Quantifying the level of interest of an item of current interest

Claim 3

The method of claim 1 , further comprising adjusting the updated intensity rank by a decay factor.

Claim 4

The method of claim 1 , wherein the updated intensity rank is adjusted by a decay factor if the indication is received more than a predetermined arbitrary interval after the last indication received with respect to the item prior to the current indication.

Claim 5

The method of claim 1 , further comprising adjusting the updated intensity rank by a decay factor, wherein the decay factor is an exponential decay function.

Claim 6

The method of claim 4 , wherein the exponential decay function is a function of the amount of time between when the last indication was received and the receipt of the current indication.

Claim 7

The method of claim 5 , wherein the decay factor is determined by the formula g=e −a*(Δt−τ) , in which g is the decay factor, a is an arbitrarily determined weight factor, Δt is the amount of time between when the last indication was received and the receipt of the current indication, and τ is the predetermined arbitrary interval.

Claim 10

The system of claim 7 , wherein the computer is further configured to adjust the updated intensity rank by a decay factor.

Claim 11

The system of claim 7 , wherein the updated intensity rank is adjusted by a decay factor if the indication is received more than a predetermined arbitrary interval after the last indication received with respect to the item prior to the current indication.

Claim 12

The system of claim 7 , wherein the updated intensity rank is adjusted by a decay factor, wherein the decay factor is an exponential decay function.

Claim 13

The system of claim 10 , wherein the exponential decay function is a function of the amount of time between when the last indication was received and the receipt of the current indication.

Claim 14

The system of claim 11 , wherein the decay factor is determined by the formula g=e −a*(Δt−τ) , in which g is the decay factor, a is an arbitrarily determined weight factor, Δt is the amount of time between when the last indication was received and the receipt of the current indication, and τ is the predetermined arbitrary interval.

Claim 15

A computer program product for quantifying the level of interest of an item of current interest, the computer program product being embodied in a computer readable medium and comprising computer instructions for: receiving an indication that the item is of current interest; processing the indication to determine an intensity value; storing the intensity value; and calculating an intensity rank based at least in part on the intensity value for the indication wherein the intensity rank for the item is updated each time an indication of current interest with respect to the item is received and the intensity rank is determined by the formula r′=r+(k−r)*I, in which r′ is the updated intensity rank, r is the intensity rank prior to the receipt of the indication of interest, k is the arbitrarily determined maximum possible intensity, and I is the intensity value of the indication of interest.

Claim 16

A computer program product for quantifying the level of interest of an item of current interest, the computer program product being embodied in a computer readable medium and comprising computer instructions for: receiving an indication that the item is of current interest; processing the indication to determine an intensity value; storing the intensity value; and calculating an intensity rank based at least in part on the intensity value for the indication wherein the intensity rank for the item is updated each time an indication of current interest with respect to the item is received and the intensity rank is determined by the formula r′=r+(k−r)*I, in which r′ is the updated intensity rank, r is the intensity rank prior to the receipt of the indication of interest, k is the arbitrarily determined maximum possible intensity, and I is the intensity value of the indication of interest.

Claim 17

The computer program product of claim 13 , the computer program product further comprising computer instructions for adjusting the updated intensity rank by a decay factor.

Claim 18

The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the updated intensity rank is adjusted by a decay factor if the indication is received more than a predetermined arbitrary interval after the last indication received with respect to the item prior to the current indication.

Claim 19

The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the updated intensity rank is adjusted by a decay factor, wherein the decay factor is an exponential decay function.

Claim 20

The computer program product of claim 16 , wherein the exponential decay function is a function of the amount of time between when the last indication was received and the receipt of the current indication.

Claim 21

The computer program product of claim 16 , wherein the decay factor is determined by the formula g=e −a*(Δt−τ) , in which g is the decay factor, a is an arbitrarily determined weight factor, Δt is the amount of time between when the last indication was received and the receipt of the current indication, and τ is the predetermined arbitrary interval.