System and method for anonymously sharing and scoring information pointers, within a system for harvesting community knowledge

1. A method for software execution for information discovery, comprising:

generating a client profile on a client computer;

storing the client profile on the client computer;

receiving a pointer message containing an information resource pointer that refers to an address of an information resource that is accessible by a receiving client computer over a network;

comparing, by the client computer, the information source pointed to by the pointer message to the client profile stored on the client computer;

determining a content score of the pointer message based on the comparison;

determining a total number of times the pointer message is transmitted over the network within a predetermined time period;

determining a popularity score of the pointer message from the determined total number of times;

determining an aggregated score based on the content score and the popularity score of the pointer message; and

displaying the pointer message and the aggregated score on the client computer.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the information resource pointer includes hyperlinks and Universal Resource Locators (URLs).

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

generating a “what's hot” pointer list of information resource pointers frequently transmitted over the network.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

detecting if the client computer is configured to prevent transmission of pointer messages generated by the client computer; and

preventing received pointer messages from being displayed if so configured.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

transmitting a message over the network indicating whether the client computer has followed the information resource pointer.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

transmitting a set of information resource pointers over the network; and

receiving back messages from other users indicating whether or not such users have actually followed one or more pointers within the set.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a set of information resource pointers from a single source;

checking whether the client computer has previously followed any of pointers within the set; and

displaying those pointers in the set which the client computer has not previously followed.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

obtaining an external ranking score of the pointer message from a ranking engine external to the client computer,

wherein the aggregated score is further determined based on the external ranking score.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a timeliness score of the pointer message by determining a most recent time that the pointer message was transmitted over the network,

wherein the aggregated score is further determined based on the timeliness score.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein determining the timeliness score of the pointer message comprises:

initializing the timeliness score to a maximum value; and decrementing the timeliness score by a predetermined percentage each time a predetermined time period elapses after a first transmission of the pointer message by a sending client computer.

11. A method for software execution for information discovery, comprising:

receiving a pointer message at a client computer, containing an information resource pointer that refers to an address of an information resource that is accessible through a link by a receiving client computer over a network;

comparing, by the client computer, the information source pointed to by the pointer message to a client profile stored on the client computer;

determining a content score of the pointer message based on the comparison;

totaling a number of times that the information resource pointer is transmitted by a sending computer over the network, over a predetermined time period to generate a total;

determining a popularity score of the pointer message based on the total;

determining an aggregated score based on the content score and the popularity score of the pointer message; and

displaying the pointer message and the aggregated score on the client computer.

12. The method of claim 11 :

wherein the totaling element includes totaling a number of times that the information resource pointer is received by the client computer, from a prior time up until a day on which the totaling element is effected.

13. A method for software execution for information discovery, comprising:

receiving a pointer message by a client computer, the pointer message containing an information resource pointer that refers to an address of an information source that is accessible by a receiving client computer over a network;

comparing the information resource pointed to by the pointer message to a client profile stored on the client computer;

determining a content score of the pointer message based on the comparison;

initializing a timeliness score to a maximum value;

decrementing the timeliness score by a predetermined percentage each time a predetermined time period elapses after a first transmission of the pointer message by a sending computer;

determining an aggregated score based on the content score and the timeliness score; and

displaying the pointer message and the aggregated score on the client computer.

14. A method for software execution for information discovery, comprising:

generating a client profile on a receiving client computer;

storing the client profile on the receiving client computer;

receiving, by the receiving client computer, a pointer message containing an information resource pointer that refers to an address of an information source that is accessible by the receiving client computer over a network;

comparing the information source pointed to by the pointer message to the client profile stored on the client computer;

determining a content score of the pointer message based on the comparison;

totaling a number of times that the information resource pointer is received by the receiving client computer, over a predetermined time period, yielding a popularity score;

initializing a timeliness score to a maximum value;

decrementing the timeliness score by a predetermined percentage each time a predetermined time period elapses after a first transmission of the pointer message by a sending client computer;

aggregating the content score, the popularity score, and the timeliness score to generate an aggregated score; and

displaying the pointer message and the aggregated score on the receiving client computer.

15. The method of claim 14 :

further comprising, defining a set of blocked information resources; and

wherein the displaying element includes displaying the pointer message if the pointer does not include an address for one of the blocked information resources.

16. The method of claim 14 ,

further comprising, defining a set of hierarchically blocked information resources; and

wherein the displaying element includes displaying the pointer message if the pointer does not include an address referring to either the blocked information resources or an information resource within one of the blocked information resources.

17. A computer system for information discovery comprising:

a processor; and

a memory storing machine readable instructions, which when executed by the processor cause the computer system to:

generate a client profile on a client computer;

store the profile on the computer;

receive a pointer message containing an information resource pointer that refers to an address of an information resource that is accessible by a receiving client computer over a network;

compare the information source pointed to by the pointer message to the client profile stored on the client computer;

determine a content score of the pointer message based on an output of the means for comparing;

determine a total number of times the pointer message is transmitted over the network within a predetermined time period;

determine a popularity score of the pointer message from the determined total number of times;

determine an aggregated score based on the content score and the popularity score of the pointer message; and

display the pointer message and the aggregated score on the computer.

18. A computer system for information discovery, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory storing machine readable instructions, which when executed by the processor cause the computer system to:

receive a pointer message at a client computer, containing an information resource pointer that refers to an address of an information resource that is accessible through a link by a receiving client computer over a network;

compare the information source pointed to by the pointer message to a client profile stored on the client computer;

determine a content score of the pointer message based on an output of the means for comparing;

total a number of times that the information resource pointer is transmitted by a sending computer over the network, over a predetermined time period, to generate a total;

determine an aggregated score based on the content score of the pointer message and the total; and

display the pointer message and the aggregated score on the computer.

19. A computer system for information discovery, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory storing machine readable instructions, which when executed by the processor cause the computer system to:

receive a pointer message at a client computer, the pointer message containing an information resource pointer that refers to an address of an information pointer that is accessible by a receiving client computer over a network;

compare the information resource pointed to by the pointer message to a client profile stored on the client computer;

determine a content score of the pointer message based on the comparison;

initialize a timeliness score of the pointer message to a maximum value;

decrement the timeliness score by a predetermined percentage each time a predetermined time period elapses after a first transmission of the pointer message by a sending computer;

determine an aggregated score based on the content score and the timeliness score of the pointer message; and

display the pointer message and the aggregated score on the client computer.