October 7, 1996

Bernard King, only two weeks after being nominated for seat on New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, declines post (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

Microsoft Corp and its computer-industry allies lobby Federal Communications Commission, seeking to block or modify planned technical standards for advanced digital television broadcasting, the next generation of television; equipment makers and broadcasters worked for eight years to develop new standard, but Microsoft and allies argue that it could hinder computer industry's future use of broadcast spectrum; computer coalition has proposed video system technology now used by computer industry, which is not wholly compatible with current broadcasting systems; proposal also abandons superior high-definition picture quality that was original goal of advanced television; FCC urges compromise (M)

Israelis and Palestinians begin urgent negotiations agreed on at recent Washington summit to salvage peace efforts; central focus will be to reach agreement on turning over control of most of Hebron to Palestinians, which has evolved into litmus test of Prime Min Benjamin Netanyahu's intentions toward Palestinian peace; presence of Sec of State Warren Christopher and aides at talks, as well as Christopher's meetings with Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat, underscore US determination to press for quick and tangible results; map (M)

Second article in six-part series, Barely Four Walls, on laregly unsuccessful efforts of New York City's housing agency to address problems at troubled buildings in poor neighborhoods; even housing officials admit their oversight has been ineffectual, and agency's critics believe system has so disintegrated that it utterly fails in basic mission to insure that landlords provide tenants with housing that is safe and fit for human habitation; breakdown in city's regulation of housing conditions has come when oversight is most needed; little new housing for poor is being developed, and tens of thousands of New Yorkers have already been forced by deepening poverty into dwindling supply of inexpensive rentals into apartments that are cramped, squalid, illegal or even dangerous; many housing officials seem to have little faith in regulatory bureaucracy they run and regard problems as result of inadequate resources and authority, but critics say there is also broad incompetence and bureaucratic fatalism that keeps alive system that often makes little sense; chart; photo (L)

G.M. Dispute in Canada Hinges on Issue of Control The dispute between General Motors and the Canadian Automobile Workers union is a struggle over who really runs the company, which is making it difficult to resolve a four-day-old strike. After decades of seeking higher wages or better benefits, the Canadian union seeks a labor contract that will restrict many management prerogatives, like the ability to sell factories and shift production to low-wage, outside companies. G.M. Canada's top labor negotiator said that it could not accept limits on corporate decision-making. But the union's president said that anything less would be inadequate, even if a long strike resulted. $(Page A14.$) A Cross-Border Magazine War In charging excise taxes of 80 percent on Canadian editions of American magazines, authorities in Ottawa say they are only protecting Canada's national identity and supporting its own magazine industry. The United States contends that the real goal is to stifle competition. After years of no resolution, the United States has taken its grievance to the World Trade Organization. $(D9.$) Revising an Evergreen The redesign at Time Warner's Sunset magazine -- a new cover logo, new typeface for text, bolder use of photos and graphics -- stands out in an industry in which redesigns are routine. For decades, the monthly hewed to postage-stamp-sized photographs and practical articles about food, travel, home improvement and gardening. $(D9.$) Preaching to the Converted on Line Evangelists are using the Internet to convert lapsed Christians and newcomers, with smaller, computer-savvy churches drawing a more active response than sites of huge operations like the Christian Broadcasting Network. $(D5.$) Frail European Computer Makers When Olivetti put its personal computer unit on the block last week, it joined a long line of European companies that had left the business. Unlike rivals in the United States and the Far East, the Europeans held on to costly retail stores too long and failed to speed products to market. $(D2.$) Software to Speed Up Downloads Marimba, an Internet startup, introduces software today for distributing data over the Internet, called Castanet, that tries to cut the delays in retrieving software and graphics that can make the experience of using the World Wide Web a frustrating one. $(D5.$) What's Cool on Line? Members of the emerging World Wide Web design industry wore their synthetic finery last Thursday to toast the best in their field at the Cool Site of the Year Awards in Manhattan. Taking In the Sites. $(D8.$) A Visionary's Latest Mission In the 1950's and 1960's, Douglas Engelbart invented many seminal products and concepts taken for granted in the computer industry today -- the mouse, hypertext, groupware and many others. Now he is assembling a group of ''thought leaders'' from industry, government and universities to help change the use of information technologies, because how people work together is as critical as the technologies that connect them. Denise Caruso: Digital Commerce. $(D5.$)