods of foiling such data collection efforts.  
      These tracking and data collection efforts may never end, but they will likely change. Users want privacy, and they expect non-invasive ways for data tracking to be used. Advertisers and content providers, on the other hand, want a tracking solution that provides the most reliable data possible, via a method that cannot be thwarted or spoofed by users. There is, therefore, a need for a method, system and apparatus that tracks online web activity that does not use the preplacement of invasive methods such as cookies or web bugs.  
      An interesting aspect of some existing data tracking methods is that they are limited to tracking web pages as a whole. Web pages usually consist of a combination of various media and some existing tracking methods cannot discern with any certainty specifically what the user was viewing on each web page. For instance, current tracking methods cannot discern when a user is viewing a specific item on a web page from Site A and also a specific item on a web page from Site B simultaneously. The owner of Site A can only know what page the user views on Site A, but has no way to gather data regarding Site B. An advertiser can place a banner ad on the web pages of both Site A and B, but still does not know what specific item the user viewed on those pages, only that pages were shown to the user. There is, therefore, a need for a method, system and apparatus that allows tracking of specific content that a user chooses to view from web pages. There is also, therefore, a need for a method, system and apparatus that allows tracking of specific visual content that the user chooses from multiple web pages or web sites simultaneously.  
      Another aspect of the current invention pertains to searching for content on the World Wide Web. Many “‘search engines” exist today, but users often lack the required skills to use them as efficiently as possible. In order for a search engine to return relevant results to a query, the user must know how to format search criteria. This means the user must know what key words to query, and what combination of key words to use. Users will often not use the correct key words, causing the search results to have little relevance.  
      Furthermore, because a web page can be comprised of many elements or topics, there may be confusion as to what element in the page to search. If the user were to search a particular web page or site for related information, the user usually gets results relevant to that page, not a specific element of that page.  
      For instance, if the user were interested solely in one product on a web page, and used existing search engines to search for related sites, the user would likely get results that include sites similar to the site he is on. However, such a user would not get results indicating sites that are both similar to the site and contain the specific product. A real world example might be that of a woman searching for a shoe store that sells a specific brand of shoe. The woman knows that she can find many shoe stores, but she is only interested in shoe stores that carry the brand of shoe she is looking for. This is known as a Boolean or compound query, where more than one search criterion must be met in order to satisfy the search results. There is, therefore, a need for a method, system and apparatus that allows users to search for related sites or information based on selected specific visual content that the user chooses to view from a web page or pages.  
      With the rapid development and general acceptance of the World Wide Web as the ultimate medium and resource library, software and hardware applications have been developed to help use, organize, and share some of these resources. E-Mail is one of the most popular applications used today. Email, however, is not capable of addressing all of the aforementioned concerns or issues that users encounter online.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The invention provides a system, method and apparatus for selecting, displaying, managing, tracking and transferring access to content accessible by computing devices, such as content in web pages, pop-up windows, players and plug-ins available on the World Wide Web, word processor documents, spreadsheets, and other like content. The selected content can be in the form of plain text, or can be in the form of static or dynamic graphic images, such as pictures, movies, animations, web casts, “3-D” images, or the like. Further, using the system, the User can select several different content items, of the same type or of different types, and place all of the items in an independent browser window.  
      Importantly, the content placed in the independent browser window only contains the content selected by the User, and does not contain other content which may be present in the original source of the content. For example, a User may wish to select a specific image or string of text from a web page containing several images or a lengthy text section. Thus, the system allows the User to create an independent window with only the desired content item, free from other content items on the source, which permits the User to focus on the desired content item. Thus, the system provides a heretofore unavailable ability for a User to create a grouping, or custom selection of content available from the World Wide Web or other sources.  
      The system also provides the ability to adjust both the size of the entire independent browser window, and, separately, the size of each content item within the window. Other important capabilities of the system include the ability to easily search for content similar to the selected content and the ability to transfer access to the custom selection to others via electronic mail, instant messenger applications, and other electronic communications methods.  
      The invention is effected, in part, by software added to the User&#39;s computing device, which is preferably in the form of a plug-in to an Internet browser, such as the Internet Explorer™ Internet browser of Microsoft Corporation or the Netscape Navigator™ Internet browser of Netscape Corporation, or similar content viewing applications. The software on the User&#39;s computing device modifies the User&#39;s browser to allow the User to select desired content from a web page or other document or spreadsheet, or the like, and to place the desired content in an independent browser window, free from other content on the source web page or document. To access functions provided by the software, the software creates a toolbar on the browser, the Main Toolbar, having menu items or icons which activate the functions.  
      In a preferred form, the software allows the User to select desired content from a web page by directing the mouse pointer over the content, depressing the right mouse button (i.e., “right click”) and choosing a Select Content Function offered in an otherwise standard pop-up menu. (In the drawings included herewith, the Select Content Function on such pop-up menu is identified by the word “Amplify”™). In the case of a text selection, the User preferably first defines the desired text by using the standard “click and drag” method and then the “right click” method.  
      For some types of content, such as media content, the system may place a floating icon over the content when the mouse is directed over the content. The floating icon can be used (clicked on) to select the content item with one click. Preferably, the floating icon appears as an overlay on top of the content item and only appears when the User directs the mouse pointer over the content item. Thus, the floating icon does not ordinarily obscure the content item.  
      After the User selects the content, the software may present the User with a Properties Window that allows the User to enter a descriptive Description for the Custom selection being created by the User, and allows the User to enter Keywords for the custom selection. As described in detail below, the software uses the Keywords to perform searches for similar content on the World Wide Web.  
      Next, the software creates an independent browser window, the Custom Selection Window, containing only a relatively small toolbar, the Window Toolbar, and the custom selection of the content items selected by the User. This allows the User to select and focus on desired content free from additional, and possibly distracting, content on the source page.  
      Preferably, the Custom Selection Window is of a predetermined size and may be resized by the User in the known manner of resizing windows. Also, preferably, the content selected by the User is set to occupy specific percentages of the height and width of the window (other than the Window Toolbar), such as 100%. Thus, when the User adjusts the height or width (or both) of the Custom Selection Window, the browser adjusts the dimensions of the content within the window proportionately.  
      Certain content available on the World Wide Web, such as movies, animations and web casts, 3-D images and the like, may require that additional software be present on the User&#39;s computer. Such additional software includes media players such as Microsoft&#39;s Windows Medial Player, Real Media&#39;s Real Player, Apple&#39;s Quicktime, and other similar media players, and includes other “applets”, plug-ins, applications and programs. The User would need to install this software prior to using the system of the invention for these types of content.  
      The system allows the User to have several instances of the Custom Selection Window open simultaneously, each window containing a different custom selection. If additional software is required to view a content item in a Custom Selection Window, such as a media player or applet, or the like, the additional software is preferably defined within the Custom Selection Window as an “embedded object”, which allows multiple instances of the additional software to operate on the computing device at the same time. In this manner, the User can select and view several content items requiring the same additional software simultaneously.  
      This system also allows the User to add additional content items to an existing Custom Selection Window. The User can preferably define whether the additional content item is to appear above, below, to the right, or to the left of an existing content item. The process can be repeated to populate a Custom Selection Window with yet more content items.  
      The several content items contained within one Custom Selection Window are each placed within an individual frame created within the window, which frames are preferably set to collectively occupy specific percentages (e.g., 100%) of the height and width of the Custom Selection Window (not including the Window Toolbar, as discussed above). Further, as with a single content item, each of the several content items is preferably set to occupy specific percentages (e.g., 100%) of the height and width of its respective frame. The User may also preferably resize the frames. Thus, when a frame for a content item is resized, the browser resizes the content within that frame, and, importantly, resizes the other frames (and the content therein), proportionately. It can be appreciated that the ability to arrange, size and resize multiple content items within one independent browser page gives the User great flexibility when creating custom selections.  
      Preferably, each frame of a Custom Selection Window includes a toolbar, the Frame Toolbar, having predefined functions that are applied with respect to the specific content item located in the frame, as opposed to Window Toolbar which has functions that are applied with respect to the Custom Selection Window as a whole. For example, the Frame Toolbar preferably contains icons that allow the User to divide (and sub-divide) each frame to allow the User to populate the Custom Selection Window with multiple content items, as described above. Preferably, the Frame Toolbar appears as an overlay to the content item within the frame and only appears when the User directs the mouse pointer over the content item (i.e., on a so-called “mouseover” event). Thus, the Frame Toolbar does not ordinarily cover or otherwise obscure the content item located within the frame.  
      The Frame Toolbar preferably provides a menu item or icon to select the content item located within the respective frame and place the content item in a new Custom Selection Window in a manner similar to selecting content from an original source page. Thus, using this function, the User can pick desired content items out of an existing Custom Selection Window. In addition, the Frame Toolbar preferably includes a menu item or icon to Refresh the content item in the respective frame. The Window Toolbar also preferably provides a similar function to refresh all of the content items within a Custom Selection Window simultaneously.  
      Once a Custom Selection Window is created, the system provides the ability to search the World Wide Web for content similar to the selected content. To perform such a search, the User can select a Search function provided by the software, which is preferably accessible via an icon on the Window Toolbar of the Custom Selection Window or on the Frame Toolbar. Upon receiving such a search command, the software opens a new browser page and queries a predetermined World Wide Web search engine, such as google.com, or the like, with certain Search Parameters. The Search Parameters are created from a group including the domain name of the source of a content item in the Custom Selection Window, the title of the original web page of the content item, and the Keywords. Preferably, the search can be performed on the basis of the Search Parameters of the entire Custom Selection Window (via the Window Toolbar), or on the basis of an individual content item within a frame of the Custom Selection Window (via the Frame Toolbar).  
      The result of the search is an independent browser window containing “hits” returned by the search engine, which should be relevant to the selected content or source of the content. As is common, the hits are typically in the form of short descriptions of the search results accompanied by hypertext links, or universal resource locators (i.e., url&#39;s), which lead to web pages.  
      The system also provides the ability for the User to open a new browser window containing either the entire web page of a selected content item, or containing the main or “home” web page of the domain for the selected content. These functions, the GoTo This Page and GoTo This Site functions are preferably made available via menu items or icons on the Window Toolbar or via menu items or icons on each Frame Toolbar. Thus, the system provides a quick and convenient means to find and view the source of selected content items.  
      Further, the system provides the ability to maintain the Custom Selection Window as the “top” window on the computing device. This function, the Always On Top function, is preferably made available via a menu item or icon on the Window Toolbar. When the Always On Top function is selected (i.e., “on”), the Custom Selection Window will remain visible as the top window on the computing device irrespective of whether the User selects another window, such as another program, as the active window. With this function, the User can quickly and conveniently select and focus on a desired content item, such as a streaming video, and ensure that the content item is always visible even if the User is working with another program. As mentioned above, the User can resize and relocate the Custom Selection Window to view other programs, as desired.  
      The system also provides the ability for the User to save a Custom Selection Window for later viewing. One mode of this feature creates a Most Recently Used (MRU) list, or History, which saves a predetermined number (e.g., 20) of the last saved custom selections, in chronological order of use. Another mode of this feature, the Send to Favorites function, creates a semi-permanent list of Favorites. A Favorites List is preferably made available via a menu item or icon on the Window Toolbar. Preferably, the Main Toolbar, accessible on the main browser, includes a retrieval function, the GoTo Favorites function, accessible via a menu item or icon. When selected, the GoTo Favorites function displays a list of saved Custom Selection Windows, which are identified by the Description entered by the User when creating the Custom Selection Window. Thus, once a Custom Selection Window is sent to Favorites, the User can quickly and conveniently recreate the window at a later time by choosing the selection from the list of Favorites. The system also provides a convenient means for the User to print the Custom Selection Window. The Send To Printer function is preferably made available via a menu item or icon on the Window Toolbar.  
      Importantly, the system also provides the ability for the User to transfer a Custom Selection Window to another computing device (a Recipient) via electronic mail, instant messenger programs, or other similar electronic communication means. This function, the Send To Friends function, is preferably made available via a menu item or icon on the Window Toolbar. Upon selecting the Send To Friends function, the software presents the User with a dialog window to enter the Electronic Address of the Recipient (e.g., the email address, or instant messenger name). The software also preferably provides the ability to save the Electronic Addresses of Recipients, identified by a descriptive Recipient Name entered by the User, in a Friends List for future use.  
      When a Recipient is entered (or chosen), the software sends a Definition of the Custom Selection Window to a Server. The Definition includes a predefined, unique identifier for the sender (the User Identifier), the Description, the arrangement and sizes of the frames in the window and the Keywords. For image content, the Definition also includes the universal resource locator (url) for the image content. For text content, the Definition also includes either the entirety of the selected text or the url for the source of the text and parameters that define the location of the beginning and end of the selected text within the source of the text.  
      Upon receipt of the Definition, the Server assigns a unique Window Identifier to the Custom Selection Window. At this point, an electronic message is sent to the Recipient at the Electronic Address of the Recipient via electronic mail, instant messaging program, or other electronic means, as appropriate. The electronic message sent to the Recipient contains a hypertext link, or universal resource locator (url) which leads back to the Server. As described below, the link contains the Window Identifier of the Custom Selection Window. The electronic message can be sent by the Server or can be sent by the computing device of the User. In the case where the electronic message is sent by the User, the Server transmits the Window Identifier of the Custom Selection Window to the User and the Window Identifier is incorporated into the electronic message as described above.  
      The presence of the Keywords in the Definition provide an important function by allowing the creator of the custom selection to provide targeted words to search for related content on the web. As a part of the Definition, the Keywords are attached to the Custom Selection Window and remain with the Custom Selection Window when it is saved by the User (or sent to the Favorites List), and travel with the Custom Selection Window when the Custom Selection Window is accessed by a Recipient.  
      It should be noted that the electronic message sent to the Recipient does not contain the content items themselves, but only a link to the Server. As opposed to prior methods of sending entire content items to a recipient, the present invention greatly reduces the time and bandwidth required to send an electronic message to another to share content over a network such as the World Wide Web. Moreover, electronic messaging systems often have limitations in the type and amount of content that each can transmit in a single message. For example, electronic mail systems typically limit messages to a certain size and instant messaging systems typically do not allow the transfer of images and typically limit the amount of text in a message to a certain number of characters. The present invention overcomes these limitations by sending an electronic message containing a link used to re-create the custom selection.  
      Upon receiving the electronic message, the User can recreate the Custom Selection Window by selecting, or clicking on, the hypertext link in the message. When the Recipient selects the link within the electronic message, the computing device of the Recipient activates a browser application that sends a request to the Server, which request contains the unique Identifier of the Custom Selection Window. The Server responds with a web page that recreates, on the computing device of the Recipient, the custom selection as defined by the sender.  
      Importantly, preferably a standard browser application can create a Recipient Window containing the custom selection without the additional software required to initially create and send the custom selection. Therefore the User is able to transmit access to the custom selection to another computing device on the network, even if the other computing device does not have the additional software required to initially create the custom selection.  
      Preferably the Recipient Window is configured to load the content items of the custom selection via the browser application on the computing device of the Recipient directly from the respective sources of the content. Thus, by employing the browser application on the computing device of the Recipient to retrieve and load the content items, the system of the present invention avoids the content type and size limitations of electronic messaging systems, as discussed above.  
      The Recipient Window also preferably includes a tool bar, the Recipient Toolbar, that provides certain functions to the Recipient related to the custom selection in the Recipient Window. The Recipient Toolbar preferably includes Search, Goto This Page, GoTo This Site, and Print functions, similar to those functions provided by the Window Toolbar, to allow the User to search the World Wide Web for content related to the content in the Recipient Window, to open another browser window with either the source web page containing the content item or the web site of the domain of the source web page, or to print the Recipient Window.  
      As mentioned above, the custom selection received by the Recipient includes the Keywords in the Definition, which allows the Recipient to perform targeted searches of the web for related content.  
      The initial web page sent to the Recipient preferably senses whether the Recipient has installed the software on their computing device. If so, the Recipient has the full functionality of the Custom Selection Window, including the functionality of the Window Toolbar, as described above. In particular, the Recipient has the ability to save the Custom Selection Window to the History List, the Favorites List and has the ability to transfer access to the Custom Selection Window to other computing devices, among the other functionality described above.  
      The software is preferably compatible with several different computing platforms, such as Microsoft Windows-based and Apple computers, internet appliances, personal digital assistants (PDAs, such as the Palm Pilot, and the like), and other computing platforms, such that custom selections can be shared among Users of various computing devices. Further, certain items of User-defined attribute information, such as the User&#39;s Favorites and the Friends List, are preferably portable amongst various computing devices of the User. The software accomplishes this function by transmitting the attribute information to the Server and storing the information along with the unique User Identifier. The User&#39;s attribute information is retrieved using the User Identifier when the User first launches the browser. Thus, the system provides a consistent and familiar experience regardless of which computing device the User chooses.  
      The system also provides a highly accurate and flexible means to track content viewed and shared by Users and Recipients. The Server is contacted whenever a custom selection is saved to or chosen from the Favorites list, when a custom selection is sent to another device using an electronic message, and when a Recipient views a received custom selection. During each of these actions, the unique Identifier of the custom selection is sent to the Server, which Server contains the Definition of the custom selection. Therefore, in the case of custom selections of a User&#39;s Favorites List, the system can track and compile statistics including regarding what content items have been selected, what content items are selected in the same window, the number of times a selected item (or group of items) is viewed, and the frequency of viewing. Such statistics can be compiled along with the unique User Identifier to track such information with respect to a particular User, or can be compiled “blind” without regard to a particular User.  
      For custom selections shared with others, the system can also track and compile statistics on what content items (or groups) are shared with others (and by whom), the number of times a Recipient views a selection, the frequency of viewing, and the chosen method of messaging. As an example, the system can track statistics regarding a User viewing (and likely comparing) images of two products side-by-side in a custom selection, and can track statistics about any sharing of that custom selection. This tracking can be accomplished whether the two images are on the same site or different sites.  
      The system also provides means for users to compose a message and insert the message within the custom selection.  
      Further, the system does not rely on pre-placed tracking devices, such as “cookies” or “web bugs.” The tracking capability of the present invention is based on the content items themselves, in their unaltered format. Moreover, the tracking capability of the system is highly targeted in that it is able to track viewing and transferring of specific content items, whereas traditional tracking methods such as cookies and web bugs typically only track views of entire web pages. Further, since communication with the Server is required for certain actions, such as saving and retrieving, the tracking capabilities of the system cannot be circumvented. Therefore, the system provides a very non-invasive reliable, highly targeted and flexible tracking system.  
      The system can display advertisements with the custom selections, where the advertisements are chosen based on the content items displayed, a message composed by the user, or other parameters.  
      It can be appreciated that the present invention provides a convenient method for a User to create, view, modify, print and save custom groupings of image and text content items available on web pages and other sources, to search for other related content, and to transfer access to such selections with others, which method is effected in a manner which avoids the limitations of electronic communications methods, which reduces the time and bandwidth required to share the custom groupings via electronic messages, and which provides for highly accurate and flexible tracking of such content viewing and sharing.  
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      For a complete understanding of the above and other features of the invention, reference shall be made to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention and to the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
       FIG. 1  is an image of an Internet browser application showing the Main Toolbar of the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  is an image of the Main Toolbar showing the Identified Content Item List;  
       FIG. 3  is an image of the Select Content Item Function invoked by the “right-click” method of selecting a content item;  
       FIG. 4  is an image illustrating the floating Instant Selection Icon;  
       FIG. 5  is an image of the Properties Window;  
       FIG. 6  is an image of a Custom Selection Window having a single image content item;  
       FIG. 7  is an image of a Custom Selection Window having a content item in a top frame and a blank bottom frame;  
       FIG. 8  is an image of the Select Target Window;  
       FIG. 9  is an image of a Custom Selection Window having an image content item in a top frame and an animation content item in a bottom frame;  
       FIG. 10  is an image of a Custom Selection Window having a bottom frame divided into right and left frames;  
       FIG. 11  is an image of a Custom Selection Window having an image content item in a top frame, having an animation content item in a left bottom frame and having a text content item in a right bottom frame;  
       FIGS. 12 and 13  are images of a Custom Selection Window as in  FIG. 11 , showing a Frame Toolbar in the top frame;  
       FIG. 14  is an image of the (Go To) History menu item of the Main Toolbar;  
       FIG. 15  is an image of the (Send To) Favorites menu item of the Window Toolbar;  
       FIG. 16  is an image of the (Go To) Favorites menu item of the Main Toolbar;  
       FIG. 17  is an image of the (Send To) Recipients menu item of the Window Toolbar;  
       FIG. 18  is an image of the Edit Recipients dialog window;  
       FIG. 19  is an image of the Recipient Window;  
       FIG. 20  is an image of a Custom Selection Window showing the Create Link Window Toolbar menu item;  
       FIG. 21  is an image of an electronic messaging application message containing a Link to a Custom Selection Window;  
       FIG. 22  is an image of a System Area Icon and System Area Menu;  
       FIG. 23  is an image of a Return To Search Results icon and a condensed Search Results List;  
       FIG. 24  is an image of a Custom Selection Window with a frame showing the Compose Message icon;  
       FIG. 25  is an image of the Custom Selection Window of  FIG. 24  showing text input by a user within the frame; and  
       FIG. 26  is an image of a Text Message within a Custom Selection Window which is always on top of other windows. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
      Referring to  FIG. 1 , to employ the present invention, the User installs software on the User&#39;s computing device that adds functionality to the Internet browser application and operating system of the User&#39;s computing device. Upon installation of the software, the software communicates with a remote Server that assigns a unique User Identifier for the User and transmits the User Identifier to the User&#39;s computing device, which stores the User Identifier on a memory device for later use.  
      Selecting Content Items  
      The software adds a Main Toolbar  10  to the browser application  12  on the User&#39;s computing device to allow the User to create a custom selection by selecting desired content items from a web page or other document or spreadsheet, or the like, and to place the desired content items in an independent browser window, free from other content on the source web page or document. As discussed in detail below, the Main Toolbar  10  has menu items or icons that activate some of the functions.  
      By default, the software may analyze web pages and other types of sources upon loading into the browser application to identify content items supported by the software and to determine the network locations of the content items. A list of supported content is preferably contained in a file stored on the User&#39;s computing device, such as in a Dynamic Link Library (DLL), that can be updated automatically as new types of content become supported by the software. The Main Toolbar  10  preferably provides a menu item that allows the User to disable the automatic page scanning if desired.  
      Referring to  FIG. 2 , the Main Toolbar  10  includes an Identified Content  14  menu item that displays an Identified Content Items List  16  of supported and identified content items in the web page or source currently loaded into the browser application. The User can select a desired content item by clicking on the item in the Identified Content Items List  16 .  
      Referring to  FIG. 3 , the User can also select a desired content item from a web page by directing a pointing device of the computing device (e.g., a mouse pointer) over the content item  18  in the page, depressing the right mouse button (i.e., “right click”) and choosing a Select Content Item Function  20  offered in an otherwise standard pop-up menu  22 . (In the drawings included herewith, the Select Content Item Function  20  on such pop-up menu  22  is identified by the word “Amplify”™).  
      It should be noted that, when selecting content items, the software obtains the network location and name of the content item from the web page or other source of the content item and retains the network location in memory, which is preferably temporary memory. Further, it should be noted that content items (and groups of content items) can be selected using the standard “click and drag” method and then the “right click” method.  
      In the case of a content item that is text, the User preferably first defines the desired text by using the standard “click and drag” method and then the “right click” method. This function is also operable to select non-text content items. A group of non-text content items or a group of text and non-text content items may be selected in a similar manner by selecting the entire group, for example using the “click and drag” method. Preferably, a select function inherent in the operating system (e.g., Windows™) is employed to obtain HTML coding or other formatting instructions for the text and/or non-text content items. It should be noted that, as used herein, the term “click” is meant to encompass any means or method by which the pointing device receives a selection command from the User.  
      Referring to  FIG. 4 , for some types of content, such as media content, the system preferably places a floating, Instant Selection Icon  24  over the content item  18 ′ when the User directs the mouse pointer over the display area or frame of the content item. The Instant Selection Icon  24  can be used (clicked on) to select the content item  18 ′ with one click. Preferably, the Instant Selection Icon  24  appears as an overlay on top of the content item  18 ′ and only appears when the User directs the mouse pointer over the display area or frame of the content item. Thus, the Instant Selection Icon  24  does not ordinarily obscure the content item.  
      Window Description and Keywords  
      Referring to  FIG. 5 , after the User selects the content item, the software may present a Properties Window  28  that allows the User to enter a Description  30  for the custom selection being created by the User, and allows the User to enter Keywords  32  for the custom selection. As described in detail below, the software uses the Keywords  32  to perform searches for similar content on the World Wide Web.  
      The Custom Selection Window  
      Referring to  FIG. 6 , the software then creates an independent browser window, the Custom Selection Window  34 , containing only a relatively small toolbar, the Window Toolbar  36 , and the custom selection of the content item  18  selected by the User. This allows the User to select and focus on desired content free from additional, and possibly distracting, content on the source page. The network location of the content item is retrieved from the (temporary) memory to which it was stored during the selection process.  
      The software preferably loads the content item into the Custom Selection Window  34  directly from the original (network) source of the content item identified during the selection process. It is intended that the term network source as used herein include any cached source that may be present on the network.  
      Preferably, the Custom Selection Window  34  is of a predetermined size and may be resized by the User in the known manner of resizing windows. Also, preferably, the content item  18  selected by the User is set to occupy specific percentages of the height and width of the window (other than the Window Toolbar  36 ), such as 100%. Thus, when the User adjusts the height or width (or both) of the Custom Selection Window  34 , the browser application adjusts the dimensions of the content item  18  within the window proportionately. However, the system preferably maintains any original aspect ratio settings of the content item.  
      Certain content available on the World Wide Web, such as movies, animations and web casts, 3-D images and the like, may require that additional software be present on the User&#39;s computer. Such additional software includes external player programs (such as Microsoft&#39;s Windows Medial Player, Real Media&#39;s Real Player, Apple&#39;s Quicktime, and other similar media players), helper application, “applets”, plug-ins, and other programs. The User would need to install this software prior to using the system of the invention for these types of content.  
      The software allows the User to have several instances of the Custom Selection Window  34  open at any given time, each window containing a different custom selection. If additional software is required to view a content item in a Custom Selection Window  34 , such as a media player or applet, or the like, the additional software is preferably defined within the Custom Selection Window as an “embedded object”, which allows multiple instances of the additional software to operate on the computing device at the same time. In this manner, the User can select and view several content items requiring the same additional software at the same time.  
      Inserting Additional Content Items Into a Custom Selection Window  
      Referring to  FIGS. 6 &amp; 7 , the software also allows the User to add additional content items to an existing Custom Selection Window  34 . To do this, the User preferably first divides a Frame  37  of an existing content item  18  in the Custom Selection Window  34  to add a new frame to the window. The Frame Toolbar  38 , which appears over the content item  18  in the Custom Selection Window  34 , includes New Frame Bottom, New Frame Top, New Frame Right, and New Frame Left icons  40 ,  42 ,  44 ,  46  (or menu items) that add a new frame below, above, to the left or to the right, respectively, of the existing content item  18 . The software preferably divides the frame  36  of the selected content item  18  into two, equal, sub-frames  48 ,  50 , with one of the frames  48  occupied by the existing content item  18  and the other frame  50  blank. Then, the User selects an additional content item in the manner described above.  
      Referring to  FIG. 8 , upon the selection of an additional content item, the software determines whether there exist other, open Custom Selection Windows. If so, the software presents a Select Target Window  52 , that displays an Open Window List  54  of all open Custom Selection Windows, which are preferably identified by the Description  30  entered by the User when creating the windows. Preferably, the User can select an open window from the Open Window List  54 . The Select Target Window  52  also preferably provides a New Window  56  button, icon or menu item to allow the User to place the content item in its own Custom Selection Window, if desired.  
      Upon the selection of an open Custom Selection Window as the target, the software displays the selected Custom Selection Window  34 , which includes the frame  48  occupied by the existing content item  18  and a blank frame  50  (as shown in  FIG. 6 ). If the Custom Selection Window  34  contains more than one blank frame, the software then preferably pauses and prompts the User to select the blank frame in which to place the additional content item. The User can select the desired blank frame by clicking within the border of the frame. If the Custom Selection Window  34  contains only one blank frame then the software may automatically place the additional content item within that frame.  
      Referring to  FIG. 9 , the software then displays the modified Custom Selection Window  34 , which now contains both the first content item  18  (e.g., in the top frame  48 ) and the additional content item  58  (in the bottom frame  50 ).  
      Referring to  FIGS. 10 &amp; 11 , the process can be repeated to populate the Custom Selection Window  34  with more content items. In this case, a new frame  60  is added to the right of the bottom frame  50 . As above, the new frame  60  is added by selecting the New Fame Right icon  44  in the Frame Toolbar  38  (not shown) of the bottom frame  50  to add a frame to the right of the bottom frame  50 . As shown, a text selection content item  62  can then be placed in the new frame  60  in the manner described above.  
      The software preferably defines the frames of the Custom Selection Window (in HTML) to collectively occupy specific percentages (e.g., 100%) of the height and width of the Custom Selection Window (not including the Window Toolbar  36 ). Further, as with a single content item, each of the several content items is preferably set to occupy specific percentages (e.g., 100%) of the height and width of its respective frame. The User may also preferably resize and rescale the frames in a Custom Selection Window by relocating a border between frames by clicking on and dragging a border  64  to a new location. When the frame border is relocated, the browser application resizes both of the content items within the frames that share that border  64 , proportionately. However, the system preferably maintains any original aspect ratio settings of the content item. It can be appreciated that the ability to arrange, size and resize multiple content items within one independent browser page gives the User great flexibility when creating custom selections.  
      As a first step in creating the Custom Selection Window  34 , the software first determines what type of content has been selected and determines whether there exists other open Custom Selection Windows. An example of the code for these steps is set for the in Table A.  
               TABLE A                          ′ Public Sub Amplify(ByRef oSourceDocument As       MSHTML.HTMLDocument, ByRef oAmplifyObject As Object)                         ′ Paramaters:                             ′   oSourceDocument - An object reference to the                         document that the item being amplified originated from                             ′   oAmplifyObject - An object reference to the item                         being amplified           Public Sub Amplify(ByRef oSourceDocument As           MSHTML.HTMLDocument, ByRef oAmplifyObject As Object)                         Dim xmlAmplifyItem As MSXML.DOMDocument           ′ Determine what type of content is being amplified           Select Case TypeName(oAmplifyObject)                         Case “HTMLImg”                         Set xmlAmplifyItem =           AmplifyHTMLImg(oSourceDocument,           oAmplifyObject)                         Case “IHTMLTxtRange”                         Set xmlAmplifyItem =           AmplifyIHTMLTxtRange(oSourceDocument,           oAmplifyObject)                         Case “HTMLObjectElement”                         Set xmlAmplifyItem =           AmplifyHTMLObjectElement(oSourceDocument,           oAmplifyObject)                         End Select           If Not xmlAmplifyItem Is Nothing Then                         ′ If there is already an amplification window           showing, then give           ′ the user the choice of using a new or existing           window           If lAmplifyCount &gt; 0 Then                         ′ Show window choice form           Dim oAmplifyForm As New Amplify.frmAmplify           Load oAmplifyForm           Set oAmplifyForm.AmplifyItem = xmlAmplifyItem           ShowWindowEx oAmplifyForm.hWnd           Set oAmplifyForm = Nothing                         Else                         ′ No windows existed, create a new one           Dim oAmplification As New Amplify.Amplification           oAmplification.Load           oAmplification.AddItem xmlAmplifyItem           Set oAmplification = Nothing                         End If                         End If           Set xmlAmplifyItem = Nothing                         End Sub                      
 
      The software then defines certain parameters of the content item, such as the source page or document of the content item and the file name of the content item. An example of this step, for an image content item, is set forth in Table B.  
               TABLE B                          ′ Private Function AmplifyHTMLImg(ByRef oSourceDocument As       MSHTML.HTMLDocument, ByRef oImage As       MSHTML.HTMLImg) As MSXML.DOMDocument                         ′ Parameters:                             ′   oSourceDocument - An object reference to the document                         that the item being amplified originated from                             ′   oImage - An object reference to the image being amplified                         ′ Return Value                             ′   MSXML.DOMDocument object containing the xml structure                         of the image           Private Function AmplifyHTMLImg(ByRef oSourceDocument As           MSHTML.HTMLDocument, ByRef oImage As                 MSHTML HTMLImg) As MSXML.DOMDocument                         Dim xmlImage As New MSXML.DOMDocument           xmlImage.async = False           LoadResXML xmlImage, “amplifyimage.xml”           BuildSourceNode xmlImage.selectSingleNode(“frame/source”),           oSourceDocument           With xmlImage.selectSingleNode(“frame/image”)                         .selectSingleNode(“src”).Text = oImage.src           .selectSingleNode(“alt”).Text = oImage.alt           .selectSingleNode(“height”).Text = oImage.Height           .selectSingleNode(“width”).Text = oImage.Width           ′.selectSingleNode(“mime-type”).Text = oImage.mimeType                         End With           Set AmplifyHTMLImg = xmlImage           Set xmlImage = Nothing                         End Function                      
 
      Then, the software launches a new browser application window and passes the XML structure of the image to the new window. An example of the code for this step, for an image content item, is set forth in Table C.  
               TABLE C                          ′ Public Sub AddItem(ByRef oAmplifyItem As MSXML.DOMDocument)                         ′ Parameters:                             ′   oAmplifyItem - An object reference to the xml                         containing the structure of the item being amplified           Public Sub AddItem(ByRef oAmplifyItem As           MSXML.DOMDocument)                         ′ Copy the xml to a local object for later use           Set xmlItem Waiting =           oAmplifyItem.documentElement.cloneNode(True)           ′ Set the item waiting flag           bItemWaiting = True           ′ Check to see if the choose your target splash screen           should be displayed           If CLng(GetSetting(REG_APP_NAME,           REG_SECT_PREFERENCES,           REG_KEY_TARGET_WINDOW_HINT,                 0)) = 0 Then                         frmChooseTarget.Show vbModeless, Me                         End If                         End Sub                      
 
      Upon the creation of the new window, the software pauses to receive an indication from the User as to the desired location of the content item within the new window. As stated above, if there is only one possible (i.e., blank) frame for the content item, then the software may automatically insert the content item in that frame. An example of the code for this step is set forth in Table D.  
               TABLE D                          ′ Private Sub AddItem_Callback(ByRef oTargetWindow As MSHTML.HTMLWindow2, ByRef xmlItem As       MSXML.IXMLDOMNode, Optional ByRef bSetDirty As Boolean = True)                         ′ Parameters:                             ′   oTargetWindow - An object reference to the target window for the item being amplified           ′   xmlItem - An object reference to the xml of the item being amplified           ′   bSetDirty (Optional, Default = True) - Boolean value indicating weather or not to set the dirty flag for the                 amplification                         Private Sub AddItem_Callback(ByRef oTargetWindow As MSHTML.HTMLWindow2, ByRef xmlItem As                 MSXML.IXMLDOMNode, Optional ByRef bSetDirty As Boolean = True)                         ′ Determine what type of content is being amplified           Select Case xmlItem.selectSingleNode(“@type”).Text                         Case “HTMLImg”                         Call AddHTMLImg(xmlItem, oTargetWindow)                         Case “IHTMLTxtRange”                         Call AddIHTMLTxtRange(xmlItem, oTargetWindow)                         Case “HTMLObjectElement”                         Call AddHTMLObjectElement(xmlItem, oTargetWindow)                         End Select           xmlAmplification.selectSingleNode(“amplification/frames”).appendChild xmlItem           oAmplification.Dirty = bSetDirty           bItemWaiting = False                         End Sub                      
 
      In the code set forth in Table D, the software again determines the type of the content item and calls an appropriate function to populate the target frame with the content item. An example of the code to populate the target frame for an image content item is set forth in Table E.  
                       TABLE E                                      ′ Private Sub AddHTMLImg(ByRef xmlImage As           MSXML.IXMLDOMNode, ByRef oTargetWindow As           MSHTML.HTMLWindow2)                         ′ Parameters:                             ′   xmlImage - Object reference to the xml for the                         image being amplified                             ′   oTargetWindow - Object reference to the target                         window for the image           Private Sub AddHTMLImg(ByRef xmlImage As           MSXML.IXMLDOMNode, ByRef oTargetWindow As           MSHTML.HTMLWindow2)                         Dim oImage As MSHTML.HTMLImg           ′ Load the html for the image into the target window           oTargetWindow.navigate AMPLIFY_RES_PATH +           “/html/amplifyimage.html”           ′ Waite for the window to finish loading           DoEvents           Do Until oTargetWindow.document.readyState =           “complete”                         DoEvents                         Loop           ′ Set the base href of the window           SetBaseHREF oTargetWindow.document,           xmlImage.selectSingleNode(“source”)           ′ Get an object reference to the empty image loaded           in the window           Set oImage =           oTargetWindow.document.getElementById(“oImage”)           ′ Set the image properties           With xmlImage.selectSingleNode(“image”)                         oImage.src = .selectSingleNode(“src”).Text           oImage.alt = .selectSingleNode(“alt”).Text                         End With           ′ Make the image visible           oImage.Style.visibility = “visible”           Set oImage = Nothing                         End Sub                      
 
      The XML structure of a content item preferably includes tags related to the network location and other aspects of the source of the content item such as the protocol (e.g., http), host (e.g., amplifytheweb.com), path (e.g., /images/), page (e.g., page.html), and query. For an image item, the XML structure also preferably includes tags related to the file name (e.g., image.jpeg), alternate information (e.g., “A JPEG image”), height and width. An example of the XML structure for an image content item is set forth in Table F.  
                       TABLE F                                      &lt;frame id=“” type=“HTMLImg”&gt;                         &lt;source&gt;                         &lt;protocol /&gt;           &lt;host /&gt;           &lt;path /&gt;           &lt;page /&gt;           &lt;query /&gt;                         &lt;/source&gt;           &lt;image&gt;                         &lt;src /&gt;           &lt;alt /&gt;           &lt;height /&gt;           &lt;width /&gt;           &lt;mime-type /&gt;           &lt;scale&gt;Y&lt;/scale&gt;                         &lt;/image&gt;                         &lt;/frame&gt;                      
 
      The HTML code loaded into a frame includes instructions that define the appearance of the content item in the frame. An example of the HTML code the frame of an image content item is set forth in Table G.  
                       TABLE G                                      &lt;html&gt;                         &lt;head&gt;           &lt;base id=“oBaseHREF” href=“” target=“_blank”&gt;           &lt;/head&gt;           &lt;body leftmargin=“2” topmargin=“2” bottommargin=“2”           rightmargin=“2” onresize=“ResizeImage( );”&gt;           &lt;table cellpadding=“0” cellspacing=“0” border=“0”           height=“100%” width=“100%”&gt;           &lt;tr&gt;                         &lt;td align=“center” valign=“middle”&gt;                         &lt;img id=“oImage” border=“0”           style=“visibility:hidden;”           onload=“SetupImage( );”           onmouseover=“ShowImageToolbar( );”           onmouseout=“HideImageToolbar(false);”           galleryimg=“no”&gt;&lt;br&gt;                         &lt;/td&gt;                         &lt;/tr&gt;           &lt;/table&gt;           &lt;button id=“btnImageToolbar” onclick=“ScaleImage( );”           style=“position:absolute;top:0px;left:0px;background-                         color:buttonface;visibility:hidden;”           onmouseout=“HideImageToolbar(false);”&gt;                         &lt;/button&gt;           &lt;/body&gt;           &lt;/html&gt;                      
 
      As discussed above, the software allows the User to divide frames of an open Custom Selection Window to insert additional content items into the window. An example of the code to divide a frame of a Custom Selection Window is set forth in Table H.  
               TABLE H                          ′ Private Sub SplitFrame(ByRef oSplitFrame As       MSHTML.HTMLFrameElement, ByRef sNewFrameLocation As String)                         ′ Parameters:                             ′   oSplitFrame - An object reference to the frame                         being split                             ′   sNewFrameLocation - String containing the location                         of the new (blank) frame           Private Sub SplitFrame(ByRef oSplitFrame As           MSHTML.HTMLFrameElement, ByRef sNewFrameLocation As                 String)                         Dim oNewFrameset As MSHTML.IHTMLFrameSetElement           Dim oReplaceFrame As MSHTML.HTMLFrameElement           Dim oNewFrame As MSHTML.HTMLFrameElement           oSplitFrame.Style.border = “0px”           If sNewFrameLocation = “NewFrameTop” Or           sNewFrameLocation = “NewFrameBottom” Then                         Set oNewFrameset = oDocument.createElement(“&lt;frameset           rows=““50%,50%””&gt;”)                         Else                         Set oNewFrameset = oDocument.createElement(“&lt;frameset           cols=““50%,50%””&gt;”)                         End If           Set oReplaceFrame =           oSplitFrame.parentElement.replaceChild(oNewFrameset,           oSplitFrame)           Set oNewFrame = oReplaceFrame.cloneNode(False)           oNewFrame.id = “fraAmplify” +           CStr((oDocument.frames.Length + 1))           oNewFrame.src = “about:blank”           If sNewFrameLocation = “NewFrameRight”            Or sNewFrameLocation = “NewFrameBottom” Then                         oNewFrameset.appendChild oReplaceFrame           oNewFrameset.appendChild oNewFrame                         Else                         oNewFrameset.appendChild oNewFrame           oNewFrameset.appendChild oReplaceFrame                         End If           Set oNewFrame = Nothing           Set oReplaceFrame = Nothing           Set oNewFrameset = Nothing                         End Sub                      
 
      The HTML code that defines the frameset for a Custom Selection Window preferably defines the frames as predetermined percentages of the window. The code may also identify the Custom Selection Window by a unique Window Identifier. The code set forth in Table I below defines a frameset having a top and bottom frame for a Custom Selection Window having a Window Identifier of 579E3E1B-F2A9-42A3-91AC-1635B0A67D04.  
               TABLE I                          &lt;html&gt;                         &lt;head&gt;           &lt;/head&gt;           &lt;frameset &gt;&lt;frameset rows=“50%,50%”&gt;&lt;frame src=“amplification_view_frame.asp?amplification={579E3E1B-                 F2A9-42A3-91AC-1635B0A67D04}&amp;frame=fraAmplify0” scrolling=“no”&gt;&lt;frame       src=“amplification_view_frame.asp?amplification={579E3E1B-F2A9-42A3-91AC-1635B0A67D04}&amp;frame=fraAmplify1”       scrolling=“no”&gt;&lt;/frameset&gt;&lt;/frameset&gt;                         &lt;/html&gt;                      
 
      An example of the HTML code for a frame for an image content item for the Custom Selection Window defined by the frameset defined by the code set forth in the above Table I is set forth below in Table J.  
               TABLE J                          &lt;html&gt;                         &lt;head&gt;           &lt;base href=“http://www.amplifytheweb.com/” target=“_blank”&gt;           &lt;script language=“JavaScript”&gt;           &lt;!−           var lOriginalHeight = 54;           var lOriginalWidth = 232;           var bScaleImage = true,           function GetImageRatio( ) {                         var dHeightRatio = 0.0;           var dWidthRatio = 0.0;           if(document.body.clientHeight &lt;= 20 ∥           document.body.clientWidth &lt;= 20) {                         dHeightRatio = 1;           dWidthRatio = 1;                         } else {                         dHeightRatio = lOriginalHeight /           (document.body.clientHeight − 4);           dWidthRatio = lOriginalWidth /           (document.body.clientWidth − 4);                         }           return dWidthRatio &gt; dHeightRatio ?           dWidthRatio : dHeightRatio;                         }           function ResizeImage( ) {                         if (!bScaleImage) {                         return;                         }           var dRatio = 0.0;           dRatio = GetImageRatio( );           oImage.style.height = Math.round(lOriginalHeight / dRatio);           oImage.style.width = Math.round(lOriginalWidth / dRatio);                         }           function ScaleImage( ) {                         bScaleImage = !bScaleImage;           if (bScaleImage) {                         HideImageToolbar(true);           ResizeImage( );                         } else {                         HideImageToolbar(true);           oImage.style.height = “;           oImage.style.width = “;                         }                         }           //−&gt;           &lt;/script&gt;           &lt;/head&gt;           &lt;body leftmargin=“2” topmargin=“2” bottommargin=“2”           rightmargin=“2” onresize=“ResizeImage( );”&gt;           &lt;table cellpadding=“0” cellspacing=“0” border=“0”           height=“100%” width=“100%”&gt;           &lt;tr&gt;                         &lt;td align=“center” valign=“middle”&gt;                         &lt;img id=“oImage” src=“image.jpeg”           alt=“” onload=“ResizeImage( );”&gt;&lt;br&gt;                         &lt;/td&gt;                         &lt;/tr&gt;           &lt;/table&gt;           &lt;/body&gt;           &lt;/html&gt;                      
 
      An example of the HTML code for a frame for an MPEG movie content item for the Custom Selection Window defined by the frameset defined by the code set forth in the above Table I is set forth below in Table K.  
               TABLE K                          &lt;html&gt;                         &lt;head&gt;           &lt;base href=“http://www.amplifytheweb.com/” target=“_blank”&gt;           &lt;/head&gt;           &lt;body leftmargin=“1” topmargin=“1” bottommargin=“1” rightmargin=“1” bgcolor=“#000000”&gt;           &lt;OBJECT ID=“oWindowsMedia” width=“100%” height=“100%” classid=“CLSID:22d6f312-b0f6-1ld0-94ab-                 0080c74c7e95”                         codebase=“http://activex.microsoft.com/activex/controls/mplayer/en/nsmp2inf.cab#Version=6,4,7,1112” standby=“”                         onmouseover=“this.ShowControls=1;” onmouseout=“this.ShowControls=0;”&gt;                         &lt;param name=“ShowControls” value=“0”&gt;           &lt;param name=“AutoStart” value=“1”&gt;           &lt;param name=“AutoSize” value=“0”&gt;           &lt;param name=“AnimationAtStart” value=“False”&gt;           &lt;param name=“AutoRewind” value=“False“&gt;           &lt;param name=“baseUrl” value=“”&gt;           &lt;param name=“FileName” value=“movie.mpeg”&gt;           &lt;param name=“PlayCount” value=“1”&gt;           &lt;param name=“Rate” value=“1”&gt;                         &lt;/OBJECT&gt;           &lt;/body&gt;           &lt;/html&gt;                      
 
      The code set forth below in Table L defines a frameset for a Custom Selection Window having a top row of one frame and a bottom row of two frames.  
               TABLE L                          &lt;html&gt;                         &lt;head&gt;           &lt;/head&gt;           &lt;frameset&gt;&lt;frameset rows=“50%,50%”&gt;&lt;frame src=“amplification_view_frame.asp?amplification={579E3E1B-                 F2A9-42A3-91AC-1635B0A67D04}&amp;frame=fraAmplify0” scrolling=“no”&gt;&lt;frameset cols=“50%,50%”&gt;&lt;frame       src=“amplification_view_frame.asp?amplification={579E3E1B-F2A9-42A3-91AC-1635B0A67D04}&amp;frame=fraAmplify1”       scrolling=“no“&gt;&lt;frame src=“amplification_view_frame.asp?amplification={579E3E1B-F2A9-42A3-91AC-       1635B0A67D04}&amp;frame=fraAmplify2” scrolling=“no”&gt;&lt;/frameset&gt;&lt;/frameset&gt;&lt;/frameset&gt;                         &lt;/html&gt;                      
 
      The Custom Selection Window defined by the frameset set forth above in Table L can contain the image content item (as defined by the code of Table J) in the frame of the top row, an MPEG movie content item in the left frame of the bottom row, and a text content item in the right frame of the bottom row. An example of the HTML code for a text content item comprising the text “This is the text selected by the user.” is set forth in Table M.  
               TABLE M                          &lt;html&gt;                         &lt;head&gt;           &lt;base href=“http://www.amplifytheweb.com/” target=“_blank”&gt;           &lt;/head&gt;           &lt;body leftmargin=“0” topmargin=“0” bottommargin=“0”           rightmargin=“0” onload=“document.body.scroll=‘auto’;”&gt;           &lt;table height=“100%” align=“center”&gt;           &lt;tr&gt;                         &lt;td valign=“middle”&gt;                         &lt;span&gt;This is the text selected by the user.&lt;/span&gt;                         &lt;/td&gt;                         &lt;/tr&gt;           &lt;/table&gt;           &lt;/body&gt;           &lt;/html&gt;                      
 
 Frame Toolbar 
 
      Referring to  FIG. 12 , the Frame Toolbar  38  preferably appears as an overlay to the content item  18  within the frame and only appears when the User directs the mouse pointer over the display area or frame of the content item (i.e., on a “mouseover” event). In this manner, the Frame Toolbar  38  will disappear when the pointer exits the display area or frame. Thus, the Frame Toolbar  38  does not ordinarily cover or otherwise obscure the content item  18  located within the frame.  
      Select Content Item (Frame Toolbar)  
      The Frame Toolbar  38  preferably includes a Select Content Item  66  icon to select the content item  18  located within the respective frame and place the content item in a new Custom Selection Window in a manner similar to selecting content from an original source page. Thus, using this function, the User can pick desired content items out of an existing Custom Selection Window.  
      Refresh (Frame Toolbar)  
      In addition, the Frame Toolbar  38  preferably includes a Refresh  68  menu item or icon to reload the content item in the respective frame. To refresh a content item, the software first determines which frame the User has chosen to reload. An example of the code to make this determination is set forth in Table N.  
               TABLE N                          ′ Private Sub Reload(Optional ByRef oTargetFrame As MSHTML.HTMLFrameElement)                         ′ Parameters:                             ′   oTargetFrame (Optional) - An object reference to a specific frame to be reloaded                         Private Sub Reload(Optional ByRef oTargetFrame As MSHTML.HTMLFrameElement)           ′ If a target frame was passed in, then only reload that frame           ′ otherwise reload all frames           If Not oTargetFrame Is Nothing Then                         PopulateFrames oAmplification.DOM.selectNodes(“amplification/frames/frame[@id=“‘ + oTargetFrame.id +                 ’”]”)                         Else                         PopulateFrames oAmplification.DOM.selectNodes(“amplification/frames/frame”)                         End If                 End Sub                  
 
      Then the code set forth in Table O calls the code set forth in Table P for each frame being reloaded.  
               TABLE O                          Private Sub PopulateFrames(xmlFrames As MSXML.IXMLDOMNodeList)                         Dim i As Long           For i = 0 To xmlFrames.Length - 1                         AddItem_Callback oDocument.frames(xmlFrames.Item(i).selectSingleNode(“@id”).Text), xmlFrames.Item(i),                 False                         Next i                         End Sub                      
 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE P 
               
               
                   
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                 ′ Private Sub AddItem_Callback(ByRef oTargetWindow As MSHTML.HTMLWindow2, ByRef xmlItem As 
               
               
                 MSXML.IXMLDOMNode, Optional ByRefbSetDirty As Boolean = True) 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                   
                 ′ Parameters: 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 ′ 
                 oTargetWindow - An object reference to the target window for the item being amplified 
               
               
                   
                 ′ 
                 xmlItem - An object reference to the xml of the item being amplified 
               
               
                   
                 ′ 
                 bSetDirty (Optional, Default = True) - Boolean value indicating weather or not to set the dirty flag for the 
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 amplification 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                   
                 Private Sub AddItem_Callback(ByRef oTargetWindow As MSHTML.HTMLWindow2, ByRef xmlItem As 
               
            
           
           
               
            
               
                 MSXML.IXMLDOMNode, Optional ByRef bSetDirty As Boolean = True) 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                   
                 ′ Determine what type of content is being amplified 
               
               
                   
                 Select Case xmlItem.selectSingleNode(“@type”).Text 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                   
                 Case “HTMLImg” 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                   
                 Call AddHTMLImg(xmlItem, oTargetWindow) 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                   
                 Case “IHTMLTxtRange” 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                   
                 Call AddIHTMLTxtRange(xmlItem, oTargetWindow) 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                   
                 Case “HTMLObjectElement” 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                   
                 Call AddHTMLObjectElement(xmlItem, oTargetWindow) 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                   
                 End Select 
               
               
                   
                 xmlAmplification.selectSingleNode(“amplification/frames”).appendChild xmlItem 
               
               
                   
                 oAmplification.Dirty = bSetDirty 
               
               
                   
                 bItemWaiting = False 
               
            
           
           
               
               
            
               
                   
                 End Sub 
               
               
                   
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
      Referring to  FIG. 12 , the Frame Toolbar  38  preferably includes a Search  70  icon which allows the User to perform a search for content related to the content item in the frame. The Search icon  70  preferably provides a drop-down menu having a Similar Pages  72  menu item and a Related Content  74  menu item. Upon selection of either the Similar Pages  72  or Related Content  74  search menu items, the software opens a new browser window and queries an Internet search engine (e.g., google.com) with a search command using certain search parameters. The Similar Pages  72  menu item performs a search for web pages related to the domain name of the source of the content item in the frame. The search command for the Similar Pages  72  menu item is, for example:  
      “http://www.google.com/search?q=related:www.amplifytheweb.com/”, where “www.amplifytheweb.com” is the domain name of the source of the content item in the frame.  
      The Related Content  74  menu item performs a search of the domain of the source of the content item of the frame for items related to the Keywords of the Custom Selection Window. The search command for the Related Content  74  menu item is, for example:  
      “http://www.google.com/search?q=Keyword1%20Keyword2+site:www.amplifythew eb.com”, where “Keyword1” and “Keyword2” are the Keywords entered by the user for the Custom Selection Window.  
      The result of the search is an independent browser window containing “hits” returned by the search engine, which should be relevant to the selected content or source of the content. As is common, the hits are typically in the form of short descriptions of the search results accompanied by hypertext links, or universal resource locators (i.e., url&#39;s), which lead to web pages.  
      Examples of the code for the Similar Pages 72 and Related Content 74 menu items are set forth below in Tables Q and R, respectively.  
               TABLE Q                          Private Sub FrameToolbar_SearchForSimilarPages(oSourceFrame As MSHTML.HTMLFrameElement)                         With xmlAmplification.selectSingleNode(“amplification/frames/frame[@id=‘“ + oSourceFrame.id + ’”]/source”)                         LaunchBrowser SEARCH_PAGE + “related:” + .selectSingleNode(“host”).Text + “/” +                 .selectSingleNode(“page”).Text                         End With                         End Sub                      
 
                     TABLE R                          Private Sub FrameToolbar_SearchThisSite(oSourceFrame As MSHTML.HTMLFrameElement)                         LaunchBrowser SEARCH_PAGE + Keywords + “+site:” +                 oAmplification.DOM.selectSingleNode(“amplification/frames/frame[@id=‘“ +       oSourceFrame.id + ’”]/source/host”).Text                         End Sub                        
 Delete Frame (Frame Toolbar) 
 
      The Frame Toolbar  38  also preferably includes a Delete menu item (not shown) that is operable to delete the associated frame from the Custom Selection Window. Preferably, upon the deletion of a frame, the “parent” frame, that is the frame from within the deleted frame was originally created, is resized to occupy the space previously occupied by the parent frame and the deleted frame. In addition, as discussed above the content item within the resized parent frame is resized (i.e., expanded) accordingly.  
      GoTo This Site, GoTo This Page  
      Referring to  FIG. 13 , the Frame Toolbar  38  also preferably includes a GoTo  78  icon that presents a drop-down menu having a This Site  80  menu item and a This Page  82  menu item. The This Site  80  menu item opens a new browser window that loads the main page of the domain of the content item in the frame. The This Page  82  menu item opens a new browser window that load the page from which the content item of the frame was selected. Thus, the system provides a quick and convenient means to find and view the source of selected content items.  
      Properties (Window Toolbar)  
      The Window Toolbar  36  includes a Window Properties  84  icon that displays the Properties Window  28  (see  FIG. 5 ) to allow the User to modify the Description  30  and the Keywords  32 .  
      Search (Window Toolbar)  
      The Window Toolbar  36  also includes a Search  88  icon that performs a search of the World Wide Web base upon the Keywords  32 . An example of the search command invoked by the Search  76  icon of the Window Toolbar  36  is  
      “http://www.google.com/search?q=Keyword1%20Keyword2.” 
      Refresh (Window Toolbar)  
      The Window Toolbar  36  also preferably includes a Refresh  90  icon that reloads all of the content items of a Custom Selection Window  34  with one click. The example code set forth in Tables N, O &amp; P above will reload all of the content items of a Custom Selection Window.  
      Always On Top  
      The Window Toolbar  36  also includes an Always On Top  92  icon, which, when selected, will retain the Custom Selection Window  34  as the top window on the computing device irrespective of whether the User selects another window, such as another program, as the active window. With this function, the User can quickly and conveniently select and focus on a desired content item, such as a streaming video, and ensure that the content item is always visible even if the User is working with another program. As mentioned above, the User can resize and relocate the Custom Selection Window  34  to view other programs, as desired.  
      Save  
      A Save  94  icon of the Window Toolbar  36  saves the Custom Selection Window  34  for later use. Preferably a Window Definition of the Custom Selection Window  34  is saved in memory of the computing device of the User (e.g., RAM or on a hard drive) and/or on a remote Server accessible via the Internet or other network. Preferably the content items of a Custom Selection Window are not themselves saved on the computing device of the User or on the Server, but only the Window Definition, which Window Definition contains the particulars of the Custom Selection Window and of the content items therein. Preferably, the Window Definition is in the form of an XML document containing a unique Window Identifier, a frameset and specific information for each frame.  
      Preferably, upon saving a new Window Definition, the software on the computing device of the User or the Server assigns a unique Window Identifier to the Custom Selection Window which is saved with or otherwise associated with the Window Definition. As discussed below, the Window Identifier is used to recreate the Custom Selection Window at a later time. For non-text content items, the Window Definition does not include the actual content items, but does include information regarding the source and identity of the content item sufficient to access or recreate the content item. Specifically, for non-text content items, the Window Definition preferably includes information identifying the source of the content item, including the domain name, path and file name, and includes identifying information and parameters of any media player or external application (or the like) required to display or play the content item. For text content items, the Window Definition may include the string of text selected by the User, or may include information identifying the source of the text and coordinates specifying the beginning and end points of the text. If entered by the User, the Window Definition also includes the Keywords  30 . The example of the XML code set forth in Table S below is a Window Definition having a video content item, a text content item and an image content item.  
               TABLE S                          &lt;amplification&gt;                         &lt;guid&gt;{7DAED7EF-FC90-4CF7-91C6-8886F5BF5C4F}&lt;/guid&gt;           &lt;height&gt;360&lt;/height&gt;           &lt;width&gt;643&lt;/width&gt;           &lt;description&gt;New Amplification&lt;/description&gt;           &lt;keywords&gt;&lt;/keywords&gt;           &lt;frameset&gt;                         &lt;frameset cols=“50%,50%”&gt;&lt;frameset rows=“57%,43%”&gt;&lt;frame id=“fraAmplify3”/&gt;&lt;frame                 id=“fraAmplify1”/&gt;&lt;/frameset&gt;&lt;frameset rows=“30%,70%”&gt;&lt;frame id=“fraAmplify2”/&gt;&lt;frame       id=“fraAmplify0”/&gt;&lt;/frameset&gt;&lt;/frameset&gt;&lt;/frameset&gt;&lt;frames&gt;&lt;frame id=“fraAmplify0” type=“HTMLObjectElement”&gt;                         &lt;source&gt;                         &lt;protocol&gt;http:&lt;/protocol&gt;           &lt;host&gt;www.msnbc.com&lt;/host&gt;           &lt;path&gt;/m/mw/&lt;/path&gt;           &lt;page&gt;vw.htm&lt;/page&gt;           &lt;query&gt;&lt;/query&gt;                         &lt;/source&gt;           &lt;object type=“MEDIAPLAYER”&gt;                         &lt;class-id&gt;CLSID:22d6f312-b0f6-1ld0-94ab-0080c74c7e95&lt;/class-id&gt;                 &lt;code-       base&gt;http://activex.microsoft.com/activex/controls/mplayer/en/nsmp2inf.cab#Version=6,4,7,1112&lt;/code-base&gt;                         &lt;standby&gt;Loading Microsoft Media Player components...&lt;/standby&gt;           &lt;params&gt;&lt;param name=“AnimationAtStart”&gt;False&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param                 name=“AutoRewind”&gt;False&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name=“baseUrl”&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param       name=“FileName”&gt;http://www.msnbc.com/m/mw/s/msnbc/asx.asp?er=http://www.msnbc.com/m/mw/s/msnbc/sorry.asf&amp;amp;b       =&amp;amp;bu=&amp;amp;vu=&amp;amp;pu=mms://od-msnbc.msnbc.com/msnbc/video/promo/100/promo3.asf&amp;amp;cu=mms://od-       msnbc.msnbc.com/msnbc/video/commercials/100/ad_intertainer_04.asf&amp;amp;akid=472002&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param       name=“PlayCount”&gt;1&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name=“Rate”&gt;1&lt;/param&gt;&lt;/params&gt;                         &lt;/object&gt;                         &lt;/frame&gt;&lt;frame id=“fraAmplify1” type=“IHTMLTxtRange”&gt;                         &lt;source&gt;                         &lt;protocol&gt;http:&lt;/protocol&gt;           &lt;host&gt;www.ncodev.com&lt;/host&gt;           &lt;path&gt;/&lt;/path&gt;           &lt;page&gt;&lt;/page&gt;           &lt;query&gt;&lt;/query&gt;                         &lt;/source&gt;           &lt;content&gt;                         &lt;![CDATA[&lt;IMG height=10 src=“images/dots.gif” width=4&gt;&lt;B&gt; NCODE&lt;/B&gt; is                 the leading       software engineering firm to provide &lt;I&gt;integration services&lt;/I&gt; and &lt;I&gt;custom       application development&lt;/I&gt; merging legacy technologies and cutting edge       engineering tools to create the most powerful business applications. &lt;BR&gt;]]&gt;                         &lt;/content&gt;                         &lt;/frame&gt;&lt;frame id=“fraAmplify2” type=“HTMLImg”&gt;                         &lt;source&gt;                         &lt;protocol&gt;http:&lt;/protocol&gt;           &lt;host&gt;www.ncodev.com&lt;/host&gt;           &lt;path&gt;/&lt;/path&gt;           &lt;page&gt;&lt;/page&gt;           &lt;query&gt;&lt;/query&gt;                         &lt;/source&gt;           &lt;image&gt;                         &lt;src&gt;http://www.ncodev.com/images/phrase_2.gif&lt;/src&gt;           &lt;alt&gt;&lt;/alt&gt;           &lt;height&gt;54&lt;/height&gt;           &lt;width&gt;232&lt;/width&gt;           &lt;mime-type/&gt;           &lt;scale&gt;1&lt;/scale&gt;                         &lt;/image&gt;                         &lt;/frame&gt;&lt;frame id=“fraAmplify3” type=“IHTMLTxtRange”&gt;                         &lt;source&gt;                         &lt;protocol&gt;http:&lt;/protocol&gt;           &lt;host&gt;www.ncodev.com&lt;/host&gt;           &lt;path&gt;/&lt;/path&gt;           &lt;page&gt;&lt;/page&gt;           &lt;query&gt;&lt;/query&gt;                         &lt;/source&gt;           &lt;content&gt;                         &lt;![CDATA[&lt;IMG height=10 src=“images/dots.gif” width=4&gt; Our entire team is                 committed to       transforming our clients′ businesses utilizing a range of       industry leading applications and custom software solutions to meet any       specific need and business challenge. We mold technology to optimize your       business processes and ultimately &lt;I&gt;maxmimize your bottom line.&lt;/I&gt;&lt;BR&gt;]]&gt;                         &lt;/content&gt;                         &lt;/frame&gt;&lt;/frames&gt;                 &lt;/amplification&gt;                  
 
      Referring to  FIG. 14 , the Main Toolbar  10  includes a GoTo  94  icon, that presents a History  95  menu item list, that in turn presents a Most Recently Used (MRU) List  96  of Custom Selection Windows, in preferably chronological order of use. Preferably, the windows are identified in the MRU List  96  by their Descriptions  30 . The MRU List  96  is preferably limited to a predetermined number of windows, for example the last 20 used, such that the MRU List  96  is a dynamic list providing convenient access to recently used Custom Selection Windows. The User may recreate a Custom Selection Window from the MRU List  96  by clicking on the Description for the window. Upon selection of a Custom Selection Window from the MRU List  96 , the software locates and retrieves the Window Definition from the memory device of the computing device or from the Server using the unique Window Identifier, recreates the Custom Selection Window and loads the content items directly from the original source of each item, as recorded in the Window Definition.  
      Send To Favorites  
      Referring to  FIGS. 15 &amp; 16 , the Window Toolbar  36  includes a Send To  97  icon, that presents a Favorites  98  menu item, that in turn presents an Add to Favorites  100  menu item. The Add to Favorites  100  menu item saves the Custom Selection Window in a Favorites List  102  that is accessible via the GoTo  94  icon of the Main Toolbar  10 . As with the MRU List  96 , the software stores the Window Definition of each Custom Selection Window in the Favorites List  102  on the computing device and preferably on the Server. Also, as with the MRU List  96 , the Custom Selection Windows in the Favorites List  102  are preferably identified by the Description  30 . However, in contrast to the MRU List  96 , the Favorites List  102  preferably remains the same until the User adds or deletes a Custom Selection Window from the list. Thus, the Custom Selection Windows in the Favorites List  102  will always be available to the User regardless of other windows which the User may have created and saved.  
      As with the MRU List  96 , upon selection of a Custom Selection Window from the Favorites List  102 , the software locates and retrieves the Window Definition from the memory device of the computing device of the User or from the Server using the unique Window Identifier, recreates the Custom Selection Window and loads the content items directly from the original source of each item, as recorded in the Window Definition.  
      Dynamic Favorites List  
      The Favorites List  102  can be modified, dynamically, as the User navigates (or “surfs”) the World Wide Web. In particular, Matching Custom Selection Windows containing content items from the domain of the source currently displayed in the browser application of the User can be highlighted or segregated in the Favorites List  102 . For example Matching Custom Selection Windows in the list can be grouped together in a sub-list (not shown) segregated from other Custom Selection Windows in the list. Alternatively, the Matching Custom Selection Windows in the list can be highlighted by limiting the display of the Favorites List  102  to only the Matching Custom Selection Windows, or can be highlighted visually, by color or in some other visual manner. Alternatively, the Favorites List  102  can be presented in an order that highlights the Matching Custom Selection Windows, such as with the Matching Custom Selection Windows at the top of the list. It can be appreciated that any other similar method of dynamically highlighting Matching Custom Selection Windows in the Favorites List  102  is within the scope of the invention.  
      To dynamically modify the Favorites List  102  according to the domain of a source currently displayed in the browser application, software on the computing device of the User monitors the currently displayed source and compares the domain of the current source to the domains of content items stored in the Window Definitions used to create the Favorites List  102 . The software then modifies the Favorites List  102  in one of the above manners, or a similar manner, to highlight Matching Custom Selection Windows.  
      Send To Printer (Window Toolbar &amp; Frame Toolbar)  
      Referring to  FIG. 15 , the Send To icon  97  of the Window Toolbar  36  preferably includes a Printer menu item  104  that sends the Custom Selection Window to a printer available to the computing device of the User. Similarly, the Frame Toolbar  38  also preferably includes a Send to Printer Function (not shown) which allows the user to send the content item of one frame to the printer.  
      Send To Recipient  
      Referring to  FIGS. 17 &amp; 18 , the Send To icon  97  of the Window Toolbar  36  also includes a Recipients  106  menu item (shown as “Friends” in the drawings) that presents a List of Recipients  108  to which Custom Selection Windows may be sent by email, instant message or another type of electronic communication method. Preferably, the Recipients  106  menu item provides a means to enter (or modify) the Electronic Address of a Recipient of a Custom Selection Window, such as the Edit Recipients  110  menu item which presents the dialog window  111  of  FIG. 18 . Preferably, for each Recipient, the User can enter the Electronic Communication Method  112  (e.g., EMAIL), a descriptive Recipient Name  114  and the Electronic Address  116  of the Recipient (e.g., email_address(domain.com).  
      When a Recipient is chosen from the List of Recipients  108 , the software on the computing device of the User sends the Window Definition of the Custom Selection Window (comprising an XML document of the type set forth above in Table S) to the Server. The Window Definition is stored on the Server along with the Window Identifier (which is assigned at that time, if one has not been assigned yet).  
      After receipt of the Window Definition, the Server sends an electronic message to the Recipient at the Electronic Address of the Recipient via electronic mail, instant messaging program, or other electronic means, as appropriate. The electronic message sent to the Recipient contains a hypertext link, or universal resource locator (url) containing the Window Identifier, which link leads back to the Server.  
      It may be preferable that the electronic message is sent to the Recipient by the Server. However, the electronic message may also be sent to the Recipient by a communication application on the computing device of the User. In either case, the electronic message includes a link to the Server, which link contains the unique Window Identifier. If the electronic message is sent by the User, both the Server and the computing device of the User must have the unique Window Identifier. (See “Create Link” below).  
      The presence of the Keywords in the Window Definition provide an important function by allowing the creator of the Custom Selection Window to provide targeted words to search for related content on the web. As a part of the Window Definition, the Keywords are attached to the Custom Selection Window and remain with the Custom Selection Window when it is saved (or sent to the Favorites List), and travel with the Custom Selection Window when the Custom Selection Window is accessed by a Recipient.  
      It should be noted that the electronic message sent to the Recipient does not contain the content items themselves, but only a link to the Server. As opposed to prior methods of sending entire content items to a recipient, the present invention greatly reduces the time and bandwidth required to send an electronic message to another to share content over a network such as the Internet. Moreover, the present invention overcomes the limitations of electronic communications methods by sending an electronic message containing a link used to re-create the content in a browser application.  
      Upon receiving the electronic message, the User can recreate the Custom Selection Window by selecting, or clicking on, the hypertext link in the electronic message. When the Recipient selects the link within the electronic message, the computing device of the Recipient activates a browser application that sends a request to the Server, which request contains the unique Window Identifier of the Custom Selection Window. The Server locates the Window Definition of the Custom Selection Window using the Window Identifier embedded within the link and responds with an Initial Recipient Web Page.  
      The Initial Recipient Web Page has code that attempts to detect whether the Recipient has installed the software required to create Custom Selection Windows. In one embodiment, the Initial Recipient Web Page attempts to detect the presence of the software by attempting to initialize certain components or objects of the software. If the software is detected on the Recipients computing device, then the Initial Web Page passes the Window Identifier to the software which then creates a Custom Selection Window as defined by the Window Definition, which window has the full functionality provided by the software, including the Window and Frame Toolbars.  
      Recipient Window  
      Referring to  FIG. 19 , if the software is not detected, then the Initial Recipient Web Page includes code to open a new browser window, the Recipient Window  118 , having dimensions defined in the Window Definition and to retrieve a Recipient Toolbar  120  from the Server and to populate the new window with the Recipient Toolbar  120 . Then the browser calls a page to create the frameset for the Recipient Window  118 , according to the Window Definition. Each frame within a frameset then calls a page to populate the frame. Preferably a standard browser application can create the Recipient Window  118  without the additional software required to initially create and send the Custom Selection Window. Therefore the User is free to transmit access to the custom selection to any other computing device on the Internet or other network having a browser application.  
      As with the Custom Selection Window  34 , preferably the Recipient Window  118  is configured to load the content items therein via the browser application on the computing device of the Recipient directly from the respective original sources of the content. Thus, by employing the browser application on the computing device of the Recipient to retrieve and load the content items, the system of the present invention avoids the content type and size limitations of electronic messaging systems, as discussed above.  
      Examples of Server-side code to create the frameset and individual frames for a Recipient Window are set forth in Table T &amp; U, respectively.  
                       TABLE T                                      &lt;!-#INCLUDE FILE=“scripts/common.asp”−&gt;           &lt;SCRIPT LANGUAGE=vbscript RUNAT=Server&gt;           Sub FramesetXMLToHTML(oFramesetXML)                         Output “&lt;frameset ”           If Not oFramesetXML.selectSingleNode(“@cols”) Is Nothing Then                         Output “cols=“““ &amp; oFramesetXML.selectSingleNode(“@cols”).text &amp; ””””                         ElseIf Not oFramesetXML.selectSingleNode(“@rows”) Is Nothing Then                         Output “rows=“““ &amp; oFramesetXML.selectSingleNode(“@rows”).text &amp; ””””                         End If           Output “&gt;”           For i = 0 To oFramesetXML.childNodes.length - 1                         ′Output oFramesetXML.childNodes(i).nodeName &amp; vbCrLf           Select Case UCase(oFramesetXML.childNodes(i).nodeName)                         Case “FRAME”                         Output “&lt;frame src=““amplification_view_frame.asp?amplification=“ &amp;                 sAmplGUID &amp; “&amp;frame=” &amp; oFramesetXML.childNodes(i).selectSingleNode(“@id”).text &amp; ””” scrolling=““no””&gt;”                         Case “FRAMESET”                         FramesetXMLToHTML oFramesetXML.childNodes(i)                         End Select                         Next           Output “&lt;/frameset&gt;”                         End Sub           &lt;/SCRIPT&gt;           &lt;%           Dim sAmplGUID                         sAmplGUID = Request.QueryString(“amplification”)                         If Not Len(sAmplGUID) &gt; 0 Then                         Response.End                         End If           Dim lAmplHeight                         lAmplHeight = 0                         Dim lAmplWidth                         lAmplWidth = 0                         Dim sAmplDescription                         sAmplDescription = “”                         Dim sAmplKeywords                         sAmplKeywords = “”                         Dim oAmplFramesetXML           Set oAmplFramesetXML = Server.CreateObject(“MSXML2.DOMDocument”)           Dim oConn, oRS, sSQL           Set oConn = Server.CreateObject(“ADODB.Connection”)           Set oRS = Server.CreateObject(“ADODB.Recordset”)           oConn.Open CONN_STRING           sSQL = “amplification_sel_sp @ampl_guid = ‘“ &amp; sAmplGUID &amp; ”’”           oRS.Open sSQL, oConn, 3           lAmplHeight = oRS(“ampl_height”)           lAmplWidth = oRS(“ampl_width”)           sAmplDescription = oRS(“ampl_description”)           sAmplKeywords = oRS(“ampl_keywords”)           oAmplFramesetXML.loadXML oRS(“ampl_frameset”)           oRS.Close           oConn.Close           Set oRS = Nothing           Set oConn = Nothing           %&gt;           &lt;html&gt;           &lt;head&gt;           &lt;/head&gt;           &lt;% FramesetXMLToHTML(oAmplFramesetXML.documentElement) %&gt;           &lt;/html&gt;           &lt;%           Set oAmplFramesetXML = Nothing           %&gt;                      
 
                     TABLE U                          &lt;!--#INCLUDE FILE=“scripts/common.asp”--&gt;                         &lt;%           Dim sAmplGUID                         sAmplGUID = Request.QueryString(“amplification”)                         Dim sFrameID                         sFrameID = Request.QueryString(“frame”)                         If Not Len(sAmplGUID) &gt; 0 Or Not Len(sFrameID) &gt; 0 Then                         Response.End                         End If           Dim sFrameType                         sFrameType = “”                         Dim sSourceProtocol                         sSourceProtocol = “”                         Dim sSourceHost                         sSourceHost = “”                         Dim sSourcePath                         sSourcePath = “”                         Dim sSourcePage                         sSourcePage = “”                         Dim sSourceQuery                         sSourceQuery = “”                         Dim oConn, oRS, oRS2, sSQL           Set oConn = Server.CreateObject(“ADODB.Connection”)           Set oRS = Server.CreateObject(“ADODB.Recordset”)           Set oRS2 = Server.CreateObject(“ADODB.Recordset”)           oConn.Open CONN_STRING           sSQL = “ampl_frame_sel_sp” —                           &amp; “@fram_ampl_guid = ‘“ &amp; sAmplGUID &amp; ”’, ” —             &amp; “@fram_id = ‘“ &amp; sFrameID &amp; ”’”                         oRS.Open sSQL, oConn, 3           If Not oRS.EOF Then                         sFrameType = oRS(“fram_type”)           sSourceProtocol = oRS(“fram_source_protocol”)           sSourceHost = oRS(“fram_source_host”)           sSourcePath = oRS(“fram_source_path”)           sSourcePage = oRS(“fram_source_page”)           sSourceQuery = oRS(“fram_source_query”)                         End If           oRS.Close           Select Case sFrameType                         Case “HTMLImg”                         sSQL = “ampl_fram_htmlimg_sel_sp” —                           &amp; “@himg_ampl_guid = ‘“ &amp; sAmplGUID &amp; ”’,” —             &amp; “@himg_fram_id = ‘“ &amp; sFrameID &amp; ”’”                         oRS.Open sSQL, oConn, 3           If Not oRS.EOF Then                         %&gt;           &lt;html&gt;           &lt;head&gt;           &lt;base href=“&lt;%= sSourceProtocol &amp; “//” &amp;           sSourceHost &amp; sSourcePath %&gt;” target=“_blank”&gt;           &lt;script language=“JavaScript”&gt;           &lt;!--           var lOriginalHeight = &lt;%= oRS(“himg_height”)%&gt;;           var lOriginalWidth = &lt;%= oRS(“himg_width”)%&gt;;           var bScaleImage = &lt;% If oRS(“himg_scale”) = 1 Then           %&gt;true&lt;% Else %&gt;false&lt;% End If %&gt;;           function GetImageRatio( ) {                         var dHeightRatio = 0.0;           var dWidthRatio = 0.0;           if (document.body.clientHeight &lt;= 20 ∥           document.body.clientWidth &lt;= 20) {                         dHeightRatio = 1;           dWidthRatio = 1;                         } else {                         dHeightRatio = lOriginalHeight /           (document.body.clientHeight − 4);           dWidthRatio = lOriginalWidth /           (document.body.clientWidth − 4);                         }           return dWidthRatio &gt; dHeightRatio ?           dWidthRatio : dHeightRatio;                         }           function ResizeImage( ) {                         if (!bScaleImage) {                         return;                         }           var dRatio = 0.0;           dRatio = GetImageRatio( );           oImage.style.height = Math.round(lOriginalHeight / dRatio);           oImage.style.width = Math.round(lOriginalWidth / dRatio);                         }           function ScaleImage( ) {                         bScaleImage = !bScaleImage;           if (bScaleImage) {                         HideImageToolbar(true);           ResizeImage( );                         } else {                         HideImageToolbar(true);           oImage.style height = “;           oImage.style.width = “;                         }                         }           //--&gt;           &lt;/script&gt;           &lt;/head&gt;           &lt;body leftmargin=“2” topmargin=“2” bottommargin=“2”           rightmargin=“2” onresize=“ResizeImage( );”&gt;           &lt;table cellpadding=“0” cellspacing=“0” border=“0”           height=“100%” width=“100%”&gt;           &lt;tr&gt;                         &lt;td align=“center” valign=“middle”&gt;                         &lt;img id=“oImage” src=“&lt;%= oRS(“himg_src”)%&gt;”           alt=“&lt;%= oRS(“himg_alt”)%&gt;”                 onload=“ResizeImage( );”&gt;&lt;br&gt;                         &lt;/td&gt;                         &lt;/tr&gt;           &lt;/table&gt;           &lt;/body&gt;           &lt;/html&gt;           &lt;%                         End If           oRS.Close                         Case “IHTMLTxtRange”                         sSQL = “ampl_fram_ihtmltxtrange_sel_sp” —                           &amp; “@txrg_ampl_guid = ‘“ &amp; sAmplGUID &amp; ”’,” —             &amp; “@txrg_fram_id = ‘“ &amp; sFrameID &amp; ”’”                         oRS.Open sSQL, oConn, 3           If Not oRS.EOF Then                         %&gt;           &lt;html&gt;           &lt;head&gt;           &lt;base href=“&lt;%= sSourceProtocol &amp; “//” &amp; sSourceHost &amp;           sSourcePath %&gt;” target=“_blank”&gt;           &lt;/head&gt;           &lt;body leftmargin=“0” topmargin=“0” bottommargin=“0”           rightmargin=“0” onload=“document.body.scroll=‘auto’;”&gt;           &lt;table height=“100%” align=“center”&gt;           &lt;tr&gt;                         &lt;td valign=“middle”&gt;                         &lt;span&gt;&lt;%= oRS(“txrg_content”)%&gt;&lt;/span&gt;                         &lt;/td&gt;                         &lt;/tr&gt;           &lt;/table&gt;           &lt;/body&gt;           &lt;/html&gt;           &lt;%                         End If           oRS.Close                         Case “HTMLObjectElement”                         sSQL = “ampl_fram_htmlobjectelement_sel_sp” —                           &amp; “@oblm_ampl_guid = ‘“ &amp; sAmplGUID &amp; ”’,” —             &amp; “@oblm_fram_id = ‘“ &amp; sFrameID &amp; ”’”                         oRS Open sSQL, oConn, 3           If Not oRS.EOF Then                         %&gt;           &lt;html&gt;           &lt;head&gt;           &lt;base href=“&lt;%= sSourceProtocol &amp; “//” &amp; sSourceHost &amp;           sSourcePath %&gt;” target=“_blank”&gt;           &lt;/head&gt;           &lt;body leftmargin=“1” topmargin=“1” bottommargin=“1”           rightmargin=“1” bgcolor=“#000000”&gt;           &lt;%                         Select Case oRS(“oblm_type”)                         Case “MEDIAPLAYER”                         %&gt;           &lt;OBJECT ID=“oWindowsMedia” width=“100%” height=“100%”           classid=“&lt;%= oRS(“oblm_class_id”) %&gt;”                         codebase=“&lt;%= oRS(“oblm_code_base”) %&gt;”           standby=”&lt;%= oRS(“oblm_standby”) %&gt;”           onmouseover=“this.ShowControls=1;”           onmouseout=“this.ShowControls=0;”&gt;                         &lt;param name=“ShowControls” value=“0”&gt;           &lt;param name=“AutoStart” value=“1”&gt;           &lt;param name=“AutoSize” value=“0”&gt;                         &lt;%                         sSQL =           “ampl_fram_oblm_params_sel_sp ” —                           &amp; “@parm_ampl_guid = ‘“ &amp;           sAmplGUID &amp; ”’, ”                   —                           &amp; “@parm_fram_id = ‘” &amp;           sFrameID &amp; ”’”                         oRS2.Open sSQL, oConn, 3           Do While Not oRS2.EOF                         %&gt;                         &lt;param name=“&lt;%= oRS2(“parm_name”) %&gt;” value=“&lt;%=           oRS2(“parm_value”) %&gt;”&gt;                         &lt;%                         oRS2.MoveNext                         Loop           oRS2.Close                         %&gt;           &lt;/OBJECT&gt;           &lt;%                         Case “SHOCKWAVEFLASH”                         %&gt;           &lt;OBJECT ID=“oShockwaveFlash” height=“100%” width=“100%” classid=“&lt;%= oRS(“oblm_class_id”) %&gt;”                 codebase=“&lt;%= oRS(“oblm_code_base”) %&gt;” standby=“&lt;%= oRS(“oblm_standby”) %&gt;”&gt;                         &lt;%                         sSQL = “ampl_fram_oblm_params_sel_sp ” —                           &amp; “@parm_ampl_guid = ‘“ &amp;           sAmplGUID &amp; ”’, ”                   —                           &amp; “@parm_fram_id = ‘” &amp; sFrameID &amp; ”’”                         oRS2.Open sSQL, oConn, 3           Do While Not oRS2.EOF                         %&gt;                         &lt;param name=“&lt;%= oRS2(“parm_name”) %&gt;” value=“&lt;%= oRS2(“parm_value”) %&gt;”&gt;                         &lt;%                         oRS2.MoveNext                         Loop           oRS2.Close                         %&gt;           &lt;/OBJECT&gt;           &lt;%                         End Select                         %&gt;           &lt;/body&gt;           &lt;/html&gt;           &lt;%                         End If           oRS.Close                         End Select           oConn.Close           Set oRS2 = Nothing           Set oRS = Nothing           Set oConn = Nothing           %&gt;                        
 Recipient Toolbar 
 
      Referring to  FIG. 19 , the Recipient Toolbar  120 , includes icons to Search  122 , Send To Printer  124 , Goto This Page  126 , and GoTo This Site  128 , which initiate functions similar to those functions provided by the Window Toolbar  36 , to allow the User to search the World Wide Web for content related to the content in the Recipient Window  118 , to print the Recipient Window, or to open another browser window with either the source web page containing the content item or the web site of the domain of the source web page. The Recipient Toolbar also preferably includes a refresh icon (not shown) to reload the window.  
      Importantly, the Window Definition preferably passes the Keywords to the Recipient Window  118  such that the Keywords follow the custom selection and such that the Recipient can use the Keywords to search for related content. The Search  122  function of the Recipient Toolbar  36  preferably invokes a search command similar to that of the Window Toolbar  36 . In particular, the search command may be “http://www.google.com/search?q=Keyword1%20Keyword2.” Thus, the creator of the original Custom Selection Window can provide important targeted Keywords for the Recipient to use in performing searches of the World Wide Web for related content items.  
      Portability  
      The system of the present invention is preferably compatible with several different computing platforms, such as Microsoft Windows-based and Apple computers, internet appliances, personal digital assistants (PDAs, such as the Palm Pilot, and the like), and other computing platforms, such that custom selections can be shared among various computing devices. Further, certain items of User-defined attribute information, such as the User&#39;s MRU List, Favorites and the Recipients List, are preferably portable amongst various computing devices of the User. The software accomplishes this function by transmitting the attribute information to the Server and storing the information along with the unique User Identifier. The User&#39;s attribute information is preferably retrieved using the User Identifier when the User first launches the browser. Thus, the system provides a consistent and familiar experience regardless of which computing device the User chooses.  
      Tracking  
      The system also provides a highly accurate and flexible means to track content viewed and shared by Users and Recipients. The Server is contacted whenever a custom selection is saved, or sent to or chosen from the Favorites List, when a custom selection is sent to a Recipient using an electronic message, and when a Recipient views a received custom selection. During each of these actions, the custom selection is uniquely identified to the Server by the Window Identifier, which Server contains the Definition of the custom selection. Therefore, in the case of custom selections of a User&#39;s Favorites List, the system can track and compile statistics regarding what content items have been selected, what content items are selected in the same window, the number of times a selected item (or group of items) is viewed, and the frequency of viewing. Such statistics can be compiled along with the unique User Identifier to track such information with respect to a particular User, or can be compiled “blind” without regard to a particular User. Importantly, this tracking can be accomplished whether the two images are on the same site or different sites.  
      For custom selections shared with others, the system can also track and compile statistics on what content items (or groups) are shared with others (and by whom), the number of times a Recipient views a selection, the frequency of viewing, and the chosen method of messaging. As an example, the system can track statistics regarding a User viewing (and likely comparing) images of two products side-by-side in a custom selection, and can track statistics about any sharing of that custom selection. As a further example, the system can track viewing and sharing activities of diverse custom selections containing two or more content items from different network domains (e.g., different web retailers) and can track such activity according to groups or sets of network domain, such as diverse custom selections containing content items from a network domain of web retailer A and from a network domain of web retailer B.  
      Further, the system does not rely on pre-placed tracking devices, such as “cookies” or “web bugs.” The tracking capability of the present invention is based on the content items themselves, in their unaltered format. Moreover, the tracking capability of the system is highly targeted in that it is able to track viewing and transferring access to specific content items, whereas traditional tracking methods such as cookies and web bugs typically only track views of entire web pages. Further, since communication with the Server is required for certain actions, such as saving, saving and retrieving, the tracking capabilities of the system cannot be circumvented. Therefore, the system provides a very reliable, highly targeted and flexible tracking system.  
      It can be appreciated that the system provides a convenient method for a User to create, view, modify, print and save custom groupings of image and text content items available on web pages and other sources, to search for other related content, and to transfer access to such selections with others, which method is effected in a manner which avoids the limitations of electronic communications methods, which reduces the time and bandwidth required to share the custom groupings via electronic messages, and which provides for highly accurate and flexible tracking of such content viewing and sharing.  
      Create Link  
      Referring to  FIGS. 20 and 21 , the Window Toolbar  36  of the Custom Selection Window  34  preferably includes a Link Creation  130  icon (depicted in the drawing as “Copy Link”) which, when selected, loads or copies a hypertext Link  132  for the associated Custom Selection Window into the “Clipboard” memory or other similar user-accessible memory of the computing device. As discussed above, the hypertext Link  132  for the Custom Selection Window is preferably in the form of a complete uniform resource locator (url) leading to the Server and includes a unique Window Identifier  134  assigned to the particular Custom Selection Window. In the example depicted in  FIG. 21 , the Window Identifier is located in a query string, specifically after string “?amplification=”, however the Window Identifier may be located in another portion of the query string.  
      Since the hypertext Link  132  is loaded or copied to the Clipboard memory, the User can easily and conveniently “paste” the Link  132  in an otherwise familiar manner into other documents or windows, such as the body of an electronic mail message, a word processing document, an instant message or any other location where information present in Clipboard memory may be pasted. Then that document or message may be transmitted to others (or may be saved) for sharing access to the Custom Selection Window, or for other purposes.  
      An example of a portion of code suitable for this feature is as follows:  
                                                  Clipboard.SetText AMPLIFY_URL_VIEW +           Mid$(oAmplification.GUID,           &gt;2,_Len(oAmplification.GUID) − 2)                      
 
      The Link Creation  130  icon is preferably operable to initiate the assignment of the Window Identifier. As discussed above, the Window Identifier may also be assigned by the computing device of the User and/or by the Server when the Custom Selection Window is saved for the first time.  
      System Area Icon  
      Referring to  FIG. 22 , the software preferably adds a System Area Icon  140  in a System Area  142  of the user interface (e.g., the “System Tray” in Windows™). The System Area Icon  140  is preferably not dependent upon the presence of a running instance of the browser application and is preferably always present and active. The System Area Icon  140 , when selected, provides a System Area Menu  144  providing access to the MRU List (i.e., History) and/or the Friends List. Thus, the System Area Icon  140  provides quick and easy access to these features at all times, irrespective of whether a browser application is running on the computing device of the User at the time.  
      A portion of code suitable to implement this feature of the invention is as follows:  
                                                  Shell_NotifyIcon NIM_ADD, nidSysTray                      
 
 Search Results List 
 
      Referring to  FIG. 23 , another feature of the software provides a Search Results List  146  that displays results of the last search of the Internet or other network sources, for example the results from an Internet search engine. The User may navigate to the results from the Search Results List  146  until the results are overwritten by a successive search, or until the browser from which the search was conducted is closed.  
      A search of the Internet (or of an intranet or other network or local source) preformed with a search engine or similar means often produces a result that is presented in a predetermined, consistent format on a Search Results Page  147  containing a list of result items or “hits”  148 . The individual result items are usually spaced from one another on the page such that each hit is visually distinguishable from the others. The layout of the web page containing the result items is defined by a formatting language, such as Hypertext Markup Language (HTML).  
      Each result item on a Search Results Page  147  typically includes a Descriptive Hypertext Link  150  comprised of a descriptive text portion  152  displayed in plain English and an underlying raw url (which is hidden from the User). A result item may also include a Raw Hypertext Link  154  comprised of a displayed raw url. There may also be further descriptive text  156  associated with the result item which may be inactive.  
      As is known, the User can access a resource associated with the result item listed on the Search Results Page  147  by selecting (i.e., clicking on) one of the hypertext links. With prior systems and methods, to access another result item on the Search Results Page  147 , the User must then return to the Search Results Page  147  using the “Back” command of the browser. However, this may require several (or many) steps, especially if the User has navigated far from the original Search Results Page  147 . Further, in certain situations, the User may be unable to return to the original Search Results Page  147  and may have to perform another search.  
      The Main Toolbar  10  preferably contains a Return to Search Results icon  157  that reloads the last Search Results Page  147  and a Search Results List icon  158  that produces the condensed Search Results List  146  containing a predetermined number (for example the first  10  ) of Results Items  160  obtained from a search. The text of the Results Items  160  is preferably obtained only from the displayed descriptive text portion  152  of the associated Descriptive Hypertext Link  150  of the particular search result item. To limit the amount of space required for the Search Results List  146 , the number of characters displayed for each Results Item  160  may be limited to a predetermined amount, for example  10  characters. As shown, an ellipsis or other visual indicator can be added to the Results Item  160  when the displayed descriptive text portion  152  is greater than the predetermined number of characters.  
      The content of the Search Results List  146  preferably remains unchanged until another search is conducted. Thus, after performing a search and navigating to one of the results, the User need not return to the Search Results Page  147  to navigate to other results on the Search Results List  146 . Instead, the User may access the Search Results List  146  from the Main Toolbar  10  and select the desired Results Item  160 . Alternatively, the User can reload the Search Results Page  147  by selecting the Return To Search Results Page icon  157 . It can be appreciated that this provides a significant advantage both in the amount of time required to access different Results Items  154  and the guaranteed ability to select different Results Items  154 .  
      In the formatting code of a typical Search Results Page  147  (i.e., HTML), the results items are separated by and/or enclosed within predetermined anchors or tags. In the example provided in Table V below, the results items are preceded by the paragraph tag “&lt;p&gt;” which is followed by a hypertext reference tag, namely “&lt;a href=”. The hypertext reference tag defines the Descriptive Hypertext Link  150 , including the descriptive text portion  152  and the underlying raw url. In the example of Table V, the underlying raw url of the first result item is  
      &lt;http://www.bigcharts.com&gt; and the descriptive text portion  152  is “BigCharts—Charting a World of Investment Information”.  
               TABLE V                          &lt;       &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=http://www.bigcharts.com/&gt;BigCharts - Charting a World of Investment       Information&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;font size=−1&gt; &lt;b&gt;...&lt;/b&gt; edged up 0.2 percent. Volume amounted to 1.77 billion       on the NYSE and&lt;br&gt;       to 1.78 billion on the Nasdaq &lt;b&gt;Stock&lt;/b&gt; Market. Market breadth was &lt;b&gt;...&lt;/b&gt;       &lt;br&gt;&lt;span class=f&gt;&lt;font size=−1&gt;Description:&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt; Interactive online charting service giving       free and unlimited access to &lt;b&gt;charts&lt;/b&gt;, reports, indicators,...&lt;br&gt;&lt;span class=f&gt;Category: &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a       class=fl       href=http://directory.google.com/Top/Business/Investing/Stocks_and_Bonds/Technical/?il=1&gt;Business&amp;       nbsp;&amp;gt;&amp;nbsp;Investing&amp;nbsp;&amp;gt;&amp;nbsp;Stocks&amp;nbsp;and&amp;nbsp;Bonds&amp;nbsp;&amp;gt;&amp;nbsp;Technica       l&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;font color=#008000&gt;www.bigcharts.com/ - 29k - 22 Sep 2002 - &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a class=fl       href=http://216.239.39.100/search?q=cache:X0rgDaCZlpsC:www.bigcharts.com/+stock+charts&amp;hl=en&amp;       ie=UTF-8&gt;Cached&lt;/a&gt; - &lt;a class=fl href=/search?hl=en&amp;lr=&amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;oe=UTF-       8&amp;q=related:www.bigcharts.com/&gt;Similar pages&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/font&gt;       &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=http://www.redherring.com/&gt;Red Herring Online&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;font size=−1&gt;&lt;span       class=f&gt;&lt;font size=−1&gt;Description:&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt; On-line version of professional magazine. News and       reviews focusing on technology, analysis, and research...&lt;br&gt;&lt;span class=f&gt;Category: &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a       class=fl href=http://directory.google.com/Top/Computers/Software/Business/E-Commerce/Business-to-       Business/On-Line-       Resources/?il=1&gt;Computers&amp;nbsp;&amp;gt;&amp;nbsp;Software&amp;nbsp;&amp;gt;&amp;nbsp;...&amp;nbsp;&amp;gt;,&amp;nbsp;E-       Commerce&amp;nbsp;&amp;gt;&amp;nbsp;Business-to-Business&amp;nbsp;&amp;gt;&amp;nbsp;On-Line-Resources&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;font       color=#008000&gt;www.redherring.com/ - 43k - 22 Sep 2002 - &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a class=fl       href=http://216.239.39.100/search?q=cache:zvXzurh2cc8C:www.redherring.com/+stock+charts&amp;hl=en&amp;       ie=UTF-8&gt;Cached&lt;/a&gt; - &lt;a class=fl href=/search?hl=en&amp;lr=&amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;oe=UTF-       8&amp;q=related:www.redherring.com/&gt;Similar pages&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/font&gt;       &gt;                  
 
      In the example provided in Table W below, the results items are separated by the anchor or tag “&lt;span class=i&gt;” which is followed by a hypertext reference tag, namely “&lt;a onclick=”, that defines the Descriptive Hypertext Link  150 , including the descriptive text portion and the underlying raw url. In the example of Table W, the underlying raw url of the first result item is &lt;http://stocks.tradingcharts.com&gt; and the descriptive text portion  152  is “Free stock price charts quotes”.  
               TABLE W                          &lt;       &lt;span class=i&gt;&lt;a onclick=“Co(‘1’)”       href=“/r?ck_sm=384408da&amp;ref=20080&amp;uid=37acedd422c60529&amp;r=http%3A%2F%2Fstocks.       tradingcharts.com%2F” onMouseOver=“status=‘http://stocks.tradingcharts.com/’; return       true;”&gt;Free &lt;b&gt;stock&lt;/b&gt; price &lt;b&gt;charts&lt;/b&gt; quotes&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp; &lt;span id=“ct1”       class=y&gt;&lt;/span&gt;       &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br&gt;       Free &lt;b&gt;stock&lt;/b&gt; quotes and &lt;b&gt;charts&lt;/b&gt; for nearly every North American exchange. ... Free       &lt;b&gt;stock&lt;/b&gt; price &lt;b&gt;charts&lt;/b&gt; &lt;b&gt;stock&lt;/b&gt; price quotes The source for free &lt;b&gt;stock&lt;/b&gt;       market price quotations &lt;b&gt;charts&lt;/b&gt;. We chart thousands of stocks ...&lt;br&gt;       &lt;span class=x&gt;       stocks.tradingcharts.com/       &amp;#149; &lt;a       href=“/sites/search/web?pg=q&amp;stype=stext&amp;q=like:http://stocks.tradingcharts.com/&amp;dq=stock+c       harts” class=x&gt;Related pages&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;       &amp;#149; &lt;a       href=“http://jump.altavista.com/trans.go?urltext=http://stocks.tradingcharts.com/&amp;language=en”       class=x&gt;Translate&lt;/a&gt;       &lt;br&gt;&lt;a       href=“http://jump.altavista.com/more_from_site.go?q&amp;stype=stext&amp;Translate=on&amp;sc=off&amp;q=st       ock+charts&amp;si=16afb37d31cb3a91&amp;kl=XX” class=x&gt;More pages from       stocks.tradingcharts.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;       &lt;/span&gt;       &lt;br&gt;&lt;br clear=left&gt;       &lt;blockquote&gt;       &lt;span class=i&gt;&lt;a       onclick=“Co(‘2’)”       href=“/r?ck_sm=7a46c44c&amp;ref=20080&amp;uid=6ce68a7a4da1a1d2&amp;r=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.trad       ingcharts.com%2F” onMouseOver=“status=‘http://www.tradingcharts.com/’; return       true;”&gt;&lt;b&gt;Charts&lt;/b&gt; Quotes From TradingCharts- &lt;b&gt;stock&lt;/b&gt; market commodity futures       market quotations plus stocks commodities price &lt;b&gt;charts&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp; &lt;span id=“ct2”       class=y&gt;&lt;/span&gt;       &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br&gt;       The source for free quotes and &lt;b&gt;charts&lt;/b&gt; - over 30,000 &lt;b&gt;stock&lt;/b&gt; market and       commodity futures ... Free &lt;b&gt;charts&lt;/b&gt; quotations &lt;b&gt;stock&lt;/b&gt; market commodity futures       quotes price &lt;b&gt;charts&lt;/b&gt; The source for free quotes &lt;b&gt;charts&lt;/b&gt; ...&lt;br&gt;       &lt;span class=x&gt;       www.tradingcharts.com/       &amp;#149, &lt;a       href=“/sites/search/web?pg=q&amp;stype=stext&amp;q=like:http://www.tradingcharts.com/&amp;dq=stock+ch       arts” class=x&gt;Related pages&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;       &amp;#149, &lt;a       href=“http://jump.altavista.com/trans.go?urltext=http://www.tradingcharts.com/&amp;language=en”       class=x&gt;Translate&lt;/a&gt;       &lt;br&gt;&lt;a       href=“http://jump.altavista.com/more_from_site.go?q&amp;stype=stext&amp;Translate=on&amp;sc=off&amp;q=st       ock+charts&amp;si=16afb37d31cb3a91&amp;kl=XX” class=x&gt;More pages from       www.tradingcharts.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;       &lt;/span&gt;       &lt;br&gt;&lt;br clear=left&gt;       &lt;/blockquote&gt;       &lt;span class=i&gt;&lt;a       onclick=“Co(‘3’)”       href=“/r?ck_sm=8e6759d8&amp;ref=20080&amp;uid=694a35a5259ee060&amp;r=http%3A%2F%2Fbigcharts.       marketwatch.com%2F” onMouseOver=“status=‘http://bigcharts.marketwatch.com/’; return       true;”&gt;BigCharts - Charting a World of Investment Information&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp; &lt;span id=“ct3”       class=y&gt;&lt;/span&gt;       &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br&gt;       Symbol/Keywords: Find Symbol New! --&amp;gt; major market indexes Sponsored By:&lt;br&gt;       &lt;span class=x&gt;       bigcharts.marketwatch.com/       &amp;#149;&lt;a       href=“/sites/search/web?pg=q&amp;stype=stext&amp;q=like:http://bigcharts.marketwatch.com/&amp;dq=stock       +charts” class=x&gt;Relatcd pages&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;       &amp;#149;&lt;a       href=“http://jump.altavista.com/trans go?urltext=http://bigcharts.marketwatch.com/&amp;language=e       n” class=x&gt;Translate&lt;/a&gt;       &lt;br&gt;&lt;a       href=“http://jump.altavista.com/more_from_site.go?q&amp;stype=stext&amp;Translate=on&amp;sc=off&amp;q=st       ock+charts&amp;si=22a4278b83111819&amp;k1=XX” class=x&gt;More pages from       bigcharts.marketwatch.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;       &lt;/span&gt;       &gt;                  
 
      To create the Search Results List  146 , the software analyzes each page or resource displayed within the browser application or other similar application of the computing device of the User, preferably when the page has completed loading, and compares the current page to a predetermined set of known search result pages. In particular, the software compares the first portion of the location of the current page or resource (i.e., the url), such as the domain and certain further arguments or strings, to a predetermined list of resource locations of known search results sources. For example, the first portion of a url for a search result page returned by the “google.com” Internet search engine is known to be &lt;http://www.google.com/search?&gt; and a similar first portion of the url for the “Alta Vista” search engine is &lt;http://www.altavista.com/sites/search/web?&gt;.  
      If the software determines the current page to be one of a known type of search results source, the software scans through the source code of the page to determine the results items displayed on the page. It can be appreciated that upon detection of a search result page, the format of that page is also determined. Therefore, the scan of the source code is conducted according to the known format of the detected search results page.  
      The software scans the source code of a detected search result page for an indicator of a results item such as a predetermined combination of tags. Specifically, the software scans the source code for the first occurrence of a predetermined separator tag, such as a text formatting tag, where the next tag (i.e., the first child tag) is a resource reference tag, such as a hypertext reference tag. For example, for the source code set forth in Table V, the software scans the code for the first instance of the “&lt;p&gt;” tag where the next tag is the “&lt;a href=” tag. For the source code set forth in Table W, the software scans for the first instance of the “&lt;span class=i&gt;” tag where the next tag is the “&lt;a onclick=” tag.  
      Upon detection of an occurrence of the predetermined combination of tags, the software parses the resource information of the associated resource reference tag to determine the descriptive text portion and the underlying resource location (url) for the resource. The descriptive text portion of the resource reference tag is added to the Search Results List  146  and the resource location is stored in memory of the computing device and associated with the item added to the Search Results List  146 . This process is repeated until the Search Results List  146  is filled with a predetermined number of results items, for example  10 , or until the software scans through the entire page.  
      Compose Message  
      Referring to  FIGS. 24 and 25 , the system also provides a means for a user to add a Text Message  200  to a frame  202  of a Custom Selection Window  34 . To enter a Text Message  200 , the User may first create a new frame  202  as described above and then select a Compose Message icon  204  displayed within or otherwise associated with the frame  202 . Then, the User inputs the message preferably by typing the message on a keyboard of the User&#39;s computing device.  
      Preferably, the system provides a means to select various fonts and pitch sizes for the Text Message  200 , such as via a Typeface Selection pop-up  206  depicted within the frame.  
      The system adds the Text Message  200 , along with the typeface instructions, to the code for the frame  202  of the Custom Selection Window  34 , preferably in HTML format, or another suitable format. Thus, the Text Message  200  will travel with the Custom Selection Window  34  when it is saved, recalled, transmitted or received, as described above.  
      Referring to  FIG. 26 , it is expected that a User would usually populate a Custom Selection Window  34  with at least one content item before adding a text message. However, a User may create a Text Message  200  in a Custom Selection Window  34  having only one area or frame, or as the first created frame.  
      To create such a Custom Selection Window  34 , the User selects a “New Amplification” menu item provided by the software, which creates a blank or empty Custom Selection Window  34 . Then, the User may add a Text Message  200  to the Window  34 , as discussed above.  
      To enhance the visibility or appearance of the Text Message  200 , the system enables the User to select from various background colors and text colors from a Tools menu icon that appears within the frame when the User directs a pointing device over the frame. Further, as discussed previously, the system provides a menu to always display the Custom Selection Window  34  on top of all other windows, regardless of which window is currently active. Thus, the Compose Message feature of the invention provides a convenient method to place notes on the desktop of the computing device of the User and to save and share such notes with others.  
      An example of the code for this feature is set forth in Table X.  
               TABLE X                          ′ Private Sub EditToolbar_LockEdit( )       ′ Parameters:       ′ None       Private Sub EditToolbar_LockEdit( )                         ′ If there is no active frame, then cancel           If oEditFrame Is Nothing Then                         Exit Sub                         End If           Dim spnEdit As MSHTML.HTMLSpanElement           ′ get a reference to the object which facilitates editing           Set spnEdit =                 oDocument.frames(oEditFrame.Id).Document.getElementById(“spnText”)                         ′ clear any selections           oDocument.frames(oEditFrame.Id).Document.selection.empty           ′ hide the font toolbar           HideFontToolbar True           ′ disabled editing           If Not spnEdit Is Nothing Then                         spnEdit.contentEditable = ”false“                         End If           Set spnEdit = Nothing           Set oEditFrame = Nothing                 End Sub       ′ Private Sub EditToolbar_UnLockEdit( )       ′ Parameters:       ′ None       Private Sub EditToolbar_UnLockEdit( )                         ′ if there is content waiting to be placed in a frame,           then cancel           If bItem Waiting Then                         Exit Sub                         End If           ′ if there is a frame currently being edited,           then lock it before proceding           If Not oEditFrame Is Nothing Then                         Call EditToolbar_LockEdit                         End If           Dim spnEdit As MSHTML.HTMLSpanElement           ′ setup the frame for editing           If xmlAmplification.selectSingleNode(“amplification/frames/frame[@id = ‘” +                 EditToolbar.ActiveFrame.Id + “‘]”) Is Nothing Then                         Dim xmlTxtRange As New MSXML.DOMDocument           xmlTxtRange.async = False           LoadResXML xmlTxtRange, “amplifytxtrange.xml”           xmlTxtRange.selectSingleNode(“frame/@id”).Text =                 EditToolbar.ActiveFrame.Id                         AddItem_Callback                 oDocument.frames(EditToolbar.ActiveFrame.Id).Document.parentWindow,       xmlTxtRange.documentElement                         Set xmlTxtRange = Nothing                         End If           DoEvents           ′ get a reference to the object which facilitates editing           Set spnEdit =                 oDocument.frames(EditToolbar.ActiveFrame.Id).Document.getElementById(“spnTe       xt”)                         ′ enable editing           spnEdit.contentEditable = “true”           ′ show the font toolbar           ShowFontToolbar EditToolbar.ActiveFrame           ′ set a reference to the frame being edited           Set oEditFrame = EditToolbar.ActiveFrame           ′ set focus to the edit frame           Call spnEdit.focus           Set spnEdit = Nothing                 End Sub                  
 
 Targeted Advertisements 
 
      The system also provides the ability to display targeted advertisements in the Main Toolbar  10  of the browser application  12  and, optionally in the Window Toolbar  36  of the Custom Selection Window  34 .  
      Targeting information may be obtained by the software from one or more of the following: the second-level domain of one of the content items displayed in a Custom Selection Window  34  or main browser window, the Keywords associated with a Custom Selection Window  34 , the text contained in a text message created by the User via the Compose Message feature, or the text contained in a selected content item in the Custom Selection Window  34 .  
      Advertisements are contained in a database on a server and the advertisements are associated with predetermined targeting information. Targeting information is obtained from the computing device of the User and transmitted to a server which determines an appropriate associated advertisement using the predetermined associations between the targeting information and the advertisements. The associated advertisement is then transmitted to the User and displayed on the User&#39;s computing device.  
      Each advertisement is preferably associated with a plurality of targeting information items. For example, Advertisement  1  could be associated with Keyword  1 , Keyword  2  and Keyword  3 . Further, each association between an advertisement and a targeting information item is given a weight. For example, the associations between Advertisement  1  and Keyword  1 , Keyword  2  and Keyword  3  may be given weights of 15, 10 and 50, respectively. Thus, the associations and weightings may be as follows: 
          Advertisement  1 , Keyword  1 , weight 15     Advertisement  1 , Keyword  2 , weight 10     Advertisement  1 , Keyword  3 , weight 50        

      Other associations and weights may be as follows: 
          Advertisement  2 , Domain  1 , weight 50     Advertisement  2 , Keyword  4 , weight 25     Advertisement  3 , Domain  2 , weight 25     Advertisement  3 , Keyword  1 , weight 50     Advertisement  4 , Keyword  5 , weight 10     Advertisement  4 , Domain  3 , weight 20        

      To select an advertisement to display, the system first determines a set of associated advertisements, which are advertisements that are associated with the targeting information obtained from the user computing device. This is done by comparing the keywords, domains and text with the predetermined targeting information associated with the advertisements.  
      For example, in the example above, if the targeting information consisted of Keyword  1 , Keyword  2  and Domain  1 , then Advertisement  1 , Advertisement  2  and Advertisement  3  would be selected from the pool of advertisements.  
      Next, the relative weight of each advertisement is determined by summing the weights of each association made for the advertisement.  
      In the present example, Advertisement  1  would have a weight of 25 (i.e., 15+10), Advertisement  2  and Advertisement  3  would each have a weight of 50.  
      Next, the advertisement to be displayed is selected from the associated advertisement by weighted random selection, where the relative weight of each advertisement is determined by the association weights as described above.  
      Where in the present example Advertisement  1 , Advertisement  2  and Advertisement  3  have weights of 25, 50 and 50, the random selection is weighted 20% for Advertisement  1 , and 40% for each of Advertisement  2  and Advertisement  3 .  
      One method to perform the weighted random selection is to determine a random number selection range, for example from 1 to the sum of the relative weights of the associated advertisements. In the present example, the random number selection range would be from 1 to 125. Then, each advertisement is assigned a range of numbers within that random number selection range proportional to the relative weight of the advertisement. In the present example, Advertisement  1  would be associated with 1 through 25, Advertisement  2  with 26 through 75 and Advertisement  3  with 76 through 125.  
      Next, a random number is chosen from the random number selection range. The advertisement to which the selected random number applies is displayed in the appropriate location.  
      As can be appreciated, the present method of displaying advertisements provides for a high level of control over the selection of advertisements while providing a desirable degree of variance.  
      An example of the code for this feature is set forth in Table Y.  
               TABLE Y                          ALTER Procedure banner_que_get_weighted_sp                         @lctn_id int,           @instance_guid uniqueidentifier = null,           @window_guid uniqueidentifier = null,           @keywords varchar(250) = null,           @domain varchar(250) = null                 as       begin                         set nocount on           -- create temp table to store keywords           create table #keywords (keyword varchar(50) primary key)           -- create temp table for storing banner results           create table #weighted_que (que_id int primary key, weight int)           -- declare working variables           declare @sum_weights int           declare @random_num int           declare @que_id int           declare @pos int           declare @num_chars int           declare @word_start int           declare @keyword varchar(50)           set @pos = 0           set @num_chars = len(@keywords)           set @word_start = 0           -- break apart keywords ( keywords are passed as a comma delimted list,           -- this will place them in to the temp table as individual records.           while (@pos &lt;= @num_chars)           begin                         if (substring(@keywords, @pos, 1) =‘,’)           begin                         set @keyword = ltrim(substring(@keywords,.@word_start, @pos -                 @word_start))                         if (not exists(select 1 from #keywords where keyword = @keyword))                         insert into #keywords with (rowlock)           values (                         @keyword                         )                         set @word_start = @pos + 1                         end           else if (@pos = @num_chars)           begin                         set @keyword = ltrim(substring(@keywords, @word_start, (@pos -                 @word_start) + 1))                         if (not exists(select 1 from #keywords where keyword = @keyword))                         insert into #keywords with (rowlock)           values (                         @keyword                         )                         end           set @pos = @pos + 1                         end           -- get banners based on keywords and domains, then store them in the temp banner results                 table                         insert into #weighted_que with (rowlock)           select                         a.que_id,           sum(isnull(b.kywd_weight, 0)) + sum(isnull(c.domn_weight, 0))                         from                         banner_que a with (nolock)           left outer join banner_que_keywords b with (nolock) on                         b.kywd_que_id = a.que_id and           b.kywd_weight &gt; 0 and           exists(select 1 from #keywords with (nolock) where keyword =                 b.kywd_word)                         left outer join banner_que_domains c with (nolock) on                         c.domn_que_id = a.que_id and           c.domn_weight &gt; 0 and           c.domn_key = @domain                         where                         a.que_lctn_id = @lctn_id and           a.que_start_date &lt; CURRENT_TIMESTAMP and           a.que_end_date &gt; CURRENT_TIMESTAMP and           a.que_active = 1                         group by                         a.que_id                         -- remove any banners from the temp results table that don′t have a weight           delete from #weighted_que with (rowlock)           where                         isnull(weight, 0) &lt;= 0                         -- if there were no keyword or domain matches then get base weighted banners           if ((select count(*) from #weighted_que) = 0)           begin                         insert into #weighted_que with (rowlock)           select                         a.que_id,           a.que_weight                         from                         banner_que a with (nolock)                         where                         a.que_lctn_id = @lctn_id and           a.que_start_date &lt; CURRENT_TIMESTAMP and           a.que_end_date &gt; CURRENT_TIMESTAMP and           a.que_active = 1 and           a.que_weight &gt; 0                         end           -- Generate Random Number.           set @random_num = ((select sum(weight) from #weighted_que with (nolock)) * Rand( )) + 1           --GET RANDOM WAITED BANNER           select top 1                         @que_id = b.que_id                         from                         (           select                         a.que_id,           (                             select   sum(weight)           from   #weighted_que c with (nolock)                             where   c.que_id &lt;= a.que_id                         ) weight_sum                         from                         #weighted_que a with (nolock)                         )b                         where                         b.weight_sum &gt;= @random_num                         order by                         b.weight_sum                         -- Get details of banner for display           select                         a.que_id,           b.bnr_id,           b.bnr_name,           isnull(b.bnr_img_path,“) bnr_img_path,           isnull(b.bnr_text_1,”) bnr_text_1,           b.bnr_text_1_color,           b.bnr_text_1_bold,           b.bnr_text_1_italic,           b.bnr_text_1_font,           b.bnr_text_1_size,           b.bnr_text_1_underline,           isnull(b.bnr_text_2,”) bnr_text_2,           b.bnr_text_2_color,           b.bnr_text_2_bold,           b.bnr_text_2_italic,           b.bnr_text_2_font,           b.bnr_text_2_size,           b.bnr_text_2_underline,           isnull(b.bnr_alt_text,”) bnr_alt_text,           a.que_display_time                         from                         banner_que a with (nolock)           inner join banners b with (nolock) on                         b.bnr_id = a.que_bnr_id                         where                         a.que_id = @que_id                         -- Add 1 to the display count of the banner           insert into banner_requests with (rowlock)           values (                         @instance_guid,           @window_guid,           @keywords,           @domain,           @que_id,           CURRENT_TIMESTAMP                         )           declare @que_display_count int           declare @current_display_count int           set @que_display_count = (select que_display_count from banner_que with (nolock) where                 que_id = @que_id)                         set @current_display_count = (select count(*) from banner requests with (nolock) where                 rqst_que_id = @que_id)                         -- if the banner has hit display limit, then disable the banner for performance reasons           if (@que_display_count &lt;= @current_display_count) and (not @que_display_count = 0)           begin                         update banner_que with (rowlock)           set                         que_active = 0                         where                         que_id = @que_id                         end           -- cleanup temp tables           drop table #weighted_que           drop table #keywords                 end                  
 
      As can be appreciated, the system and method of the invention provides convenient means to create, view, modify, save and share custom groupings of image and text content items available on web pages and other sources along with text messages composed by the user. The system also allows a user to easily transfer access to the custom grouping to others through various means of electronic communication.  
      It should be understood, of course, that the specific form of the invention herein illustrated and described is intended to be representative only, as certain changes may be made therein without departing from the clear teachings of the disclosure. Accordingly, reference should be made to the following appended claims in determining the full scope of the invention.