January 24, 2005

Article profiles Gang of Four, British punk rock band whose four members, now in their 40's, recently played their first show together since 1981 and have begun tour; photos (M)

Helmut Lang Is Expected To Leave Prada Group In another shock to the luxury industry's multibrand strategy, the Prada group is expected to announce on Monday the departure of Helmut Lang from the house that bears his name, a person close to the company said. The Austrian-born designer, who is based in New York, was considered a byword for urban cool in 1999, when Prada took a 51 percent stake in the brand. He follows fellow designer Jil Sander out of the door. [Page C10.] Military Might on Cable Television Three cable channels -- the Military Channel, the Military History Channel and the Pentagon Channel -- now feed news, information and entertainment about the armed services into millions of living rooms. [C8.] Mixed Report on Silicon Valley A new report on Silicon Valley has found that despite an environment in which entrepreneurship is strong and established firms are by and large healthy, the job market remains stagnant. Household income in the area is down, and disparities persist in health care, education and housing, the report says. [C6.] Italia Mobile Deal Proceeds Telecom Italia cleared a major hurdle in its planned 21 billion euro ($27.3 billion) takeover of Telecom Italia Mobile. [C9.] Wireless Deal for California Parks California has announced a deal with SBC Communications to provide wireless Internet access points in 85 state parks. [C4.] Microchip Advance Announced Texas Instruments is set to announce that it has integrated most computing functions of a mobile phone onto a single microchip. [C9.] Group to Promote Grid Computing A handful of technology companies plan to announce that they are forming a consortium to accelerate utilitylike grid computing in the corporate world. [C7.] BlackBerry's Canadian Defense Having lost a recent patent case in Virginia, Research in Motion, maker of the popular BlackBerry device, has turned to an unusual appeal strategy: We're not based in the United States, so you can't touch us. [C4.] Help for Digital Pack Rats More people are choosing to deposit their burgeoning computer files in an online bank, thereby helping to inject life into the niche Internet storage market that, some analysts say, is on the brink of a growth surge. Bob Tedeschi: E-Commerce Report. [C7.] Putting On Athletes' Game Faces A new ad campaign for Nike focuses on the dogged determination of athletes as they put on their game faces -- literally as well as figuratively. For example, The polished-wood mask worn by Albert Pujols, the St. Louis Cardinals slugger, left, evokes a baseball bat. Stuart Elliott: Advertising. [C10.] Catalog Blunder Derails Business Eziba.com, an online retailer and catalog company known for its handcrafted items from foreign artisans, has temporarily suspended operations after it sent tens of thousands of catalogs to the wrong addresses. [C4.]

News and information sites on Internet are recovering from doldrums that followed collapse of dot-com boom; biggest sign of resurgence is bidding war for CBS MarkWatch, in which Dow Jones beat out New York Times, Gannett and Viacom; that deal is said to be worth $519 million, about six times MarketWatch's 2004 revenue; many of same companies that were badly burned by Internet investments before are aggressively bidding for news sites now, not just because of growing online ad business but also because they are worried that their current Web sites will not be able to keep up with demand; online advertising is expected to reach $9.7 billion in 2004; photos; table (M)

New England Patriots defeat Pittsburgh Steelers, 41-27, to win AFC championship and advance to Super Bowl; photos (M)

Kelefa Sanneh Critic's Choice column reviews new album by country singer Kenny Chesney; photo (M)

Marcos Velasco, Brazilian software developer, has created and publicly posted computer worm that affects cellular phones that use Blootooth short-range radio frequency technology; does not spread worm, which has ability to reproduce itself and does not need host program, but is evidently happy to share his work on his Web site; worm, which seems to do little harm, points to inevitability of more virulent ones aimed at mobile devices and to virus-writing subculture; diagram; photos (M)

Nicholas A Spano of Yonkers awaits decision by appellate division of State Supreme Court on whether or not he will be returned to State Senate; has slight lead over Andrea Stewart-Cousins in 35th Disrict, which he has represented for over two decades; photo (M)

Article on popular television series The West Wing as it reaches critical juncture; character of Pres Bartlet, played by Martin Sheen, will be replaced by either of two presidential candidates, Republican senator played by Alan Alda or Democratic representative played by Jimmy Smits; photo (M)

Article on behind-the-scenes wheeling and dealing at Sundance Film Festival over movie Hustle and Flow, written and directed by Craig Brewer and produced by John Singleton; photo (M)

Ben Brantley reviews Little Women: The Musical, book by Allan Knee, music by Jason Howland, lyrics by Mindi Dickstein and directed by Susan H Schulman; Sutton Foster and Maureen McGovern star

Friendster, which helped define hot new Internet facet dubbed 'social networking,' is troubled by rapid executive turnover and is being eclipsed in United States among those in most highly coveted 18 to 29 demographic by younger, flashier rival MySpace; Friendster loyalists complain company has done little to enliven its site; former employee says stress on infrastructure to keep up with growth has kept company from rolling out needed new features; photo (M)

Conde Nast Publications international division chairman Jonathan Newhouse comments on success of British version of Glamour magazine, printed in so-called pocket size, which is best-selling monthly magazine in Britain, interview; magazine's triumph with readers is even more critical because publishers outside United States depend more on revenues from newsstand sales; photos (M)