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.