Method, system, apparatus, and computer-readable medium for interactive notification of events

A computer readable medium containing instructions, the instructions operative to cause a processor of a client computer to:

• transmit a request for notification in response to the occurrence of the event, to a server computer using a web browser application residing at the client computer and in communication with the server computer;
• receive, in response to the occurrence of the event, the notification from the server computer, wherein the notification comprises a description of the event, at least one hyperlink to additional data regarding the event, wherein the hyperlink is operative to provide the additional data in response to being selected by a user of the client computer, and data for customizing a visual indication regarding the notification, wherein the visual indication comprises a user name and a user identifier;
• open a user interface window to thereby display the notification to the user using a notification client application residing at the client computer and in communication with the server computer, the notification comprising a description of the event;
• receive a selection of the at least one hyperlink from the user;
• and
• in response to the selection, create an appointment with a calendaring server computer in communication with the client computer;
• and
• based on the selection, place an order for purchasing a product with a billing server computer, using the web browser application program.

A system for providing a notification that an event has occurred to a user of a client computer, the system comprising:

• a client computer comprising an output device, a memory, a central processing unit, and a storage device containing computer-readable instructions for execution on the central processing unit, the computer-readable instructions operative to cause the client computer to transmit a request for a notification in response to the occurrence of the event to each of a plurality of server computers using a web browser application program residing in the storage device of the client computer, to receive from each of the server computers a request to provide a notification that the event has occurred to the client computer, the request to provide the notification comprising a description of the event corresponding to each of the server computers, at least one hyperlink to additional data regarding the event, data for allowing the user to customize a visual indication that the event has occurred, the visual indication comprising a user name and a user identifier, and to open a new user interface window for each request to thereby display each notification to the user using a client notification application program residing in the storage device of the client computer, each notification comprising a description of the event, wherein the event is a user-specified event;
• the plurality of server computers, each comprising a memory, a central processing unit, and a storage device containing computer-readable instructions for execution on the central processing unit of each of the server computers, the computer-readable instructions operative to cause each of the server computers to send the request to provide a notification to the client computer, to determine whether the event has occurred, to identify a network address for the client computer based on the user identifier in response to determining that the event has occurred, wherein the network address is an Internet protocol address, and to transmit the request to the client computer at the network address to provide a notification that the event has occurred, wherein the client computer is further operative to, based on a selection of the hyperlink, place an order with a billing server computer.