IFMX Press Release:
Informix-Powered Sporting News Online Wins Prestigious
Magazine Award
Informix Technology Completely Automates Production of High-Traffic
Sports Enthusiast Web Magazine, Enabling Up-to-the-Minute,
Award-Winning Editorial Design and Content
MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 28, 1998-- Informix Corporation (NASDAQ:IFMX -
news), the leading provider of innovative database technology, today revealed that Sporting News
Online, a comprehensive Internet sports site and the winner of the 1998 National Magazine Award
for General Excellence in New Media, uses Informix(R) technology as the backbone of a
high-speed, rich media web publishing system that completely automates the web publishing process.
The Informix system enables the fast-growing Internet publication's editorial and design teams to
focus their efforts on crafting incisive, visually appealing and, most of all, continually updated
editorial content.
''From its up-to-the-minute sports scores to provocative and entertaining columns and clever use of
the online medium, The Sporting News Online creates a tough-to-beat package,'' says the official
press release from the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME), sponsor of the highly
coveted Awards.
The release also cites the ''ease of navigation, splashy graphics, and ability to break the large
sporting world down into digestible bites. One of the judges commented that ''It's such a good
site, it makes a fan of the sports novice.''
''Sports news is a highly competitive business and time to market is paramount,'' said Jason Kint,
executive producer at Times Mirror Interzines. ''In order for us to focus our finite resources on
producing timely, visually appealing content it's critical that our editorial and design teams be
completely relieved of the tedious and time-consuming effort of manually constructing image-rich
web pages.
''By empowering our staff to apply their creative, rather than technical, talents to interactive
publishing, Informix technology has enabled us to quickly build a reputation as a major force in
sports news, attracting the praise of the ASME and significant advertising revenues from blue-chip
companies.''
''The Sporting News Online and Informix have teamed together to create a top-notch, high-traffic
site that captures the excitement of the fast-changing world of sports,'' said John Bartlett,
director of Web Product Marketing at Informix. ''We are delighted to see The Sporting News
Online recognized as a leader in their industry and look forward to assisting them in meeting
future technology challenges.''
A Rich Media Web Publishing Database
The Informix system provides the editorial team with instant access to a vast library of images,
audio clips and text, and relieves them of all the complex tasks involved in storing and locating
images and preparing them for publishing on various web sites where The Sporting News editorial
content is syndicated.
The Sporting News Online uses Informix Dynamic Server(tm) with three options that extend the
functionality of the powerful database server to encompass both rich media and web publishing.
Informix Universal Data Option(tm) and the Visual Information Retrieval DataBlade(R) Module
from Virage, Inc. enable The Sporting News Online news team to store images of teams and players
within the database, to index these by a variety of categories and to quickly search for and locate
images using a standard web browser.
Informix Web Integration Option(tm) provides the web site with the ability to publish web pages
directly from the database, automatically formatted for The Sporting News Online itself, as well
as for the magazine's various partners, including the Los Angeles Times, America Online and Yahoo!
The publishing system, which runs on a Silicon Graphics ORIGIN 200 server, was designed from
the ground up to be image-rich, easy to update and maintain, and capable of handling future
content requirements.
''Informix technology offers us the ability to quickly implement a fast, rich media database that
surpasses our requirements for speed and reliability today, and will grow with us as we take
advantage of technologies on the horizon such as digital video streaming,'' said Mike Dubester,
president of Times Mirror Interzines.
''We were extremely impressed with the responsiveness of the Informix technical team; they
ensured we got the site up quickly and efficiently.''
Last March, the system underwent a major test of its responsiveness during the NCAA tournament.
''Because of the power and speed of the Informix system, we were able to quickly analyze and
profile the selection pool that was being seeded during Selection Sunday,'' recalled Kint.
''In under one minute, we were able to assemble web pages on our site -- with the latest news and
analysis of the teams we were tracking, plus one of the largest office pools on the Internet -- one
hour ahead of our competitors. In the news business, minutes and seconds translate into a crucial
metric: eyeballs.''
About Informix Dynamic Server with Universal Data Option
Informix Dynamic Server speeds query and administration tasks, maintains optimal performance
regardless of computing environment, and enables the development of database applications that
take full advantage of all available hardware resources.
With flexible configuration options, Informix Dynamic Server supports all data types, provides
maximum performance and scalability for decision support, supports data warehouse applications
running in high-end parallel environments and allows the creation of intelligent web applications.
The Universal Data Option uses DataBlade technology to extend the traditional relational database
functionality of Informix Dynamic Server to incorporate new data types such as photos and maps,
and new industry-specific business logic such as package routing rules or complex currency
exposure analysis.
This option also allows customers to take advantage of new server functions and indexing methods
for web and content management.
About The Sporting News and The Sporting News Online
The Sporting News is based in St. Louis, and has been published continually since 1886. It is the
only weekly magazine to cover baseball, college and pro football, college and pro basketball and
hockey, 52 weeks per year.
The Sporting News is published by Times Mirror Magazines, one of the nation's leading publisher
of special interest, leisure-oriented magazines and web sites. The Sporting News Online web site
was launched in January 1997 at sportingnews.com.
About Informix
Informix Corporation, the world's database technology leader, based in Menlo Park, provides
innovative database products that assist the world's major corporations to attain competitive
advantage. Informix is widely recognized as the technology leader for corporate computing
environments ranging from small workgroups to very large parallel processing applications.
Informix's database servers, application development tools, superior customer service, and strong
partnerships enable the company to be at the forefront of major information technology solution
areas including data warehousing, online transaction processing (OLTP), and web/content
management. For more information, visit our web site at informix.com.
Note to Editors: (c)1998 Informix Corporation. All rights reserved. The following are trademarks
of Informix Corporation or its affiliates: Informix(R), Informix Dynamic Server(tm), Universal
Data Option(tm), Web Integration Option(tm) and DataBlade(R).
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