The Oscars telecast exposed an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in identity crisis: the ceremony was big and commercial; the winners were small and arty.

AP – Toyota, dogged by millions of recalls and claims that it still has not fixed its safety problems, took its strongest step yet Monday to silence critics who blame faulty electronics for runaway cars and trucks.

The carmaker said reports of continued acceleration problems after a repair could be traced to improper work.

Beta amyloid, which was once thought to be a chief villain in Alzheimer’s, may be part of the brain’s normal defenses, researchers at Harvard suggested.

AP – #wanttospinWHreporters?

Pakistani officials said Sunday that an American Qaeda operative had been arrested in the sprawling southern city of Karachi.

AP – Cablevision subscribers were scrambling Sunday to hook up antennas or find live TV on the Internet in order to watch the Academy Awards after ABC’s parent company Walt Disney Co. switched off its signal in a dispute over fees.

AP – A new online database promises to crack some of the nation’s 100,000 missing persons cases and provide answers to desperate families, but only a fraction of law enforcement agencies are using it.

When parents complained about a sex offender living across from an elementary school in California, authorities said there was nothing they could do.

Clashes between Muslims and Christians have been reported near the central Nigerian city of Jos, where sectarian violence flared in January.

AP – It’s the new front in the nanny state: Microchips placed in garbage bins to monitor how much people throw away.

AP – Toyota has for years blocked access to data stored in devices similar to airline “black boxes” that could explain crashes blamed on sudden unintended acceleration, according to an Associated Press review of lawsuits nationwide and interviews with auto crash experts.

AP – Microsoft Corp. has said its new software for smart phones, Windows Phone 7 series, is a “clean break” with the past. Now it’s clear just how clean that break is: The new phones, expected late this year, won’t run any applications written for older versions of Microsoft’s phone software.

Michael Chatfield, a talented basketball player from the Queensbridge housing project in Queens, was shot dead in October at age 31.

A Rhode Island school board’s decision to fire the entire faculty of a failing school may have lasting ripples on the nation’s education debate.

Mark Boal, the screenwriter of “The Hurt Locker,” navigates the award shows.

PC World – Apple is pitching its new iPad tablet as a multi-use consumer device, a superior alternative to clunky netbooks and laptops. Admittedly, the device does have its virtues, particularly for Web-surfing couch potatoes who’d rather not balance a clamshell-style portable PC on their laps.

PC World – Oscar parties are fun — boozing it up with friends, gorging on seven-layer taco dip, shouting at the TV when your favorite Hollywood star mounts the stage — but the show itself can be excruciating. Long sentimental speeches paired with the host’s unfunny jokes could slip you into a coma. However, there’s a workaround: the Internet, of course!

PC Magazine – It should come as no small surprise for those still waiting for some kind of tethering option for their iPhones, but Apple’s iPad, scheduled to launch April 3, probably won’t support tethering either.

PC Magazine – Before the arrival of the Internet and powerful gaming consoles, there were these PC-based gems.

AP – Hewlett-Packard Co. trimmed the net income it reported for its fiscal first quarter Friday, saying it has to set aside more money than expected to deal with a lawsuit against it in the U.K.

AFP – US government cybersecurity efforts are being hampered by a need to better define the roles of the agencies responsible for defending against cyber threats, a US Congressional watchdog said Friday.

AFP – Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak on Friday held firm to his love for Prius cars despite what he suspects is a Toyota software problem behind sudden spikes in acceleration.

Reuters – Apple Inc said the first iPads will be in U.S. stores on April 3 and hit nine international markets later in the month, easing concerns that manufacturing constraints could delay launch.

AP – Mobile phone software developer Sybase Inc. said Friday that it has redeemed $390 million of convertible debt.

AP – Among the stock activity stories for Friday, March 5, from AP Financial News:

AP – The much-anticipated iPad tablet computer from Apple Inc. will start hitting U.S. store shelves on April 3, slightly later than originally planned.

AP – Federal regulators trying to bring high-speed Internet connections to all Americans will propose tapping the government program that now subsidizes telephone service in poor and rural areas.

PC World – A new industry group is trying to apply open-source principles to the design and construction of data centers, which it says could accelerate the use of new technologies and increase competition in the industry.

PC World – Advanced Micro Devices is offering prizes to drum up more interest ahead of this month’s launch of its 12-core server chip, as rival Intel also has server-chip launch plans.

Macworld.com – A new consumer survey from ChangeWave shows that four in ten people who are thinking about buying an e-book reader are planning to get Apple’s iPad. And more than one in four people who had previously purchased a different device say they would have gotten the iPad if it had been available when they shopped.

AFP – Xbox Live users are now free to express their race, religion, nationality and sexual orientation in profiles at the popular online videogame community.

AP – Toyota has for years blocked access to data stored in devices similar to airline “black boxes” that could explain crashes blamed on sudden unintended acceleration, according to an Associated Press review of lawsuits nationwide and interviews with auto crash experts.

The state’s decision to close 13 of 18 highway rest stops has been met with more anger and resistance than other cost-cutting moves.

Thousands of processed food products contain an ingredient that federal regulators say was contaminated with salmonella, although so far only a few dozen have been recalled.

AP – TiVo Inc. prevailed yet again in a long-running dispute with Dish Network Corp. over patents for digital video recorders, as a federal appeals court cleared the way Thursday for TiVo to collect hundreds of millions of dollars. TiVo shares jumped more than 50 percent.

Very soon now, whatever suspense remains in this Oscar season will be over. Bullock or Streep? “Avatar” or “Hurt Locker”? All will be revealed. Will you be watching?

AP – RealNetworks Inc. said Wednesday that it will stop selling technology that lets consumers copy DVDs to their computer hard drives, settling a handful of lawsuits filed against the company by Hollywood’s six major movie studios.

AP – Hulu’s days as a free online video site could be ending soon.

Even the most prolific users say Twitter has become more useful as a way to tap in to the discussions of the day than to broadcast their own thoughts.

The proposed new sanctions would both broaden the scope and intensify three previous rounds of sanctions enacted since 2006.

The former Bush adviser’s take is unequivocal and unapologetic about his years inside the administration.

The retirement of Representative Eric J. Massa, who was elected in 2008, will leave Democrats challenged to maintain their hold on a hard-won seat.

AP – Spanish authorities who dismantled a network of up to 12.7 million virus-infected, data-stealing computers said Wednesday the mastermind of the scam remains a mystery, even though three alleged ringleaders have been arrested.

Reuters – State Attorney General Jerry Brown on Tuesday formally announced his run for governor with a promise to “get California working again,” setting the stage for a likely November showdown with former eBay chief Meg Whitman, the Republican front-runner.

AP – Yahoo Inc. CEO Carol Bartz says she hopes investors growing impatient for her to turn around the slumping Internet company remember how long it took for Steve Jobs to revive Apple Inc.

AP – Private equity firm Elliott Associates LP on Tuesday offered to buy the 91.5 percent of the shares it doesn’t already own in enterprise software company Novell Inc. for $5.75 each, an offer valuing the company at about $2 billion.

AFP – Elliott Associates, a private equity firm, offered to buy Novell Tuesday with a bid that values the enterprise software company at some two billion dollars.

Reuters – Apple Inc sued Taiwan’s HTC Corp, which makes touchscreen smartphones using Google software, accusing it of infringing 20 hardware and software patents related to the iPhone.

Reuters – AT&T Inc expects users of Apple Inc’s iPad to connect to the Internet mostly using short-range Wi-Fi networks rather than AT&T’s cellular network, the chief executive of AT&T said on Tuesday.