Fake check-in entries posted on behalf of social network users
Contents
1. Anto Add selected queued actuslchedcin tg out o own business somal naheark page usinesses Soria Network gus icutob town gm More queued actual check ins to apply E E i FIG 8 US 8 707 271 B2 1 FAKE CHECK IN ENTRIES POSTED ON BEHALF OF SOCIAL NETWORK USERS BACKGROUND The present invention relates to an approach that provides virtual location check in entries at a social network provider using both fake check in entries and caching of check in entries while the user is out of town Many social media sites allow users to post their physical location that appears in various pages on the social media site such as the user s page and the page corresponding to a business or organization at which the user checked in Users choose to check into a business for a variety of reasons These reasons include keeping the user s social media friends apprised of their whereabouts increasing the chance of meet ing friends at a particular business and supporting various business by indicating that the user has visited the business Modern computer networking such as using the Internet coupled with modern travel technologies allows users to check in at businesses in various geographic areas such as different places in a country or throughout the world BRIEF SUMMARY An approach is provided in a fake check in event is received at a software application corresponding2. yes branch whereupon at step 475 the user manually selects the fake check in entries the entities approximate US 8 707 271 B2 9 check in times and check in days of the week to use as fake check in entries On the other hand if the user did not select either a typical week or manual fake check in entries then decision 470 branches to the no branch whereupon at step 480 the social network application will use an algorithm to randomly select fake check in entries that are used based on the user s past check in history At step 485 the user s fake check in options are transmit ted to the social network application via the computer net work as options transmittal 490 At step 495 the social net work application receives the user s fake check in options and saves the options in a private area included in social network data store 305 FIG 5 is a flowchart showing steps between a user and the social media provider to notify when the user is out of town and the transmission and reception of check ins Processing commences at 500 whereupon at step 505 the user is travel ing outside of the user s geographic local area A decision is made as to whether manual or automatic fake check in ini tiation is being used decision 510 If automatic fake check in initiation is being used then decision 510 branches to the branch labeled automatic whereupon at step 515 the social network provider s application sof
3. This looping continues until there US 8 707 271 B2 13 are no more cached check in entries to process at which point decision 880 branches to the no branch and processing ends at 895 While particular embodiments of the present disclosure have been shown and described it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that based upon the teachings herein that changes and modifications may be made without departing from this disclosure and its broader aspects Therefore the appended claims are to encompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as are within the true spirit and 10 scope of this disclosure Furthermore it is to be understood that the disclosure is solely defined by the appended claims It will be understood by those with skill in the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim element is intended such intent will be explicitly recited in the claim and in the absence of such recitation no such limitation is present For non limiting example as an aid to understanding the follow ing appended claims contain usage of the introductory phrases at least one and one or more to introduce claim elements However the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim element by the indefinite articles a or an limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim element to inventions con taining only one such element even when the s
4. and or components but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features integers steps operations elements components and or groups thereof The corresponding structures materials acts and equiva lents ofall means or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended to include any structure material or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed The description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description but is not intended to be exhaus tive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention The embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the inven tion and the practical application and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art aspects of the present invention may be embodied as a system method or computer program product Accordingly aspects of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment an entirely software embodiment including firmware resident software micro code etc or an embodi US 8 707 2
5. Yaa i ses Fig 5 DOS vi Send Event to stop fake check in l sen Fig 5 U S Patent Apr 22 2014 Sheet 7 of 8 US 8 707 271 B2 Badal Network Provider Fake Cher king FIG 7 Check users fake checkein configuration setlings TOS Use rica week T5 selected het No Ye es ee Retrieve tardo miral businesses fom ses Retrieve businesses day ofosk mes from user s Helreve quer pm businesses day eom times fram use X gherkins history th take cedens typical week io pue for fole eh aski nS Fake check ins st initated 7s ina local check ins recofvmd Yas Retiews frstinaxt i VTOD hom queue HS Network Faki Checkins F Post fake check in io user s and business b add page Social Network Page i Record fake check in for future reversal at U S Patent Apr 22 2014 Sheet 8 of 8 US 8 707 271 B2 UY rat T a eS ve Social Network Provider Fake Chack4n Reversal Bod Fake Sheccins Select rstimext fake checkin that was posted to user and business pages BAG MUS mE Entry S Remove selncted feke chenkin from E y on users social network paga Social Network Pages Locali Sus Remove aefectad lake checkin from DURRESI social nelwark page Check in Cache Select frstines actusi checkin that was queued while user was aubof town peen ES
6. a software application corresponding to a user of the soft 51 Int CI ware application Fake check ins are initiated on behalf of the G06F 9 44 2006 01 user in response to the fake check in event The software 52 U S Cl application posts a set of fake check in entries on behalf of the USPC cuusadiiohbhs ditetibedint 717 126 705 5 user while the user is away The posted fake check ins are 58 Field of Classification Search visible by other users ofthe software application and are used None to obfuscate others that the user is out of town In one See application file for complete search history embodiment check in entries that are received from the user PP E x after fake check ins have been initiated are cached In this 56 References Cited embodiment a local check in event is received when the user is within the user s geographical local area and the cached U S PATENT DOCUMENTS check in entries are posted so that they are now visible by the other users of the software application 7 856 360 B2 12 2010 Krameretal 705 1 1 2003 0093553 Al 5 2003 Leet al 709 238 2005 0050352 Al 3 2005 Narayanaswami et al 713 201 28 Claims 8 Drawing Sheets U S Patent Apr 22 2014 Sheet 1 of 8 US 8 707 271 B2 information Handling System 4 Feta Bk hh d F j d us po i Sy ystem Memory N E i 1 momo x 120 132 o Processor Interface Bus Many North Bridge Memo
7. application 2 The information handling system of claim 1 wherein the fake check in event is selected from a group consisting of an out of town check in by the user an initiation request received at the social network application from the user and an elapsed period of time since a last check in event was received from the user 3 The information handling system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the processors perform additional actions com prising receiving the one or more current check in entries from the user while the user is physically outside of a geographic local area that corresponds to the user 14 4 The information handling system of claim 3 wherein at least one of the processors perform additional actions com prising receiving a local check in event at the social network appli 5 cation corresponding to the user of the social network application wherein the local check in event indicates that the user has returned to the geographic local area that corresponds to the user and in response to receiving the local check in event posting the cached current check in entries wherein the posted current check in entries are visible by the other users of the social network application 5 The information handling system of claim 4 wherein at least one of the processors perform additional actions com prising removing the set of fake check in entries in response to receiving the local check in event wherein the remov
8. entries On the other hand if the user did not opt to use a typical week of check in entries then decision 710 branches to the no branch whereupon a decision is made as to whether the user has opted to use a user selected set of fake check in entries decision 720 If the user has opted to use a user selected set of fake check in entries then decision 720 branches to the yes branch whereupon at step 725 the user 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 12 selected entity names are retrieved along with the time of day and day of week to use for the fake check in entries On the other hand if neither a typical week or a user selected list was chosen by the user then decision 720 branches to the no branch whereupon at step 730 the social network provider automatically retrieves random local entity check in entries along with the time of day and day of week from the user s history of past actual check in entries to local entities At step 740 the list of fake check in entries is queued to fake check ins queue 750 Fake check ins queue 750 includes fields for the day of the week the time of day and the entity name or identifier At step 760 the fake check ins process sleeps until the first day of the week and time of day occurs as listed in fake check in queue 750 When the first day of week and time of day occurs then a decision is made as to whether fake check in processing is still being performed
9. fake check in entries For example the user can select a typical week of actual check ins from the user s history that will be used as fake check in entries when the user is out of town Alternatively the user can manually select the fake check in entries e g entity name time of day day of week etc that the user wants to use for the user s fake check in entries If the user does not provide a typical week or select the fake check in entries then the social network provider can utilize an algorithm where appropriate entities are selected e g based on the user s past check in history etc along with appropriate days of the week and time of day when the fake check in entries will be posted A decision is made as to whether the user selected to use a typical week of check in entries from the user s history deci sion 460 If the user opted to use a typical week then deci sion 460 branches to the yes branch whereupon at step 465 the user selects a previous week of check in entries to use as fake check in entries copying the entity approximate check in time and check in day of the week On the other hand if the user did not opt to use a typical week then decision 460 branches to the no branch whereupon a decision is made as to whether the user opted to manually select the fake check in entries to use decision 470 If the user opted to manually select the fake check in entries then decision 470 branches to the
10. such that the instructions stored in the computer readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function act specified in the flowchart and or block diagram block or blocks The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer other programmable data processing appa ratus or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer other programmable appara tus or other devices to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the com puter or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions acts specified in the flowchart and or block diagram block or blocks The following detailed description will generally follow the summary of the invention as set forth above further explaining and expanding the definitions of the various aspects and embodiments of the invention as necessary To this end this detailed description first sets forth a computing environment in FIG 1 that is suitable to implement the soft ware and or hardware techniques associated with the inven tion A networked environment is illustrated in FIG 2 as an extension of the basic computing environment to emphasize that modern computing techniques can be performed across multiple discrete devices FIG 1 illustrates information handling system 100 which is a simplified example of a computer system capable of performi
11. the various information handling systems or can be internal to one ofthe information handling systems In addition remov able nonvolatile storage device 145 can be shared among two or more information handling systems using various tech niques such as connecting the removable nonvolatile storage device 145 to a USB port or other connector of the informa tion handling systems FIG 3 is a diagram showing various social media partici pants and how fake check ins are used to prevent malevolent members ofthe social media community from knowing when a particular user is out of town Social network provider 300 provides facilities such as a Web site that uses a computer network e g computer network 200 shown in FIG 2 that allows users to communicate often informally with one another Users include individual users of social network provider 300 such as user 310 that access social networking data stored by the social network provider in social network data store 305 Social network data can pertain to individual users e g friends colleagues etc as well as to entities e g businesses organizations clubs etc Mobile computing devices such as smart phones and the like can be utilized to check in to an entity such as a business or organization When a user checks into an entity a check in entry is received at the software application such as atthe social network provider s Web site When a user checks int
12. to a user of the software application Fake check ins are initiated on behalf of the user in response to the fake check in event The software application posts a set of fake check in entries on behalf of the user while the user is away The posted fake check ins are visible by other users of the software applica tion and are used to obfuscate others that the user is out of town In one embodiment check in entries that are received from the user after fake check ins have been initiated are cached In this embodiment a local check in event is received when the user is within the user s geographical local area and the cached check in entries are posted so that they are now visible by the other users of the software application Ina further embodiment the set of fake check ins that were posted while the user was away are removed when the user returns so that they are no longer visible to other users of the application Additionally the fake check ins that are posted are in one embodiment gathered from the user s prior check in history and are posted at appropriate times and days of the week in order to more fully obfuscate others that the user is out of town In one embodiment the indicator that the user is out of town is set manually by the user using a control pro vided by the application In this embodiment the second indicator indicating that the user has returned home can also beset manually In another embodiment the indicator that
13. user s last check in was received In this embodiment at step 596 the latest last check in entry received from the user is timestamped A decision is made as to whether the user s next check in request arrives before the time threshold expires decision 598 If the next check in is received from the user then decision 598 branches to next check in branch which loops back to process the latest check in as described above and resets the timestamp On the other hand if the amount of time since the last check in was received by the user exceeds the threshold then decision 598 branches to the threshold exceeded branch which triggers the fake check in event and initiates fake check in processing on behalf of the user For example the user could set the thresh old to be two days so that if a new check in entry is not received from the user in a two day period then the system will automatically initiate the fake check in processing as described herein Social network provider check in processing continues to loop back to receive further check in entries from the user and continues to process the check in entries using predefined process 596 FIG 6 is a flowchart showing the steps used at the social media provider to handle check ins received from users Check in processing commences at 600 whereupon at step 605 a check in entry request is received from the user at a physical entity location e g a gym a grocery store etc
14. 15 further comprising selecting the set of fake check in entries from a plurality of previous actual check in entries corresponding to the user wherein each of the plurality of previous actual check in entries were check ins to one or more entities that are physically within the geographic local area cor responding to the user 23 The computer program product of claim 22 further comprising identifying the set of fake check in entries from a nonvola tile storage area accessible from the social network application generating a time of day and a day of week corresponding to each of the set of fake check in entries wherein the generated time of day and day of week are based on a check in history corresponding to the user and periodically posting individual fake check in entries from the set of fake check in entries based upon the time of day and day of week that corresponds to the posted individual fake check in entries 24 The computer program product of claim 23 further comprising recording each of the periodically posted individual fake check in entries in a fake check ins data store receiving a local check in event at the social network appli cation corresponding to the user of the social network application wherein the local check in event indicates that the user has returned to the geographic local area that corresponds to the user in response to receiving the local check in event reading each of the fake check in entr
15. 5 the user notifies the social network provider that the user has returned to the user s geographic local area At step 550 the user performs check in at various entities that are within the user s geographic local area These local check ins continue until the user once again travels outside of the user s geographic local area at which point processing loops back to step 505 and the process described above is repeated Fake check in initiation processing that is performed by the social network provider commences at 560 whereupon at step 565 the social network provider either receives events from both the user and the system These events can include fake check in events that are triggered manually by the user or automatically triggered events initiated from the check in subsystem of the social network application system 300 A decision is made as to whether fake check ins manual or automatic have been initiated for the user decision 570 If fake check ins have been initiated then decision 570 branches to the yes branch whereupon at predefined pro cess 575 the social network provider s fake check in process is executed for the user see FIG 7 and corresponding text for 0 an 5 40 45 55 10 processing details On the other hand if fake check ins have not been initiated then decision 570 branches to the no branch which loops back to step 565 to get the next notifica tion from either the soc
16. 71 B2 3 ment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a circuit module or system Furthermore aspects of the present invention may take the form ofa computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable medium s having computer read able program code embodied thereon Any combination of one or more computer readable medi um s may be utilized The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer read able storage medium A computer readable storage medium may be for example but not limited to an electronic mag netic optical electromagnetic infrared or semiconductor system apparatus or device or any suitable combination of the foregoing More specific examples a non exhaustive list of the computer readable storage medium would include the following an electrical connection having one or more wires a portable computer diskette a hard disk a random access memory RAM a read only memory ROM an erasable programmable read only memory EPROM or Flash memory an optical fiber a portable compact disc read only memory CD ROM an optical storage device a magnetic storage device or any suitable combination of the foregoing In the context of this document a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution syst
17. At step 610 the user s private profile that is not accessible by other users of the social network provider is retrieved and at step 615 a business profile corresponding to the entity at which the user checked in is retrieved Using data found in the profiles the location ofthe entity is compared with the user s geographic local area at step 620 A decision is made as to whether the entity is within the user s geographic local area decision 625 If the entity is within the user s geographic local area then decision 625 branches to the yes branch whereupon an away flag is set to FALSE indicating that the user is not outside of the user s geographic local area On the other hand if the entity is outside of the user s geographic US 8 707 271 B2 11 local area then decision 625 branches to the no branch whereupon the away flag is set to TRUE indicating that the user is outside of the user s geographic local area A decision is made as to whether fake check ins have been initiated indicating that the user is out of town decision 640 If fake check ins have been initiated then decision 640 branches to the yes branch whereupon a decision is made as to whether the user has requested to automatically sense when the user is within or outside of the user s geographic local area AND if the away flag is FALSE decision 645 If both conditions are true the user has requested automatic sensing of the user
18. H i H i i H P EEEE EEEIEE PORORONSNIECUI RON Mobile telephone S p i ud P P I rm i Nonvolatile i i Dal Ste ink tation i Handi gi System MN e AAMAsiejo nt E Mainframe Computer je Date Store etes Nonsalatile Gata Store teg harddrive database att US 8 707 271 B2 Sheet 3 of 8 U S Patent Apr 22 2014 Sodai Network Audience frat views Local Business profile Soda Network Audience slowed Song Nowak Puglieree that views Quiet Toen Business profile xg Social Nelwork Dota Mm Ris Fake check ns prevent malevolent members of ork sudienne v Social Network Provider 308 Sacal Network i from inowing when User v Boubofigwn 0X f Chedin amp maar BE Checkine i i Loca Outol Pasa Business Organizati Business Organization with respect fo User FIG 3 U S Patent Apr 22 2014 Sheet 4 of 8 US 8 707 271 B2 User l P Social Network Provider gt ano Fake Check in Registration ef fagister for fake chuck ls service pravidac by social network site and provides user s inca ama h iag Raleigh area ek a Receive user fake check in registration request 425 Receive and display fake chackin options dialog from provider Save registeation MEDRE Hake check in options dalog and ritum io user User selects manual or automati
19. United States Patent US008707271B2 12 10 Patent No US 8 707 271 B2 Bingell et al 45 Date of Patent Apr 22 2014 54 FAKE CHECK IN ENTRIES POSTED ON 2009 0047972 Al 2 2009 Neeraj n se 455 456 1 2010 0024042 AI 1 2010 Motahari et al 726 26 BEHALF OE SOCIALNETWOBE USERS 2010 0077484 Al 3 2010 Paretti et al 726 26 75 Inventors Nicholas Dayl Bingell Raleigh NC PEIUS SIOA S w OI Kramer etal dunt LR US Erich Paul Hoppe Raleigh NC OTHER PUBLICATIONS US Andrew Ivory Wake Forest NC US David Michael Stecher Durham Li et al Sharing Location in Online Social Networks 2010 NC US Li et al Analysis of a location based social Network 2009 He et al Location Cheating A Security Challenge to Location 73 Assignee International Business Machines based Social Network Services Feb 21 2011 1 Corporation Armonk NY US Scellato et al Distance Matters Geo social Metrics for Online Social Networks 2010 Notice Subject to any disclaimer the term of this cited b patent is extended or adjusted under 35 STOC SY eee U S C 154 b by 404 days Primary Examiner Phillip H Nguyen 21 Appl No 13 112 150 74 Attorney Agent or Firm VanLeeuwen amp VanLeeuwen Jeffrey S LaBaw 22 Filed May 20 2011 65 Prior Publication Data 57 ABSTRACT US 2012 0297368 A1 Nov 22 2012 An approach is provided in a fake check in event is received at
20. ame claim includes the introductory phrases one or more or at least one and indefinite articles such as a or an the same holds true for the use in the claims of definite articles The invention claimed is 1 An information handling system comprising one or more processors a memory coupled to at least one of the processors a nonvolatile storage device accessible by at least one ofthe processors a network interface that connects the information handling system to a network a set of computer program instructions stored in the memory and executed by at least one ofthe processors in order to perform actions of receiving a fake check in event at a social network appli cation the fake check in event corresponding to a user of the social network application and initiating fake check ins on behalfofthe user in responseto receiving the fake check in event wherein initiating the fake check ins further comprises receiving one or more current check in entries from the user the current check in entries corresponding to one or more current locations of the user in response to the receiving caching the current check inentries wherein the cached current check in entries are not visible by other users of the social network application and posting by the social network application a set of fake check in entries on behalf of the user wherein the posted fake check in entries are visible by other users of the social network
21. c fake checkin initiation User sakris time threshold for auto fake checkin event User selects fake check in aptians user picks fypival week lo use qudd fnr fake checking Network Dota ger selected fake check ins User sudects to use aigon Use typical week age YES User selected User selncts 4 Yes jpneious week of checking to use User selects System uses picis algorithm in select ood es 1 fake che ekine i 3 ABO Receive user fake checkin options and save Options 4806 M U S Patent Apr 22 2014 Sheet 5 of 8 US 8 707 271 B2 Social Nekeak Provider flake check in inde SED User traveling o romale beai pudo of focal ae ordoss nol cheek in for extended pend Receive menue user f Uc ications and automated events from system MA Fake check ins initiated S manually ar automatically Manual or automatic fake check in inflation j SU Manual Automatic User notes socii network provider that uer i QUY SYSTEM Fake Check ing ies Figure 7 ET un atamaii senses focal ama P Fake check ins stopped amp manually or autimaticallyt snb Fake Checking Reverse i Sex Fium amp x mes Figure 8 iisar Peder iG users bim E ical ana on BSG Secial Network Provider icheok is
22. ed set of fake check in entries are no longer visible to the other users of the social network application 6 The information handling system of claim 1 wherein the fake check in entries are used to obfuscate the other users of the social network application as to an out of town status of the user while the user is physically outside ofthe geographic local area that corresponds to the user 7 The information handling system of claim 1 wherein the set of fake check ins are each flagged as fake check in entries by the social network application and wherein the flags ofthe fake check ins are not visible by the other users of the social network application 8 The information handling system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the processors perform additional actions com prising selecting the set of fake check in entries from a plurality of previous actual check in entries corresponding to the user wherein each of the plurality of previous actual check in entries were check ins to one or more entities that are physically within the geographic local area cor responding to the user 9 The information handling system of claim 8 wherein at least one of the processors perform additional actions com prising identifying the set of fake check in entries from a nonvola tile storage area accessible from the social network application generating a time of day anda day of week corresponding to each of the set of fake check in entries wher
23. ein the generated time of day and day of week are based on a check in history corresponding to the user and periodically posting individual fake check in entries from the set of fake check in entries based upon the time of day and day of week that corresponds to the posted individual fake check in entries 10 The information handling system of claim 9 wherein at least one of the processors perform additional actions com prising recording each of the periodically posted individual fake check in entries in a fake check ins data store receiving a local check in event at the social network appli cation corresponding to the user of the social network application wherein the local check in event indicates that the user has returned to the geographic local area that corresponds to the user in response to receiving the local check in event reading each of the fake check in entries from the fake check ins data store 20 40 45 50 60 65 US 8 707 271 B2 15 matching each of the read fake check in entries with fake check in entries previously posted to one or more social network pages and removing each of the matched fake check in entries from the social network pages 11 The information handling system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the processors perform additional actions com prising receiving a first manual selection at the social network application from the user wherein the first manual selec tio
24. em apparatus or device A computer readable signal medium may include a propa gated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein for example in baseband or as part of a carrier wave Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms including but not limited to electro mag netic optical or any suitable combination thereof A com puter readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate propagate or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system apparatus or device Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium including but not limited to wireless wireline optical fiber cable RF etc or any suitable combination of the foregoing Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present invention may be written in any com bination of one or more programming languages including an object oriented programming language such as Java Smalltalk C or the like and conventional procedural pro gramming languages such as the C programming language or similar programming languages The program code may execute entirely on the user s computer partly on the user s computer as a stand alone software package partly on the user s computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer
25. eriod of time elapses e g a day etc since the user s last check in entry then the system will automatically initiate fake check ins to obfuscate the fact that the user is indisposed e g at the hospital etc and is not at home Audience 350 are associated directly with user 310 such as by being linked to the user through an online friendship or linking process that verifies that the user wishes to allow members of audience 350 with access to user 310 s social network data By utilizing network facilities such as the Internet users can check in at entities in various geographic locations throughout the world In this manner entities can be physi cally within a geographic local area that corresponds to a particular user e g user 310 and can also be physically outside of the geographic local area that corresponds to the user For example if the user s geographic local area e g home is in Raleigh N C then entities in geographic prox imity Raleigh would be deemed within the user s geographic local area When a user checks in at a Raleigh area entity such as a gym located in Raleigh then a check in entry is posted on the user s social network page as well as the local entities social network page e g local entity 320 This check in entry is visible by other users that are members of audience 350 e g friends of user 310 as well by other users that are members of audience 360 e g customers employ ees supporte
26. for the user decision 765 If fake check in processing is still being per formed the user has not returned home yet then decision 765 branches to the yes branch whereupon at step 770 the entry corresponding to the day of week and time of day is retrieved from fake check ins queue 750 At step 775 the retrieved fake check in entry is posted to the user s social network page 690 as well as to the entity s social network page 695 At step 780 the fake check in is recorded in fake check in data store 785 where fake check in data store 785 is an internal data store that is inaccessible from users of the social network provider Processing then loops back to step 760 whereupon processing sleeps until the next day of week and time of day in the fake check ins queue is reached When the next day of week and time of day is reached the process ing as described above is performed Fake check in entries continue to be posted until fake check in processing is termi nated at which point decision 765 branches to the no branch and fake check in processing ends at 795 FIG 8 is a flowchart showing the steps taken at the social media provider to reverse the effects of fake check ins when the user is no longer out of town The social network provid er s fake check in reversal process commences at 800 where upon at step 810 the first recorded fake check in that was recorded in fake check ins data store 785 is selected At step 820 t
27. he selected fake check in is removed deleted from the user s social network page 690 and at step 830 the selected fake check in is removed deleted from the entity s social network page 695 A decision is made as to whether there are more fake check in entries stored in fake check ins data store 785 that need to be reversed decision 840 If there are more fake check in entries to reverse then decision 840 branches to the yes branch whereupon processing loops back to select and process the next fake check in entry from fake check ins data store 785 This looping continues until there are no more fake check in entries that need to be reversed at which point decision 840 branches to the no branch for further reversal processing At step 850 the first check in to an out of town entity that was cached in user s check in cache 680 is selected At step 860 the selected entry is posted to the user s social network page 690 At step 870 the selected entry is also posted to the entity s social network page 695 A decision is made as to whether there are more cached check in entries that need to be processed decision 880 If there are more cached check in entries to process then decision 880 branches to the yes branch which loops back to select the next check in entry that was cached in user s check in cache 680 and the selected entry is posted to the user s and the entity s social network pages as described above
28. ial network provider system 300 or from the user After fake check ins have been initiated and predefined process 575 has been executed a decision is made as to whether fake check ins have been terminated either manu ally or automatically for the user decision 580 If fake check in processing has not been terminated e g the user is still out of town etc then decision 580 branches to the yes branch which loops back to continue fake check in process ing using predefined process 575 This looping continues until fake check ins have been terminated at which point decision 580 branches to the yes branch whereupon at predefined process 585 fake check in reversal processing is executed see FIG 8 and corresponding text for processing details After fake check in reversal process 585 has been performed processing loops back to step 565 to receive the next manual or automatic notification The social network provider s high level check in process is shown commencing at 590 whereupon at step 592 the social network provider receives check in entries from the user at various entities both within and outside of the user s geographic local area Predefined process 594 handles the various check in entries see FIG 6 and corresponding text for processing details In one embodiment the system can initiate an automatic fake check in event when a given time period e g atime threshold set by the user etc elapses after the
29. ies from the fake check ins data store 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 18 matching each ofthe read fake check in entries with fake check in entries previously posted to one or more social network pages and removing each of the matched fake check in entries from the social network pages 25 The computer program product of claim 15 further comprising receiving a first manual selection at the social network application from the user wherein the first manual selec tion is the fake check in event in response to the reception of the first manual selection setting a flag indicating that the user is physically out side ofa geographic local area corresponding to the user while the flag is set receiving the one or more current check in entries from the user and caching the received current check in entries in a cache area receiving a second manual selection at the social network application from the user wherein the second manual selection is a local check in event that indicates that the user has returned to the user s geographic local area and clearing the flag in responseto receiving the second manual selection 26 The computer program product of claim 15 further comprising receiving a check in request from the user wherein the check in request corresponds to an entity determining that the entity is physically located outside of a geographic local area that corresponds to the user and triggeri
30. ile the user was out of town are removed from both the user s social network page as well as from the local area entity pages e g from the Raleigh area gym etc FIG 4 is a flowchart showing registration steps used by a user to set up fake check ins at a social media provider User processing commences at 400 whereupon at step 405 the 0 a 5 20 30 40 45 50 55 65 8 user registers with the social network Web site software application for a fake check in service that is offered by the social network provider In addition the user provides a geo graphic local area e g town name zip or postal code GPS coordinates etc that correspond to the user Registration request 410 is transmitted via a computer network suchas the Internet after which it is received by the social network provider Social network provider s processing commences at 420 whereupon at step 425 the social network provider receives the fake check in request that was prepared and sent by the user At step 430 the fake check in registration is saved in social network data store 305 in a private area such as a user profile area that is not accessible by other users of the social network provider In addition fake check in options as offered by the social network provider are prepared and transmitted back to the user as Web page 435 At step 440 the user receives and displays the fake check in options dialog e g a Web
31. ision is made as to whether fake check ins are cur rently being used for the user decision 670 If fake check ins are currently being used for the user then decision 670 branches to the yes branch whereupon at step 675 the actual check in to the out of town entity is queued to user s check in cache 680 instead of posting the check in to either the user s social network page or to the entity s social net work page On the other hand if fake check ins are not currently being used for the user then decision 670 branches to the no branch whereupon at step 685 the actual check in entries are posted to both the user s social network page 690 as well as to the entity s social network page 695 FIG 7 is a flowchart showing the steps used at the social media provider to perform fake check ins on behalf of a user that is out of town The social network provider s fake check in processing commences at 700 whereupon at step 705 the social network provider retrieves the user s fake check in configuration settings A decision is made as to whether the user has opted to use a typical week of actual check in entries as fake check in entries decision 710 If a typical week is being used then decision 710 branches to the yes branch whereupon at step 715 the entities businesses organiza tions etc from the user s selected week are retrieved along with the time of day and day of week to use for the fake check in
32. mation handling system causes the information handling system to perform actions comprising receiving a fake check in event at a social network appli cation the fake check in event corresponding to a user of the social network application and initiating fake check ins on behalf of the user in response to receiving the fake check in event wherein initiating the fake check ins further comprises receiving one or more current check in entries from the user the current check in entries corresponding to one or more current locations of the user in response to the receiving caching the current check in entries wherein the cached current check in entries are not visible by other users of the social network application and posting by the social network application a set of fake check in entries on behalf of the user wherein the posted fake check in entries are visible by other users of the social network application 16 The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the fake check in event is selected from a group consisting of an out of town check in by the user an initiation request received at the social network application from the user and an elapsed period of time since a last check in event was received from the user US 8 707 271 B2 17 17 The computer program product of claim 15 further comprising receiving the one or more current check in entries from the user while the user is physically outside of a geog
33. n is the fake check in event in response to the reception of the first manual selection setting a flag indicating that the user is physically out side ofa geographic local area corresponding to the user while the flag is set receiving the one or more current check in entries from the user and caching the received current check in entries in a cache area receiving a second manual selection at the social network application from the user wherein the second manual selection is a local check in event that indicates that the user has returned to the user s geographic local area and clearing the flag in response to receiving the second manual selection 12 The information handling system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the processors perform additional actions com prising receiving a check in request from the user wherein the check in request corresponds to an entity determining that the entity is physically located outside of a geographic local area that corresponds to the user and triggering the fake check in event in response to the deter mination 13 The information handling system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the processors perform additional actions com prising receiving a check in request from the user wherein the check in request corresponds to an entity recording a timestamp corresponding to the received check in request determining that an amount of time has elapsed since the timestamp was rec
34. net worked environment FIG 3 is a diagram showing various social media partici pants and how fake check ins are used to prevent malevolent members ofthe social media community from knowing when a particular user is out of town FIG 4 is a flowchart showing registration steps used by a user to set up fake check ins at a social media provider FIG 5 is a flowchart showing steps between a user and the social media provider to notify when the user is out of town and the transmission and reception of check ins FIG 6 is a flowchart showing the steps used at the social media provider to handle check ins received from users FIG 7 is a flowchart showing the steps used at the social media provider to perform fake check ins on behalf of a user that is out of town and FIG 8 is a flowchart showing the steps taken at the social media provider to reverse the effects of fake check ins when the user is no longer out of town DETAILED DESCRIPTION The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describ ing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention As used herein the singular forms a an and the are intended to include the plural forms as well unless the context clearly indicates otherwise It will be further understood that the terms comprises and or com prising when used in this specification specify the presence of stated features integers steps operations elements
35. ng the computing operations described herein Infor mation handling system 100 includes one or more processors 110 coupled to processor interface bus 112 Processor inter face bus 112 connects processors 110 to Northbridge 115 which is also known as the Memory Controller Hub MCH Northbridge 115 connects to system memory 120 and pro vides a means for processor s 110 to access the system memory Graphics controller 125 also connects to North bridge 115 In one embodiment PCI Express bus 118 con nects Northbridge 115 to graphics controller 125 Graphics controller 125 connects to display device 130 such as a computer monitor Northbridge 115 and Southbridge 135 connect to each other using bus 119 In one embodiment the bus is a Direct Media Interface DMI bus that transfers data at high speeds in each direction between Northbridge 115 and Southbridge 135 In another embodiment a Peripheral Component Inter connect PCI bus connects the Northbridge and the South bridge Southbridge 135 also known as the I O Controller Hub ICH is a chip that generally implements capabilities that operate at slower speeds than the capabilities provided by the Northbridge Southbridge 135 typically provides various busses used to connect various components These busses include for example PCI and PCI Express busses an ISA bus a System Management Bus SMBus or SMB and or a Low Pin Count LPC bus The LPC bus often connects low bandwidth devices
36. ng the fake check in event in response to the deter mination 27 The computer program product of claim 15 further comprising receiving a check in request from the user wherein the check in request corresponds to an entity recording a timestamp corresponding to the received check in request determining that an amount of time has elapsed since the timestamp was recorded wherein the amount of time exceeds a threshold and triggering the fake check in event in response to the deter mination 28 The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the computer program product further comprises receiving at the social network application a first current check in entry from the user currently checking into an entity at a physical location retrieving at the social network application a private pro file corresponding to the user wherein the private profile is inaccessible from the other users ofthe social network application retrieving from the private profile a geographic local area corresponding to the user retrieving a geographic identity of the entity s physical location comparing the user s geographic local area with the enti ty s geographic identity determining based on the comparison whether the entity s geographic identity is within the user s geographic local area in response to the determination being that the entity s geographic identity is outside of the user s geographic local area triggering the fake check in even
37. o an entity the software application posts the check in on the user s social network page and also at the entities social network page However as explained herein a fake check in event such as a check in at an entity outside of the user s geographic local area causes the user s check in entries to be cached rather than immediately posted to the user s social network page and the entity s social network page When the user returns to their local area or otherwise triggers a local check in event the cached entries are posted to the user s social network page as well as to the entity s social network page While the user is away fake check in entries are posted by the social network software application with these fake US 8 707 271 B2 7 check in entries being visible to other users of the social network provider These fake check in entries are posted while the user is out of town in order to obfuscate other users of social network provider 300 from knowing that the user is away from home and thus vulnerable to having the user s home and or property burglarized and or stolen while the user is away Other users may be members of one or more differ ent social network audiences In another embodiment a fake check in event is received when a certain time period elapses after the user s last check in event For example if the user checks into a business entity such as a gym but is injured and taken to a hospital so that an extended p
38. or server In the latter scenario the remote computer may be connected to the user s computer through any type of network including a local area network LAN ora wide area network WAN or the connection may be made to an external computer for example through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider Aspects of the present invention are described below with reference to flowchart illustrations and or block diagrams of methods apparatus systems and computer program prod ucts according to embodiments of the invention It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and or block diagrams and combinations of blocks in the flow chart illustrations and or block diagrams can be imple mented by computer program instructions These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer special purpose computer or other a 5 20 40 45 55 60 65 4 programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine such that the instructions which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data pro cessing apparatus create means for implementing the func tions acts specified in the flowchart and or block diagram block or blocks These computer program instructions may also be stored in acomputer readable medium that can direct a computer other programmable data processing apparatus or other devices to function in a particular manner
39. orded wherein the amount of time exceeds a threshold and triggering the fake check in event in response to the deter mination 14 The information handling system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the processors perform additional actions com prising receiving at the social network application a first current check in entry from the user currently checking into an entity at a physical location retrieving at the social network application a private pro file corresponding to the user wherein the private profile is inaccessible from the other users of the social network application retrieving from the private profile a geographic local area corresponding to the user retrieving a geographic identity of the entity s physical location comparing the user s geographic local area with the enti ty s geographic identity determining based on the comparison whether the entity s geographic identity is within the user s geographic local area 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 65 16 in response to the determination being that the entity s geographic identity is outside of the user s geographic local area triggering the fake check in event setting an internal flag that indicates that the user is outside of the user s geographic local area while the internal flag is set caching the first current check in entry and one or more subsequent current check in entries in a cache so that the cu
40. page etc that was transmitted from the social network provider At step 445 the user selects whether manual or automatic fake check in initiation is pre ferred by the user Manual fake check in is a process whereby the user informs the social network provider when the user is traveling outside of the user s geographic local area so that fake check in processing will be initiated for the user by the social network provider Automatic fake check in is a process whereby the social network provider analyzes the user s check in entries and automatically initiates the fake check in processing when the social network provider senses that the user is outside of the user s geographic local area e g when a check in entry is received from the user at an entity that is outside the user s geographic local area etc At step 448 the user selects a time threshold to use to initiate an automatic fake check in event For example if the user selects two days in step 448 then if a check in entry is not received from the user within two days the system automatically triggers a fake check in event so that fake check ins are posted on behalf of the user to obfuscate the fact that the user is indis posed or otherwise away and unable to perform check in entries e g at the hospital without network access etc At step 450 the user optionally selects a preferred fake check in option that is used by the social network provider in selecting the
41. rage device 145 is shown as a USB connected device removable nonvolatile storage device 145 could be connected using a different interface such as a Firewire interface etcetera Wireless Local Area Network LAN device 175 connects to Southbridge 135 via the PCI or PCI Express bus 172 LAN device 175 typically implements one of the IEEE 802 11 standards of over the air modulation techniques that all use the same protocol to wireless communicate between infor mation handling system 100 and another computer system or device Optical storage device 190 connects to Southbridge 135 using Serial ATA SATA bus 188 Serial ATA adapters and devices communicate over a high speed serial link The Serial ATA bus also connects Southbridge 135 to other forms of storage devices such as hard disk drives Audio circuitry 160 such as a sound card connects to Southbridge 135 via bus 158 Audio circuitry 160 also provides functionality such as audio line in and optical digital audio in port 162 optical digital output and headphone jack 164 internal speakers 166 and internal microphone 168 Ethernet controller 170 con nects to Southbridge 135 using a bus such as the PCI or PCI Express bus Ethernet controller 170 connects information handling system 100 to a computer network such as a Local Area Network LAN the Internet and other public and private computer networks While FIG 1 shows one information handling system an information handling system ma
42. raphic local area that corresponds to the user 18 The computer program product of claim 17 further comprising receiving a local check in event at the social network appli cation corresponding to the user of the social network application wherein the local check in event indicates that the user has returned to the geographic local area that corresponds to the user and in response to receiving the local check in event posting the cached current check in entries wherein the posted current check in entries are visible by the other users of the social network application 19 The computer program product of claim 18 further comprising removing the set of fake check in entries in response to receiving the local check in event wherein the removed set of fake check in entries are no longer visible to the other users of the social network application 20 The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the fake check in entries are used to obfuscate the other users of the social network application as to an out of town status of the user while the user is physically outside of geographic local area that corresponds to the user 21 The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the set of fake check ins are each flagged as fake check in entries by the social network application and wherein the flags of the fake check ins are not visible by the other users of the social network application 22 The computer program product of claim
43. rrent check in entries are not visible to the other users of the social network application and identifying the set of fake check in entries from a non volatile storage area accessible from the social net work application in response to the determination being that the entity s geographic identity is within the user s geographic local area checking the internal flag in response to the internal flag being set to indicate that the user is outside of the user s geographic local area sending a local check in event to the social network application clearing the internal flag to indicate that the user is no longer outside the user s geographic local area retrieving the cached current check in entries from the cache posting the retrieved cached current check in entries wherein the posted current check in entries are vis ible by the other users of the social network appli cation and posting the first current check in entry wherein the posted current check in entry is visible by the other users of the social network application and in response to the internal flag being set to indicate that the user is within the user s geographic local area posting the first current check in entry wherein the posted first current check in entry is visible by the other users of the social network application 15 A computer program product stored in a computer readable storage medium comprising computer program code that when executed by an infor
44. rs etc of the Raleigh area gym When user 310 travels out of town away from the Raleigh area then the actual check in entries received from the user are cached rather than posted and fake check in entries are posted to obfuscate the fact that the user is out of town For example if the user travels to Austin Tex and checks in at an Austin area gym then social network provider 300 would receive the check in entry corresponding to the Austin area gym Instead of posting the check in entry at the user s social network page and the out of town social network page e g social network page 330 the system caches the received check in entry and waits until the user has returned home to Raleigh before posting the check in entries In addition malevolent users of the social network provider may other wise realize that the user is not checking into local Raleigh areaentities where the usertypically frequents Fake check in entries are posted at local entities e g the Raleigh area gym etc so that it appears as though the user is still in the Raleigh area When the user returns from the trip and is back in the Raleigh area the cached check in entries are posted to the user s social network page as well as to the out of town entities pages e g the Austin area gym etc where the user actually checked in while on the trip to Austin In addition in one embodiment once the user returns home the fake check in entries that were posted wh
45. rst current check in entry wherein the posted current check in entry is visible by the other users of the social network application NE E EE REC 20 25 30 20
46. ry Contmller 1i d Cras aphios Peo T Conor j 128 i AAA EN ttt AMAA ARR AMA AA AR ARMAR AR AR AR AR aa Memory eb PA e PPP REP PPP PAR P PAPA ew vui N Nw a NN UNI att ANSEHEN IE HENTAI ARAS ASIN SARANNO TIS cet LIBE Soran Device p 145 i i i i i i H i H i i USB tot i 5 H i i i i i H i H EE EY VIG mee Du Bus ttti US Eel B Devin Devices d e Keyboard and Trackned pe puer v EX Qe YRS E TL XY YIR Reie Ya To A80 p Bletoth v i ExpressCard d m gum Boat Wireless Hm o j uia insin EN and oplics glist Lp jio in port HE interfere sever ever ew ew ew NN Ug ero ve Ad Audis e iui iy M wr Ma i de eed acra t eve m Mid D H i Mu TS SOI n i zi 2 d iieri dia jack di s i Disk Controller NS 1 Serial ATA bus s v 188 PAEA DEORE R OREO AAAA PU Esorass Diane D rd PPP PAPE PAP PE DEDEDE ERE DE DEERE DEEPER ERED OREM E amp ewe nS HI HT gr VV ITI VT ae Des ies i 198 _ OO S 182 U S Patent Apr 22 2014 Sheet 2 of 8 US 8 707 271 B2 Storage Beves 148 ie gs USB drive he SEC Personal Computer Ps 6j 220 N i Ns f Camputer Network O e LAN WLAN the Intemel i o PSTN Wiass Hand held t mpulen New 1 i
47. s such as mainframe computer 270 Examples of handheld computer 210 include personal digital assistants PDAs personal entertainment devices such as MP3 players portable televi sions and compact disc players Other examples of informa tion handling systems include pen or tablet computer 220 laptop or notebook computer 230 workstation 240 personal computer system 250 and server 260 Other types of infor mation handling systems that are not individually shown in FIG 2 are represented by information handling system 280 As shown the various information handling systems can be networked together using computer network 200 Types of computer network that can be used to interconnect the various information handling systems include Local Area Networks LANs Wireless Local Area Networks WLANs the Inter net the Public Switched Telephone Network PSTN other wireless networks and any other network topology that can be used to interconnect the information handling systems Many of the information handling systems include nonvola tile data stores such as hard drives and or nonvolatile memory Some ofthe information handling systems shown in FIG 2 depicts separate nonvolatile data stores server 260 utilizes nonvolatile data store 265 mainframe computer 270 utilizes nonvolatile data store 275 and information handling system 280 utilizes nonvolatile data store 285 The nonvola tile data store can be a component that is external to
48. s in town out of town status and the and the check in performed by the user is to a local entity then decision 645 branches to the yes branch whereupon at step 650 an event is sent to the social network provider see FIG 5 step 565 to stop or terminate fake check in processing On the other hand if either the user has requested manual initiation of fake check in processing OR the user is still outside of the user s geographic local area then decision 645 branches to the no branch bypassing step 650 Returning to decision 640 if fake check in processing has not been initiated then decision 640 branches to the no branch whereupon a decision is made as to whether the user has requested to automatically sense when the user is within or outside of the user s geographic local area AND if the away flag is TRUE decision 660 If both conditions are true the user has requested automatic sensing of the user s in town out of town status and the check in performed by the user is to an out of town entity then decision 660 branches to the yes branch whereupon at step 665 an event is sent to the social network provider see FIG 5 step 565 to start or initiate fake check in processing On the other hand if either the user has requested manual initiation of fake check in processing OR the user is within of the user s geographic local area then decision 660 branches to the no branch bypassing step 665 A dec
49. such as boot ROM 196 and legacy I O devices using a super I O chip The legacy I O devices 198 can include for example serial and parallel ports keyboard mouse and or a floppy disk controller The LPC bus also connects Southbridge 135 to Trusted Platform US 8 707 271 B2 5 Module TPM 195 Other components often included in Southbridge 135 include a Direct Memory Access DMA controller a Programmable Interrupt Controller PIC and a storage device controller which connects Southbridge 135 to nonvolatile storage device 185 such as a hard disk drive using bus 184 ExpressCard 155 is a slot that connects hot pluggable devices to the information handling system ExpressCard 155 supports both PCI Express and USB connectivity as it con nects to Southbridge 135 using both the Universal Serial Bus USB the PCI Express bus Southbridge 135 includes USB Controller 140 that provides USB connectivity to devices that connect to the USB These devices include webcam camera 150 infrared IR receiver 148 keyboard and trackpad 144 and Bluetooth device 146 which provides for wireless per sonal area networks PANs USB Controller 140 also pro vides USB connectivity to other miscellaneous USB con nected devices 142 such as a mouse removable nonvolatile storage device 145 modems network cards ISDN connec tors fax printers USB hubs and many other types of USB connected devices While removable nonvolatile sto
50. t high level 596 Manuel or automate fake check in initiation Ed Manual flninnineites i Receive check in from user Adani User notifies social ritu provider that user has retuned to Handie Check in See Figure Bi BGS Ee io Sud nebokpovder suomstiaibysunses what Laser hae paved bocas pe Timestamp last ardry P E us User perform chicck4ne af ae k dd e y Chack lcaliona within users Mex checkin or me md Fi G 5 mune lt threshold eae Pad U S Patent Apr 22 2014 Sheet 6 of 8 US 8 707 271 B2 Soska Network Provider Check in Handler eu Receive check request user at a location 08 Sea Fake to user s and Ratieve users private profile dhoack ins initiated S No busi iness social Retrieve profe of businessiarg Yos ihatis aublect of checkin Queue actual checkin t GubcHown bogiar without posting to Compare ication of husinessaang io users ost amo User s Sock Rog nine queror business socie naivak page Nahe ra Busines asi EARN user s oodd aren O28 Set pes yu TRUE 85 Fake check ins initiated user is ODERT AM Automaticady sensa Yos when us infout of town ANC way v TRUET EO Adbomatically sense F G 6 Chen user invout ol town AN l l Away FALSE b 45 ee No EF M No ard Event Io abri fake chenkins
51. t setting an internal flag that indicates that the user is outside of the user s geographic local area US 8 707 271 B2 19 while the internal flag is set caching the first current check in entry and one or more subsequent current check in entries in a cache so that the current check in entries are not visible to the other users of the social network application and identifying the set of fake check in entries from a non volatile storage area accessible from the social net work application in response to the determination being that the entity s geographic identity is within the user s geographic local area checking the internal flag in response to the internal flag being set to indicate that the user is outside of the user s geographic local area sending a local check in event to the social network application clearing the internal flag to indicate that the user is no longer outside the user s geographic local area retrieving the cached current check in entries from the cache posting the retrieved cached current check in entries wherein the posted current check in entries are vis ible by the other users of the social network appli cation and posting the first current check in entry wherein the posted current check in entry is visible by the other users of the social network application and in response to the internal flag being set to indicate that the user is within the user s geographic local area posting the fi
52. the user is out of town is set by receiving a check in entry from the user at an entity such as a business or organization that is outside of the user s geographic local area In this embodi ment the second indicator that indicates that the user has returned home can be set by the user checking into an entity that is within the user s geographic local area The foregoing is a summary and thus contains by neces sity simplifications generalizations and omissions of detail consequently those skilled in the art will appreciate that the summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting Other aspects inventive features and advan tages of the present invention as defined solely by the claims will become apparent in the non limiting detailed description set forth below 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 2 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention may be better understood and its numerous objects features and advantages made apparent to those skilled in the art by referencing the accompanying drawings wherein FIG 1 is a block diagram of a data processing system in which the methods described herein can be implemented FIG 2 provides an extension of the information handling system environment shown in FIG 1 to illustrate that the methods described herein can be performed on a wide variety of information handling systems which operate in a
53. tware automatically senses when the user is outside of the user s geographic local area e g when a check in entry is received from the user at an entity that is outside of the user s geographic local area etc On the other hand if manual fake check in initiation is being used then decision 510 branches to the branch labeled manual whereupon at step 520 the user notifies the social network provider that the user is traveling outside of the user s geographic local area At step 525 the user performs check in actions at entities that are outside the user s geographic local area These check in actions result in check in entries being transmitted to the social network provider At some point indicated by step 530 the user returns home to the user s geographic local area A decision is made as to whether manual or automatic fake check in initiation is being used decision 535 If automatic fake check in initiation is being used then decision 535 branches to the branch labeled automatic whereupon at step 540 the social network provider s application software automatically senses when the user has returned to the user s geographic local area e g when a check in entry is received from the user at an entity that is within the user s geographic local area etc On the other hand if manual fake check in initiation is being used then decision 535 branches to the branch labeled manual whereupon at step 54
54. y take many forms For example an information handling system may take the form ofa desktop server portable laptop notebook or other form factor computer or data processing system In addition an information handling system may take other form factors such as a personal digital assistant PDA a gaming device ATM machine a portable telephone device a communication device or other devices that include a processor and memory The Trusted Platform Module TPM 195 shown in FIG 1 and described herein to provide security functions is but one example of a hardware security module HSM Therefore the TPM described and claimed herein includes any type of HSM including but not limited to hardware security devices that conform to the Trusted Computing Groups TCG stan dard and entitled Trusted Platform Module TPM Specifi cation Version 1 2 The TPM is a hardware security sub system that may be incorporated into any number of information handling systems such as those outlined in FIG 2 FIG 2 provides an extension of the information handling system environment shown in FIG 1 to illustrate that the a 0 a 5 20 40 45 55 65 6 methods described herein can be performed on a wide variety of information handling systems that operate in a networked environment Types of information handling systems range from small handheld devices such as handheld computer mobile telephone 210 to large mainframe system
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