24 Hours in Cyberspace Unveils Permanent Web Site at www.cyber24.com

50 of the best stories, five new stories every week

San Francisco, Calif. (April 3, 1996) -- On April 3, 24 Hours in Cyberspace unveils its permanent website, filled with stories about how online technology is changing people's lives. Each of these stories was created on February 8th, 1996, in an unprecedented one-day event that brought together the world's top photographers, editors, programmers and interactive designers to create the first "digital time capsule" of online life. The website features 50 of the most compelling stories culled from 200,000 photographs taken on February 8th, and presents an emotional and compelling portrait of the people whose lives have been dramatically affected by the online revolution.

Since February 8th a team of editors has been working around the clock crafting stories from the thousands of images and emails that poured in from around the world that day. Rick Smolan, director of 24 Hours in Cyberspace, points out, "what people saw on February 8th was simply the tip of the iceberg; the photographs and text posted that day were dependent on what the photographers were able to transmit to us. However, when we lift the curtain on April 3, millions of people around the world will see something truly extraordinary."

In addition to the professional journalists scattered around the globe on February 8th, thousands of students and amateurs also participated in what became the largest online event to date. The site received more than 4 million hits during the 24-hour project, and more than 40,000 people from 80 countries signed their names on the "walls of the digital cave." At the project's peak, more than 300 people a minute signed the project's Guest Book.

"This was real-time photojournalism on a global scale. Fifty-three companies combined their technologies for the very first time, to do something that had never been done before, and it actually worked!" commented Tom Melcher, 24 Hours in Cyberspace Chief Operating Officer and technology coordinator "The most astounding thing was that this technology allowed a group of 80 editors who had never met, and who had almost no experience working on the Web, to turn out beautifully crafted web pages approximately every 30 minutes throughout the day."

International media, including ABC-TV's "Nightline," NPR's "Talk of the Nation," and over 600 newspapers and magazines worldwide covered the project, generating a tremendous amount of attention. The stories focused on the action at the project's "Mission Control" headquarters in San Francisco as stories and pictures flowed in from remote locations including Estonia, Albania, Tanzania, Cairo and Kuala Lumpur. "The February 8th shoot day exceeded any of our wildest dreams in terms of energy, enthusiasm, global recognition and, most importantly, terrific pictures and stories," commented Rick Smolan.

Stories featured on the April 3 website include: students in South Africa's Nelson Mandela township who use donated PC's to communicate with the outside world; Americans seeking to adopt Russian orphans online; a father who publishes Will's Page, an electronic journal of his four-year-old son's battle with leukemia; priests digitizing the Vatican Library; and exiled Tibetans who rely on the Internet to preserve their culture and to enlist others to fight for their cause. Several of the stories contain "Real-Audio" clips produced in association with National Public Radio, whose correspondents accompanied many of the 24 Hours in Cyberspace photographers on their assignments.

In addition to the 50 stories which will be unveiled on April 3, the winners of the project's juried contest and Guest Book random drawing will also be announced. Five new stories will be added to the website every Monday morning for the rest of the year.

America Online will also publish highlights of the best stories for their 5 million+ subscribers. (AOL Keyword: Cyber24)

A 24 Hours in Cyberspace book and CD-ROM will be released in the fall of 1996. Its publication will coincide with an October cover story on the project in US News & World Report.

24 Hours in Cyberspace is made possible through support from Eastman Kodak Company, Sun Microsystems, Inc., and Adobe Systems, Inc.

They were joined by other leading companies including America Online, Netscape Communications, MFS Communications, Illustra Information Technologies, Power Computing, NEC Technologies, NetObjects, and the Internet 1996 World Exposition.

Other sponsors include the San Francisco Hilton and Towers, Sonic Solutions, Teralinx by Cyberports, the Software Construction Company, InternetMCI, Polaroid Corporation, BBN Planet, Pathfinder, Best Power, US Robotics, Cisco Systems, Bay Networks, Farallon Computing, The Digital Pond, United Media, The Associated Press, Toppan Printing Company, Ken Hansen Imaging, ZZYZX Visual Systems, Boston Photo Lab, the Seattle Times, Advanced Laser Graphics, Artemis Research, Telos Systems, Telex, Arent Fox Kintner Plotkin and Kahn, Dow Lohnes & Albertson, Nikon Camera, Progressive Networks, Newer Technology, Applied Graphics Technology, CE Software, NOW Software, Graham Technology Solutions, Odwalla, Power Foods, Photo District News, Wildfire Communications, Herman Miller, Proxima, Dallas Semiconductor, Spider Island Software, SanDisk, Joe Boxer, FWB, and Adaptive Solutions.

24 Hours in Cyberspace is a member of the Sausalito-based Against All Odds Productions family of companies, founded by photojournalist Rick Smolan and Day in the Life project director, Jennifer Erwitt. Smolan created the acclaimed Day in the Life book series, including A Day in the Life of America, the best-selling photographic book in American history. Most recently, Against All Odds produced the award-winning CD-ROM's From Alice to Ocean and Passage to Vietnam. Against All Odds was recently named "one of America's 25 coolest technology companies" by Fortune magazine.