July 18, 1997

New Jersey communities of Wildwood, North Wildwood and Wildwood Crest agree to let NFL begin its 1997 season on Aug 30 with two-day beach party (S) (New Jersey Daily Briefing)

Mourners who lost loved ones in explosion of TWA Flight 800 year ago gather at St Patrick's Cathedral, Manhattan, for memorial Mass to honor victims; when Mass ends, mourners get on buses and are driven to Long Island for another memorial service, at edge of Smith Point Park, near spot in ocean where plane went down; black monument stands on beach, with names of dead passengers and crew members etched into it; photos (M)

Air Conditioning has become topic of debate for many couples as first prolonged heat wave of summer continues; people who share living space do not always share ideas about what temperature of that space should be; issue of air conditioning can determine how people spend their days, where they sleep at night, and whether they will still be speaking to each other in morning; photo of Cheryl Jones and Greg Mitchell in their Upper Montclair, NJ, home (M)

Internet data traffic is thrown into chaos at 2:30 AM on July 17 when computer operator at Network Solutions Inc, Herndon, Va, company that maintains equivalent of master telephone directory for cyberspace, ignores automated alarms signaling problems with computer that updates Internet address information; mistake causes computer to send corrupted data to 10 other computers around US and abroad that handle Internet's global network address directories; Network Solutions executives say they corrected problem by 6:30 AM, but by that time, countless thousands or even millions of E-mail messages had been returned as undeliverable, while untold numbers of users had been unable to make contact with various World Wide Web sites; Internet industry executives say it is most extensive network breakdown yet; network problem is compounded by severing of fiber-optic cable route by backhoe operator on East Coast that disables 500 high-speed data and voice lines belonging to AT&T and other telecommunications companies (M)

READING SCORES RISE -- Results of state tests showed the greatest gain in eight years in the reading scores of third-grade students in New York City's troubled schools. B3. BUDGET PRAISE -- A board gave an unusually positive grade to Mayor Giuliani's budget, saying its outlook is the brightest in years. B3. GOING CONDO -- A rare conversion from a co-op to condominium is the next planned step for a 197-unit cooperative on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Metro Business, B5.