September 9, 1996

New Jersey agricultural officials predict that gypsy moths will defoliate less than 20,000 acres of forest in New Jersey next spring (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

Sixth article in series on new or transformed jobs that have grown up in computer industry focuses on life of a computer programmer; Brendan Eich, programmer at Netscape Communications, describes grueling days during home stretch of product development, working 100-hour weeks and grabbing naps whenever possible; programmer's craft is blend of scientific precision and creative inspiration; artists of the profession have ability to create conceptual game plan for new products, think up helpful features and devise code-writing shortcuts so that programs are smaller and run faster; there are 550,000 computer programmers in America; they range from hourly workers doing mundane upkeep on old programs to entrepreneurial code hackers like Eich, writing new Internet software; photos; charts (L)

New York City Landmarks Conservancy names six persons as living New York City landmarks; people honored are Brooke Astor, philanthropist, Al Hirschfeld, illustrator, Liz Smith, columnist, Dr Mathilde Krim, founder of American Foundation for Aids Research, Felix G Rohatyn, former chairman of Municipal Assistance Corp, and Peter Duchin, band leader; photo (M)

Vanity Fair stages comeback two years after E Graydon Carter succeeded Tina Brown as editor; circulation and advertising are up this year, after dipping immediately following Brown's departure; Carter disputes those media executives who say magazine has recently not had as many memorable articles as it once had and has become far more gossipy; photos; graphs (M)

Dallas Cowboys defeat New York Giants, 27-0; photo (M)