Claims
- 1. A computer comprising:location circuitry for detecting changes in an environment associated with the computer, said changes including: a change in the user of said computer; a change in physical and electrical connections made to said computer; a change in the peripherals in said computer; a change in the location of said computer; a change in the operational status of said computer; and a change in the set of programs being run in the computer; processing circuitry coupled to said location circuitry, said processing circuitry for executing: one or more software informants for receiving information on environmental factors associated with said changes from the location circuitry; and one or more applications in communication with said software informants, the operation of said applications being responsive to said information.
- 2. The computer of claim 1 wherein said detection circuitry comprises circuitry for determining the presence of a network.
- 3. The computer of claim 2 wherein said determining circuitry comprises circuitry for determining the presence of a wired network.
- 4. The computer of claim 3 wherein said processing circuitry communicates with the wired network to determine a location.
- 5. The computer of claim 3 wherein said processing circuitry communicates with the wired network to determine a location.
- 6. The computer of claim 2 wherein said determining circuitry comprises circuitry for determining the presence of a wireless network.
- 7. The computer of claim 1 wherein said location circuitry comprises a global positioning system.
- 8. The computer of claim 1 wherein said location circuitry comprises circuitry for receiving a signal indicative of a physical location.
- 9. A method of executing programs in a computer comprising the steps of:detecting changes in an environment associated with the computer, said changes including: a change in the user of said computer; a change in physical and electrical connections made to said computer; a change in the peripherals in said computer; a change in the location of said computer; a change in the operational status of said computer; and a change in the set of programs being run in the computer; distributing information associated with environmental factors resulting from said changes to one or more software applications; and executing said one or more software applications responsive to the information associated with environmental factors resulting from said changes.
- 10. The method of claim 9 wherein said step of detecting the physical location of the computer comprises the step of detecting the physical location of the computer by reference to a global positioning system circuit.
- 11. The method of claim 9 wherein said step of detecting the physical location of the computer comprises the step of detecting the physical location of the computer by receiving a signal from a sensor placed in the physical location.
- 12. The method of claim 9 wherein said step of detecting the physical location of the computer comprises the step of detecting the physical location of the computer by communicating with a network.
- 13. The method of claim 9 wherein said detecting step comprises the step of determining a physical location for the computer by reference to a scheduling database.
- 14. The method of claim 9 wherein said detecting step comprises the step of determining a physical location for the computer by referencing another active computer.
- 15. A portable electronic device, comprising:detection circuitry within said device for detecting changes in environmental factors; processing circuitry within said device and coupled to said detection circuitry, said processing circuitry for executing: one or more software informants for receiving information on said environmental factors from said detection circuitry; and one or more application in communication with said software informants, the operation of said applications being responsive to said information.
- 16. The device of claim 15, wherein an environmental factor is a change in the location of the device.
- 17. The device of claim 15, wherein an environmental factor is a change in scheduling information associated with said device.
- 18. The device of claim 15, wherein an environmental factor is a change in information associated with time/date circuitry within said device.
- 19. A computer comprising:input/output circuitry; processing circuitry coupled to said input/output circuitry for determining a physical location for and a change in the operational status of the computer, said processing circuitry being capable of executing: one or more software informants for generating information on the physical location for and said change in the operational status of the computer; and one or more applications in communication with said software informants for executing a program responsive to said information.
- 20. The computer of claim 19 wherein said processing circuitry executes at least one software informant for determining a physical location for the computer by reference to a data base used for scheduling appointments and tasks.
- 21. The computer of claim 19 wherein said processing circuitry executes at least one informant for determining a physical location for the computer by reference to another active computer.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application claims priority under 35 USC § 119(e)(1) of provisional application No. 60/048,086 filed May 30, 1997.
This application is related to U.S. App. Ser. No. 08/759,899, entitled “Graphical User Interface” to Freach et al filed Dec. 3, 1996, U.S. Ser. No. 60/050,930 entitled “Computer System With Environmental Manager” to Watts et al filed May 30, 1997 and U.S. Ser. No. 60/048,139 entitled “Computer System With Environmental Messaging Structure” to Fuiks et al filed May 30, 1997.
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Provisional Applications (1)
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