Method and apparatus for obtaining entity-related decision support information based on user-supplied preferences

摘要

In a portable computing device having at least one kind of input, at least one kind of output, and a data communications interface, a method and apparatus for obtaining entity-related “acceptable or unacceptable” decisions based on matching the results of internet information retrieval against user-supplied, persistent preferences are described. User-supplied preferences consist of a list of internet information resources the user wants to be examined to obtain a decision about whether or not an entity is acceptable, and of a list of criteria that an entity from said internet information resources has to meet to be found acceptable by the user. In one embodiment, a graphical user interface on the portable computing device is provided, allowing the identification of an entity. Identification of an entity automatically initiates information retrieval about the identified entity from the internet information resources of the user's preferences, automatically yielding, upon completion, a clearly discernible output in the form of a ternary “acceptable”/“unacceptable”/“undecidable” indicator on the portable computing device. The “acceptable” indicator is output if at least one criterion from the user's preferences has been met and no criterion from the user's preferences has been violated; the “unacceptable” indicator is output if at least one criterion from the user's preferences has been violated; the “undecidable” indicator is output otherwise.