New York Mets defeat Pittsburgh Pirates, 9-2; photo (M)

Valentine Cringes as Rogers Winces His Way to Strong Start

Sony Walkman celebrates its 20th anniversary; in 1979, when it was introduced, it heralded age of personal electronics; it is close to staple now; more than 186 million have been sold; model that cost $200 20 years ago can now be found for $20, and available everywhere; basic shape of first model has evolved into many models and styles of Walkmans; Walkman's solitary, enveloping quality became its defining feature; its 'personal sound' was forerunner of personal computers and personal digital assistants; photos (M)

Humming Off Key For Two Decades

The Senate will probably vote next week on the long-delayed nomination of Richard C. Holbrooke as chief  delegate to the United Nations, a top Democrat said. Republicans have blocked the vote until the Administration addresses demands that have little to do with Mr. Holbrooke.  Article, page A5.  

Vote Near on U.N. Job

Interview with Joseph, Sophie and Ralph Fiennes, who comment on their successful efforts to publish Blood Ties, sixth and most ambitious novel of late mother Jini Fiennes; novel was completed in 1989 but was rejected by numerous publishers; photos (M)

The Famous Fiennes and Their Mother's 'Blood Ties'

Compaq Computer Corp to cut up to 8,000 jobs, 12 percent of its work force, and take third-quarter charge of $700 million to $900 million as result of cost-cutting reorganization; posts second-quarter loss of $184 million, compared with operating profit of $32 million and net loss of $3.63 billion in 1998 period (M)

Compaq Plans To Cut Staff By Up to 12%

John Tierney The Big City column discusses reasons why New York City Deputy Mayor Rudy Washington has vowed to stop local business groups from expanding their efforts to spruce up neighborhoods; Washington discusses his reasons for rejecting every budget increase request from local business groups (M)

The Big City; Clean Up City? Not Unless It's City Hall Way

Article on success of environmental efforts to rid Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn of pollution; return of fish and marine life to waterway noted; photo (M)

Stench Is Out, Fish Are In; Gowanus Canal Comes Back to Life After Rescue

State of the Art column describes Macintosh-related products on display at recent Macworld trade show in New York; notes that Apple Computer Inc has sold nearly two million colorful iMac computers in last 11 months, and company filled last gaping hole in its product line with introduction of its low-cost portable iMac computer called iBook (M)

More Gadgets For Macs

Arrival of faster Internet connections could increase traffic in illegal film copies; until now, pirated copies of films have been harder to make than pirated music files; because of their large size, they are harder to download from Internet; MPEG, digital file format for compressing and playing video and audio, makes it possible to swap video files, including illegally copied versions of current films; digitized files can then be played on computer with MPEG-player software like Quicktime or Windows Media Player and 'burned' on recordable disk called VCD, which can be played on DVD player; diagrams; photo (M)

On-Line Piracy Turns From Music to Movies

Article on antiques shopping in suburbs around New York City, where quality can be found at surprisingly competitive prices; photos (M)

Attic Gold A Commute Away

Fights over family estates are ripping many middle-class clans apart, even as economists predict largest intergenerational transfer of wealth in history, approximately $12 trillion, will take place between mid-1990's until about 2020; drawing; photo (M)

And the Meek Shall Inherit Nothing

More than 20 companies from Europe, Caribbean, Africa and US will perform at National Black Theater Festival, August 2-5, in Winston-Salem, NC; performers include Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Vanessa Bell Calloway and Debbie Allen; photo; Brooklyn Academy of Music, Rose Cinemas and Museum of Television and Radio plan simultaneous film and television retrospectives of Noel Coward as part of observances of 100th anniversary of his birth; other planned events noted; photo; Cooper Union will stage exhibit, December 2-February 5, about German Army's participation in World War II genocide that has prompted debate and demonstrations in Austria and Germany; leading candidates for 1999 MTV Music Awards are announced at Lincoln Center; include Korn, Ricky Martin and Will Smith (M)

Footlights

Neil Strauss reviews concert by Bob Dylan and Paul Simon, at Madison Square Garden; photos (M)

The Sound Of Simon And Dylan

Allan Kozinn reviews performance by Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra under conductor Gerard Schwarz in opening concert of summer series at Avery Fisher Hall; photo (M)

A Touch Of Glamour (And Mozart) For Openers

New York Stock Exchange and its chief executive, Richard A Grasso, search for survival stategy in face of competition from electronic communications networks, other challenges; photo (M)

THE MARKETS -- Big Board at Brink of Unknown; Questions Abound as Exchange Ponders Going Public

Market Place column on response by National Association of Securities Dealers and it chairman, Frank G Zarb, to challenges facing Nasdaq stock market; he has been busy with mergers and alliances along with planning for 24-hour trading and taking the market public to meet increased competition from well-capitalized private communications networks; is slowed by NASD's hefty infrastructure; Zarb argues NASD is setting pace, not being overtaken by events; graphs comparing New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq; photo (M)

THE MARKETS: Market Place -- Nasdaq's Busy Year; The Market Steers Several Ways at Once

 Paul Allen's Cable Company Plans Initial Public Offering  Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft who has built a cable media empire called Charter Communications, plans to sell shares in the company.    Charter expects to raise about $3.4 billion in an initial public offering that it will use to finance part of three pending cable acquisitions. These deals are for Falcon Communications, Fanch Communications and Avalon Cable Television. The combined value of the three purchases is about $6.8 billion. [Page C8.]

BUSINESS DIGEST

Consolidated Edison documents show that power distribution cables in upper Manhattan were among most trouble-plagued in company's system for years before seven of them failed on July 6, plunging Washington Heights into city's worst blackout in 22 years; show that during last five years, feeders in Washington Heights and Harlem have shut down 80 percent more often than those elsewhere in Manhattan; Con Edison officials describe sequence of events that left 200,000 people north of 155th Street without power for 18 hours as random, highly unusual occurrence; say it could have happened anywhere in system straining under record demand (M)

Blackout Area Had a History Of Cable Flaws

Officials report Lincoln Center Festival, buoyed partly by popular enthusiasm and publicity for Chinese opera, The Peony Pavilion, exceeded box-office projections in 1999 for first time in its four-year history (M)

In a First, Attendance Exceeds Expectations at Lincoln Center Festival

Chicago White Sox defeat New York Yankees, 11-3; photo (M)

Pettitte Blows a Tire and Now Must Sit and Wait

Scientists report that they have used precise molecular recipe to turn normal human cells into cancer cells in laboratory, triumphing in task that sounds simple but that has eluded molecular biologists for over 15 years; work, by Dr Robert A Weinberg and his colleagues at Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Mass, is published in July 29 journal Nature; it is accompanied by commentary by Drs Jonathan B Weitzman and Moshe Yaniv of Institut Pasteur in Paris, calling it 'landmark paper'; some researchers hope discovery will help lead to early test for cancer (M)

In Finding a Way To Create Cancer, Hope for New Test

Harvey Araton Sports of The Times column on New York Mets catcher Mike Piazza and his belief that team will qualify for post season play; photo (M)

Sport of The Times; Piazza Takes A Long View To October

Republicans in Senate, on first day of debate on how large tax cut nation can afford in era of anticipated Federal budget surpluses, defeat Democratic plan to limit tax cut to $290 billion over 10 years on vote of 60 to 39; most Republicans and few Democrats are pushing for legislation that would cut taxes by $792 billion, using bulk of nearly $1 trillion in projected surpluses over next decade; Pres Clinton has threatened to veto Republican plan, and has countered it with offer of tax cut of up to $300 billion; photo (M)

G.O.P. Senators Repel an Effort To Scale Back Tax-Cut Proposal

Death toll rises to 19 in Swiss canyoning accident, as rescue workers search rapids for two missing tourists caught in flash flood in mountain stream near Interlaken, Switzerland; disaster has led to soul searching about adventure sports and in particular fad of canyoning; it is fueling questions about thin line between calculated risk and recklessness in most affluent sectors of society; Swiss authorities suspend all canyoning expeditions; map; photo (M)

Toll Now 19 in Swiss Canyon In an Adventure Gone Awry

Kosovo Liberation Army has taken political control of province in absence of strong international police presence; rebels, despite peace agreement that calls for United Nations-appointed administration, and fact that they have no legal standing, talk not of ceding power to UN but of cooperating as if they were equals; their move to take power has been aided by ineffectiveness of moderate opposition, along with disorganized UN adminstration that is short on personnel; NATO peacekeepers have tried to provide some order, but they are not intended to serve as police or civil administrators; UN is planning to deploy 3,100-strong police force, although it currently has only 156 officers in Kosovo; map (M)

July 29, 1999

Headlines from July 29, 1999

Valentine Cringes as Rogers Winces His Way to Strong Start

Humming Off Key For Two Decades

Vote Near on U.N. Job

The Famous Fiennes and Their Mother's 'Blood Ties'

Compaq Plans To Cut Staff By Up to 12%

Billboard 200

Millennium

Significant Other

Ricky Martin

...Baby One More Time

Can't Stay Away

Historical Context for July 29, 1999