Map based neighborhood search and community contribution

Abstract

A method, apparatus and system of map based community search and neighborhood contribution are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method includes associating a verified registered user with a user profile, associating the user profile with a specific geographic location, generating a map concurrently displaying the user profile and the specific geographic location and simultaneously generating, in the map, wiki profiles associated with different geographic locations surrounding the specific geographic location associated with the user profile.

1 . A method, comprising:
 associating a verified registered user with a user profile;   associating the user profile with a specific geographic location;   generating a map concurrently displaying the user profile and the specific geographic location; and   simultaneously generating, in the map, wiki profiles associated with different geographic locations surrounding the specific geographic location associated with the user profile.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 processing a query of at least one of the user profile and the specific geographic location; and   converting a particular wiki profile of the wiki profiles to another user profile when a different registered user claims a particular geographic location to the specific geographic location associated with the particular wiki profile, wherein the user profile is tied to a specific property in a neighborhood, and wherein the particular wiki profile is associated with a neighboring property to the specific property in the neighborhood.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  further comprising:
 delisting a certain wiki profile of the wiki profiles when a private registered user claims a certain geographic location adjacent to at least one of the specific geographic location and the particular geographic location; and   masking the certain wiki profile in the map when the certain wiki profile is delisted through the request of the private registered user.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3  further comprising:
 processing a tag data associated with at least one of the specific geographic location, a particular geographic location, and the delisted geographic location;   displaying a frequent one of the tag data when at least one of the specific geographic location and the particular geographic location is made active, but not when a geographic location is delisted;   permitting a commercial user to purchase a customizable business profile associated with a commercial geographic location;   enabling the verified registered user to communicate a message to the neighborhood based on a selectible distance range away from the specific geographic location; and   processing a payment of the commercial user and the verified registered user.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3  further comprising:
 permitting the verified registered user to edit any information in the wiki profiles including the particular wiki profile and the certain wiki profile until the certain wiki profile is claimed by at least one of the different registered user and the private registered user;   enabling a claimant of any wiki profile to control what information is displayed on their user profile; and   allowing the claimant to segregate certain information on their user profile such that only other registered users directly connected to the claimant are able to view data on their user profile.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 3  further comprising:
 applying a first user ID with the verified registered user and a second user ID to the different registered user;   connecting the verified registered user with the different registered user with each other through at least one of a geo-positioning data associated with the first user ID and the second user ID;   setting a maximum degree of separation (Nmax) of at least two that is allowed for connecting any two registered users, wherein two registered users who are directly connected are deemed to be separated by one degree of separation and two registered users who are connected through no less than one other registered user are deemed to be separated by two degrees of separation and two registered users who are connected through no less than N other registered users are deemed to be separated by N+1 degrees of separation;   searching the user ID of the different registered user in a set of user IDs that are stored of registered users who are less than Nmax degrees of separation away from the verified registered user, and not in the sets of user IDs that are stored for registered users who are greater than or equal to Nmax degrees of separation away from the verified registered user, until the user ID of the different registered user is found in one of the searched sets; and   connecting the verified registered user to the different registered user if the user ID of the different registered user is found in one of the searched sets, wherein the method limits the searching of the different registered user in the sets of user IDs that are stored of registered users who are less than Nmax degrees of separation away from the verified registered user, such that the verified registered user and the different registered user who are separated by more than Nmax degrees of separation are not found and connected.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6  further comprising:
 searching initially in the sets of user IDs that are stored of registered users who are directly connected to the verified registered user;   communicating a profile of the different registered user to the verified registered user to display through a marker associating the verified registered user with the different registered user;   storing a connection path between the verified registered user and the different registered user, the connection path indicating at least one other registered user through whom the connection path between the verified registered user and the different registered user is made;   communicating the connection path between the verified registered user and the different registered user to the verified registered user to display; and   embedding a hyperlink in the connection path of each of the at least one registered users through whom the connection path between the verified registered user and the different registered user is made.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7  further comprising:
 storing of each registered user associated e-mail addresses of individuals who are not registered users and identified by each registered user as neighbors.   communicating out an invitation to become a new user to neighbors of the particular user;   processing an acceptance of a neighbor to whom the invitation was sent;   adding the neighbor to a database and storing of the neighbor, a user ID and a set of user IDs of registered users who are directly connected to the neighbor, the set of user IDs stored of the neighbor including at least the user ID of the verified registered user;   notifying the verified registered user that the invitation to the neighbor has been accepted when an acceptance is processed; and   processing inputs from the neighbor having descriptive data about the friend and storing the inputs in the database.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7  further comprising:
 communicating brief profiles of registered users, including a brief profile of the different registered user, to the verified registered user for display, each of the brief profiles including a hyperlink to a corresponding full profile;   processing a hyperlink selection from the verified registered user, wherein, upon processing the hyperlink selection of the full profile of the different registered user, the full profile of the different registered user is communicated to the verified registered user for display; and   ensuring that brief profiles of those registered users who are more than Nmax degrees of separation away from the verified registered user are not communicated to the verified registered user for display.   
     
     
         10 . The method  claim 1  in a form of a machine-readable medium embodying a set of instructions that, when executed by a machine, causes the machine to perform the method of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         11 . A system comprising:
 a plurality of neighborhoods having registered users and unregistered users of a global neighborhood environment;   a social community module of the global neighborhood environment to generate a building creator in which the registered users may create and modify empty wiki profiles, building layouts, social network pages, and floor levels structures housing residents and businesses in the neighborhood;   a wiki module of the global neighborhood environment to enable the registered users to create a social network page of themselves, and to edit information associated with the unregistered users identifiable through a viewing of physical properties in which the unregistered users reside when the registered users have knowledge of characteristics associated with the unregistered users;   a search module of the global neighborhood environment to enable a people search, a business search, and a category search of any data in the social community module and to enable embedding of any content in the global neighborhood environment in other search engines, blogs, social networks, professional networks and static websites;   a commerce module of the global neighborhood environment to provide an advertisement system to a business who purchase their location in the global neighborhood environment in which the advertisement is viewable concurrently with a map indicating a location of the business, and in which revenue is attributed to the global neighborhood environment when the registered users and the unregistered users click-in on a simultaneously displayed data of the advertisement along with the map indicating a location of the business; and   a map module of the global neighborhood environment to include a map data associated with a satellite data which serves as a basis of rendering the map in the global neighborhood environment and which includes a simplified map generator which may transform the map to a fewer color and location complex form using a parcel data which identifies at least some residence, civic, and business locations in the satellite data.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11  further comprising:
 a verify module of the social community module to authenticate an email address of a registered user prior to enabling the registered user to edit information associated with the unregistered users through at least one of an email response and a digital signature technique;   a group generator module of the social community module to enable the registered users to form groups with each other surrounding at least one of a common neighborhood political, cultural, educational, professional and social interest;   a tagging module of the social community module to enable the registered users and the unregistered users to leave brief comments on each of the wiki profiles and social network pages in the global neighborhood environment, in which the brief comments are simultaneously displayed when a pointing device rolls over a pushpin indicating a physical property associated with any of the registered users and the unregistered users;   a pushpin module of the social community module to generate customized indicators of different types of users, locations, and interests directly in the map;   an announce module of the social community module to distribute a message in a specified range of distance away from the registered users when a registered user purchases a message to communicate to certain ones of the registered users surrounding a geographic vicinity adjacent to the particular registered user originating the message, wherein the particular registered user purchases the message through a governmental currency and a number of tokens collected by the particular user through a creation of content in the global neighborhood environment;   an nth degree module of the social community module to enable the particular registered user to communicate with an unknown registered user through a common registered user known by the particular registered user and the unknown registered user that is an nth degree of separation away from the particular registered user and the unknown registered user; and   a profile module of the social community module to create a set of profiles of each one of the registered users and to enable each one of the registered users to submit media content of themselves, other registered users, and unregistered users identifiable through the map.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 11  further comprising:
 a claim module of wiki module to enable the unregistered users to claim at least one of the physical properties associated with their residence;   a dispute resolution module of the wiki module to determine a legitimate user of different unregistered users who claim a same physical property;   a defamation prevention module of the wiki module to enable the registered users to modify the information associated with the unregistered users identifiable through the viewing of the physical properties, and to enable registered user voting of an accuracy of the information associated with the unregistered users;   a reviews module of the wiki module to provide comments, local reviews and ratings of various businesses as contributed by the registered users and unregistered users of the global network environment; and   a wiki-social network conversion module of the wiki module to transform the wiki profiles to social network profiles when the registered users claim the wiki profiles.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 11  further comprising:
 a communication module of the search module to enable voice over internet, live chat, and group announcement functionality in the global neighborhood environment among different members of the global neighborhood environment;   a directory assistance module of the search module to provide voice response assistance to users assessable through a web and telephony interface of any category, business, community, and residence search queries of users of any search engine embedding content of the global neighborhood environment;   an embed module of the search module to automatically extract address and contact info from other social networks, search engines, and content providers, and to enable automatic extraction of group lists from contact databases of instant messaging platforms; and   a no-match module of the search module to request additional information from the verified registered user about a person, place, and business having no listing in the global neighborhood environment when no matches are found in a search query of the verified registered user, and to create a new wiki page based on a response of the verified registered user about the at least one person, place, and business not previously indexed in the global neighborhood environment.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 11  further comprising:
 a geo-position advertisement ranking module of the commerce module to determine an order of the advertisement in a series of other advertisements provided in the global neighborhood environment by other advertisers, wherein the advertisement is at least one a display advertisement, a text advertisement, and an employment recruiting portal associated with the business that is simultaneously displayed with the map indicating the location of the business;   a click through tracking module of the commerce module to determine a number of click throughs from the advertisement to a primary website of the business;   a click in tracking module of the commerce module to determine a number of users who clicked in to the advertisement simultaneously displayed with the map indicating the location of the business;   a community marketplace module of the commerce module to provide a forum in which the registered users can trade and announce messages of trading events with at least certain registered users in geographic proximity from each other; and   a content syndication module of the commerce module to enable any data in the commerce module to be syndicated to other network based trading platforms.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 11  further comprising:
 a cartoon map converter module in the map module to apply a filter to the satellite data to transform the satellite data into a simplified polygon based representation using a Bezier curve algorithm that converts point data of the satellite data to a simplified form.   
     
     
         17 . A global neighborhood environment, comprising:
 a first instruction set to enable a social network to reside above a map data, in which the social network is associated with specific geographical locations identifiable in the map data;   a second instruction set integrated with the first instruction set to enable users of the social network to create profiles of other people through a forum which provides a free form of expression of the users sharing information about any entities and people residing in any geographical location identifiable in the satellite map data, and to provide a technique of each of the users to claim a geographic location to control content in their respective claimed geographic locations; and   a third instruction set integrated with the first instruction set and the second instruction set to enable searching of people in the global neighborhood environment by indexing each of the data shared by the users of any of the people and entities residing in any geographic location.   
     
     
         18 . The global neighborhood environment of  claim 17  further comprising:
 a fourth instruction set to provide a moderation of content about each other posted of the users through trusted users of the global neighborhood environment who have an ability to ban specific users and delete any offensive and libelous content in the global neighborhood environment.   
     
     
         19 . The global neighborhood environment of  claim 18  further comprising:
 a fifth instruction set to enable an insertion of any content generated in the global neighborhood environment in other search engines through a syndication and advertising relationship between the global neighborhood environment and other internet commerce and search portals.   
     
     
         20 . The global neighborhood environment of  claim 19  further comprising:
 a sixth instruction set to grow the social network through neighborhood groups, local politicians, block watch communities, issue activism groups, and neighbors who invite other known parties and members to share profiles of themselves and learn characteristics and information about other supporters and residents in a geographic area of interest through the global neighborhood environment.   
     
     
         21 . The global neighborhood environment of  claim 20  further comprising:
 a seventh instruction set to determine quantify an effect on at least one of a desirability of a location, a popularity of a location, and a market value of a location based on an algorithm that considers a number of demographic and social characteristics of a region surrounding the location through a reviews module.