April 29, 1996

He is a "content provider" now, dressed in Microsoft Corporation camouflage of plaid shirt and hiking shoes. The Michael Kinsley who was the leftward half of "Crossfire" on CNN and the mischievous editor of The New Republic seems to have been left to the archives of the East Coast. From the second floor of Building 25, a spotless, skylit affair not unlike Buildings 1 through 24 on the Microsoft campus here, Mr. Kinsley is preparing to start an on-line magazine of opinion, politics and the arts. It will be called Slate -- as in "blank," he is quick to point out. It is one of the most eagerly awaited projects to hop on the World Wide Web, at least in journalistic and political circles.

The man from Albany has been pulling rank recently on two guys from New York City, a Brooklyn Criminal Court judge and the Bronx District Attorney. The issues are legal and political, but the stakes go beyond the rewards of victory in a court or an election. In pressing relentlessly for the removal of Judge Lorin Duckman and in removing Robert T. Johnson from the prosecution of a potential death penalty case, Gov. George E. Pataki is seeking, whether by accident or design, to change the relationship between the executive and the judiciary, between the state capital and local governments.

Two companies plan to introduce technologies on Monday that demonstrate how rapidly the Internet is evolving and transforming the uses of traditional broadcasting and telecommunications services. Jfax Communications Inc., a New York-based start-up company, plans to introduce a service that allows Internet users to receive fax and voice-mail messages at their electronic mail address anywhere in the world.

Light-emitting diodes play a ubiquitous if humble role in today's electronic world. They are the little dots of red or pale green light that indicate that the disk drive is spinning, the VCR is recording or a particular line of a multiline phone is in use. Now, thanks to Shuji Nakamura, the tiny light-emitting chips are set for a vast expansion in usefulness.

For two years, Alice Artzt, the classical guitarist, was happy to have Naah Allotey as a live-in nurse for her 85-year-old mother, Harriet, who was bedridden after breaking her neck. Then the family discovered that Ms. Allotey had bilked the elderly woman out of $54,000 in car and credit card payments, run up about $4,000 in overseas phone calls and filled a rented storage locker with appliances, furniture and clothing, much of it illicitly charged, Lieut. Charles Davall, a police spokesman, said last week. When confronted in February, the nurse signed papers admitting guilt and promising repayment, Lieutenant Davall said. A week later, she disappeared and an arrest warrant was issued in March. The Artzts said that they were trying to sell as much of the locker's contents as possible before they had to pay another $165 in monthly storage fees.