A methodology through which a host site may automatically insert relevant links into a set of text. In this methodology, the contents of the text are compared against a database containing character strings, and the character strings from the database contained in the text are identified. Each of the character strings in the database has an associated link that connects to other webpages on the same website or other websites. For each character string of the database found in the contents of the text, the associated link is inserted into the text. In this way, only relevant links are inserted into the text.

A method of sorting large quantities of data is implemented on a computer based system. The method comprises defining a plurality of sort statements, determining the relevance of each of the sort statements to each data file in the database, defining a site on a display for each of the sort statements, representing the data files as elements on the display, and causing the elements to move from an initial position towards the sites according to the relevance of the respective sort parameters to the respective data files and the position of the sites relative to the respective elements.

In one embodiment, a method for generating personalized information includes receiving age data related to the age of a first person, receiving a request for information from a user, and automatically identifying relevant event data in a database based on the age data. The relevant data includes information about a second, famous person different from the first person and wherein the second, famous person was involved with an associated event. The relevant data is associated with an age of the second, famous person when the second, famous person was involved with the associated event. The age of the second, famous person is with respect to a granularity of less than a year. The method further includes automatically providing the relevant data to the user.

A user interface method and system for positioning graphical objects in the display area of a free form system. A selected object may operate in a first state where it can be moved to different positions within the display area. The selected object may further operate in a second state where movement of the selected object causes other graphical objects within its path of movement to also move. The state of the selected object is indicated by a visually distinct presentation of the graphical object, for example when in the first state the graphical object is shown to have shadow to provide the visual clue that it is "above" the other graphical objects in the display area. A user may dynamically switch between states based on signals provided to the system.

Reference material in a digital graphics album is specified. Annotation data is extracted from the reference material and may be processed by a natural language processor to produce search keywords. In addition to the keywords, user directives may be provided, both of which are used to conduct a search for related graphical materials. The search is conducted by querying a graphical material database through a network connection. The search results are received and the user can select from the resultant materials for inclusion in the digital graphics album. If no satisfactory material is found, the user can specify a reference graphical image that is processed to produce search criteria that are image content descriptors. The database is again queried in accordance with these descriptors to provide search results for possible inclusion.