Managing storage systems that are synchronously replicating a dataset, including: detecting a change in membership to the set of storage systems synchronously replicating the dataset; and applying one or more membership protocols to determine a new set of storage systems to synchronously replicate the dataset, wherein the one or more membership protocols include a quorum protocol, an external management protocol, or a racing protocol, and wherein one or more I/O operations directed to the dataset are applied to a new set of storage systems.

In various implementations, a productivity application allows selected content from an electronic document to be shared with and edited by multiple users through instances of a collaboration component. The collaboration component includes a distributed data structure that stores state information about the shared content. The component also includes application logic for managing the state information to reflect user edits and other such changes. This allows the selected content to be shared with the users in any application that supports the collaboration component and without the entirety of the document having to be shared. A user can experience the content in the context of applications other than the productivity application that hosts the document.

In various implementations, a productivity application allows selected content from an electronic document to be shared with and edited by multiple users through instances of a collaboration component. The collaboration component includes a distributed data structure that stores state information about the shared content. The component also includes application logic for managing the state information to reflect user edits and other such changes. This allows the selected content to be shared with the users in any application that supports the collaboration component and without the entirety of the document having to be shared. A user can experience the content in the context of applications other than the productivity application that hosts the document.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, an interaction system for a first vehicle is provided, which comprises a processor and a memory storing processor-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the latter to implement steps comprising: receiving a first input from the first vehicle and displaying a first avatar on a display; and receiving a second input from a second vehicle and displaying a second avatar on the display, wherein the first input and the second input are updated in real time, and the first avatar and the second avatar dynamically change accordingly.

A method, system and apparatus for applying and synchronizing filter information with a multimedia presentation, such as a movie provided in a video-on-demand context, to suppress objectionable content. In one example, filter information, which includes an indicia of a portion of the multimedia presentation including objectionable content and a type of suppression action, is provided on either a set-top-box or a video-on-demand server. A user selects a particular video-on-demand presentation, and the selection is transmitted to the set-top-box. Additionally, whether in a video-on-demand, DVD, or other environment it may be necessary to synchronize filter with the multimedia content so that the proper objectionable content is suppressed.

A method, system and apparatus for applying and synchronizing filter information with a multimedia presentation, such as a movie provided in a video-on-demand context, to suppress objectionable content. In one example, filter information, which includes an indicia of a portion of the multimedia presentation including objectionable content and a type of suppression action, is provided on either a set-top-box or a video-on-demand server. A user selects a particular video-on-demand presentation, and the selection is transmitted to the set-top-box. Additionally, whether in a video-on-demand, DVD, or other environment it may be necessary to synchronize filter with the multimedia content so that the proper objectionable content is suppressed.

A specialized network (“merchant”) node to facilitate fast distribution of blockchain transactions over a network of interconnected nodes, as subset of which are merchant nodes interconnected by an overlay network. The merchant node includes a memory storing an assigned portion of a distributed mempool structured as a distributed hash table, the distributed mempool containing pending transactions awaiting confirmation. The merchant node operates by receiving a transaction, including a transaction identifier; hashing the new transaction identifier to obtain a key; determining, using the key, whether the transaction is stored in the distributed mempool or not and, if not, then storing the transaction in the distributed mempool as a pending transaction; and sending the transaction to a set of nodes other than merchant nodes using peer-to-peer connections. The invention may be used in conjunction with the Bitcoin blockchain or an alternative.

A specialized network (“merchant”) node to facilitate fast distribution of blockchain transactions over a network of interconnected nodes, as subset of which are merchant nodes interconnected by an overlay network. The merchant node includes a memory storing an assigned portion of a distributed mempool structured as a distributed hash table, the distributed mempool containing pending transactions awaiting confirmation. The merchant node operates by receiving a transaction, including a transaction identifier; hashing the new transaction identifier to obtain a key; determining, using the key, whether the transaction is stored in the distributed mempool or not and, if not, then storing the transaction in the distributed mempool as a pending transaction; and sending the transaction to a set of nodes other than merchant nodes using peer-to-peer connections. The invention may be used in conjunction with the Bitcoin blockchain or an alternative.

Throughput is preserved in a distributed system while maintaining concurrency by pushing a commit wait period to client commit paths and to future readers. As opposed to servers performing commit waits, the servers assign timestamps, which are used to ensure that causality is preserved. When a server executes a transaction that writes data to a distributed database, the server acquires a user-level lock, and assigns the transaction a timestamp equal to a current time plus an interval corresponding to bounds of uncertainty of clocks in the distributed system. After assigning the timestamp, the server releases the user-level lock. Any client devices, before performing a read of the written data, must wait until the assigned timestamp is in the past.

Disclosed are mechanisms for sharing content through content consumption systems. A sharing module publishes content in a share and metadata associated therewith to a content consumption system external to a managed repository. The share represents a folder or directory in the managed repository. The publication can be made through application programming interface (API) calls handled by a first sharing module API, a repository API, a second sharing module API, and a content consumption system API. These APIs together provide a one-to-one mapping of communications protocols used by the managed repository and the external system. The share in the managed repository and the share published to the content consumption system are synced and any conflict between the two is detected and resolved. The shared content can be repatriated back to the managed repository and the shared version deleted from the content consumption system.