
Luck Conspires With Houstonian - X-Files (TM) page on Internet gets
award
(Novenber 11th, 1995 - Business Page)
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By DWIGHT SILVERMAN
Houston Chronicle
Stephen
R. Banks never intended for his World Wide Web page honoring the
cult TV show The X Files to go public, much less become an on-line
hit. He also never expected to win what amounts to the Internet's
version of an Oscar - the "Best of the Net" award given
annually by Global Network
Navigator.
Banks was one of 21 winners of the award in various categories
announced during ceremonies Nov. 3 in San Francisco. He learned
on-line that he'd won. "I didn't go to the awards," he said.
"My wife is
pregnant, and l didn't want to leave. But they had the awards
simulcast on the 'Net, so I just sat down that Friday night and
pulled up the GNN page, and they had the announcement."
Since he won the award for best amateur site in the Arts &
Entertainment category, the number of people visiting his page has
almost doubled to about 10,000 per day.It's an accidental
success.
"I never really meant to publish it," said Banks, the technical
director for OneStop Desktop /
PrintNet, a Houston based desktop publishing company. "I had
gotten some new software for making Web pages and I wanted to test
out some new features. I just left it on the server, and people found
it. Suddenly, I was getting thousands of hits a day." He added that
he's not even that big a fan of The X-Files, the Fox TV Network's
dark and paranoid drama about FBI agents who take on paranormal
cases. "I had the TV on and was watching The X Files as I worked," he
said. "I just inadvertently built an X-Files page."
The World Wide Web is part of the Internet, a global inter-commection
of computer networks. The Web allows for the use of text, graphics,
sound and even video in on-lme documents. This multimedia aspect has
attracted both big companies with something to sell and everyday
people who have something to say. It also is the fastest-growing part
of the Internet, with more than 100,000 sites available for
viewing
This is the second year that GNN, one of the first sites on
the World Wide Web aimed at consumers, has picked a "Best of the
Net." There were 10 categories, with amateur and professional
nominees named separately for each. The categories were Arts &
Entertainment Computers, Food & Wine, Interactive Sites, Internet
Navigation, K 12 Education, Literature, Personal Finance, Sports and
Travel. GNN's editors picked both the nominees and winners in each
category, according to GNN spokesman Eloy Ontiveros They based their
decision on several factors, including content, design and
reputation.
Banks' site at
http://www.neosoft.com/sbanks/xfiles/xfiles.html
includes video and audio clips from the show, an episode guide and
the ubiquitous FAQ, or Frequently Asked Questions," document.
Visitors who use version 1.1 or later of Netscape Communications
Corp.'s World Wide Web browser can see a grainy version of the show's
opening sequence in a window on one page. There's even an automated
feedback area where those who visit the site can leave comments that
can be seen by anyone else.
"On the automated feedback site, I've had over 2,000 messages left "
Banks said. "Personally to myself I've received a couple thousand."
Banks' page is not sanctioned by either Fox TV or the production
company that creates The X Files, even though Fox has its own,
official X-Files page at
http://www.delphi.com/entrtnmt/x
files/. Banks said Fox knows about the page and has not objected
to his use of their images. "You don't want to be the big corporation
that is shutting people down," said John Roberts, Fox's director
of interactive entertainment. "If a fan wants to pay homage to a
show, you want to let them do that."
The X-Files TM and © 1996 Twentieth
Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.