Tunable information presentation appliance using an extensible markup language

A method of tuning an information presentation appliance comprising:

• receiving a device description page written in a markup language;
• parsing the device description page to identify available categories of information;
• presenting the available categories of information to a user;
• receiving user input specifying selected categories of information;
• and
• invoking a deliver function referenced by a service description page to receive an element of information belonging to the selected categories of information.

An information presentation appliance comprising:

• a user input device;
• a processing unit for performing steps comprising:
• creating a device description page written in a markup language and containing categories of information specified by a user through the user input device;
• a memory storage for performing steps comprising:
• storing the device description page;
• and
• a network connection for performing steps comprising:
• transmitting the device description page.

An information presentation appliance comprising:

• a network connection for performing steps comprising:
• receiving a device description page written in a markup language;
• a user input device for performing steps comprising:
• receiving user input specifying selected categories of information;
• and
• a processing unit for performing steps comprising:
• parsing the device description page to identify available categories of information;
• and
• invoking a deliver function referenced by a service description page to receive an element of information belonging to the selected categories of information.

A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for tuning an information presentation appliance, the computer-executable instructions performing steps comprising:

• receiving user input specifying categories of information to be presented;
• creating a device description page using a markup language;
• storing the categories of information in the device description page;
• and
• transmitting the device description page with the categories of information through a network.

A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for tuning an information presentation appliance, the computer-executable instructions performing steps comprising:

• receiving a device description page written in a markup language;
• parsing the device description page to identify available categories of information;
• presenting the available categories of information to a user;
• receiving user input specifying selected categories of information;
• and
• invoking a deliver function referenced by a service description page to receive an element of information belonging to the selected categories of information.